Valentine's Giveaway & Sneak Peek: CONFESSIONS OF A SECRET ADMIRER: A Valentine's Day Anthology

       Some secrets are meant to be revealed…

Or so you’ll discover, in three sexy, unforgettable Valentine’s Day stories from New York Times & USA Today bestselling author Jennifer Ryan and contemporary romance stars Candis Terry and Jennifer Seasons.

Waiting for You by Jennifer Ryan

Rancher Grant Devane has waited for Taylor Larson’s return to Fallbrook for more than ten years. Now that the fearless beauty has come home on her terms, he’ll do anything and everything necessary to win back her heart.

Sweet Fortune by Candis Terry

Sarah Randall is tired of being invisible to the opposite sex. So when a leap of faith sends her to Sweet, Texas, and into the path of ridiculously hot Deputy Brady Bennett, she’s determined to catch his eye … even if it means staying hidden just a little bit longer.

Major League Crush by Jennifer Seasons

Professional baseball player Drake Paulson can’t help wanting to know more about his cute, shy neighbor. But when he discovers her deepest secret and she flees, it’ll be up to him to win her trust—and her love—one gift at a time.

CONFESSIONS OF A SECRET ADMIRER: A Valentine’s Day Anthology

By Jennifer Ryan, Candis Terry, and Jennifer Seasons

Avon Impulse e-book; on sale: 2/4/2014

Here’s a sneak peek of a steamy secret confession from a love-struck admirer in each story!

I confess that…

“It's been ten long years, since Taylor left, and I've been planning how I'll get her back. I've got a Valentine's surprise that includes the key to my house - she already has the one to my heart.”

GRANT (Waiting for You by Jennifer Ryan)

“I went through hundreds of messages online before I found just the right ones to place in Brady’s fortune cookies. The temptation to stray to the X-rated ones was almost too much to resist.”

--SARAH (Sweet Fortune by Candis Terry)

“The way Drake Paulson fills out his baseball uniform makes me blush—in a good way.”

--BERTIE (Major League Crush by Jennifer Seasons)

Want more confessions? Click here to buy the e-book!

 

Confess to your crush this Valentine’s Day with something sweet from Lindt! Enter the Confessions of a Secret Admirer contest below for a chance to win a $50.00 gift card!

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Review: A Breath of Frost by Alyxandra Harvey

A Breath of Frost by Alyxandra Harvey
Publisher- Walker Children
Released- Jan 7th 2014
Purchase- Amazon / B & N

In 1814, three cousins—Gretchen, Emma, and Penelope—discover their family lineage of witchcraft when a binding spell is broken, allowing their individual magical powers to manifest. Now, beyond the manicured gardens and ballrooms of Regency London, an alluring underworld available only to those with power is revealed to the cousins. By claiming their power, the three cousins have accidentally opened the gates to the underworld.
Now ghouls, hellhounds—and most terrifying of all, the spirits of dark witches known as the Greymalkin Sisters—are hunting and killing young debutante witches for their powers. And, somehow, Emma is connected to the murders…because she keeps finding the bodies.
Can the cousins seal the gates before another witch is killed…or even worse, before their new gifts are stripped away?

My Thoughts:

I've always been a huge fan of Alyxandra Harvey since her debut novel, Hearts at Stake and continued to devour the entire Drake Chronicles as well as her ghostly novel, Haunting Violet and fantasy fae novel, Stolen Away. So I was thrilled to see that Harvey has come out with an entirely new trilogy to love, and love it I did. A Breath of Frost has everything I love about reading. Whodunit mystery and murder, magic and maddens, witches and warlocks, witty characters, a blossoming romance, all set against high society historical London. Perfection!

Emma Day has always hated high society parities and could never stand for the dull guest, and snobby proper ladies. Nothing exciting every happens…that is till Emma accidentally broke her mothers old perfume bottle setting off a chain reaction of binding spelled secrets and opening a gate to the Underworld, unleashing nasty wicked undead creatures. Emma should have been more careful for what she wished for…

Wow! What a fun book! I was afraid I wasn't going to enjoy this book the way I wanted to since I’m not the biggest fan of historical and find myself easily lost. But Harvey totally put my mind at ease giving unique and refreshing touches to the plot and her characters and I was able to really appreciate everything and just enjoy the captivating world, fun filled plot and hilarious characters.

There is a lot going on here plot wise, and even though I felt slightly confused and overwhelmed at the beginning of the story, once I stopped asking myself endless questions about what’s going on, I started to just let the story guide me along and soon enough I was able to sink into the world and just enjoy myself as the story unfolded.

This is told in four parts and several point of views and while I would usually find this distracting I actually liked being able to go inside the heads of the other characters. It provided a rounder view to understanding them and the story better.

There are a lot of characters. Cousins, and sisters and love interests and yes, it did take a little bit to get everyone and their family’s straight, but everyone has such unique attitudes and personalities, it wasn't hard getting there.

We also have the history and mystery of Emma’s mothers past and how it links to all the secrets of the Lovegrove sisters. I really enjoyed this part of the story since it connected us even more to Emma and was really the heart of the storyline.

Then we have the Keepers and the Order and all the Underworld creepiness soaking up the streets in historical London and causing mischief, chaos and murders. The creatures were all deliciously dark and disturbing. And every step of the way I adored Harvey’s dedication to detail. The setting was fabulously vivid and rich with historical wonder and even the language was perfectly pitched. I loved the quick witted dialog and crisp banter and sarcasm. It was all beautifully amusing and constantly brought a smile to my face.

But my favorite part of the story is all the lovely twist and turns with every new chapter, I've always been a big fan of magic and witches but the way this story flows and bleeds together was incredibly constant, there was just always something new to learn and it was fun to discover everything this book had to offer.

I enjoyed all of these characters. They were all fantastically put together, likable and easy to connect with. I was invested from minute one till the very last page.

Emma, Penelope and Gretchen are cousins, sisters and best friends. They are all uniquely wonderful in their own ways but are all equally sassy, brave and fiercely protective, supportive and loyal to one another. They didn't know they were witches from the start and I loved how they each grew into their magical ability and learned this new world together. I also thought each witch having their own families (an animal that takes on the shape of their magic to protect them) was such a nifty idea. It’s those little details that make this feel more real, refreshing and imaginative.

Cormac was a little hard to like at first since he was very hot and cold towards Emma. He’s a conflicted creature who wants to prove himself worthy of the Order even though he lacks any magical talents and  has feelings for Emma that he’s not suppose to have. The romance isn't exactly forbidden, but it’s slightly frowned upon given Emma’s family magical background. But it doesn't stop Cormac and Emma from having an undeniable attraction to one another. I love all the little moments between them. The blushed cheeks, stolen kisses and hidden smiles, proving that you don’t always need sexy-times to make a huge impact when it comes to love. It was warm and sweet and more real somehow and even more anticipated since their infuriating uncertainty and flirtatious dance was both comically adorable and maddening.

I also loved all the other secondary character -the good ones and the bad ones- and enjoyed what entertainment they brought into the storyline.

All in all, I had a lot of fun with, A Breath of Frost. It’s surrounded with all the wonderful qualities I love in my escape. Magic, adventure, love stories and old secrets that opened up a shinny new world and I can’t wait to discover more! Another charming and amazing hit from Harvey! Loved!

Find the author:

Goodreads / Website                          4.5 Snowflakes

Review & Special Playlist: Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Publisher: De Ray (Random House)
Release Date: January 28, 2014
Purchase: Amazon / Barnes & Noble

The war begins...

Darrow is a Helldiver, one of a thousand men and women who live in the vast caves beneath the surface of Mars. Generations of Helldivers have spent their lives toiling to mine the precious elements that will allow the planet to be terraformed. Just knowing that one day people will be able to walk the surface of the planet is enough to justify their sacrifice. The Earth is dying, and Darrow and his people are the only hope humanity has left.

Until the day Darrow learns that it is all a lie. Mars is habitable - and indeed has been inhabited for generations by a class of people calling themselves the Golds. The Golds regard Darrow and his fellows as slave labour, to be exploited and worked to death without a second thought.

With the help of a mysterious group of rebels, Darrow disguises himself as a Gold and infiltrates their command school, intent on taking down his oppressors from the inside.

But the command school is a battlefield. And Darrow isn't the only student with an agenda...

My Thoughts:
There are just no words to describe what I am feeling right now.  I just finished Red Rising and OMG what in the hale did I just read??!!  This book was not at all what I was expecting and I mean WOW just W.O.W!  I have never had an author shock me like Mr. Brown just did.

If you think you know what this book is about you don't I can promise you that.  The beginning and first few parts were what I had expected, but when Darrow goes to "school" all hell breaks loose and the whole story just turns completely upside down.  I'm not going to give a summary because well I really couldn't if I tried and this is another book where I think readers will benefit from not knowing everything.  My mind is totally blown by this book and I am quite happy at the moment.

I know Darrow's end goal and that it was never supposed to change, but after seeing what he goes through I am wondering if his allegiance will waver.  My heart broke for him and at the end of part one I couldn't breathe.  The author did a fantastic job creating this world and drawing me in.  I felt like I was living in this strange place and honestly I wanted a Helldiver husband of my own.  What happens in this first part is devastating and I wasn't sure how the rest of the story would go on, but man does it ever.

Darrow is not like any other character I have read before.  He learns from his lessons and adapts where most would just crumble and follow others.  He proved time and time again that he was everything he needed to be to take down his goal and I have to say that when the next book comes out I will be the first in line.  I want to see where Darrow takes his new found life and whether or not he stays true to himself and his people.  I want to see the WAR people!

I did get some what confused at the end with so much going on.  After thinking about it for awhile I do finally understand but the whole Olympus tie in kinda threw me for a bit.  If this messes with you don't stop reading I promise it is all worth it.  Just don't think too much of the names, they are just people with gods names I think anyway.  I am guessing the next book will elaborate on all this.

Like I said I have never had a book totally throw me before and this one did.  I never knew what to expect when I turned the page.  It was a bloody mess with war, violence, murder, and slaves.  Really though what more do you need?!  I think the author did a fantastic job opening with that first part.  If the book would have omitted that I am not sure I would have fallen in love like I did.  I needed that part to show me what Darrow was fighting for and to see just how broken he really was.  I will say one final thing I don't want him to move on, I know that is selfish of me but I want him to stay true to his vows at least for awhile.  I'm not ready to move yet.

Brilliant story that I promise will blow your minds!

4.5 snowflakes

We participated in the Release Day Party for Red Rising and as part of the package we were sent an amazing playlist from the author himself.  The songs Mr.Brown selected are perfect and I am so glad that he shared them with us!  Take a listen!