Blitz + Excerpt + Giveaway: Knowing You

Title: Knowing You (Jade #2)

Author: Allie Everhart

Publication date: November 2013

Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

Choosing You: Goodreads || Amazon || B&N || Kobo

Knowing You: Goodreads || Amazon || B&N || Kobo

Synopsis

Now that Garret’s decided he’s no longer following the rules of his wealthy family, he can finally develop a closer relationship with Jade. Things are going well, but Jade still worries that being with Garret is only temporary. And because of that, she’s not sure how much of herself and her past she’s willing to let him see.

Garret does all he can to assure Jade that the two of them can last, but convincing her of that is difficult when she’s never trusted anyone. So he has to show her, by being there when she needs him the most, even when she tries to keep him away.

The mysterious letter from Jade’s mom still haunts her and now she’s getting threatening phone calls. Someone from Jade’s past will stop at nothing to keep his secrets from getting out. And his number one secret is Jade.

An Excerpt

Garret swims over and stands up right behind me, placing his hands on the edge of the pool around my head. He’s so close I can feel his warm breath on my neck and it sends a shiver down me.

“When are you gonna admit I’m a better swimmer than you?” 

“Never.” I flip around and let go of the pool, quickly grabbing his shoulders so I don’t sink since I’m too short to touch the bottom. But now my legs are dangling awkwardly and I’m having a hard time holding myself up. Garret notices and casually puts his arms around me, pulling our bodies together. 

My heart is beating wildly but I try to keep my breath steady to hide it. “When are you gonna admit I’m a better runner than you?” 

“I’ve already admitted that. I’ve told you that several times. I’ll say it again. You’re a better runner than me. Now do you have anything to say to me?”

“Hmm.” I pretend to think. “Nope. Nothing.”

He smiles. “You just can’t give me a compliment, can you?”

“I give you compliments all the time!” I wrap my legs around his waist. He doesn’t even react. 

“Like what? Because if you gave me one, I totally missed it.”

“I don’t know, but I’m sure I’ve given you one.”

“I’m sure you haven’t.” He keeps his eyes on mine, barely blinking.

“I told you how much I liked those lights you gave me for my birthday. That was kind of a compliment.”

“Not really.” He slides his hands down under my thighs, supporting my weight. It allows me to loosen my grip on his shoulders but it also makes me completely breathless. “Jade, is there anything I do that you like? Anything you think I’m good at?”

I know what he’s implying and yes, there are many things he does that I like. And he’s definitely good at them. Like the way he’s holding me right now? Definitely good. 

Before I can speak, he slowly licks the water from my lips until they part, then slips his tongue in my mouth. I wrap my hands behind his neck as his tongue explores my mouth in a way that gets my body so scorching hot that even the water can’t cool me down. 

After a few incredible, mind-blowing minutes, he slowly pulls away. 

“Do you like it when I do that?” There’s that cocky smile I know and love. 

I smile back. “I’ll admit you’re pretty good at that.”

“Finally! A compliment.” He lets me go, forcing me to grab the edge of the pool. He sets himself up in the lane next to me like he’s preparing to swim laps.

“Hey, where are you going?”

“I have to practice.”

“So we’re just done here?”

“We haven’t even been on a date. I was only kissing you because I was trying to find something you thought I was good at. And I did. So we’re done.”

He takes off swimming, leaving me wanting more. Much, much more.

About the Author

Allie Everhart writes about dating, love, and romance. She’s also a freelance writer for magazines and websites. Before freelancing, she was a book editor for a publishing company where she worked on several NYT bestselling nonfiction books. She loves to read as much as she loves to write. And when she’s not reading or writing, she’s outside running, which is when she gets her best book ideas.

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Giveaway

$15 Amazon Gift Card (Open Internationally)

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Review: Endless

Endless

by Amanda Gray

Thank you Netgalley for this copy!

Synopsis

Jenny Kramer knows she isn't normal. After all, not everybody can see the past lives of people around them.

When she befriends Ben Daulton, resident new boy, the pair stumble on an old music box with instructions for “mesmerization” and discover they may have more in common than they thought. Like a past life.

Using the instructions in the music box, Ben and Jenny share a dream that transports them to Romanov Russia and leads them to believe they have been there together before. But they weren't alone. Nikolai, the mysterious young man Jenny has been seeing in her own dreams was there, too. When Nikolai appears next door, Jenny is forced to acknowledge that he has travelled through time and space to find her. Doing so means he has defied the laws of time, and the Order, an ominous organization tasked with keeping people in the correct time, is determined to send him back. 

While Ben, Jenny and Nikolai race against the clock - and the Order - Jenny and Nikolai discover a link that joins them in life - and beyond death.

My Review

I loved this book, since I'm a complete sucker for time traveling and historical stuff. I liked that there was a clear description given for the time traveling storyline, although its origin was never really mentioned. The historical references were incorporated quite nicely into the novel. There were all these mysterious aspects involved, the explanations for which were gradually revealed. While some questions were left unanswered, these actually make me all the more excited for the sequel!

Regarding the characters, I would have to say that my favorite was probably Ben. He may have seemed like a jerk at first, but he turned out to have such a sweet personality. I was really enjoying the moments between Ben and Jenny, but then somewhere in the middle of the plot, Nikolai was introduced, and that kind of ruined it for me. I mean, love at first sight? Instalove? Seriously? (I hate instalove.) And after that, it seemed like Jenny completely pushed Ben out of her life. I'm sad to say that I didn't feel much connection or depth when it came to Nikolai. I have to admit, the Nikolai-Jenny romance was quite endearing, but I'd choose Ben over Nikolai any day. 

All in all, I consider this a really good book, and it's something that is sure to interest the time traveling fanatics out there.

My Rating

Review: Finding Cinderella

Finding Cinderella (Hopeless #2.5)

by Colleen Hoover

Summary

This novella is a companion novel to the Hopeless series, but can be read as a standalone. 

A chance encounter in the dark leads eighteen-year-old Daniel and the girl who stumbles across him to profess their love for each other. But this love comes with conditions: they agree it will only last one hour and it will only be make-believe.

When their hour is up and the girl rushes off like Cinderella, Daniel tries to convince himself that what happened between them only seemed perfect because they were pretending it was perfect. Moments like that with girls like her don’t happen outside of fairytales.

One year and one bad relationship later, his disbelief in insta-love is stripped away the day he meets Six: a girl with a strange name and an even stranger personality. Daniel soon realizes the way he pretended to feel about Cinderella and the way he really feels about Six may not be so different after all. Especially when the two loves of his life end up being one in the same.

Unfortunately for Daniel, finding Cinderella doesn’t guarantee their happily ever after…it only further threatens it.

Review

To begin with, I have to say that I am not one to believe in love at first sight – it’s cliché, and the romance between Six and Daniel progressed too quickly for my liking. For the most part, the scenes centered on their making out, which didn’t bode well for me. Such actions did, however, suit their personalities, so I won’t dwell too much on that. I was actually expecting something big to happen, something that would change the course of the story, but it just didn’t have that moment. I felt that the plot was a bit rushed, and the ending was just this abrupt cut-off of the whole thing. That might be due to it being a novella, but either way, it disappointed me.

On the bright side, I did consider it a fun read. It was nice to be able to reconnect with Sky and Holder after reading Hopeless, and the banters between Six and Daniel were pretty amusing. The beginning of the novella was interesting to read, actually, because it sort of resembled a fairytale (Cinderella, as you can tell from the title). Also, I could tell that as the story went on, they were able to help each other grow and improve themselves, and with me being a sucker for that kind of character development, that made me like the whole thing a little more. 

So if you’re looking for something short and entertaining, you should check this one out!

My Rating

Cover Reveal: Girls Are Players

Title: Girls Are Players (G.A.P. #2)
Author: Ingrid Seymour
Publication Date: December 4, 2013
Genres: New Adult, Romance

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Synopsis:

Jessica Norton is a villain in the body of a gorgeous, rich, college girl. She cheats, lies, plays with people’s feelings, and purposely breaks unsuspecting hearts to avenge a personal loss. She’s the kind of girl people love to hate—even if it’s just because she has it all. Except . . . she doesn’t have it all. What she wants most is the love of her high school sweetheart, Taylor Drennon, the guy who got away, the one who left without telling her why and caused all her bitterness.

Not surprisingly, Jessica’s evil has made her a pariah. Alone, without friends or Taylor’s love, her college life is a nightmare. She’s haunted by her own mistakes and drowning in lack of direction. Something needs to change. So when the first opportunity to turn her life around presents itself, she takes it. Home for Christmas break, Jessica runs into Taylor. His unexpected friendliness seems like an invitation to rekindle their love. Inspired by a drastic idea that will both distance her from her heinous reputation and pull her closer to Taylor, she decides to transfer to OSU where he attends under a football scholarship.

Confident she can regain his heart, Jessica reenters Taylor’s life with a splash. Failing to naturally lure him closer, she is then forced to rely on her old games and underhanded scheming. Though Jessica’s heart is in the right place, it is hidden from Taylor by her blunders.  More than once their powerful chemistry takes control, leading Jessica to believe she’s winning. But, it’s a hot and cold affair, and she’s not the only one to blame for their stormy love. If Jessica can only coax Taylor into explaining why he doesn’t want her, maybe she could finally walk away from him for good, maybe she could finally be happy.

About the Author

Ingrid Seymour loves, loves, loves to write. Her favorite genres are Young Adult and New Adult. The idea for her debut novel "The Guys Are Props Club" assaulted her one day, and she just had to commit it to paper. She wrote it in record time and had incredible fun doing it. Now, she's enjoying hearing from her readers. It's a dream come true. Find her at www.IngridSeymour.com and share your thoughts!

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