Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Teaser Tuesday at FGBB

When I Was Yours by Samantha Towle

“Marry me.” 
“What?” I stared back at him, unblinking. 
He moved closer, taking my face in his hands. “I love you, Evie. I look into the future, and the only thing I see clearly is you. Marry me.” 
What’s an eighteen-year-old girl who was madly in love with her nineteen-year-old boyfriend say? 
Of course, I said yes. 
Twenty-four hours later, I married Adam Gunner at a Vegas chapel to the sounds of “Livin’ on a Prayer” by Bon Jovi. Not the best omen. I get that now. 
Then, exactly one week later, I left him. I walked out, leaving behind my wedding ring, annulment papers, and my heart, and he never knew why. 
I haven’t seen him since. Not in ten long years. 
Now, he’s here, standing before me. Looking at me with nothing but hurt and hatred in his eyes, he wants answers. 
Answers I can’t give.

RELEASE DATE NOVEMBER 10th!

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Monday, October 19, 2015

FGBB REVIEWS 
With a Twist & Chaser (Bad Habits Book 1 & 2) 
by Staci Hart

Love is somewhere near the bottom of Lily Thomas’ list of life goals, right next to competitive eating and underwater cave diving. She’s spent six years pirouetting and pliéing her way up the ranks of the New York Ballet with her eye on the prize and love in the back seat. But now that Blane Baker -- Lily’s long time crush -- is finally single, she’ll throw her rules out the window without thinking twice. 
Reality with Blane isn’t as epic as the fantasy she imagined, and the truth sends her spinning straight into the arms of the man she never knew she’d always wanted. 

West Williams has been friends with Lily since the day she moved into their building and he saved her armoire from a swift, sudden death by staircase. Their friendship has always been easy, the boundaries clearly defined. With neither of them willing to risk their relationship, they’ve drifted happily through the years as companions, never considering more. 
That is, until they do. And that realization changes everything.

MY REVIEW


5 sweet, sexy, funny and magical stars! This book could’ve never ended and I would have been totally happy with that.

“I want to kiss you until I know the feeling by heart.”

“I want the world to know you’re mine before I take you for my own.”

I’ve had this book on my kindle since release day, and I was just able to get around to it yesterday. I’m actually kind of mad at myself that it took me so long to get to it, because once I started it, I blew through it in hours. I enjoyed it so much. A friends to lovers’ story that warmed my heart, it was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon. I’ve already added the other two books in the series to my TBR and book 2 is my next read, Chaser. I’ll be starting it as soon as I post this review.

This series is all about a tight nit group of friends living out their dreams in New York City. With a Twist is the first book in this series and its Lily and West’s story.
Lily is a principle dancer for the NYCB, New York City Ballet Company, a dream that she has had since she was a little girl, and now it is finally coming true. She’s also been partnered with Blaine Baker, the man she has a serious lady boner for since she was 15 years old. Blaine has the star in every single one of steamy fantasies since she could remember, but he has never even realized she existed until recently, and Lily is over the moon about it. The story begins with a bang, quite literally actually HAHAHAHAHA.

“The roles I’d landed since my promotion a few months ago still shocked me – as hard as I’d worked to get where I was, I’d never expected it.”

“Blane Baker, y’all. Blane Do-Whatever-You-Want-To-Me Baker. Making girls lose their minds since puberty, circa 1996.”

West Williams is a TA for one of his favorite English professors at Columbia University, working towards his doctorate, and he’s been one of Lily’s closet friends pretty much since the day they met. He’s been “spending time” with another fellow TA, but it’s a physical relationship born of convenience. There’s’ no actual feelings involved, at least on his part.

“Maybe I’d read too many books, too much Shakespeare to ever be content with someone who didn’t make me feel. Until I found that girl, I was content to date my degree.”

Blaine Baker is a PLAYER with a capital P, and his ex-girlfriend, Nadia is known within the company for being a major biatch. Nadia has always had a problem with Lily and given her a hard time, but now that Lily is beating her for lead dancing roles and partnered with her ex, things are going to get even more heated…

“My relationship status was a about as clear as a serial killer’s cellar window.”

With a Twist has such amazing characters, that it’s not possible to get sucked into their world. Lily, West, Rose, Copper, Patrick, Maggie, Astrid, Bastian, Jennie, all of them are easy to love. Their friendships are a shining point in this book. Their banter and dialogue will make you laugh out loud and their connections make you long to belong to their group. I mean I wanted to crawl into this book, just to hang out with them at Habits. I know I know they aren’t real, they are fictional characters and I digress.
When Lily starts to realize that most times the fantasy is much better than reality, things begin to slowly change. West is seeing one of his best friends in a different light and Lily is having some very interesting dreams as of late.

“Lily and I walked in silence for a moment, and my brain kicked into overdrive. I was so overwhelmed by her I couldn’t concentrate – every place where she touched, just the presence of her body next to mine as we walked down the stairs was too much. I tried to makes sense of it, wondering why now? After all these years, why tonight?”

The writing here is absolute perfection, the story magical, sexy and incredibly funny. Romance that makes your heart pound and your face flush with heat; West and Lily have a connection that most only long for. Staci Hart has not only crafted a book that is outrageously awesome, but she has created a whole world in which we can hope and pray for many many more books to play out. I can only hope that all of the characters we are introduced to in With a Twist will all get their own books. She started the series with a perfect book and perfect characters. I loved Lily and now I want to be her bestie. And West OHMYGOD, hot does not do this guy justice. He’s sexy of course, but he’s the total package. He’s smart, sensitive, funny, thoughtful, patient, JUST EVERYTHING! Ladies West Williams is going to make you SWOON. HARD.

“No one was good enough for Lily. But I could be. I wanted to be. I loved her.”

I may have been late to the party in reading this book, as it has a TON of fantastic reviews already but I won’t be missing it again. Chaser (Bad Habits book 2) is next up on my reading list and I cannot wait to dive back into this world and spend more time the Habits gang. Chaser is Maggie’s story (Maggie is West’s sister). Not only do I revel in getting to read what I’m sure will be another breathtaking book, I’m excited to spend some more time with these quirky, and fun characters.

“Nothing in life is certain. But as long as my heart was beating, it would beat for her. I didn’t exist solely for myself anymore because I was hers, and she was mine.”

Everyone knows you should never say never. 
Cooper Moore never saw Maggie Williams coming. She was just his best friend’s little sister, the curly-haired, freckle-faced girl from Mississippi who was absolutely off limits. And he never thought about her any other way — not until he saw her that night, broken and brave. From that moment on, he knew he’d do whatever it took to protect her, even if it meant he had to stay away. 
Maggie never expected to find her fiancé banging her maid of honor an hour before she was set to walk down the aisle, but life’s funny that way. The only option to save her sanity is to get the hell out of Jackson and move to New York where her brother lives. The only downside: Cooper is there too. And she just doesn’t know if she can stay away from him — the filthy rich, dead sexy playboy who’s allergic to commitment. 
The second Maggie sees him again, she realizes he’ll be impossible to resist. Luckily, commitment is the last thing on her mind, and Cooper is the perfect escape. As long as she can keep her heart in check, everything will be just fine. Because she can never have feelings for him. Or at least that’s what she’ll keep telling herself. 
Chaser is a standalone romantic comedy and book 2 of the Bad Habits series.

MY REVIEW

“No commitment, no expectations. No dates or gifts. Four weeks, and we’d go our separate ways. The biggest rule we had to keep it a secret.”

5 STARS – Chaser is even better than With a Twist! Cooper Moore is going to leave you begging for more!

Chaser is the second book in the Bad Habits series by Staci Hart. Now while these books all belong to the same series, they can be read as standalones. I recommend really all of them of course and in order! They are so fantastic, why would you want to skip one?

Chaser begins very shortly after With a Twist and this book is Cooper and Maggie’s story. We all felt the sexual tension between these two in With a Twist and now we are going to get the whole story, going back to the very start.

“The rules were everything they were the only way I could guarantee I wouldn’t get hurt again.”

“She took a breath. That breath stole mine.”

Maggie has recently moved to New York. She was betrayed by her maid of honor and fiancée on their wedding day and to make it even worse, it happened at the church. Jimmie is a douche canoe and even that’s putting it nicely. Reeling and unsure of what her future holds she runs away to re-invent herself. What better place to do that in, but in New York and with her brother at her side.
Cooper is one of the Habits crew, I loved him in With a Twist but I had no idea how hard I was going to fall for him in this book. COOPER IS MINE.

“Cooper is like the chaser you slam after a shot of cheap vodka. He’s there to wash the taste away after the pain.”

“I’d never seen anything so beautiful and broken. Not in all my life.”

Cooper is the wealthy one in the crew, heir to a billionaire’s fortune.  He’s unemployed and just enjoying living The Life. He’s a player and is never lacking for a date nor does his bed ever get cold and lonely. He’s just been named one of W’s twenty-five most eligible bachelors, but this notorious player may have just met his match. Who or what can make a player want to change, when he so enjoys the play? The answer is simple, finding his one and only truth north.

When Maggie and Cooper begin their “arrangement” it seems like a good idea for both of them, safe and risk free. No one is going to get hurt even though they are lying to everyone. There are rules in place and an expiration date, so it’s fool proof right? Are you laughing to at that last statement? Because I am!

“I’ll make you forget he ever existed.”

“Being with Cooper felt good, and I didn’t want to fight it. I’d fought enough lately. Right now I just wanted to coast.”

I loved With a Twist, but Chaser OMFG it was absolutely everything. It was hilarious, emotional, unputdownable, hot, sexy, and sweet. If West made you swoon, you had better be prepared to do it all over again. Cooper made my heart ache, race, and go pitter pat more times than I could count. Maggie drove me a little nuts, but to be fair she did just have her entire world implode around her.

“I wanted the rest of her. I wanted all of her.”

“I looked over at Cooper, and he met my eyes. And in that moment, I decided. I was officially the queen of bad decisions.”

Chaser has everything you could ever want in a romance novel and it does it flawlessly. The writing is superb, the characters relatable and funny, and the story will own you. A series that is equal in humour, heat and feels it will leave you always wanting more. Staci Hart has outdone herself with this second book, because I cherished every single word of this one. Every kiss, tear, fear, insecurity, heartbreak, and laugh made this book unforgettable and romantic. Every woman should have their very own Cooper Moore; I mean seriously this guy is perfection. Maggie deserves a happily ever after so badly, she’s so sweet and has had some very bad luck in the men department, I mean seriously bad luck. West, Lily, Tricky, Rose and Astrid are all back to keep you laughing and their antics will keep you totally addicted. Getting to experience Coopers and Maggie’s story from start to finish was an absolute pleasure and I cannot stress enough that you NEED TO READ THESE BOOKS!  Chaser is now on my top reads list for 2015 and I cannot wait for book 3, Last Call. Last call is Tricky (Patrick) and Rose’s book and it’s going to be awesome, I’d bet money on it.

“Those eyes. Those eyes would be the end of me.”

“I wanted to be with him. Everything else was just details.”

It Releases February 2016!