Release Date Blitz: Smut by Karina Halle

 

What happens when the kink between the pages leads to heat between the sheets?

All Blake Crawford wants is to pass his creative writing course, get his university degree and take over his dad’s ailing family business. What Amanda Newland wants is to graduate at the top of her class, as well as finally finish her novel and prove to her family that writing is a respectful career.

What Blake and Amanda don’t want is to be paired up with each other for their final project but that’s exactly what they both get when they’re forced to collaborate on a writing piece. Since Amanda thinks Blake is a pushy asshole (with a panty-melting smirk and British accent) and Blake thinks Amanda has a stick up her ass (though it’s brilliant ass), they fight tooth and nail until they discover they write well together. They also might find each other really attractive, but that’s neither here nor there.

When their writing project turns out to be a success, the two of them decide to start up a secret partnership together using a pen name, infiltrating the self-publishing market in the lucrative genre of erotica. Naturally, with so much heat and passion between the pages, it’s not long before their dirty words become a dirty reality. Sure, they still fight a lot but at least there’s make-up sex now. 

But even as they start to fall hard for each other, will their burgeoning relationship survive if their scandalous secret is exposed or are happily-ever-afters just a work of fiction?

    Buy the Book

iTunes | Nook | Kobo

     

About the Author

Karina Halle is a former travel writer and music journalist and The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestselling author of The Pact, Racing the Sun, Sins & Needles and over 25 other wild and romantic reads. She lives on an island off the coast of British Columbia with her husband and her rescue pup, where she drinks a lot of wine, hikes a lot of trails and devours a lot of books. Halle is represented by the Waxman Leavell Agency and is both self-published and published by Simon & Schuster and Hachette in North America and in the UK. 

Hit her up on Instagram at @authorHalle, on Twitter at @MetalBlonde and on Facebook. You can also visit www.authorkarinahalle.com and sign up for the newsletter for news, excerpts, previews, private book signing sales and more. 

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Book Review: A Totally Awkward Love Story by Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison

A Totally Awkward Love Story

By Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison

Release Date: May 3, 2016

Source: Publisher

Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

The summer before college, Hannah swears she’s finally going to find The One. And for five perfect minutes, Hannah does find him. He’s cute and makes her laugh like crazy. She just wishes she’d caught his name, because Toilet Boy Cinderella really lacks sex appeal.

For Sam, the summer is off to a bad start for a million reasons. But for five minutes his luck changes: in a fancy restroom painted purple like it belongs in a Bond villain hideaway, Sam falls head over heels for some strange and hilarious girl. Of course, he doesn’t know her name. With his luck, he’ll never see her again, and he’ll remain a girlfriendless, moony-eyed virgin. Forever.

But another chance meeting brings them together, only to have a chance misunderstanding drive them apart . . . and then the cycle starts all over again. Madcap mishaps, raunchy hilarity, and deep romance follow these two wherever they go. For two people so clearly destined for each other, they sure have a hell of a lot of trouble even getting together. 

When I first looked at this cover, I definitely felt awkward. I don't know why, but the fingers are just creepy and I just didn't want to look at it for too long. Definitely fitting for the title of this novel! When I read the synopsis, I thought I'd give this one a shot and see if the author could really create an awkward love story that I could fall in love with. 

Hannah is tired of searching for her lobster and just wants to find the one already. The last place she expects to find him is in the bathroom at her best friend's party. Too bad meeting him turned out to be the easiest part. Ever since Sam met Hannah in the bathroom, he can't get the cool, cute girl out of his head. Sam and Hannah think they'll never find each other again after having to part ways, but fate brings them together again. This time, though, some miscommunication and awkward feelings attempt to drive them apart before the best relationship of their lives has even had the chance to start.

Okay, to start off, this book is sort of vulgar. And when I mean vulgar, I mean open about sex and language and other subjects of that sort. I don't know if it's because it's by British authors and was originally published in England, but this book starts out with Hannah determined to lose her virginity so that she can just get it over with. I loved Hannah from the start and could definitely relate to her awkwardness and lack of luck when it came to love. Her feelings towards relationships were spot on and she acted so authentically when it came to talking to guys. Her evasiveness when talking with Sam, a boy she instantly clicked with and for the first time genuinely liked, is something that I could relate to. I loved how spot on the authors were able to be when portraying how awkward relationships could really be. 

From the moment we met her, I Hannah's best friends Stella, but I definitely understood that that was exactly what the authors had intended. Stella was such a slimy person and always did things so that she ended up on top and felt above all of those around her. While she was supposedly Hannah's best friend, it was understandable how easy it was for Hannah to just let Stella walk all over her and accept that she wasn't going to be the pretty one or the one guys chose first. I loved how Hannah started to branch out, meet new people, take some risks, and not let Stella run her life as the story went on. While it took some time, Hannah started to figure things out. 

Overall, this was definitely a fun book and I found myself flying through the story. There were definitely many cringe-worthy moments, but that just made the characters even more lovable and relatable. This book was just so real and I loved how the ugly part of teenage relationships was shown and how not everyone knew exactly what they were doing. What a breath of fresh air! If you're in the mood for a quirky, cute, and definitely awkward read, you should pick up A Totally Awkward Love Story.

Stacking the Shelves (193)

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews where bloggers share what books they got throughout the week!

From Publisher

I got four really interesting books this week…don't the first three look creepy? They all came from Random House and I am definitely interested to see what they're about. I also got the finished paperback version of Finding Audrey and it's so cute!! 

From Thriftbooks

Thanks to Grace's youtube channel, I discovered Thriftbooks.com and I have been OBSESSED. I got these 6 books for only $18, so that came out to only $3 per book. While some of them aren't in the best condition when the website said they were "good" (cracked spines…they make me cringe!), it was still a great deal and I'm excited to own all of these! All of them are still in great reading condition and I can't wait to finally read these books that I've been eyeing for awhile now. The Gargoyle was even signed by the author, which I didn't expect at all! I definitely can't wait to place another order...

That's it for me! What did you all add to your shelves this week? 

Cover Reveal: Third Base by Heidi McLaughlin

We are proud to show you the all new cover for THIRD BASE by NYT Bestselling author Heidi McLaughlin!

Buy Links

Amazon US → http://bit.ly/TBZon

BN → http://bit.ly/TBaseBN

Kobo → http://bit.ly/TBKobo

iBooks → http://bit.ly/TBibooks

About the Book

Ethan Davenport is already Boston’s most eligible bachelor. In his second season with the Boston Renegades he has set his eyes on the girl behind the visitors’ dugout. That girl is Daisy Robinson, a journalism student at the University of Boston and a die-hard Renegades fan. But with new found love comes challenges and Ethan and Daisy have to deal with his crazy schedule, school finals and his presence on her campus for some much needed media training. For Ethan nothing can come between him and Daisy, until a secret that she’s been keeping threatens to destroy them both.

 

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY

$25 to LulaRoe (two winners) and $25 to Amazon (two winners)

eBook of Third Base (ten winners)

About the Author

Heidi is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, she now lives in picturesque Vermont, with her husband and two daughters. Also renting space in their home is an over-hyper Beagle/Jack Russell, Buttercup and a Highland West/Mini Schnauzer, JiLL and her brother, Racicot. When she's isn't writing one of the many stories planned for release, you'll find her sitting court-side during either daughter's basketball games.

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Blog Tour: A Totally Awkward Love Story by Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison

A Totally Awkward Love Story

By Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison

Release Date: May 3, 2016

The summer before college, Hannah swears she’s finally going to find The One. And for five perfect minutes, Hannah does find him. He’s cute and makes her laugh like crazy. She just wishes she’d caught his name, because Toilet Boy Cinderella really lacks sex appeal.
 
For Sam, the summer is off to a bad start for a million reasons. But for five minutes his luck changes: in a fancy restroom painted purple like it belongs in a Bond villain hideaway, Sam falls head over heels for some strange and hilarious girl. Of course, he doesn’t know her name. With his luck, he’ll never see her again, and he’ll remain a girlfriendless, moony-eyed virgin. Forever. 
 
But another chance meeting brings them together, only to have a chance misunderstanding drive them apart . . . and then the cycle starts all over again. Madcap mishaps, raunchy hilarity, and deep romance follow these two wherever they go. For two people so clearly destined for each other, they sure have a hell of a lot of trouble even getting together.

Check Out the Book

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

Mid-Read Review

I'm about halfway through this book right now and it is so fun! I love the friendships in this book and how real and, well, awkward the characters are. These characters reveal so much that everyone thinks but never admits out loud and I love it! I can't wait to finish this one! 

Waiting On Wednesday (241)

This is a meme hosted by Breaking the Spine where every Wednesday bloggers highlight a book that they are eagerly anticipating the release of!

The Sun is Also a Star

By Nicola Yoon

Release Date: November 1, 2016

Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story.

Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us.

The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true?

---------------------------------

I was a huge fan of Everything Everything, so when I saw Nicola Yoon had another book coming out, I was definitely interested. One look at that cover and there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to read this book. This one sounds like it's going to be a super intense romance and I am so excited to watch Natasha and Daniel fall in love! 

Top Ten Tuesday: Websites I Love That Aren't About Books

 

This is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish where each week bloggers share a list of books for the prompt given. So hopefully I'll have a new list to share with you all each week!

This Week's Topic: Websites I Love That Aren't About Books

1. The Dainty Squid

I have been following this blog for so long and I check it almost everyday. I love all of Kayla's photography and all of the adventures she goes on. She's also from Ohio! It's fun to see how many cool things there are in Ohio that I never knew before. 

2. A Girl Obsessed

I have also been following Mandi for a long, long time. She took a break for awhile, but she finally came back and her blog is better than ever! I love everything she posts about, whether it's lifestyle, organization habits, or makeup. And her photography is gorgeous!

3. Sally's Baking Addiction

Sally is definitely go-to baking blog whenever I'm in need of a new recipe. I love all of her desserts and pretty much everything I have made from her blog has been amazing. If you haven't yet, you definitely have to check out her blog!

4. A Beautiful Mess

If you like color and DIY projects, then you are going to love A Beautiful Mess. It's run by two sisters and they have taken the blogging world by storm. Seriously, they are very successful and even have their own blogging courses. They have so much amazing content and you can get lost on their blog for hours! 

5. Brown Eyed Baker

Another baking blog I am obsessed with is definitely the Brown Eyed Baker. It's crazy how long I've been following her because I remember when she was pregnant and now her son is 16 months old and she's pregnant with baby number 2! It so weird how close you feel to bloggers and you've never actually talked to them…but I love her mix of personal posts and baking posts. It's great to see the person behind the blog every once in awhile!

And those are my favorite non-bookish websites! As you can tell, I don't really visit too many non-book related sites. But the ones I do visit are ones that I have been loving for years now and check out almost every day. Let me know if you have any websites you love! I'd love to add more to my own list and see what else is out there!