REVIEW: DOUBLE CLICK by LISA BECKER

Series:
Category/Genre: Women's Fiction 
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: 3/27/13
Format: eARC
Pages: 308
Source: Received from author for review

Fans of the romantic hit Click: An Online Love Story will enjoy another voyeuristic dive into the lives of Renee, Shelley, Ashley, Mark and Ethan, as Double Click picks up with their lives six months later. Are Renee and Ethan soul mates? Does Mark ever go on a date? Has Shelley run out of sexual conquests in Los Angeles? Will Ashley's judgmental nature sabotage her budding relationship? Through a marriage proposal, wedding, new baby and unexpected love twist, Double Click answers these questions and more. Readers will continue to cheer, laugh, cry and cringe following the email exploits of Renee and friends.

I read Click: An Online Story (my review) back in 2011, and really adored the story, characters, and format. When the author asked me about reviewing the follow-up, Double Click, I was so excited to find out what happened next.

I think I had forgotten how much I truly enjoyed Click, and I found myself falling right back into these characters' lives. I loved how the story progressed with each new relationship, engagement, marriage, moves, and birth. I felt like I new Renee, Shelley, Ashley, Ethan, Finlay and the new addition to the gang. I know I'm being vague, but given the story format and the fact that I don't want to spoil the story, it is hard for me to go into many details of what happens in Double Click.

Besides the fact that I loved the characters, what truly makes this series stand out is the format. This series is a story told in emails. I personally love stories told in email or journal, so this worked for me. I found myself flying through Double Click, and could have easily finished this in one sitting if not for life getting in the way.

I was recently inducted into a group of online friends who exchange thoughts/wants/recommendations/rants solely through email. I think that gave me an added appreciation for a story told through emails. This group of mine, we/they are a group of very different personalities, tastes and temperament. And I can say with assurance that yes, you can truly "know" a person/group through the simple exchange of an email, or in our case, approximately fifty or so emails a day.

I adore Click and Double Click. Any story that makes me laugh constantly, tear up occasionally, and leaves me feeling as if I've gained a few friends, is one that I can whole-heartedly recommend.


Favorite Quote:

  It reminds me of something I heard once.
 Can't recall if it was a comedian or a friend, but it was something about how we women hide our bra and underpants under our clothes when we go to the gynecologist's office because we don't want the doctor to see them, and how ironic that is, since that doctor is going to be up in our privates -- as you call them -- checking it all out anyway. HA!
  Speaking of which, I'll be hitting the exam table tomorrow for my annual exam. TMI? ;)  ~eARC, 76%

Purchase Double Click at:

Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble

About the author:
Lisa Becker had endured her share of hilarious and heinous cyber dates, many of which inspired Click: An Online Love Story and Double Click. She is now happily married to a wonderful man she met online and lives in Manhattan Beach with him and their two daughters. So, if it happened for her, there’s hope for you!

Connect with Lisa at Facebook

 

EXCERPT AND GIVEAWAY: THE DO OVER by A.L. ZAUN

I'm happy to be able to share an excerpt and giveaway of

The Do Over, by A.L. Zaun . This is a book that I am suuuuper excited to get started on, and trust me, you will be too after reading the excerpt! This event was organized by AToMR Tours.

 

 

 

Category/Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: 5/20/13

 

Life doesn't look like it's supposed to for Daniela, aka Dani. After a painful break-up with Rick, Dani decides she doesn't want to deal with the hassles of relationship.

After almost two years, Dani's friends stage an intervention, forcing her out of her holding pattern and back into the real world of dating.

Liam, a down to earth firefighter, may be just the person to show her she’s still worth something. Their chemistry is instant and electric. But will Dani be able to trust her patched-up heart with him?

And what will happen when Rick decides he’ll go to any lengths to get her back?

 

EXCERPT

“What about my kiss?” She pouted with a hand on her hip.  

My eyes were trained on her lips. They were begging for my attention, and I wanted to give it to them. 

“Baby…” I took a deep breath. “If I kiss you now, I won’t be able to stop.”  

I wanted her. There was no doubt about it. She drove me insane and turned me on. There was nothing more that I wanted than to be with her. From the moment I saw her until probably the day I took my last breath, my desire would burn for her. 

She moved toward me with an exotic look in her eyes, almost like a tiger about to catch her prey. “I want my hello kiss.”  

My girl liked playing with fire. Good thing that was my specialty.  

“I warned you,” I said, keeping my eyes focused on hers.  

I could feel my heart beating faster in my chest. I had to clear my head. I could just kiss her hello. I could do this. Although I couldn’t stop thinking about the other night, feeling her squirming under my touch, I reminded myself that she deserved our first time to be special.  

Licking her lips, she smiled and let out a sexy laugh.  

I was a goner.

Ummm....yeah. The Do Over and I are going to be good friends. :-)

 

 

Purchase The Do Over at:

 

 

 

 

GIVEAWAY

I have one ecopy of The Do Over to give away. The book will be gifted via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords

Must be 17+ years of age.

 

 

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About the author:
A.L. Zaun graduated from Florida International University with a degree in English Literature a long time ago. A degree she didn’t use at all in her professional endeavors. She loves to read, write and take pictures. She walks around with her camera, and most importantly she has her e-reader available at all times. Healthcare Management by day, Mommy in the evening and most nights, you can find her sitting in front of her laptop with a bottle of Diet Pepsi, bringing the voices in her head to life on the pages of her debut novel, The Do Over.

Connect with A.L. at:
Website  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  GoodReads

 

TEASER TUESDAY: EMANCIPATING ANDIE

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along, just do as following:

·Grab your current read
·Open to a random page
·Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
·Be careful not to include any spoilers so as not to ruin the book for others.

Make sure to share the title and the author so other TT participants can add the book to their TBR piles.

Series: n/a
Category/Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: 4/5/13

Ever since the one time Andie Weber threw caution to the wind - and paid the price for it - she’s learned that it’s safer and smarter to live life playing by the rules. Now she’s got a great apartment, a steady job, and a wonderful boyfriend in Colin; he’s sweet, stable, and essentially perfect – except maybe for the fact that his best friend is Chase.

Chase McGuire lives his carefree, unstructured life strictly for himself. Dripping sarcasm and oozing wit, he refuses to censor his feelings or opinions for anyone, making no apologies for either and wearing his abrasiveness like a badge of honor. No one has ever gotten under Andie’s skin the way Chase does – and vice versa.

So when Andie and Chase find themselves forced to take a two-day road trip together, they are already dreading an inevitable all-out war. But as the trip progresses, and the undeniable friction that has always defined their relationship slowly begins to wear away their preconceived notions of each other, Andie and Chase discover they both have a lot to learn about life, courage, happiness, and the age-old battle between logic and love.

 

 

 

 My Teaser ~

    He tilted his head, and Andie felt like he was analyzing her. Like he could see right through her. Like she was completely exposed beneath his stare. There was a tiny flicker of panic in her chest, telling her to turn away. To pull back.

  To shield herself.

  But she fought the urge, watching him watch her, and much to her surprise, the tiny warning faded, and in its wake came a thrill that ran through her, making her heart beat a bit faster in her chest.

  It made no sense, but sitting there with him, letting hi pull her apart and piece her back together, felt strangely empowering.

"You look new right now," he finally said.

 "New?"

  He nodded. "Like you just discovered yourself."  ~eARC, 33%

 

 

 

I know my teaser is way to long, but I can't help myself. Be sure to check out my review of Emancipating Andie on 5/23

 

 

Purchase Emancipating Andie at:

Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble

 

GIVEAWAY: THE LAST BOYFRIEND by J.S. COOPER

 

I'm so happy to be able to bring this giveaway to you all.

The Last Boyfriend (Forever Love #1) is burning up the Amazon charts, and author J.S. Cooper is offering one of you a copy!

Series: Forever Love #1
Category/Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
Publisher: J.S. Cooper
Publication Date: 5/5/13

Lucky Morgan has had her share of heartbreak. She is devastated when her boyfriend dumps her after sleeping with him and she vows to herself that she won't be used again. She decides that the next guy she dates and sleeps with, will be her one true love.

Zane Beaumont is the mysterious and snooty guy that comes into her diner every Friday night with a different girl. He's the type of guy she's learned to avoid: carefree, fast, handsome, rich, and sarcastic. Unfortunately, she can't stop thinking about the devilish gleam in his eyes.

When Lucky's car breaks down one night after a party, it is Zane who comes to her rescue. As Zane attempts to sweep Lucky off of her feet, she soon realizes that nothing is as it seems and that Zane may very well be the guy for whom she changes the rules. That is until she meets Braydon.

 

 

 

 GOOD LUCK!

 

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REVIEW: A WEDDING IN SPRINGTIME (MARRIAGE MART #1) by AMANDA FORESTER

Series: Marriage Mart #1
Genre: Historical Romance
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication Date: 5/7/13
Format: ARC
Pages: 391
Source: Received from publisher for review

Five minutes into Miss Eugenia Talbot's presentation at court, notorious rogue Mr. William Grant made her laugh, ruining her debut. To hush up the scandal, Eugenia's aunt hires a matchmaker to quickly find a suitor— anyone except the infamous William Grant—to help restore Eugenia's reputation. But amiable Eugenia shows a disturbing tendency to follow her heart, and is again caught in the company of notorious Grant. When a traitor creeps closer, threatening to ruin more than just Eugenia's reputation, her kindheartedness may be her ultimate undoing...

 




I don't read a lot of historical romance anymore, but books like A Wedding in Springtime make me question that. I'll admit, I fell in love with this cover, and that played a huge part in my decision to take it for review. I'm so happy I did read A Wedding in Springtime, because I truly enjoyed this story.

A Wedding in Springtime is essentially the story of "ruined" Genie Talbot and the man who made her laugh in front of the Queen, William Grant. The chemistry between them is apparent from the beginning, and I loved that they were continually drawn to each other, despite their best efforts. Genie needs a husband to save her from the scandal, and quickly. Grant is an avowed bachelor, and the most coveted single man in England. Of course, this means that the two are truly meant to be together, but the road them seeing this does not run smoothly, though it is humorous.

Though A Wedding in Springtime is about Genie and Grant, there are quite a few secondary characters that make up the story. There's Genie's family, including her distant uncle, bossy aunt, and meek cousin. We also have the Marchfords, made up of the Duchess, who may be the only woman powerful enough to find Genie a suitable husband, the Duke who is Grant's best friend and engaged to Genie's husband. And I can't forget Miss Penelope Rose, who may soon enter spinsterhood, but is an accomplished matchmaker. I think she just may have a story coming her way, as does Marchford.

I like a humorous historical romance, and A Wedding in Springtime delivered. The dialogue between the characters, particularly Genie, Grant, and Marchford. The easy and teasing comraderie between the friends made for a lot of fun moments, as did the teasing and flirting between Genie and Grant.

I was a little worried that too many characters and secondary plotlines were being brought into the story. There was a plotline about spies and the war between England and France, as well as a bit about Genie's gambling brother. I did find myself losing a bit of interest during the middle of the story. However, when these secondary stories began pulling together and incorporating into the main plot, everything began to fill in nicely and the overall story became much more exciting.

I truly enjoyed A Wedding in Springtime. I found the story to be sweet, engaging, romantic, and fun! I will definitely be reading book two in the Marriage Mart series, A Midsummer Bride.


Favorite Quote:

    Marchford studied him for a moment, as if noticing him for the first time. "I fear, dear chap, you are in love."
  "Do you really think so?"
  "I cannot find any other reasonable explanation. You have bought a special license, sworn off drinking, lost control of your emotions on a public street, and most disturbing of all -- done all this before noon. I would say the evidence leads me to no other conclusion."  ~ARC, pg.330

Purchase A Wedding in Springtime at:

Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Book Depository

About the author:
Amanda Forester holds a PhD in clinical psychology and a Masters degree in theology. As a psychologist, she has worked as a clinical researcher and a university instructor (what they call you when they don’t want to give you tenure). None of which has anything to do with writing romance novels. After trying for many years to stop the internal storylines floating around her head, she finally gave up and wrote one down. Now when she is caught daydreaming and talking to herself she can just say, “I’m plotting a scene for my next novel,” which sounds so much better than, “I’m hallucinating and responding to internal stimuli.”

Amanda lives in the Pacific Northwest with her officer and a gentleman husband and their two remarkably active, naturally brilliant children. They share their home with two fiendishly destructive cats and one lazy dog.

Connect with Amanda at her website 
   

COVER REVEAL: ROMANCING THE BOOKWORM by KATE EVANGELISTA

I have a really cute cover reveal to share with you today! Kate Evangelista and Omnific Publishing are revealing the cover of Romancing the Bookworm. The reveal was organized by AToMR Tours.

 

 

Publisher: Omnific Publishing

Genre: Romance

Age Group: New Adult

Expected release date: July 9, 2013

 

 

  Sometimes, even the best-laid plans can unravel. It's spring break, and Tamara Winters would rather stay on campus and read romance novels than flaunt her size-fourteen body on a beach. But her best friend, Ronni, has other ideas. Against her wishes, Tamara is whisked away to picturesque Maverick Bay, where she's wrangled into waiting tables with Ronni at the Shore Shack for its busy week leading to Maverick's Surf Invitational. There she meets fellow schoolmate Xavier Solomon, the Invitational's organizer and campus womanizer by reputation. From the moment Tamara sees him emerging from the waves like a hero in of one of her romance novels, all she wants to do is run away from the feelings he inspires in her. Little does she know Xavier has been watching her for weeks now. In fact, after failed attempts at asking her out on campus, he's concocted a crazy plan: fabricating romantic situations straight out of her favorite books. Xavier quickly realizes that if Tamara gets a whiff of his designs, he might as well spell CREEPER across his forehead. Yet as they grow closer, he's convinced it's a risk worth taking. What he hasn't planned on, of course, is his drug-addicted, alcoholic stepbrother, who decides to join the fun and put a wrench in Xavier’s scheme. Spring break is proving hotter than Tamara expected. Will her romance novels be able to compete?

About the Author
When Kate Evangelista was told she had a knack for writing stories, she did the next best thing: entered medical school. After realizing she wasn't going to be the next Doogie Howser, M.D., Kate wandered into the Literature department of her university and never looked back. Today, she is in possession of a piece of paper that says to the world she owns a Literature degree. To make matters worse, she took Master's courses in creative writing. In the end, she realized to be a writer, none of what she had mattered. What really mattered? Writing. Plain and simple, honest to God, sitting in front of her computer, writing. Today, she has four completed Young Adult novels.

Kate Evangelista | Twitter

 

 

EXCERPT AND GIVEAWAY: TRAGIC (ROOK AND RONIN #1) by J.A. HUSS

I have a great book to share with you today, Tragic: Rook and Ronin #1, by J.A. Huss. This seems like a really good story and I loved the excerpt. And there's a giveaway!

Check it out...

TRAGIC: Rook and Ronin, #1

By J. A. Huss
New Adult Contemporary Romance
Published May 15, 2013
Science Future Press

Rook Walsh is TRAGIC

Because life so far – just sucks. Some girls get parents. Rook got the foster care system. Some girls get Prince Charming. Rook got an abusive frog. Some girls get lucky…

Rook got a second chance.

And she took it. Because when fate throws you a bone – you grab it with both hands and run.

Antoine Chaput knows the minute he spies Rook in his photography studio that she’s got The Look. The dark and desperate look he must have to land the exclusive TRAGIC media contract.

Rook is paired up with top model, Ronin, and he’s everything her abusive ex-boyfriend wasn’t. Patient, gentle, happy, attentive, and sexy! He knows exactly what to do to make Rook blush for Antoine’s camera.

Rook’s luck changes in an instant and suddenly she’s the darling of the modeling world. It’s a dream job to go with a dream guy and all she has to do is look pretty and follow directions. But there’s always a price to pay – and Rook is about to get the bill.

New Adult Contemporary Romance *Mature Content* Recommended for ages 17+ due to sexual situations and language usage

**Does contain strong language

I gather up all my clothes and stick them in the stackable washer in the closet just off the bedroom. The breeze caresses my naked limbs and gives me the chills, but I enjoy it. The goose bumps travel up my arms and spread out to my whole body. I shiver for a second and then head to the kitchen.

And stop dead in the living room.

Ronin fucking Flynn is sleeping on the couch.

What is he doing here? My eyes track to the front door and I suppose it's my fault, I left it open. There's nothing but a screen door between this apartment and the terrace. My gaze wanders back to the sleeping man. He's lying on his stomach, his one arm tucked underneath him, the other falling over the edge of the cushion, and he's shirtless.

And then I realize I'm naked.

"Shit!"

He stirs and I make a break for the bedroom. It's one thing to let him see me naked half hidden in darkness and quite another to be fully illuminated by the bright morning sunshine. I wrangle the sheet around my body and then head back to the living room, wistfully looking at the washer that contains every single article of clothing I own.

"Ronin!" I say loudly.

Nothing except a half-muffled snore from him. Lord, this man has the most perfectly chiseled and muscular back I've ever seen. Both hands pull up and go under his face, like he's blocking out the sunlight, and this gives me the perfect opportunity to study his flexing biceps. The muscles are thick and hard-looking near his shoulders. They curve down, dip into a little valley, and then climb once again.

I lean down and smell him.

"Why are you sniffing me?" he asks groggily.

"Uh—" Because you smell delicious, the inner Rook says. But luckily the outer Rook says, "I'm checking to see if you're drunk. Why are you sleeping on my couch?"

He peeks up, opening one eye in my direction, squints, and then croaks out some words. "I love your outfit." He grins, winks, and then drops his head back down into his arms.

"Are you leaving?" I ask, frustrated and confused at the same time. "I mean, why are you here?"

"I told you I'd come back with dinner. But when I got here, the lights were on and you were in bed. I only sat down for a second to think up a rational excuse to wake you up, but I guess I fell asleep." He raises his head again, grins sheepishly, and then rolls over on his back, tucks his hands behind his neck, and flashes his perfect body at me as he closes his eyes, probably confident that I'll be checking him out.

I do check him out. It's quite hard not to notice that he's got the perfect six-pack abs and that absolutely adorable fuzzy happy trail you see on a shirtless designer jeans model. Hmmmm… maybe he is that model? "You have no shirt on."

Yes, after all that gawking, I finally manage the obvious.

He opens the one eye to look at me again. "Neither do you."

Purchase your copy

  Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo.

J. A. Huss likes to write new adult books that make you think and keep you guessing. Her favorite genre to read is space opera, but since practically no one reads those books, she writes new adult science fiction, paranormal romance, contemporary romance, urban fantasy, and books about Junco (who refuses to be saddled with a label).

She has an undergraduate degree in horses, (yes, really–Thank you, Colorado State University) and a master’s degree in forensic toxicology from the University of Florida. She used to have a job driving around Colorado doing pretty much nothing but shooting the breeze with farmers, but now she just writes, runs the New Adult Addiction and Clean Teen Reads Book Blogs, and runs an online science classroom for homeschoolers.

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