RELEASE TOUR, 4 1/2 STAR REVIEW & GIVEAWAY: All the Frogs in Manhattan by Carrie Aarons

Title: All the Frogs in Manhattan

Author: Carrie Aarons

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Release Date: March 5, 2017 

Cover Design: Okay Creations, Inc

You know how Cinderella had the whole glass slipper, pumpkin carriage, fairy godmother thing?

Yeah…with foot-destroying stilettos, Uber, and my Twitter horoscope, my life is far from a happily ever after.

In fact, instead of Prince Charming, I end up dating every slimy, scaly, brainless frog in the kingdom of Manhattan. And by frog, I mean all of the stereotypical bad guys that Mom and Lifetime movies warned you about.

The meathead player.

The mommy's boy. 

The namedropper. 

The cheapskate. 

If they suck at relationships, I’ve probably kissed those cold, clammy lips in the hopes of finding love. Until one day, when one man with commitment issues offers to help me find the Romeo to my Juliet. 

But what happens when the frog who was never supposed to turn into a prince kisses you at midnight? Ok fine, he propositioned me for some afternoon delight after brunch, but not everything can be straight out of a fairytale.

My Review

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

Dating is hard. Dating in NYC is even harder. One by one, Gemma is watching her friends settle down. She wants that too, but keeps going on awful date after awful date. And they aren't just awful dates. Most of them are good dates that all of a sudden take a drastic turn into the "date from hell" category. 

Her luck take a turn when she meets Oliver. She originally meets him after she gives one of her dates the brush off (period excuse anyone?) and he over hears it. Talk about a hilarious meet cute! From the moment they meet, the two throw the witty banter back and both, but then they go their separate ways. But that weekend, while at brunch, they run into each other and cut right to the chase. A one time Sunday afternoon hook up where they part as friends at the end. Sound simple enough right?

They leave each other thinking that they will probably never see each other gain, but they find that they are thinking about the other person quite a lot. And what was supposed to be a one time, Sunday afternoon hook up, turns into a friend with benefits relationship. Oliver and Gemma even find themselves travelling in the same circles and Oliver becomes her knight in shining armor a time or two. But of course real feelings get in the way, throwing a wrench into their arrangement and the two of them have to decide what they really want in terms of love. 

Oliver thought himself to be a bit awkward when it came to women, but he was able to be himself with Gemma. And Gemma, being sick of having to work so hard to get a decent date, found that her arrangement with Oliver was a godsend! Of course it didn't seem to solve her whole "I want to find a man to settle down with" dilemma, but he provided a nice distraction. Their chemistry was off the charts hot and there were plenty of moments that made me need a cold shower!

I loved this book so much. I laughed out loud more than once and I even found myself thinking "OMG! That's me and my friends. I've had that conversation with them. While at brunch. " Gemma was so unlucky in love and just when you thought that one of her dates couldn't be any worse than the last, it totally was. I readily admit that I never date, but I have plenty of friends that do and I'm sure some of them can relate, on some level, to the NYC dating craziness portrayed in this book. 

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Author of romance novels such as Red Card and On Thin Ice, Carrie Aarons writes sexy, swoony and sarcastic characters who won't get out of her head until she puts them down on a page.

Carrie has wanted to be an author since the first time she opened a book, and can’t imagine a better or more maddening profession.

When she isn't in a writing coma, Carrie is chasing her Great Dane/Lab puppy through the dog parks of New Jersey, or trying to make her husband binge watch the latest Netflix craze.

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RELEASE TOUR & GIVEAWAY: Pucked Off (Pucked #5) by Helena Hunting

Pucked Off, an all-new emotional and sexy STANDALONE from Helena Hunting is LIVE!!

Pucked Off by Helena Hunting

Genre: Contemporary Romance

***A Standalone novel in The Pucked Series***

I’m NHL defenseman Lance Romero, AKA Lance “Romance."

I’m notorious for parties and excess. I have the most penalty minutes in the league. I get into the most fights. I take the most hits. I’m a player on and off the ice. I’m the one women with no inhibitions want.

Not because I like the notoriety, but because I don’t know how to be any other way.

I have secrets. Ones I shared with the wrong person, and she used them against me. Sometimes she still does. I should cut ties. But she makes it difficult, because she’s the kind of bad I deserve.

At least that’s what I believed until someone from my past gets caught up in my present. She’s all the good things in this world. She lights up my dark.

I shouldn’t want her.

But I do.

I should leave her alone.

But I won’t.

EXCERPT

Armed with my clipboard, I walk down the hall to the waiting room. Lance is impossible to miss. Despite the fact that he’s wearing a sweatshirt and the hood is covering half of his face, he’s more than six feet of broad, hockey-playing man.

He’s so wide his shoulders encroach on the chairs on either side, which would explain why no one is sitting next to him. He’s slouched down so his head rests on the back of the chair, and his hands are clasped in his lap, a baseball cap hanging off one knee. His lips, plush and soft—I know since I’ve had them on mine; it might have been a decade ago, but I remember it clearly—are parted. He looks like he’s asleep.

I clear my throat. “Lance Romero?”

He doesn’t move.

Bernadette, the receptionist, gives me a meaningful look.

I clear my throat again and call his name a second time. He jolts awake and the hood falls back, exposing his face. It’s not in good shape. He has a black eye and bruises on his left cheek. There’s a fly bandage across one eyebrow.

Sadly, he’s still hot.

He blinks a few times, yawns, and smacks his lips, his tongue touching the split in the bottom one. His gaze sweeps the room and finally lands on me. Heat explodes in my cheeks and courses through my limbs, warming me from the inside out as he starts at my sneaker-clad feet and roams up over my yoga pants to my company-issued T-shirt before stopping at my face. I can’t look directly at him for more than a couple of seconds. I sincerely hope he doesn’t remember me. I cannot go there and also be professional.

I’m sure the smile he gives me has melted many a panty off a slutty bunny. Mine stay right where they’re supposed to, wedged up my ass.

I force a polite, professional veneer. “I’m ready for you now.”

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NYT and USA Today bestselling author of PUCKED, Helena Hunting lives on the outskirts of Toronto with her incredibly tolerant family and two moderately intolerant cats. She's writes contemporary romance ranging from new adult angst to romantic sports comedy.

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Enter the Giveaway for a Complete Signed Set of the Pucked Series!

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RELEASE TOUR & 5 STAR REVIEW: Juked (Juked #1) by M.E. Carter

Title: Juked

Author: M.E. Carter

Genre: Sports Romance

Release Date: June 16, 2016 

Juked: verb. 

/jook-t/

A slang soccer term meaning: fake out, deceive, confuse your opponent

See examples Daniel Zavaro and Quincy Watson:

As the rising star in Houston, Daniel has found fame as Captain of his Pro soccer team and the city’s most eligible bachelor. Daniel has everything – except someone special – and that suits him just fine. He doesn’t want, or need, complications.

Quincy has baggage, and lots of it. After a tragic accident spins her world on its axis, she finds herself as a single mother, raising a newborn nephew she never knew she had. Between parenthood, her full-time job, and dealing with the suffocating grief of losing her sister, every day is a struggle.

When they begin to cross paths unexpectedly and often, an unlikely friendship starts to evolve. Feelings change. Lines get crossed. What happens next surprises them both...

Before they know it-- they’ve been Juked.

“I really do recommend it if you're in the mood for a good, witty sport-romance with great characters, a great storyline and a baby! Did I mention that the baby is the cutest thing ever?<3” - Goodreads Review

“4 out of 5 "I Might Just Start Watching Soccer" Blushes” - Goodreads Reviewer “4.5 stars!!

Quincy, you inspire me. Daniel, you grew on me. Chance, you stole my heart. This book was beautiful, and EVERYONE should read it.” - Goodreads Review

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

Woo hoo!  Another book about a soccer player! I don't know if I can truly express how much I loved this book, but I will try my best. I laughed, I cried, my heart broke, my heart was pieced back together. And from the very first moment Quincy and Daniel meet, my heart melted and I fell in love with both of them.  

They meet when Quincy suddenly becomes guardian for her nephew Chance, who she didn't even know existed. She finds herself standing in front of the formula with a crying baby and not having any idea what to do. Daniel sees her standing there and could have easily ignored them and went on his way, but he can tell she is a bit overwhelmed. Being an uncle to numerous nieces and nephews, he knows a thing or two about babies and offers to help her. While he helps her pick out formula and diapers, they strike up a conversation, but afterwards go their separate ways. A few nights later they run into each other again and Daniel can see that Quincy has the hang of things regarding Chance. They start another friendly conversation and by the end of it, Daniel finds himself asking Quincy on a date. They go out and before they know it, they find themselves falling into a friends with benefits kind of relationship. And while sex was a big part of their relationship, they were also great friends to each other. It wasn't something either of them was expecting, but it was exactly what they needed. 

Daniel. Wow. He's just the swooniest. He didn't have to help Quincy that first night, but he did because he's a genuinely nice guy. He comes from a very close, quite large family and once Quincy told him her story, he was not only extremely impressed with what she did, but he admired her as well. She was a strong woman who didn't hesitate to take on Chance as her own. And Daniel was so good with Chance. Ugh...pretty much every interaction they had made my freaking ovaries explode. So much cuteness!! He wasn't perfect, but he was the sweetest and if I didn't already love soccer players this book would have brought me there. 

And Quincy was so great. Like I mentioned before, she didn't hesitate to bring Chance into her home. She struggled at first, but once she got the hang of the whole single mother thing, she was really great at it. Luckily she had people to help her out and it didn't take long for her to think of Chance as her own. Daniel not only becomes an extremely important person in her life, but also Chance's. 

I loved Quincy and Daniel as a couple. Their relationship started of innocently enough, but it doesn't take long for that to change. The fact that he was a pretty famous soccer star was never a factor in how she felt about him, but it does eventually become a source of tension between them. Not too mention that the three of them become this little surprise family and find themselves working through some serious stuff.  They both have to face some truths about what they want in life and if they want it with each other. 

I can't recommend this book enough. Even if you don't love soccer, it won't matter. This book is about so much more than that. You'll laugh. You'll cry. And you will definitely swoon...a lot. 

“I hope you don’t mind,” she says, changing subjects and breaking the tension. “Before you called, I was going to catch up on Outlander. I’m several episodes behind.”

“Fine with me,” I say. “I’m used to those soft-porn shows.”

“Soft-porn shows?”

“You know… Outlander, Game of Thrones, True Blood. Soft porn.”

She scoffs at me. “We’re watching Starz, Daniel, not pay-per-view.”

I lean back and put my feet up on the coffee table. “Baby, the only difference between Starz and porn is that actual porn doesn’t have a plot or as big a budget.”

She rolls her eyes. “Whatever. Soft porn,” she grumbles under her breath. She picks up the popcorn and puts it on the couch between us.

I snap up a handful and toss some in my mouth as the review of the last episode plays and the credits roll.

Adult language. Adult situations. Brief nudity.

That’s what the parental ratings warn us of. It is so, so wrong.

The first thing that pops up on the screen is a woman on a bed and a man is with her. With his head between her legs for a very long time. And now there’s nipples, lots and lots of nipples. And his head is still between her legs.

“Still trying to convince yourself it’s not high-budget porn?” I joke, trying to break the sexual tension that has sprung up again.

“Oh my god, this is so awkward,” she replies, eyes still on the screen. Her ears turn bright red, which is apparently her version of a blush. She looks so uncomfortable. 

I sip my beer and munch popcorn, ignoring the woody in my pants from imagining that it’s Quincy and me on the screen. When all else fails, insert humor. “Man, he’s really going at it, isn’t he?”

“Would you shut up?” She laughs and smacks my arm. “This is weird enough without you making jokes.”

“Sorry. I’ll just sit here quietly while we watch the non-porn.” She rolls her eyes but smiles anyway.

“Mother, reader, storyteller - ME Carter never set out to write books. But when a friend practically forced a copy of Twilight into her hands, the love of the written word she had lost as a child was rekindled. With a story always rolling around in her head, it should come as no surprise that she finally started putting them on paper. She lives in Texas with her four children, Mary, Elizabeth, Carter and Bug, who sadly was born long after her pen name was created, and will probably need extensive therapy because of it.”

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