Release Blitz Review: The Younger Man by Karina Halle

A reckless, obsessive soccer star. A forbidden affair that could ruin her career. The locker room has never been this steamy.

The Younger Man, an epic standalone forbidden age-gap sports romance, by New York Times bestselling author Karina Halle, is LIVE!

Book info:

Title:  The Younger Man
Author: Karina Halle
Genre: Adult contemporary sports romance
Release Date: December 11th, 2019
Source:  e-galley from Social Butterfly PR which did not influence my opinion
My rating:  5 stars


Synopsis:

Starting over was her only option.

Forty-years old and still reeling from a public and painful divorce, Thalia Blackwood is looking for a fresh start, somewhere far away from her upside down life. When she’s offered a new job as the sports therapist for a football (soccer) team, she jumps at the chance. This is just what she needs to leave the heartbreak and shame of Manchester behind, trading it in for the warmth and hopeful vibrancy of Madrid.

He was her only desire.

Twenty-three year old Alejo Albarado is rising up the ranks in his career. As the charming forward for the Real Madrid team, Alejo’s life revolves around women, parties, and being a tabloid darling, that is until the new sports therapist joins the team.

Their passion could not be ignored.

What starts out as a strictly professional relationship between Thalia and the young Spanish player, slowly evolves into something more. Much more.

Their relationship was forbidden.

But their combustible chemistry and simmering sexual tension can only go so far—should Thalia give into Alejo’s advances, she’s at risk of not only losing her job, but succumbing to a much younger man will drag her through the spotlight again.

Alejo might be worth that risk.

Unless he breaks her heart in the process.

The Younger Man is a full-length standalone romance. Characters from Love, in English make a cameo in this book, however The Younger Man is intended to be read as a STANDALONE. 

My Review:

This was so steamy!  I mean, WOW!  But also very emotional.  At one point at the end I definitely had tears running down my face.   As an older woman who has always been attracted to younger men, this story was one I was interested in right away. And it is a big part of the story, of course, everyone thinks Thalia is too old for Alejo, except for him.  He knows that they are right for each other.  As with most of the books I've read by this author so far, the story has lots of steamy sexy scenes all throughout.  Not just a couple times, not just the first time and then at the end when all is well, we get to enjoy many of the couples trysts.  Personally, I like that in a good romance novel, especially when they're written as well as Halle does.  But the age difference isn't really all that makes him hot, I mean, he's a professional soccer. player, what more do you need?  There's more to the story than just the romance even though, Thalia has to deal with friends, old and new, and who really is a friend, and who isn't.  She's also trying to figure out just who she is and what she wants in life, making this a really great story.

 

Download your copy today or read FREE in Kindle Unlimited!

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2rrQYDd

Amazon Worldwide: mybook.to/TheYoungerManKH

Add to Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2OhIyaE

Meet Karina:

Karina Halle is a former travel writer and music journalist and The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestselling author of The Pact, Love, in English, The Artists Trilogy, Dirty Angels and over 20 other wild and romantic reads. She lives on an island off the coast of British Columbia with her husband and her rescue pup, where she drinks a lot of wine, hikes a lot of trails and devours a lot of books.

Halle is represented by the Root Literary and is both self-published and published by Simon & Schuster and Hachette in North America and in the UK.

Connect with Karina:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorkarinahalle/  

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2vo9pq4  

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorhalle/  

Join her Reader Group: https://goo.gl/wpCBSS

Stay up to date with Karina by signing up for her newsletter here:

https://goo.gl/Ve4eCh

Blog Tour Review with Excerpt: The Lineup (Brentwood Baseball #3) by Meghan Quinn

 
 
Book info:

Title:  The Lineup
Author:  Meghan Quinn
Series:  Brentwood Baseball #3
Genre: Adult contemporary sports romance
Release Date:  December 5th, 2019
Source: E-galley from Candi Kane PR which did not influence my opinion
My rating:  5 stars

Add to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48323337-the-lineup

   

AVAILABLE NOW!  

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/35gDEjT  

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2XvCyhE  

Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/2CXVgFa  

Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/2Oss522

Blurb:  

Want to know a secret?

It's about that girl over there. Don’t look, but she’s the one in the power suit—with the long, black hair and the serious expression, the one I’m about to go on a date with . . .

Yeah, according to her, she “accidentally” donated an obscene amount of money to my charity — The Lineup — to win said date but I found out the truth. Miss. Button Up Blouse has a secret, passionate crush on me.

I didn’t know her name until two days ago, despite the friends we have in common.  

Was I oblivious? Probably.  

Was I blind to it? Definitely.

But I’m no fool, I see it now. The High Heel Harlot wants more than just a date with Jason Orson, she wants to be able to claim the best butt in baseball as hers.

Here's another secret . . . she has no idea I know. 

My Review:

Oh my gosh, at first I didn't remember Jason from the first book, but he is hilarious, and he started out the book making me laugh and gasp at his audacity and total maleness, well, very immature maleness.  And once again, I must point out that Meghan Quinn really knows how to make things hot!  There was one scene, where Jason described something to Dottie, without actually doing it, and I was fanning myself and extremely hot just reading it!  I loved the whole back and forth thing between the characters, the banter, the crankiness of Dottie, and how Jason handled it and gave his brand of snarky silliness right back.  Not to mention Jason's interactions with Knox and Carson, oh my gosh, those were some of the best!  Jason was really such a sweetie though, you had to adore him.  At times he was like a total teenage girl when it came to love and romance.  Like when he first got Dottie to go on a date with him, and they discussed about kids, and when he said their 6 kids, and she said there was no way she was having that many, he said they'd adopt them from all around the world, you know, like a Brad Pitt and. Angelina Jolie type of thing. But then he walked in to his friends and the first thing out of his mouth was that he was going to be a father!  I was sitting on my lunch break at work, only a cubicle wall away from someone else on their plan time, and I couldn't stop giggling at his antics.  

But as hot as Meghan Quinn can make a story, damn does she know how to make me cry!  There was the part that must be where she said she had to make it even worse for our characters and that's why it took her a bit longer to finish than planned.  And boy, I had tears running down my face at that part.  So much that my dog had to climb up and get in my face like he does when I'm crying and he is trying to comfort me. But I had to move him so I could finish reading, because I knew there was going to be a happy ending.  And then, well, let me just say there is a 10 year part that Quinn put in, and thinking back to the first book, because I haven't read the second one yet, I seriously screamed "NO!" when I read that line.  I'll let you read it yourself, but let's just say that soon after she was making me laugh and I was okay with the 10 year thing.  Because, that's just Jason, and we'll leave it at that.  

 

   

Excerpt:  

**JASON**

It isn’t in my nature to cry over burnt ham, but here I am, tearing up like a jackass, because the meal I’ve been reluctantly slaving over for the past four hours is two shades away from charred dust.

I had it all planned out. The timing was right, the recipes perfected, the table decorated with impeccably folded napkins that impersonated angelic swans, and polished silver that I scrubbed for an hour until I could see my balls in the reflection. Nothing says polished silverware like a spoon that gives you a clear upside-down view of your gonads.

But even with countless hours of preparing this feast, naked as the day I was born with only an apron to cover my man-loins, I still ended up with a scorched ham doused in fire extinguisher agent because somehow, the damn thing caught on fire.

Imagine this, a grown-ass man—no, not just a grown-ass man, but a man at the fresh age of twenty-eight, built like a linebacker with buttocks you can bounce rocks off . . . thanks to squatting for a living—dancing around the kitchen on his twinkle toes, arms flailing with pink and white potholders attached to his hands, screaming like a banshee, as flames light up the Jenn-Air double oven where the brown sugar and pineapple ham resided.

Are you seeing it?

Add the imagery of said man naked, dick and balls harmoniously bouncing in panic while the apron his “girlfriend” got him that says Eat my food, Lick my dick, unravels in the fit to unleash the fire extinguisher.

That was me . . . a minute ago.

Frantic, screaming, and all in all losing any last shred of my man card I had left.

It’s why I’m currently weeping like a nitwit into the flaps of my apron, wondering where I went wrong.

If we’re going to be honest with each other—and I would like to establish honesty with you—I’ll admit, I’ve always leaned toward the sensitive side. You know, the cuddly grizzly bear. Big and intimidating but a fucking gooey butterball heart on the inside.

Tell me a love story. I’ll listen the crap out of it.

The Bachelor? Why yes, that’s one of my favorite shows.

Do I smile when sharing a candlelit dinner with myself, followed by a nice long soak in a bubble bath while Enya—the fucking goddess of all voices—plays in the background? I sure as shit do.

But if some ignorant asswipe gets in my face on the ball field, stirring up trouble, I’m the first to lay a fist across his jaw and the first to be thrown out of a game.

And I’m not even sorry about it.

People are arriving in an hour. I’m vulnerable as fuck with my bare ass resting against the cold white-oak floor of my girl’s apartment, while a lonely tear streams down my freshly shaven cheek. I have no main dish, and the apartment smells like burnt rabbit turd.

Why am I in this hopeless predicament?

Because of one person.

One single person who flipped my life upside down.

A bombshell in a suit, a ravenous sex-fiend in the sheets, a classy and sophisticated tight-ass in the boardroom. She’s a knockout who’s always on my mind. She’s the girl you do things for, that you never thought you’d ever do . . .

Like cook a fancy-as-fuck four-course meal for her and her business associates while practicing interesting conversational starters to ensure the night flows smoothly.

Back in college, I might have been referred to as the mother hen of the boys. I might have cooked at least two meals a week for the guys in the loft, and yeah, I was the ironing wizard, the one everyone turned to, to get out the most stubborn wrinkles. The title has carried on over the years, but my creativity in the kitchen has dwindled with the lack of time, my ironing is now done by my apartment keeper once a week, and the fresh flowers scattered around my place? They’re more dead now than alive.

My point—I’m not the lady of the house I used to be. But I’ve been getting back into the swing of it.

So when my girl asked me to perform the impossible feat of an intimate dinner for four, I should have ordered in, tossed everything in serving dishes, and called it a night.

But nooooooooo, I had to attempt to be a goddamn hero and try to cook everything myself.

And all for what?

For one girl?

No. Not just one girl. The girl who owns my balls, who has a grip so tight on them that if she asked me to bellow out my ABCs in soprano while swirling my finger around my belly button . . . I would.

Who is this girl that has brought me to the brink of boo-boo smush bear insanity and caused me to weep like a schoolgirl in the corner of the apartment?

There’s only one lady with more than enough ovaries to buckle the knees of the mighty Jason Orson.

The one and only Dorothy “Dottie” Domico.

   

About the Author:  

USA Today Bestselling Author, wife, adoptive mother, and peanut butter lover. Author of romantic comedies and contemporary romance, Meghan Quinn brings readers the perfect combination of heart, humor, and heat in every book.

Connect with Meghan: 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meghanquinnauthor  

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7360513.Meghan_Quinn  

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authormeghanquinn/  

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorMegQuinn  

Website: http://authormeghanquinn.com  

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/meghan-quinn  

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2LitE4x

Release Blitz Review with Excerpt and Giveaway: Blindsided by Amy Daws

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Book info:

Title:  Blindsided
Author:  Amy Daws
Genre: Adult contemporary sports romance
Release Date:   November 21st, 2019
Cover Designer:  Amy Daws

Source:  E-galley from author which did not influence my opinion
My rating:  5 stars

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Synopsis:

What happens when an almost thirty-year-old virgin agrees to let her Scottish footballer best friend give her some lessons in seduction? 

Lots of banter, awkwardness, jealousy, and heat. 

Midfielder Maclay “Mac” Logan is a loud-mouthed, tattooed ginger content with focusing on football. But when an adorably-freckled seamstress comes barreling into his life, he finds Netflix-And-Bickering with her to be his new favorite pastime. 

Freya Cook is used to being the invisible woman with a needle and thread, offering cheeky punchlines as she helps dress London’s finest. She’s plus-sized in body and spirit, and other than her friendship with Mac, talking to the opposite sex is one skill she never mastered. 

However, after one innocent game of Never Have I Ever, Mac offers to play Love Coach for Freya. 

What neither of them see coming are the feelings that develop when the clothes come off. 

Now they’re both about to learn the biggest lesson of all: Don't fall in love with your best friend.

 

 

My Review:

Starting a new book by Amy Daws is like putting on your comfy flannel pj pants and curling up under a soft, warm blanket in your favorite cozy reading spot.  I know I'm going to laugh, and laugh I did throughout this entire book, the sexy scenes will leave me hot, and there's a very good chance I will be in tears at some point in the story, which I was full blown tears streaming down my face, sniffling too.

The funnies began with Freya and Mac's relationship and when they would be "in a fight".  And then it went on to Freya's fumbled conversation with the barista that she was kind of interested in.  Oh my gosh, and then the Never Have I Ever game, and learning what a dirty Sanchez is, and that's just eww, no, what is the point of that even?

Of course since I love the soccer players that this author writes, and all the family and friends, getting to spend so much time with the Harris clan and friends is part of what makes this like cuddling up with a good book, or going back to that bar where everyone knows your name.    Mac, I adored him!  And then there is all the similarities to Freya that I felt.  The way she felt that after her month with Mac, she'd probably never get to experience that again.  I'm in a stage of my life where I feel the same.  That I had a fun time when I was younger, and now it's all over and doesn't ever seem like it will change.  So when Mac pushed her away at the end because of things changing, even though he knew he loved her, that's when my tears started.  

But the way he went about winning her back at the end was perfect, I just think I'd love a relationship like that, with the arguing and being "in a fight" all the time.  

There was definitely a little bit that reminded me of one of my all time favorite books with one of my top book boyfriends, Nate Sawyer from Before Jamaica Lane by Samantha Young.  So I loved that.  I usually adore all the ways that this author fits in the different jargon and unique phrases used by the characters based on where they're from. But in this case, the bleddy bit didn't make a ton of sense, it bugged me too much.  And then there was some "ag" thing at the end that I also didn't really get.  None of that matters though, because I love, love, loved the book, the story, and also, I think we need Mac's sister's story next! 

  I wake the next morning to a rough tongue touching my nipple. A smile spreads across my face as I open my eyes and expect to find Freya. My face falls when I see it’s her fucking demon of a cat laving at my pec like it’s going to produce milk at any moment. 

 “Fuck off, you wee bastard!” I bellow and shove the animal off my chest. 

Hercules takes off down the hallway, and a snort echoes in the room. I turn my gaze to find Freya perched on a chair in the corner of her bedroom. She’s dressed in a long nightshirt, her red hair a wild mess of curls, and her makeup smudged like she was properly fucked last night. And she looks positively entertained. 

 “Did you just sit there and watch your cat violate me?” I croak, sitting up and rubbing my tender nipple. 

She giggles and steadies herself so as not to spill the two cups of coffee in her hands. “I came in to bring you a coffee, but Hercules looked like he was warming up to you, so I just sat down here to not interrupt. I had no idea he was going to lick your tit.” She bursts out laughing all over again. 

“You and I are in a fight then,” I reply gruffly, propping myself up on the headboard of her bed. “That was disturbing.” 

She nods, her face still tormented with poorly concealed laughter. “For us all.” 

Check out Amy's Facebook page for an awesome paperback giveaway!

 

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Amy Daws is an Amazon Top 25 bestselling author of sexy, contemporary romance novels. She enjoys writing love stories that take place in America, as well as across the pond in England. When Amy is not writing in a tire shop waiting room, she's watching Gilmore Girls, or singing karaoke in the living room with her daughter while Daddy smiles awkwardly from a distance. For more of Amy's work, visit: http://www.amydawsauthor.com 

 

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Cover Reveal: The Lineup (Brentwood Baseball #3) by Meghan Quinn

 

THE LINEUP (Brentwood Baseball #3) 

by Meghan Quinn  

Release Date: December 5th

 

Add to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48323337-the-lineup

   

PREORDER TODAY!!  

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/35gDEjT  

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2XvCyhE  

Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/2CXVgFa  

Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/2Oss522

 

Blurb:  

Want to know a secret?

It's about that girl over there. Don’t look, but she’s the one in the power suit—with the long, black hair and the serious expression, the one I’m about to go on a date with . . .

Yeah, according to her, she “accidentally” donated an obscene amount of money to my charity — The Lineup — to win said date but I found out the truth. Miss. Button Up Blouse has a secret, passionate crush on me.

I didn’t know her name until two days ago, despite the friends we have in common. Was I oblivious? Probably. Was I blind to it? Definitely.

But I’m no fool, I see it now. The High Heel Harlot wants more than just a date with Jason Orson, she wants to be able to claim the best butt in baseball as hers.

Here's another secret . . . she has no idea I know. 

   

About the Author:  

USA Today Bestselling Author, wife, adoptive mother, and peanut butter lover. Author of romantic comedies and contemporary romance, Meghan Quinn brings readers the perfect combination of heart, humor, and heat in every book.

Connect with Meghan:  

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meghanquinnauthor  

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7360513.Meghan_Quinn 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authormeghanquinn/  

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorMegQuinn  

Website: http://authormeghanquinn.com  

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/meghan-quinn  

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2LitE4x

Cover Reveal with Giveaway: Blindsided by Amy Daws

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Title: BLINDSIDED

Author: Amy Daws

Genre: Sports Romance

Release Date: November 21, 2019

Cover Designer: Amy Daws

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What happens when an almost thirty-year-old virgin agrees to let her Scottish footballer best friend give her some lessons in seduction? 

 Lots of banter, awkwardness, jealousy, and heat. 

Midfielder Maclay “Mac” Logan is a loud-mouthed, tattooed ginger content with focusing on football. But when an adorably-freckled seamstress comes barreling into his life, he finds Netflix-And-Bickering with her to be his new favorite pastime. 

Freya Cook is used to being the invisible woman with a needle and thread, offering cheeky punchlines as she helps dress London’s finest. She’s plus-sized in body and spirit, and other than her friendship with Mac, talking to the opposite sex is one skill she never mastered. 

However, after one innocent game of Never Have I Ever, Mac offers to play Love Coach for Freya. 

What neither of them see coming are the feelings that develop when the clothes come off. 

Now they’re both about to learn the biggest lesson of all: Don't fall in love with your best friend.

 

 

 

Check out Amy's Facebook page for an awesome Amazon gift card giveaway! 

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Amy Daws is an Amazon Top 25 bestselling author of sexy, contemporary romance novels. She enjoys writing love stories that take place in America, as well as across the pond in England. When Amy is not writing in a tire shop waiting room, she's watching Gilmore Girls, or singing karaoke in the living room with her daughter while Daddy smiles awkwardly from a distance. For more of Amy's work, visit: http://www.amydawsauthor.com 

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