It was a slow month on the blog since I took a week off to go on vacation with my family. It was my first time going to the seaside with my daughter, so I needed a lot of time for preparation before we went there. In short, I read a lot of books but I fell behind with my reviews and I was not as active as usual with the memes and other feature and promo posts on the blog. Here is what happened in July.

I reviewed only 4 books:

Release Day Blast for Six of Hearts by L. H. Cosway
Blog Tour for Between the Sheets by Molly O'Keefe - ongoing giveaway 

Waiting on Wednesday is a book meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and it features books that we are eagerly awaiting to be released.

Genre: Romance, YA/NA
Add on Goodreads
Release Date: 26 Aug 2014

Why am I waiting for this book? - I came across this book by chance and I was intrigued by the idea of telling the love story of the main characters through the eyes of the people around them. I'm always on the look out for romances outside the box and this sounds like a cute, fun read which I'll enjoy.

It's been a while since I've done a Teaser Tuesday post but I'm back in the game today. I'm sharing an excerpt from Lay It Down by Cara McKenna. It's a contemporary romantic suspense and I absolutely loved. It releases on today, 5 Aug. I'll be posting my review later this week.

Lay It Down

(Desert Dogs #1) 

Synopsis

Backbreaking days, wild nights, and the hard hum of steel between your thighs...

That’s a life well lived, according to the Desert Dogs—four friends who call Fortuity, Nevada, their badlands home.

Vince Grossier is the self-crowned outlaw king around here. But when Fortuity’s slick new mayor invites a casino development to town, greed isn’t far behind—and it claims Vince’s good friend as its first casualty. With the law turning a blind eye to the mysterious death, Vince must seek his own brand of justice. The pretty photographer hired by the developers might be the key to uncovering the truth. And she’s a temptation too good to pass up.

Finally free of a controlling ex, Kim Paget’s not looking to be taken for a ride—not on the back of some tattooed roughneck’s bike and definitelynot in his bed. But when she uncovers evidence supporting Vince’s suspicions of murder, Kim must entrust her safety to a man whose body threatens danger of a whole different kind.

 

Goodreads Blurb

*** *** *** 

Review
My rating - 3.5 Stars

I've read an really enjoyed Ms Cosway's previous book, Still Life with Strings (my review), and after seeing the blurb for thus one, featuring an illusionist, I was more than excited to read it. It was a nice romantic story with some elements of suspence and I liked it but didn't love it as I hoped.

The story is told from the heroine's, Matilda, POV. She came off a too naive, especially in the beginning, and even though she had little experience with men, her total obviousness towards Jay's reactions/feelings for her, didn't seem convincing and I found it mostly annoying. She acted Ms Goody Two-Shoes most of the time and it took me while to warm up to her. Through her relationship with Jay she became more adventurous, dared to take some risks (albeit some stupid ones) and I liked the her growth into her own self, as a young independent woman who is not afraid to experience love.

Jay, on the other hand, made the book work for me. He was a very interesting character, absolutely mesmerizing, truly magical. He kept playing tricks on people, playing with their emotions and despite some disputable choices, he was a noble guy fighting for a good cause. Jay was drop-dead gorgeous and I found his pursuit of Matilda endearing and romantic in an old-fashioned way, even when he put things between them on hold just to protect her and to give her a fair chance to be with with him without lies and secrets between them, really endeared him to me.

Plot wise, I felt the beginning (him coming to their firm to seek a lawyer and ending up taking lodging with her and her dad) was too contrived. It was unrealistic but gradually the story got better, it picked up pace and the final 1/3 was great - fast-paced and intense, all the puzzle pieces finally falling into place. The mystery was no mystery for the reader, since the prologue of the story made things pretty clear, yet Matilda was ignorant about that till the very end. This put her in somewhat of a disadvantage since she appeared clueless a lot of time and even made some poor decisions because she didn't know the facts. 

I wish there was more emphasis on the magic shows and people who make them happen. I felt Jay was presented more as a man on a mission to revenge the evil done to him and to win his woman, than as an artist creating illusions and doing magic tricks for a living.

It's a intense romance with some magic and mystery, some hot sexy times and some suspense which I can recommend to all fans of the genre.

*** *** *** 

Excerpt

Jay tugs on my hand and leads me out to the back garden, where the sun is shining down warmly. “I created a magic trick just for you. I think I have it perfected.”

“For me? Seriously?” I ask in delight. He hands me what looks like a small beige chicken’s egg, placing it in my upturned palm.

“It’s an egg,” I say, stating the obvious.

Jay nods. “Just keep watching.” He passes his hand over it once, and it starts to crack, like maybe there’s a tiny chick inside. Then he passes his hand over the top of it again, and it cracks completely open. I gasp with surprise as five gorgeous red and black butterflies with white spots practically explode from the shell, their wings flapping through the air. They flutter all around me, and my heart lifts when one of them comes to sit on my shoulder.

“Oh, wow,” I whisper, smiling like crazy and trying my hardest not to move. Another comes and sits on my hand, tickling me and making me giggle.

When I look at Jay, his eyes are shining bright under the sun as he soaks up my reaction, his mouth curving ever so slightly at the edges. I’m not even going to ask him how he did it. I’m locked in his spell, and I don’t want to break it.

“That was amazing,” I say to him when the butterflies have all finally flown away.

Stepping closer, he takes my chin between his thumb and forefinger. “Look at those eyes, so full of wonder. I love your reactions. They make me feel like I can reclaim the childhood I never had.”

His heartfelt words make my throat tighten with empathy. I feel like hugging him, but I can’t. It would be…too much.

Author's links:
Website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads

My rating: 3.5 stars