mignon mykel { reviews }: review || BREAKING BRANDON { read-along } by Elizabeth Reyes

Thursday, February 11, 2016

review || BREAKING BRANDON { read-along } by Elizabeth Reyes

Self-Published | November 26, 2013 | New Adult Contemporary Romance
Fate, book 2
★★★★
SOURCE: INKSLINGER PR

He ruled out attachments years ago. Then one day he crosses paths with a beautiful but pampered daddy's little princess. History has taught him one thing about women like her—steer clear.

She was starting over. She moved back to her home town, took a new job assignment, and left her past behind. For the first time in over eighteen months, she's even intrigued by a man—a sexy but cold and indifferent drill sergeant. Despite feeling drawn to him, she has no time to figure out his inexplicable aversion to her.

Then Fate steps in one night, forcing them together. There's a connection neither can refute, and they both consider giving into the undeniable attraction.

Fate however can also be cruel. Just when they surrender to their heart's desires, past demons resurface in the most unexpected way, threatening the happiness neither realized they so desperately needed.

New Adult Contemporary - *Mature Content* Recommended for ages 17+ due to sexual situations and language.

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{ add to goodreads } .

HIS TO GUARD releases early 2016 – add it to your Goodreads list here!

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{ 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.

{ what happened in chapters 18 - chapter 22 ? }

Regina finally asks Brandon about the stuff she found in his closet, and he explains to her that he’s already gotten rid of it - it’s something he would never use with her. She’s offended by this at first, assuming he thinks she’s a prude and couldn’t handle sex like that, but he tells her that sex before her was just a release. He doesn’t need that stuff with her because the sex is perfect. She convinces him to take complete control of her, at least just once, and he does it within limits.

When Brandon goes with Regina to meet her family, they quickly realize that the Sofia that is so closely associated with Regina’s family is the same Sofie from Brandon’s past. Regina spends the day upset and seething with jealousy, even when Sofia tells her that Brandon is a good guy.

They head home after the family event is over and Regina confronts him about everything that happened that day. Their fight is interrupted when they learn Regina’s dad is in the hospital with hearth problems. He comforts her and holds her, knowing that it will be a while before they have to revisit his past.

After her dad has been released from the hospital, Regina goes to see him and her family holds an intervention about Brandon. They want to make sure he told her everything that happened. She finds out that Brandon told Sofia he loved her. They get in a huge fight about it again, and he says that it’s happened - her family turned her against him and he leaves.

{ favourite quote } :

Obsessed - obsessed is what he made her feel like. She was completely obsessed with his lips, his tongue, and his mouth on her body. She understood now what he meant about her, because before him she’d never felt anything like this.

{ discussion questions } :

Why do you think Sofia gave Regina her number and asked her to call her?
Do you think Brandon overreacted when Regina told him what Sofia said about him

{ review } .

This series is so freaking cute. It has just enough real-life issues, fears, and full emotions for the characters to feel like people you may know. Brandon's past wasn't exactly the most stellar, and while he was a bit rough around the edges, he turned into one of the sweetest Alphas there could be. Regina, who has a solid support system, has her own demons and a past she's running from, and because of that, I found her to be a solid character as well.

Watching troubled characters overcome their demons is something that I enjoy reading about. I like to watch the growth of the characters and when it's done well... well, it's done well. Brandon and Regina's romance is a bit on the quick side, but it worked for the timeline of the story.

As I've stated in other reviews of Ms. Reyes' works, sometimes I find the stories to be written with too many description-driven scenes, and at times the ages of the characters don't necessarily come through in the writing -- they tend to have either over mature or immature moments that don't line up with what has already been established. And lastly, while the epilogue is set up differently than Fate, it was still beautiful and a great way to close this story out.

{ giveaway } .

Want to win an ARC of HIS TO GUARD by Elizabeth Reyes? Sign up via the Rafflecopter below!

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Follow along with the Breaking Brandon Read-A-Long!

Breaking Brandon, Day One: Monday, Feb. 8th - Margie's Must Reads & Grown Up Fangirl
Breaking Brandon, Day Two: Tuesday, Feb. 9th - Morning Books and Coffee & Total Book Geek
Breaking Brandon, Day Three: Wednesday, Feb. 10th - Real Talk Book Talk & Margay Leah Justice
Breaking Brandon, Day Four: Thursday, Feb. 11th - Mignon Mykel Reviews & The Power of Three Readers
Breaking Brandon, Day Five: Friday, Feb. 12 - Read Love Blog & Disheveled Book Blog

Make sure to join InkSlinger PR on Monday, February 15th to begin the read-a-long of Lorenzo's story, Suspicious Minds, the third book in the Fate series.

3 comments:

UnknownFebruary 11, 2016 at 5:16 PM
This book was absolutely one of my favorites. I'm really enjoying reading it again!!
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Replies
UnknownFebruary 11, 2016 at 8:48 PM
Enjoyed reading this book one of my many favorite books from Elizabeth Reyes.
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UnknownFebruary 11, 2016 at 8:48 PM
Enjoyed reading this book one of my many favorite books from Elizabeth Reyes.
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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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