Girl Gone Viral (Modern Love #2) by Alisha Rai

* * * *

In Alisha Rai’s second novel in her Modern Love series, a live-tweet event goes viral for a camera-shy ex-model, shoving her into the spotlight—and into the arms of the bodyguard she’d been pining for.

OMG! Wouldn’t it be adorable if he’s her soulmate???

I don’t see any wedding rings [eyes emoji]

Breaking: #CafeBae and #CuteCafeGirl went to the bathroom AT THE SAME TIME!!!

One minute, Katrina King’s enjoying an innocent conversation with a hot guy at a coffee shop; the next, a stranger has live-tweeted the entire episode with a romantic meet-cute spin and #CafeBae is the new hashtag-du-jour. The problem? Katrina craves a low-profile life, and going viral threatens the peaceful world she’s painstakingly built. Besides, #CafeBae isn’t the man she’s hungry for...

He’s got a [peach emoji] to die for.

With the internet on the hunt for the identity of #CuteCafeGirl, Jas Singh, bodyguard, friend, and possessor of the most beautiful eyebrows Katrina’s ever seen, comes to the rescue and whisks her away to his family’s home. Alone in a remote setting with the object of her affections? It’s a recipe for romance. But after a long dating dry spell, Katrina isn’t sure she can trust her instincts when it comes to love—even if Jas’ every look says he wants to be more than just her bodyguard…

Source: advance e-galley provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review


Kat, whom we met in The Right Swipe, is an intensely private person. Part of the reason for that is she suffers from anxiety and also experienced a traumatizing event that has made her extra guarded and slow to trust. Her immediate circle includes her best friend Rhiannon, Rhiannon's assistant and Jas, her bodyguard. She's happy to keep her circle tight and look after them. When her much-valued privacy and anonymity are blown thanks to a viral tweet, she panics and Jas' protectiveness kicks in. He takes her to his family's peach farm, far, far away from the prying eyes of the city where she can take a breath and wait it out until the public interest wanes. While Kat escapes the media hounding, Jas comes face-to-face with what he's been avoiding: his family. His grandfather's expectation of him and the weight of his inheritance has driven a wedge between them. After his tour of duty, Jas finds it hard to confide in anyone about his experience and the nightmares that torment him. Coming home is almost more than he can handle but he has to keep it together for Kat's sake.

Firstly, Kat and Jas are hopelessly in love with each other though neither has admitted that out loud. There's the sensitive employer-employee dynamic and also the fear of being that vulnerable and open to rejection and heartache. They're ridiculously attractive people and together they're basically blinding to our mere mortal eyes; we don't stand a chance. I have to say that I did enjoy the dance they'd do around each other, noticing the little things, being hyper aware of the shift in atmosphere whenever they were close or barely touched. I liked how that tension between them gradually built while they were hiding away from the rest of the world in their own tiny bubble.

Secondly, the social media angle felt to me like Rai was putting into words how I feel about it sometimes. Don't get me wrong - I enjoy scrolling through feeds and seeing all the pictures but I am also acutely aware that most of that is staged. Perfection sells. So do fairytales and these days fairytales are written differently. In this case, they're live tweeted by people detailing every bit of what they observe is happening in front of them. Now I'll admit, it can be cute. Who doesn't want to get behind two people falling in love and witness it happening in real time? But it's creepy when you think about it. There's someone there watching you intently, listening in on what should be a private conversation even if you are in public, putting things out there and spinning things into something it may not be. It is a total invasion of privacy. So I completely understood Kat's feeling about it and how the unwanted scrutiny further fueled her anxiety. 

Rai writes some spectacular romances and I like Girl Gone Viral and The Right Swipe for different reasons. Both offer pertinent commentary on social culture as you fall in love with the characters. They're entertaining reads with gratifying resolutions and I love every bit of them.

~ Bel

The One You Fight For (The Ones Who Got Away #3) by Roni Loren

* * * *

How hard would you fight for the one you love? 

Taryn Landry was there that awful night fourteen years ago when Long Acre changed from the name of a town to the title of a national tragedy. Everyone knows she lost her younger sister. No one knows it was her fault. Since then, psychology professor Taryn has dedicated her life's work to preventing something like that from ever happening again. Falling in love was never part of the plan...

Shaw Miller has spent more than a decade dealing with the fallout of his brother's horrific actions. After losing everything―his chance at Olympic gold, his family, almost his sanity―he's changed his name, his look, and he's finally starting a new life. As long as he keeps a low profile and his identity secret, everything will be okay, right?

When the world and everyone you know defines you by one catastrophic tragedy...

How do you find your happy ending?

Source: advance e-galley provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review


The One You Fight For follows yet another survivor of the Long Acre High School shooting. Taryn along with Liv, Finn and Rebecca from the previous books were brought back together by a documentary in which they participated. Since then we've come to know how they've coped since the shooting.

Taryn is definitely interesting because of the unique way she has chosen to move forward with her life. As a professor who has done extensive research into sociopathic behaviour she hopes to put her work to good use. Since her life was spared she wants to make sure that everything she does makes a difference and brings about positive changes. But she's always gingerly towing the line between being the dutiful daughter and letting her creative side break through. 

At the other end there's Shaw who's life was upended by the shooting because of his relation to the killer. Though he didn't pull the trigger he's carried the guilt and shame of what happened. His life fell apart and his future took on a far different trajectory than what he was destined for. He moved away for a while to escape all the unwanted attention and was convinced to come back to Austin to start up a business. 

This isn't necessarily a case of opposites attract but two people at opposite ends of the same tragedy.. Somehow Taryn and Shaw work. Honestly, I'm surprised by Taryn's ability to compartmentalize all these facts and details and look past all the ugliness that surrounds their association to each other to fight for a chance with Shaw. This is why I find her so interesting - she really is one surprise after another. There's so much working against them least of all people's reactions to their friendship. But what might drive them apart is the one thing that they have in common: that they've continued to be defined and imprisoned by this one event. Perhaps their union is the catalyst to help them recover the parts of their identity and lives that went to pieces. 

I couldn't get enough of Taryn and Shaw's chemistry but mostly it was their complicated situation that kept me tuned in. It was enough to make me fidgety. And then there's the tragedy itself that has forever marked these individuals. I'm fascinated by how Loren relays these individuals' experiences reminding us that the effects don't just stop because the horrible thing is over. They last forever, there's no escaping that and each one of these friends has dealt with it in their own manner. 

As with the first two books in this series, The One You Fight For is a highly addictive read. It overwhelms with emotion, squeezes your heart and also offers a glimmer of hope to hold onto.

~ Bel

The One You Can't Forget (The Ones Who Got Away #2) by Roni Loren

* * * *

Most days Rebecca Lindt feels like an imposter...

The world admires her as a survivor. But that impression would crumble if people knew her secret. She didn't deserve to be the one who got away. But nothing can change the past, so she's thrown herself into her work. She can't dwell if she never slows down.

Wes Garrett is trying to get back on his feet after losing his dream restaurant, his money, and half his damn mind in a vicious divorce. But when he intervenes in a mugging and saves Rebecca―the attorney who helped his ex ruin him―his simple life gets complicated.

Their attraction is inconvenient and neither wants more than a fling. But when Rebecca's secret is put at risk, both discover they could lose everything, including what they never realized they needed: each other

She laughed and kissed him. This morning she'd melted down. But somehow this man had her laughing and turned on only a few hours later. Everything inside her felt buoyed.

She felt...light. 

She'd forgotten what that felt like.

Source: advance e-galley provided in exchange for an honest review


I have a special affection for the first book in the series, The Ones Who Got Away. I knew it was something special as soon as I had started it. To read a story about former high school students who survived a horrific shooting, and who are now adults but still deeply affected by their experience put some things into perspective. Mainly that the shock and pain never leave you. 

In The One You Can't Forget, we get to know another survivor, Rebecca who's outward facade is that of kickass divorce attorney who can command a room and get results. She had my attention immediately with how she could read a situation and anticipate the next move. But that's what she shows the outside world. On the inside, she's still traumatized and it all comes back to her when she's the victim of a mugging. Luckily, Wes is in the neighbourhood and scares off the aggressors. He sticks around to make sure she's okay and it's during this moment of all moments that she realizes where she knows him from: she might have had something to do with his career hopes and dreams being ruined. She dreads that he'll figure it out any minute now. 

Loren threw in a nice little surprise with that little bit of info. When Wes finally recognizes Rebecca it's as awkward and awful as one would expect. Wes is a good guy and is trying to make the best of a crap situation. So what if the restaurant of his dreams was from taken away from him. He's still going to make something happen even if he has to scrape by, and scrimp and save to get there. Being attracted to her and knowing that Rebecca had a hand in the state of his fortune (or lack thereof) is inconvenient and all but he still can't help how he feels. They both have their horrible pasts to overcome and maybe they can do that together. 

I'm a big fan of this series. Seeing these characters living with PTSD is a reminder that there is no "normal" anymore. Each day is a mental battle to make it through. And then there's Wes who has his own battles but has remained optimistic and more importantly, kindhearted despite being handed lemons. I liked Rebecca and Wes because they're both attempting to live their lives in spite of the cruelty they've faced, and they keep their hearts open. They might have met under awful circumstances but sometimes the right people come into your life at just the right time. 

~ Bel

Line of Fire by Helenkay Dimon

***

From Carina Press:

With his military career over and his ego bruised, Jason McAdams is ready to start over. As a founding partner in Greenway Range, his new life is everything he'd ever dared to dream about, but it also puts him in constant contact with the one woman he can't have: his best friend's little sister.

Molly Cain has loved Jason for as long as she can remember, and seeing him now—damaged and self-destructive—is a constant heartache. Watching him numbly work his way through woman after woman is damn near intolerable. Until one summer night changes everything.

After a rocky start, the sex is hot and naughty and all Molly knew it would be. And when he makes another pass at her, Molly doesn't say no. Or the many times after that, either. But Jason carries a secret—one that's kept him away from Molly for all these years, one that could ruin everything. He's been shot at and seen death, but letting the woman he loves find out the truth is the real worst-case scenario…

Source:  Advance Copy from publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Molly is pissed off.  She's loved Jason her entire life, but he's never showed any interest.  He's hurt her over and over again by choosing every other girl in town, including marrying her best friend.  When they divorce, Jason goes on a hook-up spree which leads Molly to officially giving up on Jason and leaving town for a while.  

Jason is barely hanging on.  He's suffering from PTSD from his service.  When he got home he buried himself in booze, painkillers, and women.  When he and Molly fought and she left, he was lost.  He's wanted her forever, but she's his best friend's little sister and there are secrets from the past that prevent them from being together.  If his secrets come out, he could lose more than just Molly.

When Molly gets to San Diego, she tries staying away from Jason, but he's not cooperating, so she does the next best thing and propositions him for a sex only relationship.  Jason's not happy with being Molly's dirty little secret, but he can't see a way to keep her for good and goes along with it.  

The problem is keeping your heart out of sex with the person you've been in love with for years.  As they get closer secrets and fears raise their ugly heads their relationship is threatened.  

There's a lot to love about Line of Fire.  The bickering between Molly and Jase is sarcastic and fun.  The supporting cast is awesome!  I am so hoping that Marcus and Will get their own story.  I want more!  There's steamy love scenes and a lot of love in this group of characters.  This one should definitely be on your summer reading list!

~ Shel

Toward the Sound of Chaos by Carmen Jenner Release week Blitz

A heart-wrenching new military romance from USA 

TODAY bestselling author Carmen Jenner.

Available exclusively on Amazon and KU

Amazon US     I     Amazon UK     I     Amazon CA     I     Amazon AU     

Blurb

Jake Tucker is broken. At twenty-two, he went into the Marine Corps a naïve, troubled youth. Nine years and four tours later, Jake finds himself back on US soil, though his mind remains firmly planted in the sands of Afghanistan with the men he left behind.

Wounded, chewed up and spat out by war, Jake has only his dog, Nuke, PTSD, and survivor’s guilt to keep him company. He’s lived every day for nine years wondering when it will be his last, but there’s little comfort in the fact that he’s still standing when his platoon isn’t.

Ellie Mason doesn’t have time for broken. She’s too busy trying to put food on the table. And keeping up with the demands of her autistic son, Spencer, is sometimes like fighting behind enemy lines. As if navigating the minefields of single parenthood isn’t enough, Ellie finds herself drawn to the quiet Marine who’s just as lonely as she is. But she’s loved damaged men before, and it left her wounded.

Set against the picturesque backdrop of Fairhope, Alabama, Ellie and Jake find themselves running toward the sound of chaos.

Love is war.

Only the strong survive, and surrender is inevitable.

Excerpt

“You been drinkin’, Jake?” Obviously, I already know the answer, but I ask anyway because I need to get him talkin’. I don’t like the way his eyes seem to look right through me.

The corners of his mouth turn up in a bitter grin. “Yeah, I been drinkin’.”

I pick up the bottles of pills strewn all over the floor and set them on the counter. “How many of these did you take?” I snap.

“None.”

I discard the pills in the trash because they wouldn’t do no good after they’ve been rollin’ around in glass. “You shouldn’t drink when you’re on meds.”

“It don’t fuckin’ matter anymore.”

I snap my gaze back to his and grit my teeth. “It matters to me.”

“Why?”

“Because I care about you,” I say. “We care about you.”

His eyes get all squinty and he slurs, “You don’t even know me.”

“Is that what you think?” I snap, losing all patience with him. “That I don’t know the man I’ve been letting into my house? I know you, and the Jake Tucker I know—the Jake Spencer knows—is not this Jake.”

He smiles that twisted grin again, and so help me, I’ve never wanted to put my hands on a person in anger so much in my life. I want to slap that smirk right off his beautiful face.

“Maybe this is the real Jake; maybe I’m just another asshole you hardly know tryin’ to get in your panties.”

I stare at him in shock, and I won’t lie, it takes a moment to recover, but like any southern woman worth her salt, I’m a master in the art of backhanded compliments and southern charm. “Then you clearly ain’t as smart as I thought you were, ’cause this Jake? He don’t stand a chance of getting anywhere near my panties, but the other may have. Looks like now we’ll never know.” His cocky smile falters. “Now, stop feeling sorry for yourself and get up.”

He laughs, but there’s no humor in it. “What do you know about it? You can’t even see what’s right in front of you.”

“Oh I see it,” I huff. “I’m real familiar with how mean a bottle of Johnnie Walker can make a man.”

“That the reason you never talk about why Spencer’s daddy ain’t around?”

“Yeah, that’s the reason,” I say folding my arms over my chest. “Because, it’s a long painful road that I walked away from and one that I don’t wanna have to revisit. And considering where you been, Jake Tucker, I thought you might know something about that.”

“What’s his name?”

“It don’t matter.”

“It matters,” he says through his teeth. “Believe me, it matters.”

“Why? You gonna go to Charleston, find him, and beat the crap outta him for hurtin’ me? The best thing you can do for me is to not become him.” I take a deep breath and wonder why we’re talkin’ about me at all when there’s clearly more important things going on right here. “Why didn’t you show up at my house yesterday? And why are you drinking in the middle of the day?”

“Day, night, it don’t matter. The nightmares don’t stop unless I’m three fuckin’ sheets to the wind.”

I sigh and grab the washcloth from a rack. Running warm water over it, I wring out the excess and crouch down to his level. “Give me your hand.” He shakes his head. “Give me your goddamn hand, Jake.”

He doesn’t extend it out to me, but he doesn’t pull away either when I grab his forearm. I get a good glimpse of the damage he’s done. He don’t need stitches, far as I can tell.

I gently start wiping at the mess and get to my feet a few times to rinse out the washcloth. As the blood is washed away, his scars become more pronounced. This is the first time I’m seeing him in a shirt that doesn’t have long sleeves. It makes me want to cry because his skin is a patchwork of pain. It tells a story of hate and unimaginable cruelty, but there is splendor in it, too. There’s a tale of courage, survival, immeasurable strength, and beauty in the face of such ugliness. They tried to destroy him, and they failed.

I trace my finger over the deepest scar on his forearm and blink back tears. Jake’s whole body stiffens. I decide it’s best not to push him any further by touching him again, but that don’t mean I’m going to go easy on him either. “So, you got any rubbing alcohol? Or did you drink that too?”

About the Author

Carmen Jenner is a thirty-something, USA TODAY and international bestselling author.

Her dark romance, KICK (Savage Saints MC #1), won Best Dark Romance Read in the Reader’s Choice Awards at RWDU 2015.

A tattoo enthusiast, hardcore lipstick addict and zombie fangirl, Carmen lives on the sunny north coast of New South Wales, Australia, where she spends her time indoors wrangling her two wildling children, a dog named Pikelet, and her very own man-child.

A romantic at heart, Carmen strives to give her characters the HEA they deserve, but not before ruining their lives completely first … because what’s a happily ever after without a little torture?

Stalk Her: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Published titles to date:

Welcome to Sugartown (Sugartown Series #1)

Enjoy Your Stay (Sugartown Series #2)

Greetings from Sugartown (Sugartown Series #3)

Now Leaving Sugartown (Sugartown Series #4)

REVELRY (Taint #1)

KICK (Savage Saints MC #1)

TANK (Savage Saints MC #2)

Finding North

I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios

* * * * 

Reviewed by Bel

If seventeen-year-old Skylar Evans were a typical Creek View girl, her future would involve a double-wide trailer, a baby on her hip, and the graveyard shift at Taco Bell. But after graduation, the only thing standing between straightedge Skylar and art school are three minimum-wage months of summer. Skylar can taste the freedom—that is, until her mother loses her job and everything starts coming apart. Torn between her dreams and the people she loves, Skylar realizes everything she’s ever worked for is on the line.

Nineteen-year-old Josh Mitchell had a different ticket out of Creek View: the Marines. But after his leg is blown off in Afghanistan, he returns home, a shell of the cocksure boy he used to be. What brings Skylar and Josh together is working at the Paradise—a quirky motel off California’s dusty Highway 99. Despite their differences, their shared isolation turns into an unexpected friendship and soon, something deeper.

I’ll Meet You There struck a nerve with me on many levels beginning with Skylar, Sky to her friends, who wants more than anything to escape her small town for art school in San Francisco as soon as possible. Like yesterday. Here there's nothing to offer a young girl who has dreams of realizing her potential. In the meantime, she has to contend with one last summer at home, working at the motel, keeping an eye on her depressed mother and spending every last minute with her best friends before everything changes. She cannot have anticipated that Josh Mitchell’s return from Afghanistan would impact her summer.

Josh is home now but a different person from the partier and player that he was back in high school just a couple of years before. He lost his leg and has been learning to adapt to life with his remaining one. Away from the Marines, Josh is lost without the purpose it and his Marines family gave him. His nightmares prevent him from sleeping. He has phantom pains because of his missing limb, he’s riddled with guilt about the deaths he’s witnessed including that of his best friend. He’s a mess and the only person who doesn’t handle him with kids gloves is Sky who unknowingly beomes his calm in the center of the storm.

The two reacquaint with one another while working at the motel. Before you know it they’re flirting and forming a bond that they both need during this very uncertain period in their lives. Sky is considering putting her life on hold because she feels her mother is emotionally incapable of taking care of herself. Josh, whose PTSD is always in the background, freaks out at random times. Yet even with the obvious connection between them, they’re both hesitant to take it further for fear of being hurt or hurting the other person. 

The story is told mostly from Sky’s point of view though Josh has a few short passages in there. His were the most introspective because his turmoil came through. He feels too damaged to be of good to anyone, especially Sky. During one of his private thoughts, my tears welled up because of this:

“What am I supposed to do when I’m bad for the one good thing in my life?”

Reading Josh’s perspective reminded me of another book I’d read a few years before, Something Like Normal by Trish Doller. Like Josh, the protagonist in that one also suffered from PTSD and both struggled to fit back into this world that’s so far removed from the horrors of war and carnage that they've lived through. Josh may be alive, but it feels wrong to be thankful when so many of his friends are not. Everything feels like a lifetime ago but it's all so raw and unfair and overhwhelming.

Sky and Josh together are good but their relationship is challenged from the start by his emotional state and by her uncertainty over her future. Sky is a sweetheart who cares so much for everyone and Josh wants her to be happy, even if it means he has to stay away from her. They'll have to force the issue eventually on whether they’ll sink or swim together.

Heather Demetrios’ provocative story about two people who have experienced drastically different lives in their very young and formative years, counts as one of the best and most profound I’ve read so far this year!  

~ Bel