Book Blitz! One Shade of Gray by Monica Corwin w/ a Special Character Guest Post!

One Shade of Gray by Monica Corwin
Genre: Adult Fiction (Paranormal Romance)
Date Published: September 26, 2017
Publisher: Pronoun

My name is Dorian Gray. You might think you know my story? Please. That was just the beginning. Not the end.

I’ve lived over 100 years. I don’t know why. I’ve sinned, deeply, but haven’t we all? 

Now Sybil is back. Her name is Izzy and she looks the same. Smells the same. Walks the same...but everything else about her is different. Stronger. Bolder. I want her more than ever. 

I should keep her safe, and keep my hands to myself. But those dark parts of my soul still linger. I won’t lose her again.

Some said women who knew their own minds were dangerous. I disagreed. A woman who knew her mind, and her worth, was intoxicating.
She cleared her throat and I realized my thoughts had been wandering to the past. “My apologies.”
Her face flushed a pretty pink. “It’s fine just stop looking at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like I’m more than an employee.”
I leaned out, about to pull her in again for another lesson but she stalled my hands, placing her small ones on the outside of my own. They were chilled slightly but the touch sent a heat through me I hadn’t felt in years.
“I think we just had this conversation.”
She leaned in and pulled her hands into her lap. “No, we had a lecture. You told me how you wanted it and didn’t give me the chance to offer an opinion.”
Fair point. “Very well, what is your opinion on the matter, Miss Vale?”
“Do you actually want to know, or are you going to do that playboy billionaire thing where you declare something to be and suddenly the universe aligns against the poor unsuspecting female you set your sights on?”
I chuckled. She was funny. Maybe Sibyl had been funny too, and I never took the time to notice. “I promise your opinion will be considered with appropriate weight.”
“That sounds like something a billionaire playboy would say.”
I didn’t respond to her taunts but waited instead for her answer.
She raked her eyes over my face and body, and I’d never felt more on display. I sat up straighter, which caused a little tick of a smile to appear at the corner of her mouth.
“I don’t want to date you, Gray. You’re technically my boss, and while you’re very attractive I can’t put aside my personal work ethic.”
My heart hit my feet and shattered like a boulder into a pile of rubble. Of course I wasn’t going to force her to do anything. But part of me had hoped my charm or appeal might at least give me the opportunity.
“Is there anything I can do to change your mind?”
She shook her head and gave me a sad soft smile, the kind reserved for deathbeds and christenings. Definitely not the reaction I wanted from her. Not the smile I wanted from her.
I nodded and stood up, unable to remain under her scrutiny once she’d made her opinion so very plain. “Of course. I’ll not bother you again.”
“And you’ll stop following me?”
I threw some bills on the table, slipped my arms into my coat, and buttoned it, all without meeting her eyes. The rejection stung. In fact, I don’t think I’d ever felt this particular mix of humiliation and sadness. Once I was put together and glued on the face I showed the world, I gave her my own version of the deathbed smile and a little bow. “Of course.”
I walked away without a word but when I reached the middle of the square a hand clasped my shoulder. Izzy grabbed me and held out the book I’d left on the table. I took it and met her eyes, unsure what she could see there, unsure what I could and couldn’t hide when I was around her.
She leaned in and whispered, “I’m not going to ask to kiss you but I will give you this as a parting gift.”

Dorian’s Top Ten Favorite Books

Why anyone would want to know my taste in books I certainly have no idea but, I’m happy to oblige. Here are my top ten favorite books.

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas – I’m also partial to The Three Musketeers as well. You can’t go wrong with an 800-page tome on vengeance, retribution, or atonement.
American Gods by Neil Gaiman – In my day, people were shunned for books like this. It was called Blasphemy. Which is why I find the book so amazing. This author’s mind astounds even me.
Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling – Another amazing fantasy epic that makes me forget how long I’ve been alive while I gallivant around as a teenage boy. 
The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe – A classic horror/suspense story set in one of my favorite cities…They call Edgar Allan Poe one of the founders of mystery fiction and Auguste Dupin never disappoints me. I wish we could have seen more of him in Poe’s time. (And no I never met the man)
Dracula by Bram Stoker – A classic “monster” book back when monsters were de rigueur and I love how this monster always stays a monster. In today’s society when vampires sparkle this book reminds me that some creatures aren’t worth saving.
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury – Whenever I think about this book one particular quote comes to mind: “Stuff your eyes with wonder, he said, live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds.“ This reminded me of my youth but with far less vigor and more empathy. This book reminds me to live while still caring for the rest of the living. 
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster – What is not to love about this classic tale? It makes me warm, happy, and let’s me be outside myself in the same way Harry Potter does for me.
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein – This book is one I could have used in my younger years. I adore the short tale. Another book that reminds me to treat others with kindness and respect. After 150 years it can sometimes be difficult. I often see myself and everyone else as “them.”
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig – A classic story of travel that makes me want to venture around the world (no matter how many times I’ve been).
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain – This is another author I could have met that I failed to. Mark Twain takes a classic “fish out of water” story and elevates it to something much more fun. I enjoy this book when I’m feeling out of my element in the modern world.

I hope this list has given you something to read, or a new author to embrace, perhaps. I have  multiple copies of each of these in my own library and wish the same on every other person in the world.

Monica Corwin is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author. She is an outspoken writer attempting to make romance accessible to everyone, no matter their preferences. As a Northern Ohioian, Monica enjoys snow drifts, three seasons of weather, and a dislike of Michigan football. Monica owns more books about King Arthur than should be strictly necessary. Also typewriters...lots and lots of typewriters.

To learn more about Monica Corwin and her books, visit her website.You can also find her on Goodreads, Facebook, Instagram, BookBub, Pinterest, and Twitter.

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Teaser Tuesday! Their Fractured Light by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by The Purple Booker. 

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share  doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser this week is from Their Fractured Light by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

“Love, and trust. The things that make us human. They could have been mine, if only I could have leapt. If only we could have leapt.” 

A year ago, Flynn Cormac and Jubilee Chase made the now infamous Avon Broadcast, calling on the galaxy to witness for their planet, and protect them from destruction. Some say Flynn’s a madman, others whisper about conspiracies. Nobody knows the truth. A year before that, Tarver Merendsen and Lilac LaRoux were rescued from a terrible shipwreck—now, they live a public life in front of the cameras, and a secret life away from the world’s gaze.

Now, in the center of the universe on the planet of Corinth, all four are about to collide with two new players, who will bring the fight against LaRoux Industries to a head. Gideon Marchant is an eighteen-year-old computer hacker—a whiz kid and an urban warrior. He’ll climb, abseil and worm his way past the best security measures to pull off onsite hacks that others don’t dare touch.

Sofia Quinn has a killer smile, and by the time you’re done noticing it, she’s got you offering up your wallet, your car, and anything else she desires. She holds LaRoux Industries responsible for the mysterious death of her father and is out for revenge at any cost.

When a LaRoux Industries security breach interrupts Gideon and Sofia’s separate attempts to infiltrate their headquarters, they’re forced to work together to escape. Each of them has their own reason for wanting to take down LaRoux Industries, and neither trusts the other. But working together might be the best chance they have to expose the secrets LRI is so desperate to hide.

Do you have a blog? Post a link to your Teaser Tuesday post in the comments.

No blog? Post a Teaser in the comments anyway!

Book Blitz! Born, Darkly by Trisha Wolfe

Born, Darkly (Darkly, Madly Duet #1) by Trisha Wolfe
Genre: Adult Fiction(Dark Suspense Romance)
Date Published: September 19, 2017
Publisher: Self

He challenged her sanity. 

She shattered his reality. 

They dared each other...to the brink of madness.

A dark and twisted maze awaits criminal psychologist London Noble when she falls for her patient, convicted serial killer, Grayson Pierce Sullivan. As she unravels the traps, her sanity tested with each game, she's forced to acknowledge the true evil in the world around her. 

Check out my reviews of other books by Trisha Wolfe!!

I’m the author of the YA Steampunk/Paranormal DESTINY'S FIRE (Omnific Publishing) and the upcoming YA Sci-Fi / Utopian FIREBLOOD from Spencer Hill Press, October 2013. My published short stories have appeared in YA literary journals, Fantasy magazines, and anthologies. I’ve written five books in the past three years, and I’m currently working on a new YA Sci-Fi / Dark Fantasy project.

I’m the creator of YA Bound, a promotional blog for the Young Adult genre.  Also a proud  member of YALITCHAT.ORG, SCWW, and The Apocalypsies.

And I’m also a business owner, partnered with my partner, my husband. When I’m not busy doing all of the above, I’m a wife and the mother of a gorgeous teen boy who's the sounding board for my male characters.

To learn more about Trisha Wolfe and her books, visit her website.You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter.

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Review of The Pursuit of Lady Harriett by Rachael Anderson

The Pursuit of Lady Harriett (Tanglewood #3) by Rachael Anderson 
Genre: Adult Fiction (Historical Romance)
Date Expected:  August 23, 2017
Publisher:  HEA Publishing

When wills clash and hearts collide, who will reign victorious? 

Termed an Incomparable during her first London season, Lady Harriett Cavendish is beautiful, spirited, and confident, capturing the attention of a great many suitors. Unfortunately, they all failed to capture her attention, and she concluded the season as unattached as she’d begun it. 

Only weeks prior to her second season, Harriett encounters Lieutenant Christopher Jamison while visiting Tanglewood Manor. Recently returned from war, the lieutenant is everything that Harriett's previous suitors were not. He’s arrogant, ungentlemanly, irritating, and challenges her at every opportunity. When he goes too far, Harriett decides that it’s time to turn the tables on him. But as she sets out to put the lieutenant in his place once and for all, she discovers there is more to him than meets the eye, and when it comes to matters of the heart, she has no control whatsoever. 

The Pursuit of Lady Harriett is the third book in the Tanglewood series by Rachael Anderson. I loved this story! It was funny and fun, yet it had moments of seriousness too. I enjoyed these characters quite a bit. They are both pretty stubborn, witty, intelligent, infuriating, and soo stinkin' cute! Chris is very rough around the edges, and he really doesn't have a clue how to treat a lady, and when it comes to expressing his feelings? Forget it. Clueless. He's always hidden his emotions away with humor. So, no one in his life knows how anything really effects him. When it comes to Harriett, she just assumes he doesn't care or it's all a game to him. And in the beginning, it kinda was..They didn't particularly like one another, but the bantering and sarcasm soon became something else as a friendship formed and then more started to form. It was a gradual romance, and even though Harriett didn't know where he stood most of the time, he sure made my belly flip a time or two.

The Pursuit of Lady Harriett by Rachael Anderson was kindly provided to me by I'm a Reader for review. The opinions are my own.

Harriett looked at what remained of the cake. Appar-ently, he didn’t intend to finish it off after all, so she collected their forks and stood. “Forgive me for saying so, but you look quite done in, Chris. If you do not go up to bed now, you will probably fall asleep here. Only imagine what Mrs. Caddy might say if she discovers you here with the mostly-eaten cake. For your own sake, you ought to retire. I will do my best to tidy things up.”
Before she could move away from him, he grabbed her hand and guided her to sit back down, keeping hold of her fingers. “Not so fast, my lady. I meant it when I said that I’m in desperate need of the distraction that only you can provide. Thus far, all I have done is burden you with my troubles.”
“I do not feel at all burdened, sir.” Indeed, Harriett suddenly felt breathless and somewhat giddy. The effect this man had on her was something of a wonder.
“Sir?” he asked. “I thought we were beyond that.”
“I thought so as well, but you only just called me ‘my lady.’”
He frowned and blinked as though he hadn’t realized he had. “Forgive me, Harry. I fear my exhaustion has muddled my thinking.”
This time, she did not let the name slide. She snatched her hand free and frowned at him. “Obviously it has.”
He laughed—not a tired attempt at a laugh, but a real one filled with the richness that warmed her straight through. Only this time, it did not bother her at all. In fact, it felt wonderful, almost like a compliment.
“I knew you’d come through for me,” he said, leaning close enough to touch shoulders with her. “You have no idea how much I needed to laugh or how good that felt. I could honestly kiss you right now.”
Harriett tried her best not to blush or appear astonished by the suggestion—he had obviously made the comment in jest—but when his smile widened into a devilish grin, she knew she’d failed. He leaned in closer, and his gaze wandered briefly to her mouth before returning to her eyes. She could smell vanilla and lemon and a hint of something else—leather perhaps? A delightful pulse whipped down her arm, and she was hard-pressed not to shiver.
“Admit it,” he said. “You have missed me.”

Have you read the previous books in this series?

Check out my reviews of  more books by Rachael Anderson!! 

Rachael Anderson is the author of four books: Divinely Designed, Luck of the Draw, Minor Adjustments, and The Reluctant Bachelorette. She’s the mother of four and is pretty good at breaking up fights, or at least sending guilty parties to their rooms. She can’t sing, doesn’t dance, and despises tragedies. But she recently figured out how yeast works and can now make homemade bread, which she is really good at eating.

To learn more about Rachael Anderson and her books, visit her blog.You can also find her on Goodreads, Facebook, and Twitter.

Check out my Interview With Rachael Anderson!

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Teaser Tuesday! Wolves and Roses by Christina Bauer

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by The Purple Booker. 

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share  doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser this week is from Wolves and Roses by Christina Bauer

“He offered to marry you this weekend,” says Madame.
“I remember. I was there when he proposed.” And I said no. Talk about awkward.

Seventeen-year-old Bryar Rose has a problem. She’s descended from one of the three magical races—shifters, fairies, or witches. That makes her one of the Magicorum, and Magicorum always follow a fairy tale life template. In Bryar’s case, that template should be Sleeping Beauty. “Should” being the key word. Trouble is, Bryar is nowhere near the Sleeping Beauty life template. Not even close. She doesn’t like birds or woodland creatures. She can’t sing. And she certainly can’t stand Prince Philpot, the so-called “His Highness of Hedge Funds” that her aunties want her to marry. Even worse, Bryar finds herself attracted to a hottie werewolf named Knox and is under attack by evil mummy-zombies. If Bryar can’t figure out who—or what—she really is, it might cost both her and Knox their lives… as well as jeopardize the very nature of magic itself.

Do you have a blog? Post a link to your Teaser Tuesday post in the comments.

No blog? Post a Teaser in the comments anyway!

Playing Catch Up! What Light by Jay Asher

Playing Catch Up has really been helping me through my ever growing TBR list. I'd like to welcome all other blogs to participate too! If you do, be sure to post your links in the comments section. I'd love to see your Playing Catch Up Reviews, and I'm sure others would too!! *wink*

Want to know more about Playing Catch Up? I'll tell you all about it here!

What Light by Jay Asher
Genre: Young Adult (Contemporary Romance)
Date Published: October 18, 2016
Publisher: Razorbill 

From Jay Asher, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Thirteen Reasons Why, comes a romance that will break your heart, but soon have you believing again. . . .

Sierra's family runs a Christmas tree farm in Oregon—it's a bucolic setting for a girl to grow up in, except that every year, they pack up and move to California to set up their Christmas tree lot for the season. So Sierra lives two lives: her life in Oregon and her life at Christmas. And leaving one always means missing the other. 

Until this particular Christmas, when Sierra meets Caleb, and one life eclipses the other.

By reputation, Caleb is not your perfect guy: years ago, he made an enormous mistake and has been paying for it ever since. But Sierra sees beyond Caleb's past and becomes determined to help him find forgiveness and, maybe, redemption. As disapproval, misconceptions, and suspicions swirl around them, Caleb and Sierra discover the one thing that transcends all else: true love.

What Light is a love story that's moving and life-affirming and completely unforgettable.

What Light by Jay Asher was a cozy little story. It was very Christmas-y and would make a nice read for a snow day this coming winter. The story was very family centered. Family is very important to Sierra. Dating wasn't on her to-do list, but Caleb grew on her. There wasn't much drama or anything that required too much thinking while you read. There wasn't anything particularly profound about this story, and there didn't need to be. It was just a light an easy story, and I enjoyed seeing some of the inner workings of a Christmas tree farm almost as much as I enjoyed the growing relationship between Caleb and Sierra.

Jay Asher was born in Arcadia, California on September 30, 1975. He grew up in a family that encouraged all of his interests, from playing the guitar to his writing. He attended Cuesta College right after graduating from high school. It was here where he wrote his first two children’s books for a class called Children’s Literature Appreciation. At this point in his life, he had decided he wanted to become an elementary school teacher. He then transferred to California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo where he left his senior year in order to pursue his career as a serious writer. Throughout his life he worked in various establishments, including as a salesman in a shoe store and in libraries and bookstores. Many of his work experiences had an impact on some aspect of his writing.

He has published only one book to date, Thirteen Reasons Why, which was published in October 2007. He is currently working on his second Young Adult novel, and has written several picture books and screenplays. Thirteen Reasons Why has won several awards and has received five stars from Teen Book Review. It also has received high reviews from fellow authors such as Ellen Hopkins, Chris Crutcher, and Gordon Kormon.

To learn more about Jay Asher and his books, visit his website.You can also find him on Goodreads & Facebook.