mignon mykel { reviews }: MAY 11 || release day { review }

Monday, May 11, 2015

MAY 11 || release day { review }

This week we'll be having more than one RD{R}, as we have a Monday release (Salvation) and two Tuesday releases (The Griffin's Secret and Retribution).

Salvation by Robin Covington

Publisher: Burning Up the Sheets, LLC (5/11/2015)
Series: Nashville Nights, book 2
Genre: New Adult Romance
Source:Purchase links || amazon | bn || add to goodreads

Rating: ★★★★★

Letting go never felt so good.

Carlisle Queen is dying and no one knows it.

Burying the pain of losing her friends and her professional swimming career in a terrorist attack, America’s former sweetheart dulls her pain with drugs, pills and parties. The bomb left her with more than nightmares; shrapnel is lodged in her back and inching closer to her spinal cord. When the doctors tell her paralysis is inevitable, she decides to take her own life rather than face a lifetime in a wheelchair.

Mateo Butler isn’t anyone’s hero.

Reeling from the death of his little sister and his own cowardice, he spends his nights partying and his days ignoring the medical school acceptance letters and his parents’ concerned phone calls. Just a couple of months from graduation, he’s facing a future filled with shame and regret. The last thing he needs is to meet the woman who compels him to be a better man.

Can they save each other?

When Carlisle and Mateo meet, the chemistry between them is combustible. They play, party and hide their true selves until one night turns their lust into something more…something real. As secrets are revealed and walls collapse, what they were and what they might become doesn’t matter as much as who they are together. When the choice comes down to life or death, can love be their salvation?

**A portion of the royalties from this book will be donated to the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation**

Robin Covington loves to explore the theme of fooling around and falling in love in her bestselling books. A Night of Southern Comfort, her debut novel was nominated for the RT Book Reviewers Choice Awards for Small Press and was touted by RT Book Reviews as bringing a “fresh, modern feel to the genre while still sticking to the things that get our adrenaline pumping — sex and danger”. Her books were also nominated for the Bookseller’s Best Award and the National Reader’s Choice Awards.

When she’s not writing sexy, sizzling romance she’s collecting tasty man candy, indulging in a little comic book geek love, and stalking Joe Manganiello. You can find Robin at her website (robincovingtonromance.com), Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Don’t send chocolate . . . send eye candy!

Robin lives in Maryland with her hilarious husband, brilliant children (they get it from her, of course!) and her beloved furbabies.

{ review } .

--- this is a title that I wasn't so sure I was going to read. It popped up on my review dashboard and I passed it up a number of times before going through and requesting the title. Little did I know, I also had book one in my stash of to-read books, waiting ever so patiently in one of two (yes, two) "to read" categories on my Kindle app.

Don't be me.

Just read this darn book.

It is definitely going on my "Best of 2015" list simply due to it's realness.

Teo and Carlisle's love is quick -- freight train in a tunnel, quick -- and it's messy. They learn, they break, they move apart, and they find their way to solid ground.

We have Teo -- who watched his sister battle cancer and eventually 'give up'; in his mind, he didn't do enough to save her and allowed her to choose death. That is something he vows to never do again. Then he meets Carlisle.

Carlisle was an Olympic swimmer who lost everything in a terrorist bombing. She walked away from the attack, but has shrapnel in her back -- her choices, though, are limited. The only surgeon willing to do the surgery isn't currently willing to do the surgery on her, and the pieces are shifting and will eventually paralyze and or kill her.

Teo has been eyeing Carlisle at school for the past year or so, he and his buddy Zane nicknaming her Ariel due to her swimming and long red hair. She never goes to parties, but one night she shows up and that, they say, is history.

Their relationship is fairly gradual -- but when the love hits, it hits hard and fast. it takes time before Carlisle confesses her life and plans; when she does, he confesses his fears and his sister's story.

Both of these two wanted to save the other from pain and wanted to put the other's needs before their own -- but they never truly talked things out. Reading their story is like reading a true, coming of age, relationship progress. They make mistakes that college kids make. They say things and do things that they will regret.

...but when all is said and done, they will learn that their love is one that is meant to be -- as broken as it started, as unlikely as it seemed...

Their's was a story I enjoyed to pieces. Like I mentioned, I didn't realize I had TEMPTATION (it was a free read on Amazon and I snagged it) and am looking forward to cracking that open, as well as reading the rest of the series. Robin has done an amazing job with this group of friends and I look forward to seeing more of them as the series progresses.

No comments:

a quick note from { mignon } ...

I AM NO LONGER ACTIVE IN REVIEWING

The last two years has been incredibly rewarding, giving me the opportunity to pick up new-to-me authors, as well as new-to-the-world authors. I have enjoyed supporting publishing houses as well as the indie author, and in doing so, I learned a lot about the marketing aspect of writing a book and selling it as a self-published author.

I have re-focused my journey to more writing-minded. I still read and review! But not nearly at the rate I was; three books a day has turned to three books a month.

I will no longer be accepting individual review requests (unless it's specifically author-to-author, then it will be highly considered).

I will definitely be posting reviews for commitments I have already made, though.

Thank you for understanding, & thank you to all those I have worked with over the last year plus!

~ Mignon

http://mignonmykel.com

GOODREADS updates

Dirty Saint: A Secret Baby Sports Romance by Vesper Vaughn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book almost failed to get my attention. Why?

The hero.

He is the exact public person I despise. You know the type -- all biblical with publicized praying and verses all over his public persona. Great. Good for you. Bet you're not like that behind closed doors...

Which is exactly what Esther thinks of him.

Saint and Esther attend the same super religious college. Esther is on the fast track to becoming a nun, and no I do not kid, and Saint, given name Francis, can do just about whatever he wants, because he is the star athlete and the school knows he has connections. What in the world can these two have in common? The actions of their parents.

But where Saint does what his father says, usually, because his father is pushing him toward a pro-football careers, Esther follows her parents (father) because if she didn't... Her life would literally be a living hell.

I really enjoyed these two, once we started to get to know Saint a little bit better. My only drawback with the book would be the last half goes by in super-fast time. While it helped to keep the story moving, I would have liked to see more of that time drawn out so the feelings and emotions of our two characters felt more genuine and real -- rather than simply a two month courting that their lives demanded.

I'm giving the book the full 5 stars because it came out of left-field for me. It was a book that I didn't expect to like, but the author wove it in a way that I fell hard for our characters both as individuals and as a couple. I liked watching Esther grow and find her voice in life, just as I liked watching playboy, always for the chase Saint, settle down and find a person to be terribly protective over. I loved him most in the last two chapters.

*ARC received in exchange for an honest review

Everything by Erin Noelle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Here's something you may know about me if you've followed my reviews -- I'm an epilogue reader. I will almost always read the epilogue first. Call me a spoilsport or no fun, or whatever but that's how I've been reading books for years. It's no wonder that when I write books, I tend to have the epilogue all figured out before I even start with "Once upon a time...".

That said... I read this epilogue and while I liked it, I just couldn't get past the ages of our characters. Couldn't do it. So I read the beginning. Still... If anything, the age of our characters was even more pronounced. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to read this. You see, I have an issue with "Happily ever after" and the hardly-twenty crowd, let alone an eighteen year old.

But that's my hang-up.

Another thing you may know about me? I will sometimes read a book in what I call a inside-out fashion. I jump all over the place until I find a snippet of story that absolutely grips me. And people -- there are a few of those parts in Everything. So because I found those gripping parts, I put my faith in Erin Noelle, and I started from page one -- and I gave Everett and Belle a chance.

And I'm so glad I did.

Everett and his twin sister have been making music forever -- literally. They're the children of a rockstar; music has always been their life. When their father's group decides to get back together (dad always said he'd go back when the twins were done with school), Mason tells the label -- if you take me, you're taking my kids: thus, giving Everett and Ashlynn the opportunity to take their music to a larger level than they have before.

Along the way, with a local gig, Everett meets Belle -- and so begins their story.

This is a story about growing up. This is a story about following your heart -- be it for a person or a career, or even both. It is about learning to trust the person you are giving your heart to, and about taking the ever-looming jump into unknown feelings. When you put your life, your wants, your desires in someone else's hands, the world opens up -- and it certainly does for Everett and Belle.

The part I most appreciated was that the author made Everett true to his age and situation. Belle was too, yes, but it was Everett and his new lifestyle that had me wanting to see true characterization for. He's a guy; he's a musician; he's new to love. He makes mistakes. And for those mistakes, I truly got on board with this story.

Everett and his Tinker Bell were incredibly cute. I liked that there's a decent time jump at the end, further allowing -- you guessed it -- growth of our characters. I'm excited to watch more of them when (if?) Ashlynn's story comes out.

*ARC received in exchange for an honest review

View all my reviews

Pages

Monday, May 11, 2015

MAY 11 || release day { review }

No comments:

Post a Comment

Contact { mm:r }

FTC Disclosure

Total Pageviews