Pages

Showing posts with label AJ Pine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AJ Pine. Show all posts

Thursday, January 19, 2017

5 Star Review: Worth the Wait (Kingston Ale House #4) by AJ Pine



I like to think of myself as a man of pleasure…

I enjoy a good pint of ale, being in the arms of a beautiful woman, and living by my own rules. The only thing I try to avoid? Commitment. And I’ve got a three-year success rate to prove it.

I wasn’t planning on Grace—the beautiful, funny, totally off-limits massage therapist who keeps popping up in my life. She’s on a six-month mission to rid her life of toxins. No alcohol. No red meat. And, yeah, no men. I’m talking full-on man cleanse.

I know I should walk away, but I can’t…and the only way to keep her in my life is to live by her rules. I’ll need to prove to a woman who’s lost all trust in men that I’m worthy of her love. And do it all without so much as a single kiss.

The only problem? If I win, I’ll lose the one thing I swore I’d never give up. My heart.




Available NOW!






My Review

I received an advanced copy of this book with the promise of an honest review. 

Holy Crap. I have enjoyed every book in this series, but this one is my absolute favorite. Jeremy is AMAZING and I love him. I even started using #Jeremyisbae to express how much I love him. 

Jeremy meets Grace when he is away at a weekend conference. After sitting in a comfortable chair all day, his back starts to bother him. He makes an appointment for a massage and Grace is his masseuse. The two are immediately attracted to each other, but Jeremy is a client so he is totally off limits. Later that night they run into each other at the hotel bar and Grace ends up walking Jeremy back to his room. They part ways thinking they will never see each other again, but fate intervenes and they find themselves in the sample place at the same time more than once. 

Grace is on a six month life cleanse and included in that cleanse is men. She's made some bad choices in the past and wants to change her ways. Through some bad luck her cleanse ends up on the news and Grace finds herself thrust into the reality television/social media world. She has three months left of the cleanse and during that time she will meet various men and document the dates on social media. At the end of the three months she will kiss one of them on live television, ending her cleanse and also getting a nice prize of $25k. Sounds pretty simple, right?

Well of course it's not. Grace is holding on to some pretty serious secrets after her awful ex stole all of her savings. She can't expose him because he knows things that will put her whole family at risk so she see this as a way to get back on her feet. Then there is Jeremy. The two of them become friends and he even proposes that he helps her out with this whole dating thing. But they are both holding on to some feelings that just make the situation so complicated. Eventually Jeremy just throws his hat in the ring, telling her he wants to be the one she kisses on live television, with the hopes that she wants that. 

“Christ, Grace. If you don’t want me on your list of suitors, just put me out of my fucking misery so I can get on with the status quo. But if there’s any part of you that—”
She reached across the table and grabbed his hand. “Wait!” she finally said, her palm icy cold against his heated flesh.
“You’re freezing,” he said.
Her cheeks flushed, and she shook her head.
“Nervous.”
He smiled and raised a brow. “I make you nervous?”
She let out a shaky laugh.“You make me…lots of things.”
Her hand still rested on his, the heat between them mingling so that she didn’t feel so cold anymore.
“Like what?” he asked.
“You want a list?”
He nodded. “I really do.”
She let out a long breath. “Okay. Yes. You make me nervous. But you also make me smile.”
This made him smile even broader. “Right back at ya.”
She looked down at their touching hands and then back into his eyes. “You make me warmer.”
He laughed.
“And drier,” she added. “Thanks to my new umbrella.” But then her smile faltered a little, and she squeezed his hand. “You make me feel safer than I’ve felt in a long time. Is that weird to say after meeting such a short time ago? I just get this feeling that I can trust you. That you wouldn’t do to me what…”
She trailed off and was quiet for a second. Jeremy flipped his hand over so he could squeeze hers back. Fuck protocol, if there even was one for this situation.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next few months,” he said. “But I can tell you one thing. As your friend, as whatever I might be when it comes time for you to decide who you want, you’ll always be safe with me, Grace. And it kills me that anyone made you feel otherwise.”
“I want it to be you, too,” she blurted, and he could hear the tremble in her voice. Because here they were, six days into their friendship, admitting it might not be enough, that there might be something more brewing beneath the surface.
She chewed her bottom lip, and then her expression broke into the biggest, most beautiful smile he’d ever seen, and Jeremy knew he was in deeper than he’d ever meant to go. Yet he had no intention of swimming back to the surface.
“I’d give my right hand to kiss you right now,” he said, his voice low and hoarse.
I mean...come on!  These two are the CUTEST. And what happens after this....WOW. Can we talk about phone sex for a second? It is almost always a bit awkward, especially the first time a couple does it, so it was nice to feel that awkwardness. Not only did that make me laugh, but it also made me want a cold shower. It felt REAL. AJ wrote, what I feel is, the hottest phone sex scene I have ever read. SO. SO. HOT. 

Jeremy. I LOVE HIM SO MUCH. I already liked his character from the previous books and of course we got to know him a lot better in Three Simple Words. I wasn't expecting him to be such a sweetheart, but he won me over very quickly and then jumped to the top of my book boyfriend list in no time. He is just the BEST! #Jeremyisbae

While this book is part of a series, it can be read as a standalone and I highly recommend it.  You won't be disappointed. 











ABOUT AJ PINE


aj-pine

AJ Pine writes stories to break readers’ hearts, but don’t worry—she’ll mend them with a happily ever after. As an English teacher and a librarian, AJ has always surrounded herself with books. All her favorites have one big commonality–romance. Naturally, her books have the same. When she’s not writing, she’s of course reading. Then there’s online shopping (everything from groceries to shoes) and, of course, a tiny bit of TV where she nourishes her undying love of vampires and superheroes. And in the midst of all of this, you’ll also find her hanging with her family in the Chicago burbs. 




Thursday, November 10, 2016

BLOG TOUR, 4 STAR REVIEW & GIVEAWAY: Three Simple Words (Kingston Ale House #3) by AJ Pine

three-simple-words-tour-banner

Three Simple Words
by AJ Pine 
Kingston Ale House #3 
Publication Date: October 17, 2016

Genres: Adult, Entangled: Select, Contemporary Romance 



three-simple-words-cover







She’s holding out for a happy ever after.

Annie

I know where to find my happily ever after—between the pages of a romance novel. It’s why I sell books, why I blog about them, and why I’ll never get disappointed by love.So what if my brother’s best friend from high school is now a bestselling author? Or that he just blew back into town on a Harley, filling out a pair of jeans like he never did before? Or that he’s agreed to do a signing at my bookstore on such short notice? Because despite all his adoring female fans, I kind of hated his book.

Wes

The last time I saw Annie Denning, she was a senior in high school, three years older than me and way out of my league. Now I’m her last-minute date to a wedding, and what started as a night of pure fun has turned into something more real than either of us anticipated.Annie is my muse. When I’m with her, my writer’s block fades away, and the words finally flow. The only problem? She wants the fairy tale—her very own happily ever after—and anyone who’s read my book knows the truth. I just don’t believe they exist.



goodreads-badge-add-38px



My Review

I received an advanced copy of this book with the promise of an honest review. 

This book is so much fun! Annie is a bookstore owner who loves romance novels and Wes is a romance novelist who doesn't believe in happily ever after. WHAAAAAAAAT? How the heck would that work? And it is the best friend's sister trope so you know that will be good!

Wes always had a little crush on Annie. She was the older, pretty sister of his best friend, but she never even noticed him. But when he comes back to town, she definitely notices. Wes is all grown up, successful and looking good. He makes an appearance at her bookstore to help boost profits and then somehow ends up being her date to a wedding. 

Neither of them are looking for a relationship so they decide that a friends with benefits relationship will work best. Of course they find that they genuinely like each other and they do become pretty good friends. Their relationship was both fun and equally hot. They had to keep it a secret so Annie's brother wouldn't find out and that just added to the hotness of it. And once he and Annie get together, the writer's block that Wes has been dealing with goes away. He finds his muse in her. 

Like I mentioned earlier, this book is so much fun. The story brings up topics that readers and authors talk about quite often it was cool to see them written into the story. And also Annie is a blogger so it was fun to watch her blog and interact with her readers. 




DON'T MISS THE OTHER BOOKS IN THE KINGSTON ALE HOUSE SERIES!


Six Month Rule New Cover





She created the game, but the rules are about to change.

The second I met Will Evans in his three-piece suit with that hot as hell British accent, I wanted him.

That is...until he insulted my shoes and stole my corner office.

Now I have to work side-by-side with the surly British arsehole who just set my career back six months.

It's fine. That accent won't get to me, no matter how sexy it sounds when he asks permission to do things professionals shouldn't do. On the couch. In the corner office I still wish was mine.

Maybe we can't keep our hands off each other, but I'm sure as hell not falling for a guy who lives an ocean away. Because in six months, he's leaving for good.

I don't do broken hearts, but you know what they say...

There's a first time for everything.


Each book in the Kingston Ale House series is a standalone, full-length story that can be enjoyed out of order.




goodreads-badge-add-38px


the-one-that-got-away-1-cover

BUY:




How far will one man go for the woman he's loved since high school?

Jamie Kingston has been Brynn Chandler's best friend since middle school. Only once was their friendship tested—when Brynn gave Jamie a single kiss. Since then, they've had an unspoken agreement never to cross that line again, and she’s ready to let go of the past and move on.

But Jamie has loved Brynn for as long as he can remember, and now that he's ready to tell her, she has her sights set on someone else. Knowing this is his last chance, he asks Brynn to go on a two-week road trip. But their time alone brings old hurts to the surface, and Brynn has to decide if the one that got away lies at the end of the journey or if he's been by her side all along.


goodreads-badge-add-38px


ABOUT AJ PINE

aj-pine


AJ Pine writes stories to break readers’ hearts, but don’t worry—she’ll mend them with a happily ever after. As an English teacher and a librarian, AJ has always surrounded herself with books. All her favorites have one big commonality–romance. Naturally, her books have the same. When she’s not writing, she’s of course reading. Then there’s online shopping (everything from groceries to shoes) and, of course, a tiny bit of TV where she nourishes her undying love of vampires and superheroes. And in the midst of all of this, you’ll also find her hanging with her family in the Chicago burbs.




ABOUT THE GIVEAWAY

three-simple-words-giveaway-graphic






IndieSageBlogger

Monday, August 22, 2016

BLOG BLITZ & GIVEAWAY: Six Month Rule (Kingston Ale House #2) by AJ Pine

Six Month Rule Blitz Banner


Six Month Rule

by AJ Pine Kingston Ale House #2 
Publication Date: July 11, 2016 
Genres: Adult, Entangled: Select, Romance



Six Month Rule New Cover

BUY:



The second I met Will Evans in his three-piece suit with that hot as hell British accent, I wanted him.

That is…until he insulted my shoes and stole my corner office. 

Now I have to work side-by-side with the surly British arsehole who just set my career back six months. 


It’s fine. That accent won’t get to me, no matter how sexy it sounds when he asks permission to do things professionals shouldn’t do. On the couch. In the corner office I still wish was mine. 


Maybe we can’t keep our hands off each other, but I’m sure as hell not falling for a guy who lives an ocean away. Because in six months, he’s leaving for good. 


I don’t do broken hearts, but you know what they say…


There’s a first time for everything.



goodreads-badge-add-38px

Teaser Graphic 2


Teaser Graphic 5


ABOUT AJ PINE

AJ Pine

AJ Pine writes stories to break readers’ hearts, but don’t worry—she’ll mend them with a happily ever after. As an English teacher and a librarian, AJ has always surrounded herself with books. All her favorites have one big commonality–romance. Naturally, her books have the same. When she’s not writing, she’s of course reading. Then there’s online shopping (everything from groceries to shoes) and, of course, a tiny bit of TV where she nourishes her undying love of vampires and superheroes. And in the midst of all of this, you’ll also find her hanging with her family in the Chicago burbs.






ENTER THE GIVEAWAY


Six Month Rule Blitz Giveaway Graphic



Monday, August 1, 2016

BLOG TOUR, 4 STAR REVIEW & GIVEAWAY: Six Month Rule (Kingston Ale House #2) by A.J. Pine

Six Month Rule Tour Banner

Six Month Rule

by A.J. Pine 

Kingston Ale House #2 
Publication Date: July 18, 2016 
Genres: Adult, Entangled, Select Contemporary, Romance


Six Month Rule Cover




Synopsis: 

She created the game, but the rules are about to change. 

Taurus: Hold fast to your single-minded nature today—no matter how long her legs or how lush her red lips. 

Gemini: You were a shining star last night, but reality can be a real—well, you get the picture. Just remember: Tall, dark, and British equals no corner office for you.

Will Evans never wanted a reason to stay.

Holly Chandler wants nothing more than for him to go.

But neither one is prepared for what can happen in six months. Because it doesn’t matter what you want when what you need walks out the door.

Holly’s been busting her butt to make partner at Trousseau and there’s no way she’s going to let some stuck-up British arsehole get in her way—no matter how drop-dead gorgeous he is. But that doesn’t mean she can’t have a little fun in the process. She has a six-month rule: date just long enough for the honeymoon phase to wear off, then walk away before anyone gets hurt. If they both know the rules up front, walking away will be a piece of cake. 

Or maybe not…

SIX MONTH RULE is a stand alone book in a connected series.







My Review

I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

Holly's life is great. She has a very successful career and is on path to make partner. She dates pretty regularly and has even been in more than her share of relationships. The thing is they always have an expiration date. She makes a point of only being in one for six months. The guys always know the score and she has yet to meet someone that really challenges her on that. That's how she does relationships and there are no exceptions. Or is there?

When Holly shows up to work after a successful event, she thinks that she is going to be promoted. What she gets instead is Will Evans, the man she had a not so great encounter with only moments before. They will be working together for the next six months on an event that will surely make Holly partner if it does well. 

I love me a sexy Brit and Will Evans is definitely one of those. As the two of them work together, they can't deny that they are extremely attracted to the other person. So when Holly suggests to Will that they are exclusive for the next sis months, he agrees. So they spend their week days working and their week nights as a couple. It is the perfect arrangement. The only downfall is that most of his weekends are spent back in London, where his adorable six year old daughter lives. 

I loved Will and Holly. They not only worked well professionally, but as a couple they were fantastic. There were plenty of really sweet moments between them that told me that their arrangement was much more than either of them wanted to admit. And it worked really well, until it didn't. Neither of them saw the other person coming and and their relationship turned into something that forced them to make some pretty serious decisions about their lives. 

This was a great follow up to the first book, The One That Got Away, and we did get a little bit of Jamie and Brynn in this book as well. You will laugh, swoon and maybe even get a little emotional. I know I did. 






EXCERPT

“May I…?” he asked, his voice hoarse and expectant as he raised a palm toward one of her breasts.

She half smiled while biting her lip, then nodded, and Will brought his hand to her skin. As he made contact, they each drew in a sharp breath.

“God, Holly…”

“Say it again,” she whispered, her hands clasping around his neck.

“God, Holly?” he asked, teasing, because he knew what she meant, but he wanted her to say it one more time.

She shook her head, grinning, and gently tugged his head toward hers. “I want you to ask permission in that sexy accent of yours.”

He brought his lips to hers, not yet a kiss, but close enough to feel her breath on his skin. One hand was still on her breast, and the other had found its way to her back. Will was barely hanging on, but he wanted to do this right, put someone else’s needs first, give her what she wanted.

So he asked, “May I do this?”

He kissed her, featherlight, and she spoke softly against him.

“Yes.”

His lips moved to her jaw and her neck, and all the while he spoke sweetly against her.

“And this? May I kiss you here?”

He felt her swallow as he peppered her skin with tiny kisses, and again he heard her voice, faint yet insistent.

“Yes.”

Her breast was still cupped in his hand, and he lightly pinched the hard peak while asking, “What about this, Holly? May I do this?”

She gasped and rocked her hips against him, and he took that as a yes. God, it had been so long since he’d been with anyone like this, and the way she responded to himwas enough to drive him mad. He knew this was dangerous ground, that he wasn’t just attracted to Holly physically. He should be logical here, weigh the pros and cons, but her hands had left his neck and found the button of his jeans, and that was it. Will finally put his overactive brain to rest. It was all instinct from here, because Holly Chandler responded to his impulses, and he to hers.

“May I have the pleasure, Mr. Evans?” She undid the button. “Or can I call you Billy now?”

Will scooped her into his arms and dropped her over the side of the sofa so she now lay on her back. Holly yelped with laughter as he stepped around to meet her, sitting on the edge of a cushion.

“No to Billy,” he said. Then, “You first,” returning the favor, unbuttoning and unzipping her jeans. “If I may.”


DON'T MISS THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY, THE FIRST BOOK IN THE KINGSTON ALE HOUSE SERIES!


The One That Got Away Cover


Synopsis: 

How far will one man go for the woman he's loved since high school?

Jamie Kingston has been Brynn Chandler's best friend since middle school. Only once was their friendship tested—when Brynn gave Jamie a single kiss. Since then, they've had an unspoken agreement never to cross that line again, and she’s ready to let go of the past and move on. But Jamie has loved Brynn for as long as he can remember, and now that he's ready to tell her, she has her sights set on someone else. 
Knowing this is his last chance, he asks Brynn to go on a two-week road trip. But their time alone brings old hurts to the surface, and Brynn has to decide if the one that got away lies at the end of the journey or if he's been by her side all along.



goodreads-badge-add-38px

ABOUT A.J. PINE

AJ Pine

AJ Pine writes stories to break readers’ hearts, but don’t worry—she’ll mend them with a happily ever after. As an English teacher and a librarian, AJ has always surrounded herself with books. All her favorites have one big commonality–romance. Naturally, her books have the same. When she’s not writing, she’s of course reading. Then there’s online shopping (everything from groceries to shoes) and, of course, a tiny bit of TV where she nourishes her undying love of vampires and superheroes. And in the midst of all of this, you’ll also find her hanging with her family in the Chicago burbs.



ENTER THE GIVEAWAY

Six Month Rule Giveaway Graphic

Friday, April 22, 2016

BLOG TOUR, 4 STAR REVIEW & GIVEAWAY: The One That Got Away (Kingston Ale House #1) by AJ Pine



The One That Got Away by AJ Pine 
The Kingston Ale House, #1 
Publication Date: April 18, 2016 
Genres: Adult, Contemporary Romance, Entangled Select Contemporary 





How far will one man go for the woman he’s loved since high school?

Jamie Kingston has been Brynn Chandler’s best friend since middle school. Only once was their friendship tested—when Brynn gave Jamie a single kiss. Since then, they’ve had an unspoken agreement never to cross that line again, and she’s ready to let go of the past and move on. 

But Jamie has loved Brynn for as long as he can remember, and now that he’s ready to tell her, she has her sights set on someone else. Knowing this is his last chance, he asks Brynn to go on a two-week road trip. But their time alone brings old hurts to the surface, and Brynn has to decide if the one that got away lies at the end of the journey or if he’s been by her side all along.

 








My Review

I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a honest review. 

I love me a friends to lovers book so I was excited to read this one. Jamie and Brynn have been friends for a long time. The book starts when they are seniors in high school and Brynn is getting ready to go out to a party. She has big plans for that night, but it turns out she is very sick. The dreaded mononucleosis. Luckily Jamie comes to her rescue and is there to take care of her. Realizing the feelings he has for her is much more than friendship he decides to act on those feeings. The two of them kiss and Brynn returns his feelings and tells him that she wants more, but then fate intervenes and the two of them remain nothing more than friends. 

Flash forward to the night of their ten year high school reunion and Jamie and Brynn are still best friends. Brynn is using the reunion to make up for the party that she never got to attend and once again Jamie realizes that he needs to act on his feelings for Brynn. He has spent ten years regretting how things worked out and he sees this as a perfect opportunity to make things right. But once again fate is there and messes everything up. 

I loved Jamie and Brynn as friends but I REALLY loved them as a couple. When they take off on the road trip they both have their reasons for going. Over the course of a couple days they share a lot of special moments on trip and this is where we really get to know them in terms of their friendship. The moments that are happy, sad, funny, frustrating, romantic and downright SEXY AS HELL. I mean....the sexual tension between these two...HOT.  There is a sequence of events that lead to the awesome sexy times (see the excerpt below) that made me absolutely fall in love with as a couple and from that point on I kept my fingers crossed that everything would work out the way that I wanted.  

If you like the friends to lovers trope, you should definitely read this book. It's sweet and funny story that will have you wishing you had a best friend to fall in love with! I look forward to see what comes next in this series.  







EXCERPT

She touched him, gently this time, a hand on his chest. And though his shirt was damp and cold, heat radiated from her palm and through his veins. How had he ever thought he

could be okay with just her friendship? And what would he do now if he lost it? He’d lose her forever.

Right now, though, in this room and with the magic that was Amarillo and tequila and lucky bouquets, she was his.

“Maybe you should kiss it and make it better.” He touched his chin again, and his fingers came away clean.

Brynn mirrored his action, but her skin was like satin compared to his own rough touch. And the heat, again he felt it from the pit of his stomach to the nerve endings in his fingers and toes. He felt everything when she touched him, and when her lips took the place of her hand, all reason went

out the window.

“Like this?” she asked, her voice breathy and sweet and like nothing he’d ever heard from any other woman.

His eyes fluttered shut. “Yes.”

“And this?”

He opened his eyes to watch as, standing on her toes, she peppered his neck with kisses.

“Mmmm-hmmm.”

He raked his fingers into her hair, and she looked up at him.

“You know we’re going to see each other naked, right?”

Jamie barked out a laugh.

“It’s kind of what I hoped.”

“What if you laugh?” she asked.

“I won’t laugh.”

“What if I laugh?” she asked, her cheeks growing pink, and shit she was adorable when she was nervous. He took off his shirt, and Brynn sucked in a sharp breath. They’d seen each other at the beach. This wasn’t anything new. And yet it was miles away from the boundaries of friendship.

“You’re not laughing,” he said, and she shook her head.

He liked seeing her speechless. He liked being the one to make her speechless. “Now you,” he told her, his voice gentle as he tried to ease them both into the unknown.

Her fingers fidgeted with the top button of her shirt, but she couldn’t quite get it open. Jamie’s hands covered hers, steadied them, and they undid the buttons together. She let the open garment fall from her shoulders, and there she stood, the cream lace of her bra against the flushed pink of her otherwise pale skin.

Jamie wasn’t laughing, either. In fact, he had to remind himself to breathe so he had enough oxygen to formulate any sound at all, because her hands moved to the front clasp of her bra, and yep. He still wasn’t breathing.

“What?” she asked, pausing to look at him.

He pulled her hands down to her sides before she completed her task.

“You don’t want me to…” she started, but he shook his head.

“Seventeen-year-old me is out of his mind with how long he’s wanted to touch you like this. He needs a second to collect himself.”






AJ Pine writes stories to break readers’ hearts, but don’t worry—she’ll mend them with a happily ever after. As an English teacher and a librarian, AJ has always surrounded herself with books. All her favorites have one big commonality–romance. Naturally, her books have the same. When she’s not writing, she’s of course reading. Then there’s online shopping (everything from groceries to shoes) and, of course, a tiny bit of TV where she nourishes her undying love of vampires and superheroes. And in the midst of all of this, you’ll also find her hanging with her family in the Chicago burbs.






GIVEAWAY


 




a Rafflecopter giveaway