mignon mykel { reviews }: review || ALL IN { blast } by Aleah Barley

Monday, January 4, 2016

review || ALL IN { blast } by Aleah Barley

Entangled: Ignite | January 4, 2016 | Romantic Suspense
Leaving Las Vegas, book 2
★★★★★

SOURCE: BARCLAY PUBLICITY

World-class statistician and poker prodigy Daisy Drake has two rules: never risk anything you can’t afford to lose, and never, ever, trust a gambler. Which is why she gave up the game and moved to Los Angeles, where she became a tenured professor. But when an old acquaintance calls needing Daisy’s...expertise...to help catch a cheater, she heads back to Las Vegas and the poker tables.

FBI Agent Ryan DiNatto’s been a gambler since he was four, and a hustler since he hit puberty. Coming off an undercover mission that ended with him shot and his partner in a wheelchair, Ryan’s out for blood. With a mob accountant and a hit man on the loose, the stakes have never been higher, and this time, he’s determined to make things right—even if it means beating spunky, sexy, Daisy Adams at her own game

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{ about aleah barley } .

Aleah Barley is a writer of explosive romance for everyone. She lives and writes in Detroit, Michigan, with a cat who's recently learned how to levitate, an over enthusiastic Labrador, and the cutest guy in the world. She will do anything for a hot cup of coffee or a wild romance--and, she can spell onomatoepia without using spell check.

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{ excerpt } .

The door wrenched open before Daisy could knock again.

“Who the hell are you?” someone snarled, but all Daisy could see were the man’s muscles.

Oh, God, she was salivating. Was that a six-pack? A ten-pack? The man definitely had washboard abs. She should have been a physiology major. Her gaze skimmed across bare abs and broad shoulders that blocked her view of the room behind him.

Not that she had much interest in anything beyond the living, breathing, Renaissance sculpture standing in front of her. Even the scar on the man’s left deltoid just added interest instead of marring his otherwise perfect appearance.

This guy. Her dream came back to her in a blur. This was the one who could push her back against the nearest wall, tell her what to do, and leave her begging for more.

Unfortunately, he was taken and pissed.

Daisy flushed as she took in his broad—clenched—jaw and sharp green eyes. His golden cheeks were flushed with anger, his lush lips pulled back in a frozen snarl.

“Adams.” Daisy mumbled. “Daisy Adams.”

A firm handshake was the key to making a good first impression. Bullet had taught her that.

Daisy stuck out her hand.

The guy didn’t move. He was too busy staring at her raven curls and—yep, Daisy flushed in realization—counting sheep pajamas. They might not be sexy, but they were her favorites. It wasn’t like everyone could roll out the door movie-star perfect in faded blue jeans slung across muscular hips.

A trail of golden hair ran down his chest before disappearing under a button fly.

Damn. She loved a button fly.

“I’m Daisy Adams,” she said, trying again. “That’s my name. I’m staying next door.”

“Uh huh.” Two syllables. Not even a real word.

“This is a hotel,” she said. “And it’s late. I don’t know exactly what time it is, but it’s very, very late.”

He raised his hand to show a heavy metal watch. The timepiece was utilitarian and built to withstand a lot of abuse. The dark metal clasped over golden skin and…was that a freckle on his wrist? When did freckles get so sexy?

“It’s not late,” the guy rumbled.

“You’re kidding, right?”

His lips twitched slightly, the ends turning up in a wry smile. “It’s not late. It’s early. It’s five o’clock in the morning.”

“The morning,” Daisy replied, deadpan. Forget getting back to sleep. It was less than an hour and a half before her multiple alarm clocks were set to go off. She might as well hop in the shower, throw on some clothes, and start praying to the closest benevolent god that she wasn’t about to make a fool of herself.

Or—worse—get Bullet killed. He hadn’t been too specific about the casino’s problems, but cheating in Las Vegas—with its security guards and surveillance equipment—was a fool’s game. It wouldn’t be the first time for con men to turn violent when cornered.

“Are you sure your watch is right?”

“At least twice a day.”

{ review } .

Did you see my mention of a reading slump in THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE VAMPIRE? This was the book that got me out of it.

And considering it's a quick feels type romance... I really enjoyed it, and I really loved Daisy and Ryan, and even though a week's time is simply too quick to fall for someone... these two were really freaking cute and I really freaking loved them.

Ok, now that the valley girl fan girl is through...

This was a fast paced romance involving an extremely bright young woman and the FBI agent rooming next to her at the casino-hotel she is staying it. Daisy has written the book about poker, but it's been years since she's played an in-person game. When her friend, Bullet, asks for help in figuring out a problem in the poker system of his casino, she jumps at the chance.

FBI agent Ryan is undercover as a poker player in the same tournament. I loved his interactions with the spunky Daisy, and found his teaching her to hide her tells to be extremely comedic. These two were extremely fun to read -- and I loved that the author utilizes a time jump at the end to allow for more believability in the eventual long-term picture for these two. I'm actually a bit sad that their story takes place over so little time, because I want to know more about them! I want to watching them fall further in love...

This was my first Aleah Barley title, and it will not be my last. I enjoyed her writing style and found her characters to be relatable and fun to read about.

{ giveaway } .

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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

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