BLOG TOUR: Fast Glamour (Glamour #3) – Maggie Marr + Review

Released: July 23rd, 2014

A broken heart forever bears scars. . . 

Sterling Legend grew up a prince in the City of Angels. His life was perfect and he wanted for nothing until his entire world shattered. He lost everything dear to him the year he turned seventeen. Now he’s grown into a formidable man on the cusp of outrageous success. His life revolves around his work and all the beautiful baubles that Los Angeles can offer to a wealthy young man. He’s buried his feelings and his heart so that he will never be hurt again.

A lost love that she could never forget . . .

Rhiannon Bliss was forced to leave L.A. to extinguish the fire of a first love, but an ocean, a different country, and seven years couldn’t quell her desires. Now she’s returned to the City of Angels to care for her mother. Can she fight her feelings for the man that once broke her heart? Does she even want to?

Finding your way back to love can be an impossible path. . . 

Sterling Legend is at the top of the entertainment industry. His fast rise to success due to his talent and to his last name. But Sterling wants to find success on his own. He is on the path to producing his first film, without his famous father as the star, when the ex-love of his life re-enters his world. Rhiannon Bliss left seven years before without a word. Sterling has no need to forgive, but his desire for Rhiannon is overwhelming. Can two broken hearts use the heat of their attraction to find their way back to love?

"How can we build something beautiful if we constantly have to deal with the ugliness of the past?"

*COPY PROVIDED BY AUTHOR FOR AN HONEST REVIEW*

Although I must admit that it wasn't as good as Amanda and Ryan's story, Rhiannon and Sterling made me laugh and frustrated and it just gave me all the chills. Their story was so complex with ghosts from their pasts and their family wars. It was amazing to watch them walk through that shitstorm to finally end up together in the end.

The characters were awesome but nothing really unique.

I adored Sterling Legend. He's a man who goes after what he wants, even crossing the stubborn, hard-headed, temperamental, need-to-be-number-one-all-the-time Steve Legend. So when his mother left a script for him and Amanda that seemed to be a "curse", Sterling wanted to oblige his mother's final wish.

Even if it meant that he had to work around and without his father - who loathed the script and would do anything to put it to a stop - to collect funding, actors, director, etc. But I liked that. I liked how he strayed away from the Legend name to make a low-budget indie film that could win Oscars. LOVED. HIM.

Rhiannon was awesome too. I mean, she's a freaking artist. God, I love her. She's also stubborn at times and she can be afraid. But she's always so sweet and mellow.

But their romance was so hard for the both of them. Sterling's name brought a lot of bad signs into the relationship for Rhiannon's parents. Knowing the Legends for so long, they knew what the Legends were capable of and was far from trusting of Sterling.

"Rhiannon, please remember, that to be a Legend can be the most horrible of blessings."

However, I felt some of their small fights were unnecessary and it could've just led up to a bigger, climatic one. Some of the lines were too cheesy. I really don't understand Rhiannon's father, like fuck off man. Maybe the author intended for us to really loathe him but I feel like I wanna throw him into the pits of hell just because he suddenly acts like a father when he wants to defend his honor. Prick.

Otherwise, great book! 

MY RATING:

3.5 – 4 APPLES!!!!!

✭ BOOK LINKS ✭

  

(Click book cover for Goodreads link)

♕ Hard Glamour (Glamour #1) ♕

Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Review

♕ Broken Glamour (Glamour #2) ♕

Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Review

♕ Fast Glamour (Glamour #3) ♕

Amazon | Barnes&Noble

    

Maggie Marr grew up in the Midwest and made the move to Los Angeles to work in the movie business.  She was a motion picture literary agent for ICM before becoming a full time writer.  She's written for film and TV and ghostwritten for celebrities.  She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and children. 

Check her out in these sites:

Website | Facebook | Twitter

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To see more reviews, guests posts and more, follow the tour here. This tour was hosted by AToMR Promotions.

REVIEW: Fighting for Irish (Fighting for Love #3) – Gina L. Maxwell

Released: January 13th, 2014

A sexy category romance from Entangled's Brazen imprint...

He'll fight for her life. She'll fight for his love.

Kat MacGregor has forty-eight hours to make good on the debt her ex-boyfriend owes a crime boss. Unfortunately, the measly tips she makes waitressing are barely enough for her to live on, much less cover the twenty-thousand needed to keep her breathing. With time running out, Kat 's forced to accept help from the only man who's ever made her feel fire rather than fear.

When he learns a friend's sister is in trouble, former Boston MMA fighter Aiden "Irish" O'Brien heads to Louisiana to offer himself up as collateral to keep her safe. But to satisfy the debt, he has to do the one thing he swore hed never do again: fight. With more than just money on the line, will Irish have what it takes to not only reclaim the man he once was, but become the man he needs to be for the woman he can't live without?

"And I'm not gonna let anyone hurt you ever again, I swear it."

Fighting for Irish is a story about redemption and forgiveness. Aiden pulls Kat out of her individual hell where she keeps running and provides her with the life that she’s always dreamed of and deserved.

Aiden is the man. I freaking LOVE him!

He’s on a trip to find Kat, who has identified herself as someone else. Kat is hiding from her past, from the men who want to find her and possibly kill her. Aiden was going to change all that for her.

This man is a sexy, SEXY fighter who’s quit the ring a long time ago for specific reasons mentioned in the book (so not gonna spoil it). He’s huge in terms of his body, his heart and also *cough* down there.

“Kitten, you’re going to inflate my ego to dangerous levels with all that talk about me being so big.”

Phew, I’d love to be Kat in that situation.

On the other hand, Kat lives in paranoia every day. She lives in a small town where nobody knows her, avoiding everything connected with her past life, and living in the moment. That is, until her past comes chasing after her.

With Aiden’s help, Kat faces her darkest fears and her biggest problem. With his help, Kat broke free of the chains holding her down.

Although she was frustrating at times with her stubbornness, she was an admirable character.

The only other thing I didn’t like about the book was the fact that this all happened so fast. Like, you blink, and suddenly they’re all ga-ga for each other. More connection please?

MY RATING:

4 APPLES!!!!!

✭ BOOK LINKS ✭

  

(Click book cover for Goodreads link)

♕ Seducing Cinderella (Fighting for Love #1) ♕

Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Kobo

♕ Rules of Entanglement (Fighting for Love #2) ♕

Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Kobo

♕ Fighting for Irish (Fighting for Love #3) ♕

Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Kobo

New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author, Gina L. Maxwell, is a shameless romance addict with no intentions of ever kicking the habit.

Growing up, she dreamed of helping people escape reality with her sublime acting abilities. It wasn’t until college when she realized she had none to speak of, thereby derailing her lifelong plans. Another ten years would pass before she discovered a different means to accomplishing the same dream: writing stories of love and passion for romance addicts just like her.

Thanks to the support of her amazing family, Gina is now the Boss of the world’s first organized romance mafia, the Maxwell Mob, and living her dream of bringing a little romantic fantasy to the world—one steamy novel at a time.

Check her out in these sites:

Website | Twitter | Facebook

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REVIEW: The Gamble (Colorado Mountain #1) – Kristen Ashley

Released: April 18th, 2011

Love is the greatest gamble of all . . . 

Nina Sheridan desperately needs a timeout vacation. With a fiancé who can't even remember how she takes her coffee, Nina wants some distance to rethink her engagement. Flying halfway around the world from England to a mountain town in Colorado should do the trick. But when she finds a gorgeous man at her rental cabin, Nina's cold, lonely adventure suddenly heats up.

The owner of the house, Holden "Max" Maxwell is surprised by the beautiful woman who turns up at his door. But when Nina becomes ill, Max spends days nursing her back to health. A private man with a broken heart, Max finds himself drawn to the strong-willed woman. Soon it becomes impossible for Nina and Max to deny their growing attraction to one another. Yet even as these two wounded lovebirds think about taking a chance on a relationship, a dangerous secret from Max's past emerges-and threatens to end their love for good.

"Thank you for showing me it was worth taking a gamble again, darling."

Kristen Ashley is the ultimate creator of badass, dirty mouthed alpha males. Hones to God, all her men are so addictive, smoking hot, and completely badass and possessive. In The Gamble, we get Max who's gone through so much in so little time. And also Nina, very high class, very sweet, and very confused. Together, they have the kind of chemistry that would suck the air right out of the room (in a definite good way).

Sweet mama, I wouldn't have read this series if it wasn't for my best friend (God bless you, woman). When I read the blurb, I thought it was just going to be an "ehh, okay" kind of book instead of a "wow, okay" kind of book. But I was wrong. So wow, okay.

Like every other of Kristen's books, this one is written from Nina's point of view and we see her as an introduction to the novel with her car being stuck in a ditch and her reservations for lodgings being cancelled by none other than Max himself.

But loved, loved, loved Nina's character! She's very independent, smart, and she sticks up for herself. Like other Ashley heroines, she's also a little lost somewhere and so, with the help of Max, she finds herself again.

I. Fucking. Love. Her. She knows just the right things to say.

"We girls, we're tough, darling. Soft on the outside but, deep down, we're tough. DOesn't feel like it now but none of this is going to beat you."

But then when she holds grudges, it's hi-lar-i-ous! Definitely don't wanna get on her bad side.

"Maybe plot how I'll drug and kidnap my father, drive him to the next state and dump him outside a Police Station with a note pinned to him saying that he killed JFK and was there to confess."

In comes Max with his suave ways. He was a dick at first, like most guys are, but then he became the possessive male who came to love Nina in all of her cute high-maintenanced ways. God, when he gets angry but like a good kind of angry (?), it's so hot!

"Not a big fan of my woman running herself down, not even doin' it as a joke. You got an unbelievably pretty face, fantastic fuckin' eyes and a spectacular body."

Um, I think my underwear just flew out the window? Holy. Shit.

Although Max can be annoying at times when he thinks with his dick, but the outcome? WOO-HOO!!! Like really, can you do me? Okay, moving on. Seriously. Okay. Um.

THE ENDING. Yes, let's talk about the ending. Wow, the ending. Did not expect that. Really was surprised. I think the Colorado Mountain series all have a bit of a mystery/action in them which makes it all the more intense and exciting to read. READ IT!!!

MY RATING:

4 – 4.5 APPLES!!!!!

✭ BOOK LINKS ✭

     

(Click book cover for Goodreads link)

♕ The Gamble (Colorado Mountain #1) ♕

Amazon | Barnes&Noble

♕ Sweet Dreams (Colorado Mountain #2) ♕

Amazon | Barnes&Noble

♕ Lady Luck (Colorado Mountain #3) ♕

Amazon | Barnes&Noble

♕ Breathe (Colorado Mountain #4) ♕

Amazon | Barnes&Noble

♕ Jagged (Colorado Mountain #5) ♕
Amazon | Barnes&Noble

♕ Kaleidoscope (Colorado Mountain #6) ♕
Amazon | Barnes&Noble

Kristen Ashley was born in Gary, Indiana, USA. She nearly killed her mother and herself making it into the world, seeing as she had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck (already attempting to accessorise and she hadn't taken her first breath!).

Kristen grew up in Brownsburg, Indiana but has lived in Denver, Colorado and the West Country of England. Thus she has been blessed to have friends and family around the globe. Her posse is loopy (to say the least) but loopy is good when you want to write.

Kristen was raised in a house with a large and multi-generational family. They lived on a very small farm in a small town in the heartland and existed amongst the strains of Glenn Miller, The Everly Brothers, REO Speedwagon and Whitesnake (and the wardrobes that matched).

Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music, clothes and love was a good way to grow up.

And as she keeps growing up, it keeps getting better.

Check her out in these sites:

Website | Twitter | Facebook

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BLOG TOUR: Love of a Rockstar – Nicole Simone + Review & Luke's POV excerpt!

Released: June 28th, 2014

Marlene Parker thought she met her soul mate at eighteen but when he left her pregnant and alone to pursue a life of rock n roll, she vowed to never love again. Now four years later, she is being offered the dream of a lifetime. Moving to France with her daughter to start anew. There is only one problem. Marlene’s formative ex is back in town, and his pull is strong as ever.

Luke Anderson has everything a man could want. Fame, fortune and enough beautiful women to last him a lifetime. That is until a young runaway shows him what is truly important. Family. A word in which plagues Luke with regret. As a scared twenty two year old he ran away from the love of his life and their unborn child. Now ready to reverse his biggest regret with only three days to do it, Luke’s fate hangs in the balance. The question is, will he be able to convince Marlene their love story deserves a second chance?

"I never thought our love story had an end."

*COPY PROVIDED BY AUTHOR FOR AN HONEST REVIEW*

Different from the usually extremely angsty rockstar novels, Love of a Rockstar takes on a lighter tone that tells the tale of the rekindling fire between Marlene, a single mother swamped with work and the heavy weight of a child, and Luke, the man who abandoned them to pursue his career. It was a quick, fun read and I definitely love me a rockstar.

Okay, let me start off with the good things.

I love Marlene, love this woman. She's strong, independent. She can be stubborn as hell. She's sometimes too driven by love. But the effort she puts in into raising Nil is just admirable. Marlene put everything she wanted aside to take care of her daughter first.

Then there's Luke. At first I thought he was a douche (and I still think that he didn't grovel enough), but then he became sweeter as he got along better with Nil and with Marlene. I mean, for fuck's sake, this guy abandoned his girlfriend when she got preggers. And she was going to go to LE CORDON BLEU!!! That's one of, if not the best, culinary school in the world.

But then yeah, well, they fuck up. They kiss, they make up. And the story goes.

Although I loved the characters dearly, there were some faults that I just couldn't let go.

First of all, Marlene, like what the hell? Do you have that little willpower? I get that you're in love with him, but he abandoned you for Christ's sake, at least try to keep your vagina controlled until you get your emotions under control. I expected her to be either a) super upset, crying and she kicks him like out of the house for at least a couple of days or b) confront him, yell at him, like really blow up on him then have hot makeup sex.

Then, Luke, he had some irrational anger scenes that I just wanted to smack him in and yell at him, "YOU DON'T DESERVE TO BE MAD!" But anyway, moving on.

If the book had more details into the relationship - or maybe alternated between two point of views -  we'd at least see more of Luke's feelings to see that he's really serious.

The grandma, I love though (even though the parallels between her relationship and Marlene's were just too improbable), her quotes! Especially these two:

"I believe in finding a man who can be your best friend, because once the lust fades, friendship is what will hold the foundation of your marriage together."

And ESPECIALLY this one:

"You young people all want to live in a romantic movie but life isn't like that. It's messy and at the end of the day you want your best friend at your side."

THIS! I'm just like, YES!

Great read! 

MY RATING:

3.5 - 4 APPLES!!!!!

✭ BUY LINKS ✭ 

(Click book cover for Goodreads link)

♕ Love of a Rockstar ♕

Amazon | Barnes&Noble

This isn't actually an excerpt from the novel but it's a scene written from Luke's POV! This is what we needed more throughout the novel. Nevertheless, enjoy!

I stepped out of the limo into the frigid Seattle air.  It had been almost four years since I came home and to be honest, my nerves were on edge.  My fans screamed wildly as I gave them a quick wave and hustled inside for warmth.  The elaborate entryway of the hotel reminded me how far I’d come since the beginning of my career.  Back when I was a broke ass musician, I slept in the van along with the rest of my band mates. Then again, we partied more than we slept. Alcohol kept my nightmares at bay and my emotions numb. That was in the past though; now, I was a new man, ready to face the consequences of my actions. My gaze landed on the receptionist desk where my manager said Marlene worked. Sure enough, there was a woman at the counter who looked like her but her hair was different.  Shorter, blunt at the edges with side swept bangs.  As if the woman could feel my eyes on her, she glanced up.  I knew it was Marlene by the shocked expression on her face. As if she was seeing a ghost.  

Just to double check, I took a step closer. “M?” 

At the term of endearment, her tooth snagged her bottom lip and that was all I needed. My heart turned over in my chest as I looked at the woman who had haunted my dreams.  Her face was the same, still uniquely beautiful.  However, being a mother brought out an inner glow.  Like the first time I saw Marlene, it was as if I was staring at the sun. Happiness warmed my soul. It was obvious she didn’t feel the same.  Her wide-eyed stare turned into one of panic and my gut told me she was about to bolt.  Quickly, I strode over but it was too late. 

I held out my hand to stop her. “Wait,” I yelled. 

Marlene’s long leg’s sprinted toward the women’s restroom where she disappeared inside. I knew I should have told her I was in Seattle instead of surprising her. My manager clasped her hand on my shoulder. 

“What are you staring at?” She asked. 

My eyes willed for the door to open and for Marlene to re-emerge. I was borderline desperate to hear her musical voice again.  

“This time she was the one who ran away.” I murmured 

I heard a smile in my manager’s voice. “So what are you going to do?” 

“I’m going to wait.” 

Four years ago, I walked out on the family I could have had. It would take a miracle for Marlene to forgive me and let me be a part of my daughter’s life.  Nonetheless, I was ready for the challenge.  They were everything I had left. 

    

Nicole Simone works in digital media by day and at night, pen’s character driven romance novels that will make your mama blush. She lives in Los Angeles, C.A with her fat bulldog named Humphrey. Love of a Rockstar is her debut novel.

Check her out in these sites:

Website | Facebook

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This tour was hosted by Book Plug Promotions.