Showing posts with label joker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label joker. Show all posts

Saturday, July 4, 2015

Ride Steady By Kristen Ashey Blog Tour!



http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/26635ce2216RIDE STEADY by Kristen Ashley (June 30, 2015; Forever Mass Market; Chaos #3)
The ride of her life . . . Once upon a time, Carissa Teodoro believed in happy endings. Money, marriage, motherhood: everything came easy---until she woke up to the ugly truth about her Prince Charming. Now a struggling, single mom and stranded by a flat tire, Carissa's pondering her mistakes when a vaguely familiar knight rides to her rescue on a ton of horsepower.

Climb on and hold tight . . . 
In high school, Carson Steele was a bad boy loner who put Carissa on a pedestal where she stayed far beyond his reach. Today, he's the hard-bodied biker known only as Joker, and from the way Carissa's acting, it's clear she's falling fast. While catching her is irresistible, knowing what to do with her is a different story. A good girl like Carissa is the least likely fit with the Chaos Motorcycle Club. Too bad holding back is so damned hard. Now, as Joker's secrets are revealed and an outside threat endangers the club, Joker must decide whether to ride steady with Carissa---or ride away forever . . .

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REVIEW:

It was amazing to see how Carissa and Carson's lives were like before. Mostly because it gave us an insight into where they came from, and how far they've come from where they were. Not to mention there's some things later on that wouldn't make sense if you hadn't had those scenes. 

Carson is an amazing man, especially considering where he's come from. And then there's also Carissa, who is beautiful inside and out but certainly not perfect. And we got more of the boys of Chaos. They may be what you would think of bikers in certain ways but they are much different than the stereotype in others and so it's wonderful to see that. Not to mention you get that glimpse into their family and brotherhood. 

Ride Steady is heavy in certain parts and the plot moved along at a good speed. There was never a dull moment. I stayed up late to finish this and didn't even regret it when I had to work early the next morning. It was certainly worth it!

Kristen Ashley creates books that make you feel so many things, but you always know that it's unlikely you won't get an HEA. And that's something that I like in most of my books. Kristen Ashley is an amazing writer and if you haven't read any of her other books then you should certainly do so!

Ride Steady continues a series that I can't wait to see more of! I want more of the Chaos boys! Or anything Kristen Ashley releases!


EXCERPT:

“What now?” he clipped, planting his hands on his hips.
I watched him do this.
His knuckles were all scabbed. But his fingers were long, not graceful, but handsome. They were a working man’s hands. They’d be rough. I could even see grease stains around the nail beds.
Something about that caused something to happen inside me.
My focus shifted from his hands to his crotch. His jeans were faded. The area around his crotch more faded.
Up I went to a black belt with silver rivets in it that had seen some wear, the length beyond the clasp dangling from a belt loop to the side in a supple way, the leather not close to stiff.
Up his flat belly to his wide chest and broad shoulders and bulging arms.
And up to his long black hair that looked thick, messy, had a lot of wave and brushed his shoulders. His beard wasn’t  bushy, it was trimmed, but it was about two days away from being unkempt.
He was tall.
He was annoyed.
I felt the latter because he was the kind of man whose mood altered a room and I understood this because I was right then experiencing it. But I also knew it wasn’t just that or that we were the only ones in the room and having the conversation that was making him annoyed so of course I’d be feeling it.
It was him. He had that kind of power behind his personality.
I shifted my eyes to his.
Steel. A strange flat color that seemed impenetrable.
And suddenly I had a new dream. One that didn’t involve motherhood, cookies, doing laundry, and being a soccer mom.
One that centered around penetrating the impenetrable.
“So? What?” he prompted irately.
At his words, I flew across the room.
He had the chance to go back on a boot but that was all he had before my body slammed into his, my hands went to either side of his head and I lifted up on tiptoe as I yanked him down.
Then I pressed my lips hard against his.
A breath later, something strange happened.
Strange and wondrous.
His arms closed around me, and if I could think of anything, I’d worry about the state of my ribs.
But I couldn’t think of anything because his tongue spiked into my mouth and my world changed.
My entire world.
I didn’t have a dead sister.
I didn’t have a dead mother.
I didn’t have a lonely father looking after his mother, who was addled with Alzheimer’s disease.
I didn’t have an ex‑husband, who I once loved who I thought would cherish and protect me and help me build my dream, but now was making my life a misery and trying to take my son away from me.
I had this.
All of it. All the biker named Joker gave me by holding me so tight it was a pain that hurt so good and who was invading my mouth with his tongue in a way that stated clearly he could do it for a lifetime and never get enough.
My hands left his head so I could curve my arms around his shoulders as I pressed closer.
In return, one of his hands slid up my spine. He pulled out my ponytail holder and drove his fingers into my hair, cupping the back of my head, tilting it one way while he slanted his the other. He deepened the kiss in an intoxicating way while his other hand glided down and cupped one cheek of my behind.
That felt good.
He shuffled me back.
I went with him.
We kept kissing.
Then he turned quickly and we were falling.
Then he turned quickly and we were falling.
He landed on his back on the bed. I landed on him but barely had the opportunity to experience the dizzying beauty of the long length of his hard frame under mine before I was given more beauty when he rolled me and I had the weight of his hard frame pressing mine into the bed.
His hand left my bottom and went up, fingers yanking at my navy LeLane’s polo shirt, pulling it from my khakis, and then I had its heat, skin against skin.
I was right.
His hands were rough.


About the author:
Kristen Ashley grew up in Brownsburg, Indiana, and 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 multigenerational family. They lived on a very small farm in a small town in the heartland, and Kristen grew up listening to the strains of Glenn Miller, The Everly Brothers, REO Speedwagon, and Whitesnake. Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music and love was a good way to grow up.  And as she keeps growing up, it keeps getting better.

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Monday, April 20, 2015

Hunter by Mandy Harbin


Hunter (The Bang Shift Series)
By Mandy Harbin
Genre: Military, Romantic Suspense



After finally getting out of her disastrous relationship, Maya Carmichael has sworn off all bad boys. Sure they’re hot. The attitude? No thanks. But when her car is vandalized while on a night out with her roommate, she realizes her ex is truly sadistic. Her friend insists they lay low for a few days while the cops do their thing. Unfortunately her temporary haven will throw her in the path of another bad boy. Oh, she’s heard stories about her roommate’s brother, Hunter, and he’s just the type she wants to avoid. Until she sees him … and all good intentions fly out of her busted windshield.

Hunter Anderson might be the easygoing jokester within the Bang Shift crew—the small Arkansas town’s mechanics and the government’s secret mercenaries—but underneath his lighthearted exterior lurks demons of a past he’d love nothing more than to forget. Working on cars and taking the occasional contracted mission help, but he fears nothing will stop his past from coming back to haunt him. No one has tried penetrating the façade to get to the real person below. No one, until Maya.

The attraction is undeniable, but there’s more to Hunter than he can ever let on, and for Maya, this hot distraction makes it easy to forget the real danger she’s in. It has nothing to do with losing her heart to him.

When really it has everything to do with just that.

Review:

Hunter lives up to the first book in the Bang Shift Series. It involved action, but it wasn't constantly going on and sometimes it didn't even have to do with the bad guys. There's also the fact that there were some interesting connections that I didn't understand until they were explained and there were numerous connections made during the book that will be interesting to see play out in further books. They gave you something to whet your appetite and it definitely makes you crave more.

That being said the story and characters of Hunter and Maya were beautifully done. There were flaws, they were far from perfect, and that was clear in their interactions and thoughts. They struggled just as we do but they also had the additional difficulty of the main plot of the book to deal with as well as trying to resist one another. 

If you enjoyed Brody, then you will certainly love to read Hunter and look forward to further books in the series. And if you haven't read either book, you should certainly give them a look!




Mandy Harbin is an award-winning, bestselling author of several books across multiple romance genres ranging from contemporary to paranormal erotic romance. She is also the number one bestselling author in teen romance under the pen name M.W. Muse with her popular Goddess Series. She is a Superstar Award recipient, Reader’s Crown and RWA Passionate Plume finalist, and has received Night Owl Reviews Top Pick distinction many times. She studied writing at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, earned several degrees, and even pursued an MBA until she realized becoming an author did not have to remain an unfulfilled dream. Mandy is a PAN member of the RWA and lives in a small Arkansas town with her non-traditional family, and although she is a direct descendant of British royalty, they refuse to call her princess. When she’s not penning her latest book, you can find her hanging out online where she loves to connect with fellow readers or stalking Mickey Mouse at Disney World.


Photos attached (I use the color one mainly when promoting my Mandy Harbin stuff and the black/white/smiling one when promoting M.W. Muse)



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