Tortured by Nicole WilliamsMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
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Tuesday, May 12
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Monday, March 9
BookWhisperer Review: Finders Keepers by Nicole Williams
Finders Keepers by Nicole WilliamsMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Summary:
There’s tortured. And there’s Garth Black.
His life has been a constant carousel of tragedy and disappointment, including his love life. Of course, applying the term “love” to Garth’s conquests is a gross misuse of the word. Some people were made to give and accept love, and others weren’t. Garth Black redefines the “others” category. He’s made a vow that the day he meets a woman who could sucker him into falling in love will be the day he runs away.
Garth’s plan has one flaw. What happens when he’s already fallen hard for a girl before the warning signs and red flags go up? What happens when the love he’s avoided his entire life brings him to his knees? What happens when Garth Black lets the dirtiest four letter word he’s ever known into his dark, lonely life?
This cowboy’s about to find out he can control some things, and he can’t control others. Number one on the what he can’t control list?
Love.
From the start of Lost and Found I have been waiting for a deeper glimpse into Garth Black. Nothing had set me up for the discovery. It was obvious that something lay in the shadows for his character and the reader just had to wait patiently for the unveiling. Finders Keepers is just that unveiling. Having learned about Josie over the past several books it was a pleasure to see her character from the individual standpoint rather than the young lady that lost it all. What we discover in Finders Keeper's is that perceptions can be deceiving, and what we think we know may not hold a candle to the reality of what Josie's and Garth's stories really hold in the unknown. This story opened new doors and highlighted more about these beloved characters. Trading places focus clearly shifts from the beloved Rowen and Jesse, but the promise of peeks to their adventure are included promising to add depth to this circle of friends building an even larger and perfect family of imperfection.
~BookWhisperer Reviewer Jax~
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Wednesday, March 4
BookWhisperer Review: Near & Far by Nicole Williams
Near and Far by Nicole WilliamsMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Summary:
There’s optimism. And there’s Jesse Walker.
If he wasn’t so charming, his sunny disposition and incessant grin would get old. Fast.
Falling in love with the broken girl who had at first seemed immune to anything resembling love was the best thing to happen to Jesse since the Walkers adopted him when he was five.
As Jesse’s life continues at the ranch and Rowen begins making her mark in the Seattle art community, they wonder where the middle ground is. Or if there even is one.
As push comes to shove, they’re forced to make choices neither are eager to make, and Jesse and Rowen have to face what their lives might look like without the other.
Can two people with such tragic pasts and different presents expect a promising future together? Whatever the answer, they’ll need a lot more than love to make it.
Nicole just jumps right into the story where it left off in Lost & Found. Rowen and Jesse have such a powerful love story of support and strength. It seems as though everything is possible for these two, but the future has a funny way of slowing progress and creating unanticipated obstacles. Rowen and Jesse are not resistant to the dark and ugliness of life, and when it begins to creep in on their relationship they knowingly make wrong decisions for the right reasons. When the bottom falls out it was in ways that I had never expected. Jesse's character has carried the majority of this relationship and it was really nice to see Rowen's moment to shine. After such a dark and sorted past she has really come out on top, and the world is at her fingertips. Jesse's moment of surrender does not deter the intensity of personality in the story or prove to identify as a weakness, but rather prove the testament of his character and the power to be a better person than the individuals that brought him into the world. Both Rowan and Jesse's pasts are filled with darkness and the reality of those experiences is heartwrenching, but this story of second chances and the ability to overcome is inspiring.
I love the new glimpse of Black's character here, and I can wait to see what the remainder of the series has to offer.
~BookWhisperer Reviewer Jax~
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Friday, February 28
BookWhisperer Review: Lost & Found by Nicole Williams
Lost & Found by Nicole WilliamsMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Summary:
There’s complicated. And there’s Rowen Sterling.
After numbing pain for the past five years with boys, alcohol, and all-around apathy, she finds herself on a Greyhound bus to nowhere Montana the summer after she graduates high school. Her mom agreed to front the bill to Rowen’s dream art school only if Rowen proves she can work hard and stay out of trouble at Willow Springs Ranch. Cooking breakfast at the crack of dawn for a couple dozen ranch hands and mucking out horse stalls are the last things in the world Rowen wants to spend her summer doing.
Until Jesse Walker saunters into her life wearing a pair of painted-on jeans, a cowboy hat, and a grin that makes something in her chest she’d thought was frozen go boom-boom. Jesse’s like no one else, and certainly nothing like her. He’s the bright and shiny to her dark and jaded.
Rowen knows there’s no happily-ever-after for the golden boy and the rebel girl—happily-right-now is a stretch—so she tries to forget and ignore the boy who makes her feel things she’s not sure she’s ready to feel. But the more she pushes him away, the closer he seems to get. The more she convinces herself she doesn’t care, the harder she falls.
When her dark secrets refuse to stay locked behind the walls she’s kept up for years, Rowen realizes it’s not just everyone else she needs to be honest with. It’s herself.
What a powerful story about healing and learning to love one-self. Nicole Williams really knows how to create a story from the heart and about the reality of life. Love can help lead the way to a brighter future and assist in the growing process. Rowan thought a summer at a middle of nowhere ranch was her ticket to her future, but what she didn't know was that this one trip would change her life forever. Finding herself in a new environment she will quickly learn about the assumptions she has made about life and people. This journey will take surprise her in ways she never anticipated and change the trajectory of her future. I am overwhelmed with the emotional rollercoaster that accompanied this story. Feelings of anger for the selfish and neglective attitude of Rowan's mother to the abundance of love that Rowan must have felt for Jesse's family is was so tangible. I can not wait to read the next in the series, as well as, the addition of Garth's story.
~BookWhisperer Jax~
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Thursday, February 13
BookWhisperer Review: Hopeless by Colleen Hoover
Hopeless by Colleen HooverMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Sometimes discovering the truth can leave you more hopeless than believing the lies…
That’s what seventeen-year-old Sky realizes after she meets Dean Holder. A guy with a reputation that rivals her own and an uncanny ability to invoke feelings in her she’s never had before. He terrifies her and captivates her all in the span of just one encounter, and something about the way he makes her feel sparks buried memories from a past that she wishes could just stay buried.
Sky struggles to keep him at a distance knowing he’s nothing but trouble, but Holder insists on learning everything about her. After finally caving to his unwavering pursuit, Sky soon finds that Holder isn’t at all who he’s been claiming to be. When the secrets he’s been keeping are finally revealed, every single facet of Sky’s life will change forever.
I am a huge Colleen Hoover fan! Hopeless has been sitting on my next reads file for a while, and I finally just jumped in. I always remember Hoover for her ability to create such an incredible love story. She is able to pull readers in so deep that it feels as though it is their very own story. The experience is so real and genuine that it overwhelms the senses at times. Hopeless was all that and more. This story was such an unexpected journey and took turns that I never would have anticipated. Sky is a unique girl with an unusual past that it is easy to see that her story will not be like any other. Only the reader never anticipates the true uniqueness of this story. The continuation of surprises just keep coming with this story, but the absolute splendor of the story is Hoover's ability to cause readers to question the clear reflection of right and wrong. In a world where things are not clearly black and white the question because if values truly determine what is right or wrong. In a world of darkness, there are times that this line will become so completely blurred that sometimes the right is hiding within the dark. This is not only a story of complicated reflection, but it is also a story of survival and second chances. In one book Hoover manages to take her readers through so many levels of emotion and contemplation. This experience was beyond exhilarating and insightful I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.
~The BookWhisperer Jax~
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Monday, November 18
Blog Tour: My Bare Lady by Piper Sheldon
My Bare Lady, a funny and heartwarming romantic comedy standalone from Piper Sheldon and Smartypants Romance is available now!
Suzie Samuels is the only thing standing between Clifford and his life’s work. All he has to do is change everything about her. Perception creates reality and Clifford Rutledge needs the irascible stripper to prove it.
Suzie Samuels is set to prove once and for all she’s more than Short Fuse Suze, stripper for the Black Demons and renowned motorcycle arsonist. If all it takes is hard work, then Suzie knows how to work it hard.
But Suzie’s scandalous spirit tests Clifford's resolve. And Clifford’s buttoned-up bullying is driving Suzie bonkers.
Can Clifford move past their differences long enough to pull off the impossible task of changing the bare lady into a fair lady?
More importantly, as perceptions shift and priorities change, will he want to?
'My Bare Lady' is a full-length contemporary romantic comedy, can be read as a standalone, and is book #1 in the Scorned Women's Society series, Green Valley World, Penny Reid Book Universe.
Download your copy today or read FREE in Kindle Unlimited!
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Excerpt
I was transfixed. It wasn’t just the way she mastered the room. It wasn’t just how her choreography perfectly correlated with the entrancing music. It wasn’t just her sex appeal. It was that unwavering gaze and focus on her task. To the rest of the room, staring blatantly at her admirable—ahem—assets, she was an object, but I recognized the barely controlled passion roiling under her skin. What would it be like to be that strong? Not just physically, but strong in a way that allowed her to bare her soul to a group of greedy strangers. My passions were locked away safely inside me and yet she put it all out there. Such bravery and passion.
In certain moments, I swear she looked right at me—quick stolen glances that shot a bolt of adrenaline down my spine. Perhaps this was a skill she learned to earn more tips, as the money was out in droves now, peppered over the stage and her sweating skin. But I swore she saw me. Saw through me. To the things I didn’t want seen. I stepped back further into the darkness knowing my concerns were irrational but unable to tear my eyes off hers. I was stronger than this. I was thoughtful, pragmatic, and not a victim of animalistic natures and poetic fantasies.
Though she occasionally snapped the thin strips of material that made up her outfit in a playful tease she never took any clothes off. She didn’t need to. She’d managed to capture the attention of every person in that room with her movements alone.
My body reacted despite my rationale; heart pounding, skin aflame. I needed to leave. I wouldn’t be like the rest of these people.
The song crescendoed and in a show of strength, she launched herself back to the top of the pole once again. A small gasp escaped from me but the music drowned out all noise. She performed a trick that made her appear to fall down the entire length of the pole, tumbling over and sideways, limb over limb, only to catch herself at the bottom using only her thighs. She hung upside down, panting, dark hair sprawled out around her and her gaze set on me. Her eyes were a brilliant emerald, unlike any color I’d ever seen. They were luminescent in the stage lighting. Even across the hazy bar, they were transcendent. Glowing. Fixated on me.
Nobody else.
I swallowed but it wasn’t easy. The song ended and the lights went out. The crowd went wild. Several moments passed before I gained control of my faculties again. With that control came the shame of watching her. The understanding that just seeing her perform was enough to make me forget who I was. That couldn’t happen.
I got out of there as fast as I could. The entire drive back to Knoxville my chest heaved at an alarming rate; my body remained a mass of tension. Her hypnotic gaze flashed repeatedly in my vision no matter how often I tried to shake it loose.
Thankfully, I’d never see her again.
About Piper Sheldon
Piper Sheldon writes Contemporary Romance and Magical Realism books that hope to be New York Times bestsellers when they grow up. For now, she works as a technical writer during the day and writes about love the rest of the time. Of course she also makes room for her husband, toddler, and two needy dogs at home in the Desert Southwest.
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