- Cover Reveal: Snake in the Grass (Good Gods Book #2) by Staci Hart
- Book Release Blast: Death Knows My Name by Casse NaRome
It's our BLOG HOP DAY for In Too Deep by Michelle Kemper Brownlow!!!
The day he said, “I love you” should have been the day she said, “Goodbye.”
IN TOO DEEP hit three genre-specific best seller lists on Amazon the day before its release.
IN TOO DEEP’s sequel, ON SOLID GROUND, will be released sometime in December 2013.
Summary:
Gracie has just finished her freshman year of college in Memphis when she takes a job at a local pizza joint in her home town of McKenzie, Tennessee. She is the epitome of innocence when she meets Noah. Noah is unabashedly handsome, intriguingly reckless and just cocky enough to be sexy. Gracie’s instincts tell her to stay far away from him and based on the stories she hears from her co-workers he leaves broken hearts in his wake. But still, she can’t explain her fascination with him.
Noah puts aside his bad boy ways when what he thought was a summer crush has him unexpectedly falling in love. But soon after Gracie transfers to UT Knoxville to be with Noah, their unexpected love becomes riddled with anger, deceit and humiliation.
Jake, Noah’s former roommate and Gracie’s best friend, can no longer be a bystander. Gracie’s world falls out from beneath her and when she breaks she turns to Jake for strength. As Jake talks her through a decision she’s not yet strong enough to make, together they uncover a truth so ugly neither of them is prepared for its fallout. Will Jake pull her to the surface or is Gracie Jordan finally In Too Deep?
Excerpt:
My phone buzzed.
Jake: Gracie?
I turned off my phone. The doorbell rang before I even had a chance to feel guilty for not answering. I threw the covers over my head and lay there, eyes wide open. It rang again. Can someone please get the door? I’m too busy feeling sorry for myself to get up.
Ding dong.
I groaned as I pulled myself from under the covers and flung my legs off the edge of my bed. The UPS man was going to get an eyeful because I didn’t even have the energy to pull my sleep pants on. The super huge t-shirt I wore to bed was longer than some skirts I had. I would just have to reach around the opened door, sign something on his little clipboard and throw the package on the hall table before jumping right back into bed. No one was home. I could have slept all day. Stupid delivery guy.
But when I rounded the corner into the foyer, I could see Noah through the side window to the right of the door. My heart slammed its next beat so hard I was sure someone standing in front of me would have seen my ribcage lunge forward.
“What do you want?” I said the words on my side of the window. He didn’t need to hear me, he had to be expecting something like that. He knew I wouldn’t be happy to see him. I was pissed that he was at my door. Flashes of my birthday night coursed through my mind one by one. I winced and squeezed my eyes closed hoping to wring the images from my head.
“Gracie, I know you don’t want to open the door, but I need you to listen to what I have to say.” He was talking louder than he needed to for me to hear him. I was instantly annoyed. I shuddered.
“So talk.” If I kept a locked door between us, I could walk away whenever I’d had enough.
“Can I please come in?”
“No.”
“Okay, I’ll talk through a window if that’s the only way you’ll listen.” He waited a couple seconds like he thought I’d have a change of heart and open the door. When he saw that was not in his cards, he started talking. I leaned my forehead against the cool glass and watched his lips form words that proved introspection, self-awareness and a level of thought so deep I could do nothing but hold my breath and wish he wasn’t doing this to me.
“Gracie. I haven’t had a solid example of how to show love or how to accept it. At least not the depth of love you are willing to give. I don’t know how to reciprocate that without feeling terrified. I never expected to fall so hard for you. I never thought I could love someone so hard it hurt. But I can. I do.
“Gracie. When you look at me and I know you can see all the way into my soul, my first instinct is self-preservation. I instinctively push you away so you won’t climb deeper into me. Your heart is so big, Gracie, it could swallow me whole, and that scares the shit out of me because I shouldn’t be worthy of that kind of love. I don’t deserve you. I guess in a twisted sort of way, I push you away to save you.”
The window steamed from the warm breath escaping between my lips. I remembered the conversation I had with my mom. She said only if it was of their own volition could someone truly make a change. I couldn’t believe what was happening in front of me. A huge part of me didn’t want it to be happening because Noah and I proved to be a disaster. I knew I couldn’t handle one more blow from him. My sanity was already climbing the walls. But, as if they had minds of their own, one hand turned the deadbolt and the other opened the door. Cool air across my thighs reminded me I was still only in a t-shirt. I motioned for Noah to follow me back to my room. I needed to put more clothes on so he didn’t ruin his heart-felt apology by making a move on me. He sat on my bed and I pulled sweats off the hook on the back of my door and slid myself inside them. I sat down next to him. He took my hands in his.
“I am head over heels in love with you, Gracie. I have been since the night you kissed me after the fireworks. I’ve always thought that shock between our lips was a sign that you were the one. I’m terrified of that. If I let myself truly feel the level of love I know we are capable of, then what happens if you leave me? I don’t know how to handle that kind of pain. I am sure I’ve never felt something that severe.”
“Noah, you just described what you have done to me, over and over and over. You have split my heart wide open so many times because, unlike you, I don’t know how to guard my heart. I opened it to you almost two years ago, and I’ve been giving you all I have ever since. I can’t turn it off, I don’t know how. So, when you pierce me with your hateful words, the pain is palpable. It takes me to my knees.” There was no holding back the tears. I didn’t even try to. I was done walking on eggshells. Again.
That’s when he did something I never thought I’d see. He fell into my lap and cried like a baby. I had taken all the pain he had inflicted on me and threw it straight to his heart before he had the chance to get that wall back up.
My Review:
Every once in a while a book comes along that grabs a hold of your heart and soul and threatens to rip them from your body!! I have only read a handful of book that have pulled that kind of reaction and emotion from my body, In Too Deep is one of them!!
Gracie Jordan is a good girl... a bonified good girl. She has never had sex, she makes good grades, she is a hard worker, she is innocent, sweet, big hearted, and she wants to please everyone around her. Some of those traits is what will end up getting her in trouble. She starts working at a pizza parlor and meets Noah... the sexy, charming, boy with a severely bad reputation. Gracie quickly finds herself being drawn to him like a moth to the flame... and trust me... she will get burned! What Noah views as a little summer fling, turns into what he believes is love for him. Problem is can Noah change his ways for love permanently or will college and the frat lifestyle bring back that bad boy everyone knows him to be?
I went back and forth on my feelings for Noah. It was very easy to see why Gracie continued to put up with his lies, betrayal, humiliation, and deceit. Noah is a charmer. He knows exactly what to say and how to say it to suck Gracie back in. That big heart of hers and the pleaser that she is.. does not benefit her in this situation. Gracie seems to want to put up a fight with the way Noah treats her, but just isn't strong enough. How many women do we know that are exactly like Gracie? I have a few Gracies in my life and wish they could see the situations for what they really are.. but we can only support and pray for our Gracies and for them to gain that kind of strength.
One positive that Gracie has in her darkened life are her best friends. She has an amazing support system, and my favorite is JAKE!! Early on I found myself rooting for them to become a couple and asking my Kindle.. "Why Gracie?? Go for Jake!!" Jake is sexy, strong, kind, warm, an amazeball listener... some would say too perfect. However, I also know some Jakes so I can't support the too good to be real image. Jake is what as a mom we want for our daughters to marry and want for our sons to be like as men. I LOVE JAKE!!
The thing about supporting people in bad situations is that you can't make them take your advice. You have to just listen, hug them, hold them, cry with them, or say nothing at all... but you can't force anything. Jake is amazing at all of the above. He is perfect for Gracie... she just has to see it herself and will have to say enough with Noah and his mistreatment of her and choose Jake. I think that was the hardest part of reading In Too Deep for me. I saw both sides and felt for Gracie, but I hoped... just hoped... that she would see Noah for the philander he was and want better for herself.
I would give In Too Deep one million stars if I could, but since our scale only goes up to 5... I easily give this a 5 stars on the knock my socks off scale!! I would love to see another book about Gracie and the one she ends up with. ;) Kudos Michelle Kemper Brownlow... now you owe me some tissues, Tylenol, and a day of sleep to recover. LOL
Author Bio:
Michelle Kemper Brownlow has been a storyteller her entire life. Her debut was on the high school cheerleading bus granting requests to re-tell her most embarrassing moments for a gaggle of hysterical squadmates.
Earning her Bachelor’s degree from Penn State University in Art Education and then marrying her very own “Jake,” she moved to Binghamton, NY where she taught high school. After having two children she quit work and finished her Master’s degree in Elementary Education at Binghamton University.
The Brownlow family of four moved to Michelle’s hometown of Morgantown, PA while the children were still quite young. A few years after moving, her family grew by one when they welcomed a baby into their home through the gift of adoption. The family still resides in PA, just miles from where that high school cheer bus was parked.
Michelle has been an artist for as long as she can remember, always choosing pencils and crayons over toys and puzzles. As a freelance illustrator, her simple characters play the starring roles in numerous emergent reader books published by Reading Reading Books.
“Writing is my way of making sense of the world. When I give my characters life on the pages I write, it frees up space in my mind to welcome in new stories that are begging to be told,” says Brownlow.
Author Links:
Twitter: MK_Brownlow
We are super excited to be a part of the release day blast for Snake in the Grass: Book #2 in the Good Gods series by Staci Hart!!! We hosted Staci's first book in this series, Deer in Headlights... And LOVED it!!!
Goodreads
Blurb:
It’s Round Two of high stakes Love Connection on Olympus, and this time, everything has changed. For Aphrodite, at least.
Ares is on deck, and Aphrodite is nervous. As much as she loves to hook up with him, she doesn’t trust him as far as she could throw him, which isn’t very far. He’s a big dude. They haven’t been together in a very long time, but she can’t resist him. She never could. Even when every part of her screamed that he was a liar.
He has a plan to keep Aphrodite, for good this time. He wants to win the game, but he’ll hold back to get what he wants. He’s sitting on a chance that he’s been waiting thousands of years for, and he’ll do what he has to do to convince her to stay forever.
The only thing that could stop him is the secret that he’s been keeping from her for eons. If she finds out, it will destroy everything.
Aphrodite is getting crap for her choice in player, because from the outside, it looks like a match that would never work.
Kat and Dillon have been through a lot, and everything has been to protect their younger siblings. They sacrificed everything to make sure their brother and sister would be safe. The players are tough and loyal. Fierce and determined. But they become each other’s weakness, even though they fight it, and even though it means danger for Kat and her sister.
If Aphrodite can get the players over their egos long enough to see that they’re meant for each other, this competition will be a piece of cake. One that she’ll eat a la mode, right in front of Ares, if she beats him.
About the Author:
Staci has been a lot of things up to this point in her life — a graphic designer, an entrepreneur, a seamstress, a clothing and handbag designer, a waitress. Can’t forget that. She’s also been a mom; she has three little girls who are sure to grow up to break a number of hearts. She’s been a wife; even though she’s certainly not the cleanest, or the best cook. She’s also super, duper fun at a party, especially if she’s been drinking whiskey. Her favorite word starts with f, ends with k, and there a uc in there.
From roots in Houston, to a seven year stint in Southern California, Staci and her family ended up settling somewhere in between and equally north, in Denver. They are new enough that snow is still magical. When she’s not writing, she’s sleeping, cleaning, or designing graphics. But let’s be honest, she’s mostly writing.
Author Links:
Happy Book Release Day to Casse NaRome and Death Knows My Name!!!
Blurb:
MAYNE ST LECLAIR has spent her adult life closed off emotionally from the world around her. She learned very early on that those who get close to her end up dead. She knows she is cursed, but what she doesn't know is why.
ECTAIN “ERIC” EDECK knows the pain he has caused Mayne but the connection is undeniable. Can Mayne get passed the hurt and fall in love or has her heart been broken too many times?
Is death playing some sort of cruel joke on Mayne St LeClair or is watching her suffer breaking Death’s heart?
Casse Narome is the alter-ego of a self-proclaimed awesome weirdo who spent her childhood reading and daydreaming. As an adult that is also how she spends her time only now she writes her daydreams down for everyone to read. Casse is never serious, has been accused of wishing her life was a sitcom, laugh track and all, has a bad habit of talking out loud to herself and she is fine with being a little insane. She spends way too much time online, too much money buying books and laughing at her own jokes. You will find her on Twitter being very random and spewing her opinions. When you see her online, tell her to get back to her writing! Or just engage her in a hilarious random conversation.
She blogs book reviews and the adventures of being a writer at:
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Thank you so much for being an AWESOME stop on my BLOG HOP! I loved being a part of all your goodies today! xoxo
ReplyDeleteAnytime!! Thank you for letting me get to know Gracie, Jake, and Noah!! <3
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