Title: Kissing Madeline (Dearest, #3)

Author: Lex Martin

Release Date: April 27, 2015

Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance

Cover Design by: Krista Ritchie

What’s the worst thing about wanting a sexy NFL football player? Everyone else wants him, too.

After catching my boyfriend getting deep-throated by a skanky cage girl, I’ve learned my lesson – never date a professional athlete. Never. Besides, I have more important things to worry about, like not blowing my shot to make it as a broadcast reporter. I won’t let anything get in my way, not even the new “it boy” of the NFL and my hot-as-hell neighbor.

What’s the worst thing about getting death glares from his new neighbor? It doesn’t make him want her any less.

I’ve worked my ass off to make it to the pros. The last thing I need is the complication of a relationship, especially since my last one was a total train wreck. But I can’t stop thinking about the feisty girl next door with the smart mouth. And I’d love nothing more than to show her what to do with that mouth.

Friends with benefits might be the best idea he’s ever had. Or the worst.

Kissing Madeline is a companion novel to DEAREST CLEMENTINE and FINDING DANDELION. Each book is a stand-alone.

*****5 EXTRAORDINARY STARS*****

The first thing I want to say about Kissing Madeline by Lex Martin, besides the fact that it is utterly fabulous and by far one of my favorite books of the year, is that I don’t know if I’ve ever felt so happy while reading a book.

I read this entire book with a huge as heck smile on my face because that’s how much I LOVED it. That’s how much I loved me some Maddie and Daren something fierce with every part of my heart. That’s how much I was captivated by their vibrant and passionate and superb story. That’s how much I relished in every single wondrous feeling and thought and emotion I got to experience while reading Kissing Madeline.

My cheeks literally hurt after reading this book because I was smiling so much. That my friends is just one of the many tells Kissing Madeline gives you to let you know you are reading an extraordinary book.

I felt every ounce of this book. It was so lively and it just enraptured me from the moment I began reading. It had an effervescent spark to it that just leapt off of the pages, and that just invigorated and pulled me in more as I experienced this book. That spark embodied Kissing Madeline, and created a literary magic that seamlessly weaved its way throughout every magnificent corner of this book.

Lex Martin clearly knows how to create and develop characters that are real, and charming, and passionate. I love, love, love Daren and Maddie, and all of the fantastically distinctive characters that came with them in this book.

I especially loved how the characters were all about owning up to their mistakes and their pasts and their choices, seeing where they could go from there, and how they could be better. Kissing Madeline explores what happens when both Daren and Maddie try their best at working through all that makes up their pasts and presents, while they try to figure out what in the world their future could hold, and that was nothing short of wonderful to read.

Daren was a heart melting, football throwing, charming as all get out male character. He was also just a good guy that practically had me swooning at every turn. He charmed my pants off with his charisma and dynamic personality that illuminated so much about him. Ever since meeting his character in Dearest Clementine, I’ve been looking forward to getting into his head, and boy was that a pretty darn fantastic place to be. Through his perspective you see a new side to him, and the more time I spent with him the more I just fell in love with his character. You see and feel the goodness that emanates from him, but also this honesty and authenticity that allows you to see the real Daren.

Madeline is fierce with a capital F. She truly is a power unto herself, she is so headstrong, and she has such a big heart. The instant I met her I was just drawn to her because of the tenacity and heart and care that just flows out of her in the best possible ways. Maddie was such a beautiful character to get to know both inside and out, and she’s someone I wish I could call a friend because her character is just so amazing. I loved that Maddie was so determined, and that she was fighting with all her might for what she wanted. I respected and admired her immensely because of that. Lex Martin created her in such a way that made her so real to me, and relating to her and feeling that strong of a connection to Maddie was just one of the many aspects that made this book exceptional to me.

Now this book explores the firework level connection that Daren and Maddie share. That connection requires some heavy duty fanning at points, and it’s definitely heart melting and will certainly cause the urge to pant. Daren and Maddie are HOT together. But underneath all that heat, chemistry, and passion that Lex Martin so fantastically gives you, is a whole heck of a lot of feeling that pulls both Daren and Maddie deeper than they ever expected. You get to feel and experience that powerful connection and the serious draw they have to one another. Experiencing that just amplifies every single thing happening between Daren and Maddie, and shows you just how right these two could be for one another if they’d just give it a shot and take the risk.

One of my very favorite aspects of Kissing Madeline, was that Lex Martin creates two very strong characters where it’s real easy to see what pulls them together because of the qualities they both possess, but she also gives those strong characters moments to be vulnerable.

It’s those moments of vulnerability that will still your heart when you experience them because of what they give you. Those moments of vulnerability just captivate you too, and they allow you to give your heart fully to Daren and Maddie because you see all that they’ve gone through and are presently going through. While they are both strong, tenacious, and charismatic, they are real and have moments of need too. Moments where they’re not so strong, moments when they truly let their guard down and pull those walls away, and really getting to know and feel that left me in awe because of what it allowed me to feel and experience with them.

That’s also one of the many aspects that pulls you emotionally into this book. Throughout reading you will feel and think and experience and wonder and question the same exact things these characters do because of how superbly this author writes this book.

What is so great about a book by Lex Martin, is that along with all that wonderful emotion and feeling and passion you experience with Daren and Maddie, you’re going to get the most amazing banter and fun too. I laughed my butt off reading this book at times because of what these characters were saying and doing. The lightness and humor that comes from that banter and sarcasm and just plain fun adds another fantastic layer to what you’re reading, and just makes you love it all more.

Kissing Madeline also has the perfect balance of sweet and sexy to go along with the realness and seriousness you get too. It truly gives you just the right amount of everything that you could possibly want from this story and its characters.

Not only do you get that fun and vibrancy from Daren and Maddie, but you also get it from the wonderful supporting characters that round out this book and series. I have an immense desire to be friends with each and every one of them in real life. Like, I need to make that happen somehow! They all feel real, crack you up, and just make the world of this book and series a place you don’t ever want to leave. They’re silly, and sarcastic, and witty, and dirty mouthed and minded, and that’s just a fraction of what makes them all distinctively spectacular. Clementine, Gavin, Dani, Jax, Quentin, and all the rest just help glue the amazing pieces of this book together, and I promise you that you will love them all to pieces.

Lex Martin’s writing is fresh and seamless, and puts you right into the exceptional and unforgettably lively world of these characters. You really do feel like you’re there with them living through this book. How she magnificently develops these characters, pushes them to find themselves, and conveys every single emotion they have in a way that allows you to experience and understand and feel it all, is simply brilliant and so thoughtfully accomplished.

All of that makes Daren and Maddie and their story remarkable, relatable, and highly enjoyable. It gives you a book that you thoroughly enjoy, and truly don’t want to let go of. I cannot say enough how much I have loved this series, especially this book. These characters are some of my all-time favorites, and this last book and Daren and Maddie’s incredible story just reiterates why this series and why this author are downright amazing.

Kissing Madeline is a story about taking a risk and giving it your all, even when that scares the bejesus out of you. It’s about throwing caution to the wind and exploring that what if because that what if and that risk could be worth it all if you let it be. Kissing Madeline gives you Daren and Maddie and their charismatic, charming, and oh so strong selves, and it allows you to fall in love with them over the course of their beautifully vibrant and breathtaking story.

This book is a truly exceptional read, and I could continue to go on and on about how much I loved it and how much it made me smile and laugh and tear up and swoon. How it made my heart race, melt, and squeeze at times, and how truly happy I was to read and experience every outstanding thing it gave me.

But all you really need to know is that Kissing Madeline is perfection, it is a book that will give you everything, and when you read the magnificently fierce thing that it is, you won’t ever truly forget it and what it so genuinely gave you.

Be sure to grab up Kissing Madeline today!! 

Amazon US: http://amzn.com/B00WRDSPSW

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00WRDSPSW

DEAREST CLEMENTINE (Dearest, #1 – Clementine & Gavin)

Amazon | Nook | Kobo | Paperback

Twenty-year-old Clementine Avery doesn’t mind being called bitchy and closed off. It’s safe, and after being burned by her high school sweetheart and stalked by a professor her freshman year of college, safe sounds pretty damn good.

Her number one rule for survival? No dating. That is until she accidentally signs up for a romance writing class and needs material for her latest assignment. Sexy RA Gavin Murphy is more than happy to play the part of book boyfriend to help Clem find some inspiration, even if that means making out…in the name of research, of course.

As Gavin and Clem grow closer, they get entangled in the mystery surrounding a missing Boston University student, and Clem unwittingly becomes a possible target. Gavin tries to show Clem she can handle falling in love again, but she knows she has to be careful because her heart’s at stake…and maybe even her life.

FINDING DANDELION (#2 – Jax and Dani)

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When soccer all-star Jax Avery collides with Dani Hart on his twenty-first birthday, their connection is instantaneous and explosive. For the first time in years, Jax isn’t interested in his usual hit-it and quit-it approach.

But Dani knows better. Allowing herself a night to be carefree and feel the intensity of their attraction won’t change anything when it comes to dealing with a player. So when Jax doesn’t recognize Dani the next time he sees her, it shouldn’t be a total shock. The fact that he’s her new roommate’s brother? That’s a shock.

Dani doesn’t regret that night with Jax, just the need to lie about it. Since her roommate has made it clear what she thinks about her brother’s “type” of girl, the last thing Dani wants is to admit what happened.

Jax knows he’s walking a fine line on the soccer team. One more misstep and he’s off the roster, his plans to go pro be damned. Except he can’t seem to care. About anything… except for the one girl who keeps invading his dreams.

Despite Jax’s fuzzy memory of his hot hookup with his sister’s friend, he can’t stay away from her, even if that means breaking his own rules. But there are bigger forces at work–realities that can end Dani’s college career and lies that can tear them apart. Jax realizes what he’s losing if Dani walks away, but will he sacrifice his future to be with her? And will she let him if he does?

Lex Martin writes new adult novels, the sexy kind with lotsa angst, a whole lotta kissing, and the hot happily ever afters. When she’s not writing, she lives a parallel life as an English teacher. She loves printing black and white photos, listening to music on vinyl, and getting lost in a great book. Bitten by wanderlust, she’s lived all over the country but currently resides in the City of Angels with her husband and twin daughters.

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