The YA Sisterhood: Waiting on Wednesday: The Return (Titan #1) by Jen...

The YA Sisterhood: Waiting on Wednesday: The Return (Titan #1) by Jen...: Ever since I finished  Sentinel I have been having serious Covenant withdrawals! I miss the characters. I miss the world. I just miss it a...

The YA Sisterhood: YA Book Giveaway!!! Hosted by Martina Boone, Auth...

The YA Sisterhood: YA Book Giveaway!!! Hosted by Martina Boone, Auth...: We want to thank Martina Boone for hosting this giveaway!!!!  Be sure to add her upcoming book, Compulsion, to your Goodreads To Rea...

Portrait of a different thinker: Dante Natarelli at TEDxHoboken

A Walk on Words : Book Boyfriends/Favorite Heroines List

A Walk on Words : Book Boyfriends/Favorite Heroines List: Like many bibliophiles throughout the world, Steph and Dani have swooned over many, many boys from various books. This is a large list of...

Some TBR -- Bookz & Quotes & Excerpts, Oh My! Blah, Failed attempt to "blog"

SOME BOOKZ!!

(Some books that I have not read, but are on my long TBR list)

(SOME and LONG are key words lol)

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance

Release Date: October 4, 2013

Amazon / B&N / iTunes / GooglePlay

A NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY Bestseller.

A New Adult Romance packed with Heat and Heart.

**On sale for 99 cents for a limited time

"One of my best reads of 2013." ~ Inside The Pages of a Book

"If you want a hot steamy, touches your heart in all the right places read, look no further!" ~ Fab, Fun and Tantalizing Reads

Her brother's best friend. A list. A love story.

After ending a horrible, scarring relationship, Vivian embraces her freedom by making a sexual bucket list. When her brother's best friend, Liam, finds it, sparks fly and hearts open.

Can Vivian heal one steamy encounter at a time?

** This is book 1 in a two-part series
** New Adult Romance recommended for readers aged 18+ due to language and strong sexual content

I didn’t just want to taste her, inch by delectable inch. I wanted to feast on her until she screamed my name in dazed repetition.

But first I had to slow down before my own needs flared wildly out of control and I risked looking like the inexperienced one here.

Finesse, I reminded myself. Finesse.

I didn’t want to remind her of Brody.

There would be no rushing, no demands. Just infinite pleasure for Viv.

I lifted my mouth from her breasts and gently pulled away to make sure she was doing okay. But when I looked at her again, I suddenly forgot what I’d wanted to say.

All I could do was stare at her.

Hot damn. She was sex on legs.

I’d never seen anything more tantalizing in my life. The diaphanous crimson material barely covered her lush breasts, and her pebbled nipples were poking through the wisps of lace.

I swallowed with a dry throat. As my gaze drifted downward, the building swell of my erection pulsed painfully beneath my jeans.

A thin, narrow triangle strip barely covered her sweet mound.

God. She was so blond. Everywhere. The red lace, set against the blond patch of curls dusting her pussy ignited a dangerous fire deep inside me.

Damn. It was insane how much I wanted this woman.

She looked so delicious, so delectable that I wanted nothing more than to bury myself inside her soft and pliant body.

But tonight wasn’t about me.

It was about Vivian.

It was all about Vivian. And only Vivian … making her feel wanted. Desired.

My hands came up to caress her face and her beautiful doe eyes were fixed on mine.

I caught a glimmer of wariness. A faint flash, but it was gone as soon as it had appeared.

“It’s okay, Viv,” I said softly, giving her another chance to back out. “We don’t have to do this.”

She considered my words, but said nothing. Instead she licked her already moist lips. Then she rose up on her tiptoes and kissed me fiercely, with no inhibitions, as if to prove to me that she had no misgivings, no second thoughts.

I groaned into her mouth as she ground her hips, rubbing firmly against the hard length of my erection.

Another wave of desire shot through me, followed by a smaller current of misgiving.

I needed this to be good for Viv.

No. Not just good. Damned good.

And I was up for the challenge.

When the kiss ended, I looked into her eyes. “Do you trust me?”

“I always have.” Her words came easily, and without thought.

Warmth unfurled in my chest at her faith in me. I took her hand and guided her to the leather armchair. “Come,” I said again, and this time there would be no turning back.

Vivian lowered herself onto the armchair. As she reclined into the cushions, she arched her back, causing her breasts to rise, and her nipples to thrust out proudly through the textured lace.

I paused to take my fill of her. Then, with my arms braced on either side, I dipped my head and flicked my tongue over the protrusion of her nipple. “Guess what we’re going to do now?”

“What?” she murmured, her voice low and breathy.

Her creamy breasts were spilling over the crimson lace cups and I traced my tongue over her smooth skin in slow and tantalizing strokes. “We’re going to play.”

She dug her nails into my shoulders as I lavished the same attention on her other breast. “We’re going to play a little game called Tell Liam What You Want.”

“But …” A whispered breath slipped past her lips. “I also want to play Tell Vivian What You Want.”

I lifted my mouth from her breast and kissed the frown lines on her forehead. “Sweetheart, if we played that game we’d be here all night.”

Her cheeks blushed a deep pink and she looked so endearing I almost lost it.

Haleigh received a B.A. in Journalism. Despite training as a journalist, Haleigh soon found she preferred making up her own stories--stories with heat and heart.

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

**AUTHOR NOTE - This is NOT a BDSM Romance**

We're thirteen girls, captive, slave to our master. 

A master we've never seen.

Obedience will become all we know in our shallow existence. It is the only emotion we're permitted to feel.

When we're bad, we're punished. When we're good, we're rewarded. 

Our scars run deep. Yet we survive, because we have to... 

because HE teaches us to.

All of us are special, we feel it with everything we are.

He has us for a reason, but it's a reason we don't know.

We've never seen his face, but we know that something deeply broken lies beneath the darkness. With every touch, with every punishment, we know it. 

Then something changed. 

He showed me who he truly is.

Now I want him.

I'll go against everything I know to be with him. 

A monster. 

My monster. 

Loving him is a sin, but a sinner I am. I won't stop until I see every part of him. Even the parts he keeps locked deep down inside. 

I am Number Thirteen, and this is my story.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Genre: Dark (Lighter) / Romance (Grey Romance)

Release Date: March 7, 2014

Tour Hosted by: As the Pages Turn

Amazon I Amazon UK I Barnes & Noble I Smashwords

She has a secret.

I’m complicated. Not broken or ruined or running from a past I can’t face. Just complicated. 

I thought my life couldn’t get any more tangled in deceit and confusion. But I hadn’t met him. I hadn't realized how far I could fall or what I'd do to get free. 

He has a secret.

I’ve never pretended to be good or deserving. I chase who I want, do what I want, act how I want.

I didn’t have time to lust after a woman I had no right to lust after. I told myself to shut up and stay hidden. But then she tried to run. I’d tasted what she could offer me and damned if I would let her go.

One secret destroys them.

It was the best kiss I’d ever received, but also the worst. It sparked lust and need in every inch of me. My lips wanted more, my tongue wanted savagery. My skin wanted to bruise because he needed to touch me so badly. 

All my thoughts disappeared as I nipped at his bottom lip. He flinched, but a second later he copied, his sharp canines piercing my oversensitive flesh. 

I moaned. 

I couldn’t take it.

My hands flew up and gripped his shirt. Yanking him toward me, fireworks whizzed in my fingertips; my heart galloped toward exploding with lust. I’d never been so drunk on someone before.

Then I landed flat on my back.

The crack of my skull jangled my teeth. The thick carpet did little to cushion me. My eyes flared wide and I grunted in pain. Fear, hot and terrible, swamped my lust in a dampening wave.

“Top rule. Unbreakable rule. Don’t. Ever. Touch. Me.” Fox kneeled on one knee beside my head, breathing hard. His hand noosed my throat, pressing my spine into the carpet. His eyes were cold and lifeless, looking like a hunter intent on blood. –HAZEL 

Pepper Winters wears many roles. Some of them include writer, reader, sometimes wife. She loves dark, taboo stories that twist with your head. The more tortured the hero the better and she constantly thinks up ways to break and fix her characters. Oh, and sex… her books have sex. 

She loves to travel and has an amazing, fabulous hubby (who speaks French—hot!) who puts up with her love affair with her book boyfriends. She loves to hear from her readers so hit her up at pepperwinters@gmail.com.

Facebook I Twitter I Blog I Pinterest I Goodreads

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Something Like Normal by Monica James 

 

Release Date: May 20, 2014

Publisher: Limitless Publishing

Description from Goodreads:

  Mia Lee has a secret…

A secret she’s kept hidden since she was eight years old, however, Mia will no longer allow that secret to define her.

An irrevocable decision has left Mia Lee a fugitive and on the run—a circumstance that should leave her weak and scared, yet Mia has never felt so alive.

Under the pseudonym of Paige Cassidy, Mia is ready to live the life she’s never had, and she’s determined not to allow her tainted past dictate her promising future.

Paige is on a Greyhound bus heading from L.A. to South Boston, Virginia, to start a new life. A life that includes finding her mother, who abandoned her at age three. But what she finds, is four people, who will change her life forever.

Yet no one can outrun their past…

Especially one filled with bitter memories, which refuse to remain hidden. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

....growing up in my world, it was best not to have any ‘best features,’ and just fade into the background. 

“I’m Paige. Paige Cassidy,” I reply.

The pseudonym rolls off my tongue easily.

But that’s who I am now.

Mia Lee was a victim.

But Paige Cassidy is a survivor.

“We both have secrets, things we both wish we could take back, but can’t. And that’s okay, because when I’m with you, those secrets don’t rule me, they don’t define me…”

This is the first time in my entire life I have felt something other than… well, nothing.

'The victim. Something I refuse to ever be again.'

 

"I'd rather die fighting, than die for nothing at all."

"We both have secrets, things we wish we could take back, but can't. And that's okay, because when I'm with you, those secrets don't rule me, they don't define me."  

"We both have a past, but let's not let it define out future."

“In my world where it’s survival of the fittest, I had no choice. It was either him or me.”

“And for once, I chose me.” 

"Tell me your secrets and I'll tell you mine."

"Mia Lee was a victim.

Paige Cassidy is a survivor."

“Can you give me everything, even though you know I will push you until you’re ready to break? You see, I would break you.”


“I want you to. Better to feel pain than nothing at all.”

 "From the moment I saw him, I knew he was going to create a splash, but I never thought he'd create a fucking tsunami."

He is the only light in my forever darkness.

“We both have secrets, things we both wish we could take back, but can’t. And that’s okay, because when I’m with you, those secrets don’t rule me, they don’t define me.”

  

Monica James spent her youth devouring the works of Anne Rice, William Shakespeare and Emily Dickinson.

When she is not writing, Monica is busy, running her own business, but she always finds a balance between the two. She enjoys writing honest, heartfelt and turbulent stories,hoping to leave an imprint on her readers, and her inspiration comes from every day life. 

Monica James resides in Melbourne, Australia, with her wonderful family, and menagerie of animals. 

She is slightly obsessed with cats, chucks and lip gloss, and secretly wishes she was a ninja on the weekends.

Author Links:

Facebook | Facebook "Like" Page | Twitter | Goodreads | Pinterest | Website

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance

Release Date: February 23, 2014

Amazon / B&N 

Fiercely independent Helen Winters was born completely blind, but she vowed never to let her disability keep her down. She did not expect a traumatic event to devastate her life and force her to drop out of college. Disillusioned by the cruelty of people, Helen retreated from society to live by herself as a reclusive writer in the woods—where no one could ever hurt her again.

When a brilliant young doctor shows up on her doorstep, promising her that his new research can give her the ability to see for the first time, Helen stubbornly refuses. She has learned not to trust anyone, and to rely only on herself. But Dr. Liam Larson will not take no for an answer. He makes it his personal mission to rescue Helen from her loneliness, and bring joy into her world once more—the joy she has denied herself for so long.

When Helen’s demons come racing back into her life, threatening to rip her apart and destroy the strength she has carefully rebuilt, Liam is the only one who might be able to save her.

Can he reach the broken girl in time, helping her to heal and see the world in a different light? Or will Helen’s grief send her spiraling out of control, lost to him forever?

“I wish Owen would stop babbling so that I could actually talk to you for five minutes,” Liam muttered. “You’re such an interesting person.”

“Me?” I ask in confusion. “I’m just your average hermit writer.”

“Exactly,” he says. I hear a smile in his voice. “I don’t know too many of those. You’re part of a very rare species.”

I look down to hide my embarrassment. I can feel him staring at me; the tension is beginning to grow thick in our small quarters. He is sitting very close to me, even if we are separated by the back of his seat. When Owen was in the car with us, the atmosphere was light and funny. But now, it’s dark and intense; it’s laced with something I don’t understand and don’t want to discover. I try to think of something to say to take his focus away from me and my life. “It’s just a job,” I say dumbly.

He scoffs. “Just a job? Helen, I work with other doctors every day. We heal people, and it should be glamorous; we should feel like heroes. But in truth, it gets... mechanical. At some point, you start to question how important your work really is. I mean, you can heal a person’s body... but that doesn’t really heal the person. We aren’t just bodies, you know? That’s where your books come into play.” He pauses, and I can feel him giving me an earnest look. “Books are medicine for the soul. They heal the eternal parts of a person.”

“Liam,” I say in surprise.

“You are a doctor of sorts, too,” he tells me, “except for the fact that your work persists. If a person reads a good book—they become permanently changed. They can’t even help it. They can’t unlearn what they’ve learned. It will always be with them. Our bodies all crumble and fade, and we’ll all eventually lose our eyesight near the end, along with many other basic bodily functions. But I like to think that even when we’re gone, the soul retains some of that wisdom—some of that feeling. What I do is simple science, but what you do is... magic.”

“Stop talking,” I whisper. “Seriously, stop talking right now.”

“Why?” he says, somewhat hurt at the interruption.

“Because I’m pretty sure that if you keep talking like this... I’ll have to marry you, or something,” I explain nervously. “So just zip it.”

Loretta Lost knows how dark the world can be, but chooses to believe in happily-ever-afters despite all evidence to the contrary.

Website / Facebook / Twitter

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Genre: Paranormal Mystery 

Release Date: March 18, 2014 

Cover Art: phatpuppyart

Where there are roses there’s dead bodies and no one knows this better than Poppy Rae Mamadou.

Out of college and in debt, she has no choice but to take a job at her family’s P.I. firm in Seattle. When her stiff sniffing ability leads her to a notorious homicide with kinky overtones, her life quickly spins out of control. The police label her a suspect, the media can’t get enough of her, a killer wants her dead and the good looking young detective wants a piece of her. If only she wasn’t such a Virgin Detective. As the bodies pile up, it’s up to Poppy Rae to prove her innocence but who will believe her? Telling the truth never sounded so unbelievable.

 About the AuthorKat Cazanav graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles with a degree in film. She went on to work in television before moving to Seattle where she now lives with her husband and two crazy dogs. 

Social Media Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Website

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Conversations of a Reading Addict

---

[COVER REVEAL] Where You Are by Alla Kar Posted: 21 Mar 2014 09:39 AM PDT WHERE YOU ARE By Alla Kar New Adult Contemporary Releasing July 2014 Published by Swoon Romance Got boy problems? Call Laney Scott. She's good for advice, a shoulder, or a swift kick where you need it. When her roommate Bethany gets her heart broken, yet again, it's Laney to the rescue. But Laney's harboring a secret. She's nursing her own broken heart. She and her friends come up with a plan to break Aiden and set it into play. Laney wants Aiden to pay for what he's done to Bethany. She will make him fall in love with her, so can break his heart. Laney's ex-boyfriend Lachlan Hems is back in Florida, still Australian and sexy as hell. His best mate Lucas is getting married, and he is in town for the show. He just didn’t realize Laney would be there … in another guy’s arms, or that seeing her again would have such an effect on him. After the incident in high-school, he vowed to never care for her again. But sometimes fate has different plans. When Laney’s resolve crumbles, Lachlan is the only one that can put her back together again. Where You Are is the start of a three-books new adult series from Amazon and Barnes and Noble bestselling author Alla Kar. About the Author I go by Alla Kar. I live in the deep south. I love to bring Alpha Males, Southern Gentlemen and sometimes Paranormal characters to life. Website

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

 

Click the banner above for the full tour schedule!

Lover, Divine by A. Star 
Release Date: February 25, 2014
Format: Paperback, 182 pages
Series: Mythos: Gods & Lovers #1
Source: Author in exchange for an honest review
Buy It: Amazon | B&N

Description from Goodreads:
For fans of the Oracle of Delphi series...and for those who aren't...

Born into one of the wealthiest families in Ireland, Siobhan Law has status, privilege, and a secret: The Greek gods of Olympus and their kingdom in the clouds are real, and her family acts as one of their agents on Earth.

When the beautiful immortal celeste Liam Argyros shows up claiming to have come to Earth to deal in the affairs of the divine, Siobhan finds herself unable to resist his charms. New to the game of passion and seduction, she quickly ends up in over her head, sinking deeper with every attempt Liam makes to win her over.

But Liam’s divine mission is far more complex than she ever imagined and nothing is truly as it seems. Because Liam has a secret of his own: He is Apollo, Olympian god of the Sun, and his mission will never be complete until he has claimed Siobhan’s heart forever.

A. Star is a fan of dirty passion. She likes to read it, and she damn sure likes to write it. Her first adult romance/fantasy novella is called Invasion, an alien romance about sacrifice. Lover, Divine is the first release from the Mythos: Gods and Lovers series. Future releases under A. Star include, King, Desired (Mythos: Gods and Lovers #2), the Love & Steampunk series, the Purr, Inc. stories, and more.

Author Links: 

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Click above to see the full tour schedule! 

Reclaiming the Sand by A. Meredith Walters 
Release Date: March 17, 2014
Format: eARC
Source: Inkslinger PR in exchange for an honest review
Buy It: Amazon UK | Amazon US

Description from Goodreads:
Bully and victim.
Tormenter and tormented.
Villain and hero.

Ellie McCallum was a bully. No connection to anyone or anything. A sad and lonely existence for a young woman who had come to expect nothing more for herself. Her only happiness coming from making others miserable.

Particularly Freaky Flynn.

Flynn Hendrick lived a life completely disconnected even as he struggled to become something more than that boy with Asperger's. He was taunted and teased, bearing the brunt of systematic and calculated cruelty, ultimately culminating in a catastrophic turn of events that brought Ellie and Flynn’s worlds crashing down.

But then Flynn and Ellie grew up.

And moved on.

Until years later when their paths unexpectedly cross again and the bully and the freak are face to face once more.

When labels come to define you, finding yourself feels impossible. Particularly for two people disconnected from the world who inexplicably find a connection in each other.

And out of the wreckage of their tragic beginnings, an unlikely love story unfolds.

But a painful past doesn’t always want to let go. And old wounds are never truly healed…and sometimes the further you try to run from yourself the closer you come to who you really are.

The New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Contemporary and Paranormal romance including The Find You in the Dark and Bad Rep series as well as the upcoming stand alone romance, Reclaiming the Sand, and a dark new adult series for Gallery Books.

A. Meredith spent ten years as a counselor for at risk teens and children. First working at a Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault program and then later a program for children with severe emotional and mental health issues. Her former clients and their stories continue to influence every aspect of her writing.

When not writing (or being tortured with all manner of beauty products at the hand of her very imaginative and extremely girly daughter), she is eating chocolate, watching reality television that could rot your brain and reading a smutty novel or two.

A. Meredith is represented by Michelle Johnson with the Inklings Literary Agency. 

Author Links: 

Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Best Kind of Broken by Chelsea Fine 
Release Date: March 4, 2014
Format: eARC, 336 pages
Publisher: Forever
Series: Finding Fate #1
Source: NetGalley
Buy It: Amazon | B&N
Add it on Goodreads 

Synopsis:
SOMETIMES MOVING ON MEANS MOVING IN

Pixie Marshall wishes every day she could turn back time and fix the past. But she can't. And the damage is done. She's hoping that a summer of free room and board working with her aunt at the Willow Inn will help her forget. Except there's a problem: the resident handyman is none other than Levi Andrews. The handsome quarterback was once her friend-and maybe more--until everything changed in a life-shattering instant. She was hoping to avoid him, possibly forever. Now he's right down the hall and stirring up feelings Pixie thought she'd long buried . . .

Levi can't believe he's living with the one person who holds all his painful memories. More than anything he wants to make things right, but a simple "sorry" won't suffice--not when the tragedy that scarred them was his fault. Levi knows Pixie's better off without him, but every part of him screams to touch her, protect her, wrap her in his arms, and kiss away the pain. Yet even though she's so close, Pixie's heart seems more unreachable than ever. Seeing those stunning green eyes again has made one thing perfectly clear--he can't live without her. 

QUOTES:

“Because love isn’t something that needs to be said out loud!” Her face flushes with passion. “It’s something you just know. It’s an unspoken thing. It’s humble and quiet and constant…” She goes back to slaughtering the mushrooms, but lowers her tone a bit. “I mean, you can’t just say you love someone and make it true. That’s not how it works. Real love doesn’t need to be declared or confessed. Real love just… is. You know?”

He pushes into me and I howl like a werewolf. Seriously. It's that kind of doglike sound that comes out of my mouth

"He's not fine.
I'm not fine." 

"He rocks out of me, then back in, until I'm once again on the verge of barking at the moon." 

"I can't. We're so messed up. I don't think it would even matter if I did. We're just too broken." 

“You seem stressed.” Levi, whose jeans are so low on his bare hips that I can tell he’s going commando, tilts his head. “You know what you need? A nice hot shower…oh wait.” He gives me an impish smile.
I might just pee on his bed right now.
“Joke all you want, Levi. But the next time you’re out fixing a broken window or a fire alarm, I will sneak into your room and pee on your bed.”

...

The impish smile grows. “I can think of better things for you to do in my bed, Pix.”
Silence.
If his plan was to make me uncomfortable by flirting with me, it totally backfired. Because the second those words left Levi’s mouth, his body stiffened in awareness and the space between us became electric. So now we’re staring at each other’s lips and we’re both breathing heavier than necessary, and neither of us is really dressed.
I shift in my towel and feel the material slip a bit as I pull my eyes from his mouth and try to coax my face into a look of something less come-and-get-me and more ew-you’re-pathetic.
I’m gearing up for my comeback – which will be brilliant and kick-ass as soon as I nail it down – when his eyes drop to my chest, and all the air leaves the room.

"He has me.
He has me when I’m seven years old and scared of monsters. He has me when I’m brokenhearted in the eighth grade because Tommy Marchim won’t take me to the Valentine’s dance. And he has me when I’m nineteen and in the shower with my pyjamas on, searching his eyes for my hero.
He has me.
He’s always had me.
And I’ve never wanted to be had by anyone else."

"I’m still angry with him, but I follow him through the drizzle anyway. Because this is Levi. This is my hero. And you always follow your heroes, even when you’re mad, even when you’d rather punch them in the mouth. That’s how trust works. It’s blind and unconditional and it takes you places you can’t reach by yourself.
Just like love."

“I am yours … Even when you don’t want me. I’m still yours.”

"You'd think senior citizens relaxing at a quaint inn in the middle-of-nowhere Arizona would be low-key and rather boring, but they're just as bad as college kids. they flirt and drink and sleep with one another, and it's just nasty. Entertaining. But nasty."

"I have this weird habit of saying "uh" before the word "boyfriend." I can't help it. It's like saying "Jiminy" before "Cricket" or "more" before "cowbell." It just falls out of my mouth."

"Who knows what I might blab out next time. My throat-biting desires? My unhealthy obsession with his forearm muscles? I need a muzzle."

"God, Levi. Maybe you should just pee all over her so every guy she meets knows whose territory she is!"

I force my eyes open.
"What?" Is someone talking to me? Who DARES to interrupt my bliss?

"He looked down with a huge smile and nodded.
His gleaming eyes dropped to my mouth and, in an instant, everything changed. We changed.
I was aware of him completely. The way he smelled, the feel of his breaths against my face, his hard body lined against my chest.
Neither of us moved even though the footsteps had vanished outside. My eyes fell to his lips, and his chest filled with a deeper breath.
Oh God.
I looked back up at him, and the only thing I could think about were his blue eyes, solid and steady, intense and drowning me slowly."

"The cruel wanting we can't entertain against the backdrop of the thing we don't talk about." 

"Levi is looking at me with nothing but hunger, and I've never wanted to feed anything so desperately."

"Welcome to Hotel Horny Women, home of scruffy cheese and sensual produce."

"There's no such thing as too broken. Anything can heal."

"Denial is thick and sweet, and for the past year it filled my lungs until they threatened to burst. But truth...truth is clean and pure. And yes, it hurts when I inhale it, it hurts to cleanse out the sweet smoke, but breathing out is like new life."

"When you bring something back from the brink of death, it fights harder to thrive."

“So,” Jenna says casually as she goes back to lining her eyes. “How’s the sex thing going with Matt?”

Oh jeez.

“It’s not,” I say.

She scrunches her nose. “Was your first time really so bad?”

My sexual experience is limited to a one-time disaster with a guy named Benji Barker—that was his name, I kid you not—and it was drunk and sloppy and just…bleh.

I always thought losing my virginity would be a memorable event with fireworks and theme music and maybe a parade afterward. But no. It was more like, hey, so thanks for the horribly awkward sex. Let’s never speak again.

“No,” I say, searching the depths of the black hole that is my makeup bag for my mascara. “I mean, it was uncomfortable as hell, but it wasn’t bad. I just haven’t been able to get into it with Matt yet. Or the guy before him. Or the guy before that guy.” I tried dating a few guys this past school year, before I met Matt, but none of them really did it for me. I shrug again. “Maybe I’m a lesbian.”

My fingers finally wrap around a tube of mascara and I pull it out in triumph.

Jenna rolls her eyes. “You’re not a lesbian—”

“Pixie!” calls someone from the hallway.

Levi.

I haven’t heard his voice for three days and all my senses immediately go on alert. My eyes snap to the mirror just as his reflection enters in the bathroom doorway and my heart stammers at the sight.

He’s wearing dark jeans and an untucked shirt that fits his frame perfectly. The top two buttons of his shirt are undone, showing off the tan skin of his thick throat, and I suddenly sympathize with vampires everywhere. Who wouldn’t want to take a bite out of that?

WHAT?

Where did that thought come from?

“Hey, Pixie. Ellen wanted me too…” Levi’s words trail off as his gaze runs down my body and lingers on my butt. Desire flashes in his eyes and my insides start to heat and tighten in response.

Our eyes lock in the mirror.

Am I blushing? Crap, I’m blushing.

He clears his throat and starts again. “Ellen wanted me to give these to you. She says you lost your own set? These are her backups.” He lays a set of inn keys on the counter by my hip, his hand so close to my belly I can feel his body heat seeping in through my leather skirt.

I nod. I swallow. I try not to pass out.

Or you know, bite him.

“Oh, right. Thanks,” I say, my voice all ragged like I just finished running a marathon or something. I’m so cool.

“I’m Jenna,” Jenna says loudly, holding out her hand.

Levi and I blink away from each other and he raises his eyebrows like he hadn’t noticed Jenna until right that second.

“Oh, hey,” he says in his smooth-operator voice. He has many voices. “I’m Levi.”

“Levi,” she repeats with a Cheshire grin as they shake hands. “It’s very nice to meet you.”

I glare at her but she refuses to acknowledge me.

“Right.” He glances at me. “Good to meet you, too.” He pauses. “So yeah. Later.” Then he rigidly moves from the bathroom mirror.

            I stare at the empty hallway that replaces him, suddenly feeling empty myself.

Chelsea lives in Phoenix, Arizona where she spends most of her time writing stories, painting murals, and avoiding housework at all costs. She’s ridiculously bad at doing dishes and claims to be allergic to laundry. Her obsessions include: superheroes, coffee, sleeping-in, and crazy socks. She lives with her husband and two children, who graciously tolerate her inability to resist teenage drama on TV and her complete lack of skill in the kitchen.

Author Links: 

Website | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Instagram | Goodreads

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

This book may be unsuitable for anyone under the age of 18, due to mature themes, language and sexual content.

Deeper by Robin York 
Series: Caroline & West #1 
Published by Bantam on Published January 28th 2014 
Genres: Contemporary Romance, New Adult 
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss 
Add it to Goodreads 
Purchase at Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes and Noble | Audible

When Caroline Piasecki’s ex-boyfriend posts their sex pictures on the Internet, it destroys her reputation as a nice college girl. Suddenly her once-promising future doesn’t look so bright. Caroline tries to make the pictures disappear, hoping time will bury her shame. Then a guy she barely knows rises to her defense and punches her ex to the ground.

West Leavitt is the last person Caroline needs in her life. Everyone knows he’s shady. Still, Caroline is drawn to his confidence and swagger—even after promising her dad she’ll keep her distance. On late, sleepless nights, Caroline starts wandering into the bakery where West works.

They hang out, they talk, they listen. Though Caroline and West tell each other they’re “just friends,” their feelings intensify until it becomes impossible to pretend. The more complicated her relationship with West gets, the harder Caroline has to struggle to discover what she wants for herself—and the easier it becomes to find the courage she needs to fight back against the people who would judge her.

When all seems lost, sometimes the only place to go is deeper.