Category: 1

Review and Contest: Come Back to Me by Julia Rachel Barrett 12/20/2011

+Giveaway

Sometimes the safest path is to keep people at a distance…especially men. Cara’s life has been one nightmare after another. Abused as a child and neglected by her parents, she’s quick to blame herself for every cruel thing that happens to her. And then there’s James, the only man capable of making her forget her misgivings and learn to love again. James, a young doctor in training, is aware of Cara’s history. He’s determined to break through her barriers and build a life with her…and fails. Cara runs away in an attempt to reinvent herself and James fears he’s lost her for good. When she falls into the hands of a drug dealer and mob boss, life as they know it is about to get a whole lot worse. Can their love withstand the demons of her past and present?

Romance - novel
TBR reviewer: B.H.

Review

This was a dark tale with a spark of light known as James.

James is a golden character. He finds Cara after she’s been mistreated at the phyciatic hospital and is the only one who cares. His heart was big and I really liked him.

Cara is complicated to say the least and in a horrid situation. She was abused by her neighboor, mistreated by her parents, and throughout the book every man seemed to be out to hurt her. She pulled at my heart strings and more than once I shed tears for such a strong character. Ms. Barrett did an amazing job writing her.

These two eventually develop into a relationship and it’s pure love. Of course, with Cara’s messed up luck she’d brutalized by a person she never thought to fear. Come Back To Me was an emotional rollercoaster. I couldn’t stop reading and really hoped Cara and James would find some semblance of a happy ending.

Now for the 4 star rating instead of five. Two characters – Micah and Jerry. They were well written. The entire sequence with them was very well done but why the hell did Cara get involved with Micah? It made no sense. So what if this guy looks like her love James. She goes and becomes his submissive play thing. This just did not work for me and really twisted Cara’s character and gave the book a sour note.

The ending is a bit rushed where she and James reunite. I thought there would be more of an overflow of emotion or a cheerful squeal from the heart but that didn’t happen. I still very much enjoyed this book.

Excerpt

Cara didn't know whether to dance, laugh, sing or simply yell at the top of her lungs, “James Mackie just fucked my brains out!”She did none of those things. Instead, she turned towards him. He slept on his back, his breathing quiet, even, peaceful. Unable to resist, Cara put her lips on him. She started at his forehead, kissing her way down his face, over his closed eyes,
kissing the tip of his nose, paying special attention to his soft and sensual lips, trailing light butterfly kisses along the firm line of his jaw, rubbing her lips over his delightful, rough, day-old beard.

Cara could tell he was awake now because the corners of his mouth turned up. He managed to keep his eyes closed as she continued her ministrations, nibbling lightly on the tendons of his neck and the muscles of his shoulder. She knew he had come fully awake when the sheet began to tent above his groin, as she nibbled and licked her way down to his small, hard bud of a nipple and pressed her warm mouth against it, tugging on it with her teeth and rolling it with her tongue, while her fingers explored other regions. James had a body to die for.
And he knew exactly how to use it.

When they'd walked back to her apartment, Cara had no idea she would respond to him
the way she had. She'd surprised herself. Somehow, without even realizing it, over the past two years it seemed as if she'd healed. She'd just needed the right person to bring it to her attention, a person like James, only James.

Head spinning, she found herself flipped on her back, his grinning face looming over her. Cara laughed.

“Are you too sore?” he asked, concern evident in his low voice, “because I want to fuck
you right now. But we can wait awhile. There are other ways.” He slid his erection along the inside of her thigh, spreading her legs.

Cara opened her legs wider and wrapped her calves around his, inviting him in. “I'm sore,” she replied with a smile. “In a good way.”

Purchase Here

Contest

Ms. Barrett is giving away a paperback copy to one lucky winner! Comment below to enter. Contest ends December 23rd.

3 Comments

Review: In Search of Lucy by Lia Fairchild 08/18/2011

4 Comments

+Giveaway

Genre: Romance - Drama
Ebook + Print - Novel
TBR reviewer: Cathy
AUTHOR WEBSITE

Blurb

Thirty-year-old Lucy Lang is lost. She spent most of her young life sacrificing her own needs to care for her half-sister and deal with their alcoholic mother. Now abandoned by both of them, Lucy struggles to find her own purpose in life; a struggle that is laden with wretched memories and regret. With no family, no relationships and an unfulfilling job Lucy becomes depressed, cynical and self-destructive. At times she’d even contemplated suicide as the only way out.

When she is just about to hit rock bottom, Lucy finds out that her sister is ill and needs a kidney transplant. Lucy is found to be the only match and has no choice but to live, trapped in a lonely existence to save her sister’s life. And, she must battle with her emotions; her bitter resentment for her sister’s heartless departure and her longing to be needed again by the person she once loved most in the world. With the help of new found friends, Benny and Anne, and a struggling romance, Lucy sets out on a journey to reunite with her sister and search for the answers she needs to find her own identity.

Review

This is a story of a young woman, Lucy, who has reached stalemate in her life: at a tender age, the family dynamic is shattered by the death of her stepfather. Her mother reacts badly by turning to one-night stands and alcohol. Lucy becomes the lynchpin of the family having to be mother to her half-sister and having to control the downward spiral her own mother is pursuing. Lucy has to grow up way before her time and sacrifice not only her college education, but her own childhood and teen years. Eventually, her mother decides she cannot cope with life as it is and abandons them and her half-sister opts for a life with her boyfriend.

It is 6 years before the two are to meet again. Lucy discovers she could be the one person to save the life of her beloved, now seriously ill half-sister. But the life of sacrifice has made Lucy disillusioned, unmotivated, frustrated, distrustful and somewhat insular – can she break through these negative emotions and head towards a reunion with her sister and her family?

This was a poignant, moving story and well-crafted by the author. Lucy’s unhappy years are never over-dramatised – you are doused with just the right amount of emotion. She’s easy to like without feeling pathetically sorry for her, despite the wall of self-preservation she has built around her. The author has created a group of friendly and sympathetic characters around her: one of them with serious romantic intentions in mind.

There is a little of Lucy in all of us…..I’m not talking about her train-wrecked family or seriously ill sister, but we all reach a stage somewhere along our life’s journey when we wonder, is this it, is there really nothing else and how can I kick-start my life? I couldn’t wait to get to the end of this book and discover if Lucy finds a sense of purpose, if she manages to reclaim her family and of course, if she lets romance find a chink in her armour.

An effortless and enjoyable read.