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Review Post: Chasing Clouds by Kathryn Andrews

Posted in Books I love, Releasing Now Book Addicts, Review Post by

Title: Chasing Clouds

Author: Kathryn Andrews
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: July 19, 2018
Cover Image: Perrywinkle Photography
Cover Designer: Heart to Cover


“I highly recommend this book – especially for a light, swoony, southern read. Kathryn Andrews didn’t just get a hit with this one, she knocked it out of the park. Angsty, sexy, and surprisingly witty, I devoured every page. 5 Stars.” – Amazon Bestselling Author Kandi Steiner

Reid Jackson
I’m a simple guy. There are only two things I love: my family and playing professional football.
I may not understand why people get married, but I’d go anywhere for my brother, even his friend Camille’s wedding. Once I’m there, I realize our Bronx upbringing has left me unprepared for the world of old Southern money. Over twenty-four hours, I see scandal, threats, and lies. It’s a life I don’t relate to, a place I never want to belong. Even so, when the minister asks if anyone objects, I shock not only myself but also the beautiful bride when I stand up and say, “I do.” I don’t know her, she doesn’t know me—but deep down, I knew I had to make that move.

Camille Whitley
As a political socialite in the South, nothing about my life is simple.

For years I’ve known I’d one day be standing at the altar, about to marry a man I don’t love. In Savannah, family expectations and appearances are everything, but none of it’s real. I hate what I’ve become, and I dream of being free. So, when an opportunity suddenly presents itself in the form of a stranger with captivating green eyes, I find myself asking what’s best for me: the plan or the unknown? I don’t know him, he doesn’t know me—but if I’m going to make a move, it’s now or never.

*****5 UNFORGETTABLE STARS*****

Do you ever start a book and have that feeling of knowing that that book will be everything you needed and more? Do you ever start a book and know from those first words, from the first few pages, from that first chapter that that book will be one of the most unforgettable stories you’ve ever read? Do you ever read a book and just know with every bone in your body that you are experiencing something truly beautiful and magical and exceptional?

Do you ever start a book and just know right from the start that that book will be one of your all-time favorite books?

Do you ever read a book and know all of that and more because of how truly extraordinary that book is?

Well I do.

I’ve been lucky enough as a reader to feel and know all of that for a handful of books that have made my list of all-time favorites. These are books that have owned me, books that have enraptured me within their stories like no other, and books that have taken a piece of my heart a soul forever. It is these books that have taken it all to a whole other level with what they give me, and it is these books that are permanently ingrained with me in more ways than one.

And after reading Chasing Clouds by Kathryn Andrews, I can add a new book to that all-time favorites list.

Chasing Clouds is one of the best books I have EVER read. I seriously feel like shouting that as I type this because that is how true that last statement is. I LOVED every single word of this book, and I truly cannot say enough how much it gave me, how much it owned me, and how it truly is one of the best books I have EVER read.

I honestly don’t know if I have the right amount of words to really capture what this book gave me and allowed me to experience while I read it. I just don’t feel as if my words are good enough to capture what Kathryn Andrews so beautifully captured and created in this book. As I read this story, I felt as if I was on fire in a way that I have never quite experienced before when reading a book. This book ignited something in me with its characters as it all unfolded. It had this light and spark and tangible magic that flowed through me as I experienced this story with Camille and Reid. It had me living and breathing and feeling every ounce of this mesmerizing story in a way that truly owned me from start to finish.

Experiencing that is just one of the many things that made me love this book so much.

Kathryn Andrews delivered one of the most amazing stories I have ever read in Chasing Clouds. Through her incredible writing and storytelling, she so thoughtfully crafted a story that was full of beauty, meaning, emotion, and so much heart. Her words made these characters and their story so real, so authentic, and so unforgettably honest in a way that deeply touched every part of my heart and soul. She painted such a vivid and vibrant picture with Camille and Reid and everything they shared through her mesmerizing words, and I honestly can’t say enough good things about that and everything she brought to life in this book.

She is one of my all-time favorite authors for a reason, and this book proved that to me again and again. She has a true talent for bringing worlds and characters and raw and honest emotion to life in a way that is truly spellbinding and magical. She just makes it all feel so real, so right, and so needed. She has done this in every book of hers, which I have LOVED, but there was truly something special about what she created in Chasing Clouds. She took it all to a whole new level, and completely wowed me with the heart and soul and feels she poured onto the pages of this book.

Experiencing her phenomenal words is just a fraction of what made me love this book so much.

Chasing Clouds is a sweeping and enthralling story of what happens when southern society, charm, and expectations mixes with a fake marriage that will change everything. Camille Whitley is a southern socialite who is doing what’s expected of her by marrying the “perfect” suitor. She’s following the plan set out for her, but she can’t help but wish for more and for a different path for her life, even though she can’t seem to find a way out. Enter Reid, a professional football player who doesn’t believe in marriage or anything serious. He’s only at the wedding of Camille Whitley for a chance to see his brother, but the moment he sees her and sees what’s going on around her, he can’t help but voice his objection to her wedding when given the opportunity.

What unfolds after that objection is a story chalk full of vulnerability, emotion, honesty and realness, and more building tension than you can shake a stick at.

What started out as an impulsive decision soon becomes more than Reid or Camille had bargained for, and soon those two realize that what might have started out as fake, is more real than either of them have experienced before. Told through Kathryn Andrews’s vivid and enrapturing words, Chasing Clouds follows Camille and Reid as they begin to fall for one another, as they take chances, as they see what could be between them, as they put themselves out there for the other to see, and as they what unforgettable things can happen when vulnerability, trust, emotion, and love come together.

Chasing Clouds is a romance you won’t soon forget. Trust me. What you get with Camille and Reid along the way will touch every part of your heart and soul in a way that is beautiful, meaningful, and unforgettable. What you get to experience with them will have you believing in the power of love, healing, and honest vulnerability. And in the end, what you live and breathe and feel with them in this story will move you, break you just a bit, give you it all, while showing you how literally amazing these two characters and their journey together is.

What I loved about this book was that it was not only an exceptional love story, but it was also a story that allowed both Camille and Reid to discover who they really were, what they really wanted, and what they really wanted their lives to be like. Kathryn Andrews perfectly weaves their own individual journeys with that into their falling for one another, and that makes for an all-encompassing read that will truly own you from start to finish. She lets you get them. She lets you know them and love them and feel for them. She shows you them both at their highest of highs and lowest of lows in a way that will sear you heart to theirs.

She lets you be there with them every step of the way. Through every shocking revelation, through every moment of glorious build and tension, through every moment as they put their hearts on the line, through every moment of heart squeezing emotion and raw vulnerability, and through every single moment as they share what they do together.

Through every single word of Chasing Clouds, Kathryn Andrews thoughtfully and vividly captures and creates a story that shows the unforgettable and life changing things that can happen when you meet the one person who changes everything.

I truly cannot stress to you enough how special this book was. Every piece of these characters and this story were so seamlessly and incredibly brought together in a way that will blow you away with what they give you. Getting all of those pieces made for an all-feeling and vividly tangible reading experience that I will never forget. It was as if with every extraordinary piece I got of Camille and Reid, I found myself giving them pieces of myself, so that I could keep them with me forever. The love I have for those two has no bounds. It is real, it is tangible, and it is so beyond heartfelt because of the strength of the connection I feel towards the two of them.

I have wanted this story for so long, and I truly could not have asked for more from those two. What I got with them, what I felt with them and for them, what I had the chance to experience with them, and what I got to understand with them as they fell for one another is something I will always treasure. What they share is so heart touchingly real, so beautiful and magical and mesmerizing, and so them. It’s just them, in their most honest form. The good, the bad, the ugly and vulnerable, the emotion, the heart, and every lick of feeling in between. Their story is one of friendship, family, love and loyalty, pain and regret, and the healing and transformative power of honesty, vulnerability, and trust. Trust in each other, trust in oneself, and trust in the path set before you.

Chasing Clouds is Camille and Reid’s story of forgiveness, acceptance, healing, and the biggest and most important thing of all, love.

I could honestly keep going and going with how much I loved this book. I could tell you all the things I loved about it, all the things I felt while reading it, and all the things that truly set this book in a league of their own. I could tell you all of that and more, and I wouldn’t even come close to scratching the surface of how spectacular Chasing Clouds is. This book will always hold a special place in my heart, and what I got with Camille and Reid along the way will have me singing their praises until the end of time.

Kathryn Andrews completely brought it all to the pages of this book with this all-consuming story.

She brought the charm, she brought the life and vibrancy and personality of these dynamic characters and setting, she brought the feels and emotion. She brought the moments that make you smile and swoon and fall, she brought the moments that make you cry and render you breathless with the emotion she brings to life, she brought the moments that show you who these characters really are and who they could be if they only took that leap of faith. She brought it all. And then some.

Chasing Clouds is hands down one of the best books I have ever read, and I will never forget it.

As I sit here finishing this review all I can think about is Camille and Reid and how much I already miss them. Those two are something special, and I truly love them something fierce with my entire heart. Everything I got with them in Chasing Clouds connected me to them, invested me in their individual and shared journeys, and showed me again and again how utterly perfect those two are for one another.

I could go on and on for ages about what I feel for those two and what I got during their story, but I know it will never be enough to truly capture how extraordinary their story is, so just do yourself a favor and read this book. Read it, love it, feel it all with them. Take it in, breathe it out, and be prepared to be completely swept up in the beauty, authenticity, emotion, and heart that permeates their story in the most incredible way.

It would be wrong not to.

Kathryn Andrews loves stories that end with a happily ever after. She started writing at age seven and never stopped. Kathryn is an Amazon Bestseller for her much loved Hale Brothers Series and is a chi-lit, contemporary romance, and new adult writer. 
Kathryn graduated from the University of South Florida with degrees in Biology and Chemistry, and currently lives in Tampa, Florida. She spends her days as a sales director for a medical device company and her nights lost in her love of fictional characters.
When Kathryn is not crafting beautiful worlds that incorporate some of her most favorite real life places, she can be found hanging out with her husband and two young sons, while drinking iced coffee and enjoying the sun. To find out more about Kathryn and her novels, visit: www.kandrewsauthor.com
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Review Post: The Wedding Agreement by Elizabeth Hayley

Posted in Books I love, Releasing Now Book Addicts, Review Post by

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The Wedding Agreement by Elizabeth Hayley

Releasing: May 3rd, 2016

Synopsis2 The author of Just Say Yes is back with another sweet and sultry Strictly Business novel about working hard and falling harder into an unexpected romance…

Love doesn’t always follow the same schedule…
 
Alex Walker doesn’t need a woman in his life. In fact, he doesn’t have time for one. Between his career in the FBI and the demands of being good father, romance is an unwanted distraction.

Likewise, Cassidy Mullen is fine on her own. The independent career woman has never had a husband in her plans—forget about kids. But when her friend Alex gets into a bind with his ex over their daughter, Cass finds herself suddenly playing the part of Alex’s stable, child-loving fiancée—and liking it a lot more than she’d care to admit.

Soon Alex and Cass can’t deny the real passion growing between them. But as fake affection turns into real love, Cass and Alex will have to make a choice: say “I Do” to their feelings or give up on happily-ever-after for good…

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My Review*****5 PHENOMENAL STARS*****

Elizabeth Hayley is probably my favorite writing duo around, and they have given me some pretty fantastic reading experiences over the past few years with their phenomenal books. Their writing is so seamless, so vibrant, and so fun, and they never fail to deliver a story with the perfect level of heat, connection, and feels that has me loving it all. They also never fail to make me laugh my butt off with their dynamic and distinctive humor, and by the end of their books my cheeks usually hurt a bit because that’s how much they’ve made me laugh.

The Wedding Agreement is the third and final book in their Strictly Business Series, and I have to tell you that I absolutely loved every word of it. It was fun, meaningful, and it packed a story that just didn’t quit with two characters I loved instantly. With their trademark writing style that created an undeniable connection to these characters and this story, I was immediately swept up into it all, and I truly could not get enough.

This book filled my heart with all the feels, made me blush in the best possible way, and it had me laughing and smiling and feeling all the way through, and I honestly could not have asked for more.

The Wedding Agreement gave me everything I’ve come to love and expect from a book by this fantastic duo, and the more I read, the more and more I realized how fantastic this book was, how much I was falling for Alex and Cass and their story, and how much I could not get enough of the vibrant charm bursting from this books pages.

This was just an honest to goodness good book, and even though I could use a million different positive adjectives to describe how much I loved it, I still wouldn’t be able to fully capture how much I loved it and just how good it was.

What I absolutely loved about The Wedding Agreement:

  • A wedding agreement, oh my, oh my! I have to say the first thing that drew me into this book was the actual premise of the story. I was immediately hooked into it all with how Cass saves Alex in a pinch, the friendship that Alex and Cass already shared, and how she offers to help him in more ways than one with spending more time with his daughter Nina. I found the plot to be so interesting and fun, and that really pulled me into the book because I was eager to see how those pretend feelings that Cass and Alex were sharing would soon turn into something more. I thought Elizabeth Hayley brought this story to life in the best possible way, and they really invested me from the start in everything that was happening between Alex and Cass. The actual plot of the story unfolded seamlessly over the course of this book, and it was never to fast or too slow, it was just right for everything that happened, which just made this book even better to experience.
  • Who can resist a single dad? So I am a major sucker for stories with single dads, and The Wedding Agreement was no different. I absolutely loved Alex’s character, and I really loved getting to experience and see his relationship with his daughter Nina, as he tried to fit family, job, and love into his life. What I loved about Alex was that he really tried in this book. He tried with his daughter, he tried with Cass, and he tried with himself, and sure sometimes it wasn’t always easy for him, but he sure as hell tried. Alex fought with all he had to spend time with his daughter and to make her happy, and there was no doubt in my mind while reading that that man would do anything for his kid. That fierce determination in him one me over in a nanosecond, and at the same time I loved how charming he was with Cass. I absolutely loved being in Alex’s head throughout this book and getting to be there when things started to change with him and Cass. Seeing that man fall, understanding his hesitancies and doubts, and getting to experience him try and fight through it all had me loving him to pieces.
  • Cass and her journey of realizations. Cass is an independent, sassy, and fun loving female character that will have you laughing and smiling in no time. She’s also a girl with a heart of gold that will shine through every page of this book. What I loved about Cass’s character in this book was that she really goes on a journey of self-realization in this book. At the start she is fine being alone, fine being all about her career, and she is sure as heck fine without the white picket fence and all that that might entail, but as this book progresses she soon starts to feel and think differently. I thought Elizabeth Hayley did an extraordinary job showing how her character comes to realize so many things about her wants and dreams, and how she might just be able to actually have it all if she only lets herself be open to it. Going along with Cass in this book as she comes to realize all of these things was fantastic, and I found her to be such a relatable and easy to love character because of all of that and just because of who she was. Cass is fun, real, and so easy to connect to in this book, and that is just part of what made her such a phenomenal character.
  • A spark and dynamic that just won’t quit. Alex and Cass certainly share the best kind of banter with one another, and that not only had me laughing like crazy, it had me feeling that undeniable spark between those two. The closer these to get and the more they pretend to have feelings for one another for the sake of their fake wedding, the more they both start to realize that they just might be feeling more for one another than they bargained for. Elizabeth Hayley gives you the outstanding opportunity to jump into both of these characters heads to experience the true connection and feelings they share. Those feelings are certainly real and a tad bit scary for Alex and Cass, and you will love every second with them in this book as they try to make sense of it all. And have no doubt, that through all of that you will be blushing from the heated connection they share, laughing and smirking at their hysterical banter, and really just falling even more for those two as they simultaneously fall for one another.
  • The perfect balance of feels and laughs. Elizabeth Hayley never fails to deliver a story with the best balance of everything, and The Wedding Agreement was no different. It had the feels and emotions I love to get when I read, it had the romance and heat that just made it all the more intense and spark filled, and it had the laughs and the banter to bring it all home. All of that combined to give me such a fulfilling reading experience that left me completely satisfied. I laughed, I melted, and my heart even hurt a bit for these characters as they tried to figure it all out, and most of all it fell like crazy for Alex and Cass and all they were sharing. That is a true testament to what Elizabeth Hayley’s thoughtful storytelling and writing creates in this book, and it made reading The Wedding Agreement so undeniably phenomenal and fulfilling in every way.
  • The gangs all here, and they’re kind of the best. The supporting characters of this series are some of my favorite around. They are so fun, so wonderfully distinctive, and they just made reading this book even better. I loved every single interaction with them, and getting to see how Cass and Alex interacted with all of their friends made this book feel so real and so enjoyable. I loved too that their friends were never afraid to call them both on their crap and tell them how it was, while at the same time being there for them in ways only real friends can be. That just made me love them all the more because it showed that the fantastic characters of this series makeup one helluva crazy good family.

The Wedding Agreement was a story that gave me it all in one exceptionally written package. This book was fulfilling, it was fun, and it gave me a story that I felt every word of. Throughout every page of Alex and Cass’s story I fell harder and harder for those two and all that they were sharing, and I couldn’t help but hope with all that I had that they’d be able to figure out a way to make it all work. I was wholly invested in them and their laugh out loud banter, and I truly couldn’t have asked for more with them and their story in this book.

This is a vibrant, lively, and oh so enrapturing read that will have you feeling and experiencing it all with these characters, and in the end you will love every single moment you get with them within the pages of this wonderful book.

Elizabeth Hayley sure knows how to write a book I love with all that I have, and this one was no different. As sad as I am to say goodbye to all of these characters and this series, I can’t help but be so thrilled with every single word I got with all of them. This book just exemplifies the talent this writing duo has, and I for one can’t wait to read whatever they come up with next.

I have no doubt it’ll make me laugh, and smile, and feel a helluva lot, and I can’t freaking wait.

The Wedding Agreement is a surefire must read, and I am telling you, you will love it.

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Buy The Book

~The Wedding Agreement~

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~Just Say Yes~

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Read My 5 Star Review of Just Say Yes

~The Best Medicine~

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Read my 5* Review of The Best Medicine

Be sure to check out Elizabeth Hayley’s other books because they are all AMAZING!

~Pieces of Perfect~

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~Sex Snob~

Sex Snob

Amazon

~Picking Up the Pieces~

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~Perfectly Ever After~

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Read my 5* Review

~Pieces Series Box Set~

(Pieces of Perfect, Picking Up the Pieces, and Perfectly Ever After) All 3 for one price!

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Amazon

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To learn more about Elizabeth Hayley and their books check out the following links:

Fan Facebook    Author Facebook    Website    Twitter    Goodreads

Release Boost: Shameless by Lex Martin

Posted in Books I love, Releasing Now Book Addicts by

 

Title: Shameless
Author: Lex Martin
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
 Release Date: April 26, 2016 

Synopsis2

Brady…

What the hell do I know about raising a baby? Nothing. Not a goddamn thing. Yet here I am, the sole guardian of my niece. I’d be lost if it weren’t for Katherine, the beautiful girl who seems to have all the answers. Katherine, who’s slowly finding her way into my cynical heart.

I keep reminding myself that I can’t fall for someone when we don’t have a future. But telling myself this lie and believing it are two different things.

Katherine…

When Brady shows up on a Harley, looking like an avenging angel—six feet, three inches of chiseled muscle, eyes the color of wild sage, and sun-kissed skin emblazoned with tattoos—I’m not sure if I should fall at his feet or run like hell. Because if I tell him what happened the night his family died, he might hate me. 

What I don’t count on are the nights we spend together trying to forget the heartache that brought us here. I promise him it won’t mean anything, that I won’t fall in love.

I shouldn’t make promises I can’t keep.

Shameless
is an adult contemporary romance/spinoff featuring a character from The
Dearest Series, but it can be read as a complete standalone.

Purchase Links
Last chance to get your copy for only 99c!!!
AMAZON US / UK / UNIVERSAL
B&N / KOBO / iBOOKS

 Read My 5 Star Review of Shameless

Also Available

 

The Dearest Series Boxed Set is FREE on KU for a limited time. Get all three Dearest Series books, including Dearest Clementine, Finding Dandelion and Kissing Madeline, as well as Dearest Series bonus scenes and the first chapter of Shameless.

 

Purchase Links

 

AMAZON US / UK / UNIVERSAL
Author Bio
Lex writes 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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Review Post: Gus by Kim Holden

Posted in Books I love, Review Post by

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Gus by Kim Holden

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Synopsis2

The journey that began in top-rated, best-selling Bright Side, continues …

This is the story of Gus.
Losing himself.
Finding himself.
And healing along the way.

“ … but the honest-to-God truth is I don’t even know how to function anymore. Bright Side wasn’t only my best friend; she was like my other half … the other half of my brain, the other half of my conscience, the other half of my sense of humor, the other half of my creativity, the other half of my heart. How do you go back to doing what you did before, when half of you is gone forever?”

My Review

*****5 Gus is Epic Stars*****

Exactly one year ago I read a book, and it changed my life. That book consumed me. It made me think and wonder and question. It made me feel, and live, and experience. It allowed me to feel hope and healing and happiness and pain and vulnerability all in one glorious unforgettable package.

It changed my life. It changed the way I felt about things, how I saw the world, how I saw my life. It changed me.

That book was Bright Side. I’d never read a book like that until I read that one, and exactly one year later, almost to the hour, I finished the follow up to that book. Just like its predecessor this book made me feel and think and wonder. It consumed me just as much, and I have a feeling it’s going to change me a bit too.

You don’t read a book such as this one and not have it change you or move you in some way shape or form. The words of this book are too good, too meaningful, and too life changing to not change you or move you, and it honestly doesn’t get better than that.

Today I read Gus by Kim Holden, or really I experienced the magnificence and perfection that is Gus by Kim Holden. I read this book almost an exact year after I read Bright Side, and while I feel slightly moronic for waiting so long to read this book, I can’t say enough good things about what I got from reading Gus.

Gus 1I feel like I almost needed to read this book today, a year after Bright Side. I think it made reading Gus even more meaningful because I felt like this day, this anniversary of sorts belonged to the world of Bright Side. Two utterly superb books two years in a row isn’t too shabby, in fact I think it’s everything.

Gus is a story about what happens after. It’s about what happens when you lose one of your reasons for being, and where you go when your life is thrown so off course from where you thought you’d be. It’s about figuring out how to get out of the never ending tailspin that threatens to consume you. It’s about feeling. It all. Even when it hurts, even when that anguish threatens to overtake you, even when you don’t think you know which way is up.

This book is also about fighting. Fighting through those feelings, and coming out on the other side. It’s about fighting to find that healing, that thing that makes it better and starts you back where you want to be, and fighting to find what will make you you again. It’s about fighting and pushing and giving it your all, even when you want to give up and give in to it all. Gus is also about pushing through all the bad stuff to find the good, giving it your all no matter what, and living.

Gus is about love too. So much love. The love you have for your parents. The love you feel for your friends. The love you feel for your other half. Even the love you feel for the people you meet and come across in your daily life. It’s about the power of that love. The encompassing, all-feeling, consuming nature of that love and what it can do for you. It’s about how love can fill you, change you, move you. It’s about jumping in heart first to that love and seeing the extraordinary places you can end up because of that love.

This book encompasses what it means to live. To truly live. Epically. Fully. Every day through every moment. Feeling and breathing and experiencing it all. Taking the bad with the good, making as much sense of it as you can, and seeing where you can go from there with the second chances that life gives you. It’s about not wasting one second of the precious life you’re given, and using that life to your advantage to help the world, help others, and in turn help yourself.

As you can see Gus is about a lot of things. A lot of wonderful and truly unforgettable things, and even though I’ve listed so many things that it’s about, this book is truly about so much more. I can’t even begin to fully encompass what this book is about and what it means to read and experience the magnificence of this book. My words just aren’t good enough for that, but you know whose words are good enough for that? Kim Holden’s. She made Gus into an enrapturing, immensely meaningful, and beyond satisfying read with her words. She gave me it all in this book, and I gladly took it because when you’re reading literary amazingness like Gus, you take it all.

You take every wonderful, all-feeling, intense, visceral, vulnerable, and real bit of it because when put together it is everything. I’ll say that again. This book gives you everything. Everything that makes you feel every ounce of what this story and its characters have to offer. Everything that fills your heart and mind and soul with so much varied emotion and feeling, and with characters you love whole heartedly. Everything that makes a book truly exceptional to read.

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Gus by Kim Holden gives you everything.

If I could only use one adjective to describe this book it would be fulfilling. This book was perfectly fulfilling. It fulfilled every hope I had for these characters. It fulfilled me with its extraordinary level of feeling and emotion that was so real and visceral at times that I felt as if I were actually living through this book. This book made me laugh and cry and smile and hurt and shudder and feel, and I loved it all because that was just one of the phenomenal aspects showing me how connected, how invested, how involved I was in this story.

It showed me how much I loved these characters. How much I needed them to find their ways. How much I rooted for them, cared for them, and adored them. Gus showed me again and again why I love the world of these books because of the people who make up that world, because of the feelings and connections they so fiercely give me, and because of the fantastic little intricacies that make that book world what it is.

Gus fulfilled me in ways that I didn’t even know I needed to be fulfilled, which made me love it even more. Gus truly and utterly fulfilled me in every humanly way possible. It gave me a story that was shear perfection in every way. It have me characters whose wonderful distinctiveness leapt off the page filling my heart with their literal amazingness. It have me Gus and Scout and Franco and Audrey and Paxton and everyone else that makes up the indescribable world of this book.

It gave me so much of what made me love Bright Side, but it gave me more too. It gave me Gus’s distinctive dynamic. It gave me a new set of characters to fall head over heels for. It also gave me some of my favorite characters ever again, and let me spend more time with their highly awesome selves. It gave me meaning and complexity and emotions and feelings. It gave me life and death, hope and pain, and all the other intensely wonderful things that make up life.

Reading this book felt like coming home. Reading Gus felt as if the world of this book, its characters, and everything they bring with them were welcoming me with open arms. It felt right. It felt good. It felt like everything all wrapped up in an all-feeling and seriously meaningful package.

I could use so many more adjectives to describe Gus and Kim Holden’s out of this world phenomenal writing. I could use any and all of the positive adjectives I could think of and I still would not come close to encapsulating what it meant to read this book. I wouldn’t even scratch the surface of the literal amazingness of Gus, the meaning laced so thoughtfully through every word, and what it was like to be in Gus’s head, and Scout’s, and to fall in love and be with all these characters once again. I wouldn’t even come close.

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So you know what you need to do? You need to read this book. You need to experience its power, its meaning, its feelings and emotions. You need to live it. You need to take it all in and let it mesmerize you. You need to experience it fully, and the only way you can do that is by reading this incredible book.

Like I said, a year ago I read a book that changed my life. 365 days later I read that book’s follow up that I know will have the same unforgettable effect. I loved every single breathtakingly emotional, all-feeling, and superb word of Gus.

I loved this book. I lived this book. I breathed in and felt every ounce of this book, and it truly doesn’t get better than that.

So please, read this epic book. Let it move you, let it change you, let it give you every amazing thing it has to offer.

Live this book. Love this book. Read this book.

Let it leave you in awe with its epicness.

It would be wrong not to.

Buy The Book

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See where it all started in Bright Side….

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Read my 5 Star Review of Bright Side

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Review Post: Just Say Yes by Elizabeth Hayley

Posted in Books I love, Releasing Now Book Addicts, Review Post by

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Just Say Yes by Elizabeth Hayley

Releasing: December 1, 2015

Synopsis2 From the author of The Best Medicine comes the latest Strictly Business novel—and this time, for one woman, finding the ideal man can be a pretty tall order…

Magazine columnist Quinn Sawyer has always attracted sweet, innocent, and safe men. And something tells her it’s because she’s just as harmless. So when she starts craving a guy with an edge, she realizes she may have to get one for herself.

When her boss asks for a unique pitch, Quinn’s quest to live outside her comfort zone prompts her to suggest an idea that will cause her to break her good-girl rules. And who better than Tim Jacobs to help her push her boundaries? For a while now, Quinn’s had a hot crush on the tattooed executive chef with a checkered past. If anybody can bring out her inner rebel, he can.

It’s no surprise that with every task the two complete, the sparks between them grow more and more intense. Soon there’s no denying the attraction they each feel. But Tim’s troubled past reveals an even tougher edge than Quinn expected—which means for her, falling in love might just be the greatest rebellion of all.

 

My Review*****5 PHENOMENAL STARS*****

Elizabeth Hayley is hands down one of my favorite writing duos around. Their books are some of my all-time favorites, and I have spent many memorable days between the pages of their phenomenally written books. When I sit down to read a book by them I know I will be getting some exceptional writing, effervescent characters with so much life and distinctive personality to them, and a story that is sure to make me laugh hysterically while also having me feel a lot.

Just Say Yes by Elizabeth Hayley not only gave me everything I’ve come to know and love about Elizabeth Hayley’s writing, it also gave me one helluva story that just gave me every single aspect that makes a book extraordinary. It was fantastically balanced, so well written, and just downright enjoyable to read in every way. Reading this book just adds to my absolute love of this series as a whole, and the fantastic stories that Elizabeth Hayley has given me over the years.

Reading a book by this duo is one memorable experience to say the least. Just Say Yes made me laugh more times than I could even count, it made me smile like crazy, and it certainly made me blush in the most wonderful ways. It also choked me up a few times, and had so many great feelings and emotions weaving their way through the story in such a meaningful way. My heart was fully in it all from the start, and through it all I absolutely loved what Tim and Quinn gave me so authentically in their page turning story.

What I absolutely loved about Just Say Yes:

  • Finally getting my hands on Tim’s story. Ever since I met Tim’s character in The Best Medicine, I wanted his story. There was just something about him that really spoke to me, and it was easy to fall under the charming spell he cast. He’s a bit rough around the edges, and he’s a character that’s not afraid to admit that, but I will tell you that there is so much more to his character than meets the eye. He certainly has a past that he’s not so proud of, but seeing what that man does with his future in this story will have your heart going to him in no time. Tim is easy to love and feel for in this story, and seeing that man try to move on from the binds of his past will have you rooting for him from start to finish. Did I also mention that he’s a tattooed chef that likes to walk around without a shirt on? Because that’s just the icing on top of his fantastic character.
  • Quinn is my new BFF. Quinn was definitely a bit more subdued than some of the other female leads that Elizabeth Hayley has written, but she was such a fabulous easy character to love and relate to. That girl is no wilting flower either, she is strong and fierce in her own way and it’s fabulous. She’s a girl searching for what she truly wants, and is looking to step outside of her comfort zone, and with the help of Tim she starts doing just that. I loved Quinn’s character immensely and I found myself personally relating and connecting to her throughout reading. She was so real to me and so easy to love, and I just got everything she was feeling and thinking because I’ve been there too. Feeling that connected to her while reading Just Say Yes made me love her more, and brought the story itself to life in the most magnificent way. You will love her and her lively journey in this book to pieces. Trust me.
  • The build from friends to something more. Quinn and Tim’s relationship has the best kind of build to it. These two start off as friends, but clearly they both want something more. You feel such a build and connection between them that crackles and fires like fireworks every time those two are together. That build intensifies more and more as the story progress, and gives the best evolution to their relationship and feeling. What starts off as a friendship and a challenge soon turns into so much more that is filled with so many moments that’ll melt your heart, make you blush, and smile and feel like a fool. Elizabeth Hayley develops their relationship in the most phenomenal ways, taking you through every up and down that comes there way, and it is truly nothing short of wonderful to experience.
  • Taking chances! One of the many premises of this story is throwing that caution to the wind, and giving new things a chance. Whether it be a new life experience or a relationship, Elizabeth Hayley brings the aspect and meaning behind taking chances into this story in such a fantastic and fulfilling way. Seeing both Tim and Quinn think and question what it could be like to take those chances, and then getting to see what happens after puts you in this story so fully and will have you loving every moment you live and take with them. Just Say Yes is full of chances and it honestly doesn’t get much better than that!
  • Finding yourself and then some. Both Tim and Quinn go on a journey in this book, not only in their relationship, but also with themselves. They’re both searching for something within themselves, and trying to figure out what they want, what they deserve, and what they’re willing to fight like crazy for. Elizabeth Hayley takes you on that journey with them both, and you get to be with them both every step of the way as they try and figure out who they are, and who they want to be. I can’t say enough how much that emotionally invests you in these characters and their story. You get to see them be vulnerable, be real, and just be them. Simply put, Quinn and Tim will blow you away with every incredible bit of their journey’s to take those risks and find themselves.
  • The fantastic balance of laughter and feels. Just Say Yes gives you so many outstanding moments that give you so many different reactions making this book phenomenally well rounded. You get so many hysterical moments that’ll have you laughing out loud and smiling until your cheeks hurt. You’ll also get a lot of moments bursting with the best amount of emotion and feeling that you feel every lick of. There’s also quite a few moments that’ll melt your heart a bit and have you truly feeling what Quinn and Tim do for one another. You get it all in Just Say Yes, and that is just part of what made this book so great to read!
  • The supporting characters that make this series what it is. Not to be outdone, the supporting characters that make up the Strictly Business Series are not to be missed. They’re all distinctive and wonderful in their own ways, and they add the glue that helps bring this story together. They add a true sense of family and friendship to every page, and they’ll all give you so much that you will enjoy every moment of. I love them all, and it was so good to spend some more time with them again in this book. Seeing them all here made me love them all more, and I seriously can’t wait for more time with all of them. I need more of them stat, and you will too when you read this book.

Just Say Yes was another book by Elizabeth Hayley that I could not put down. It was enrapturing to say the least, and had me feeling and loving every minute I spent between its outstanding pages. Quinn and Tim’s story is fun, meaningful, full of all the feels, and will give you a truly memorable reading experience that you won’t want to end.

This book highlights the talent of this writing duo, and the vibrant and meaningful stories they so thoughtfully and fantastically craft.

Just Say Yes is a story about taking chances. About looking deep within yourself, discovering what you truly want and desire, and what you’ll do and how much you’ll fight to get that something. It’s a story about throwing that caution to the wind, and seeing the extraordinary places those chances and risks can take you, if you only give them the chance. Tim and Quinn’s story in Just Say Yes allows you to take that journey with them, heart first and feeling it all, and in the end I guarantee you will be beyond satisfied with every outstanding word and feeling you get from them in this book.

So what are you waiting for? Grab Just Say Yes this very instant. And while you’re at it, grab every single other book by Elizabeth Hayley. You won’t regret reading this book, or any of their others for that matter. Read this book, let it wow you, let it make you feel and laugh and smile, and let yourself live and breathe through its brilliant pages.

Take that chance, just say yes, and fall in love with the literal amazingness of this book and Tim and Quinn’s vibrant, captivating, and truly incredible story.

Buy The Book

~Just Say Yes~

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~The Best Medicine~

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Read my 5* Review of The Best Medicine

Be sure to check out Elizabeth Hayley’s other books because they are all AMAZING!

~Pieces of Perfect~

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~Sex Snob~

Sex Snob

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~Picking Up the Pieces~

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~Perfectly Ever After~

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Read my 5* Review

~Pieces Series Box Set~

(Pieces of Perfect, Picking Up the Pieces, and Perfectly Ever After) All 3 for one price!

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To learn more about Elizabeth Hayley and their books check out the following links:

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