Blog Tour - Hard Wired by Megan Erickson & Santino Hassell + Giveaway

Title: Hard Wired (Cyberlove #3)

Author: Megan Erickson & Santino Hassell

Publisher: Self-Published

Release Date: February 13, 2017

Source: ARC from Publicist

Buy the Book: Amazon / Other Retailers

My FallenCon agenda is simple: sit on a couple of panels and let people meet the real me. Jesse Garvy—mod of a famous Twitch channel and, if I ever come out of my shell, future vlogger. I definitely didn’t plan to sleep with a moody tattooed fan-artist, but he’s gorgeous and can’t keep his hands off me. There’s a first time for everything, and my first time with a guy turns out to be the hottest experience of my life.

But the next day, I find out my moody fan-artist is Ian Larsen AKA Cherry—someone I’ve known online for years. And he’d known exactly who I was while shoving me up against that wall. Before I figure out whether to be pissed or flattered, the con ends.

Now we’re back online, and he’s acting like nothing happened. But despite the distance between us, and the way he clings to the safety of his online persona, we made a real connection that night. I don’t plan to let him forget.

The second I see that Megan Erickson and Santino Hassell have a new book coming out, I get excited. It can't be helped. They just have this way of making me care for characters with just a few sentences and sucking me in to those characters' stories with nothing more than a few paragraphs. Obviously that was no different with their latest, Hard Wired. 

One of my favourite things about Megan Erickson and Santino Hassell's books is how relatable their stories are, especially for people who've made connections line (romantic or otherwise). If you're someone who's ever met anyone online and then taken that relationship offline, you'll find something to relate to in these stories. Whether it's the fear that whatever you had online won't possibly translate to IRL. Or the fear that people around you won't be able to understand how you could possibly have made such a strong connection with someone you've never met face to face. Or maybe it's that you're afraid the person you met online won't think you measure up when you meet in person. Hard Wired is about all of that and so much more. And I loved the story for that. I loved seeing the changing dynamic of Jesse and Ian's relationship based on whether they were online or in person. How, eventually, the online and the offline came together and made their relationship that much greater to read about and to root for. But of course that also had a lot to do with Ian and Jesse themselves.

I think I would have had to try really hard to be completely charmed by Jesse and Ian. Seriously. I was maybe three pages into the story and already I was all about these two getting together and living happily ever after. Never mind that they had barely exchanged nothing more than a fleeting look. Obviously some things needed to happen before they could get to that happily ever after I was all about and I was more than happy to read all about them getting there. I loved seeing them hesitantly take small steps to making their online relationship and offline was. It wasn't easy but I was rooting for them all the way. Because Ian and Jesse were pretty much perfect for each other. Granted it took them a little longer than it did me to figure that out. But it's okay because they got there. And I loved watching them get there.

I may be starting to sound like a broken record by now, but do yourself a favour and pick up Megan Erickson and Santino Hassell's book. I have yet to be disappointed and I hope they'll continue to collaborate on stories forever. 

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Release Day Blitz - Anything You Can Do by R.S. Grey

Title: Anything You Can Do

Author: R.S. Grey

Publisher: Self-Published

Release Date: February 2, 2017

Source: ARC from Author

Buy the Book: Amazon

Lucas Thatcher has always been my enemy.

It’s been a decade since I’ve seen him, but our years on opposite coasts were less of a lasting peace and more of a temporary cease-fire. Now that we’re both back in our small town, I know Lucas expects the same old war, but I’ve changed since high school—and from the looks of it, so has he.

The arrogance boy who was my teenage rival is now a chiseled doctor armed with intimidating good looks. He is Lucas Thatcher 2.0, the new and improved version I’ll be competing with in the workplace instead of the schoolyard.

I’m not worried; I’m a doctor now too, board-certified and sexy in a white coat. It almost feels like winning will be too easy—until Lucas unveils a tactic neither of us has ever used before: sexual warfare.

The days he pushes me up against thew all and presses his lips toxin, I can’t help but wonder if he’s filling me with passion or poison. Every fleeting touch is perfect torture. With every stolen kiss, my walls crumble a little more. After all this time, Lucas knows exactly how to strip me of my defenses, but I’m in no hurry to surrender.

Knowing thy enemy has never felt so good.

R.S. Grey is one of my absolute go-to's when I'm looking for fun, happy romance. There's just something about her books and I've yet to read one that I haven't liked. So of course it was no different with her latest, Anything You Can Do.

It's not really a secret by now that I will read just about anything R.S. Grey writes. In fact, except for maybe one, I've read all of her books. And that one that I haven't read, I'm planning on rectifying that very soon. I'm always excited when I hear that she has a new book coming out, and it was no different when she announced Anything You Can Do. Also didn't hurt that the story sounded like it was going to be a lot of fun (spoiler alert: it totally was). I basically had a smile on my face the whole time I was reading. And I have to say, the whole time I was reading, the story reminded me of the TV show Hart of Dixie (side note - if you haven't watched it, you should because it's one of my favourites), likely because of the small-town doctor's office setting and the humor injected throughout the story. And the fact that it reminded me of one of my favourite TV shows only made me love Anything You Can Do even more.

Like with all of R.S. Grey's books, her characters are what really do it for me. I love the people she writes about and the relationships they develop over the course of the books. In this case, I loved Daisy and Lucas. I mean, the lengths Daisy goes to to try to convince herself that all she feels for Lucas is hatred had me laughing on more than one occasion. It was obvious to everyone but herself that she was in love with him which, at times, is what made the situation that much funnier. And Lucas. Well, I want to say that I could tell right from the start that he was going along with this war he and Daisy had going on because that was the only way he could have her, but I would be lying. For a while there, I thought they were both in it for the fight. But once I clued in, it was pretty obvious what was going on and I kept hoping that he would finally say something. Or that Daisy would finally clue in to what was majorly obvious to everyone else. Either one.

Anything You Can Do was another great romantic comedy from R.S. Grey. There's a reason she's one of my absolute go-to's for romance and this latest book only served to reinforce the fact that I will continue buying and reading all of her books.

Release Day - The Bartender by Piper Rayne

Title: The Bartender

Author: Piper Rayne

Publisher: Self-Published

Release Date: February 1, 2017

Source: ARC from Publicist

Buy the Book: Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon CA / Amazon AU

Who knew sleeping with the enemy could be this fun?

Was the one night stand a good idea?

Well, no. Probably not in retrospect.

In my defence I had just moved back into my grandparents’ house, I’d lost my dream job, and a guy on Tinder had stood me up. It was like life had suddenly stamped ‘LOSER’ on my forehead.

So when the guy behind the bard started giving me THE look…you know, the one that promised I’d be screaming his name into the wee hours of the morning? When that guy also has the perfect amount of scruff on his chiseled chin, biceps bulging out of his t-shirt, and a cocky grin you knew he’d earned in the sack…when he gives you that look, you don’t bother to figure out what your six degrees of separation are. You jump on that horse and ride it!

Pun fully and completely intended. And accurate by the way.

I fully admit to feeling sorry for myself and acting impulsively, but by the time I’d figured out WHO the bartender was, I was already falling for him.

I'll be honest right from the start and admit it: the cover is totally what caught my attention when it comes to Piper Rayne's The Bartender. No jokes, I saw the cover and thought to myself "this looks like something I would read," because I'm me and these days, 90% of the books I read feature partially clothed guys on the cover and I'm not ashamed to admit it. So yeah, I totally wanted to read The Bartender because of the cover. And I'm glad that the cover caught my eye the way it did because I totally enjoyed this story. In fact, I was taken by surprise by how much I enjoyed the story , probably because I pretty much had zero expectations when I started reading. And on top of that, The Bartender reminded me how great it is to pick up a book you know nothing about and just see where the story takes you. So often, I'll read a book because I know the author, or because someone recommended it to me, or just because it's been majorly hyped up. With those, there's usually a whole lot of expectations involved. And in a way, all those expectations can sort of take of way from my enjoyment of a book at times.

But now I'm getting sidetracked.

So. The Bartender. I'm a sucker for a good enemies to lovers romance, especially one where the characters have a history. That's exactly what happened here with Whitney and Cole. Granted, sometimes the enemies part felt like it was only coming from Whitney since Cole seemed pretty happy with Whitney from the start. I really enjoyed seeing their relationship change and grow, first as a sort of forced friendship, but then something more romantic as they got to know each other outside of whatever preconceived notions they may have had about each other. Even when they were unsure about each other, they just made sense to me (though that could have just been because I knew I was reading a romance and the whole point is that they end up together, but that's not the point right now). This story wasn't just about those two, though, and I'm curious to see what Piper Rayne has in store for Whitney's two best friends, Lennon and Tahlia.

Long story short? Piper Rayne's The Bartender is proof that deciding to read a book based solely on the cover can sometimes pay off in a really good way.

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