Indie Review: Unbreak Me by Lexi Ryan

Unbreak Me 

by: Lexi Ryan
Releases Today!!!!!!!
Genre: New Adult Romance

Source: e-ARC provided by ATOMR tours

Unbreak Me on Goodreads here.

Synopsis:

“If you’re broken, I’ll fix you…”

I’m only twenty-one and already damaged goods. A slut. A failure. A disappointment to my picture-perfect family as long as I can remember. I called off my wedding to William Bailey, the only man who thought I was worth fixing. A year later, he’s marrying my sister. Unless I ask him not to…

“If you shatter, I’ll find you…”

But now there’s Asher Logan, a broken man who sees the fractures in my façade and doesn’t want to fix me at all. Asher wants me to stop hiding, to stop pretending. Asher wants to break down my walls. But that means letting him see my ugly secrets and forgiving him for his. 

With my past weighing down on me, do I want the man who holds me together or the man who gives me permission to break?

Purchase Links:

Barnes & Noble | Amazon

My Thoughts:

Plenty of sexy times to be had in this New Adult pick!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Unbreak Me and watching all the plots and twists unfold of the twisted love triangle (or square to be more accurate) in Ryan's latest release. 

Unbreak Me is narrated from multiple perspectives (Maggie, Asher and Will), so we're never left wondering how each man truly feels about our heroine (even if she isn't). Maggie is a tough nut to crack. She's been through so much for a 21-year-old and as a result, is incredibly defensive and reluctant to get emotionally attached.

But Asher Logan wants to be the one to peel back the many layers and walls Maggie has built up, lucky girl. This man is basically sex on a stick, a gorgeous ex-rocker with a complicated past of his own, Asher can truly sympathize with Maggie, and knows that there's much more to her than the "sex-crazed harlot" persona she and their whole town have labeled her as.

Will, to, cares deeply for Maggie and their past isn't something that she (or he) can easily forget, but he also happens to be engaged to her older sister. I really liked Will and felt bad for the way things ended between him and Maggie, but I must admit, I don't think it's right for anyone to "settle" for something (or someone) they're not truly in love with, and this is why I wanted to smack him quite a few times throughout Unbreak Me.

There was definite chemistry between Maggie and both these boys, but the steam level was definitely elevated in the scenes with her and Asher. Seriously, have a fan and cloth handy because your e-reader screen WILL fog-up during the sexy times between these two.

Ultimately, I was satisfied with the way this story ended and although I wish she could pick both men, I agreed with the choice Maggie made. I actually wouldn't mind seeing a couple more stories from these characters to see a bit more progression between them all.

If you're a fan of New Adult and enjoy some good steam in your reads, give Unbreak Me a shot!

Happy Reading!!!

Do you want to read Unbreak Me, now? Go here to read a sexy teaser from Unbreak Me and enter my current giveaway for this title! It's really easy to enter and it's International! :)

What's the Story McCoy?

Hey again! Ok so I tried very hard to do a vlog for this week's What's the Story McCoy? but, once again, I've hit too many technical difficulties and have decided it's just much easier to snap a picture. But I'll get it one day, I swear haha!

Here are the goods this week (I'm sorry but I won't be linking the titles this week, it's past midnight and I still need to finish packing for BEA!!!!!!!)

I did have a few awesome weeks for books though:

I bought

Storm & Spark by Brigid Kemmerer 

The Kissing Booth by Beth Reekles 

ARCs

Through the Zombie Glass by Gena Showalter - Oct'13 - Thanks HarlequinTEEN!

The Rule of Thirds by Chantel Guertin - Oct'13 (Psst! In case you missed the post, I'm organizing a blog tour for this title. Go here to sign-up! :)) - Thanks ECW Press!

This Strange and Familiar Place by Rachel Carter - Jul'13 - Thanks Kristen!

Thornhill by Kathleen Peacock - Sept'13 - Thanks Sarah!

A Spark Unseen by Sharon Cameron - Oct'13 - Thanks Scholastic Canada!

The Darkest Path by Jeff Hirsch - Oct'13- Thanks Scholastic Canada!

The Wolf Princess by Cathryn Constable - Oct'13 - Thanks Scholastic Canada!

PODs by Michelle Pickett - Jun'13 - Thanks Spencer Hill Press!

Triangles by Kimberly Ann Miller - Jun'13 - Thanks Spencer Hill Press!

Born of Illusion by Teri Brown - Jun'13 - Thanks HarperCollins Canada!

Devoured by Emily Snow (Finished Copy) - Thanks Simon and Schuster Canada!

Ten Tiny Breath by K.A. Tucker - Oct'13 - Thanks Simon and Schuster Canada!

Indelible by Dawn Metcalf - Jul'13 - Thanks HarlequinTEEN!

Finished Copies

Furious by Jill Wolfson - Thanks Raincoast Books!

Spies and Prejudicies by Talia Vance - Thanks Random House Canada!

That's my story this week, thanks so much to all the amazing Publishers and bloggers who made it so epic! What's your story? 

See you when I get back from BEA!!!

Happy Reading!!!

Book Blitz: Unbreak Me by Lexi Ryan

Unbreak Me 

by: Lexi Ryan
Releases Today!!!!!!!
Genre: New Adult Romance

Unbreak Me on Goodreads here.

Synopsis:
“If you’re broken, I’ll fix you…”

I’m only twenty-one and already damaged goods. A slut. A failure. A disappointment to my picture-perfect family as long as I can remember. I called off my wedding to William Bailey, the only man who thought I was worth fixing. A year later, he’s marrying my sister. Unless I ask him not to…

“If you shatter, I’ll find you…”

But now there’s Asher Logan, a broken man who sees the fractures in my façade and doesn’t want to fix me at all. Asher wants me to stop hiding, to stop pretending. Asher wants to break down my walls. But that means letting him see my ugly secrets and forgiving him for his. 

With my past weighing down on me, do I want the man who holds me together or the man who gives me permission to break?

Purchase Links:

Barnes & Noble | Amazon

Pool Scene Teaser Excerpt from Unbreak Me:

Warning!!! Unbreak Me is a New Adult title and this excerpt does contain explicit sexual content. Recommended for readers 18+

“You’ve had a long day,” he says. “You want to talk?”

I drape my arms behind his neck. “Why would you think I want to talk to you at all?”

He grunts. “Because you’re looking at me like a starved woman at a prime rib buffet.”

“Yes,” I murmur. “What does that have to do with talking?”

His eyes are so damn sexy. The kind of eyes you see in magazines, where the man staring at you from the pages seems to invite you to strip bare while promising you’d enjoy it.

“Don’t you want us to get to know each other before you indulge?”

I pretend to consider it. “I’m more about the meal than the conversation.”

“You’re a kid.” If it’s supposed to be an objection it rings weak against the pressure of his hand on my hip.

I trace a rivulet of water down his neck. “I’m twenty-one.” I bring up my knees and wrap my legs around his waist, satisfied when he draws in his breath with a sharp hiss.

“Is this about him?” he asks.

I frown. “Who?”

“The groom at your sister’s wedding? He has some kind of hold on you. I saw it in your eyes. In his.”

“This has nothing to do with William Bailey.”

He looks unconvinced but doesn’t call my bluff. Instead, he brushes his lips over mine. Gentle. Careful. Sweet.

The only thing that can break me tonight is sweet, and I won’t be broken. I bite his full bottom lip and dig my nails into his shoulder blades.

A quick study, he gets my message. His hand tangles into my hair while the other digs into my ass and pulls me against him. The hard length of his cock rests between my legs and lights a hot coil of pulsing energy.

He rubs his tongue against mine and moans. Or maybe that’s me, because I’m pulling him closer. I wrap my arm tighter behind his neck, and I’m practically crawling up him in my efforts to get closer and closer still.

I break the kiss and make myself back off. I’m not the kind of girl who loses control. I don’t lose my mind over men and expect to be saved. I don’t want Asher to save me.

His fingertips are at my hip, tracing an invisible path down and under, moving ever closer to that coiled ache between my thighs. His lips part and our breath mingles as I savor the heat of his body against mine, the sweet anticipation of his fingers inching closer to where I want them.

I slide a hand down his bare chest and between our bodies and cup him through his swim trunks. I’m rewarded with another hiss and then his lips, his tongue, his teeth, hot and desperate against my neck, nipping, toying, playing. Electrifying the sensitive skin.

He cups my breast, and this time I know the moan I hear is my own.

“So goddamn sexy.” His thumb flicks across my nipple, a strangled sound escaping his throat.

I graze my fingertips under the waistband of his swim trunks. I want to feel him in my palm. I want that power to whip through me as I wrap my hands around his hot flesh and it pulses thicker, harder.

For a moment, that’s where this is headed. His hands are greedy, all over me, his mouth doing delicious things to my neck.

“You have protection, right?” I ask.

He laughs and stops toying with me, his head leaning against my shoulder. Slowly, he slides his hands to my back. “That’s not exactly something I keep tucked in my swim trunks.”

I’m so aroused it hurts. Asher is stunning. Solid. Delicious. I want to bite into that corded muscle of his neck. Want to explore that smattering of chest hair with my fingers while I drag my mouth down his flat stomach.

But he doesn’t have protection, and that’s a deal breaker.

“In your house?” My breathing’s unsteady, my heart pounding.

He cups my face in one big hand. “Why don’t you run home and get dressed? I’ll take you to breakfast.”

My jaw goes slack. Who the hell is this guy? Who has brakes that good?

Excerpt © Lexi Ryan, 2013

About the Author:

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Lexi Ryan writes romances with humor, heat, and heart. Her books are described as fun, flirty, and wickedly sexy. A lover of learning, Lexi has been in the classroom all her life and currently holds the title of assistant professor of English at her local community college. Lexi is a proud member of Romance Writers of America. She lives in rural Indiana with her husband and two children.

Author Links:
Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

Giveaway time!!! Fill the Rafflecopter below for the chance to win an ecopy of Unbreak Me!!! Open internationally, good luck to all!!!

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Thanks so much to Lexi and Xpresso Book Tours, for allowing me to participate in this tour!!!

Blog Tour: Drowning in You by Rebecca Berto, Review & Author Guest Post

Hey Guys! Today I'm happy to be one of the hosts on the DROWNING IN YOU BLOG TOUR!!!

Drowning In You 

by Rebecca Berto
Now Available!!!
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance

Drowing in You on Goodreads here.

Secretly crushing

Crushed by a tragedy

Charlee May’s been crushing on Dexter Hollingworth since she was fifteen. Five years later, a horrific skiing disaster at Mason’s Ski Lift Resort leaves her millionaire dad critically injured and her mom dead at the hands of Dexter operating the lifts. Charlee is suddenly the sole caretaker for her little brother while their world falls apart.

Dexter couldn’t be more different from Charlee. He’s tattooed, avoids exclusive relationships and his Dad has a fair share of illegal dealings. With Dexter’s reputation, almost everyone believes he planned the Mason’s skiing disaster.

And after all these years he’s still crushing on Charlee May, the girl who’s too good for him.

When this cruel twist of fate ties Charlee’s family and Dexter’s reputation together, Charlee and Dexter wonder if their feelings are reciprocated, while Dexter discovers his dad is trying to steal the May’s millionaire fortune.

But like an addiction, one look, one touch, one taste—they’re hooked no matter the consequences.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Kindle | Smashwords | Kobo

My Thoughts:

An intense and angst-filled New Adult debut!

The intensity comes from the rocky relationship Dex and Charz share, and I mean, wow, the sexual chemistry will keep you turning the pages. This isn't an instant-love story, these two have had years of pent-up feelings for each other and when they finally act on these feelings, well watch out folks!

Of course there is quite a bit of familial drama keeping these two apart, a lot of this is based on misplaced guilt, but you'll be rooting for these two to work through the drama, throughout Drowning in You. 

The reader is given dual narratives from both Charz and Dex's perspectives, so we're never left with any doubt about the feelings and actions of each, and I really enjoyed both of these characters, especially Dex. He's the sexy, dangerous playboy that the whole town warns Charlee against, but she just can't help herself (and to be honest, once you've read the book, you really can't blame her haha). 

Overall, I think readers who enjoy extra helping of drama and angst with a side of intense sexy times, in their New Adult, will really enjoy Drowning in You.

Happy Reading!!!

About Rebecca:

Rebecca Berto is the author or the dark contemporary/literary novella, PRECISE and the upcoming new adult contemporary romance novel, DROWNING IN YOU. She is also a freelance editor.

She writes stories that are a bit sexy, and straddle the line between Literary and Tear Your Heart Out. She gets a thrill when her readers  are emotional reading her stories, and gets even more of a kick when they tell her so. She’s strangely imaginative, spends too much time on her computer, and is certifiably crazy when she works on her fiction.

Rebecca Berto lives in Melbourne, Australia with her boyfriend and their doggy. 

Connect with Rebecca:

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

Author Guest Post: How to Write an Entertaining and Angsty New Adult Novel

Cliché or no cliché, that is the question.

Back in June 2011, The extreme bad boy with tattoos, a possessive nature, border-anger problems, and an extreme love for a good girl he can’t have was brand new, hot and the start of a trend. Enter Beautiful Disaster.

Fast forward to May 2013, and it’s been done over and over so many times, that it’s old news.

The thing is clichés aren’t always bad. In my opinion, a novel with in the New Adult genre with the above aspects can do just as well today as it could almost two years ago when Beautiful Disaster started it all. It’s just a matter of how the characters are formed, and what direction the story is taken.

For example, happy endings (or HEAs) will forever be published, and published often. Characters with secrets and troubled pasts will forever be published, too. But it’s about creating real people with layered characteristics and quirks. The story can be set in college and be all about an angsty love story between two people who originally don’t seem suited for each other. But make it your own.

Some tips:

·      -Why can’t the guy wear a pair of dorky glasses, enjoy helping out with a charity in his spare time, yet party often and enjoy drinking with mates?

·      - Let the main character/s act a certain way for a reason. I.e. Are they afraid to commit because they’re parents divorced early and blamed them for the break up, thus scarring them against healthy relationships?

·      - For bad qualities to your character, have good ones for balance, too. I.e. The college-aged character could have a little sibling or a family friend or even a stranger they met they and feel they need to take under their wing. That creates empathy and thus an acceptance that we’re all human and we do stupid things from time to time because we aren’t perfect.

To avoid:

·      - Typical broken character, burned by love and hesitant to commit yet finds a good girl and has never felt so strongly for anyone before. (Done before and it’s cliché without adding any depth or the author’s personal twist.)

·     -  Sudden pregnancy/Misunderstood twist that makes the lover think the other is cheating/sudden death. (All three are flashing alerts that could be only seen to up the drama because everything is going too smoothly for the H/h. If that’s all one of those elements is, drop it. It’s cliché and there’s no new, personal spin.)

To sum up popular storylines or characters can work well if used in a New Adult novel with a different spin. Maybe the author can introduce a quirk, or an unconventional past to a character for freshness.

However you choose to write your angsty New Adult novel, remember that people love HEAs, love troubled characters an­d a troubled love story. You want themes people like, but you need to OWN it. Make your own mark in the genre!

That’s all from me. Thanks for having me, Booking It With Hayley G.

Thank YOU Rebecca for stopping by and sharing your thoughts and helpful tips! :) 

But wait!!! Rebecca has a giveaway especially for YOU! Fill out the Rafflecopter below to be entered to win 1 of 5 ebooks of Drowning In You, and it's International!!! Good luck to all!

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Special thanks to Rebecca and Xpresso Book Tours, for
allowing me to participate in this blog tour!

BLOGGERS WANTED!!! ARC Blog Tour Sign-ups: The Rule of Thirds by Chantel Guertin

The Rule of Thirds
by: Chantel Guertin
Publisher: ECW Press
Release Date: October 1st/13.
Genre: Contemporary YA (Coming of Age, Romance)
Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads:
Sixteen-year-old Pippa Greene never goes anywhere without her camera. She and her best friend/supermodel-in-training Dace long ago mapped out their life plan: Pippa will be the noted fashion photographer, and Dace the cover girl. But ever since last spring, things have changed for Pippa—and her junior year at Spalding High proves to have its own set of challenges. Not only is Vantage Point, the statewide photography competition, in three short weeks, but her mandatory volunteering placement lands her at St. Christopher’s Hospital, a place Pippa never wanted to set foot in again. With humor and pluck, she navigates her new role as a candy striper (watch out for Code Yellows), her changing relationship with her best friend (goodbye, Honesty Pact), and—perhaps most stressful of all—her new love interests (yes, love interests plural). Will Pippa make it to Vantage Point without having a panic attack? Will either one of the guys prove less sketchy than her last boyfriend? Can she and Dace figure out a way to dream big and be best friends? One thing is certain: real life is a lot more complicated than a photograph.

About Chantel:

Chantel is currently the Editor-at-Large of TheKit.ca, a monthly digital fashion & beautymagazine & weekly print feature in the Toronto Star, Montreal Gazette & Vancouver Sun, a beauty expert on  The Marilyn Denis Show and faculty at Centennial College in the Book & Magazine publishing program, where she teaches magazine writing and editing courses.

She has worked at ELLE Canada, Sweetspot.ca, TV Guide, Elevate and The Toronto Sun, and has contributed to FASHION, Maclean’s, Best Health,Canadian Living, Reader’s Digest, MoneySense, HGTV, FoodNetwork andWNetwork.com and has appeared on as a regular guest on the CFRB 1010 AM show “The Buddha Lounge”, as well as on Oh So Cosmo! on CosmoTV, Roger, Darren & Marilyn on Chum-FM, Canada AM, Rogers Daytime, CH11, and in various magazines and newspapers.

Author Links:

Author website | Twitter | Facebook

Tour Details:

I am very excited to announce that I am organizing a blog tour for Chantel's YA debut, The Rule of Thirds! This tour will consist of; Reviews, Guest Posts, Author/Character interviews and Spotlights. There will be giveaways with the possibility of each blog stop hosting their own teen beauty gift basket giveaway!

The Rule of Thirds Blog Tour will run in early October, with the start date of October 1st.

Physical ARCs are available to be mailed out (for review purposes) to Canada & U.S. addresses, e-ARCs are available for international bloggers. We want to make Chantel's YA debut the most successful release it can be, therefore we will be looking for responsible and active book bloggers to participate in this tour. Length of tour and number of tour stops will be dependent on the number of blogs that sign-up, so please do! We really want to include as many reviewers as possible! :)

 If you'd like to participate in this blog tour please email me at: bookingitwithhayleyg@gmail.com with the subject line The Rule of Thirds Blog Tour Sign-Up. 

Please include the following information in your email:

• Your name
• Your blog name and url link
• Blog stats (GFC, pageviews, subscribers etc.)
• What type of post you would be interested in (please note: we want this to be a Review Heavy blog tour, so priority will be given to those who sign-up to review The Rule of Thirds)
• What date(s) you can host your post (October 1st - 10th/13.)- Please note: we would like your Tour Post to be the TOP post for said day.
• Your mailing address (Can/U.S. only) - This information will be used for mailing purposes for this tour only!
• Preferred e-ARC format (epub, mobi)

Once tour dates and hosts have been finalized an email will be sent out to all those selected for this tour. Please email me at the above address with any questions or concerns.

Thanks so much for your interest and Chantel and I can't wait for you all to meet Pippa and the boys vying for her affections!