Month: October 2015

Book Review: Work Song by Danielle Allen

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When society tries to put you in a box, knock the walls down. –Tati Green

“You have a pretty face” is such a back-handed compliment. It’s like telling me that my face is beautiful, but the rest of me is not.

Despite what society says, my curves are hot.
My love life, on the other hand, is not.

My mom says I’ll never find love because of my weight.
My sister says I’ll never find love because of my personality.
My almost-fiancé says I’ll never find love because I’m incapable of loving anyone.

My mom and sister are full of it, but my ex kind of has a point.

At twenty-seven years old, I’ve never been in love. I date a lot, yet sparks never fly. But when I experienced the heart-pounding, skin tingling feeling for the first time, I didn’t think it would be caused by a guy I’ve never met. And I damn sure didn’t think he would end up holding my future in his hands in more ways than one.

Genre: Contemporary Romance / BBW Romance
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Work Song, by Danielle Allen, is the story of two co-workers, who begin communicating via email from across the country. There’s an immediate connection due to their fun loving personalities, and love of movie quotes (a fun inclusion to the ongoing storyline!)

Reading this book was a breathe of fresh air. Sometimes when you are reviewing books you find that you are reading the same story

over and over again, just a little different. I didn’t find this book to be like that, at all.

The main character, Tatiana (Tati) is a strong willed, big, beautiful woman. She is trying to make it in a man’s world of sports journalism, and throughout her life has sacrificed relationships in order to reach her career goals. In this book she’s presented with a conflict when her online friendship is in jeopardy as Wesley (Wes) is relocated across country to the same office she works in. 

I really loved reading these characters. Tatiana was a great big bright spark, and in the world of today’s body shaming, it was great to read a woman character that was absolutely comfortable in her own skin. Her tough decisions and relationships she endures in the book are portrayed with heart and soul. This curvy girl romance by Danielle Allen is an absolute fun read!



Danielle Allen is a lover of football, fashion, film and fiction. Married to the yin to her yang, Danielle spends most of her time with her husband, family and friends. From karaoke nights to vacationing and everything in between, she enjoys making the most out of the life in which she’s been blessed. Danielle spends her days teaching and event planning and her nights writing.

Danielle Allen is the author of the Back to Life Series (Back to Life, Back to Reality, Back to December*), Love Discovered in New York, Autumn & Summer, the Heartache Series (Heartache, Heartfelt, Heartless*) and Work Song.








Book Review: Decline – Declan Reede the Untold Story by Michelle Irwin

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DECLINE

Declan Reede: The Untold Story

Hold on tight, stick to the racing line, and watch for the corners.

Four years after making the decision to leave his home town behind, all of Declan Reede’s dreams have come true. Unapologetically foul-mouthed and well known for his off-track antics, his success seems unstoppable. At least until Queensland Raceway and a chance sighting of the girl who once held his heart. Now, getting around the track seems an impossible battle as he struggles to return to his previous form. With his career racing downhill faster than his V8 on Mount Panorama, there’s more than just his reputation on the line.

What will it take to put the brakes on his decline?

**Due to strong language and sexual content not intended for anyone under age of 18**
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
Release Date: 24th September 2015
Cover Artist: Soxsationalcoverart
Principal photography by: NSP Studios 
Cover models: Ashleigh Johnson and Jarah Armstrong.


 Available now
Add to your Goodreads want to read list here: 

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Decline truly is a story of a man in decline. What I really love about this book, and so far, the whole Declan Reede story, is that it’s about a flawed character who doesn’t miraculously redeem himself just because of some actions in the storyline.

There are so many little story lines in this book, but I can’t tell you any of them because they will spoil the whole book. Declan does a good job of stuffing things up over and over again. If you’re anything like me, you’ll want to yell at him for being such a self-destructive a-hole! Of course, if he wasn’t then there’d be no Decline. His love for Alyssa is evident in his reactions and destructive behaviour. It’s a love that comes along once in a lifetime. Can he manage to heal it and keep the fractured love he’s created?

 

This story is intriguing and full of drama. It’s a lot less on the actual race car driving, and a lot more of the relationship and personal dramas of the main characters. Michelle Irwin has a real knack for writing the contemporary world, and I am really enjoying her words.

 

I don’t feel like there’s any resolution in the story, but there certainly is movement in the storyline that creates a great installment to the Declan Reede series. I can’t wait to keep reading!

  EXCERPT
Eden had been right about the track. By the ninth lap
of my second stint, the bitumen was bone dry and the teams that had gambled on
the rain staying were scrambling to the pits to change back onto slicks. I used the time to push even further ahead. Eden’ s voice squawked over the radio, telling me that I had just achieved the fastest lap time of the day. If I
didn’t have to keep both hands on the wheel, I would have given a fist pump in celebration. Things were finally going my way.
I was celebrating the small victories when I came across the top of the mountain again, across Skyline. The glare from the sun reflected in the top corner of my windscreen and I was blinded. Not by the light, but by the vision which the sun called to mind.
Alyssa.
My heart stopped and my eyes slammed closed.
Smiles and laughs; the sun glinting off her watch as we kept an eye on the time.
I could almost hear her voice bouncing around the car, laughing over some ridiculous shit we’d done during the day. We’d been so happy. So innocent. So fucking naive and stupid.
The memory was from one of the days we’d ditched school to hide out in our park. With a gasp, I swallowed oxygen down into protesting lungs. My hands shook and tremors raced through my fingers and into the wheel.
My stomach clenched as I remembered just how beautiful
she’d been. She didn’t have supermodel looks, she had something better. An honest to goodness girl-next-door quality that shone through from within and made her ten times sexier than any over glossed supermodel could ever be. The truth was, as bad as the visions of Alyssa’s red-rimmed eyes were, the happy ones were worse. They became tangible reminders of how much she’d once meant to me, and I almost didn’t want to suppress them.
With two more gulping breaths, I forced my eyes open and pushed the thought away. My grip tightened on the steering wheel, but it was already too late.
Though it’d been mere seconds, I’d been in my own world, my past for too long and hadn’t prepared to take the turn before falling into the Esses. I had no time to do anything but adjust the angle of my car as it smashed into the concrete barrier with a teeth-rattling bang. I prepared myself in the only way I could for a second crash as the car ricocheted off the wall, spun across the track, and then smashed into the side of a passing car. The sound of crunching metal and squealing rubber filled the space around me, but I could do nothing but hold on and hope for the best. My car lurched sickeningly toward the wall again, shunting hard into the concrete and rocking me into the hard surface of the door.
By the time I came to a rest, I was angled nose into the wall in a stationary car.
Unable to move, I panted as I struggled to comprehend just what had happened, aside from the fact that I’d crashed, that part I got loud and fucking clear. Closing my eyes, I mentally ran through my body to ensure I wasn’t too badly injured. I wiggled my fingers and my toes and was
relieved when everything did what it was supposed to. Except for my heart racing at a million miles a minute, and the fact that I couldn’t breathe down nearly enough air to stay in control, I was okay.
My eyes snapped to the rear-view mirror when I heard the sound of protesting tyres.


AUTHOR BIO
 

Michelle Irwin has been many things in her life: a hobbit taking a precious item to a fiery mountain; a young child stepping through the back of a wardrobe into another land; the last human stranded not-quite-alone in space three million years in the future; a young girl willing to fight for the love of a vampire; and a time-travelling madman in a box. She achieved all of these feats and many more through her voracious reading habit. Eventually, so much reading had to have an effect and the cast of characters inside her mind took over and spilled out onto the page.

 Michelle lives in sunny Queensland in the land down under with her surprisingly patient husband and ever-intriguing daughter, carving out precious moments of writing and reading time around her accounts-based day job. A lover of love and overcoming the odds, she primarily writes paranormal and fantasy romance.



You can find Michelle here: 




Exciting Cover Reveal: DIRTY by Kylie Scott

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Kylie Scott is one of my favourite Aussie authors! I love her Stage Dive (rock star) series, so this makes me very excited. A brand new series coming soon!!!

COVER REVEAL: Dirty
By Kylie Scott

Are you ready to get Dirty?

Dirty is Book One in Kylie Scott’s Dive Bar Series releasing April 5th!

dirty kylie

Pre-order your copy of DIRTY here:

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1Q7LCyb

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1OYc53N

Barnes & Noble:  http://bit.ly/1MetF1F

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1Mez6t6

Blurb

The last thing Vaughan Hewson expects to find when he returns to his childhood home is a broken hearted bride in his shower, let alone the drama and chaos that comes with her.

Lydia Green doesn’t know whether to burn down the church or sit and
cry in a corner. Discovering the love of your life is having an affair on your wedding day is bad enough. Finding out it’s with his best man is another thing all together. She narrowly escapes tying the knot and meets Vaughan only hours later.

Vaughan is the exact opposite of the picture perfect, respected businessman she thought she’d marry. This former musician-turned-bartender is rough around the edges and unsettled. But she already tried Mr. Right and discovered he’s all wrong-maybe it’s time to give Mr. Right Now a chance.

After all, what’s wrong with getting dirty?

About the Author:

Kylie Scott

kylie scott

Kylie is a long time fan of erotic love stories and B-grade horror films. She demands a happy ending and if blood and carnage occur along the way then all the better. Based in Queensland, Australia with her two children and one delightful husband, she reads, writes and never dithers around on the internet.

Kylie is represented by Amy Tannenbaum at the Jane Rotrosen Agency, New York.

Stalk Kylie Scott: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads