The Truth About Us- Review and Excerpt

The Truth About Us by R.C. Stephens
Series: Bryant Family #1
Synopsis:

Jolie
Griffin Campbell was the typical bad boy. My father warned me not to get too close. But he’s handsome as hell with eyes the color of the ocean, and he’s fiercely loyal and loves unconditionally. I couldn’t stay away when he was the only boy to ever claim my heart. I gave him all my firsts . . . and he left me behind.
Ten years later, he’s returned home offering answers as to why he left because he wants me back—only I’m not the broken-hearted teenager he once fell for. His pretty eyes and killer muscles aren’t enough to mend the hurt that rages inside me.

Griffin
Jolie Bryant was my best friend’s little sister. She’s sexy as hell, sweet as sin, and very forbidden—my favorite memory and my biggest regret.
I should stay away. I’m harboring secrets that will shatter her world.
The thing about secrets is that they always find a way to come out. I just hope that when mine do, she won’t turn away from me . . .
I want my second chance with the only girl I’ve ever loved, but it seems that fate has other plans.


Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45487137-the-truth-about-us


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My Review:Rating: 3 stars

Griffin was Jolie's brothers best friend growing up. Jolie and Griffin were friends until their feelings grew into something more. Griffin did not have the best home life and because of that he was at Jolie's house quite a bit. After a tragedy strikes both Jolie and Griffin return home, but will Jolie understand why Griffin had to leave and will Griffin even tell her why he left? This is a second chance romance book with a lot of drama. I felt the author did a lot of telling about their relationship instead of showing until later on in the book. Jolie has gone through a lot in the 10 years since they parted and both Jolie and Griffin are broken. There were a few parts I was surprised happened, but most of it felt predictable. I did like that this was dual P.O.V. so we saw both sides to the story. I also enjoyed the epilogue and it hints the next story will be Jolie's brother.
This is an angsty second chance romance book.



EXCERPT

I throw my head back, laughing and happy that playful Jojo is back. “I remember the first time we kissed,” I say, looking into her eyes. She swallows. Her earlier playfulness falls away and is replaced with a serious, heated stare. “I remember the first time we danced.” My finger caresses the bare skin of her shoulder, and her green eyes go from shining emerald to a dark forest green.

“Griff,” she whispers a warning.

“I want to kiss you so bad.” My voice is gruff and filled with a need that far outweighs any craving for gelato. I don’t wait for her answer because the way she watches me has me undone.

My lips press to hers slowly, a soft caress, a begging for permission. Her fingers come up and rake through my hair, tugging me closer. My tongue peeks from my mouth, begging entrance to hers as she opens willingly.

The kiss is slow and testing at first. I’m scared of pushing too hard and having her pull away. She says she doesn’t want more, but the chemistry between us beats alive and strong. Her taste sets my body on fire as a million memories come crashing through my mind. Electricity sparks inside me, making me feel alive for the first time in what feels like forever. And now, with a simple kiss, I have come undone. My lonely heart beats in time with hers. My thumb brushes over the pulse point in her neck, and it thumps wild like mine.

“Jolie,” I say her name like a prayer.

“What are we doing?” she murmurs into my mouth.

“What feels right,” I answer into hers. Primal instinct begs me to take her on this kitchen counter and make her mine. My fingers pull at her scalp and she moans into my mouth, and my hard-on pulses to her sweet noises. The kiss intensifies until we are both breathless and panting when suddenly, she pulls away from me, pressing her hands to my shoulders.


Author Bio

R.C. Stephens is a top 100 Amazon best selling author. She has written ten romance novels and plans to continue to write many more.

When she isn't in her writing cave she is raising three lovely children with her adoring husband.

Her books are filled with humor, heartbreak, emotion and true love.

Born and raised in Toronto, she loves the winter, but Spring and Fall are her favorite seasons.

Keep up with R.C. by signing up to her newsletter - http://rcstephens.com/newsletter


Author Links

Website: http://www.rcstephens.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rc.stephens.8
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rcstephensbooks
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1508701.R_C_Stephens
Newsletter: http://rcstephens.com/newsletter

Stealing Home Review

Stealing Home by Harlow Cole
Book 2 in the St. Michaels Duet

Synopsis:

Ashley
I’ve given up. On my childish dreams.
On getting out of this town. On love. On him.
On everything.

I’m barely treading water.

Brayden
I’m the man with it all.

The pinstriped jersey covering my back garners easy cash, flashy cars and fast women. My gilded name drapes over the city in neon. I have everything. Everything, except the thing I crave most. Ashley Foster.

There’s one addiction I never tried to beat.

They say you can never go home again. I’m out to prove them wrong. But what if returning requires facing all the things you destroyed? To what lengths would you go to earn forgiveness?

Would you beg? Would you borrow? Would you steal?

Stealing home is the riskiest move in baseball. But the reward... If it works? Winning her back is a chance I’m finally ready to take.

My pockets are filled with stars.
It’s time to follow them home.

This time, I don’t want to steal her firsts,
I want to lay claim on all her lasts.


Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45006743-stealing-home


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My Review:
Rating: 5 stars

Ashley and Brayden are not the same kids they used to be. Ashley is struggling to hold her life and her family together. Brayden is a big shot baseball player who has injured his shoulder and has come home to get back his girl. This book broke my heart and pieced it all back together. I couldn't blame Ashley for how she reacted after seeing Brayden again and I loved how Brayden fought for Ashley's forgiveness. This book hit a raw spot with me and something I am still coming to terms with. I won't give it away because it is a pretty big spoiler. Maybe that's why this book resonated so deep inside me. Harlow did a great job at writing her characters and you could feel the pain, heartbreak, anger, frustration, chemistry, and forgiveness throughout the various characters. I hope Harlow writes more books on these characters because I would love to read Nathan's story next. This book is angsy and real and at times you get frustrated with the characters, but that's the best thing when you are reading a book. That means the book means something to you. This was the perfect ending for Ashley and Brayden and that's all I could ask for from this author. Also, the fact that this is Harlow's debut duet I will definitely be checking out more of her work when she releases it. Read below for an excerpt.

Excerpt

I pumped the gas pedal a half-dozen times, trying to will the thing back to life, as I coasted to the gravel shoulder on the side of the road. I slumped forward, resting my forearms and brow against the oversized steering wheel, locked inside disbelief of the shittiest luck possible. I’d become one of those blow-up punching dolls with the sand in the bottom. The kind fists keep pummeling ’cause the stupid thing never has the sense to stay down.

Begrudgingly, I popped the hood release and hopped down out of the cab. I had no clue how to diagnose the problem, but broken-down suckers on the roadside always pretend to look at the engine.

I played along.

Stepping up onto the rusted front bumper, I stared at the pile of dirty metal while daydreaming about tossing a match inside and walking away. At least bending over under the hood shielded part of me from the rain.

The sound of tires crunching through the gravel behind the truck brought a sigh of sweet relief. I looked back up at the heavens and felt bad for not trusting my angel to send help. Jumping down from my perch on the bumper, I brushed my hands down the front of my khaki shorts as I rounded the front of the cab to call out to my hero. Cruel disbelief blossomed in the back of my throat.

“You’ve got to be shitting me. This is not happening.”

He’s still in town?

It had been almost a week. A week of trying to make myself believe our run-in at Foxy’s was just another bad dream. Six freaking days of convincing myself life couldn’t possibly be that cruel. I’d avoided the town gossip machine buzzing furiously about his sudden return. But no one else would drive that car. It looked like money on wheels. The black paint and sleek lines made my truck’s chipped blue exterior and scratched marina logo look even more pathetic. Some folks in St. Michaels had seen a Maserati.

Nobody in town drove one.
Certainly not one with New York plates.

I lifted my face to the rain, letting it wash away my urge to cry, as the driver’s side door popped open, and my worst day of the week took a turn for my worst day ever. He was dressed casually in a pair of shiny black athletic shorts and a plain gray sweatshirt, slightly frayed across the bottom hem by time and fondness. The hood bunched up around his neck, framing the sharp jawline that sported thick, dark scruff.

Brayden Ross turned gym-rat attire into the costume of a sex god.

He suffered from that strange anomaly that saddled people with fame and fortune. As a little girl, I’d seen it in his father and his father’s friends. They seemed crisper around the edges or something. Like brand-new bills freshly spit from the ATM instead of crumpled dollars that spent life stuffed in back pockets and sweaty bras.

He didn’t walk toward me; he prowled.
Slow and steady with this sexy gait that deserved its own theme music.
The rain didn’t even try to touch him.

This second sighting didn’t level the same sucker punch. More like a queasy dysphoria. A bad case of déjà vu that punctured skin and vein. Half of me wanted to run, throw my arms around his waist, and hold on for dear life. The other half wanted to put my hands around his neck and squeeze hard.

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#1 Interference

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Author Bio

Harlow Cole is a former journalism student, turned techie, turned mother, who finally decided at age forty-plus what she wants to be if she ever she grows up. Her writing journey first began in sixth grade, when she and her best friend penned boy band fanfiction in an old spiral notebook. Harlow is a connoisseur of peanut M&Ms, brand-new school supplies and angst-filled love stories that always end happy. At fifteen, she met her first love. They’ve now been married for twenty years. They reside in suburban Washington, DC, where Harlow moonlights as a taxi driver for their farting beagle and teenage twins. Interference and Stealing Home are her debut novels.


Author Links

Website: http://www.harlowcole.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/harlowcolebooks
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/harlowshoneys
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Mailing List: http://eepurl.com/gnujm1


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Interference Review

Interference by Harlow Cole

This is the first in the St. Michaels Duet

Synopsis:

Brayden:
I’m a goddamn prodigy. It’s true. Ask anyone.
I threw my first curveball the day I was born.

The whole damn town is waiting on me.
To live up to my father’s famous name. To reach for the stars.

All I want to reach for is her.

But Ashley is the sweet addiction I can’t afford. She’s my best friend’s sister. Hell, she’s practically my little sister. For years, I’ve protected her from guys that want one thing. What happens now that I’ve turned into one of them? Who’s gonna shield her from the way I was made, from my little white lies and from what I’m about to become?

My game plan sounds simple: Pitch my way into the Major League draft and stay out of Ashley Foster’s pants. That first part may be statistically difficult.

The second feels damn near impossible.

Ashley:
From the moment we met, I knew he was trouble.
The kind my mother sent me to find.
The type that ruins you for any other brand.

When we were young kids, I didn’t know what to call the frogs and butterflies that danced in my belly whenever Brayden came near. Now I know they have a name.

Those three little words that could heal or destroy him.

Before Brayden, my life was normal. And then it wasn’t. It couldn’t be. Ever again. How was I to know stealing his seat would change all our lives?

Anger and forgiveness share two halves of the same coin.
Our story might make you choose sides.

My Review:
Rating: 4 stars

I received an arc in exchange for an honest review. This book is a contemporary romance following the friendship to relationship between Brayden and Ashley. Ashley was new to town and her mom told her to go look for trouble. Ashley and Brayden meet when they are 12 and become friends. This book follows the two until they are around 18. Harlow did an awesome job showing how the two grew and changed throughout the years. This book does focuses on life and the choices we make more than the romance. I felt for both Ashley and Brayden and I am glad this book was written in dual P.O.V. At times Ashley frustrated me, but I understood where she was coming from and I am so glad that by the end of the book she had stood up for herself multiple times and went after what she wanted. Brayden pissed me off to no end the way he would hide from his feelings. The thing was Harlow did such an awesome job that I understood why the characters did what they did. The side characters were also an amazing addition and added to the story instead of taking away from it.I wasn't sure how the second book would go after everything that happened at the end of this book. I guess I will just have to read it and find out.

Interference-Release Blitz

Interference by Harlow Cole

Series: St. Michaels Duet #1
Release Date: July 18, 2019

Synopsis:

Brayden
I’m a goddamn prodigy.  It’s true. Ask anyone.
I threw my first curveball the day I was born.

The whole town is waiting on me.
To live up to my father’s famous name. To reach for the stars.

All I want to reach for is her.

But Ashley is the sweet addiction I can’t afford. She’s my best friend’s sister. Hell, she’s practically my little sister. For years, I’ve protected her from guys that want one thing. What happens now that I’ve turned into one of them? Who’s gonna shield her from the way I was made, from my little white lies and from what I’m about to become?

My game plan sounds simple: Pitch my way into the Major League draft and stay out of Ashley Foster’s pants. That first part may be statistically difficult.

The second feels damn near impossible.

Ashley
From the moment we met, I knew he was trouble.
The kind my mother sent me to find.
The type that ruins you for any other brand.

When we were young kids, I didn’t know what to call the frogs and butterflies that danced in my belly whenever Brayden came near. Now I know they have a name.

Those three little words that could heal or destroy him.

Before Brayden, my life was normal. And then it wasn’t. It couldn’t be. Ever again. How was I to know stealing his seat would change all our lives?

Anger and forgiveness share two halves of the same coin.
Our story might make you choose sides.


Interference is a slow burn, coming of age romance that takes readers from the sweet anticipation of first times to the passion of soul mates finally staking their claim. With a touch of Dawson’s Creek and a taste of Friday Night Lights, it is the first half of the completed St. Michaels duet.


GOODREADS LINK: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45006718-interference

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COMING SOON

#2 Stealing Home – Releasing August 1, 2019

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Author Bio:

Harlow Cole is a former journalism student, turned techie, turned mother, who finally decided at age forty-plus what she wants to be if she ever she grows up. Her writing journey first began in sixth grade, when she and her best friend penned boy band fanfiction in an old spiral notebook. Harlow is a connoisseur of peanut M&Ms, brand-new school supplies and angst-filled love stories that always end happy. At fifteen, she met her first love. They’ve now been married for twenty years. They reside in suburban Washington, DC, where Harlow moonlights as a taxi driver for their farting beagle and teenage twins. Interference and Stealing Home are her debut novels.


Author Links:

Website: http://www.harlowcole.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/harlowcolebooks
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/harlowshoneys
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/harlowcole
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/harlowcolebooks
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19046590.Harlow_Cole
Mailing List: http://eepurl.com/gnujm1


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The Kiss Thief

Synopsis: Provided by Goodreads

They say your first kiss should be earned.

Mine was stolen by a devil in a masquerade mask under the black Chicago sky.

They say the vows you take on your wedding day are sacred.

Mine were broken before we left church.

They say your heart only beats for one man.

Mine split and bled for two rivals who fought for it until the bitter end.

I was promised to Angelo Bandini, the heir to one of the most powerful families in the Chicago Outfit.

Then taken by Senator Wolfe Keaton, who held my father’s sins over his head to force me into marriage.

They say that all great love stories have a happy ending.

I, Francesca Rossi, found myself erasing and rewriting mine until the very last chapter.

One kiss.
Two men.
Three lives.
Entwined together.

And somewhere between these two men, I had to find my forever.

My Review:

Rating: 5 Stars

Some books just rip your heart open and squeeze it! his book is one of those books for me. Everyone right now is talking about this book because it is just that awesome of a book! This is not a light-hearted romance, it is a dark romance. This book is dual P.O.V focusing more on Francesca than Wolfe's and honestly I think it was important to get both of their thoughts. It's so hard to write a spoiler free review! 

Francesca and Wolf will irritate you and make you want to strangle them both throughout the book. An important factor my friend kept reminding me is that Francesca is only 19 years old and they reiterate that throughout the book, but I expected more from her. Wolf is not without faults, but for some reason I feel extremely protective of him. 

The writing was amazing and honestly I will be checking more books by this author.