Entangled Lovestruck | April 4, 2016 | Contemporary Romance
Chase Brothers, book 3
★★★★★
SOURCE: PUBLISHER
TOUR HOST: INDIESAGE PR
Ethan Chase isn’t interested in dating. After losing the woman he loved more than life itself, he’d much rather ride solo, but his family is dead set on fixing him up. To get them off his back, he hooks up with ultra-adventurous, ultra-temporary adventure photographer, Rue Campbell. All he has to do is survive three weeks in her orbit and he’ll be single again, only without the pitying looks and pressure to move on.Rue is literally counting the days until her plane leaves New York City. The last thing she wants is a relationship, but being Ethan’s pretend girlfriend can’t hurt, right? Wrong. With Ethan, there’s no faking anything—in or out of the bedroom. With the sheets burning hot and the clock ticking on their arrangement, Rue realizes she’s falling for a man guaranteed to derail her goals…and break her heart.
{ about sarah ballance } .
Sarah and her husband of what he calls “many long, long years” live on the mid-Atlantic coast with their six young children, all of whom are perfectly adorable when they’re asleep. She never dreamed of becoming an author, but as a homeschooling mom, she often jokes she writes fiction because if she wants anyone to listen to her, she has to make them up. As it turns out, her characters aren’t much better than the kids, but nevertheless, you’ll find her writing sexy contemporary romance for Entangled Publishing until they throw her out. To learn more, visit http://sarahballance.com.
{ playlist } .
You Should Be Here – Cole Swindell
Confession – Florida Georgia Line
Kill the Lights – Luke Bryan
Too Fast – Jason Aldean
Staring at the Sun – Jason Aldean
{ excerpt } .
Ethan wanted to turn Rue around, to fold her into him and feel her heart beat against his chest, but that wouldn’t do anything to simplify matters. He couldn’t afford to feel this way about a woman who wasn’t going to stick around. He wasn’t sure he wanted to feel this way at all, but he was too intoxicated to care. Later he could blame it on the lack of oxygen.Hell, who was he kidding? He’d blame himself. He always did.
So why don’t you own it?
He lowered his mouth to her ear. “Turn around.”
She looked over her shoulder at him. “What?”
He responded with his hands, drawing her in a tight circle until they faced one another. A dozen questions filled her eyes, and he ignored every one. He ignored everything but the woman who’d managed in a few short days to change his life. He ignored everything, for once, but what he wanted.
And he kissed her.
He nearly hit his knees when he felt the pleasure of those soft, sweet lips, but it was the way she fisted his shirt and held on that was his undoing. There they were, who knew how many feet above the ground, floating, and it was she who was the miracle. And he wanted more. So damned much more.
But he didn’t take it. He just held her, knowing all too soon she’d be gone. He didn’t miss the fact that she held him, too.
Or that in a matter of days, she’d be the one letting go. Hell, he needed that reminder he didn’t have to worry about good-bye.
That particular good-bye was a guarantee.
In that moment, however, it didn’t matter.
That moment was theirs.
The view had been stunning before, but now, looking into her eyes, he didn’t think he’d ever take a full breath again. His heart didn’t race. It held onto a slow, steady beat that told him he was grounded in a woman, in a moment, to which he had no right. But that didn’t stop him from wanting.
This time, it didn’t stop anything.
He threaded his fingers through her hair and cupped her head, then leaned down to kiss her again, and this time there wasn’t any hesitation. She responded with parted lips, inviting him to deepen the kiss before he had a chance to run from it. But he didn’t run. He lost himself in the seduction of her mouth, in the dizzying sensation of her warmth, of having her cling to him. It was all so foreign, like he’d never known passion or hunger or the all-consuming need to become a part of someone, to lose himself in a world made for two.
The truth was, he’d just never known Rue.
{ review } .
This is the first Chase brother story I've read, but I'm definitely going back to read the others! A) I loved the interactions of everyone in this story, but also B) I truly enjoyed Sarah Ballance's writing style.
Little did Rue know, it was the anniversary of his wife's death and the last thing Ethan wanted or needed was a faux relationship -- which would be exactly what him going with Rue would be.
While Ethan certainly was grieving -- it was more than evident throughout those initial pages -- he had his family's interests at heart, and when his entire family appeared with smiles and grateful looks on his face, he decided to date Rue for the length of time she would be home. She herself had told him she wasn't a long-term gal. She had plans and dreams; she was an island hopper, a cliff jumper, a deep sea scuba-diver. Men didn't stick around and she didn't ask them to.
So Ethan and Rue embark upon a relationship that was meant to keep his family happy; it was meant to all be a ruse; it wasn't meant to actually grow to mean something.
I loved watching Ethan open up. He may have felt he wasn't ready to move on from his wife's death, but truly he just needed that one person to come up to him and show him he could love another woman.
Rue was a force. She was so fun! I loved her spunk and her attitude, but more than that -- while it was a bit creepy but totally expected in the circles they ran in -- when she Googled Ethan and saw just what made him storm out of her house in a huff... her heart hurt. This woman's feelings were deep and full, and she hated hurting people.
Will the two of them survive this simple three-week farce? Or will there be more on the table for these two? Will Ethan learn to let go and allow for love and happiness? Time will tell...
{ giveaway } .
{ ... and the first two chase brothers to fall } .
California landscape artist Estelle Donovan hates big cities. Between the grime, the smell, all the drab concrete, and the suffocating summer heat, how can anyone breathe? Housesitting her brother's New York apartment, complete with broken elevator and smoking air conditioner, is her kind of hell. It's only for two weeks, though. What could possibly go wrong?
Dumping a jar of pickles on the hot girl at the grocery store wasn't Crosby Chase's finest hour, nor was getting bitten in the butt by the demonic cat on her fire escape. But he is going to change her mind about his beloved city, damn it. In fact, if they could just make it five minutes without falling into bed, he bets Estelle he can find five things she'll love about New York.
Falling in love wasn't part of his plan. And with an entire country between them, Crosby realizes he doesn't need five reasons to make Estelle love New York.
He needs one big reason to make her stay...
Kelsie Reed is over bad luck and bad men. Newly dumped, she’s now the pathetically single maid of honor in her sister's wedding—and her ex is the best man. Her bad luck continues when a plumbing meltdown in her apartment sends her sexy neighbor running to her rescue. He’s got "serial dater" written all over him, which is unfortunate because the man is hot.
Sawyer Chase loves women, but settling down? He’ll leave that to his brothers. But when Kelsie confesses she’s a dating disaster and is about to become the laughing stock of her family wedding, Sawyer takes control. He's got one week to teach her how to land the man of her dreams, and he’ll do it on her terms: no touching, no kissing, and definitely nothing more.
But some rules need to be broken, especially when, for once, there’s something on the line worth fighting for…
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