So today at The Never Ending Book Basket I have a 2 for one special for you! Two reviews for the price of one. And lucky for you, there’s no price! Covertly Strong and Bait were both beyond fabulous, and I LOVED them both.  Below you will find my review for Bait, and at the bottom of this post you’ll find a link to my review post on Covertly Strong. Be sure to check out both for all the fun because I HIGHLY recommend both of these books!!

Bait

Book One in The Wake Series

By M. Mabie

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He was trouble from the start, but I couldn’t resist.
She was the best kind of trouble. The kind that was so wrong, it felt right.

I’ve tried and failed to stay away from him.
I’ve done everything in my power to make her mine and keep her.

He’s almost impossible to say no to.
She never tells me yes.

We’re always fighting.
When we’re not fighting, we’re… well… making up.

He makes me laugh so hard.
I miss her laugh the most.

I’m a liar.
She knows the truth, but won’t admit it.

Sometimes, I wish I’d never met him.
I wish we could meet all over again. I’d do better.

His sweet girlfriend knows.
The guy she’s with is a fool.

I’ll never love anyone like I love him.
She doesn’t love me enough to choose us.

It was the wrong place.
It was the wrong time.

It should have been him.
It will always be her.

Just a little tease….

*****5 AMAZING Stars*****

To say that Bait by M. Mabie was phenomenal is not doing this book the immense justice it deserves. I could use every positive adjective in the mother effing dictionary, and that still wouldn’t capture all that this book is. I could even add in some choice expletives to emphasize all those adjectives, and that still wouldn’t come close to doing this writer’s magnificent book and writing what it truly warrants.

I could go on and on about the shear amazingness of this book. 

Don’t believe me? When I had the amazing opportunity to test read Bait, I sent the author a whopping 21 pages of “I love your book to the moon and back” type notes. 

I had notes for days. I couldn’t stop thinking about Bait. I still can’t stop thinking about Bait. 

That’s how much this book got to me. That’s how much it made me feel and think with every fiber I had as I realized that Blake and Casey land, aka Bait, would be a book I’d never experienced before. That’s how I knew this book and Blake & Casey would cement themselves permanently to my heart. 

This book had me hooked, lined, and sinkered. Pun intended. (Read the book and you’ll get that.) 

Clearly we can surmise that I LOVED this book with everything I had. (Oh, and that brevity and subtlety and I are clearly not friends at all.) 

What was exceptional & utterly outstanding about Bait:

• Unconventional Blake and Casey land.  Let me tell you a little bit about Blake and Casey land. It’s full of flaws, and it’s messy as all get out. It’s full of love, it’s full of heat, and it’s brimming with more passion, pain, emotion and feeling than an episode of a Shonda Rhimes TV show. It’s full of vulnerability that you’ll feel so deep in your heart. It’s also full of red pants and a honeybee, and it’s got two characters whom I adore with all I’ve got. Blake and Casey land is a pretty unconventional place to be, but that’s what makes it what it is. So strap in because Blake and Casey land is a place you’ve never really been before, but once you’re there, you’re never going to want to leave. Ever.
• Choices, choices, choices. This book is all about choices: Choosing who you want to be with, and who you really want to be. Choosing what’s right and what’s wrong, and what path to follow. Choosing what you’d fight like hell for, and what you just don’t give a damn about. Choices and decisions guide this story, and Blake & Casey. Those choices aren’t easy in the least bit, and they’re laced with so much thought & emotion. Those choices define this book, and define these two in different ways that will have you looking at them in a whole new light with every choice they make.
• The real Blake. Oh, Blake. I loved Blake so very much. She was real, flawed, passionate, & so much more. That girl is also stubborn as all get out. She will put you through a lot in Bait, but boy does she make all that so worth it. I can’t even tell you how much I felt for Blake, how much I cared for her, how much I wanted to slap her silly, yet still wanted to hug her tight through everything. Blake is a unique character you’ve not read or experienced before, and you’ll be surprised with how much you love her, but love her you will. Reading her try to find the real her within all the chaos and confusion that is life and expectations and desires for the known instead of the unknown was beyond outstanding. Blake is a just an exceptional gem of a female character to read.
• Utterly endearing Casey. Casey is one of my favorite male characters EVER. He stole my heart with his so utterly endearing heart, and you will fully feel and experience all that he does in Bait. Casey wears his heart on his sleeve, and that man feels with all he’s got. It was truly superb to read a male character who felt like he did. Casey and his charming curly haired head will win you over in a heartbeat. In all those moments where he throws his heart into the ring and puts it all on the line, you’ll be there feeling and loving that level of heart he’s putting out. It’s impossible not to love him. It’s also impossible to not want to tug on his hair. (Trust me, I know.) Casey is going to melt your heart repeatedly with all that he is, and you will revel in that feeling in every moment.
• The PHENOMENAL push and pull. I have never read a book with more push and pull than Bait. Push and pull should be the definition of this book, and boy is it phenomenal with a capital P. It characterizes Blake and Casey’s relationship, and what they feel for each other. It continues on through the book, and continues to build in such a terrific and highly engaging way that will leave you in awe of the literal push and pull you feel. I am telling you, you will be in awe of that.
• All the feels. I’ll repeat: All. The. Feels. I’ve yet to stop feeling this book. The level of feeling in Bait is outstanding. You will feel the highest of highs at times filled, the heat and electricity sparking and steaming at others, and the unavoidable lows laced with so much in between. These characters experience every emotion imaginable, and you in turn experience all of those emotions through them. I don’t have the right amount of words to describe how wholly powerful and unforgettable that level of feeling is. Those feels coupled with the heart rate inducing moments that so thoughtfully occur in Bait will leave you breathless, in love and in hate, frustrated, passionate, and most of all, in amazement of it all.
• Supporting characters for the win. There are some truly amazing supporting characters that burst their way through this book. I absolutely adored every single one of them, and I adored them for the uniqueness each of them brought to this book. They each added their own little spice, and I cannot tell you how much I adore all of them for the different little selves that they are. These characters weave their way through effortlessly, and what they bring to the story itself is nothing short of wonderful. They are all highly memorable, and I can’t wait for the day when I get to know each of them better. (Because I’ve also got no shame, I’ll put it out there now that Reggie is mine.)
• The idiosyncrasies of Blake & Casey. Blake and Casey are kind of weird. They do their own thing, in their own ways, and it works in such a way that is just fabulously different. I adore that about them. The interesting things they do and say, along with the weird ass things that occasionally cross their minds when they’re together, all combine to make them peculiar and tad bit weird, but that is one of their greatest asset as characters. It’s just another reason you will simply love and accept them for all they are.
• The fight for it all. I can’t even begin to describe how much fight is in this book. Blake is fighting to find the real her. Casey is fighting for Blake. They’re both fighting to figure out what in the world they have together, and at some point or another they’re each fighting for what they have, want, & can’t live without. These two are stubborn as all get out, but they are determined as hell to fight with everything they’ve got. By the end of the first chapter you will be fighting right along with them. You’re going to care for them, and love them through and through. Even when you want to slap them upside the head or give up on them, you will still want to fight for what they have together because it’s that powerful.

Bait is not your conventional love story. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. You’ve got to fight like hell for it all with Blake & Casey. It’s not always sunshine and roses, in fact it rarely is, but that is why this book is OUTSTANDING. I will repeat: This book is outstanding because of the remarkably intricate and crafted pieces M. Mabie creates that sets this book, story, and characters apart. 

Blake and Casey might not have a typical love story but that’s why I LOVE them something fierce. They’re messy, raw, and they eff it up more often than not, but they’re trying and they’re real, and I couldn’t love them more. (Though I think M. Mabie is bound and determined to have me loving them more and more with every brilliant word she teases me with.)   

When you sit down and read Bait, you won’t just be reading it; you’ll be experiencing it and feeling it all fully. You’ll. Feel. Every. Damn. Thing. That full envelopment within a book is a genuine rarity, and Bait provides that extraordinary reading experience times ten. 

Bottom line: this book is a gem bursting with literal amazingness, and is not to be missed. 

It is one of the best books I have ever read, so sail your butt right into Bait and anchor into Blake and Casey land as soon as humanly possible. 

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M. Mabie is the author of the best-selling in humorous fiction book, Fade In.

She would love to hear from you!

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Email: mmabieauthor@live.com

Just click the link below and you’ll magically find yourself at my review for Covertly Strong by NA Alcorn. Get to clicking that link because you will want to get acquainted with one Nixon West as soon as humanly possible. Trust me.  

My review of Covertly Strong by NA Alcorn

And a just a bit more tease before you go…..

ONLY $0.99!!

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Broken Hart excerpt

Raising my eyes to him, I checked to see if he was noticing what was happening, only to find his eyes blazing back into mine. The look he gave me was pure combustible heat, and it left me with absolutely no doubt that he felt whatever was happening too.

He shook his head as though he was trying to clear it, and returned to massaging as I closed my eyes and tried to process what the hell was happening—and my reaction to it.   When he rubbed the arch of my foot again, I couldn’t help it, and I moaned. My eyes snapped open, and I prayed that maybe he hadn’t heard me.

His hand slid from the arch of my foot up to my left ankle as his other hand gripped my right ankle. Using my ankles as leverage, he jerked me toward him. I wasn’t dumb and I knew what that meant. Clearly, he had heard me. I was trying to process all of that as he bent forward and kissed first one knee, then the other.

I took a shocked breath and my jaw dropped as I stared at the top of his head. Raising his eyes to mine, Dante asked, “Rina. I want this. Do you?”

The line was shockingly easy to cross.

Looking him straight in the eye I answered honestly and without hesitation. “Yes. God, yes.”

Loving Hart excerpt        

He looked gorgeous, as always, and I struggled to remember to breathe for a minute. He works out like a mad man, and his body is to die for. After giving me a kiss and a hug, Spence escorted me into his living room. Taking a spot on his couch, I smiled when he took the seat at the other end.

“What’s up angel? What do you need?”

I’d already decided not to beat around the bush, so I dove right in. “Don’t flip out. I’m here because I need to kiss you again, and I want you to give me my first orgasm. It’s time.”

I paused when he gasped, and I could see that he was going to argue with me. “Shush Spence. Listen to me before you say no.”

He nodded tersely, so at least I knew he was listening.

“I’m a virgin, and we both know I’m saving it for you.”

The look on his face was a mixture of shock, discomfort and arousal. “Jesus, Delilah, shoot straight much? That’s… I mean… I don’t know what the fuck to even say.”

“You can cut the crap and admit that you’ve known all along that I was waiting for you. I don’t mind waiting, not that I’m going to sit on my ass forever, but before I start taking care of my needs myself, I want you to get me there. I want all my firsts to happen with you.”

“Oh, fuck. I don’t even…”

Holding up my hand, I told him to hush. “You can run from everyone else Spencer Cross, but you’ll never be able to run from me. I know you want this and you’ve wanted it for a long time. You’ve been waiting for me to come to you again. Well, here I am. Someday, you’ll have all of me. Until you’re ready to take that step, I’m asking you to give me this.”

I saw the exact moment that he accepted what I’d said as being true, and I knew he was going to do it. His eyes were like a firestorm when he looked at me. “If this is what you really want angel, then yes. You’re right. I want to give it to you. Tell me how you want me to do this.”

Standing, I took his hand in mine as I started walking toward his bedroom. I walked fast, letting go of his hands when we got in so that I could throw myself on his bed. After enjoying a little bounce, I propped myself on my elbow and stared at him as he stood over the bed.

“You can start by kissing me. How it goes from there is up to you.”

Missing Hart excerpt

Turning on my heel I ran for the door, desperate to be away from him. I swung it open at the same moment he reached a hand out and slammed it. Pivoting, I glared up at him. “What the hell are you doing? You can’t let go of the past and I’m done being your fucking punching bag. What do you want?”

Pushing me roughly against the door he wrapped his fingers in my hair and pulled me against him.

“You! Goddammit, I fucking want you.”

We met each other halfway, mouths smashing against each other in a kiss so intense that it was painful. My body went up in flames, the blood in my veins flowing hot for him. Our hands collided as we started ripping at each other’s clothes. He bunched my skirt up to my waist and tore my panties off as I struggled to get his jeans open. Finally I succeeded, reaching in and pulling his massively swollen erection out of his jeans and positioning it right at my center, marveling out how wet I was as I drenched his swollen head with my arousal.

With one hard thrust, he was in so deep that it hurt. After not being penetrated for four years, he filled me to capacity and then some. I screamed out in ecstasy and clawed at his shirt as his hips pumped into me at warp speed. My back was banging against the door with every punishing thrust and I didn’t care. I felt him in every part of my body as he pounded in and out, our mouths smashed together as we kissed like two maniacs. We were a mess of teeth and tongue, the pain turning immediately into pleasure.

 Just a little tease….

Ella Fox writes like a woman possessed whenever she gets the chance! She is the author of The Hart Family Series, The Renegade Saints Series and The Catch Series.

When she’s not writing, Ella indulges the gypsy in her blood and travels the country. Ella loves reading, movies, music, buying make-up, reading Tmz, Twitter and pedicures… not necessarily in that order. She has a wild sense of humor and loves to laugh. Her favorite thing in the world is hanging out with her family and watching comedy movies.

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He’s a bit on the dented and dinged side after his military service and she’s dealing with a stealth attack from her grandmother who’s added manipulative clauses to her will that threaten Brynn’s hold on her house and business.

Sometimes fate and destiny have a sense of humor along with some questionable timing. Are these two destined to be together or will her reluctance and his issues keep them apart? When a stunning turn of events complicates things even more, things sure do get interesting – meddling parents and all.

I read, and loved this book so freaking much. It is a true must read that I couldn’t recommend more to you, so be sure to 1-click this baby asap. To read my review, click here: Wilde Forever Review Post
 

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