mignon mykel { reviews }: review || SAVING STEELE { blog tour } by Anne Jolin

Saturday, February 20, 2016

review || SAVING STEELE { blog tour } by Anne Jolin

Self-Published | February 9, 2016 | Contemporary Romance
Rock Falls, book 5
★★★★★

SOURCE: HEA BOOK TOURS

Kennedy Cross had her heart broken early in life. It wasn't someone or something who betrayed her—it was her own body. Despite it being all she’s ever wanted, Kennedy will never know what it feels like to feel her baby’s feet kick from the inside out. Having been pronounced infertile at only eighteen, she redirected her life the best way she could.

Eight years and a degree later, Kennedy is one of the most well-loved first-grade teachers at Rock Falls Elementary School. It doesn’t matter that her college boyfriend left her because he wanted children of his own. She has twenty-two of the most gorgeous six-year-olds who adore her and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

Jackson Steele deals only in extremes. He falls victim to manic episodes lasting for days, sometimes weeks at a time, sending him reeling from volatile highs to devastating lows. It’s a living hell just being inside his own mind, and that hell has taken everything he’s ever loved away from him. But what if, this time, it gives him something? An untimely gift from God and a brunette with legs eight miles long will bring him the most unforeseen joy but also his most challenging of tests.

What happens when circumstances of life threaten the one thing both Jackson and Kennedy love? Saving Steele from himself may prove to be too much for Cross to bear.

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{ about anne jolin } .

Hey y’all,

I was born and raised in Ladner, a small farm town just outside Vancouver, Canada. I grew up riding horses, shooting guns, and driving in trucks.

I never expected to be an author. A massage therapist? Yes. Take over the family construction company? Yes. But an author? No. Writing was something that snuck up on me and rooted itself into my life. It was beautiful to discover that love, and I’m truly grateful to say I’ve found my passion.

Since I’ve always been a creative person, it feels amazing to harness all of that energy and use it to tell a story I love. I enjoy incorporating bits of my real life into the stories I write. What parts are true? Hah. I’ll never tell—what would be the fun in that?

If I could leave y’all with one thing, it’s that life’s far too short to not live it out loud. Drown in your passions, hold on tight to the things that inspire you, and chase your dreams relentlessly. I can promise you without a doubt that you won’t regret it. I know I don’t.

Mad love,
Anne Jolin
xx

website | instagram | twitter | facebook | goodreads

{ review } .

I have been loving this series from afar. I love the titles, love the covers...

...and now I love Steele.

"Fight for the fairytale. Raid your hell for it if you have to...Our happily ever after at all costs, remember? Just find me, Jackson. Just find my voice and I will save you." --Kennedy

This was the second book this week that I've read with a character battling manic-depressive order, and like the book prior, I felt that Anne Jolin did a great job with Jackson Steele and his episodes. She looked at the episodes slightly different than the previous book I read, but still did a great job portraying this disease and the inhibiting extent of the episodes.

Kennedy's character, too, was well-rounded. She took a negative in her life and found a way to still make her heart happy by surrounding herself with children. After her previous boyfriend left her because of her inability to have children, she simply figured having babies of her own wasn't in her cards.

Kennedy and Jackson are connected through Cole, yet haven't met prior to this story. Both keep their scars and fears hidden, afraid of the reaction of the other as their relationship progresses.

I've never told a woman I loved about my condition. Thought of it has me practically trembling in her arms by the time the words come out of my mouth... --Steele

Their journey has it's difficult moments. But it's through those moments that the depth of their love, the ability of their love seeing everything through, the reader understands just what these two mean to one another.

"Just find my voice and I will save you." --Kennedy

I am so thrilled that I had the chance to read this book. I would have found the series eventually, but having this opportunity brought the series to me sooner, and with it, I've now found a fabulous writer with a writing style that I can get lost in, and well-rounded characters that my heart absolutely aches for.

I can't wait to read the rest of the series!

{ 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

View all my reviews