Review ~ The Valentine's Arrangement by Kelsie Leverich

The Valentine's Arrangement by Kelsie Leverich
Published: January 01, 2013
Publisher: InterMix
Source: copy provided for honest review
~  Goodreads  ~  Amazon  ~

“I didn’t want the line to get blurry, and I sure as hell didn’t want you to cross it.”

Ronnie Clark, an edgy tattoo artist with hopes of high tailing it out of the forsaken Military town she followed her now ex-fiancé to, is counting down the days until Valentine’s Day is over. Ronnie doesn’t do romance. She doesn’t do flowers or dates, and she sure as hell doesn’t do love—not anymore. After her fiancé slept with a female solider while deployed, she has vowed never to fall in love again, especially with a soldier.

Sergeant First Class Kale Emerson is home on his mid-tour leave from Iraq, but he only has one thing on his mind—returning to his deployment to finish leading his soldiers on their mission. The last thing he wants is a relationship, but casual sex, that’s a different story. And when he meets the renowned tattoo artist Ronnie Clark, a snarky, blunt, takes no prisoners kind of woman, that seems to be all he can think about.

But when Kale realizes he has met his match with a bombshell woman who is hell bent against love, will just sex be enough? And if it’s not, will he be able to convince Ronnie that the proverbial hearts and flowers aren’t so bad after all, even if he is a soldier?

“You changed something inside me, something I didn’t ever think I would want, or feel—but you did, and now I can’t go back”

This book contains explicit sex scenes and is recommended for readers 18+

My Review:

The Valentine's Arrangement immediately appealed to me for a couple of reasons.  One, I find there to be something so absolutely sexy about tattoo artists. Second, I really have never seen the appeal in a "man in uniform" and I wanted to experience it.  Throw those two things together and hey, maybe sparks fly, right?

I can say sparks flew.  I can't say that they blew up into some uncontrollable bonfire. The Valentine's Arrangement is not quite that type of book.

Ronnie has been wronged, in pretty bad way.  Because of that, she has developed a tough skin and it takes some heavy doses of determined shrapnel to penetrate her barriers.

"You can stop fucking me in your mind now."

Kale meets Ronnie when he wants to be inked for the first time.  He didn't know he would be falling into the world of a 'saucy, outspoken and stunning' firecracker of an artist.  He also didn't think he wouldn't be able to get her out of his mind.  Kale doesn't do relationships.  He does deployments and he doesn't think it fair to get involved with a woman when he can't put her first.  Cue it... 'awwwww'.

Yep, Kale is a keeper ladies.

"You changed something inside me, something I didn't ever think I would want, or feel- but you did, and now I can't go back."

Kale is only home for a short respite and wants that respite to be full of Ronnie in his bed.  He manages to worm under her armor enough to get her to agree to a 'sex only' deal until he leaves again for Iraq.  But that arrangement doesn't go as either of them had planned.

This is real sex.  It's hot but it is somewhat tame.  If you look for a kink factor in your sexy books, look away. You won't get it here.  You will get a bit of an adorable love story between a couple of reluctant lovers.  There is some added drama thrown in that I could have done without but the sweet factor mostly made up for that.  You'll get a story that I can imagine a bunch of military wives/girls can relate to .  You'll get a story about a real life type hero and real life type scorned woman just trying to find a love that fits.

Like I said, it may not blow you away but it will probably still gently pull on the heart strings and bring a smile to your face.

3.5 Stars

Review ~ REAL by Katy Evans

REAL (Real, Raw & Ripped) by Katy Evans
Published: April 08, 2013
Publisher: Self Published
Source: Purchased ebook
~  Goodreads  ~  Amazon  ~

A fallen boxer.
A woman with a broken dream.
A competition…

He even makes me forget my name. One night was all it took, and I forgot everything and anything except the sexy fighter in the ring who sets my mind ablaze and my body on fire with wanting…

Remington Tate is the strongest, most confusing man I’ve ever met in my life.

He’s the star of the dangerous underground fighting circuit, and I’m drawn to him as I’ve never been drawn to anything in my life. I forget who I am, what I want, with just one look from him. When he’s near, I need to remind myself that I am strong–but he is stronger. And now it’s my job to keep his body working like a perfect machine, his taut muscles primed and ready to break the bones of his next opponents . . .

But the one he’s most threatening to, now, is me.

I want him. I want him without fear. Without reservations.

If only I knew for sure what it is that he wants from me?

REAL – April 9 2013

Book #1 of The Real, Raw & Ripped Series

Mature New Adult/Adult Contemporary Romance - recommended for ages 18 and up.

My Review:

When a book starts as ridiculously as REAL does, I just want to toss it across the room and move on. I didn't though, I stuck with it.  Why? Fuck if I know. Seriously, the first few chapters? Cheese-Ball-City.  But...if you can get past those first forty or fifty pages, it gets much better.  There is still a bit of cheese spread through out but there is also:

A super hot fighter with a debilitating problem and a huge ass heart of gold.  Remy really is an intriguing character. Not to say that Brooke is not intriguing, she is ... but Remington stole the show here.  I'm kind of losing my train of thought here though...

REAL has quite a bit of the things I look for in a book.  There is a dash of humor, a pinch of snark, a heaping spoon of hot steamy romance that all bakes into a nice loveable cake.

We telepathically communicated, and he says he wants to take me home to be the mother of his sexy babies.

 What starts off as a seriously unbelievable romantic situation turns into a job offer.  Remy needs a traveling sports therapy specialist and Brooke fits that bill.  She had been an athlete aspiring to the Olympics before an injury halted all her aspirations. Now, she just wants to be part of something bigger.  What she doesn't expect is the conundrum riding in a speeding train that is Remington Tate.

The first half of the book is build up.  Build up to an extremely explosive, hang on to your panties and maybe even your uterus - type of romance.  This is not tame and sweet.  Though it has its moments. This is raw, emotional, volatile and just so damn hot.

I want him to stop because we're suffering and I want him to go on until I lie dead in his arms, burnt to ashes from my want of him.

The second half of the book goes mind blowing fast.  So much is learned, so much happens and so many feelings are let loose.

This isn't the perfect read.  Aside from the corniness at the beginning, I had some other minor issues as well.  There is a lack of openness and honesty throughout that bothered me a tad.  On top of that the writing style may not be for everyone either.  It is fist person, so maybe I should have tried harder to look past it but it is a choppy / fragmented style that is not always the easiest for reading.

However, if you love the alpha-male 'I claim you' type man, broken characters, volatile love affairs and enough sexual tension to swim through... give REAL a shot.  You probably won't be disappointed.

Tour Stop / Excerpt/ Giveaway ~ Drowning in You

Drowning In You by Rebecca Berto
Published: April 5, 2013

~  Goodreads  ~

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.

Disclaimer: Recommended for mature readers due to sexual content and crude language.

Charlee

Dad and I look at each other at the same time and I need to speak first or else I’ll cop it, I know I will, and I need to explain that I was just being silly and I’m doing the best I can to be nice for Darcy.

However, getting in first, Dad says, “I’m never getting out of here.”

He doesn’t rub my shoulders or pull me to the bed so he can lean in, trembling with the effort, to kiss my forehead like he used to before a bedtime story. There’s no contact, no connection.

I want my mom. I don’t want to be Darcy’s mom.

There, I thought it. Did you hear that, Dad? I’m not ready for this. I’m not ready because Mom shouldn’t be dead and you’re not dead yet. You hear me?

He just says, “Charlee? You hear that?”

I bop my head up, left, down. It started as an I-don’t-know but I’m not sure what I did in the end. My brain didn’t compute his message. Refuses to compute it.

“Oh, Charlee.” Dad sighs a ragged breath.

This shouldn’t have happened. My best friend Rosa’s dad isn’t like this, so why should mine be? My dad’s not even fifty and hers is fifty-five! Dad winces as he tries to push himself up in bed and it’s so feeble that I can’t watch the same man who used to pin me down and tickle me ‘til I had cramps of pain from laughing struggle like this. I can’t watch, so instead his grunts pierce my ears because I close my eyes. I clench my fists by my thighs until he stops making those God-awful sounds and…

And would you look at that! My father is sitting upright.

“My liver now isn’t—”

“Dad!” Darcy hooks his arm around the doorjamb and skids to a stop inside. He puts his hand to his chest and says, “She’s coming right now.”

“Okay, okay. Come here. Whoa, did she give you coffee?”

“No, I just came here as quick as I could, Dad. I promise she said she’ll come real soon.”

“You’ve done great. Come sit down.”

Darcy, smiling and satisfied with what he’s achieved for Dad, trots over to his chair and sits on the edge. He pulls out his handheld game from his pocket and starts jamming buttons. Then, apparently remembering something, pulls out his cell from his other pocket and starts texting.

Dad’s eyes say come here so I scoot closer.

“He’s a smart ki—” Dad starts, but footsteps are approaching our door. He says, “No tomfoolery with him. You tell him straight up, Charlee. You’re Melissa now and I am —”

“Walter!” someone says from the door.

It’s Lisa. She’s my favorite, because she sometimes has a sour candy for Darcy to suck on, and she always says how Dad’s improving, giving him smiles and pats on the back.

As Mom to Dexter, Lisa has the same shocking blue eyes as he does. She wiggles her hips at the door, fingering her pocket. She has a somewhat round face, whereas Dexter’s is square and bulging with veins and all that sexy stuff I could only dream of touching, but Lisa Hollingworth is cute, in a Mom way. I bet if Dexter never opened that potty mouth I used to hear while I ogled him from the sidelines of the football field he’d look like a Mama’s Boy, too. But when he opens that mouth, his voice is sex oozing from those luscious lips.

“Watermelon,” she says to Darcy.

Darcy drops his electronics on his chair as if they are plastic toys from a McDonald’s Happy Meal and grabs the twenty-cent candy from her. Shame, really. That kid doesn’t know value. But there’s something comforting in that; Darcy is still learning, and I guess I can still tell him our Dad is going to be fine.

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Cover Reveal ~ Pinned Up by C. Michelle

PINNED UP by C. Michelle
Genre: NA
Coming Soon

Twenty-five-year-old Nina Moretti lives a double life of sorts. She’s a victim advocate during the day and as a side gig, lives out her 1940s fetish as a pin-up model. This arrangement suits her well, as does never having a steady boyfriend. Trust is an issue that was ruined for Nina at a young age and has yet to be recovered. While she may not “do” serious relationships, she has found fulfillment in her work and hanging out with her best friend, Kade—the greatest sidekick any woman could possibly want. All is well in Nina’s hectic, but satisfying life…

That is, until she meets Josh, a stunningly handsome man who has a notorious reputation as a ladies’ man. Living in San Francisco, California, Nina has met her fair share of eligible bachelors. But there is something different about Josh, something that compels her to try and get to know him better. For his part, Josh has always been reluctant to commit to any woman, largely as a way to spite his well-meaning, but rather overbearing mother. Nina, however, sparks his interest in a way that no other woman has before. What are two people, both scared of commitment, supposed to do?

Reveal hosted by...

Teaser Tuesday ~ Faking It by Cora Carmack

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

You would think I'd be used to it by now. That it wouldn't feel like a rusty eggbeater to the heart every time I saw them together.

You would think I would stop subjecting myself to the torture of seeing the girl I loved with another guy.

You would be wrong on all counts.

Review / Guest Post ~ Enchantment by Nikki Jefford

Enchantment (Spellbound #3) by Nikki Jefford
Publication Date: April 6, 2013
Publisher: Nikki Jefford
Source: ebook provided by author for honest review

Goodreads   ~   Amazon

Barcelona. Summer escape. Or so Graylee Perez thought until her old adversary, Adrian Montez, brings his magic show to Spain.

Gray seeks out a Spanish wizard to help banish Adrian from her life once and for all. Instead, she tumbles headfirst into a love spell with the arrogant warlock.

After Gray follows Adrian to Paris, she must face her true feelings and decide if Adrian’s worth fighting for.

My Review:

I was recently at an author event where Margaret Stohl stated someone once told her, your third book is always the best.  Now, I won't go as far as saying that this rings true in every series I have ever read. I will say it is the truth with the Nikki Jefford's Spellbound series.  Enchantment absolutely is the best of the three and ends the series in a content and tidy manner.

What made Enchantment so much better than Entanglement or Duplicity? In a word, Adrian.  Adrian Montez is mysterious, magnetic, unpredictable and has the touch of a damaged soul that I am such a sucker for.   Pair him off with hot-headed, lonely and maybe a little depressed Graylee Perez and watch the fireworks start.

"I don't want to hurt you, Gray." He leaned down to her ear and whispered, "I want to make you scream."

Gray has run off to Barcelona, trying to escape the feeling that she's lost the only family and boyfriend she's ever known.  She's lost, alone and heart broken. And, feeling a little guilty that her psuedo-sister gave up all her magical powers to save Gray's life.  What should be a restful summer of self reflection turns into a battle of wills; with herself, with Adrian and with a few warlocks from back home determined to take Adrian down.

Getting knocked in the head with a spell causing her to love the one person she's determined to hate is just (to borrow some words form the great Karina Halle) "piss icing on a cake made of crap".

Here is where the story gets really good!  Gray and Adrian both know she's under a spell but knowing doesn't dispose of it.  The struggle between what is real and what isn't was as endearing as it was maddening.  Adrian shows an entire new side of himself, he goes from vengeful warlock to one amazing guy who just wants to show a girl he likes a great time in Paris before the spell is broken and he loses her forever.  Umm...toothache, right here ~ so sweet!

"Maybe it was all a spell, but then again, what was love if not an enchantment that eventually turned to truth."

Obviously, it isn't all cupcake farting unicorns...there is plenty of magical intrigue, action, betrayal, heartbreak and the like.  But, at the end it wraps up so nicely.  No loose ends, no hardcore feels to throw my Kindle at a wall, just a peaceful happy smile spread across my face. And for that, we thank you Nikki.

Nikki's Favorite Badass Blondes

You may be asking yourself what this guest post is doing on Ginger-Read Reviews. Well, on top of being a terrific sport, Ali’s also a fan of at least two of the below baddies. Redheads rule, too, as I hope to prove next month in Northern Bites with vampire butt-kicking ball of fire: Valerie Ward.

Emily Thorne “Ems” (aka: Amanda Clark) played by Emily VanCamp in Revenge

Ems has been training to avenger her father, wrongly accused of a terrorist attack, for years, but it’s her quick thinking and calm demeanor in the face of every disaster that impresses me even more than her ninja skills. I’m not sure what this says about me, but I relate to characters who are able to emotionally detach themselves.

Buffy played by Sarah Michelle Gellar in Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Are words even necessary? Not only does she kick butt in style, but Buffy is one of my biggest sources of creative inspiration. Enchantment was actually inspired by the “Something Blue” episode in which a spell goes awry causing Buffy and Spike to fall in love. 

 Natalie Cook played by Cameron Diaz in Charlie’s Angels

She is the most badass of all the angels. Who drives the race car and goes after creepy hair pulling guy? Natalie! Who knocks the living lights out of her assailant in the women’s restroom at the dance club? Natalie! Who takes on the mega bitch when they all go to rescue Bosley? That’s, right. Nat! And I love her dance fantasies. I grew up with the same ones – seeing myself on stage, busting a move, crowds cheering. Natalie’s got the moves!

Veronica Mars played by Kristen Bell

And now for my #1 Favorite Badass Blonde!

Move aside Nancy Drew cause Veronica Mars just bumped you from my favorite female detective slot! Out of all of these characters I bonded with Veronica the most. She is sarcastic and quick-witted; calm and extremely clever. But she’s also very human and has some F’ed up shit happen to her. When Veronica cries, I cry. When she’s in danger, I stress out. I was furious when the series abruptly ended, but word is production on a movie version starts THIS summer. There is justice in the world! Check it!

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Other books in the series ~ Book 1 is FREE! 
  

Cover Reveal ~ Icarus Rise by Frankie Rose

Icarus Rise by Frankie Rose
Expected Publication: Fall 2013
Genre: New Adult

Iris Breslin is on a mission with only one goal: escape Breakwater, Wyoming, where her family's horrific history is common knowledge.  New York couldn't be more different to her small town upbringing, but better still, absolutely no one at Syracuse University knows of the brutal murders her father committed before taking his own life when she was fourteen years old.  For the first time, Iris has friends, a career plan, a regular life.

Until Jake.

Jake Stafford grew up in Breakwater. Discovering Charlie Breslin's body on his first day as a cop may have snared Jake in the Breslin family nightmare, but the truth was he was already involved long before.  Now a part of the NYPD, Jake remains entangled in the five year old mystery - a mystery he needs to solve.  That isn't going to be an easy task, especially with Iris back in his life.  Jake must fight to convince the girl he loves that his feelings are genuine, and not some sick obsession with a man who once helped when no one else would.  His hidden secrets are darker than Iris can possibly imagine, but can she drop her guard long enough to uncover them?

Bought Borrowed Bagged #15

BB&B (Bought, Borrowed and Bagged) is a weekly meme hosted by Talk Supe, inspired by The Story Siren and Pop Culture Junkie, where we share with you the books that we have bought, borrowed or bagged (won/given for review) plus a recap of the previous week's reviews, upcoming reviews, on going events and book movie or television news. Graphic provided by freedigitalphotos.com

FREE:  

Bagged:

 For Review: 

Next Week's Reviews: ( I know Asylum has been on here for several weeks, review is almost done though!)