Monday, November 30, 2015

~*★Blog Tour with Review★*~ The Girl's Got Secrets by Linda Kage & Silent Scars by Ada Frost


HUGE GIVEAWAY! TONS OF CHANCES TO WIN!


SILENT SCARS
The Surviving Series #4
Ada Frost
Releasing Nov 28th, 2015
Self-Published



Her Man.


Their Hero.

His Pain.

What happens when you pray for death and you’re ignored?

You have to live.

You have to survive.

But what if the last thing you want is to take your next breath?

To the world, Ryan is a hero, an ex-marine, brother, son and protector. He has devoted his life to keeping others safe. He will do anything and everything to ensure his loved ones are protected, even if that means destroying his very own soul. After an explosion on the battlefield ends his career in the Marine’s, Ryan is sent home with an honorable discharge. But the war hasn’t ended for him.

He is home, he is free and he’s breathing, but he’s dead inside.

He wants nothing more than peace, but the nightmares in his mind will not grant him that. They taunt him, tease him and torture his waking moments. The darkness within him is slowly consuming him, blackness has seeped into his veins and is rotting his core. Ryan is a man on the edge of destruction. For once he is the one in need of saving. He needs a saviour.

He needs her.

Ryan is commissioned as a bodyguard to Aloura Cavendish. When he initially meets her, he believes her to be a spoiled rich brat, wasting his time. But the fire inside her astounds him. When he pushes, he never expects her to push back. When he runs, she chases. For the first time in his life, Ryan has a protector willing to fight his demons. The only problem – he is too afraid to release them.


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Excerpt


That’s when I heard the music, the loud angry tones of Green Day’s “American Idiot” I grinned because it appeared Aloura wasn’t a fan of having us invade her life.
“Gentlemen, I may not require your services. It appears I will just strangle my daughter myself.” Graham, uttered sarcastically as we headed towards the loud music. When we reached the open doorway he strode through, leaving Will and I to follow. My douche of a brother paused causing me to walk into his back. I peered around the doorway and froze. There was no other way to describe it – her – other than absolute perfection. She was dancing around the room, her body moving with such fluidity that she almost floated. The music died immediately and she stopped. Her attention fixed on her father who had stopped the music. She slapped her hands down over her hips and breathed up at the ceiling. Her shoulders lifted and fell with each breath she pulled in. She glared at her father’s back again as he came towards us and then she caught sight of Will and I standing at the door gawping at her like two morons. I straightened and smoothed my hands over my head. It’s a habit I developed after I was discharged from the hospital. I hate the constant reminder marring my skin that I fucked up. That people died because of me.
“Sweetheart,” Graham gritted out through his teeth. “These are the gentlemen I was telling you about.”
“The ones with tight arses and buns you want to bite?”
I spluttered a laugh as her father turned crimson. The silver in his hair glistened against his skin. Will glanced at me, trying to hide his smirk.
“That’s what you said this morning isn’t it?” She asked batting her eyelashes at him. She headed over to a black piano in the corner of the room and picked something up from the top, when she held them up to her face I realised she was putting glasses on. She turned and blinked a few times in our direction and her cheeks turned a really beautiful shade of pink. She ran her hands over her black hair, which was pulled back in a messy knot type thing. Then she trailed them down her body, tugging at the hem of her t-shirt. It was fascinating watching her assessing us.
“I should have punished you more as a child.” He glared at her, but there was no mistaking the small curl of his lips of the undeniable love shining in his eyes.
“So this is my horrible little brat, Aloura.”

Title: Silent Scars
Author: Ada Frost
Series or Standalone: Series (The Surviving Series #4)
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Rating: ★★★★
Reviewer: Diane
Every once in a while, I read a book that snuggles itself into my heart and has the ability to move my soul.  This is the book that did it. To be honest, I was not seeking this ARC out because I've never heard of this author.  I was not disappointed in the least, it delivered a highly touching journey that I will not soon forget.  This is my 5 wonderful, heartfelt stars for Silent Scars by Ada Frost.   ARC given in exchange for an honest and spoiler free preview.

This story is about Ryan, a deeply wounded soul who suffers from PTSD.  First from a troubled childhood that left him emotionally unattainable and detached.  He suffered the worst form of abuse in the hands of the people who were supposed to protect him.  Second, from war, where he lost some of his comrades and was also physically wounded.  He's been a walking shadow and half a man all his life.  He's a protector, survivor and alpha male all the way.  He needs saving.  Can he be saved?
He is hired as a bodyguard for a rich man’s daughter who has been threatened and violated.

“I’m going to be your heroine, I'm going to chase away these monsters.  Even if you don't want me the way I want you.  I'm going to at least be your friend"

Aloura is a shy, quiet and solitary woman.  She spends most of her time in books, playing the piano or dancing.  Do you think she wants a babysitter?  She resists it at first but she can't help but fall fast and hard for the hero who's emotionally aloof.  She soon realizes that Ryan needs her compassion, understanding and love.  She will help him heal his old inner wounds, quiet the voices and noises inside his head.  Ryan will do anything in his power to protect her from physical harm and Aloura will do anything in her power to protect him from emotional harm.  They complete each other and make quite the team.   Now they need to figure out who's been brutalizing her.  Will they save each other in time?

“If I could enter your mind and claw out those memories, I would.  If I could give you a memory of a first love to rival a Jane Eyre novel, I would"

The words, the emotions and the characters grabbed my undivided attention from the first page read to the very last one.  I was not prepared for the emotional roller coaster ride this book took me on.  There were parts of this story that got me so distraught for Ryan that I wanted to get into my kindle and just hug him.  Warning!  Highly addictive story.  It's so beautifully worded and phrased.  The words jumped out of the page to grab my heart and soul.  I really loved the epilogue that brought closure for this couple.  A great variety of characters were created and each one of them were unique.

This is an author I will definitely seek out in the near future.  This is book number 4 in the Surviving series.  I didn't feel lost or confused when the previous characters were brought back in this book.  It's a standalone, told in a dual POV with an HEA.  It's a romantic suspense with a twist that I didn't see coming.  But it's so much more than a romance novel.  It's about taking something ugly and turning it something so very beautiful.  Although there are no graphic descriptions of some of the events but it can still be disturbing for some readers.  There is talk about abuse.  May not be suitable for readers 18 years old and younger.  I highly recommend this book.  It's well worth the readers time and money.


Hi! What to say about myself...I don't really have anything interesting to offer other than I love to read, and create stories for others to enjoy. I've always been told I have a vivid imagination, I just lacked the confidence to pursue putting it onto the the written page. But finally I embarked on making a single dream come true.

I love to read, and write. I only read romance, any genre really, but it has to have a beautiful romance. I also demand a HEA, even if it takes two or three books to get there. Reality is too broken and jaded without having to live through the trauma and angst in a book for it to end unhappily.




THE GIRL'S GOT SECRETS
Forbidden Men #7
Linda Kage
Releasing Nov 28th, 2015
Self-Published


Here’s the same old “girl posing as a boy” story but with a rock-n-roll twist.

Remy Curran dreams of one day being in a band, except the group she wants to join refuses to hire a girl drummer. So, she auditions as a guy...and makes the cut.

Becoming “Sticks,” a member of Non-Castrato, isn’t quite what she dreamed it would be, though. She spends most of her time keeping up the subterfuge and learning how to walk, talk, act, and drink like a man.

But what’s even harder to deal with is acting oblivious when the band’s heartthrob lead singer, Asher Hart, treats her like one of the guys and not a woman. She never imagined he’d be so much more than a pretty face with a nice voice. But he’s better than perfect. He’s perfect for her.

When love and lies combine, Remy must keep up the act or lose everything. But who knew lying to reach one dream could prevent you from attaining an even bigger dream?

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Excerpt



Remy and I bent at the same time to turn on the karaoke machine.
“Sorry,” we murmured together when we nearly bumped foreheads. Then we shifted an inch apart but still both going in to get the machine up and running.
“Holy shit,” she murmured under her breath, turning toward me slightly. “You smell really good.”
I didn’t want it to, but my body reacted, remembering every touch, lick, and kiss she’d ever given me. I glanced at her face, and her eyes flared as if she was in trouble for saying such a thing.
“Sorry.” She lifted both hands in some kind of surrender. “It’s just...it’s new. You’ve never smelled like that before.”
Lust stirred through me. I tried to bite it back, tried to cling to the fact I was mad at her, but a need unlike any I’d ever experienced with any other person roared through my blood.
I had to shake my head and blink myself back to the present, remind myself where I really was and what I was doing. And that was most definitely not Remy Curran.
“It’s, uh...Eva gave it to me as the best man gift. I figured I should wear it today.”

She nodded, agreeing. “Well, it’s amazing. I think I just got pregnant.”
Title: The Girl's Got Secrets
Author: Linda Kage
Series or Standalone: Series (Forbidden Men #7)
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Rating: ★★★★
Reviewer: Diane
I received this wonderful ARC in exchange for an honest and spoiler free review.  This Girl's Got Secrets by Linda Kage deserves no less than 5 stars.

It started at a slow pace but picked up and build some anticipation at about 20% of the book.  Probably my reason is that, I had read the previous books so I knew most of the details.  I was already familiar with Asher and some of his background.  When the details were out of the way, the story picked up and focused on our two main characters which were Asher and Remy.

Remy is a woman who wants to play drums in a band so she goes to the audition but never makes it past the doors because she's female.  The band members don't even give her a chance to show her talents.  So she goes through drastic measures to make it happen.  She disguises herself as a man under the name of Sticks.  A gay man none the less.  The band welcomes the new extremely talented drummer.  Remy is leading a double life that will most likely get her in trouble.  She's quite the funny person with the witty comebacks.  She's assertive and a fighter.  She doesn't back down when faced with a challenge.

Asher is the lead singer of the band.  He's also a bartender at the Forbidden club.  He's had a rough start in life by being emotionally and physically rejected by his parents at a young age.  He was also a witness to an unspeakable crime.  His past is about to collide with his present and mess with his future.  He doesn't trust and confide in people easily but he found a true, confident friend in Sticks.  These characters are quite funny and entertaining together.

Asher had seen the real Remy from afar before and didn't know who she was until he sees her again, the real her.  They have chemistry and sparks will fly.  They develop feelings towards each other.   Asher falls for Remy and he is best friends with Sticks.  Asher discovers the truth. Will Remy/Sticks secrets tear them apart forever or will Asher learn to trust again and find their happy ending?

Linda created funny characters that are extremely entertaining.  Very well written.  It's sweet, funny, and sensual with a touch of angst at the right places.  I really liked the fact that the author brought back into this story the different characters from the other books.  I love Ten.  You need to read A Perfect Ten, book 5, to find out who he is.  This book could be read as a standalone but I enjoyed it much more for having read The Forbidden Men series in order. Although the beginning of this story is very well detailed to catch the readers up to date with the previous characters.  This story as an HEA.  I highly recommend this book and all of Linda Kage’s previous titles.



Linda grew up on a dairy farm in the Midwest as the youngest of eight children. Now she lives in Kansas with her husband, daughter, and nine cuckoo clocks. Her life's been blessed with lots of people to learn from and love. Writing's always been a major part of her world, and she is so happy to finally share some of her stories with other romance lovers.




1 comment:

  1. Thank you so much for hosting SILENT SCARS and THE GIRLS GOT SECRETS!

    ReplyDelete