23 May 2013

Picture Perfect New Cover Reveal




ABOUT PICTURE PERFECT:
Fashion design major Cat Mitchell has a closet full of gorgeous clothes - and not a single thing fits. After two years of runway modeling for easy cash, an accident shattered her lower leg bone and her self-esteem in just one swift fall. Ten months of no exercise, prescription steroids, comfort eating and yoga pants meant returning to campus as a size twelve instead of her former size two. When her gorgeous long-time friend with benefits sees her for the first time after her accident and snubs her in front of all her friends, Cat’s self-image hits rock bottom. Her sorority sisters all insist that she looks gorgeous, but all Cat sees is the roll of her stomach when she sits down, or the dimpling at the back of her thighs that wasn't there last year. Cat’s therapist prescribes something radical to stop the downward spiral - nude modeling for a nearby college's human form drawing classes. When Cat faces her fears and bares it all for the class, she realizes that she's posing naked in front the most gorgeous, buffest guy she's ever seen in her life. He asks her out after the class, and after one steamy night together, Cat's absolutely smitten.
Nate’s pretty close to perfect – he takes Cat rock climbing when he discovers that it makes her feel strong and becomes a great chef after he learns that the perfect pesto sauce makes her swoon. Cat starts to feel like her old self again - confident and beautiful - as long as Nate's around. Even when he discourages her from entering the Real Woman Project, a design competition for plus-sized apparel, she reasons that he's just trying to prevent old body image wounds from splitting wide open again. But when Cat goes home with Nate for Thanksgiving, she discovers something shocking from his recent past that proves that he hasn’t always been so encouraging of women of all shapes and sizes. Cat has no idea what to think, but she does know one thing - this might destroy their relationship before it's even had a chance to get off the ground.
Before Cat can figure out whether the real Nate is the sensitive, adoring guy she fell in love with, or an undercover asshole, she'll have to finally feel comfortable in her own skin - even if it means leaving him forever.
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ABOUT ALESSANDRA THOMAS:
Alessandra Thomas is a New Adult writer who swears she was in her twenties yesterday. Since she's not, she spends her time looking back on her college years fondly, and writing sexy stories about guys and
girls falling in love and really living life for the first time. When she's not writing, you can find her with a spoonful of ice cream in one hand and the newest New Adult release in the other.
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Alessandra Thomas Subject to Change Cover Reveal



ABOUT SUBJECT TO CHANGE:
Joey made her dad a deathbed promise that she would become a doctor, and dedicate herself to fighting the very cancer that took his life. There’s just one problem -three years into her pre-med classes, she's struggling to stay on top of the curve, let alone prove she's dazzling enough to earn a spot in an Ivy League medical school. In a Hail Mary move, she throws a basic Business 101 class into her semester schedule, banking on a perfect score to boost her GPA.
That is, until she’s paired for a final project with Hawk, the bartending, motorbike-riding, gorgeously bedheaded loser who falls asleep in class and communicates in one-word sentences.
Hawk does whatever he wants, whenever he wants, which sets Joey on edge – in every possible way. As they get to know each other, her urge to scream at him is curbed only by her fantasies of tearing his clothes off. Soon those fantasies become reality, and Joey realizes Hawk makes her feel more fully herself than any of the rich boys her mother and sorority sisters approve of.
But the promise to her father hangs over her head, and the harder Joey tries to succeed in her chosen career, the faster everything falls into a hopeless tailspin of bad grades, broken promises and guilt. It doesn't help to have Hawk sitting like a devil on her shoulder, insisting she should be free to live however she wants to live - like he does.
The only thing Joey knows is that her neatly organized life is crushing her - and Hawk's bad attitude might be the only thing that can save her.


ABOUT ALESSANDRA THOMAS:
Alessandra Thomas is a New Adult writer who swears she was in her twenties yesterday. Since she's not, she spends her time looking back on her college years fondly, and writing sexy stories about guys and
girls falling in love and really living life for the first time. When she's not writing, you can find her with a spoonful of ice cream in one hand and the newest New Adult release in the other.
 Add Subject to Change on: Goodreads 

Allure (Spiral of Bliss #2) by Nina Lane

Allure (Spiral of Bliss, #2)

Blurb

After lies and betrayal almost destroy their marriage, Dean and Olivia West reignite their blissful passion. The medieval history professor and his lovely wife are determined to fix their mistakes, and Liv’s unexpected pregnancy intensifies their desire to fall madly in love all over again.

Then a family crisis forces Dean back into a feud with his parents and siblings, dredging up guilt over a painful family secret. Dean fights to shield Liv from the hostility, but for the first time, Liv resists her white knight’s defense. Her newfound resolve clashes with Dean’s desperate need to protect her.

Liv and Dean have battled obstacles together before, but bitter family conflicts now endanger their fragile intimacy. And when Dean’s career is suddenly threatened, he and Liv must struggle with events that could damage them in ways they had never imagined.

My Review

5 Beautiful Stars!!

In that place of us, Liv and Dean, love has its own poetry and language. Allure, quatrefoil, fleur-de-lis. Right here. PR9199.3 R5115 Y68. My white knight. I’m yours. Give me a kiss. Pie love you. I remember. Professor. Beauty.

Considering how much I loved Arouse, I had very high expectations for this book. And I am happy to say that this book did not disappoint. I never thought I could fall more in love with Dean and Liv's story but I did. This book delivered on all points--great main characters, steam, angst and of course, just overall enjoyment and then some.

Nina Lane, in my opinion, outdid herself in this book. It was raw, real, emotional, gripping, beautiful, tragic, heartbreaking. Some things hit too close to home, which is probably one of the reasons I loved it since I was able to really connect with it on a very personal level.

Our relationship, our love, cannot and will never be perfect. It will, however, always belong only to us in all its flawed, intense beauty. Perfect in its very imperfection.

Allure starts off hot. Real hot with Dean and Liv going at it in a coat closet. We knew that they separated briefly for three weeks and they are just getting back together and feeling each other out. You can feel the underlying tension between them, sexual or otherwise. Liv is pregnant and Dean is on the cusp of a career breakthrough but their new found togetherness is tested when Dean had to go back home to California for a family emergency and an accusation at work threatens Dean's career.

The Main Characters and the Story...

I've lost count how many times this guy had me melting. Dean West, gawd, there are no words to describe how wonderful he is in this book. He had me swooning from the first page until the last. And seriously, every time he calls Liv, Beauty, I melt. His love for Liv is so palpable and so fierce, it jumps off the page. He's overprotective but somehow I get his reasons for it.

Liv, I love her as much I love Dean. They're perfect for each other really. In the first book, her insecurities are almost too painful too read but here, she's definitely coming to her own as a woman, as a wife and more importantly as an equal partner to Dean. And I cannot wait for book three because I feel like Liv is going to seriously kick ass--or more accurately, kick someone's ass in that book. Yes, I'm talking about you Maggie.

Both characters are flawed, both with their own insecurities and fears but Dean and Liv are two of the strongest characters I've come across in a while. They have their moment of suspicion and doubt but all married spouses go through this at one point or another. This is one of the reasons why I love this book. It depicts very real situations and emotions married couples go through.

My heart broke for them when they lost the baby and it didn't feel contrived. I already had a sinking suspicion that it will happen but when it did, I seriously cried with them and was rooting for them to have that but I guess it wasn't meant to be yet.

This review would not be complete without mentioning the writing on this book. Let me tell you, the writing is phenomenal. I loved how Nina Lane was able to seamlessly switch from Dean's POV to Liv with the flashbacks. And the prose is just beautiful. I know. I sound like a broken record but it is what it is. Beautiful.

Final Thoughts

I cannot wait for Awaken to be release. I know something big is going to happen with the Maggie situation. I fear for Dean and Liv but I also cannot wait for them to face this together. Someone needs to seriously kick Maggie's ass. Seriously, the girl just pissed me off! I praying for some comeuppance coming her way in the third book. What she did with Liv in the first book and then Dean here is just unforgivable. Grr!

I'll end this review with some of my favorite quotes from the book...

“Girlfriend.” I rested my forehead against his chest. “I guess.” “Not the best word, but it’ll do in public.” He kissed my temple. “In private, you can just be my beauty.”

“You don’t need anyone to fix you, Olivia, least of all me.” Dean pulled me closer, his eyes never leaving mine. “Because you’re not broken.”

“Thanks for waiting,” I whispered. “My beauty,” he said, “I’d wait for you forever.”

He nodded. “And you told me you didn’t have a key.” “I think I do.” “What is it?” “You.”

“I was so glad you asked me.” I rub my hand over his leg. “I had a big crush on you.” “I know.” I raise an eyebrow. “You know?” “Why else would you knock the other girls aside whenever I walked in?” Dean looks rather pleased with himself. My mouth drops open. A flush scorches my cheeks. “I did not knock the—”
“You sure did. And you think I didn’t notice the chocolates or the extra cookie you’d put on my plate? Or the time you gave me a box of shortbread and told me it was a free sample?”

“No doubt about it, beauty.” I press my face against her sweet-smelling hair. “You’ll always be my allure.”

“Feel that?” he asked. “You’re the first woman who’s ever made my heart beat like that. You’re the first woman I’ve ever wanted to spend all my time with, the only one who could convince me to start a new life. You’re the first woman who’s ever made me genuinely happy. Who makes me glad to be alive, who makes me burn hotter than fire. You’re the first woman who’s ever made me afraid.”

“You know I’m not much of a romantic.” He looks at me. “But that semester, even I had to admit it was more than just a coincidence.” “What was?”
“The fact that I was studying the perfect harmony of the stars and planets at the exact same time I was falling in love with you.”





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