Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Blog Tour: Review: Bare It All by Lori Foster

Review
Thanks for stopping by! This tour is brought to you by BookTrib

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review*

Bare It All
(Book #2 in the Love Undercover series)
Amazon | Goodreads | BN
Author: Lori Foster
Publisher: Harlequin HQN (April 30, 2013)
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Adult, 480 pages
ISBN-10: 0373777612
ISBN-13: 978-0373777617
My Copy: Paperback

SUMMARY:
"A cop's craving to know more about the woman next door could prove fatal in the steamy new novel from New York Times bestselling author Lori Foster"

As the person responsible for taking down a brutal human trafficker, Alice Appleton fears retaliation at every turn. No one knows about her past, which is exactly how she prefers it...until the sexy cop next door comes knocking.

Detective Reese Bareden thinks he knows what makes women tick, but his ever-elusive neighbor keeps him guessing like no other. Is his goal to unmask Alice's secrets? Or protect her from a dangerous new threat? One thing is certain: their chemistry is a time bomb waiting to explode. And with no one to trust but each other, Reese and Alice are soon drawn into a deadly maze of corruption, intrigue and desire-and into the line of fire....

MY REVIEW:
After being kidnapped and held captive for over a year, Alice Appleton takes "safe" to a whole new level. With numerous weapons on her person and scattered around her house, she doesn't take things too likely. But who would, after being what she's been through? After a showdown in her neighbor's, Detective Reese "Bare It All" Bareden, apartment, that ends in a bloody mess (Book #1 in the Love Undercover series) Alice lets Reese crash in her apartment until Reese gets the okay to go ahead and move back into his place.

Intrigued with the little, prim and proper Alice Appleton, Reese makes it his mission to make sure she's okay and to get answers out of her, even if that means seducing her a bit to get his answers. Reese knows that Alice is hiding something, and he's being very patient with her and willing to wait for her to spill her past.

After reading the first book in this series, I was definitely excited to read the Bare It All and jump into the world of BARE IT ALL BAREDEN! What I liked about this book is that the roles were somewhat reversed. Usually in books, you have the heroine saying things like "eyes up here" instead of the guys looking at her breasts. But in this book, Reese kept having to tell Alice to look up, instead of at his chest...or even lower (; The characters were all believable and kept me turning the page to see what would happen next.

What I didn't like, was that the book kind of dragged. Don't get me wrong, the story line was awesome and I was definitely intrigued from beginning to end, but I felt that it lagged. Very slow, but I don't mind that all that much, because I got more page time with Reese and Alice, and not to mention everyone's (well, my favorite) bad boy Rowdy Yates. Aside from the dragged story line, I thought everything was pretty much believable and ran smoothly.

I would definitely recommend this book. Although this is the second book in the series, I believe you can read them out of order. Lori Foster does a great job of covering the basics from the first book and it doesn't at all tie into what happens in the second book. The characters are all there, but I'm sure you'll catch on quickly. If you love yourself a great contemporary romance novel with a little bit of suspense thrown in, I would definitely recommend Bare It All. 
MY RATING:




Since first publishing in January 1996, Lori Foster has become a Waldenbooks, Borders, USA TODAY, Publishers Weekly and New York Times bestselling author. She also received the Romantic Times “Career Achievement Award” for Series Romantic Fantasy and Contemporary Romance.

Lori believes it is important to give back to the community as much as possible, so she routinely arranges events among authors and readers to gather donations for various organizations.




Friday, May 10, 2013

BBR's One Year Blogoversary Giveaway!

EEEEK!! Today, right now @ 6:53PM PST is the day the blog turns ONE! AAAANNND Because it's blogger I am deeming my blog age to 21! lmbo. *shrugs* Now it's legal for the champagne to come out :) Oh, yeah! Time to paaartaaay! 
Ahh. I didn't think I'd get this far in blogging. I still remember when I hit 10 followers! I was ecstatic! Along the way I've met some awesometastic people and I do consider them friends :)  

So, what are we going to be doing on this awesome day?! We're going to be having a giveaway!! ^_^ YES! 

My blogging experience has been a fun ride and I'm sure there will be more fun book events and blogger buddies to meet! (So if I don't know you and you're new to the blog then give me a shout! I'm more than happy to make new friends) 

If you know me, then you know I also run Bishhy Designs (blog/website designs) And I've been doing that for almost a year now, so I figured, why not make that a giveaway? It's as much a part of me as Beach Bum Reads is...so! Yeah :) ^_^ 

So, with that being said.....here's the prize!
Custom Header
Background
1 (one) Grab Button (.jpg)
Signature
Pre-Set Sidebar Headers
2-3 Columns
1-3 Footer
Required Installation
a Rafflecopter giveaway
The giveaway will run til the end of the month :) So make sure to spread the word and come back to get more entries! Good luck to all who enter! ♥

Buddy Review: Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire

Hai! So, Melissa of LilyElement and I decided to buddy read Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire together and what better way to finish off our buddy read with a buddy review! Enjoy :)

Walking Disaster
(Book #2 in the Beautiful series)

Amazon | Goodreads | BN
Author: Jamie McGuire
Publisher: Atria Books (April 2, 2013)
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary Romance, 448 pages
ISBN-10: 9781476712987
ISBN-13: 978-1476712987
My Copy: Paperback
SUMMARY:
Can you love someone too much?

Travis Maddox learned two things from his mother before she died: Love hard. Fight harder.

In Walking Disaster, the life of Travis is full of fast women, underground gambling, and violence. But just when he thinks he is invincible, Abby Abernathy brings him to his knees.

Every story has two sides. In Beautiful Disaster, Abby had her say. Now it’s time to see the story through Travis’s eyes.

BUDDY REVIEW:
Ana: Welcome, welcome. Tod—

Mel: Today we are talking about hookers. I mean Walking Disaster! And possibly some hoe bags that Travis likes to uhhh. Oops. 

Ana: *shakes head* uuhhhh....yeah. *coughs* 

Mel: SEXY TIMES!

Ana: Mhm! Sexy times! woohooo! For those of you who don’t know, Jamie McGuire released her new novel WALKING DISASTER *fangirling* 
Mel: HOLY SHIT THE PICTURE MOVES! I’m the one on the right - just FYI.

Ana: lol it does! WHAT IS THIS MAGICS?!?! haha -- Lol. Fine by me! The one on the left is fangirling HARDER! 

Mel: DAMN YOU! ;)

Ana: ;) -- So... excuse us and please feel free to fangirl along with us. We just can’t seem to get enough of Travis Maddox... yes, we’re leaving out the “Madd Dog”  nickname since we know he doesn’t like that nonsense! 

Mel: Being introduced to Travis Maddox in Beautiful Disaster left me wanting more. When I found out Walking Disaster was the same story told in Travis’s POV I was ecstatic. The actual story line told in Walking Disaster stayed true to the events that happened, thank goodness. There were extras thrown in that were basically events that Travis did on his own (without Abby). 

Ana: I agree. I think I really needed Travis’ POV. Abby was a bit... much for me. But you automatically see from Travis’ eyes, how he see’s Abby. She’s not as whiny or ehh in Walking Disaster as she is in Beautiful Disaster.

Mel: Being able to see what Travis was thinking made me understand why he reacted the way he did. In Beautiful Disaster I thought Travis was a little bit nuts, even though I still loved him long time.

Ana: I loved Walking Disaster, but if you’re new to Jamie McGuire, I would suggest you read Beautiful Disaster first. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Lol. But in all seriousness, don’t reading WD first. You’ll be so lost, you’re gonna wanna hitchhike to the nearest clue. The timing of events is all there, but if you didn’t read BD, some of what’s happened will be lost on you. 

Mel: I agree, Beautiful Disaster has to be read first to fully understand what the heck is going on and why.

Ana: THE MADDOX BROTHERS! *swoon* Can I just... eat them up?? They’re so...ahhh. YES please. I’ll have an appetizer of Thomas and Travis, and entre of Tyler and Taylor and Trenton for dessert. Nom nom nom. 

Mel: Bishhy, you can’t call dibs on ALL of the brothers. Share a least one with me! I loved that WD had Travis’s brothers in the mix. I read this on JMcGuire’s FAQ: “I have plans to write novels for the Maddox brothers in the future as well.” *fans self* I’m hoping that happens soon, I’m going to have withdrawals if not.

Ana: Oh, I mean... it’s a dinner for two ;) -- And YES *fangirling* ahh. I need me some more Maddox brothers! Thank you JMcGuire! 

We’re gonna keep this review short and sweet. If you’ve read Beautiful Disaster then stop wasting precious time and pick up Walking Disaster. MUST READ for 2013! READ IT NOW! *compelling you to buy the book* 
… Are you compelled yet? NO?! 
How about now? GOOOOOD! GO BUY THE BOOK!

Ana: Well, Mel. I had a blast reading WD with you, even if you finished it, like, a whole day ahead of me ;( BUUUT, what are you rating this bad boy? 

Mel: 1 MILLION STARS!

Ana: Holy SHAT! *starts collecting stars* -- Well, there you have it folks! ONE MILLION STARS for Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire. Love you some bad boy loving? Pick up this novel! BUT, if you’re a complete noob to JMcGuire, then you should totally pick of Beautiful Disaster FIRST! FIRST, FIRST, FIRST! 

***THIS REVIEW WAS BROUGHT TO YOU BY: MEL & ANA BITCHES!*** 

*sings* lalalalala the boys are waiting lalalalala
Don’t forget to bring your milkshakes! The Maddox brothers will be coming to your yards ;)

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

TBR Pile Knockout #9

TBR Pile Knockout is a weekly meme hosted by Ana of Beach Bum Reads and Anna of Herding Cats & Burning Soup. This meme was created to tackle our HUGE and STILL GROWING TBR piles.

We will be posting on the FIRST of EVERY month for the rest of the year. Our goal is to make a rather nice dent in our TBR piles. So, aside from our other lovely reads, we will be making sure ONE book out of our TBR pile will be read :)

Want to join in? Check out the rules:

1. Go to your TBR pile and randomly pick one book off your list!
  • We'll be using random.org to pick our reads.
  • Type in the number of books in your TBR pile where it says "MAX"
  • Then click generate and it will give you your randomly selected book!
  • NOTE: If the book chosen via random.org is part of a series, you can go ahead and read the first book in said series. 
2. Come back here each week (or however often you'd like to join in) and link up your "TBR Pile Knockout" post in the linky below!

Don't know what to write in your post? You can Add the cover for your book, the book summary and details (author, publisher, etc.), you can leave a line or two on how long that book was sitting in your TBR Pile, or just tell us what you think about starting this one! You can always add in a review for your last pick too!

Don't have a blog? You can still join in! Just link in your Goodreads reviews or add link the Amazon/B&N page for the book and leave your thoughts in a comment on this page :)
*Click on photos to enlarge*


Hey guys! So, because April kicked my ass and kicked it hard (ouch!) I decided not to pick another book to add to this ever growing pile o.O It's just... not good. lol. I haven't made any progress with any of these books, April was a month that I was just too busy to read. And when I did read, I read books that needed to be reviewed. So, with that being said, here are the books that are still on my KO Pile!


Still need to read: 

 

Exiled: 1% done
Awakening: 0% done
The Seer's 7 Deadly Fairy Tales: 34% done - I've attempted at this one and I'm just not feeling it. So, it shall sit on this TBR list until I feel I can pick it up without reading and not comprehending a dang word read.
How Sweet It Is: 0% done
Minding Amy: 61% done - ^_^ This one I started the week it was chosen, I just haven't had time to really read anything for this meme. What with blog tour reviews and what not. But I am happy that I'm more then halfway done :)
Offside: 0% done - Didn't get to start this one yet, but hopefully soon.

NOTE: This meme is now monthly, so feel free to join in at any time during the month. If you finish your pick for the month, go ahead and pick another... and another... and—alright, I'm getting carried away, but y'all get the drift ;)



2013 Challenges Update #4


You see... What had happened was.... 

Yeeeaaah. I've been extremely busy and have only read 3 books in April o.O *le gasp* I know. Sad story. None of them were for the challenges, but, hey, I read something....right? Anywho. I am determined to conquer MAY! Yeahh.. hopefully. lol. Anywho. Thanks for stopping by! 

Did you guys make any progress on your 2013 challenges?

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