mignon mykel { reviews }: HIS TO GUARD { release day blast ! } by Elizabeth Reyes

Friday, February 26, 2016

HIS TO GUARD { release day blast ! } by Elizabeth Reyes

We're so excited to be celebrating the release of Elizabeth Reyes' HIS TO GUARD - Isaiah's story is finally here! Fall in love with the forbidden in HIS TO GUARD, available now!

Self-Published | February 26, 2016 | Contemporary Romance
Fate, book 6
★★★★1/2

SOURCE: INKSLINGER PR

Even if you've given up, it doesn't mean your heart ever does.

With her life in danger, Raquel Santana had just begun to blend into the sleepy little town she'd escaped to, to start over. Now her father's non-negotiable plan to protect her could ruin everything. After adamantly refusing to have someone watch over her, she finally relents.

Only nothing can prepare her for who arrives at her doorstep.

Finding out the beautiful woman Isaiah Romero is assigned to guard is someone he has a sizzling past with—someone he's never been able to forget—should've been a good thing. But when that woman is someone who a)he'd never trust with his heart again and b)completely off limits to him forever now, his loyalties are tested.

When the forbidden becomes His to Guard . . .restraint becomes a torment.

Despite the attraction he's surprised he still feels for her and the inevitable sexual tension he knows he'll have to endure, Isaiah is adamant about one thing: even unwritten rules should never be broken—until they are.

Note to readers who are not caught up yet and wondering who Isaiah is? The Fate series is a Moreno Brothers spin off series Isaiah, Nathan and AJ "Rage" Romero are cousins of Romero from the MB series. They were introduced in the 3d Fate book Suspicious Minds (Fate #3). They are brothers and their sister Olivia, was paired of with Lorenzo Moreno in Suspicious Minds. In Again (Fate #4),their youngest sister Emi, is paired off with Sydney from Forever Mine the first in the MB series. I have one more story planned for the Fate series after this one Uninvited, tentatively scheduled to be released sometime in 2016. But you can add it to your GoodReads shelf now! =)

amazon | itunes | Nook (coming soon) | kobo | smashwords

{ add to goodreads } .

{ about elizabeth reyes } .

Award winning, USA Today Bestselling Author, Elizabeth Reyes continues to answer her calling on a daily basis. Since releasing her debut novel FOREVER MINE (MORENO BROTHERS #1) in 2010 she has since published seven more in that series, FOREVER YOURS, SWEET SOFIE, WHEN YOU WERE MINE, ALWAYS BEEN MINE, ROMERO, MAKING YOU MINE, and TANGLED with more stories about the Moreno family and their friends to come. She's also published a second series, 5th Street which includes, NOAH, GIO, HECTOR, ABEL. FELIX. Her Moreno Brother's spinoff series FATE includes FATE, BREAKING BRANDON, SUSPICIOUS MINDS and AGAIN (Sydney's story). Her debut traditionally published title is DESERT HEAT and her latest release is her first ever three part romance serial DEFINING LOVE.

When she's not writing (which is rare) she spends as much time as she can with her husband of almost twenty-one years, two young adult children, her Great Dane, Dexter and big fat lazy cat named Tyson.

{ excerpt } .

Isaiah wasn’t even all the way down the back door steps when he nearly gave himself whiplash doing a double take. For a moment, he had the insane idea that maybe he’d done so much thinking of Kelli in the last month he was beginning to see her face where it wasn’t. It couldn’t be her. Why would she be here? He peered at her, still not a hundred percent sure it was her. Then she smiled as she said something to his sister Emi, who she was sitting next to. It was definitely her and his heartbeat sped up. He’d never forget that smile. It almost made him smile as well, but he still felt too stunned.

Was it possible she was a friend of Emi’s? Or was Kelli here for him? Other possibilities raced through his mind as he took a couple more steps down the porch into his uncle’s backyard, where family and friends were gathered. She sat there continuing her chat with his sister. Just like everyone else in attendance, she appeared as laid back without a care in the world. Then their eyes met and locked, and her sitting up straight with a jolt said it all. She hadn’t come here for him. Kelli was as stunned to see him here as he was to see her.

“Sai,” Nathan said breaking Isaiah from his thoughts. “I was beginning to wonder where you were.”

Isaiah glanced at him, taking the beer Nathan handed him. Before he could ask about Kelli, his brother smiled big, turning in her direction. “Check this out.” He started in Kelli’s direction. “There’s someone here I want you to meet.”

Isaiah followed him as the wheels in his head spun wildly. The tiniest of hopes that maybe she was there for him were squashed the moment their eyes had met. Kelli still hadn’t taken her eyes off him and Isaiah could feel in his gut this wasn’t going to be a happy reunion. He turned to his brother, who was smiling a bit too big, even as he brought his beer bottle to his lips. That’s when he noticed it. The twinkle in his brother’s eyes and how overdressed he was for Manny’s backyard shindig. It felt almost as if things slowed and they were walking in slow motion as he turned to back to Kelli. She, too, was a bit overdressed for a backyard gathering. Were they on a date?

Overwhelmed with panic, Isaiah gulped. He felt too dazed to come up with even a single excuse why he might need to make a mad dash back into his uncles’ house and back out the front door so he could get the hell out of there. More than anything the pain was back and it was even more brutal now.

Emi, who still sat with Kelli, leaned in and said something, motioning in Isaiah and Nathan’s direction. Kelli’s eyes widened in what appeared to be the same horror Isaiah was feeling. Emi very likely had just let Kelli in on who he was—Nathan’s brother. Obviously, she hadn’t had a clue whose brother she was now dating. Was it possible she might’ve been seeing Nathan before the weekend she spent with Isaiah just last month? Was that why, even after the unexpected amazing connection Isaiah thought they’d had, she’d blown him off like she had?

Nathan rarely brought girls to meet the family, let alone small intimate gatherings like this one where even more extended family would be . . . unless he was finally serious about one. Fuck.

What felt like the longest walk of his life finally came to an end when they reached her. Like a deer caught in headlights, Kelli continued to stare at him, appearing completely stunned.

“Sai,” Nathan said with that same twinkle in his eye. “This is my girl, Kelli Santana.”

{ review } .

originally posted 2/24/2016

Lately, I have found Elizabeth Reyes's books to be easy reads that get me through the hump of reading. In this latest Fate book, we have Isaiah "Sai" Romero. I loved his connection with Kelli -- even though these two battle trust issues from the beginning to the end of their story. Not only trust issues, though, there's the issue of his family, as well -- because not only does Kelli have a past with Isaiah, but she has a bit of a past with Nathan, his brother, as well.

This is a story of trust and fighting attraction, a story of battling what you want versus the outside opinions in your family, as well as a story of the importance of communication. Kelli and Isaiah's story certainly isn't an easy one. The first half was good, but I found the second half of the book to hold the most drama, and therefore had me pressing on to read more. I needed to know more, as everything started to fall in -- or out of -- place.

I will say... Kelli fights for the approval of Isaiah's family and it was an ongoing battle from beginning to end (I can't say I remember too much of her in Rage, though... I was super focused on AJ and little Clair, I guess). It's not an easy fight in the least bit. One of the tougher people to convince is AJ -- and I absolutely loved the scenes with him. What can I say, I loved AJ in Rage. I wish we had more AJ and Clair scenes, but there's a sweet little family-man AJ scene at the end of this one that made my heart happy, so it was all good.

This epilogue was incredibly cute. It showcases the full circle of what Kelli and Isaiah go through, and it couldn't have been done in a sweeter way.

{ giveaway } .

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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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