Reckless by Kelly Martin (5 stars)

About Reckless

JESSUP HART BLACKWELL SAVED THE WORLD. 
Not that anyone will ever know. 
Not that they’ll remember. 
But I know. 
I remember. 
That’s my curse. 
I don’t agree with how he did it. 
I wish it had been me that died. Lord knows we would’ve all 
been safer if I’d been the one instead of Hart. 
But he couldn’t let that happen. 
He couldn’t live with it. 
How am I supposed to live with it? 
The pain. 
The remorse. 
The pressing feeling that something inside me that I can’t 
control is still there… dormant but not dead. Ready to pounce. 
Ready to kill again. 
Hart saved the world, that’s true. 
But he couldn’t save me 

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Review

Fate has drawn Hart and Gracen together through the most bizarre and upsetting circumstances--he's a demon, and she's the Abomination. Can they find a way to save the world and have something left for themselves?

I'm so sad to see this series end. Not only will I miss the amazing characters, I'll miss the unique and compelling storyline. No matter how dire the situation seems for Gracen and Hart, there's always a twist I never see coming. 

But what I've loved the most through each book is the detailed inner struggle of both Hart and Gracen, and Reckless continues this intense introspection. And I couldn't wait to see how Kelly Martin would bring this epic tale to a conclusion. I'm excited to say it doesn't disappoint, even though I never could have guessed it.

I highly recommend this series!!
Rating: 5 stars

I love this series. Check out my reviews of books 1 and 2: Heartless (#1), Soulless (#2), and Breathless (#3).

About the Author

Kelly Martin is the bestselling author of contemporary, historical, and YA romance. She has been married for over ten years and has three rowdy, angelic daughters. When Kelly isn't writing, she loves watching horror gamers on YouTube, even though she is a huge wimp, and drinking white chocolate mochas.

You can find her at...
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KellyMartinA...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/martieKay
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/KMbooks/
Tumblr: http://martiekay.tumblr.com/

Note: I was the Editor on this book through Indie Books Gone Wild. A positive review was not requested or guaranteed; the opinions expressed are my own.

Being Me by Tricia Copeland (5 stars)

Title: Being Me

Series: Being Me Volume 4 

Author: Tricia Copeland

Genre: Clean New Adult

Release Date: September 20, 2016

“The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly.”-The Great Gatsby

In attempt to manage her rage and shame after a violent assault, Amanda loses touch with reality. Her spiraling physical state forces her to act or die. To face her demons, she must revisit the emotions she ran from in the first place. Still unsure of what life she wants, but determined to pick up the pieces, she seeks out the right path. Can she mend broken bonds with her friends and family? 

Will her epic love survive? 

Find out in this roller coaster finale of the Being Me series.

REVIEW

Amanda is forced to face her demons after months of walking the edge of keeping it together. To do so, she has to accept some things she can't change and walk away from relationships she holds dear. When someone breaks, you really see the depth of their character. This is especially true for Amanda. And I love a strong female spirit, one that doesn't take the easy way out. And there's nothing easy about Amanda's breaking point and resulting backlash.

All the supporting characters--Doug, Zack, friends, parents, sisters--play a part in Amanda rebuilding her life, and not all of them in the way I thought they would. And as much as a reader might love a main character, it's all the supporting ones that make the whole experience truly memorable. But, in the end, it's about Amanda trusting her own instincts and standing strong without a crutch. 

And let's face it... the final book in the series is what you walk away with, the lasting impression. And Tricia Copeland makes everything worthwhile. Although Amanda's journey has been rocky, it's worth every moment in this satisfying conclusion.

If you are a reader who wants a whole series out before you start, take the time now to invest in Being Me. You'll appreciate the journey.

RATING: 5 Stars

Reviews for the rest of the series:

Think You Know Me (Book 3)

If I Could Fly (Book 2)

Is This Me? (Book 1)

Tricia Copeland grew up in Georgia and now lives in Colorado with her family and multiple four legged and finned friends. Her new adult Being Me series includes, Is This Me?, If I Could Fly, Thinking You Know Me, and the final installment, Being Me. Drops of Sunshine, released in July 2016, is her first young adult and paranormal book. If she’s not on a trail, you can find Tricia at www.triciacopeland.com or on your favorite social media.

 

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Note: I worked as Editor on this novel through Indie Books Gone Wild. A positive review was not requested or guaranteed; the opinions expressed are my own.

Breathless by Kelly Martin (5 stars)

About Breathless
(Heartless #3)

There's good. 

There's evil. 

Then there's her. 

When Gracen Sullivan stabbed Hart Blackwell, she thought it was over. She thought the world was safe--safe from her. Stuck in the Abyss, watching as the evil inside her body takes over, she has to find some way to stop it. 

Hart Blackwell expected to wake up in Hell. Instead, he woke up in his grave. With the world falling apart, he has to put the bad history with his brother in the past or there will be no future. 

Armageddon has been set in motion. Enemies will have to work together or everything will end in fire and brimstone. 

The Abomination is here. And she must be stopped no matter the consequences.

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Review

Unique and captivating only begins to describe the Heartless series. Gracen and Hart are two characters whose destinies are intertwined. Their decisions could have devastating ramifications for all of humanity.

That love got in the way only makes the story that much sweeter.

In Breathless, we learn more about Hart and his brother while also getting further perspective from Gracen, as she discovers details about herself and her role in what happens to the world. 

Nothing is ever quite what it seems, and twists and turns abound. Far be it from me to give anything away, because it's too entertaining to read the book and find out for yourself. For those emotionally raw from the last book, this will continue to tear at your heart... especially since we get an even more intimate view of Gracen and Hart than ever before.

I highly recommend this series, like shout-it-from-the-rooftops recommend. If you love intriguing plot twists and awesome characters, look no further.

Rating: 5 stars

I adore this series. Check out my reviews of books 1 and 2: Heartless (#1) and Soulless (#2).

About the Author

Kelly Martin is the bestselling author of contemporary, historical, and YA romance. She has been married for over ten years and has three rowdy, angelic daughters. When Kelly isn't writing, she loves watching horror gamers on YouTube, even though she is a huge wimp, and drinking white chocolate mochas.

You can find her at...
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KellyMartinA...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/martieKay
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/KMbooks/
Tumblr: http://martiekay.tumblr.com/

Note: I was the Editor on this book through Indie Books Gone Wild. A positive review was not requested or guaranteed; the opinions expressed are my own.

Think You Know Me by Tricia Copeland (4.5 stars)

About Think You Know Me
(Being Me, Book 3)

March 20 
This isn’t fair! I see his face every time I close my eyes, hear his mother’s words echo in my dreams. And he’s a headline again? How do I move past the rage and guilt when he won’t go away? I need him gone. He doesn’t get to win like this. I won’t let him. 
–Amanda 

Amanda’s first year of college is fraught with drama and parental scrutiny. With her relationship secure and a clean break from her parents, all she wants is a normal term. But fate steps in and deals a shattering blow. Think You Know Me will keep you guessing from the first chapter. 

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Review

After a rough start to college, Amanda was finally on the mend and very much in love. But then another challenge is thrown her way, and it cripples her at first, leaving her in her most fragile state. Can even Doug, the love of her life, help her find her way?

Amanda is a character I've come to really care about through the series. She's vulnerable, yet strong. Determined, yet fragile. I don't want to give anything away, but her encounter early in the book pushes her to the brink... and the reader is left wondering if she'll recover. And, even if she does, how much it will change her.

This installment is more raw and emotional than the previous two... a natural progression for the character and the story. We get to experience a very intimate breakdown in Amanda's psyche while still seeing glimpses of the fighter underneath.

A truly captivating read.

Rating: 4.5 stars

About the Author

Tricia Copeland grew up in Georgia but now lives outside the mile-high city of Denver, Colorado with her husband, three kids, and multiple four legged and finned friends. An avid runner and paranormal fan, she also enjoys hiking, trivia, and Scrabble. 

You can connect with Tricia and other readers on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and on her website, www.triciacopeland.com.

Note: I was the Editor on this book through Indie Books Gone Wild. A positive review was not requested or guaranteed; the opinions expressed are my own.

The Rivals of Versailles by Sally Christie (3.5 stars)

About The Rivals of Versailles

Series: The Mistresses of Versailles Trilogy
Paperback: 448 pages 
Publisher: Atria Books (April 5, 2016) 

And you thought sisters were a thing to fear! In this compelling follow-up to Sally Christie’s clever and absorbing debut, we meet none other than the Marquise de Pompadour, one of the greatest beauties of her generation and the first bourgeois mistress ever to grace the hallowed halls of Versailles. 

The year is 1745 and Louis XV’s bed is once again empty. Enter Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, a beautiful girl from the middle classes. As a child, a fortune teller had mapped out Jeanne’s destiny: she would become the lover of a king and the most powerful woman in the land. Eventually connections, luck, and a little scheming pave her way to Versailles and into the King’s arms. 

All too soon, conniving politicians and hopeful beauties seek to replace the bourgeois interloper with a more suitable mistress. As Jeanne, now the Marquise de Pompadour, takes on her many rivals—including a lustful lady-in-waiting; a precocious fourteen-year-old prostitute, and even a cousin of the notorious Nesle sisters—she helps the king give himself over to a life of luxury and depravity. Around them, war rages, discontent grows, and France inches ever closer to the Revolution.

Enigmatic beauty, social climber, actress, trendsetter, patron of the arts, spendthrift, whoremonger, friend, lover, foe: history books may say many things about the famous Marquise de Pompadour. Alongside Catherine the Great of Russia and Maria Theresa of Austria, she is considered one of the three most powerful women of the 18th century, and one of the most influential royal mistresses of all time. 

In The Rivals of Versailles, Christie gets to the heart of Pompadour’s legendary relationship with Louis XV, France’s most “well-beloved” king. Pompadour was not only his mistress, but his confidante and influential political adviser for close to twenty years. Full of historical insight, decadence, wit and scandal, The Rivals of Versailles is about one woman’s trials and triumphs, her love for a kind, and her role in shaping a nation. 

Told in Christie’s witty and modern style, this second book in the Mistresses of Versailles trilogy will delight and entrance fans as it once again brings to life the world of eighteenth century Versailles in all its pride, pestilence and glory. 

Praise for The Sisters of Versailles: 

“Sally Christie’s The Sisters of Versailles is an intriguing romp through Louis XV’s France. Filled with lush backdrops, rich detail, and colorful characters, fans of historical fiction will enjoy this glimpse into the lost golden era of the French monarchy.” (Allison Pataki, author of THE ACCIDENTAL EMPRESS) 

“A stunning breadth of period detail, offered in a fresh, contemporary voice.” (Juliet Grey, author of the acclaimed Marie Antoinette trilogy) 

“Such an extraordinary tale makes for compelling reading and, as the lead book in a planned trilogy, will draw in readers who are interested in royal lives before the French Revolution…. Historical fiction fans, unfamiliar with the history of the Nesle sisters, will be intrigued.” (Library Journal) 

“Tantalizing descriptions and cliff-hangers will leave the reader rapidly turning the pages in anticipation… A wickedly delightful read.” (New York Daily News)

Purchase Links 

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

Review

Sally Christie has a way with words, as evidenced in the summary above. I mean, what about the following description doesn't make you want to know more about this character: Enigmatic beauty, social climber, actress, trendsetter, patron of the arts, spendthrift, whoremonger, friend, lover, foe: history books may say many things about the famous Marquise de Pompadour.

Wow. And she is all of those things. But, I still had a hard time connecting with her. Rating a book is completely subjective, and I've discovered that this time in history doesn't enthrall me like it does others. It's a time where women controlled through sex, let's just be honest, because they couldn't hold any visible positions of power. But then, of course, the man (in this case the king) gets tired of them as they age or simply because he needs the latest conquest. 

What I found more fascinating than the supposed romance (it never seemed a true romance to me, because the king never seems in it past his own selfish needs) was how the Marquise handled things once she was no longer the king's favorite. That's where her real strength came through.

For history lovers, this is a captivating look at the underbelly of French society and government. I would've loved to have been privy to the king's point of view in this story, too. I think that would have made her true influence more clear.

Thanks to beautiful writing and intriguing characters, I would recommend this to people captivated by this time in history.

Rating: 3.5 stars

About Sally Christie 

Sally Christie was born in England of British parents but grew up mostly in Canada. As a child she moved around with her family and then continued her wandering as she pursued a career in international development; she’s lived in 14 different countries and worked in many more. She’s now settled in Toronto and loving it. 

Sally lives and breathes history; ever since she read Antonia Fraser’s masterful Mary, Queen of Scots when she was 10, she’s been an avid history junkie. She wishes more attention and technical innovation was devoted to time travel, because there is nothing she would rather do than travel back in time! Writing historical fiction is a poor substitute, but it’s the best one we have at the moment. When not reading and writing history, she’s a tennis and Scrabble fanatic. 

Connect with Sally 
Website | Goodreads

Thanks to TLC for my review copy.

Note: I received a complimentary copy for review purposes. A positive review was not requested or guaranteed; the opinions expressed are my own. 

Please visit other stops on The Rivals of Versailles blog tour page.

The Gatekeeper's Bride by Eva Pohler Release Day

The Gatekeeper's Bride:

 A Prequel to The Gatekeeper's Saga

by: Eva Pohler

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ABOUT THE BOOK

Unrest brews among gods and mortals alike when Hades makes a deal with the Fates to end his loneliness in the Underworld. But when Persephone proposes to conspire with him in a plot against Demeter, things get out of hand. Soon, the war among the gods is as critical as the one playing out among the Achaeans and Trojans on Earth. 

Find out the truth of how Hades and Persephone met and fell in love and the impact it had on the rest of the pantheon during these tumultuous times. Learn how their children--Hypnos, Thanatos, Megaera, Tisiphone, Alecto, and Melinoe--came into being. Discover why they were assigned their respective duties as Sleep, Death, the Furies, and the goddess of ghosts. Find out the real reason why the Olympians possessed such profound disdain for these Underworld gods. 

This prequel to The Gatekeeper's Saga is more than a retelling of the Persephone myth. Many more of the ancient myths are woven together to reveal the conflict, tension, and relationships among the gods in one of the most beloved pantheons in human history. The Gatekeeper's Bride can be read before or after The Gatekeeper's Saga, but readers might find more enjoyment from it after having met the characters by reading the saga first.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

FACEBOOK ~ WEBSITE ~  TWITTER ~ PINTEREST ~ 

Eva is a wife and mother of three living in San Antonio, Texas. She earned her B.A. in English from Trinity University, her M.A. in English from St. Mary’s University, and her Ph.D. in English from Texas Tech University. She wrote her dissertation on narrative strategies, in which she analyzed the use of voice, point of view, character, plot, and other narrative devices used in twentieth-century British and American literature, informed by narratologists such as Tsvetan Todorov, Gerard Genette, Vladimir Propp, Seymour Chatman, Wayne Booth, and James Phelan. She also took as many classes in creative writing as was allowed at every university she attended and had the honor of studying under Robert Flynn, Nan Cuba, and Walt McDonald.

She currently writes fiction for teens and adults and teaches writing and literature at the University of Texas at San Antonio. For years she was a den leader and cub master for her sons in Boy Scouts and a troop leader for her daughter in Girl Scouts. She loved those years, but they are behind her, leaving her with more time to read and write.

She’s also an avid reader. Her favorite authors are Tracy Chevalier, Ann Patchett, J.K. Rowling, J. R.R. Tolkien, Suzanne Collins, and Stephanie Meyer. She’s also read everything by Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Faulkner, and other literary giants whom she also loves. She’s read single books she adores by authors like Elizabeth Wein, Diane Setterfield, Philippa Gregory, and Katherine Stockett. And her favorite book of all time, though she never read anything else by her, is Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver.

Her books include The Gatekeeper’s Saga, The Purgatorium Series, The Vampires of Athens Series, and The Mystery Book Collection.

You can keep in touch with Eva by email at eva@evapohler.com.

She’s also part of an amazing hub for authors and readers called Indie-Visible: Defending Literary Justice for All.

Soulless by Kelly Martin (5 stars)

About Soulless

Sometimes all the wishing in the world doesn't change the fact that in order to save everyone, you have to destroy yourself. 
Sometimes good doesn't always win. 

Sometimes choices suck. 

Sometimes people don't break their promises 

Sometimes the thing we hate the most is the one thing that can save us. 

Sometimes... Sometimes love ruins everything. 

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Review

Grace Sullivan can't help who she is, and as much as she might want to, she may not be able to help what she's about to do. Of course, the one man she somewhat trusts, and who somewhat has the answers, has more than one life to consider.

Vague much?

Maybe it's because this is a book you truly have to experience for yourself. As the second in the Heartless series (and I would highly recommend reading Heartless first), Soulless further tests the ideas of good and evil, and what someone would be willing to sacrifice to stop the worst from happening.

Gracen struggles with impossible choices, trust issues (from her boyfriend to her own mother), and what it takes to survive. Trust me when I say you won't be able to put this book down once you start. It's an intense and emotional ride. One that'll have your cringing one moment and crying the next. 

In the midst of all this, you'll find yourself pulling for Gracen to find a way out of her fate, to find love (with the man who helped put her in the situation she's in), and above all, to survive.

A mind-bending, intense, and truly unique read. 5 very enthusiastic stars!

Rating: 5 stars

See my review of Heartless here.

About the Author

Kelly Martin is the bestselling author of contemporary, historical, and YA romance. She has been married for over ten years and has three rowdy, angelic daughters. When Kelly isn't writing, she loves watching horror gamers on YouTube, even though she is a huge wimp, and drinking white chocolate mochas.

You can find her at...
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KellyMartinA...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/martieKay
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/KMbooks/
Tumblr: http://martiekay.tumblr.com/

Note: I was the Editor on this book through Indie Books Gone Wild. A positive review was not requested or guaranteed; the opinions expressed are my own.