Review: The Player and the Pixie by L.H. Conway and Penny Reid

Title: The Player and the Pixie
By: L.H. Conway and Penny Reid
Series: Ruby #2
My Copy: Ebook from Publisher
The BookWhisperer's Rating: 

THE PIXIE

Lucy Fitzpatrick doesn’t like rugby.

As the little sister of Ireland’s most infamous rugby player, Lucy can’t seem to escape the championship-sized shadow cast by her big brother, or her mother’s frequent attempts to micromanage her future. Her rainbow hair is as free-spirited as her quest for inner peace, yet overbearing expectations keep bringing her down. And when she’s down, her compulsive little problem lands her in seriously big trouble.

THE PLAYER

Sean Cassidy is a cold-hearted brute… or so he’s been told. Frequently. By everyone.

His blonde locks, baby blues, and rock hard bod make ladies the world over drool with desire. As the rugby world’s second most infamous player, he should be basking in his success. But Sean has never been content settling for second place, and his frequent confrontations with Lucy’s big brother leave him cold. And when he’s cold, his compulsive little problem lands him in the lap of Lucy Fitzpatrick.

THE PLAN

Sean has a problem only Lucy can solve. Lucy has a problem only Sean can fix. The solution seems obvious: you scratch my back, and I’ll bail you out of jail. But when their business arrangement unexpectedly leaves Sean scorching hot and Lucy on the precipice of inner peace, can they convince the world—and Lucy’s big brother in particular—that this is the real deal?

Either way, both the Player and the Pixie are about to teach each other some pretty monumental lessons about family, life, but most importantly, love.

I feel like this review is just going to be a lot of babbling about how much I love this book, and how much I adore the authors, and how everything just was amazing – so I am going to try to not do that so you will be able to read a coherent review.  But I did love the book.  And I do adore the authors.  And it was SO amazing!  And I have waiting and waited for this book to come out.  Monday when the ARC popped up on my kindle, I literally had a freak out moment.  Everything that I was doing stopped, the world stopped (well, my world) and I started reading.  *sighs* I wish I could un-read it and then read it again.

L.H. Cosway and Penny Reid are like Mulder and Scully, Holmes and Watson, or peanut butter and jelly – individually, they are perfect. Together they are an unstoppable force of creative and brilliant writing!

I honestly can’t say that there wasn’t a single thing that I didn’t love about this book.  In some cases, I will find a few scenes that I wish didn’t happen and will happily try to ignore them and focus on the book as a whole because I know that you can never have a perfect book or be completely satisfied with one.  However, this one is perfect and I wouldn’t make any changes.  

Sean and Lucy were fantastic characters that were multi-dimension and realistic throughout.  There was never a moment that I thought, “Ugh, that wouldn’t happen” or “Seriously?”  I spent most of my time devouring the pages and never wanting it to end.

So without giving anything away, I just want to say that if you enjoyed The Hooker and the Hermit or any of the author’s books that you will not be disappointed with this one.  The Player and the Pixie is a no-brainer one-click purchase.  You will be so happy – trust me.

Oh, and the little snippet that they included for their next book in the series…ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME WITH THE WAITING?! I need that book and I need it now!

BookWhisperer Review: Eden by Keary Taylor

Eden 
By Keary Taylor
Series: Eden Trilogy #1
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Before the Evolution there was TorBane: technology that infused human DNA with cybernetic matter. It had the ability to grow new organs and limbs, to heal the world. Until it evolved out of control and spread like the common cold. The machine took over, the soul vanished, and the Bane were born. The Bane won't stop until every last person has been infected. With less than two percent of the human population left, mankind is on the brink of extinction.

Eve knows the stories of the Evolution, the time before she wandered into the colony of Eden, unable to recall anything but her name. But she doesn't need memories to know this world is her reality. This is a world that is quickly losing its humanity, one Bane at a time.

Fighting to keep one of the last remaining human colonies alive, Eve finds herself torn between her dedication to the colony, and the discovery of love. There is Avian and West – one a soldier, one a keeper of secrets. And in the end, Eve will make a choice that will change the future of mankind.

The Bane is The Terminator meets The Walking Dead with a heart-twisting romance.

I was captivated by this series after my first glimpse in The Raid. This new world novel is something unlike anything else that we have experienced in the blossom zombie novels. The concept of robots taking over at first glimpse might seem a little outlandish, but I firmly believe Keary Taylor can make anything work. She created a story that slowly introduces you into an alternate reality. One in which technology is quite literally almost the end of human kind. The only chance of survival is the very things about us that make us human, and our ability to process thought unlike computers. Taylor incorporates a suspenseful love story between Avian, West, and Eve that will keep us guessing. I personally fell in love with all three of these characters, and could find reasons for the outcome to sway either way. Eve is a power house character, and I love Taylor's ability to create her soft and hard all at the same time. This is a young woman that knows how to take you down, but she will only at the cost of those she loves. Avian and West are both wonderful men that prove time and time again the lengths at which they are willing to go to be the protector. It is almost impossible to choose, and I must add that I personally chose wrong. The conclusion was not at all what I had expected, and I love a story that can turn the tables on me. Eden is a powerful post apocalyptic story about hope and survival. There are many lows of heartache, but this is a book of progress. I am anxious to continue and see just where this story will take us.
~BookWhisperer Reviewer Jax~

View all my reviews

Cover Reveal: Struck from the Record by K.A. Linda

We are very excited to bring you the cover reveal for STRUCK FROM THE RECORD a brand new standalone from K.A Linde.

Releasing on June 7th.

     

Cover designer -- Sarah Hansen @ Okay Creations

Photography -- Lauren Perry @ Perrywinkle Photoraphy

     

Clay Maxwell is a smart, quick witted, sex-driven, manwhore with the good looks to match. Plenty of women have shared his bed, but only one has ever been constant, Andrea.

Their rules were simple. When they’re together, it’s just the two of them. When they’re apart, anything is fair game. And it worked. For ten years.

But one of them has changed the game…

Clay must decide if his player ways are worth losing the one girl who has always been there.

     

“Yet another awesome read from K.A. Linde! Clay is HOT and BAD in the best way possible, you won’t be able to put it down! I literally was begging for more!” -A.L. Jackson, NYT Bestselling Author

  ADD TO GOODREADS iBooks Newsletter sign up for Amazon preorder           K.A. Linde is the USA Today bestselling author of the Avoiding series and the All That Glitters series as well as seven additional novels. She grew up as a military brat traveling the United States and even landing for a brief stint in Australia. She has a Masters degree in political science from the University of Georgia and is the current head coach of the Duke University dance team. An avid traveler, reader, and bargain hunter, K.A. currently live in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with her husband and two super adorable puppies. WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER

Cover Reveal: Worked Up by Tessa Bailey

We are loving this cover for Tessa Bailey’s WORKED UP, the third novel in Tessa’s bestselling romance Made in Jersey series. WORKED UP is being published by Entangled Brazen in August 2016. Check out the sexy cover below and add it on Goodreads today!

 

ABOUT WORKED UP (Made in Jersey #3):

New Jersey factory mechanic Duke Crawford has watched his loved ones’ marriages fail, time and time again, so he’s not interested in a relationship. Who could have guessed Samantha Waverly, a fellow commitment-phobe—and his new boss’s off-limits sister—would make him question his dedication to bachelorhood? And get him good and worked up in the process…

 

Add it to Goodreads here!

MADE IN JERSEY Series

 

And don’t miss the first three books in the Made in Jersey…

CRASHED OUT (#1)

✦ Amazon ✦iBooks ✦ Barnes & Noble

 

ROUGH RHYTHM (#1.5)

✦ Amazon

 

THROWN DOWN (#2)

✦ Amazon ✦iBooks ✦ Barnes & Noble

    About Tessa Bailey: Tessa Bailey is originally from Carlsbad, California. The day after high school graduation, she packed her yearbook, ripped jeans and laptop, driving cross-country to New York City in under four days. Her most valuable life experiences were learned thereafter while waitressing at K-Dees, a Manhattan pub owned by her uncle. Inside those four walls, she met her husband, best friend and discovered the magic of classic rock, managing to put herself through Kingsborough Community College and the English program at Pace University at the same time. Several stunted attempts to enter the work force as a journalist followed, but romance writing continued to demand her attention. She now lives in Long Island, New York with her husband of eight years and four-year-old daughter. Although she is severely sleep-deprived, she is incredibly happy to be living her dream of writing about people falling in love.  

Website ** Facebook ** Twitter ** Goodreads

   

Review: Paper Princess by Elle Kennedy and Jen Frederick

Title: Paper Princess
By: Elle Kennedy and Jen Frederick
My Copy: Ebook from Author
The BookWhisperer's Rating: 

From strip clubs and truck stops to southern coast mansions and prep schools, one girl tries to stay true to herself.

These Royals will ruin you…

Ella Harper is a survivor—a pragmatic optimist. She’s spent her whole life moving from town to town with her flighty mother, struggling to make ends meet and believing that someday she’ll climb out of the gutter. After her mother’s death, Ella is truly alone. 

Until Callum Royal appears, plucking Ella out of poverty and tossing her into his posh mansion among his five sons who all hate her. Each Royal boy is more magnetic than the last, but none as captivating as Reed Royal, the boy who is determined to send her back to the slums she came from.

Reed doesn’t want her. He says she doesn’t belong with the Royals.

He might be right.

Wealth. Excess. Deception. It’s like nothing Ella has ever experienced, and if she’s going to survive her time in the Royal palace, she’ll need to learn to issue her own Royal decrees. 

HOLY SHITAKE MUSHROOM! Blown away is the only thing I can say right now.  Let’s hope that I am coherent enough to do this book justice in this review.

From the very beginning I was hooked and curious and filled with all sorts of emotions.  Ella has had a crappy life and when a too good to be true opportunity comes, she is hesitant but not dumb to where she doesn’t take it.  This leads to her becoming apart of the Royal family where money does grow on trees.  If you think that this is going to be a sappy, “oh, look, she is finally happy and has everything she deserves” kind of book then you are wrong.  It is like every teenage soap I watched when I was younger, which is probably why I ate this book up.  Combine The O.C., Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, and Cruel Intentions and you have hierarchy, rich spoiled snobs, sex and drugs, lost teenager kind of book but so much better.

You would think that it would be an easy life for Ella but after meeting the five Royal sons and Reed Royal declaring his “Royal Decree” against Ella, it doesn’t get easier at all.  Getting constantly knocked down and clawing her way back up again is all Ella can do and it keeps getting harder after she starts to see who her “brothers” truly are inside.  And it especially once feelings start to brew.

Now I will say that the ending of this book left me with my mouth hanging open and immediately investigating to when the next book is going to come out.  It is not a secret that it ends with a cliffhanger but for some reason it felt like the cliffhanger of all cliffhangers.  Crap happens through this entire book, and then a little ray of sunshine shines down and you get this warm feeling like life will be good and then BOOM…that last page comes and boy is it a doozy.

So let’s recap: I loved the book and am completely invested in the characters and I need the second book now please.  Pretty please…  

Review: Jacob by Kris Michaels

Title: Jacob
By: Kris Michaels
My Copy: Ebook from Author
The BookWhisperer's Rating: 

Victoria Marshall didn't cooperate by dying in the Afghani hell-hole like the CIA expected. Defying all probability, a privately-funded black ops group led by a handsome, sexy-as-sin southerner pulled her out of the warlord's prison cell and brought her home. Even half out of her mind with pain Tori knew this man was special. She made a date with the commander to meet one year later at a restaurant of his choice. Keeping that date was the best thing she ever did.

Jacob King found little physically attractive about the woman he saved from the warlord’s camp, though it was hard to see what lay under the filth and suppurating wounds she suffered from countless beatings. He admired her brave humor in the face of her agonizing injuries. This kind of tough-minded woman was someone he'd like to know as a friend. He never expected the leggy, blond bomb-shell in the red dress who showed up for their date.

But then he never expected she would save his life, either. In a world of shadows, smoke, and dangerous covert missions, where people routinely vanish and living one more day was never a given, Tori and Jacob fight to build their happily ever after.

Jacob had its grip on me in the first page.  It starts out with Tori in her prison cell praying for a rescue or the end of her life so that she no longer has to live through the torture.  Enters Jacob King and his crew who take down the warlords and finds Tori in her beaten state.  During the flight home, Jacob and Tori make a date that a year from today they will meet at a restaurant to have their favorite steak dinner.  When that day comes, there is a lot of sexy heat in the restaurant and I found myself really liking the book and where it was going.

Jacob and his crew are grounded so they follow Tori back to her father’s farm and help out, finding that it is something that they enjoy and they decide that setting up a rehabilitation for injured men there could help out all the men in the Guardian world.  Jacob and his crew’s interaction and laid back vibe was nice to read when they were at the farm getting back to their roots but when they left is when things changed for me.

I felt that it moved at a fast pace from there…the relationship between Jacob and Tori and the budding relationships between some of the crew and other characters.  I also felt that the Guardian accepting Tori into their mix and hiring her in, when they deal with such classified information and truly not knowing much about her, seemed a little weird.  I believe that I had a problem with the quick plot line and trust that the second half of the book didn’t hold my attention like the first half.

But I will say that there is something about Tori’s sister and Doc’s relationship that has me very intrigued and I want to read their book to see what happens.

Review: Dirty by Kylie Scott

Title: Dirty
By: Kylie Scott
My Copy: Netgalley. com
The BookWhisperer's Rating: 

The last thing Vaughan Hewson expects to find when he returns to his childhood home is a broken hearted bride in his shower, let alone the drama and chaos that comes with her.

Lydia Green doesn't know whether to burn down the church or sit and cry in a corner. Discovering the love of your life is having an affair on your wedding day is bad enough. Finding out it's with his best man is another thing all together. She narrowly escapes tying the knot and meets Vaughan only hours later.

Vaughan is the exact opposite of the picture perfect, respected businessman she thought she'd marry. This former musician-turned-bartender is rough around the edges and unsettled. But she already tried Mr. Right and discovered he's all wrong-maybe it's time to give Mr. Right Now a chance.

After all, what's wrong with getting dirty?

I must say that I was surprised about how much I liked this book.  There were many laughable moments that came from just silly antics and it made me like this book even more.

The first laughable moment came when Lydia becomes the coolest runaway bride ever.  Climbing over a fence and breaking into a house to sit in the bathtub while contemplating your future was good enough, then throw in the house owner is seconds away from jumping in the shower and finds you makes it even better.  Oh, did I mention that he is naked?  That is what happens to Lydia and it just gets better from there.

Both Lydia and Vaughan are just what each other needs to get through this rough time.  Lydia has self-doubt because her jerk-face ex-fiancé instilled it in her.  Vaughan needs someone to be in his childhood home because he has never faced it alone.   Together, they have hilarious moments, sweet moments, and eye-opening moments.  They realize what is missing in their world and start to work on getting themselves to where they need to be with the encouragement of each other.

This book also opens up a series for the wonderful characters we meet and I am excited to see where we go from here…especially Nell and Pat.