Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Wounded


War has taken everything from me. My family. My home. My innocence. In a country blasted by war and wracked by economic hardship, a young orphan girl like me has very few options when it comes to survival. Thus, I do what I must to live, to eat, and I try very hard to not consider the cost to my soul. My heart is empty, and my existence brutal. The one impossibility in my life is love. And then I meet HIM. War is hell. It takes a chunk out of a man's very soul to do the kinds of things war demands of you. You live with fear, you live with guilt, and you live with nightmares. If you haven't been through it, there's no understanding it. War leaves no room for love, no room for tenderness or softness. You gotta be hard, closed off, and ready to fight every moment of every day. Lose focus for a split second, and you're dead. Now the only thing that can save me is HER
4 of 5 stars false



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Review

Reading this book was at times very hard. My heart was in my throat, I felt Raina's panic and her utter desperation. I felt angry at the world that let a young girl face an existence like this, even though I know that this happens, it was a harsh slap in the face to read about it.
This book starts in 1993, the first Gulf War, the war that took everything from a 14 year old girl. Raina is starving and is forced to do the unthinkable to survive, if you could call it surviving. She leads a bleak existence, surviving day to day, no friends, no love. She is outcast and she hates it.
I thought what the author did and how she made Raina cope was very clever. I can see how it would work and see that it would definitely be a mechanism I would adopt if, god forbid, I ever ended in a similar situation.
This is about survival, I remind myself. Not about pride
and
I am not Raina, the woman; I am Sabah, the whore. Now and always.
It is comments like that, that make my heart bleed for her.
Raina's character is immensely brave, I am constantly awed by her will to survive..
Lance Corporal Hunter Lee, explodes into her life 10 years later. She saves him and they form an amazing bond. Hunter even though he is the enemy and his kind are responsible for her families deaths and her current existence, is like no other man she has ever met and just what she needs.
"Do you kiss them?" I ask, gesturing to the mosque.
She flinches at my words."No. Never".
"Do they kiss you?"
"No." She looks confused. "Why are you-------"
I'm not them. I;m not one of them. I don't want you like they do."
His patience and understanding and acceptance of Raina and her life was truly admirable, I really like his character.
I was scared out of my mind for these two throughout this story, I was totally anxious, but I just couldn't put this book down. Jasinda Wilder has written a very interesting and different love story. She has been game enough to write it based around a war that is still going today and that many people have mixed feelings about. It shines a light on the casualties of war and puts a face or a personality, although fictional, to the people that are sometimes forgotten, the innocents.
I am well aware that this won't be for everyone, but to me it was a very worthwhile read. 



Interview With Jasinda 
1.It has just been brought to my attention, after seeing Wounded, that you write an entire series called "Big Girls Do". As a writer do you often get sick of only the overly perfect woman finding love, sex, and fun?
Is this why you started this series? Oh god, yes. Absolutely. There are no perfect people. Everyone has flaws. Hollywood and mainstream media, from ads to movies to shows to magazines, all portray this so-called “ideal” woman or “perfect” man. No such thing exists, and it’s not a healthy benchmark to set for our society. That being said, we need to be healthy and take care of ourselves. Big Girls Do It started as an attempt to show that women and men of all sizes and shapes can, should, and do find love and sex. You don’t have to be a size 3 or have rippling abs to be attractive to someone. Be confident in who you are. Take risks. Love with all your heart, mind, body and soul. And also…don’t let assholes give you body image issues. You’re beautiful just the way you are. Get your sexy on!
 2. What do you do for inspiration for your stories? You hear from other authors that they have muses, or they can't write unless they are in their special places, some just have ideas pop into their heads out of nowhere. How does it work for you?
 Stories come from everywhere. My muse is life. Sometimes ideas just pop into my head, but really, this is a complicated thing. When an idea just zips whole cloth into your head, it’s coming from a variety of sources. A character may be based on someone you saw at Starbucks or the supermarket, the storyline may be an amalgamation of something you read and something you saw in a movie. It all comes from somewhere. I watch people, I dissect novels and the plots of my favorite shows and pull elements from it all. Most of my stories come from one basic idea, an interesting character idea that I then come up with events to put him/her through.
3. I see from your bio that you like to bake. If you could have any of your fictional men over and bake them a cake, who would it be? Yes! I mean, all of them? I could really picture Jeff, Chase, and Shane all in my kitchen, baking me cupcakes in aprons (and not much else! *wink wink, nudge nudge*)   
 4. What has been your favourite book/ characters to write about? And do you think about them in your head as real people?
 Each book, each character is special. I’ve spent the most time writing about Jeff, Anna, Chase, and Jamie (from Big Girls Do It and Rock Stars Do It), so they’re probably the most like real friends. I don’t sit around having imaginary conversations with them or anything, but they are unique people with their lives beyond the written word.  
 5. Who is your all time favourite sexy hero you have read about in a book of another author :)? Whatever I’m reading at the moment is usually my favorite. I’m very into my sexy heroes, so I’m not sure I could pick one. I recently finished Beauty from Pain by Georgia Cates, so Jack McLachlan would be at the top of my list of sexy heroes—especially since he’s an Aussie, and what girl doesn’t love a hot accent?
 6. What is your favorite cupcake?
Do I have to pick just one? Red velvet and cherry chip are my go-to favorites.
 7. Wounded is very raw and gritty, were some of the scenes uncomfortable for you to write?
The scene where Rania first makes the awful choice to sell her body for food was very difficult, very emotional. When Derek and Hunter are both wounded is also a difficult, gritty scene.
 8. Favorite book that you have read so far this year?
 I’m really not sure I can pick just one. So many incredible books came out this past year, and they are all wonderful and moving and intense in their own ways. To say I have just one favorite would be doing injustice to the other hugely talented indie authors that make this burgeoning industry so fun and rewarding to be a part of. Some names that come mind as favorites, though: M. Leighton, Jessica Sorrenson, Tara Sivec, Colleen Hoover, Liliana Hart…see what I mean? All talented and wonderful women writing daring and sexy stories.



GCReading Promotions!    


Post by:undefined and



Protecting What's His ( Line of Duty #1) 18+

The following review is for 18+ readers.

Protecting What's His (Line of Duty, #1)
5 of 5 stars false
She’s running from the law, and the law wants her bad.
The opportunity was just too damn delicious for Ginger Peet to pass up. The purse full of money she finds—$50,000 to be exact—could give her and her teen sister the new start they need. So she grabs the cash, her gothy sibling, and their life-sized statue of Dolly Parton, and blows outta Nashville in a cloud of dust. Chicago, here we come...
Turns out, Chicago has some pretty hot cops. Hot, intense, naughty-lookin’ cops like Derek Tyler, who looks like he could eat a girl up and leave her begging for more. And more. Tempting as he is, getting involved with the sexy homicide lieutenant next door poses a teensy problem for a gal who’s on the lam. But one thing is certain—Derek’s onto her, and he wants more than just a taste.
And as far as he’s concerned, possession is nine-tenths of the law.

Review

This book was seriously sizzling.
I am probably not going to be able to do it justice, but I am seriously going to try because I think this could be one of those books that people pass by and I beg you, don't! Read it!
Ginger Peet is our main female character and what a lady.She is 23 and because of a drugged up, prostitute mother she has been taking care of her younger sister, Willa, her whole life.
They finally get the courage up to leave when they find $50,000 dollars belonging to there mothers drug dealer lying in the house. They take the money and run to Chicgao where they meet Derek Tyler and the pursuit begins.
I loved Ginger, she is comes across as this really confident girl, very assured of herself, but what she really is, is a survivor. The banter between her and her sister was hilarious, but unlike some books where the humour can get to much, it didn't feel false or contrived.
I felt really connected to these characters in a really short time, the book isn't long, that has got to say something about the authors ability to create wonderfully real characters worthy of our time.
Derek is another great character, he is a cop, a protector, a totally hot, jealous, alpha who brings a whole new meaning to " Protecting What's His" . I loved him. He wanted Ginger from the beginning and went after her with cocky, single mindedness. His bluntness was all we have come to expect and more of a bossy dominant character. The words this man came away with , phew!!
"Point taken. But one more thing". Derek leaned forward, resting his hands on either side of her on the counter, then dipped his head lower. Ginger's mind reeled as he ran his tongue upward in one long like of her neck. " The longer it takes me to get between your thighs, the rougher I am going to be when I finally get there. Understand?"
Like I said above this is quite a short book, but it is easy to read with what must be perfect pacing and execution. For all the length of this I was totally sucked in, the storyline was interesting and I felt a connection to these characters, I wanted their happy ending.
Sometimes the simple things really are the best and I don't mean that as an insult, totally the opposite. This is quite simply a very enjoyable romance book and I don't have a single complaint. I will be recommending this to all my romance book, alpha loving friends.

Post by: 

What Rough Beast

2.5-3 stars

Phillip Todd is a normal army brat and baby boomer with one small exception: a super human power to control all sentient beings.
Like Superman he takes years to uncover and develop his powers, beginning at the tender age of three by coercing his neurotic mother and later advancing to psychic pranks on the Order of the Perpetually Disgruntled Nuns at his Catholic grade school. In public middle school he rids himself of a bullying juvenile delinquent with cruel zeal. His formative adolescent years as an army dependent in post war Germany merely increases his autocratic demands for sensual experimentation and psychic domination.
He uses and abuses anyone near; particularly Jill, the precociously ripe daughter of his father’s commanding Colonel and Wanda, his mother’s friend and frustrated wife of a feckless Lieutenant. When an overweening sexual dalliance with Jill is discovered by a vicious PFC Phillip tortures and nearly kills the man. When his father’s tour in Germany is winding down Phillip, both frightened and enthralled with his power, conceives an alter ego as a means of self analysis and revelation, Dr. Fear, a fictional confidant whom he plans on turning into a future comic book icon.
However, Phillip is suddenly tormented by waking nightmares and psychotic hallucinations and he takes extreme measures to rid himself of these by eliminating Wanda’s husband and lastly Jill and her family. However, on the return trip to the States hopeful that he has ended the psychotic breaks, he is confronted by another terrifying hallucination.

Review

****I was given a copy of this book  for my honest review****
 Phillip has powers that allow him to control "sentient beings," he has no problem using his powers to get what he wants. He controls people and thinks he is untouchable because of his powers. He has hallucinations and nightmares that scare him; his solution to this problem is disturbing. I really liked this book, the characters were interesting and Phillips early antics had unexpected moments of humor. This book was a sci-fi, I thought of it more as a psychological thriller. Phillip seemed to be a mix of a sociopath with a split personality and a horn dog focused only on getting sex. This book did have a good storyline, but I have to point out the editing. I am not a huge grammar or spelling Nazi, if there are a few errors in a book I don't knock of points. However, this book had so many of these errors it made reading certain parts of this book difficult. If this book was properly edited it would be a solid 4 stars for me, as it stands I am stuck between 2.5 and 3 stars. 

Photobucket  


Post by: undefined


Tuckers Fall 18+

The following review is for 18+ readers.
Tucker's Fall   (Purgatory Masters, #1)
Scandalized professor Maggie Cisco returns to her hometown to lick her wounds and reconsider her future. Her years of personal and professional research into the BDSM lifestyle has landed her in jail, in divorce court and now in the headlines of more newspapers than she cares to count. The worst of all? The entire debacle is being blamed on a bestselling book she hasn’t even read!
Just when she thinks her only solution is a tell all memoir, a snowstorm puts her in the path of stunningly handsome, insanely rich and equally intense, Tucker Lewis.
Tucker remembers Maggie well. They once shared a mind-numbing kiss at the annual St. Mary’s carnival when her boyfriend wasn’t looking. No stranger to scandal, he looks past public opinion to the submissive craving a master’s touch and decides then and there what he wants. He’s going after Maggie and her heart’s kinkiest desires.
Unfortunately, no amount of money can change the sins of the past and when they’re certain they know everything there is to know about each other, one discovers a secret they aren’t prepared for.

Review

***NetGalley provided me with a copy of this book for my honest review***
This is actually a 3.5 star read for me, it wasn't quite a three and not quite a 4....I will explain why.
This is the first book of the Purgatory Masters series, however, I believe that maybe this is a follow on from the Purgatory series. Some characters were in this book already seemed to have a back story that was only gone into briefly. It all seemed kind of glossed over and I felt like I may be missing some information. This is not the authors fault, it was mine, but still my confusion was there.
My problem was not with the writing or the story,because I liked both. I even really liked Tucker, my problem was Maggie. I felt for someone who had spent 10 years researching the lifestyle she seemed especially clueless as to how she should behave or what she actually wanted. This frustrated me.
However I think this could have been on purpose. The author seemed to want to get us, the readers, to understand the fiction of a bdsm lifestyle and the actual way you may feel if you actually found yourself facing these things.
I may have sat there and cringed at Maggie running away and her anxiety over certain situations, but I imagine it would be a daunting situation and not at all what it is made out to be in the books that are so popular of late, where people are all of a sudden naturally submissive. This is the conclusion I came to when references to "that book" kept on coming up in the story.
Even though I believe this was on purpose, the constant back and forward and personality changes from the character frustrated me a bit.
There was a mystery that ran throughout this book. It seems it will follow on into the next one of the series and I admit that this has pricked my curiosity. I am intrigued my the other characters Nina, Mason and Levi, and I want to know what is going on.
All in all I thought this was a good solid erotic read. It was short, but with enough info to not feel rushed. The relationship between the couple was a second chance romance, and that is one of my favorite romance themes. I really loved how it was the man who had carried the torch for leading lady and initiated the pursuit rather than the other way around.
I will look out for the others in the series when they are released.
Post by:  undefined