Wednesday, November 25, 2015

ARC : Beyond Her Words by Bink Cummings

Title: Beyond Her Words
Author: Bink Cummings
Genre: MC Romance
Release Date: November 17, 2015
Some people are born with a silver spoon in their mouths and lady luck tucked into their back pocket. Then there’s people like me, who live to survive. Survive loss. Survive loneliness. Survive the black tar that swallows you whole, stealing everything and anything that could resemble a piece of happiness. They try and fail, try again and fail even harder. Starting life’s never ending cycle of wash, rinse, and repeat. 
That’s me. Or it was. Ten years I wandered through life. Through ten towns. Through ten men. Then, I didn’t anymore. A hellacious storm came and ripped everything away, leaving me stripped bare for the most beautiful man. A man part of the Corrupt Chaos Motorcycle club, who not only saved my life but rescued my soul. Or so it may seem from the outside. On the inside, it’s not that simple. Life never is. 
It’s dirty. 
It’s ugly. 
And it’s painstakingly relentless. 
I’m Magdalene Murdock and this is my story. 
Warning: Contains shameless adult sexual content, an arseload of profanity, and whatever the hell else that makes it unsuitable for folks under the age of 18. 
- Standalone Novel




First off, this book is some heavy stuff. Magdalene is on the run from her lonely, sucky life. The only man she's ever truly loved died days after her grandmother passes away and she has never fully recovered.

My expression throughout the entire book

 
By the luck of the draw she ends up in a freak storm that introduces her to the Corrupt Chaos Motorcycle Club and Lachlan (Smoke). [There is more to it than that, but that is the abbreviated version] She becomes family to them and the story takes off. 

And here we go
Magdalene can't help but create ties and build relationships with those that have taken her in, given her a job and the sense of belonging [community] that she has always sought. 
 
I definitely enjoyed this book; most importantly, Magdalene's journey to Lachlan. Even more so, I enjoyed and appreciated Lachlan's journey to Magdalene. Mags is fighting so hard to stay away from Lachlan and to not build something with him, but as the reader you can see how lonely and in need she is. She needs friends. She needs love. She needs positive life experiences [to help deal with the bad times]. She just needs to stop and LIVE. 
 
I am not new to the writing of this author, but I am new to this type of book.  Almost instantly, I had this sense of disquiet about Lachlan and I was right. No one in this story is perfect, but that is absolutely the truth with Lachlan. He is damaged in his own way, living in his own brand of solitude and Hell. He is a tortured man with serious anger issues, but I rooted for him from the getgo. He needed love and understanding and deserved a happy ending just as much as Magdalene did. These two were a train wreck and I was all aboard.
 
The one con that I did have was the ending. In my opinion, the author built the tension for Lachlan and Magdalene getting together so well that when they finally did get together it seemed a bit rushed. I felt that I didn't get to experience Lachlan and Magdalene as a couple. I wanted more intimate encounters, more of them post get together...I just wanted more. 
 
Other than that...


 
“My kindle went everywhere with me, and I do mean everywhere, so that I could continually stay in the moment and mood that this book induced. But no amount of preparation or comfort food could’ve prepared me for the ending. Bink, I was so ready to virtually fight you if this story had’ve turned out in the direction it looked to be going. #IAintScared” ~☆☆☆☆☆ Review from Literary Treasure Chest
“Overall I think that this is a beautifully written story about two damaged people learning to trust and love again who get their happily ever after!”~ ☆☆☆☆☆ Goodreads Reviewer
“Beyond Her Words is so very different from anything already written before. It will pull you in from the beginning and take you on an emotional rollercoaster until the very last page.”~☆☆☆☆☆ Goodreads Reviewer

Author Bink Cummings was born and raised part of an MC family. Upon the incessant coercion from her sacred sisters, she has begun her newest journey in life--writing. When she's not shacked up in her home, writing at all hours of the night, Bink enjoys riding motorcycles, taking care of her extensive roughneck family, and cooking huge meals. Especially her infamous chocolate chip cookies.
HOSTED BY:

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

ARC Perfectly Imperfect by Harper Sloan


perfectly imperfect book tour.jpg
perfectly imperfect live.jpg
Meet Willow and Kane in the newest stand alone by Harper Sloan!
NOW AVAILABLE on the following retailers:
perfecty imperfect.jpg
Blurb
Mirror, mirror ... who's the fairest of them all?
I still cringe when I hear that line. A fairy tale that had girls pretending they were the fairest, the most beautiful, and the most entitled. A fairy tale most couldn't grow out of turned my haunted childhood memories into a living nightmare. Girls who grew up believing that pile of garbage became the meanest of all 'mean girls.'
And those mean girls were right - it was a line meant for all the beautiful people in the world - and I knew the answer would never be me.
The women with long legs, flat stomachs, and perfect chests.
The type of women Kane Masters gravitated toward.
Well, that's definitely not Willow Tate.
No. That will never be me.
Because I'm completely imperfect.
And ... I hate myself.
I have no idea what Kane could possibly see in someone like me when he could have them.
Review
I am so full after reading this book. I attempted to leave the author a message, but FB was acting up so I decided to go ahead with my review.  
To be completely honest, from the start to the middle of the book I wasn't sure if I could continue reading it. Willow was so easy to root for and so sad. With a lifetime of being treated like dirt from her step-father and half sister Willow believed every horrible thing they said to her and about her. Honestly, it was very hard for me to read how terrible they were to her. Literally, I put my IPAD2 down several times as I made my way thru the exposition that explained how damaged Willow was. I couldn't help but WISH [upon a star] that she would stop being such a disgusting doormat and DO SOMETHING. And that is why Harper Sloan did such a good job with this book.
I figured I couldn't be sickened by Willow and her so-called family so much if the author had done a sucky job at introducing them. Score one for her because Willow's family as well as her good for nothing dandy ex-husband were ultimate evil. Not one good thing came out of their mouths or their lives. I was so ecstatic when Willow decided to get a divorce and to try to live for herself. 
Cue Kane. 
Celebrity actor Kane Masters has wanted Willow ever since he met her. Though, he can tell that she has a troubled past, but that doesn't stop the feelings that he has for her. He wants her and he wants her permanently. Kane is tired of vapid celebrity chasers after him for his money and fame. He is ready for someone he can build a future with. Someone with substance. Someone like Willow. I was all for Kane pursuing Willow, but I knew he would have his work cut out for him. 
When Kane finally makes headway with Willow we are given a juicy side plot. There are rumors going around that Kane and his friend Mia are a celebrity couple with a deep secret, but Kane says otherwise.  So now Willow is trying to grab life by the horns and experience all that she can, but every few steps this deep secret keeps tripping her up. Another win in the author's corner because just when I was starting to wish there was more to this book than just self-hatred and learning to love yourself I was given an engaging secondary plot. 
B+ read. Pieces were hard to read and there were times I wanted to strangle Willow, but overall I enjoyed her journey to a better life with friends, family and a significant other that loved her for her.

perfectly imperfect teaser 2.jpg
Excerpt
“Are you nervous right now?”
I nod.
“Tell me why.”  His demand, steady and calm, gives me the courage I need to tell him.  To open a vein and bleed my insecurities.
“I’m not perfect,” I whisper.
“And neither am I, Willow.  I don’t want perfect.  What so many see as perfect, to me, is fake.  Perfect isn’t achievable naturally.  No one, and I mean no one, is perfect.”
I’m shaking my head before he’s even done speaking, but one long finger comes up and presses against my lips before I can speak.
“No, let me finish.  There isn’t beauty in perfection.  It’s as fake as the image the word projects.  Beauty is found in imperfection, Willow, because to admit you’re not perfect means you’re admitting you’re not whole and absolute.  When I think of myself, I see someone willing to admit he’s as far from complete as it gets because, in order to get to that perfection, I need to find the other part of me who will make my life better.  To take all the faults I have and fill them, and only then will I be there.  You see, the way I see it, the only way to become perfect is to find that perfectly imperfect person who brings it out of you.”
When he stops, I swear I might have stopped breathing.  How am I supposed to respond to that?
“Do you trust me?” he asks, his voice strong and sure.
“Yes, Kane.  Nerves or not, I do.”
“Then let me show you what I see when I look at you.”
He brings his hands up, framing my face once again in a way I’m quickly becoming addicted to the feeling of.  His warm eyes implore, begging me without words to let him continue.  I do not intend to stop him, regardless of the butterflies currently taking over my system.  I’m all in.
perfectly imperfect teaser 3.jpg
About the Author:
harper sloan bio.jpg
Harper lives in small town Georgia just a short drive from her hometown of Peachtree City. She (and her 3 daughters) enjoy ruling the house they dubbed 'Estrogen Ocean', much to her husband’s chagrin. Harper has a borderline unhealthy obsession with books; you can almost ALWAYS find her with her eReader attached. She enjoys bad reality TV and cheesy romantic flicks. Her favorite kind of hero--the super alpha kind!


Harper started using writing as a way to unwind when the house went to sleep at night; and with a house full of crazy it was the perfect way to just relax. It didn't take long before a head full of very demanding alphas would stop at nothing to have their story told.




THANK YOU!
promo.jpg