BOOK TOUR REVIEW: Promise Me Always

Promise Me Always

by Rhonda Shaw

Publication date: Feb 26th 2018

Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

Synopsis:

Gabrielle Wells was everything Danny Anderson shouldn’t want. She was his opposite in every way, but he couldn’t keep his distance, and fate seemed to push them together at every turn. She consumed him, and the more he learned about her, the more he realized she was exactly what he didn’t know he needed. But then past mistakes forced him to walk away and never look back, breaking Gabrielle’s heart in the process.

Fast forward six years, and it seems as if fate is intervening again. Danny, now a best-selling rap artist, returns to his hometown, and is reunited with the only girl he’s ever loved.

Gabrielle isn’t the girl he left behind, though, and Danny realizes life has thrown her quite a few curves. But he will stop at nothing to get her back, refusing to let his true desires—love and family—continue to elude him. However, when Danny’s past crashes into his present, threatening everyone he loves and everything he’s fought for, he must decide if his promise to Gabrielle of “always” is worth the risk.

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My Review⭐⭐⭐⭐

I adore this book. From the first word until the very last, it kept and held my attention. It was so gripping that when I had to put it down, I still thought about it.  It is angsty and the characters were well written and developed.

I loved D.  From the beginning he is very hard and jaded but he starts to mellow and open up with Gabrielle.  He is so protective an even sweet which is contrary to the front he puts up with everyone.  He protects Gabrielle at every turn from walking her to ballet class to standing up for her with bullies.  He had a terrible upbringing with his alcoholic, drug-abusing father and his mother left him when he was younger.  He puts himself in a bad situation with a gang because he was trying to make up for his lack of family.  At the last moment, he makes a choice.  A choice that will follow him and Gabrielle the rest of their lives.

Gabrielle is timid and insecure.  When she arrives at her new school, all she wants is to be unnoticed.  Unfortunately, because of the way she dresses, she sticks out like a sore thumb.  She is made fun of and people whisper behind their hands about her.  When she arrives at her first class, someone steals her book and begins teasing her.  He does not give back her book until D tells him to.  Afterward, she thanks him quietly.

But D has made his own assumptions about her based on the way she dresses.  He assumes she is “stuck up” and that she believes she is better than everyone in the run-down school.  He soon learns that he could not be more mistaken.  Gabrielle is kind, generous and unjudgmental.  She brings life and love into his life until he destroys it quite purposefully.

This story is told in dual POV.

What I feel was overlooked a little bit at the end is what Gabrielle will do with her life.  Will she follow through somehow with her passion? I also find that although she loves Danny, she forgives him a little too easily.  After what he did, I think it would be a little more difficult to forgive.  Maybe it required a little more groveling on his behalf.

Beside that however, I loved them as a couple.  The opposites attract trope really worked in this book.  His briskness to her kindness.  His extrovert to her introvert.  He is the ideal alpha male, wanting to protect and cherish the one he loves at any cost.

Gabrielle is a strong character.  Although D tries to protect her from his life, she demands to be part of it.  She does not want to be left out.  Good or bad she loved him and he, her.  They are so wonderful together.  Each taking and giving in equal measure.  I really did not want their story to end.

I even liked “Teddy” in Ds crew what a gruff cuddly teddybear he seems to be.  I hope he gets a story.  As for Dollar, I would like to strangle him!

This book is not to be missed.  I recommend it to anyone who loves an angsty second chance contemporary romance.

Author

Rhonda owes her love of reading to her mother who would read to her each night before bed and sometimes give into pleads for more than one chapter. These days, if Rhonda doesn’t have a book in her hands, it feels like something is missing. While romance is her true passion, Rhonda enjoys reading multiple genres.

Born in California, but transplanted to the Midwest, Rhonda is warm weather girl to the bone (even years later, winter and her are not on speaking terms) and loves nothing more than a balmy, summer evening. She also loves all animals–especially her silly French Bulldog, Keno.

Nowadays, she has so many characters and story ideas running around in her head that she can’t keep up with them. But one day, she’ll tell each one.

Author links:   Website  |  Goodreads  |  Facebook  | Twitter

Giveaway!

Rhonda Shaw will be giving away a $50 Amazon Gift card and an ebook of Promise Me Always to one lucky winner via Rafflecopter.  Follow the tour here, comment and interact to give you more chances to win!

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BOOK TOUR: Hawkyn (1001 Dark Nights novella)

Hawkyn: A Demonica Underworld Novella

by Larissa Ione (Author)

Publication Date: February 27, 2018

Synopsis:

From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Larissa Ione comes a new story in her Demonica Underworld series…

As a special class of earthbound guardian angel called Memitim, Hawkyn is charged with protecting those whose lives are woven into the fabric of the future. His success is legendary, so when he’s given a serial killer to watch over, he sees no reason for that to change. But Hawkyn’s own future is jeopardized after he breaks the rules and rescues a beautiful woman from the killer’s clutches, setting off an explosive, demonic game of cat and mouse that pits brother against brother and that won’t end until someone dies.

Aurora Mercer is the half-wytch lone survivor of a psychopath who gets off on the sadistic torture of his victims. A psychopath whose obsessive psyche won’t let him move on until he kills her. Now she’s marked for death, her fate tied to that of a murderer…and to a sexy angel who makes her blood burn with desire…

**Every 1001 Dark Nights novella is a standalone story. For new readers, it’s an introduction to an author’s world. And for fans, it’s a bonus book in the author’s series. We hope you'll enjoy each one as much as we do.**

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Excerpt 

  “Hey,” Hawkyn said through clenched teeth. “Nice security system you’ve got here.    

  Could do without the electrical current frying my insides, though.”

  “Yeah, well, it wasn’t meant for you.” She closed her eyes and concentrated on the low-level vibration emanating from the trap she’d set. An invisible thread of energy, much like a power cord, stretched from her to the protective bubble around the house, and with a whispered command, “Rojalis,” it snapped.

  Instantly, Hawkyn relaxed, taking in gulps of air, his broad chest heaving under his black turtleneck and leather jacket. Damn, he was magnificent, his long, lean thighs encased in dark jeans that bunched around well-used combat boots. She never would have guessed he was an angel, but damn, it was a good look, and despite the horror of the past days, her body grew uncomfortably warm.

  Damn her succubus genes.

  “That was unpleasant,” he said in a deep, husky voice that turned up the temperature even more, “and I’m an angel. What the hell would happen to a human who got caught in your trap?”

  “A good human?” She shrugged. “Nothing. The trap was calibrated for evil.” She paused, an icy finger of fear poking her in the libido, and she took a casual step back in case she needed to slam the door in his face. “Um, if you’re an angel, why would it snare you?”

  “Long sto—”

  “Don’t,” she broke in with a wag of her finger. “Don’t even go there.”

  One blond eyebrow arched high, and she suspected he wasn’t used to being cut off.

  “Okay, short story it is.” He jammed his hands in his jacket pockets. “My dad is evil. Sort of.”

  Well, that wasn’t expected. “Isn’t your dad, uh, God?”

  “No.”

  “All right, then. I have a lot to learn.” She gestured in invitation. “Want to come in?  

  Do you need permission?”

   One corner of his mouth tipped up in amusement. “I’m an angel, not a vampire from some campy movie.” His voice, just like at the hospital, was so whiskey smooth she thought she could get drunk from merely listening to him.

  “Well, you do have fangs,” she pointed out, feeling a little foolish.

My Review  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Let me just start off my review by saying that I absolutely love Larissa Ione’s Demonica Series.  From the very first book I read, Passion Unleashed, I have inhaled almost every book in this series.  They are just that good!  They are full of passion and sensual overtones.  Not to mention the world she has created.  When the opportunity arose to review Hawkyn, I was absolutely ecstatic and signed up immediately.  Although I have read many of her previous novels in this series, this is the first I will review.

Do you believe in fate, the fact that things are predestined and that everything you do has an equal but opposite reaction?  This is a wonderful look into a world that is exactly that.

I was completely engaged with both the characters and the story.  They were rich and vibrant.  It is a wonderful peak into the world of the Demonica.  The story line and plot were intriguing and it was wonderful to reconnect with characters from previous Demonica novels. 

Hawkyn is a Memitim, an earthbound angel that protects Primori, people whose lives are important to the future.  He is strong, upright and takes his vows of Memitim seriously.  Weather it is to abstain from sexual intercourse or guarding the most vile of humanity, he obeys. He yearns for change for the Memitim populace.  To do this, he wishes to be part of the Memitim council.  Because of this, Hawkyn does everything in his power to toe the line so that he may up his chances to ascend and become a council member.  This all changes however when he tries to save Aurora from Drayger, a serial killer that is his Primori.

Aurora is part wytch and part succubus.  Upon their first meeting, she believes Hawkyn is their to do her harm.  Unfortunately, she is mistaken and she is then abducted by a serial killer that has struck many times before.

The romance between Hawkyn and Aurora was a slow burn.  Once it heated up however, it was scorching. 

While the romance between Hawkyn and Aurora is featured, there is another couple’s relationship that is continued from a previous book.  That is the love between Azagoth, Hawkyn’s father, and Lilliana.  My god, the story Larissa Ione wrote for these two is heartbreaking and beautiful.  Azagoth is struggling to comes to terms with feelings he has never felt before.  Such as guilt and love.  For centuries he felt nothing but anger.  I felt for him so much.  From not feeling anything to feeling everything must be a bitter pill to swallow.  He is feeling too much to soon and he is an absolute wreck. As result he starts pushing Lilliana away.  Lilliana is strong and I love the way she goes about trying to regain Azagoth’s attention.  I did not read their journey to get where they are, but it is now gracing my TBR list: Azagoth.

One downfall, in my opinion, is that although I absolutely loved the relationship and the story between Azagoth and Lilliana, it overshadowed the love and story line between Hawkyn and Aurora.

This novella is part of a series but can be read as a standalone.  I definitely recommend reading this novella as well as the previous books in this series.  They are decadent and original and just plain out awesome.  Larissa Ione completely immerses you in the world she has created.  For a novella, this was a page-turning, can’t put down kind of book! I cannot wait to read another instalment from this wonderful author.

Thank you to Inkslinger PR and Larissa Ione for the ARC.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Author

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Larissa Ione is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. An Air Force veteran, she traded in a career as a meteorologist to pursue her passion of writing. She now spends her days in pajamas with her computer, strong coffee, and supernatural worlds. She believes in celebrating everything, and would never be caught without a bottle of Champagne chilling in the fridge…just in case. She currently lives in Wisconsin with her U.S. Coast Guard husband, her teenage son, a rescue cat named Vegas, and her very own hellhound, a King Shepherd named Hexe.

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Book Tour: A Choice of Crowns

Welcome to the Virtual Book Tour for a Choice of Crowns by Barb Hendee.  For the synopsis, review and excerpt for  the first in the series entitled Through a Dark Glass, please click here.

A CHOICE OF CROWNS

A Dark Glass Novel Book #2

Author: Barb Hendee
Genre: Historical Fantasy

Synopsis:

Olivia Geroux knew her king was reluctant to marry her, whatever the negotiations had arranged. But she never expected to find handsome, arrogant King Rowan obsessed with his stepsister instead. And before she can determine what course to take, she overhears her greatest ally plotting to murder the princess.

Olivia must act quickly—and live with whatever chaos results. As the assassin hunts his prey, a magic mirror appears to show Olivia the three paths that open before her . . .

If she hesitates only a moment, the princess will die—and she will become queen.

If she calls for help, she will gain great power—but she must also thrust away her own happiness.

If she runs to stop the murder herself, she will know love and contentment—but her whole country will suffer.

As she lives out each path, her wits and courage will be tested as she fights to protect her people, her friends, and her heart. And deciding which to follow will be far from easy . . .

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excerpt

            I’ve heard it said the most important moments in one’s life pass more swiftly than others. Perhaps it’s true.

            I only know that all my senses were on alert as soon as my father sent for me, asking me to come to his private rooms. Eighteen years old, I’d never once been invited to his rooms. In the past several weeks, he’d been closeted away much of the time, sending and receiving messages, but I had no idea what this was about—as he didn’t see fit to share such intelligence with me.

            Now…he wanted to see me, in his rooms?

            I could hardly refuse, nor in fact did I want to. I was curious.

            Gathering my long green skirt, I nodded curtly to the servant who’d delivered the message and made my way to the base of the east tower of our family keep. I knew exactly where his rooms were located, even if I’d never been inside.

            Upon arriving, I stood with my back straight and knocked on the door.

            “Father? You sent for me.”

            “Come,” he said from the other side.

            With my hand shaking only slightly, I opened the door. Inside, I found a somewhat austere main room that appeared to be a study, with a large desk and chair. There were tapestries of forest scenes on the walls, and an interior door led to a bedroom.

            My father, Hugh Géroux, sat behind his desk working on what appeared to be a letter, but he stood as I entered. In his early fifties, he still cut a striking figure, with a smooth-shaven face, dark hair with a sprinkling of gray, and dark eyes.

            “Olivia,” he said, as if meeting me for the first time.

            We didn’t know each other well, as I was the fifth and youngest of his children. I had two older brothers and two older sisters, and my father had used all four of them carefully to enhance his own wealth and prestige. My mother died of a fever when I was only seven, so my father raised us alone in a manner that was both distant and overbearing at the same time.

            My family, the line of Géroux, was among the old nobility of the kingdom. While past famines and civil wars had destroyed several of the ancient families, ours survived. We were survivors. My father respected strength and nothing else.

            His eyes moved dispassionately from my feet to my face, as if assessing me. I knew only too well what he saw. I was tall for a woman. He was tall, and I could almost look him directly in the eyes. Unfortunately, the current fashion for women was petite and fragile. My hair was long and thick, but it was a shade of burnished red, and again, red hair was not currently in fashion.

            Still, I’d been raised to remain sharply aware of everything going on around me, and it was no secret that most men found me desirable. My face had often been called pretty, with clear skin and slanted eyes of green. I looked best in green velvet.

            Though I was not vain, I had also been raised to understand that survival was based on value, and at some point, I’d be given a chance to prove myself valuable. Had that chance finally come?

            “You’ll need to pack tonight,” he said. “You leave for Partheney in the morning.”

            In spite of my careful awareness of self-control, I nearly gasped. “Partheney?”

            This was the king’s city. My family’s lands were in the southeast corner of the kingdom. Partheney was in the northwest, near the coast of the sea. I had never been there.

            “You’re to marry King Rowan,” my father said flatly. “His mother, the dowager queen, and I have arranged it.”

            I stood still as his words began to sink in, but I still couldn’t quite follow what he was trying to convey. “King Rowan…the dowager queen…is this why you’ve been receiving so many messages?”

            His eyes flashed, and I dropped my gaze, cursing myself. Father did not brook questions from his children. He expected only two things from us: strength and obedience. But the slight shaking in my hands grew to a tremble. Had I heard him correctly? I was to marry the king?

            Stepping around the desk, he approached me. “Do you know anything of the rumors surrounding King Rowan?”

            Unfortunately, I did, hence the reason my hands trembled. Even here, in the isolated southeast, rumors still reached us. In his late twenties, Rowan de Blaise was a young king and had held the throne for only two years. But over those two years, four betrothals with foreign princesses had been arranged via proxy. Envoys had been sent to Partheney to finalize negotiations. In all four cases, when the envoys arrived, Rowan refused to even see them. He’d sent them away.

            “I know some of the stories,” I answered my father. “I know betrothals have been arranged, and he’s sent the envoys packing.”

            “Yes.” My father nodded. “His mother, the dowager, was the one who arranged the betrothals. She is anxious to see him married and founding a line of heirs.”

            “Why will he not marry?”

            My father waved one hand in the air. “That is of no matter. What matters is, the dowager has decided to stop seeking a foreign princess and marry him into one of our own noble families. She’s wise and has chosen the line of Géroux. We’ll be linked to royalty, and I’ll be the grandfather of kings.”

            The truth of all this hit me, and my hands ceased trembling. I would be queen.

            Clearly there were obstacles, but I allowed my initial worries to vanish and let my mind flow. Father expected complete success from himself and would expect nothing less of me. This thought made me brave. “If Rowan has refused to even see the envoys,” I began, “what makes you and the dowager think he will agree to entertain negotiations this time?”

            My question was bold, but instead of growing angry, Father only looked at me as if I were simple—which I was not.

            “Because as I said, you will leave in the morning,” he answered. “I’m not sending envoys. I have no faith in envoys. I’m sending you. You’ll go to the castle, meet the king, and handle negotiations yourself. You are a daughter of the Géroux. He cannot turn you away.”

            “You’ll not come with me?”

            “No. That was my first instinct, but the dowager believes it best if the king is given no choice in facing you directly. It will force him to be…polite.” His expression darkened. “And you will not fail to secure him. Do you understand? You will not fail.”

            I met his eyes without flinching.

            “I understand.”

My review ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.25 stars!)

Olivia Geroux is 18 years old and the youngest of 5 siblings.  Her father, Hugh is domineering, cold and distant.  He only expects and respects strength and obedience.  He uses his children to enhance his wealth and prestige.  When they fail, they are punished...

One day, she is called to her father's rooms.  This was outside the norm.  Once there, she is advised that to pack as she is to marry King Rowan.  It has all been arranged by her father and Rowan's mother, the dowager Queen.  She is told that should she fail to secure the King's hand in marriage, that she will be married off to corrupt Lord Arullian.  This, she knows is a threat.  Lord Arullian is in his late 50s and has been married 3 times before.  Two of his wives have died under dubious circumstances and the third poisoned herself.

King Rowan is a selfish and demanding man.  He has already declined 4 arranged marriages to foreign princesses and has no intention of marrying Olivia. He is in love with his step-sister, Princess Ashton.

What happens when Olivia overhears the dowager Queen's plans to assassinate Princess Ashton?

She has 3 choices:

1.  Will she hesitate and thus become Queen

2.  Will she choose and instant resolution and tell the King himself, losing the chance at being Queen but gain an everlasting friendship? Or,

3.  Act independently, lose the chance at being Queen but gain a chance at love?

For each of these paths, there are twists and turns, ups and downs and rights and wrongs that make the decision almost impossible so the questions must be asked:

Mirror, mirror on the wall, which path will she choose after all?

Yes! This book is exactly what I was hoping for.  Barb Hendee has done it again!  She leaves me wanting more... It seems I am never satisfied..  A choice of Crowns is the second book in the series and in my opinion, it's the best one so far.  I love how we learn each person's character through the decisions and difficulties they must go through in each separate scenario.  Very original!

There is just something about this series that is so engrossing.  I pick up the book, start reading and just can't put it down!  Just like the first in the series, it has intrigue, murder, love, lust, hate friendship, plots, twists but it is so different..  It is superbly written and well done.

As for the decision she must make, so not what I was expecting!  Definetely worth reading and rereading.  Sound intriguing?  Want more?  The first in this series is called Through a Dark Glass.  The synopsis and my review can be found here.  Don't miss it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington-Rebel Base Books for this ARC.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Author

Barb Hendee is the New York Times bestselling author of The Mist-Torn Witches series. She is the co-author (with husband J.C.) of the Noble Dead Saga. She holds a master’s degree in composition/rhetoric from the University of Idaho and currently teaches writing for Umpqua Community College. She and J.C. live in a quirky two-level townhouse just south of Portland, Oregon.

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Giveaway!

Barb Hendee will be gifting a $20 Amazon GC and a copy of the book to one lucky winner.  Don’t forget to follow the tour HERE for exclusive excerpts, reviews and a giveaway!

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