Never Tear Us Apart by Monica Murphy Promo and Review

We're celebrating the release of NEVER TEAR US APART by Monica Murphy!

Title: Never Tear Us Apart

Author Name: Monica Murphy

Genre: NA Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Bantam January 5, 2016

Purchase Links:
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1KzdZSa
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1R3zkuq
Amazon CA: http://amzn.to/1PNyi5N
iBooks: http://apple.co/1MoW1EJ
B&N: http://bit.ly/1j80Pon
Kobo: http://bit.ly/1MHt8GE
Books-a-Million: http://bit.ly/1OPM7ym
Google Play: http://bit.ly/1iL7y7T
Penguin/Random House: http://bit.ly/1Jo0Ut7
Add to your Goodreads shelf: http://bit.ly/1V9L80V

Book description:

Crazy how eight years can disappear in an instant. One look at Katie Watts, and I'm a fifteen-year-old again--the one who risked everything to save a terrified girl from her twisted kidnapper. She's grown-up now--beautiful, quiet, composed--and telling her story to the world. A story that involves me in more ways than you can imagine. She used to call me her guardian angel. Sure, I risked my life, but she was worth dying for.

I need to make contact with her. Just to ensure that she's safe.

Somehow we reconnect. We become friends . . . but I want more. I want to make her mine. And she wants me too. Does she know who I am? Has she figured me out? Not yet. But she will. In the meantime, I need to make sure that whatever hold that animal had on her is gone.

So, yeah, I'm stealing these moments with her. Savoring them. Knowing, dreading, that she'll soon find out who I really am. And everything will fall apart. All because of that twisted, perverted monster sitting on death row. Her kidnapper. A convicted serial killer.

My father.

Be sure to stop by Monica's Facebook Page daily for giveaways!

About the Author:

New York Times, USA Today and international bestselling author Monica Murphy is a native Californian who lives in the foothills below Yosemite with her husband and three children. She's a workaholic who loves her job. When she's not busy writing, she also loves to read and travel with her family. She writes new adult and contemporary romance and is published with Bantam and Avon. She also writes romance as USA Today bestselling author Karen Erickson.

Facebook | Twitter | Website

Review:

Never Tear Us Apart reaches down into your chest and rips your heart out.  Katie is a brave woman attempting to rebuild a life after a horrific event as a child.  She's spent years feeling afraid and alone - the only person who had a hope of understanding was forced away from her.  

Will forged a new life after his was blown apart by what happened to Katie.  He's moved on, or so he thought.  One mention of Katie's name and he's obsessed - he has to find out how she is, if she's healed and moved on.  

Never Tear Us Apart is dark and twisted and to say these characters are flawed is a gross understatement.  It's a deeply engrossing story that will keep you on edge and leave you dying to know what comes next for these beautifully broken people.  Never Let You Go is set to release in May and I cannot wait!  

Any fan of Monica Murphy will fall into this story with ease.  If you are new to Monica Murphy, be prepared to have your jaw hit the floor and stay up all night.  

~Shel

The Deepest Night (The Sweetest Dark #2) by Shana Abé

* * * *

It’s 1915, and sixteen-year-old Lora Jones is finishing up her first year as a charity student at Iverson, a prestigious, gothic boarding school on England’s southern coast. While she’s always felt different from everyone around her, now she finally knows why: She is a drákon, a rare, enchanted being with astonishing magical abilities.

As war hits Britain’s shores, and Lora reels from an unimaginable loss, she finds that her powers come with grave and dangerous responsibilities. At the request of Armand Louis, the darkly mysterious boy whose father owns Iverson, Lora will spend her summer at his lavish estate. To help the war effort—and to keep Lora by his side—Armand turns his home into a military hospital, where Lora will serve as a nurse. For Armand is inescapably drawn to her—bound to her by heart-deep secrets and a supernatural connection that runs thicker than blood.

Yet while Lora tries to sort out her own feelings toward Armand, fate offers an unexpected surprise. Lora discovers there is another drákon, a prisoner of war being held in Germany. And that only she, with her newly honed Gifts, will be able to rescue him.

With Armand, Lora will cross enemy lines on an incredible mission—one that could bond her to Armand forever, or irrevocably tear them apart.

Beautifully written, deeply romantic, and filled with daring adventure and magic, The Deepest Night is a mesmerizing novel of the enduring pull of destiny, and the eternal strength of love.

In all honesty, not many books have made a major impact on me so far this year which has been kind of disappointing.  Thankfully a few have stood, one of them being the Sweetest Dark series which has cast its spell on me.

In The Deepest Night Lora and Armand are recovering from the tragic events of the previous book. With Armand’s father in the looney bin, Lora’s future at her school is uncertain as he is her benefactor. When the summer break rolls around, rather than being shipped off elsewhere, Armand arranges for Lora to stay at Iverson to assist with the recovering soldiers who are coming to Iverson to recuperate.  Nice to have friends in high places, right? Naturally all of this is a rouse for Armand to keep Lora close by and for them to work together to learn more about their dragon nature. Their adventure together also takes them across the channel into France and Germany. Despite these areas being war torn, their landscape provides a dramatic and beautiful backdrop to Lora's and Armand's complicated and growing friendship.

It’s hard for me to pinpoint exactly why I enjoy this series. I love the chemistry between Lora and Armand.  The sparks between them are constantly flying. Their mutual love of dry humor and quick retorts always make their conversations enjoyable. I love Armand’s vulnerability and his undying affection for Lora. He is so patient as he pines after her. The fact that he notices little things about her tugs at my heart. It will certainly win him a few fans. I have great admiration for Lora too. She’s a sharp young woman who knows her mind and makes no apologies for her circumstances. It's almost as if she doesn't belong in that generation. I also admire how Abé describes the physical changes that they both go through. Lora may be new to it but she is all Armand has and she has to be strong enough to help him through it. There is one scene in particular involving a dance on water that built such a stunning visual in my mind, I had to re-read it a few times to be fully satiated. 

But perhaps what really won me over is how Abé dared to take the plunge with Jesse’s character in the first book that seriously affected the dynamic between Armand and Lora in this one. Complicated is an understatement. And when the story shifts perspective briefly to either Armand or Jesse, I find myself almost squealing inside from all the romantic tension.

I definitely think The Deepest Night and the entire Sweetest Dark series is perfect for anyone looking for a touch of old-world romance. There are times when the mood feels so ethereal. And then the images of dragons against the horrors of World War I fighting machines stand in stark contrast to one another. But I think that is also why I like the series so much because these images, these worlds, when they collide into each other create such urgency and momentum. And Lora and Armand both so damaged and so beautiful are perfectly matched.

~ Bel

The Sweetest Dark (The Sweetest Dark #1) by Shana Abé

* * * 

Lora Jones has always known that she’s different. On the outside, she appears to be an ordinary sixteen-year-old girl. Yet Lora’s been keeping a heartful of secrets: She hears songs that no one else can hear, dreams vividly of smoke and flight, and lives with a mysterious voice inside her that insists she’s far more than what she seems.

England, 1915. Raised in an orphanage in a rough corner of London, Lora quickly learns to hide her unique abilities and avoid attention. Then, much to her surprise, she is selected as the new charity student at Iverson, an elite boarding school on England’s southern coast. Iverson’s eerie, gothic castle is like nothing Lora has ever seen. And the two boys she meets there will open her eyes and forever change her destiny.

Jesse is the school’s groundskeeper—a beautiful boy who recognizes Lora for who and what she truly is. Armand is a darkly handsome and arrogant aristocrat who harbors a few closely guarded secrets of his own. Both hold the answers to her past. One is the key to her future. And both will aim to win her heart. As danger descends upon Iverson, Lora must harness the powers she’s only just begun to understand, or else lose everything she dearly loves.

With a description so lovely I just couldn’t resist picking this one up. I thought the setting of 1915 and the geography added allure to the story and I just fell for it.

Lora’s entrance into the elite boarding school is most definitely an eye opener for her. It’s very much like Mean Girls where she has to hold her head high and endure the invasive stares and cruel comments from the spoiled rich girls. If they've mistaken her for fragile, then they quickly learn their lesson. She's learned a thing or two at the orphanage from where she came so she's definitely up for a fight when pushed into a corner.

All of that though is secondary to Lora’s gradual immersion into the truth about her past and her powers. Thanks to her instant connection with Jesse, she’s able to develop them and become stronger. I initially doubted her quick acceptance of the truth but I guess when someone provides you a plausible reason for your gifts after living your whole life in complete ignorance and secretly wondering if you’re a bit mental, you’d go with it too.

Her interaction with Armand provides much humor as they match each other wit for wit. There is an obvious attraction between them and the fact that her very presence causes a stir within his family generates more tension.

The Sweetest Dark is simply enchanting. I succumbed to all of its magic and enjoyed reading how all the relationships played out. There are also some lovely passages that are quite moving especially when describing the emotional connection between the three main characters. Without giving anything away, I will say this: I was sad when the book ended - not just because of where the haunting storyline went - but also because I simply did not want it to end. 

The Sweetest Dark is out now and the second in the series, The Deepest Night will be out August 13.

~ Bel