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Saturday, July 29, 2017

Blog Tour and Review: "All or Nothing at All" by Jennifer Probst

Hey there, welcome to my review stop on the "All or Nothing at All" blog tour! 

ALL OR NOTHING AT ALL by Jennifer Probst just went live!

Buy it now:


HGTV’s Property Brothers meets The Marriage Bargain in this third volume in the Billionaire Builders series, an all-new, heart-wrenching, and sexy contemporary romance from New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Probst.



Tristan Pierce left the family business to carve out a life of his own, but never forgot his passionate affair with the much younger, inexperienced Sydney Greene, or the hurtful breakup that tore him apart. When he’s forced to return home and face his past, will he be able to carve out a future, or will lies ruin his second chance at love?



Sydney Greene loved Tristan her entire life but when he left, he took not only her heart, but her trust along with him. Now that they’re together again, it’s time they both face the biggest secret of all...

AUTHOR INFORMATION: 

BIO:

Jennifer Probst wrote her first book at twelve years old. She bound it in a folder, read it to her classmates, and hasn’t stopped writing since. She took a short hiatus to get married, get pregnant, buy a house, get pregnant again, pursue a master’s in English Literature, and rescue two shelter dogs. Now she is writing again.



She makes her home in Upstate New York with the whole crew. Her sons keep her active, stressed, joyous, and sad her house will never be truly clean.
She is the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of sexy and erotic contemporary romance. She was thrilled her book, The Marriage Bargain, was ranked #6 on Amazon's Best Books for 2012. She loves hearing from readers. Visit her website for updates on new releases and her street team at www.jenniferprobst.com.


Website:  www.jenniferprobst.com
Facebook Fan Page:  https://www.facebook.com/jenniferprobst.authorpage 
Twitter:   https://twitter.com/jenniferprobst 
Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2965489.Jennifer_Probst 



Many thanks to the author, publisher, and InkslingerPR for the free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
I love just about everything I've read from Jennifer Probst, including the first two books and one novella in the Billionaire Builders series, so I jumped at the chance to read "All or Nothing at All" - even though Tristan and Sydney did not intrigue me like the other couples did, I remained optimistic that I would fall in love with them and become completely immersed in their story. 

Unfortunately, although I did enjoy this book, I did not love it as much as I had hoped to. Here's the thing: Tristan is just not my type. He's too pretty and too serious for me. I was definitely more drawn to Cal and Dalton, and even Brady, so although I did warm up to Tristan and empathized with his situation, he never fully did it for me. To each his (or her!) own, I guess.

Sydney was in the same boat, actually. I though that she would be more feisty or dynamic, and while she certainly gained some ground at the beginning of the book, making a pitch for a big promotion, I feel like she plateaued from there. (And really, how could she compete with Raven?)

Sydney and Tristan have a lot of pain between them, and it's hard at times to believe they'll ever work any of it out. I can understand why Sydney made the decisions she did seven years ago, but I don't really agree with them. I can definitely understand Tristan's anger once he found out, too, but I don't agree with a lot of his actions either. 

And then hmmm, how to put this in a way that won't make me sound overly prudish?  There was at least one occasion that made me feel slightly uncomfortable - Tristan was getting rather pushy and not taking "no" for an answer, and although eventually Sydney came around to his way of thinking, it was borderline, and the way it all unfolded left a bad taste in my mouth.

Anyhoo, anyone who is a fan of Jennifer Probst or this series should absolutely check this one out, if only for the scenes between Tristan and Becca - so funny and sweet! - or the cameos from the other beloved couples in the series. 

My rating: 3 stars

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

"All or Nothing At All" by Jennifer Probst - Release Day!!!

Today we are sharing the release of ALL OR NOTHING AT ALL by Jennifer Probst. This is the third novel in the Billionaire Builders series. Check out the buy links below. Stop by Jennifer's facebook page for information on giveaways and more!

Purchase Now

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo

--------------------------

allornothingatall2

All or Nothing at All by Jennifer Probst

(Billionaire Builders, #3)

Now Live!

Blurb:

HGTV’s Property Brothers meets The Marriage Bargain in this third volume in the Billionaire Builders series, an all-new, heart-wrenching, and sexy contemporary romance from New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Probst.

Tristan Pierce left the family business to carve out a life of his own, but never forgot his passionate affair with the much younger, inexperienced Sydney Greene, or the hurtful breakup that tore him apart. When he’s forced to return home and face his past, will he be able to carve out a future, or will lies ruin his second chance at love?

Sydney Greene loved Tristan her entire life but when he left, he took not only her heart, but her trust along with him. Now that they’re together again, it’s time they both face the biggest secret of all...

--------

Purchase Now

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo

AUTHOR INFORMATION:

Jennifer Probst 
  Jennifer Probst - Bio: Jennifer Probst wrote her first book at twelve years old. She bound it in a folder, read it to her classmates, and hasn’t stopped writing since. She took a short hiatus to get married, get pregnant, buy a house, get pregnant again, pursue a master’s in English Literature, and rescue two shelter dogs. Now she is writing again. She makes her home in Upstate New York with the whole crew. Her sons keep her active, stressed, joyous, and sad her house will never be truly clean. She is the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of sexy and erotic contemporary romance. She was thrilled her book, The Marriage Bargain, was ranked #6 on Amazon's Best Books for 2012. She loves hearing from readers. Visit her website for updates on new releases and her street team at www.jenniferprobst.com.

AUTHOR LINKS:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Newsletter

InkSlinger PR Blogger Banner - New

Friday, July 14, 2017

Blog Tour: Excerpt and Review for "Wicked Grind" by J. Kenner

     

Sometimes it feels so damn good to be bad

Photographer Wyatt Royce’s career is on the verge of exploding. All he needs is one perfect model to be the centerpiece of his sexy, controversial show. Find her, and Wyatt is sure to have a winner.

Then Kelsey Draper walks in. Stunning. Vibrant. And far too fragile for a project like this. Wyatt should know—after all, he remembers only too well why their relationship ended all those years ago.

Determined to break free from her good girl persona, Kelsey wants spice. Adventure. And she’s certain that Wyatt is just the man to help.

But when Wyatt agrees to give her the job only if he has complete control—on camera and in his bed—Kelsey can’t help but wonder if she’s in too deep. Because how can a good girl like her ever be enough for a man like Wyatt?

All Wicked novels stand alone

 

Amazon | Print | Audible | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | iBooks | iBooks UK | Kobo |

Kobo UK | B&N | Google Play | Google Play UK

     

Excerpt:

She was driving him crazy.
The way she held his eyes while she moved, so bold and flirtatious, as if she was just daring him to pull her into his arms and kiss her senseless.
Daring him? No, strike that. She wasn’t just daring him, she was throwing down a goddamned gauntlet. But was she challenging him to claim her? Or was she goading him that he couldn’t have her?
Damned if he knew. Right then, Wyatt was certain of only one thing—his body was tight, his cock was hard, and he wanted to be somewhere other than here. Someplace without other people.
Someplace with a bed.
It was the dancing that did it. Because Kelsey Draper and her dancing had always been his downfall. After all, that was what had started everything all those years ago. He’d seen her dancing to a bouncy pop song, her interpretation elevating the music and lyrics. He’d seen passion and precision, sensuality and seduction. She’d enchanted him. Cast a spell over him.
He’d seen the magic in her, so much larger than the quiet, subdued girl he’d met before. The Kelsey he’d watched dancing had surprised him. She was vibrant. Alive. Unexpected.
He’d fallen hard, and then she’d broken his heart.
He wouldn’t make the same mistake again.
He might want her—hell, he <em>did</em> want her. For his bed. For his show.
But he damn sure wasn’t going to trust her. He’d already learned that lesson, and he really didn’t need a refresher course.
As he watched, she dropped to the floor, then used one hand to rip open her shirt before letting it fall down her arms. She writhed on stage, her seductive movements making him ache inside, all the more when he imagined taking it further. Her wrists bound not with a tattered blouse, but with silk ropes. And not just her wrists, but her legs as well. Red ropes, the only color in an otherwise black and white image. Her body twisting, and the audience unsure if she was fighting the bonds or reveling in her own rising passion.
She was exactly what he needed for the show. The complete package. Hell, he’d known that from the moment she’d walked into his studio.
So why was he hesitating?
Because he wanted her?
Or was it because he wanted to punish her?
Or maybe it was even more insidious than that. Maybe it came down to how much was riding on this show. It was his shot, after all. The apex of all his work and sacrifice. The chance to escape from under the black cloud his father had left hanging over him.
The chance to prove himself to his family.
To live up to the goddamn Segel name.
But that would only happen if the show was a success.
So maybe that was why he was hesitating. Because the moment he committed was the moment the truth crept toward him on little cat paws, and it would either curl up and purr, or rip his heart out.
On stage, Kelsey rose, then did some sort of pirouette, twirling as she pulled off one of those transparent, colored scarves that served as a barely-there skirt. Wyatt imagined his hands on her waist, the brush of her skin against his palms as she spun. He could imagine her heat. The way she shivered under his touch.
So help him, he wanted that. Wanted to hear her sighs. Those little moans he remembered.
Another scarf went flying, and he straightened so that he was no longer leaning against the pillar. Instead, he shifted his weight from foot to foot as he tried to tamp down the rising lust. The violent need. To not only have her, but to have her in his show.
He wanted her, yes. But she was an indulgence he couldn’t justify. An indulgence and a risk, because he knew damn well that she’d run if things got too intense.
And damn but his show was intense. That was the point, after all.
He couldn’t take a chance on her, no matter how much he might want to. Couldn’t even bring her in only long enough to test her out. Not on such a tight schedule. Not when there was no way to ensure that she wouldn’t bolt.
Kelsey was a risk he simply couldn’t take. He had to get it right. There was too much at stake for him to be wrong about her.
The final scarf fluttered to the ground, and Wyatt’s pulse pounded in his throat as he moved closer, his mouth going dry as she reached for her bra, pulled it over her head, then tossed it aside.
The music faded out, and the dim, colored stage lights made the flesh-colored G-string blend into her pale skin, enhancing the illusion that she now stood before the entire room not just topless, but one hundred percent, birthday-suit naked.
She took a bow as the lights came up, and the men in the audience actually stood to applaud her. She’d blown away the competition, and even though Wyatt wanted to rush the stage and wrap his jacket around her, he couldn’t deny the swell of pride he felt for her victory.
  

   julie-j-kenner-author-photo
J.Kenner (aka Julie Kenner) is the New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Wall Street Journal and #1 International bestselling author of over seventy novels, novellas and short stories in a variety of genres. Though known primarily for her award-winning and international bestselling erotic romances (including the Stark and Most Wanted series) that have reached as high as #2 on the New York Times bestseller list, JK has been writing full time for over a decade in a variety of genres including paranormal and contemporary romance, “chicklit” suspense, urban fantasy, and paranormal mommy lit. JK has been praised by Publishers Weekly as an author with a “flair for dialogue and eccentric characterizations” and by RT Bookclub for having “cornered the market on sinfully attractive, dominant antiheroes and the women who swoon for them.” A five time finalist for Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA award, JK took home the first RITA trophy awarded in the category of erotic romance in 2014 for her novel, Claim Me (book 2 of her Stark Trilogy). Her Demon Hunting Soccer Mom series (as Julie Kenner) is currently in development with AwesomenessTV/Awestruck. Her books have sold over three million copies and are published in over twenty languages. In her previous career as an attorney, JK worked as a clerk on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and practiced primarily civil, entertainment and First Amendment litigation in Los Angeles and Irvine, California, as well as in Austin, Texas. She currently lives in Central Texas, with her husband, two daughters, and two rather spastic cats. 




Thank you to the publisher and author for the free review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really enjoyed my time with this book! I've only read one other title by J. Kenner, but her writing is such that I can see myself going back and reading some of her other books in the future.

What's to love? Quite a few things, actually. I liked the second chance trope here - it worked really well for the most part. By going back and forth between the present and the past, I was able to see the deep connection between Wyatt and Kelsey, evident from their very first meeting. I was also quite involved in finding out why two such kindred spirits were separated in the first place - the pages seemed to rush by as I devoured this book, trying to solve the mystery, and while I had my suspicions, things actually went down a little bit differently than I first imagined!

The characters themselves were quite unique, and their personalities pulled me further into their story. Wyatt, while not exactly my type, was charismatic and artistic in an interesting way. I liked how he wanted to build his own success without resting on the laurels of his famous family, and while some of his actions made me cringe, they always made sense in the context of his character.  

Likewise, Kelsey also intrigued me. I loved how passionate she was about her dancing, but I could also understand the conflicts she was facing in her life. The guilt she felt, too, was not completely unfounded. I think in her shoes, I would be feeling the same way she did, and that just made her all the more relatable to me.  

I need to take a moment here to just say that occasionally, a side character comes along in a book that I feel particularly partial to, and I find myself wanting to beg the author to please, pretty please, write that character's story!!!  In "Wicked Grind", that character was Kelsey's brother, Griffin. He stole my heart more than any other character in this book, and I would like to declare right this minute that I would be the first in line to buy his book if ever J. Kenner decided to write it!

Okay, enough of a digression there, back to the book review at hand. Of course, hardly any book is without its faults, and "Wicked Grind" is no exception, although my complaints are fairly minor. First off is perhaps due to my own expectations: I thought this book would be more erotic, to be honest. It really wasn't all that steamy! A good chunk of the book takes place in the past, when Wyatt and Kelsey were teenagers, and while I appreciated the buildup of the relationship, I definitely wasn't getting all hot and bothered. With the present timeline, again there was that buildup of tension, but things didn't really get going until about 60%.  For a book of this genre, the slow burn was a bit too slow for my liking.

A couple of other niggling details:
  • The title - what does "Wicked Grind" even mean? It's not that I dislike the title, exactly, it's just that there was absolutely no connection to the story that I could see.

  • The cover - I like the colour scheme and the fonts that were used, but not a fan of the lipstick, sorry. 

Overall, I liked this book and would probably be tempted to pick up others in the series, especially if one of them featured Griffin!

My rating: 3.5 stars

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

"All or Nothing at All" by Jennifer Probst: Teaser Reveal!!!

Today we are sharing some teasers for ALL OR NOTHING AT ALL by Jennifer Probst. This is the third novel in the Billionaire Builders series, and it will be released on July 25th! Be sure to enter the pre-order giveaway where you could win a $50 gift card or signed set of the series.

Pre-order Now

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo

--------------------------

allornothingatall2

All or Nothing at All by Jennifer Probst

(Billionaire Builders, #3)

Coming July 25th!

Blurb:

HGTV’s Property Brothers meets The Marriage Bargain in this third volume in the Billionaire Builders series, an all-new, heart-wrenching, and sexy contemporary romance from New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Probst.

Tristan Pierce left the family business to carve out a life of his own, but never forgot his passionate affair with the much younger, inexperienced Sydney Greene, or the hurtful breakup that tore him apart. When he’s forced to return home and face his past, will he be able to carve out a future, or will lies ruin his second chance at love?

Sydney Greene loved Tristan her entire life but when he left, he took not only her heart, but her trust along with him. Now that they’re together again, it’s time they both face the biggest secret of all...

--------

Pre-order Now

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo

AUTHOR INFORMATION:

Jennifer Probst 
Jennifer Probst - Bio: Jennifer Probst wrote her first book at twelve years old. She bound it in a folder, read it to her classmates, and hasn’t stopped writing since. She took a short hiatus to get married, get pregnant, buy a house, get pregnant again, pursue a master’s in English Literature, and rescue two shelter dogs. Now she is writing again. She makes her home in Upstate New York with the whole crew. Her sons keep her active, stressed, joyous, and sad her house will never be truly clean. She is the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of sexy and erotic contemporary romance. She was thrilled her book, The Marriage Bargain, was ranked #6 on Amazon's Best Books for 2012. She loves hearing from readers. Visit her website for updates on new releases and her street team at www.jenniferprobst.com.

AUTHOR LINKS:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Newsletter

InkSlinger PR Blogger Banner - New 
 

Monday, July 10, 2017

Review: "Coming Up for Air" by Miranda Kenneally

Swim. Eat. Shower. School. Snack. Swim. Swim. Swim. Dinner. Homework. Bed. Repeat. All of Maggie’s focus and free time is spent swimming. She’s not only striving to earn scholarships—she’s training to qualify for the Olympics. It helps that her best friend, Levi, is also on the team and cheers her on. But Levi’s already earned an Olympic try out, so she feels even more pressure to succeed. And it’s not until Maggie’s away on a college visit that she realizes how much of the “typical” high school experience she’s missed by being in the pool. Not one to shy away from a challenge, Maggie decides to squeeze the most out of her senior year. First up? Making out with a guy. And Levi could be the perfect candidate. After all, they already spend a lot of time together. But as Maggie slowly starts to uncover new feelings for Levi, how much is she willing to lose to win?


Many thanks to Sourcebooks Fire via Netgalley for the free review copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Another winner from Miranda Kenneally! This one has all the elements you know and love from her Hundred Oaks series: a strong, feisty heroine working through an internal struggle, great friendships, cameos from some of the well-loved characters we've met earlier in the series, and an amazingly swoony love interest. What more could a fan ask for?

I loved Maggie's struggles in this book. (Oh yeah, and the seriously embarrassing moments she has put a huge grin on my face while reading!)  She's got a few things weighing on her mind, including but not limited to:

  1. an intense rivalry with an ex-teammate and the online bullying she's subjected to
  2. occasionally driving a car, which she is extremely horrible at!
  3. college, mainly how she's going to miss her friends when they all go to different schools
  4. getting some experience with boys, and how to do such a thing when she has no time to start a relationship
  5. trying to improve her times so she can get herself to the Olympic trials, and
  6. dealing with her changing feelings for her best friend, Levi.
I absolutely loved Maggie's friendship with Levi! It was somewhat reminiscent of Jordan and Sam from "Catching Jordan", which is further emphasized when Jordan, or Coach Woods as she's now known at Hundred Oaks High, gives Maggie some advice about balancing her heavy training schedule with a social life, namely, dating. Maggie and Levi spend almost all of their time together, and have since they were little kids, so they're super comfortable with each other. Honestly, there's not much I would have changed about their relationship or their story. If anything, I just wanted more!

If you're not already a Kenneally reader, then you seriously need to remedy that right away. All of her books are great, and I'd be hard pressed to pick a favourite, but "Coming Up for Air" is definitely one of my top picks!

My rating: 4.5 stars