Cover Reveal & Giveaway: Catch Me Twice by Charmaine Pauls

Title: Catch Me Twice
Author: Charmaine Pauls
Genre: Second Chance Romance
Cover Design: Jay Aheer, Simply Defined Art

Release Date: September 24, 2019

If a man
tells you he’s no good for you, best heed the warning. I learned the hard way.
I had Jake Basson’s baby. He left to chase his dream. Now he’s back, demanding
a second chance, but why should I give him anything after four years of
nothing? No correspondence, no news. I finally have my life back on track. Jake
has never been uncomplicated. He never follows the rules. I should’ve known
he’d play dirty. He caught me once. I’m not going to let him catch me twice.

(Disclosure: This story contains cheating. HEA guaranteed.)

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Author Bio

Charmaine Pauls was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa. She obtained
a degree in Communication at the University of Potchestroom, and followed a
diverse career path in journalism, public relations, advertising,
communications, photography, graphic design, and brand marketing. Her writing
has always been an integral part of her professions.

After relocating to Chile with her French husband, she fulfilled her passion to
write creatively full-time. Charmaine has published over twenty novels since 2011, as
well as several short stories and articles. Two of her shorts have been
selected by the International Literary Society for an anthology from across the
African continent.

When she is not writing, she likes to travel, read, and rescue cats. Charmaine
currently lives in France with her husband and children. Their household is a
linguistic mélange of Afrikaans, English, French and Spanish.

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Blog Tour, Review & Excerpt: Senior Year Bucket List by J.M. Miller

Title: Senior Year Bucket List

Author: J.M. Miller

Publication Date: July 29, 2019

Genre: New Adult Rom-Com

Cover Photo: Artist Regina Wamba

Cover Design: Qdesign Amy Queau

Caleb Samuels.

Smug. Irritating. Pain in the …

After high school, I was content with the idea of never seeing him again.

But as his sister Merilyn’s best friend, it was bound to happen eventually. I just didn’t expect it to be at her wake, where, following a foolish, naive, and completely ridiculous incident, I’m prepared to return to my completely routine life and wash my hands of him forever. Again.

Unfortunately, Merilyn had other plans.

Even though she traveled the world, her final request is for Caleb and me to recreate our senior year bucket list and take her ashes along for one last adventure.

All the foolish, naive, and, you guessed it, completely ridiculous memories return in an instant.

He tormented me, teased me, kissed me like no one ever had, made me fall for him, and broke me like no one else ever would.

Reliving it all might end with a crash worse than the first.

Or maybe not.

Maybe the fall would never end.

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Disclaimer: This review MAY contain spoilers. I received an Advance Reader Copy at no cost from the publisher/author. All opinions in my review are my own. 

This was such a heartwarming little story about second chances. What's even better is that is centers upon the Best Friend's Brother trope, which is displayed perfectly in this book. 

I liked these characters but I didn't feel overly connected to them. I felt that Celia's character had the most growth and depth by far. This journey that she takes with Caleb opens her eyes to a lot of things about herself and what she wants. Though Caleb's character felt less developed than Celia, I liked him a lot. His adoration of Celia was too sweet for words. 

I liked the plot of the story, but I felt that it was too light on the conflict. The urgency just wasn't really there. The past conflict in the book was here and gone too quickly and the present conflicts in the book felt too glazed over or minuscule. 

I thought that Celia and Caleb were adorable together. You could really feel the perfect chemistry that they had with each other. Their familiarity and friendship from high school were really evident in their interactions with each other. You could just feel their history in their body language and words. 

Overall, this is a fun and sweet story of acceptance, self-realization, and second chances that I very much enjoyed. It is the perfect summer read that will take you on a beautiful journey. It's a perfect example that this life is short and you should never settle or stay stagnant. Make this life yours. 

I blinked longer than necessary, knowing I should have looked away entirely. The memory of how her lips had felt on mine not even a week ago seemed to hold me hostage, though. A copious amount of whiskey may have been coursing through every part of me that day, blurring my very existence and creating a haze of chatter inside my head—spoken words of sympathy and mourning from others as well as thoughts of anger and agony from myself—but I remembered every f**king thing about her as if she were the rain within, clearing it all away.

J.M. Miller currently resides in Florida's panhandle. When she isn't distracted by social media sites, she writes romance novels that vary in genre from contemporary to fantasy. Aside from spending time with her family, she loves to travel and will jump at the chance to go anywhere, whenever life allows.

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The Sunday Post: 07/28/2019

*Book Covers link to Goodreads (or Amazon if not on GR)*

*Music links to Spotify*

*Movies & Television links to IMDB*

The Sunday Post is hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer. It is a post for weekly bookish news and a weekly recap. 

◽ [Jul 23] Cover Reveal: Through His Eyes by Nikki As
◽ [Jul 23] Top Ten Tuesday: Settings I'd Like to See More Of
◽ [Jul 23] Release Blitz & Excerpt: Make Me Lose by Ember Leigh
◽ [Jul 23] Release Blitz: Wait For Me by K.L. Grayson
◽ [Jul 25] Cover Reveal: I Hate You by Ilsa Madden-Mills
◽ [Jul 25] Release Blitz, Excerpt & Giveaway: Severance by N.N. Britt
◽ [Jul 25] Release Blitz: Defying Gravity by K.K. Allen
◽ [Jul 25] Cover Reveal: The Kiss Me Series by Emma Hart
◽ [Jul 27] Stacking the Shelves: Week Of 07/21/2019 - 07/27/2019
◽ [Jul 27] Release Blitz, Excerpt & Giveaway: Descending Into Madness by Stacey Marie Brown

◽ [Jul 22] Blog Tour, Review & Excerpt: Game Changer by Sylvie Stewart
◽ [Jul 22] Blog Tour, Review & Excerpt: Making Up (Shacking Up #4) by Helena Hunting
◽[Jul 23] Blog Tour, Review & Excerpt: My Brother's Billionaire Best Friend by Max Monroe
◽ [Jul 25] Blog Tour, Review & Excerpt: Wait For Me by K.L. Grayson
◽[Jul 28] Blog Tour, Review & Excerpt: Defying Gravity (Gravity #2) by K.K. Allen

*Subject to change.

◽ BLOG TOUR & REVIEW: Senior Year Bucket List by J.M. Miller
◽ COVER REVEAL: Catch Me Twice by Charmaine Pauls
◽ BLOG TOUR & REVIEW: Interference (St. Michaels Duet #1) by Harlow Cole
◽ SALES BLITZ: Seeds of Eden (The Concilium #1) by A.P. Watson
◽ COVER REVEAL: Tactical Heart by S.K. Rose
◽ RELEASE BLITZ: Can Your Hear It by Casey Diam
◽ RELEASE BLITZ: Coming Up Roses by Staci Hart
◽ RELEASE BLITZ: Stealing Home (St. Michaels Duet #2) by Harlow Cole
◽ RELEASE BLITZ & REVIEW: Queen of All (The Masks of Under #6) by Kathryn Ann Kingsley
◽ COVER REVEAL: Kylest's Reign by Michelle Dare
◽ COVER REVEAL: Last Slice of Pie (Starving for Southern #2) by Kathryn Andrews
◽ BLOG TOUR & REVIEW - Can Your Hear It by Casey Diam
◽ RELEASE BLITZ: Anything Between Us (Starving Artists #3) by Sarah Fine
◽ BLOG TOUR & REVIEW - Make Me Lose by Ember Leigh

🎵 Click on the image to go to my Last.fm page to see more! 🎵

 

◽ [Book Riot] How Reading (And Faeries) Changed the Way I Look at Grief

◽ [Book Riot] 12 YA Books About Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

◽ [TOR] 11 Thoughts on Marvel’s Phase 4 Announcements at San Diego

◽ [TOR] Towards a Neurodiverse Future: Writing an Autistic Heroine

◽ [Feed Your Fiction Addiction] In Memory of Grace @ Rebel Mommy Book Blog

◽ [Sun and Chai] The Venn Diagram of Intersectionality #RepresentationMeans

◽ [Bleeding Cool] A New Look For Arthur Suydam’s Killing Joke Homage For DCeased

◽ [NEWSaRAMA] NETFLIX Orders More Episodes of LUCIFER

◽ [Inverse] Is Intermittent Fasting "Natural"? History Experts Respond to the Controversy

Any thoughts on my week? How was your week? Link me up with your weekly post. 

Blog Tour, Review & Excerpt: Defying Gravity (Gravity #2) by K.K. Allen

Their greatest risk was the one they never took …

Defying Gravity, an all-new emotional sports romance from USA Today bestselling author K.K. Allen is available now!

Title: Defying Gravity
Series: Gravity #2

Author: K.K. Allen

Publication Date: July 25, 2019

It was an accidental spring fling three years ago—one week spent in the mountains of Big Sur and no one was the wiser. Ignore the fact that Tobias James was my neighbor and my best friend’s older brother. Or that upon our return his hoop dreams were waiting for him, robbing us of any potential future we could have shared.

Now, I’m fulfilling my own dreams in L.A. and my biggest dream of all is about to come true. The last thing I expected was for my past and my present to collide.

Not now. Not here. Not him.

But he struts back into my life like he never even left. Unfortunately, I’ll never forget what happened after he did.

The ball is in my court, but Tobias isn’t below stealing—my power, my resolve, my heart… When he wants a second chance to reignite our connection, my answer is simple. We can’t.

Not unless we defy the rules our dreams were built on and risk everything.

Download your copy today or read FREE in Kindle Unlimited!

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Download the FREE prequel, Falling from Gravity, today!

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Disclaimer: I received an Advance Reader Copy at no cost from the publisher/author. All opinions in my review are my own. 

This is such a raw, emotionally demanding story that is such a pleasure to read. I was instantly drawn into this book like children to a gingerbread house adorned with candy. 

The plot of this story is fantastic. I loved how it spans years. We get to see both main characters at turning points in their lives and in their relationship. The story is told from both POVs, which I also loved. There are so many obstacles that the main characters face through the course of the story. I loved all the tension and unexpected turns. 

Tobias and Amelia's characters really spoke to me from the beginning. They were both so ambitious and committed to their dreams. Amelia's strength was very inspiring. Her character was so relatable. Tobias was equally wonderful. He suffers after some devastating news but he doesn't let it own him. And what's better is that Amelia and Tobias make each other better when they are together. They just bring out the best in each other. I loved the character development for both characters. These characters are full of so much depth and will make you fall in love with them from the start. 

The romance in this story is intense. Their love is so palpable that the reader could reach out and touch it. Their chemistry is explosive and almost like something that you can feel in the air around you. It is brought to life so brilliantly by the author. 

Overall, this is such a beautiful and captivating love story that explores the spectrum of emotions. This is a journey that leaves your heart feeling so many things by the end. The story is written beautifully and I can't recommend it enough! This is my first time reading K.K. Allen but it will not be my last!

“Where can we find the best view in Los Angeles?”

I had to think about that one. Every trail I’d hiked in the area ended with a gorgeous view, but I didn’t think a hike was what he’d had in mind. That gave me an idea. “Griffith Observatory has some nice views. Not sure how parking is this time of night.” I was still thinking. “Or there’s always Canyon Lake Drive.”

The look he gave me next wrapped a string around my heart and tugged gently. “Somewhere you haven’t been with a dude.”

Forcing back my smile, I grabbed his phone. “Drive. I’ll program the directions so I can enjoy the ride.”

I tried to ignore the pleased look on his face when I blushed at his request, but it was almost impossible to ignore him when I handed back his phone and my fingers accidentally brushed his. Our eyes connected on a beat, the electricity so charged between us that I felt the vibration throughout my body.

We rode the rest of the way in silence, like we both knew the conversation to come was a big one. Besides that, neither of us was a fan of small talk. Maybe that was why we’d always gotten along so well. We preferred hours of comfortable silence to awkward conversation. It made each moment we were together meaningful.

“Almost there,” he said once we were on Western Canyon Drive. “Where should I park?”

“You’ll keep going up the hill. Park on West Observatory Road. You’ll see the line of cars. I usually find a spot up close, but—” I made a face as I looked around his truck. “My car is three times smaller than this.” I grinned at him. “You might want to park about a half mile away.”

He chuckled. I didn’t understand why until he continued driving past where I recommended and almost reached the top of the hill, when he slowed. Just then, like fucking magic, a large truck was pulling out of a parallel parking spot, leaving it vacant.

“You are kidding me.”

He laughed again and parked with ease. Growing up in Malibu didn’t give us many opportunities for parallel parking, but I was certain he’d had his fair share of chances to get it right in Chicago.

I hopped out of the truck just as he made it to my side. “So impatient to hang out with me.”

I rolled my eyes. “Keep dreaming, James.”

He rolled his head back, grinning. “You realize there are women out there dreaming about a night just like this, right?”

I hoped he could feel the heat of my glare. “You don’t say.”

His lips pressed together like he was biting back a smile, then he took my hand in his and tugged me forward. “Let’s move. We have to make it before sunset.”

This time, silence didn’t fill our gaps. It dissipated with the first view we encountered before ever reaching the observatory.

“Wow.” I tugged away from him and walked to the balcony of the outlook.

As I stared out over trees and rock mountains, I had an epiphany. Taking Tobias here conveyed an unspoken promise that I’d never shared the same space with another man. I hadn’t even questioned the intimacy of what that meant, because it felt natural, just like everything with Tobias, even when the world was trying to pull us apart.

My choice had always been Tobias, even when he wasn’t around for me to choose. My heart still belonged to him.

A breeze whooshed by, tossing my hair. I breathed into the wind as it continued to beat against me, like the week hadn’t been enough for me to endure. And then strong arms wrapped around me from behind as my insides softened to putty. It had been only a week of knowing Tobias was back in town to stay, and I already knew I was in trouble.

Neither of us dared a word as he held me there, the hills of LA a beautiful sight before us, but it was his touch, his breath, his nearness that stole my focus. We’d never even made it to the observatory, but I knew what his mission was in wanting to take me somewhere with a view.

It was reminiscent of the one we’d shared in Big Sur, and I couldn’t ignore the rush of those memories that surfaced in the moment.

We stood in silence for a long time while Tobias held all of me—physically, emotionally, and metaphorically. His presence grounded me in a way that only my soul could feel. He owned me. All it took was the admission, and for the first time in a very long time, I felt at peace.

Once upon a time, Tobias had called me his moon. His rock. His strength. The one he reached for when the waters got rough. As risky as it was to admit it, I still wanted that to be true.

“Should we keep going?”

I knew Tobias was referring to the observatory, but my response was to a different interpretation of the question.

“Yes.”

K.K. Allen is a USA Today Bestselling and award-winning author and interdisciplinary arts and sciences graduate from the University of Washington who writes heartfelt contemporary romance stories that are as real as they are inspiring. K.K. is a Hawaiian girl who was raised in Seattle, and currently resides in central Florida. She works full time as a digital producer for a leading online educational institution and is the mother to a ridiculously handsome little dude who owns her heart.

K.K.'s publishing journey began in June 2014 with the YA Contemporary Fantasy trilogy, The Summer Solstice. In 2016, K.K. published her first Contemporary Romance, Up in the Treehouse, which went on to win the Romantic Times 2016 Reviewers' Choice Award for Best New Adult Book of the Year. With K.K.'s love for inspirational and coming-of-age stories involving heartfelt narratives and honest emotions, you can be assured to always be surprised by what K.K. releases next.

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Release Blitz, Excerpt & Giveaway: Descending Into Madness by Stacey Marie Brown

Your holiday season is about to get deliciously naughty...

What if Alice Liddell’s story didn’t happen the way you think? What if it wasn’t Wonderland she fell into, but Winterland. This mad tale is dark, twisted, sexy, and nothing like the legend you know.

After losing her job and finding her boyfriend/boss cheating on her with her replacement, twenty-five-year-old Alice Liddell has moved back home to save money and regroup.

She doesn’t think things can get worse until her younger, more responsible sister, Dinah, gets her a job—as a Christmas elf.

Dressed in a slutty costume with fathers peeking down her top and kids vomiting on her, she wants nothing more than to escape the reality of her life.

When she sees a sexy, shirtless man, carrying a glowing red light, and bearing antlers, her curiosity gets the better of her. But following him might be the biggest mistake she ever made.

Falling into another realm, Alice finds herself in the world of holiday legends and fairytales. But she is not prepared her for the dark madness of this place. Nothing is what is seems and no one is what they are in the fairytales.

Even the mysterious, sexy Scrooge.Welcome to Winterland, where the good guys from the North Pole have gone bad, and the only way to survive is to descend into its madness.

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“Looking for something, Ms. Liddell?” His voice cut from the dark, making me jump with a gasp. An outline of a man, leaning against a tree, blue eyes flickering with light, like an animal being caught in headlights.

“Holy Christmas cookies!” I patted my chest. “You scared me.”

 He tilted his head, his gaze sharp on me. Something had shifted, squashing the air in around me. “You can’t be scared of something you were seeking.” His voice lowered until it rumbled with a carnal tone, his body curled. Stalking me.

Daring and perilous. The wild beast I had seen earlier scratched under his skin, demanding to get out, animating his posture. He inched forward; a hunter ready to strike his prey. “Tell me…what were you hoping for once you found me?”

Everything screamed at me to run, to turn around and head back to the cabin, but I couldn’t get my body to oblige. “N-nothing.” I stepped back, my heart thumping in my ears.

 “Really?” He licked his lips. “Hare told you about my unspeakable past.” It wasn’t a question. “So now you think you know me? Want to save me?” He advanced, causing me to stumble back more, my tailbone hitting a tree, halting me in place. Brutally his gaze sliced down my frame, feeling as if he were stripping away the little clothing I had left. The man who had walked out of the cabin was no longer; this guy was feral and dangerous. And all it did was make my thighs pulse, hot need lacing with fear stretched and folded every nerve ending. “You came out into the night, searching for me, dressed in only my shirt, smelling of me…and you want nothing? Please, Ms. Liddell, I think you can come up with something better than that. I can feel the need coming off you. Your body is craving for me to touch it again.”

 The bark of the tree dug into my scalp as I locked my gaze with him, showing he would not intimidate me. If that was all I was feeling, I could have handled myself, demanded him to move away. Contradictory to what I should, my body ached for him, to pull him into me, feeling every inch of him pressing into my figure. To feel him inside…losing my mind as he pounded into my body.

As if every dirty image displayed over my face, his eyes flashed with desire, arching an eyebrow. He moved in closer, his hips pushing into me, setting my skin on fire, my mouth parting for oxygen.

“That’s what I thought.” He smirked, his mouth only inches from mine, with me wanting nothing more than him to close the distance. His fingers grazed over my blazing cheeks, his voice harsh. “How hard and deep do you want me to fuck you, Ms. Liddell?”

Read the First Chapter HERE !

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Join Stacey & friends at the BestSellers & BestStellars Party Room on July 31 from 5-11PM EST HERE !

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Enter HERE !

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Stacey Marie Brown is a lover of hot fictional bad boys and sarcastic heroines who kick butt. She also enjoys books, travel, TV shows, hiking, writing, design, and archery. Stacey swears she is part gypsy, being lucky enough to live and travel all over the world.

She grew up in Northern California, where she ran around on her family’s farm, raising animals, riding horses, playing flashlight tag, and turning hay bales into cool forts. She volunteers helping animals and is Eco-friendly. She feels all animals, people, and environment should be treated kindly.

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