#CassianIsCOMING #3Days for #Temptation #ClubX1 Have you added sexy Cassian to your Goodreads TBR?!? #Aug3rd Watch the Book trailer - http://vimeo.com/99169807 Temptation (Club X #1) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22009285-temptation ✭✭✭JOIN THE RELEASE DAY PARTY✭✭✭https://www.facebook.com/events/1473950726179432
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Thursday, 31 July 2014
BLOG TOUR & REVIEW OF SCARED TO DEATH BY C.S. LATU @ALadyMaleficent. #scaredtodeath #review
For Ruby Green, life is about loss. Everyone she has ever loved has died, save one. Her best friend from childhood. He has always been her saving grace. When things change between them, Ruby finds herself lost in a maelstrom of emotions. She's not ready to lose him in order to have him.
Noah Carrington believes in living. Even if the road is dark, the fear makes you feel alive. Life is too short and regret is a wound that festers. He always saw his best friend, Ruby, in his future, she would be just around the corner in the next room until he started seeing her in his arms.
They both know that being scared to death means you have something to lose. The question is, will they learn that it means you have something to gain too?
I received this arc in exchange for an honest review
When I read the blurb for this book, I thought this is going to be a fantastic read.
The story of two people who have know each after since childhood and have this connection. What they don't realise is that they are in love with each other.
When reading this book I was wanting more, more sex lol, more action, I just don't know but I felt that it needed something else written in.
The book was good to read, well written, but I felt at times it was lacking something.
A true childhood couple who love and understand each other like no one else.
View all my reviews
All I wanted was sleep. My body hated me for saying yes to a double shift almost as much as my feet did. I fumbled with the key, flipping it back and forth before I finally got it in the door; the chain was on. I cursed, then opened my mouth to scream for Noah when I heard him, or her rather.
“OH GOD!” A breathy moan assaulted the silence, followed by the pounding sound of skin slapping. I pulled the door closed and turned to sit down, pulling my cell phone from my pocket. I neglected to look at it when I left work because I was dead tired and all I could think about was getting away from people.
The light flashed at the top signaling a message of some kind.
Noah: Got company but should be gone before you get home.
Apparently not, I thought.
I keyed back a message-
I would love to go to sleep.
Weariness crept over me and sank into my bones. If I didn’t get in the apartment soon, I was going to pass out on the steps.
I keyed another message.
I am outside, hurry it up.
I wasn’t surprised that he had a chick in our apartment. I was surprised this chick caused me to be locked out.
Noah was a really hot guy. I could see the appeal that girls saw in him. He handled his inky black hair carelessly. His eyes were seemingly depthless, they were so dark. He had started covering his tall body in tattoos, which would have only been more effective had they said “Fuck Me.” He had his choice with girls. I had watched him with several, catch and release.
When the door opened, I looked up and realized why I was locked out of the house. A shapely, strumpet from hell with blue eyes smiled down; she’d done it. She reached up running her fingers through her short, brown bob, sweeping any stray hair in place. Noah looked over her shoulder down at me; he wasn’t wearing a shirt and his hair was sticking up.
“Sorry.” He stated from behind the smiling banshee.
“No problem, just want to go to sleep. You didn’t manage to get him to fuck you in my bed, did you?” I frowned.
“Good to see you too, Ruby.” She turned around and grabbed Noah, while blocking the doorway to kiss him. It was passionate on her side, he stood and accepted it.
“Call me?” She paused while she ran her hand down his bare chest. “We have lots to talk about.” She smiled when he nodded.
When she backed up, I walked between them into the apartment. I had to squeeze, but once I made it in, I could hear her mouth.
“I can’t believe you two still live together.”
“Court. Don’t start.” Noah warned.
“Yeah, I know.” She whined.
I couldn’t listen to her. Normally, his dates never bothered me, but Courtney wasn’t a random chick. She had been Noah’s girlfriend for over a year. In the beginning, she was nice, but after a while, she got it in her head that I was carrying a torch for Noah. The fact that I lived with him caused a great source of tension between them.
Any explanation you offered to her was not good enough. It didn’t matter that we’d been friends since grade school or that I wasn’t into him and never had been. She refused to believe me.
I pushed the thoughts from my mind when I made it to the bathroom, stripping out of my clothes and turned on the shower. Once I stood in the steaming water, the door opened. I hated it when he cornered me in the bathroom.
“Get out, Noah.” I barked.
“I didn’t know she put the chain on the door.” He said.
“I didn’t know you still put your dick in that one!” I returned.
“Ru.” I knew he was frowning at me from the tone of his voice.
I grabbed the edge of the shower curtain to frown back, “What!”
“Now you gonna give me shit?” He asked. His hands rested on his hips. His tattoos were exposed that covered sporadic places on his arms and chest.
“I don’t care who you are fucking, but I didn’t know you were such a glutton for punishment.”
“You haven’t figured that out since I decided to live with you that I am,” he snapped. I threw the curtain back, shutting his image away.
“If that is the kinda thing you are going to let in this house, then I can fix that problem too!” I raged while leaning down to turn the water off and snatched my towel off of the top of the shower rod.
When I got out of the tub, Noah had left the bathroom. I was glad because I’m pretty sure I would have punched him directly in the dick for his comment.
I dried myself off, then re-tucked the towel around me because I hadn’t bothered to grab clothes. I opened the door to stomp to my bedroom; dirty clothes in hand.
Noah was standing in the hallway with his hands on the wall. He wasn’t facing me, but his head was bowed like he was praying.
I moved to walk around him when he spoke.
“I don’t wanna fight with you.”
“There is nothing to fight about. You’re an idiot. I have made my thoughts clear on that. There’s nothing else to say.” My fist tightened on my clothes as I spoke. The urge to punch him was strong.
“Ru, ya know you’re the only bitch in this world that I let talk to me like that.” He turned leaning back on the wall.
“Is that a compliment?” I asked. I was unaffected by the bitch comment other than the fact he only said that when he was angry with me, if the shoe fits.
“I hate it when you are like this.” He growled, clenchin
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Cover Reveal for Lasting Fate by Charisse Spiers. #lastingfate #fateseries @cspiersauthor
"Lasting Fate" by: Charisse Spiers Cover Reveal
Lasting Fate Excerpt:
Preston I pull into the drive and the garage is open. I've told Kinzleigh to keep it shut. It's a nice area, but that doesn't mean we don't get strays from time to time looking for easy access to steal. Kinzleigh's mom should be here soon to help her with the baby for a few days. Maybe she's already here. I could use her help so I can get some work done. I'm swamped with projects and a new baby is more work than I thought. I try to give Kinzleigh a break when I get home.
Pulling under my garage door, I park and kill the engine. I grab my satchel that I take back and forth from the office and step out of my beamer. It's been a long day. I grab the knot of my tie and pull, loosening it. When I get to the door my heart drops to my stomach. It's cracked. My first thought is that someone has broken in. I push it open and walk inside. I drop my bag at the door and pick up pace when I hear Bryce screaming at the top of his lungs. A fear I've never known races through my body. What if she's hurt? "Kinzleigh," I call out throughout the house. I get no response. When I make it to the living room Bryce is lying in his bassinet screaming and Kinzleigh is lying on the couch staring off into space like a zombie, ignoring him. His face is blood red like he's been crying for a while. I reach over and pick him up, pulling him to my chest. "Hey, buddy. Shh, shh, shh. It's okay," I say as I rock him. It's not helping. He's obviously hungry or wet. Hell, I don't know. I've never had a baby before and I'm a guy. I would get cranky if I was hungry. Kinzleigh is breast-feeding, so I don't know what I'm supposed to do.
"Kinzleigh, when is the last time you fed him?" I look over at her, still attempting to calm him down. My ears are stinging from his constant crying. I can't think. She has not even acknowledged I'm in the room. "Kinzleigh, what the fuck?" The only type of response I get from her are tears that fall from the corners of her eyes and they trickle down her nose before dropping onto the leather of the sofa. "I can't," is all she says and goes back to staring off into space. What the hell does that even mean, she can't?
"You can't or you won't? What happened to you? Are you sick?" He is still screaming, so I reach in the bassinet and get his pacifier, hoping it calms him a little until I can figure out what the hell I'm supposed to do now. "I can't," she says again. She's not even looking at him. I begin walking towards her in an attempt to see what's wrong and get her to feed him. She closes her eyes before I get there. "Please don't. I can't hold him. Please, take him somewhere else. Please..." I don't understand. She was fine when I left for work. I try to give him his pacifier. We don't have any formula, because she wanted to feed him naturally. How does everything change so drastically in twelve hours?
He takes it for a second before he figures out nothing is coming out of it and spits it back out, now mad as hell. I can't deal with this shit right now. I'm worried about her, because she's not acting right, but I have to get him calmed down first. Pulling out my phone from the pocket of my slacks, I hit one of the contacts in my immediate access list. It rings for a minute before the line picks up. "Preston? It's seven thirty and the sitter just left. Do I need to call her back? Is that Bryce? Is he okay?" Her voice is drowned out by his crying. I walk out of the room with the phone up to my ear. "Hey, Macie. I need your help. It's an emergency. It's about Kinzleigh. You can bring Talon." "Anything, Preston. Is she okay?"
I peek my head back in the door. She's still lying on the couch in the exact same position she was when I left. She is still staring at the wall blankly, no emotion registering on her face. "I don't think so. I came home and Bryce was screaming in his bassinet. She's just lying on the couch in a vegetative state. She won't hold him. I have no idea when she's fed him last. Can you bring some formula?" "I think I know what's wrong with her. I'll be right there. Give me fifteen minutes." She doesn't wait for an answer before disconnecting the call. I slide the phone back in my pocket and begin bouncing him slightly while I pat his back. His tiny head is resting against my cheek.
"It's okay, buddy. We'll get your mama fixed, okay? Don't worry. She must have a reason for letting you cry, she has to. You'll love her. She's kind of hard not to love." His cry is dying down, from the exhaustion I'm sure, but not stopping completely. I stand in the doorway watching her. I've never in my entire life seen her like this, not even when her grandmother died. It's like her soul has been sucked from her body, leaving nothing but a hollow woman lying in this big house. I'm scared to know what that means. I need to talk to Macie. I have a strange feeling I'm losing her. I've never been in love with a girl like I'm in love with Kinzleigh, and I never will be again, but I can't stand seeing her like this. If this is going to be the girl she becomes, then I'll have to make another choice, one that is going to forever destroy me for a woman. I won't trap her. We were happy before he came back. I won't watch her disintegrate and become lifeless to preserve my own happiness.
The realization occurs that if she doesn't get better I may have to let her go. Watching her lay as if she is alive, but dead, is killing me inside. I've never been an emotional guy until I went back to Mississippi that night and saw her the way I did. Something changed in me that night. From that point forward it wasn't about me, but her. I learned that when you love someone, you do what's best for them, even if it isn't what's best for you. I want to walk over to her right now, but I have to take care of Bryce first. I made a promise to love and take care of both of them. I'm going to keep that promise for as long as I can. Right now I'm scared and I don't know how long I'm going to get to hold onto what has become my family. Just because this child doesn't share my blood, he still shares a piece of my heart. I kiss the top of his head. He finally cried himself to sleep, but he won't be asleep long. Macie should be here soon. I can tell his diaper needs to be changed anyway.
I stare at the girl that captured my heart from the time I was just a teenager. I've really grown into a man from then to now. I rub my thumb back and forth on Bryce's head, above his ear. "I need to leave you for a minute, but I promise I'll come take care of you," I whisper into the air in her direction. "I love you, Kinzleigh." My eyes fill to the brim with tears, but I close my lids before they have the chance to fall. She doesn't have room in her life for someone that can't contain his emotions. I kiss the top of his head; his baby smell fills my nostrils. "I love you also, buddy." I hold him close to me and begin walking in the direction of the stairs and towards his room. I'm going to savor every moment with the two of them. My brain wants me to believe that I still have them forever, but my heart is preparing me for the worst.
After changing his diaper, I sit in the rocker and start to rock him. Macie walks in with a bottle in hand. She takes one look at me and gets a saddened look in her eyes, more like a look of pity. "You've gotten attached to him, haven't you?" "Yeah." I am not one of those guys that talk about the emotions fighting against each other deep inside. I prefer to keep to myself. Revealing parts of yourself to others sets you up for gossip and judgment. Coming from a family in the media that was something you didn't do. Kinzleigh is the only person I've ever let in.
"I hope I'm not overstepping any boundaries, because I really like you as a boss and a person, but you know there is only way to fix her, right?" I continue rocking back and forth, staring at the wall before me. I want to know, but at the same time I don't. I'm not sure I want to know the answer, because I think I already do. "What's that?"
"Preston, you can't fight soul mates. I know you love her, and I really believe she loves you in return, but she's meant for him. His return has changed the rules of the game. Her soul is fighting her, mourning for its other half. A doctor is going to tell you it's postpartum depression, but we both know what's really wrong with her." I'm getting mad. Things were going great before he came back. I'm not going to be an asshole and say I wish he would've died, because I don't, but she's the only girl I've ever wanted. That should count for something. "So, you think I should just hand her over to him? What kind of a man hands over the only thing he wants in life. I've only ever loved her..."
"I'm saying you should set her free. She made you a promise, and I don't think she's going to break it. Her soul is turning against her, rebelling until she gives it what it wants. As silly as it sounds, I really believe someone can die of a broken heart. Would you rather keep her alive and well or allow her to suffer slowly? If you really love her, prove it, and set her free her from the ropes that bind her. Selflessness, that's the ultimate sacrifice in love." I look down at the bundle in my arms. I can't let them go yet. I need a little more time. She could still get better. She has to get better. I'm trying to convince myself, but it's not working. Bryce wakes up crying. "Here, give him to me. Talon is watching television in the spare room downstairs. Go tend to her. She needs someone. She looks horrible."
I stand and hand him to her. I watch her sit in the chair, but I can't quit looking at him. "Preston..." I glance up at her. "We'll be fine. I've raised one baby. Go on." I nod and follow instructions, leaving the room. When I get to where Kinzleigh is, she looks worse than she did before. It feels like someone has a hold on my heart and squeezing as hard as they can until it pops. I get to her and squat down so that I'm at her level. "Kinzleigh," I whisper. Her eyes are void of all life and emotion. She doesn't look at me. It's as if she can't even hear me. Fuck it. I can't take this anymore.
I slide my arms underneath her and lift her, pulling her against my chest. "I'll do whatever I have to do to fix you, Kinz. I promise." I walk her upstairs and into our bathroom, sitting her on the toilet. She slumps slightly, but holds herself up. "Lift your arms," I state. She does as I say. I remove her shirt and she lowers them back down. I unclasp her bra and remove that too. She is now sitting in just her underwear. I unbutton my shirt and let it fall to the floor. Grabbing the collar of my undershirt, I pull it over my head and toss it down on the other one, forming a pile. I work quickly to unfasten my belt and pants, letting them drop to the floor as well. Stepping out of my shoes and pants in unison, I kick them to the side. Wrapping my arms around her waist, I pick her up and she wraps her legs around me, and then lays her head against my chest. I walk over to the large round tub and step in. Reaching forward and down, I turn the nozzle and adjust the settings until the water is warm.
I sit down as the bathtub fills with water. My eyes fill with moisture again, but this time I let them fall. My heart is breaking, shattering is a more appropriate word. The only things at the forefront of my mind are the things Macie said. I hold her wrapped in my arms and silently cry. My heart is trying to convince my mind that it's wrong, duking it out on what's best for her. I don't want to let her go. I want to love her each and every day for the rest of my life. I want to give her the world, and be her world, but after seeing how she reacted to him at the hotel that day and seeing her when she told him goodbye, and looking at her now, my mind is overpowering my heart. It's clear that what I want and what she wants are two different things.
I could hold onto her if I wanted, but my love for her guilt’s me, and won't let me do this to her. I feel like I'm being gutted at the realization of what I have to do. I'll never be the same after this. I'll never give my heart to another woman. When I do this I'm defying everything I was taught by giving in. I'm sacrificing my happiness for hers. When her and Bryce go, my heart goes with them. After holding her in the bathtub and trying to convince myself to go back on my decision, I bathed her and gave her some sleeping medicine from the cabinet. I lay her in the bed and pull the covers over her. It doesn't take her long before her eyes begin to roll in the back of her head and her lids close.
Her cell phone on the nightstand starts to ring. I notice it's an unsaved number. Trying not to wake her, I answer the call. "Hello." The line is silent. "Can I talk to Kinzleigh?" I look down at her. She is sleeping and looks peaceful for the first time since I got home from work. I'm not waking her. Besides, I'm about to give her over to the bastard anyway; he can let me have a few more hours.
"Now's not a good time," I say. "Are we really going to play it this way?" He breathes and I walk out of the room, quietly shutting the door. I move far enough away she can't hear me if she wakes.
I need him to stop calling, because what I have to do has to be done in person and I don't need him to worry Kinzleigh until this is done. "She doesn't want to see you, Breyson. Please stop calling." I disconnect the call and throw the phone at the wall, leaving a crack and a now shattered phone. I run my hands through my hair and rest against the wall, sliding down until I'm sitting on the floor. Leaning my head back I close my eyes.