Cowboy Crush Release Book Blog Tour!

On Tour with Prism Book Tours...

Announcing Kimberly Krey's new release!! 

...pre-dating Cassie's Cowboy Crave.

To post the Grand Finale Book Blast Jan 9 - 14 and add your Social Media to the Rafflecopter, 

email Tressa at wishfulendings(at)outlook.com with "Jade's Grand Finale" in the subject line!

The first 50 to sign up and post will receive an ecopy (.mobi or pdf) of Jade's Cowboy Crush!

January

6 - Brooke Blogs Demons - Gavin Emerson's Past

It was just while I was writing a particularly relevant scene, that I heard the song, Demons, by Imagine Dragons. It went along with the scene so perfectly that I bought the album (great album, btw) and played the song each time I was in the car so I could muse on it.

A little more about Gavin Emerson:
- He used to ride bull like nobody’s business and has the scars to prove it.
- He left home after an ugly fallout with his father at eighteen years old, got involved with gambling, loan sharks, and later joined the mob he borrowed from.
- He’s attracted to redheads and has several different nicknames for Jade, including his favorite, Freckles, due to the splash of freckles across her cheeks.
- Last but not least, he’s got a sleeve of tattoos that represent parts of his past.

Read more at Brooke Blogs.

7 - Mythical Books - Jade Miller, Single Mother

Here’s a few facts about Jade Miller:
- She has strawberry blond hair, pale skin, and a splash of freckles she’d do anything to hide. 
- She dunks almost everything she eats in Tabasco sauce. 
- She’s fiercely protective when it comes to her son. 
- She lost her loving father to a long battle with cancer when she was young. 
- She’s secretly in love with cowboys from the past, like Wyatt Earp. 
- She is snarky, witty, and avoids drama like the plague. 
- She’s just witnessed the murder of a co-worker and is about to enter a protection program on Emerson Ranch. 

Oh yeah, and she’s about to fall hard for rebel cowboy, Gavin Emerson.

In this excerpt from Jade’s Cowboy Crush, Jade, upon butting heads with Gavin, reconsiders her plan to seek protection at Emerson Ranch:

Jade had assumed that a grown, mature man would show up to take her and Luke to some secret hideaway. Instead she’d ended up with an immature, kid-hating, woman-ogling dirt bag. Probably back there hitting on that female cop. Yet as she glanced up to her rearview once more, puzzling as to why she couldn’t see him, two loud thumps tapped at her window. She jerked back in response before rolling it down partway. “What,” she demanded, glaring at him. Or rather – his chest. He was taller than she’d realized. And more muscled too. And there were those tattoos, the near-sleeve of them encasing one well-defined arm. She’d been drawn to that look back in the day. Not any more. With a slow, relaxed movement, he hunched down to look at her. “What are you doin’?” The slow drawl in his low, raspy voice made her blush and actually wonder just what the hell she was doing. His thick, blond hair bordered on unkempt in a way that might make a weaker woman swoon. But she was not a weak woman. Jade didn’t fall for things like that. “I’m leaving,” she announced.

Read more at Mythical Books.

8 - I Am a Reader, Not a Writer - Smokin' Hot Pizza Bomb

Before we get to the recipe, I’m going to start with an excerpt. Here, Jade and her four-year-old son, Luke are instructing Gavin (rebel cowboy offering witness protection on Emerson Ranch) on how to ready the dough:

     Luke’s big brown eyes were pasted on a lump of dough as he smashed it down with his small hands.
     “Here. Put a few scoops on,” she said. “Just on one side, remember.”
     Luke did as she said, and started piling toppings on next.
     “You need help?” Jade asked.
     Gavin held her gaze. “Maybe.”
     She smiled, seeming to hold a hint of that playful side she’d shown last week at the pond. “Okay.” Jade walked around the counter and stood beside him. Gavin didn’t miss the warmth of her arm as it grazed his. “You need to start with some flour.” She reached into the small measuring cup, pinching some in her fingers.
     “And where does that go?” he asked.
     Jade dropped it on the counter. “Here,” she said, “and here.” With movements too quick to stop, she smeared her fingers over one side of Gavin’s face.
     Luke busted up.
     “Oh,” Gavin said, reaching for the measuring cup next. “Like this?” He sprinkled the flour into his open palm, rubbed his hands together, and cradled her face. With the soft, white powder coating his hands, he ran his thumbs over the light splash of freckles on her cheeks. He liked the way Jade didn’t fight it. Only stood there and smiled as he drew a line from the top of her forehead down to the tip of her nose.
     She batted her lashes at him. “Is that all you got?”
     But his eyes were already set on something more – those lips. Without breaking his gaze, Gavin traced a finger over the smooth curves of her mouth. The top lip first, followed by that full, bottom pout. The powdery substance barely clung to the softness there, creating the lightest sheen over their pretty, pink color.
     He ran a thumb over them next, willing himself to let go and step away, wondering if he’d ever been so hungry in all his life.

Get the recipe at I Am a Reader, Not a Writer.

Jade's Cowboy Crush
Sweet Montana Bride Series
by Kimberly Krey
Paperback, 320 pages
Published December 13, 2013


Single mother, Jade Miller, has just witnessed a murder. Now, set to testify against the cold-blooded killer, Jade must be placed under protection. While she is grateful to the kind folks who’ve offered to take in her and her son, Jade is surprised to find the man escorting them from L.A. to Montana is Gavin Emerson. A womanizing, far-too-attractive-for-his-own-good, rebel cowboy. Jade assures Gavin that she has sworn off men until her son is grown, but all too soon she finds herself fighting back feelings for the man who’s agreed to care for them.

Gavin wants nothing to do with ranch life. Not since the ugly fallout he had with his father over eight years ago. But when he agrees to come back, harboring Jade and her son for a time, Gavin falls in love with life on the land once again. Above that, he finds his heart has been captured by his lovely house guest, Jade Miller.

After reservations on both parts, the two are finally ready to open up and give their new-found love a try. Only they aren’t in the clear just yet, and as a dark and deadly threat falls upon them, Gavin finds that his bad-boy past may have led the danger right to their door.

Note: Though this novel is considered clean romance, it does contain passionate kissing scenes and a few mild curse words.

Purchase from: Amazon * Barnes and Noble

Kimberly Krey's other books:

Cassie's Cowboy Crave

Sweet Montana Bride Series

by Kimberly Krey

Published July 12, 2013

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Evie’s Knight
by Kimberly Krey
Published September 11, 2012

Amazon
Barnes & Noble

Writing Romance That’s Clean Without Losing the Steam!

Kimberly Krey

I'm a writer of contemporary clean romance, a lover of home, family, & friends, & the ultimate hater of laundry.

A few of my favorite things: Diet Coke, Cafe Rio, and novels by Marcia Lynn McClure.

I do not go anywhere without: SoftLips Chapstick and Altoids Smalls. 

Website * Facebook * Twitter * Goodreads

Giveaway!

Enter to WIN $100 Amazon Gift Card!
January 6 - 21, 2014

Must be 18 to enter and able to receive winnings. See Rafflecopter for detailed restrictions.

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ARC Review: Tandem by Anna Jarzab

Title: Tandem by Anna Jarzab
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: October 8th, 2013
Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Drama, Action, Romance
Medium: ARC Paperback via Random House Publishers

Tandem quickly became one of the most engrossing, captivating, interesting, dramatic novels I have ever had the pleasure to read. It also quickly became a favorite of mine. It was full of fantasy and science fiction, without being unbelievably so. It also featured a perfect mixture of action, suspense, romance, and plenty of plot twists. Simply amazing.

Sixteen-year-old Sasha Lawson has only ever known one small, ordinary life. When she was young, she loved her grandfather's stories of parallel worlds, inhabited by girls who looked like her but led totally different lives. Sasha never believed such worlds were real—until now, when she finds herself thrust into one against her will. 

To prevent imminent war, Sasha must slip into the life of an alternate version of herself, a princess who has vanished on the eve of her arranged marriage. If Sasha succeeds in fooling everyone, she will be returned home; if she fails, she'll be trapped in another girl's life forever. As time runs out, Sasha finds herself torn between two worlds, two lives, and two young men vying for her love—one who knows her secret, and one who believes she's someone she's not.  -From Amazon.com

At first, I thought this plot would be perfect for me. Then, when I started reading and I realized it was about a Chicagoan girl switch places with a princess from a parallel universe... In the first few pages I thought I was going to hate it. Then I read further and then a little further and I ended up loving it. The princess living in a castle factor will entice many female readers, just as the action and sci-fi enticed me. And the romance is there for every female reader. Although the romance is tuned down, it doesn't really appear in the novel until the last few chapters or so. This leads me to believe that the sequel will be undeniably action-packed and sexy.

The writing was very clear and and detailed, making for an interesting and in depth look at parallel universes without coming on too strong. Jarzab made it easy to understand parallel universes scientifically, so that you could focus on the plot and characters more. Speaking of the characters, they were interesting and were constantly changing and adapting to the situation, showing many different sides as we progressed through the novel. I personally fell in love with the characters and each of their unique stories, and was both excited and scared to see where they would go.

Overall, this novel is deeply written and well-thought out, with perfect amounts of romance, drama, sci-fi, fantasy, and action. Perfect for any age and definitely a series to watch! Sequel Tether comes out in July!

Review: An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

Title: An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
Publisher: Speak
Release Date: October 16th, 2008
Genres: Contemporary, Drama, Comedy
Medium: Ebook, Bought

As you all should know by now, John Green is one of my absolutely favorite authors. Therefor, anything he writes, I should love, right? No. This is not the case. I do love John's writing in this book, but the plot... Not so much.

When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton’s type is girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin has been dumped nineteen times. On a road trip with his overweight best friend miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy is hoping to figure out The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, and finally win him the girl. -From Amazon.com

The plot is quite uneventful, I hate to say. It starts out slow, and only slightly acclimates towards the last half of the novel. The plot is also very awkward, in the way that it really has no direction, almost like the idea of a 'plot' is mistaken, because it seems to be nonexistent. It has no direction and very few qualities of interest and seems to all be very random, almost as if the events in the plot have no meaning or direct influence on the plot's outcome.

The characters are quite flat 2D and they change very little throughout the novel. This lack of character evolvement is unusual for a John Green novel, and quite disappointing. I found Colin to be slightly annoying and quite... Whiny. He cried all the time and was almost obsessive over his 18 ex girlfriends, almost stalker-ish. This got on my nerves frequently and made it had for me to read the novel at certain points. I'm guessing that's why it took so long for me to read this one, because if was so disinterested and bored.

Another thing in the writing that bothered me (and also bothered fellow readers) was the overuse of several words such as fug, fugging, kefir, jewfro, and more. I was also tired of anagrams and tangents and diagrams at the end of the novel. At points, the lengthy mathematical descriptions made me feel like I was reading an algebra textbook. And Colin's character overall tended to make me want to stop reading.

Overall, this was a not so good novel that I had had high expectations for, but ended up really disappointed. The plot just wasn't there, and though the writing was good (excluding the overuse of certain words like said above ex: fugging) it just didn't connect for me. I personally think that this is the less favorable of John Green's novels that I have read so far, The Fault In Our Stars being the best, Looking For Alaska being second, and this one, last. This novel was just not where it should be.

Stacking The Shelves (#7) December

 

Stacking The Shelves is a monthly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews where bloggers can showcase what they bought, were gifted, received for review, etc. this month.

 

Phew! It has been an exciting month, hasn't it? We received 20 books here this month. TWENTY!

 

Here's the stats:

Of the 13 Paperbacks and 7 Hardbacks-

5  were Signed Books!

3 were ARC Books!

1 was from Author for Review!

 

20 Books!

 

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga (Hardcover)

Toxic Heart by Theo Lawrence (ARC paperback via publisher!)

The Book Thief by Marcuz Zusak (Paperback)

Cirque Du Freak -Trials of Death by Darren Shan (Paperback)

Everlasting by Elizabeth Chandler (Hardcover)

1001 Cranes by Naomi Hirahara (Hardcover gifted to me!)

Innocent Blood by James Rollins & Rebecca Cantrell (ARC paperback via publishers!)

The Timber Wolves Trilogy by Tammy Blackwell (Signed copy via giveaway!)

Fragile Brilliance by Tammy Blackwell (Signed copy via giveaway!)

Sunshine by Nikki Rae (Signed copy via giveaway!)

Inappropriate Behavior by Murray Farish (ARC paperback via Goodreads!)

Slam by Nick Hornby (Hardcover)

Every Day by David Levithan (Paperback)

Blue Bloods by Melissa de La Cruz (Paperback)

Party by Tom Leveen (Hardback)

Lawless by Matt Bondurant (Paperback)

If Only We by Jessica Sankiewicz (Signed paperback for review! Thanks Jessica!)

Forget Me Not by Carolee Dean (Hardcover)

The Returned by Jason Mott (Hardcover via giveaway!)

Echoes of Appalachia by Denvil Mullins (Signed paperback gifted to me!)

 

Here are the ARCs!

 

Here's the Signed Copies!

 

And, I also got some awesome swag this month! Here is all the letters, notes, advertisements, post cards, book marks, stickers, and more I got this month!

Swag-

-2 double-signed postcards of Sunshine & Sun Poisoned by Nikki Rae (with a special note on the back of each!)
-6 Sunshine & Sun Poisoned stickers
-1 Dee Henderson bookmark
-1 "Never Judge A Book By Its Movie" bookmark
-1 book info packet, bookmark, and business card for The Voyage of Lucy P. Simmons by Barbara Mariconda
-1 personal card from Barbara Mariconda, thanking me for getting ready to read her novel (still waiting in Goodreads to mail it to me.)
-1 December copy of Book Page magazine
-1 advertisement card of Robin Wasserman for The Waking Dark & The Book of Blood and Shadows
-1 personal note from Jessica Sankiewicz from inside her novel If Only We she sent me for review (see above!)
-1 letter from Milkweed Editions that arrived with an ARC of Inappropriate Behavior
-2 crocheted bookmarks from my aunt (Virginia Tech colors!)

 

 

It's been an amazing month for this blog! We received a ton of ARCs and signed copies, and tons of regular copies too! Not to mention, it's been a great year, and I just wanted to wish everyone a happy New Year! Hope 2014 is just as awesome.

 

What did you get in December?

Review: The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan

Title: The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan
Publisher: Picador
Release Date: January 17, 2012
Genres: Contemporary, Drama, Romance
Medium: Ebook, Bought

I read my first novel of David Levithan a couple months back, when I received an ARC paperback of Two Boys Kissing from Random House Publishers. Then, just a few weeks ago, I bought a paperback copy of Every Day, and it became one of my favorite novels ever. Now, I found the ebook of The Lover's Dictionary, a novel I wish I could have purchased a paperback of instead (since I am trying to buy all of his works) but haven't been able to buy it yet. This novel has also become one of my favorites, as I read it in one sitting, partly because it was such a quick red and mostly because it was that good. Of course, Levithan has yet to disappoint. This novel is unique, original, and unforgettable. And definitely one for the years to come.

The plot was exceptional. Told through the unique and memorable prose of dictionary entries, each beginning with a word and a relative story entry. Levithan tells the story, each page and each vocab word assigned to an intimate and emotional part of a relationship. Before your eyes, these dictionary entries reveal a love story. Unlike the fairy tale romances and unjust stories of incomprehensible 'love,' this novel instead puts a real relationship under a microscope, telling everything from troubles with trust and making it work, to those little instances of real love, when you see something normal in that person that you can't help but love unconditionally. This novel has it all.

As usual, David Levithan's brings emotional and real writing to the table. He's not only skilled but phenomenal in the way he seems to know just what to write. It's amazing how he knows just exactly what will hit you in heart, just what will make you happy or sad, what will make you smile or frown, laugh or cry. His writing is deep and intimate, and surely whole and personal, since nothing this emotional could be faked. His writing delves deeper than just words on a page; it hits you write where it hurts, or, right where it matters. Either way, it hits you in your heart. I cannot wait to read more from this exceptional author. Five stars.