Sunday Wrap-Up is all about sharing the books and book related items
that I've picked up recently. I also recap what went on last week
and let you in on what's coming up. I link up my post to Sunday Post, Bought, Borrowed & Bagged, Showcase Sunday, Stacking the Shelves and IMM.
I will post Sunday Wrap-up every other week.
Last week on the blog:
Rosethorn by Ava Zavora (Guest Post)
Taking Back Forever by Karen Amanda Hooper (Excerpt & Giveaway)
Time Fall by Timothy Ashby (Excerpt)
Skin Deep by Megan (Cover Reveal & Giveaway)
In Spades by K. Pinson (Excerpt)
SEAL of Honor by Tonya Burrows (Review & Giveaway)
South of Surrender by Laura Kaye (Review)
A Midsummer's Nightmare by Kody Keplinger (Review)
This week on the blog:
Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead (Review)
Shadow Hunter by Kait Bellenger (Review)
Wishing & Waiting On (meme)
Officer Off Limits by Tessa Bailey (Review & Giveaway)
High School Debut Vol 2 by Kazune Kawahara (Review)
Curse Girl by Mark Mackey (Excerpt)
After Dark
By: Kait Bellenger & Gena Showalter
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Shadow Hunter- Kait Bellenger
Vampire
hunter Damon Brock's first assignment with the Execution Underground is
Rochester, New York, a city crawling with the undead. But he isn't the
only hunter in town gunning for vamp blood. Tiffany Solow is fierce and
ruthless when it comes to slaying the monsters that destroyed her
family-and she works solo. But being alone is no longer so desirable
when she meets the mysterious hunter who wants more than just her turf.
As they work to massacre the local covens, the line between good and
evil blurs when they are forced to decide between their lifelong
beliefs... and their newfound hearts.
The Darkest Angel- Gena Showalter
Winged warrior Lysander
has been alive for centuries, and yet he's never known desire-until he
meets Bianka. Spawned from the bloodline of his enemy, the beautiful but
deadly Harpy is determined to lead the untouched Lysander into
temptation. He may try to evade her attempts, but even the most
iron-willed demon assassin can resist for only so long....
Grasping at Eternity
By: Karen Amanda Hooper
Genre: Young Adult
Leave it to Maryah Woodsen to break the one rule that will screw up eternity: Never erase your memories.
Before
entering this life, Maryah did the unthinkable—she erased. Now, at
seventeen years old, she’s clueless that her new adoptive family has
known her for centuries, that they are perpetually reincarnated souls,
and that they have supernatural abilities. Oh, and she's supposed to
love (not despise) Nathan, the green-eyed daredevil who saved her life.
Nathan
is convinced his family’s plan to spark Maryah's memory is hopeless,
but his love for her is undying. After spending (and remembering) so
many lifetimes together, being around an empty version of his soulmate
is heart shattering. He hates acting like a stalker, but has no choice
because the evil outcast who murdered Maryah in their last lifetime is
still after her.
While Maryah’s hunter inches closer, she and
Nathan make assumptions and hide secrets that rip them further apart.
Maryah has to believe in the magic within her, Nathan must have faith in
the power of their love, and both need to grasp onto the truth before
they lose each other forever—and discover just how lonely eternity can
be.
Wilde Nights in Paradise
By: Tonya Burrows
Genre: Romance
He’ll guard her body all night long.
Former
Marine Jude Wilde’s motto has always been “burn bridges and never look
back,” so nobody is more surprised when Wilde Security is hired to
protect assistant district attorney Libby Pruitt, the woman he loved and
left. Although she makes it clear she wants nothing to do with Jude,
they’re forced to fake a relationship for her safety. He can’t ignore
the heat still simmering between them, and when her stalker’s threats
escalate to attempted murder, he’s left with no choice but to whisk her
away to a friend’s safe house in Key West, FL.
Cooped up in
paradise together, Jude begins to chip away at Libby’s resolve to hate
him. But even as she gives in to his proximity and her body’s demands
for his, she refuses to fall for his charms again. Maybe a torrid affair
in the sun is exactly what she needs to get him out of her system. But
when her stalker tracks them down, can they escape the steamy Key West
night without anyone getting hurt?
Wild Cards
By: Simone Elkeles
Genre: Young Adult
After getting kicked out
of boarding school, bad boy Derek Fitzpatrick has no choice but to live
with his ditzy stepmother while his military dad is deployed. Things
quickly go from bad to worse when he finds out she plans to move them
back to her childhood home in Illinois. Derek’s counting the days before
he can be on his own, and the last thing he needs is to get involved
with someone else’s family drama.
Ashtyn Parker knows one thing
for certain--people you care about leave without a backward glance. A
football scholarship would finally give her the chance to leave. So she
pours everything into winning a state championship, until her boyfriend
and star quarterback betrays them all by joining their rival team.
Ashtyn needs a new game plan, but it requires trusting Derek—someone she
barely knows, someone born to break the rules. Is she willing to put
her heart on the line to try and win it all?
Into the Fire
By: Amanda Usen
Genre: Romance
Jackson Calabrese has a
lot of nerve. He beat Lila Grant in the Culinary Academy competition
using her recipes. Now, he’s opening a restaurant and wants her help?
Fine, she'll fix his menu, but it's going to cost him.
Heir to
the Calabrese restaurant empire, Jackson can buy anything he wants,
except creativity, so he buys Lila's instead. He can craft perfect
paella, but to take New York by storm he needs her innovative spark.
Skillets
aren't the only things hot in the kitchen, and an uneasy truce ignites
into passion. They’re great in bed, but Jackson doesn't trust her, and
Lila is contemplating revenge. The restaurant opening approaches, the
menu is completed, and the tables are set for one final act of betrayal.
How can love bloom in the midst of such a hot mess?
Act Like You Love Me
By: Cindi Madsen
Genre: Romance
All’s fair in acting and amore…
Brynn
McAdams isn’t the awkward drama geek she was in high school—she’s grown
up and confident, or at least she likes to think so. But when her old
crush, the impossibly handsome and impossibly unattainable Sawyer
Raines, comes back to town to direct her community play, Brynn finds
herself determined to be someone other than the girl he doesn’t even
recognize. Good thing she’s an excellent actress.
After his bad
breakup in NYC, the last thing Sawyer wants is to get involved with
another actress. But the glamorous and beautiful Brynn draws him in,
even though as her director, he knows she’s off-limits. There’s just
something about the woman that feels…familiar. Like home.
As
Brynn’s lies start to snowball, she struggles to stop acting and come
clean. But what if Sawyer is already falling for the fake Brynn, not the
Brynn she truly is?
Officer Off Limits
By: Tessa Bailey
Genre: Romance
His need to possess her is non-negotiable.
Story
Brooks’ fiancé just called off their wedding two weeks before the happy
day. As if that isn't bad enough, her semi-estranged father, an
infamous NYPD hostage negotiator, has suffered a heart attack. Not
wanting to examine her lack of emotion over the broken engagement, she
hops on a plane to reconnect with her father before it’s too late.
Playboy
hostage negotiator Daniel Chase has never, not once, been refused by a
woman, so when a debate over hospital snack foods with a delectable
kindergarten teacher ends in flat-out rejection, he makes it his mission
to seduce her. His only obstacle? She’s the daughter of his mentor who
implicitly forbade Daniel from pursuing her.
Despite her father’s
warnings and Daniel’s troubled past, Daniel and Story can’t resist
their intense attraction to one another. But when the reason for her
fiancé’s abrupt wedding cancellation comes to light, can Story and
Daniel's already forbidden relationship survive?
There's going to be a lot of Nikki's books below. I'm one of her NDcent Dames and she was nice enough to send me the books of her's that I haven't read yet.
Scent of Persuasion
By: Nikki Duncan
Genre: Romantic Suspense
An alluring woman in a
red dress. Is she an ally...or a killer’s lure?
Actress Kami Evans is tackling the biggest role of her life—as an
escort. There’s definitely something going on in Madame V’s mansion, but
Kami has to prove herself trustworthy before she can dig deeper and
prove her stepbrother didn’t commit suicide. Her first assignment:
seduce a CEO and, oddly, steal his hair brush. He’s everything she
avoids in a man: suave, sexy, suited. She plays her role all the way to
the bedroom…and finds it stunningly difficult to walk away.
Breck
Lawson’s undercover assignment, posing as a replacement CEO, is yielding
zero clues as to why his friend tried to kill himself—until Kami comes
on the scene. She’s everything he likes in a woman: safe, sexy,
temporary. She also arouses him just by walking into a room, a sure sign
it’s time to push her away. Then he connects the dots she unwittingly
shares, and realizes their investigations are linked by delicate
strands of DNA. Keeping her near isn’t wise, but he has to know her
secrets and keep her safe. Unless they trust each other and come
clean, those dots could lead to death for both of them… Warning: This
title contains love found in the last place expected, call girls, disco
sticks, Monkees karaoke, steamy sex and a conspiracy to murder through
the need for sex.
Illicit Intuitions
By: Nikki Duncan
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Love could be their greatest liability.
Ava
Malia knows three things. She was once a kickass covert operative. She
will eventually adjust to her new team, the FBI Specialized Crimes Unit.
And the only way to finally be free of her professional past is to
solve her first case and get her hands on a game-changing technology.
The only problem? Success rides on her ability to swallow her distaste
for the persona she must adopt in order to earn the trust of a
mysterious scientist.
Dr. H escaped childhood captivity with
three things. His sister. Complete control of his gift. And an engulfing
distrust of anyone in the government. Adjusting to a life of freedom
hasn’t been easy, but he’s found peace in solitude. The sexy woman
auditing his empathic studies, though, has a way of getting under his
skin that’s both arousing and disturbing. Plus, his psychic ability
warns him of secrets so deeply buried in her psyche, they’d be better
left alone.
Yet their instant attraction strips away all their
protective barriers, down to the foundation of a new, fragile trust. And
a vulnerability that, when an old enemy opens fire, could blast away
any chance of a future.
Tangled in Tulle
By: Nikki Duncan
Genre: Romance
Lori Mullins yearns to
shake off her past and live free of shadows and fear. Yet her only shot
at obtaining the capital to launch her business rests in a man she met
during a lie. A man whose voice alone turned her from jaded escort to
giddy schoolgirl. A man who almost died because of her.
Trevor
Masters can call off his search for the woman he loves. The woman he
dreamt of while comatose. The quest for her heart, however, is only
beginning. The trick will be convincing her he doesn’t blame her—and
that she deserves to accept herself as the woman who holds his heart.
Business
negotiations land Lori in a heavenly hell. Heaven that Trevor is close
enough to touch. Hell that she’s planning her first designer wedding.
His. And something’s not quite right. The kind, compassionate man she
fell for all those months ago, the man who’s engaged to another, seems
intent on wooing her…
Twisted in Tulips
By: Nikki Duncan
Genre: Romance
Fate has a way of rearranging everything…
After
months of just getting by on military disability pay, Jace Nichols is
going for his dream job in Miami. Until he stops to rescue a woman under
attack. Thanks to his deeply ingrained sense of duty, he misses his
one-shot-only interview—for a woman who seems more grateful he saved her
way-too-sexy shoes than her life.
No one knows better than Misty
Morgan that everyone is fighting some kind of battle. Hers is against
her snobby family, who look down on her chosen profession as a wedding
floral coordinator. Behind Jace’s surly exterior she senses wounds that
run deeper than a missing arm.
When Jace spots Misty fending off
yet another fawning male. he’s not sure what makes his control snap. The
fact that she insists on wearing her skirts too short, or the fact he
can’t resist kissing her.
Best to get it over with and give in
to one crazy night that should get her out of his system. Instead he
finds himself with more second chances than he can shake his steel hook
at—if he can find room in his wounded heart for love.
Wicked
By: Nikki Duncan
Genre: Romance
He’s sailed the seas for adventure…and found the sexiest one back at home.
Danica
Kent, MD, has settled into her new role as a small-town doctor. She
caters to her Whispering Cove patients, especially the rum-drinking,
poker-playing, town grandfathers who have their hands in a bit of
everything. But when one of those patients brings her face-to-face with
her high school crush, the work she’s done to reinvent herself falters.
Braydon
Mitchell sails around the world writing freelance magazine articles.
With no desire to settle down, he’s successfully avoided his
grandfather’s pleas to come home...until now. Returning out of worry for
the old man’s health, Braydon finds old friends in town for their high
school reunion. And something he hadn’t expected. Danica, the awkward
teenage geek who’s all grown up—and filled out in all the right places.
From
their first touch, erotic sparks make Braydon want everything he isn’t
built for—small-town stability, a strong woman’s love, family. And
Danica wonders if Braydon has dropped anchor for good…or if her lover
will be gone with the next tide.
Burned
By: Nikki Dunca
Genre: Romance
Behind every stubborn man s downfall (into love) is a determined woman.
Vic Hayes is content
with life in Whispering Cove. She owns a successful salon, has great
friends and her perfectly manicured nail is on the pulse of the town s
gossip. For real happiness, she s only missing one thing a man. Settling
for less than the perfect man, though, isn t in her nature. He just has
to see her as more than his best friend.
Widower Hauk Michaelsen
always dreamed of escaping Whispering Cove, until single fatherhood,
too young, made it impossible. He enjoys his life as owner of the small
town pub. Friends, gossip, and his young daughter keep things jumping.
He would do anything for his little girl, but he can t give her the one
thing she desires most a mother.
When Vic and Hauk are teamed up
for a Fall Festival project, sparks ignite suppressed flames. Testing
boundaries they ve never crossed, they find themselves eager to risk
more if Vic can convince Hauk that history won t be repeated if he takes
another chance on love.
Criminal Promises
By: Nikki Duncan
Genre: Romance
Seasoned,
act-first-ask-questions-later Detective BD Harte is assigned to protect
Maggie Sullivan when she’s targeted by an escaped serial killer he’d put
away a year earlier. Getting up close and personal with the sensuous
widow he felt an inappropriate temptation for threatens BD’s emotional
distance. Attraction quickly flares into an irresistible passion,
forcing him to wage a battle of self-control, while memories rip open an
old wound, awakening his longing for the life he almost had…and still
covets.
After one too many violent taunts shatter her sense of
security, single mother Maggie Sullivan invites Detective Harte to
conduct his all-night stakeouts from inside her home. When her home is
again broken into and she discovers Harte’s been investigating her late
husband, she struggles with her attraction to him. But the comfort she
finds in his arms, his understanding and tenderness, and the passion he
awakens triggers yearnings she’d long ago given up on…and still desires.
Can
two wounded hearts come together as one in time… Or will the killer
seeking a powerful key to nuclear weaponry ensure they never have the
chance?
For doing the cover reveal of Into the Fire, Amanda Usen sent me a little swag pack with sea-salted caramels!
Thanks, Amanda!
