Top 10 of 2014
There have been so many wonderful books released this past year! It was tough choosing just 10 to highlight, but here are my favorites! They have all touched my heart or left an impact of some sort. I hope you get the chance to read these fabulous stories!
#1. Archer's Voice by Mia Sheridan
Let's just be honest... Archer is everyone's book boyfriend! There was something about this story that grabbed my heart and held on tight... Still to this day I wish for more Archer.
Amazon Link- http://amzn.to/1ywMtlx
***Author Note: This is not a love story. This is a story of love gone wrong.***
Growing up the way I did, you’d think I’d be more screwed up than what I actually am.
Soon as I turned sixteen, I left that bump in the road I called home and took my chances on the street.
Best decision I ever made.
Now, at the age of twenty six, I’m educated, employed and damn good at my job.
My friends have become my family. Like me, they know what it’s like to grow up unloved.
But the saying is true.
The world makes way for those who know where they are going.
That’s me.
I know where I’m going and I’ll get there eventually. On my own terms and at my own pace.
But then there’s him.
I feel his eyes on me. I see him hiding in plain sight. He watches me.
He makes me feel.
It’s unconventional.
But it’s real.
I’m sure you’re wondering how a person falls in love with their stalker.
So am I.
This isn’t a story.
This is my life.
***This book includes situations that some may find uncomfortable.
Katie’s world came crashing down in an instant.
Her husband, daughter, and unborn baby. . . all gone in a flash. The life that she’d come to know, gone before she ever really got to live it.
With a broken heart, she deals the only way she knows how, by shutting it all off. No communicating, no feelings, just pure nothingness.
Alone with nothing but her own thoughts and a well meaning family, she moves back to her childhood home, a horse farm. It’s there that she finds herself healing along with the horses her family rehabilitates. But when Parker McKenzie comes back into her life she’s reminded of all that went wrong, and all that she lost.
Will Katie ever begin to heal? Or will her secrets and loss be too much for her to overcome?
Perhaps, this is her kismet.
#4. After The Rain by Renee Carlino
This story literally pulls you in from page one and consumes your soul. It was romantic in an intense, gut wrenching way. A unique plot with tons of twists and turns. After The Rain does not disappoint!
Amazon Link- http://amzn.to/1ywNkT6
From the USA TODAY bestselling author of Sweet Thing and Nowhere But Here comes a deeply emotional contemporary romance about the second chances waiting beyond the shattered dreams of youth.
When eighteen-year-old Avelina Belo meets a charismatic cowboy the summer before her senior year of high school, she doesn’t know that accepting his invitation to dinner will lead to a whirlwind marriage three months later and an exciting new life on a Montana ranch. She also doesn’t know that, in a few short years, fate will send everything crashing down around her.
A thousand miles away and fresh out of medical school, Nate Meyers is poised to become UCLA’s next superstar heart surgeon. His laser focus is the key to his success, but it’s also his greatest liability. When a routine surgery ends in disaster, derailing his career, he’s confronted with the hard truth: there’s no one waiting for him at home, no one to help him pick up the pieces.
Regrouping on his uncle’s Montana ranch, Nate meets Avelina, a beautiful but mysterious young woman who keeps to herself and barely speaks a word. As he discovers the details of her devastating past, Avelina teaches him more about matters of the heart than he ever knew before. But can they trust each other enough to put everything on the line?
Hope Saxton had it all. Her own business with her best friend, Libby, her wonderful husband, Charlie was everything she could’ve dreamed of and her sweet baby son, Sawyer was the light of her life. There was nothing more that she could’ve asked for.
Until one night her world was tragically turned upside down, in the blink of an eye, everything was taken away from her along with something else; her sight. Not having anything to live for, Hope has turned her back on her family and friends and given up on life.
Hopeless.
Therapist Oliver Sheldon has been ordered to help rehabilitate a blind Hope so that she is able to reconnect with the real world. This is going to be a challenge as Hope Saxton has no desire to do anything but wither away and die. Not willing to give in, she fights him tooth and nail to not give up living in the memories of her former life.
Oliver becomes determined to heal Hope with everything that is within him and along the way, he finds not only does he care about this woman’s future but that he wants to become a part of it.
Can Hope open her eyes to something more than darkness and envision the hope she has been desperately wanting to reconnect with or will she be destined to wither away unhappy and hopeless?
#7. Black Lies by Alessandra Torre
This story was such a mind f*. I spent the whole book thinking one thing only to realize I was completely wrong. It was intriguing and unlike anything I've ever read.
Amazon Link- http://amzn.to/1CNk0f0
Brant:
Became a tech billionaire by his twentieth birthday. Has been in a relationship with me for 3 years. Has proposed 4 times. Been rejected 4 times.
Lee:
Cuts grass when he's not banging housewives. Good with his hands, his mouth, and his body. Has been pursued relentlessly by me for almost 2 years, whether he knows it or not.
Go ahead. Judge me. You have no idea what my love entails.
If you think you've heard this story before, trust me - you haven't.
**This is a STANDALONE full-length novel. It is not part of a series, and does not contain a cliffhanger.**
An edgy, sexy USA TODAY bestseller about falling for the one person you can’t have.Maise O’Malley just turned eighteen, but she’s felt like a grown-up her entire life. The summer before senior year, she has plans: get into a great film school, convince her mom to go into rehab, and absolutely do not, under any circumstances, screw up her own future.
But life has a way of throwing her plans into free-fall.
When Maise meets Evan at a carnival one night, their chemistry is immediate, intense, and short-lived. Which is exactly how she likes it: no strings. But afterward, she can’t get Evan out of her head. He’s taught her that a hookup can be something more. It can be an unexpected connection with someone who truly understands her. Someone who sees beyond her bravado to the scared but strong girl inside.
That someone turns out to be her new film class teacher, Mr. Evan Wilke.
Maise and Evan resolve to keep their hands off each other, but the attraction is too much to bear. Together, they’re real and genuine; apart, they’re just actors playing their parts for everyone else. And their masks are slipping. People start to notice. Rumors fly. When the truth comes to light in a shocking way, they may learn they were just playing parts for each other, too.
Smart, sexy, and provocative, Unteachable is about what happens when a love story goes off-script.
Home on leave in sunny California, Marine and local lothario Kit Ryan finds himself dangerously drawn to his best friend's sister, Jessa - the one girl he can't have.
But Kit's not about to let a few obstacles stand in his way and soon Jessa's falling for his irresistible charms.
What starts out as a summer romance of secret hook-ups and magical first times quickly develops into a passionate love affair that turns both their worlds upside down.
When summer's over and it's time for Kit to redeploy, neither Kit nor Jessa are ready to say goodbye. Jessa's finally following her dreams and Kit's discovered there's someone he'd sacrifice everything for.
Jessa's prepared to wait for Kit no matter what. But when something more than distance and time rips them apart they're forced to decide whether what they have is really worth fighting for.
A breathtaking, scorchingly hot story about love, friendship, family and finding your way back from the edge of heartbreak.
After her former boyfriend left her pregnant and alone, Megan McKenzie swore off men. She spent the last eighteen months focused solely on her son, Mason, along with finishing nursing school at the top of her class. Although she’s not ready to complicate her life with a long-term relationship, a nice no-strings attached hook-up is just what she needs. At her godson, Noah’s, baptism, she finds the perfect candidate in the soft-spoken godfather, Pesh Nadeen. After all, the widower could use a good time too. But after drinking too much, the night doesn’t end the way she thought it would. Forced to leave Pesh’s house through a walk of shame, Megan hopes to never, ever see him again.
For Pesh Nadeen, the very sight of Megan sends him into an emotional tailspin. Since she reminds him too much of what he has lost, he wants to be out of her sight…at first. But the more he gets to know her, there's something about the diminutive blonde that causes his protective side to go into overdrive, and he finds himself wanting more. When Megan is assigned to work in his ER to complete her nursing clinicals, he sees it as fate, but she’s having no part of it. She only wants a physical relationship while he wants far more.
What happens next is a sexy game of cat and mouse to see who will break first or if both of them will eventually get more than they ever bargained for.
Let's just be honest... Archer is everyone's book boyfriend! There was something about this story that grabbed my heart and held on tight... Still to this day I wish for more Archer.
Amazon Link- http://amzn.to/1ywMtlx
** A NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY, and WALL STREET JOURNAL Bestselling book **
When Bree Prescott arrives in the sleepy, lakeside town of Pelion, Maine, she hopes against hope that this is the place where she will finally find the peace she so desperately seeks. On her first day there, her life collides with Archer Hale, an isolated man who holds a secret agony of his own. A man no one else sees.
Archer's Voice is the story of a woman chained to the memory of one horrifying night and the man whose love is the key to her freedom. It is the story of a silent man who lives with an excruciating wound and the woman who helps him find his voice. It is the story of suffering, fate, and the transformative power of love.
THIS IS A STAND-ALONE SIGN OF LOVE NOVEL, INSPIRED BY SAGITTARIUS. New Adult Contemporary Romance: Due to strong language and sexual content, this book is not intended for readers under the age of 18.
#2. RAW by Belle Aurora
This one was suspenseful, romantic, & intense like no other. It made my heart race and consumed my mind when I wasn't reading. The ending was a What the hell? and definitely left me begging for more!
Amazon Link- http://amzn.to/1AuVOsZ
When Bree Prescott arrives in the sleepy, lakeside town of Pelion, Maine, she hopes against hope that this is the place where she will finally find the peace she so desperately seeks. On her first day there, her life collides with Archer Hale, an isolated man who holds a secret agony of his own. A man no one else sees.
Archer's Voice is the story of a woman chained to the memory of one horrifying night and the man whose love is the key to her freedom. It is the story of a silent man who lives with an excruciating wound and the woman who helps him find his voice. It is the story of suffering, fate, and the transformative power of love.
THIS IS A STAND-ALONE SIGN OF LOVE NOVEL, INSPIRED BY SAGITTARIUS. New Adult Contemporary Romance: Due to strong language and sexual content, this book is not intended for readers under the age of 18.
#2. RAW by Belle Aurora
This one was suspenseful, romantic, & intense like no other. It made my heart race and consumed my mind when I wasn't reading. The ending was a What the hell? and definitely left me begging for more!
Amazon Link- http://amzn.to/1AuVOsZ
***Author Note: This is not a love story. This is a story of love gone wrong.*** Growing up the way I did, you’d think I’d be more screwed up than what I actually am.
Soon as I turned sixteen, I left that bump in the road I called home and took my chances on the street.
Best decision I ever made.
Now, at the age of twenty six, I’m educated, employed and damn good at my job.
My friends have become my family. Like me, they know what it’s like to grow up unloved.
But the saying is true.
The world makes way for those who know where they are going.
That’s me.
I know where I’m going and I’ll get there eventually. On my own terms and at my own pace.
But then there’s him.
I feel his eyes on me. I see him hiding in plain sight. He watches me.
He makes me feel.
It’s unconventional.
But it’s real.
I’m sure you’re wondering how a person falls in love with their stalker.
So am I.
This isn’t a story.
This is my life.
***This book includes situations that some may find uncomfortable.
#3. Kismet by A.E. Woodward
This is a story that I wish I could unread just to read again for the first time. It was heart warming and emotional. My heart ached at times and tears trailed down my cheeks.
This is a story that I wish I could unread just to read again for the first time. It was heart warming and emotional. My heart ached at times and tears trailed down my cheeks.
Katie’s world came crashing down in an instant. Her husband, daughter, and unborn baby. . . all gone in a flash. The life that she’d come to know, gone before she ever really got to live it.
With a broken heart, she deals the only way she knows how, by shutting it all off. No communicating, no feelings, just pure nothingness.
Alone with nothing but her own thoughts and a well meaning family, she moves back to her childhood home, a horse farm. It’s there that she finds herself healing along with the horses her family rehabilitates. But when Parker McKenzie comes back into her life she’s reminded of all that went wrong, and all that she lost.
Will Katie ever begin to heal? Or will her secrets and loss be too much for her to overcome?
Perhaps, this is her kismet.
#4. After The Rain by Renee Carlino
This story literally pulls you in from page one and consumes your soul. It was romantic in an intense, gut wrenching way. A unique plot with tons of twists and turns. After The Rain does not disappoint!
Amazon Link- http://amzn.to/1ywNkT6
From the USA TODAY bestselling author of Sweet Thing and Nowhere But Here comes a deeply emotional contemporary romance about the second chances waiting beyond the shattered dreams of youth.When eighteen-year-old Avelina Belo meets a charismatic cowboy the summer before her senior year of high school, she doesn’t know that accepting his invitation to dinner will lead to a whirlwind marriage three months later and an exciting new life on a Montana ranch. She also doesn’t know that, in a few short years, fate will send everything crashing down around her.
A thousand miles away and fresh out of medical school, Nate Meyers is poised to become UCLA’s next superstar heart surgeon. His laser focus is the key to his success, but it’s also his greatest liability. When a routine surgery ends in disaster, derailing his career, he’s confronted with the hard truth: there’s no one waiting for him at home, no one to help him pick up the pieces.
Regrouping on his uncle’s Montana ranch, Nate meets Avelina, a beautiful but mysterious young woman who keeps to herself and barely speaks a word. As he discovers the details of her devastating past, Avelina teaches him more about matters of the heart than he ever knew before. But can they trust each other enough to put everything on the line?
#5. Envisioning Hope by Tracy Lee
Another fantastic tear jerker! It will break your heart in two, then slowly mend it back together.
Amazon Link- http://amzn.to/12IcWR6
Another fantastic tear jerker! It will break your heart in two, then slowly mend it back together.
Amazon Link- http://amzn.to/12IcWR6
Hope Saxton had it all. Her own business with her best friend, Libby, her wonderful husband, Charlie was everything she could’ve dreamed of and her sweet baby son, Sawyer was the light of her life. There was nothing more that she could’ve asked for. Until one night her world was tragically turned upside down, in the blink of an eye, everything was taken away from her along with something else; her sight. Not having anything to live for, Hope has turned her back on her family and friends and given up on life.
Hopeless.
Therapist Oliver Sheldon has been ordered to help rehabilitate a blind Hope so that she is able to reconnect with the real world. This is going to be a challenge as Hope Saxton has no desire to do anything but wither away and die. Not willing to give in, she fights him tooth and nail to not give up living in the memories of her former life.
Oliver becomes determined to heal Hope with everything that is within him and along the way, he finds not only does he care about this woman’s future but that he wants to become a part of it.
Can Hope open her eyes to something more than darkness and envision the hope she has been desperately wanting to reconnect with or will she be destined to wither away unhappy and hopeless?
#6. Reclaiming The Sand by A. Meredith Walters
This book brought out so many emotions... The characters relationship starts out as something ugly and turns into something truly beautiful. The intensity of each page made this a MUST READ.
Amazon Link- http://amzn.to/12IdfLE
This book brought out so many emotions... The characters relationship starts out as something ugly and turns into something truly beautiful. The intensity of each page made this a MUST READ.
Amazon Link- http://amzn.to/12IdfLE
From the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of Find You in the Dark and Bad Rep comes a story of forgiveness, redemption and finding love in the most unlikely of places.
*Originally written as a stand alone but the sequel, Chasing the Tide will be released on December 16, 2014***
*On sale for $.99 until the release of the sequel***
Bully and victim.
Tormenter and tormented.
Villain and hero.
Ellie McCallum was a bully. No connection to anyone or anything. A sad and lonely existence for a young woman who had come to expect nothing more for herself. Her only happiness coming from making others miserable.
Particularly Freaky Flynn.
Flynn Hendrick lived a life completely disconnected even as he struggled to become something more than that boy with Asperger's. He was taunted and teased, bearing the brunt of systematic and calculated cruelty, ultimately culminating in a catastrophic turn of events that brought Ellie and Flynn’s worlds crashing down.
But then Flynn and Ellie grew up.
And moved on.
Until years later when their paths unexpectedly cross again and the bully and the freak are face to face once more.
When labels come to define you, finding yourself feels impossible. Particularly for two people disconnected from the world who inexplicably find a connection in each other.
And out of the wreckage of their tragic beginnings, an unlikely love story unfolds.
But a painful past doesn’t always want to let go. And old wounds are never truly healed…and sometimes the further you try to run from yourself the closer you come to who you really are.
*Originally written as a stand alone but the sequel, Chasing the Tide will be released on December 16, 2014***
*On sale for $.99 until the release of the sequel***
Bully and victim.
Tormenter and tormented.
Villain and hero.
Ellie McCallum was a bully. No connection to anyone or anything. A sad and lonely existence for a young woman who had come to expect nothing more for herself. Her only happiness coming from making others miserable.
Particularly Freaky Flynn.
Flynn Hendrick lived a life completely disconnected even as he struggled to become something more than that boy with Asperger's. He was taunted and teased, bearing the brunt of systematic and calculated cruelty, ultimately culminating in a catastrophic turn of events that brought Ellie and Flynn’s worlds crashing down.
But then Flynn and Ellie grew up.
And moved on.
Until years later when their paths unexpectedly cross again and the bully and the freak are face to face once more.
When labels come to define you, finding yourself feels impossible. Particularly for two people disconnected from the world who inexplicably find a connection in each other.
And out of the wreckage of their tragic beginnings, an unlikely love story unfolds.
But a painful past doesn’t always want to let go. And old wounds are never truly healed…and sometimes the further you try to run from yourself the closer you come to who you really are.
#7. Black Lies by Alessandra Torre
This story was such a mind f*. I spent the whole book thinking one thing only to realize I was completely wrong. It was intriguing and unlike anything I've ever read.
Amazon Link- http://amzn.to/1CNk0f0
Brant:Became a tech billionaire by his twentieth birthday. Has been in a relationship with me for 3 years. Has proposed 4 times. Been rejected 4 times.
Lee:
Cuts grass when he's not banging housewives. Good with his hands, his mouth, and his body. Has been pursued relentlessly by me for almost 2 years, whether he knows it or not.
Go ahead. Judge me. You have no idea what my love entails.
If you think you've heard this story before, trust me - you haven't.
**This is a STANDALONE full-length novel. It is not part of a series, and does not contain a cliffhanger.**
#8. Unteachable by Leah Raeder
The Author is a master at writing. Her words pulled me and the story slowly became my drug. I was addicted to this student/teacher romance!
Amazon Link- http://amzn.to/1266Lpc
Amazon Link- http://amzn.to/1266Lpc
An edgy, sexy USA TODAY bestseller about falling for the one person you can’t have.Maise O’Malley just turned eighteen, but she’s felt like a grown-up her entire life. The summer before senior year, she has plans: get into a great film school, convince her mom to go into rehab, and absolutely do not, under any circumstances, screw up her own future.But life has a way of throwing her plans into free-fall.
When Maise meets Evan at a carnival one night, their chemistry is immediate, intense, and short-lived. Which is exactly how she likes it: no strings. But afterward, she can’t get Evan out of her head. He’s taught her that a hookup can be something more. It can be an unexpected connection with someone who truly understands her. Someone who sees beyond her bravado to the scared but strong girl inside.
That someone turns out to be her new film class teacher, Mr. Evan Wilke.
Maise and Evan resolve to keep their hands off each other, but the attraction is too much to bear. Together, they’re real and genuine; apart, they’re just actors playing their parts for everyone else. And their masks are slipping. People start to notice. Rumors fly. When the truth comes to light in a shocking way, they may learn they were just playing parts for each other, too.
Smart, sexy, and provocative, Unteachable is about what happens when a love story goes off-script.
#9. Come Back to Me by Mila Gray
The writing in this book reminded me of the elegance of Nicholas Sparks. The story felt real and kept me on the edge of my seat. It is a forbidden, military romance that will capture your heart!
Amazon Link- http://amzn.to/1AuYuH4
The writing in this book reminded me of the elegance of Nicholas Sparks. The story felt real and kept me on the edge of my seat. It is a forbidden, military romance that will capture your heart!
Amazon Link- http://amzn.to/1AuYuH4
Home on leave in sunny California, Marine and local lothario Kit Ryan finds himself dangerously drawn to his best friend's sister, Jessa - the one girl he can't have.But Kit's not about to let a few obstacles stand in his way and soon Jessa's falling for his irresistible charms.
What starts out as a summer romance of secret hook-ups and magical first times quickly develops into a passionate love affair that turns both their worlds upside down.
When summer's over and it's time for Kit to redeploy, neither Kit nor Jessa are ready to say goodbye. Jessa's finally following her dreams and Kit's discovered there's someone he'd sacrifice everything for.
Jessa's prepared to wait for Kit no matter what. But when something more than distance and time rips them apart they're forced to decide whether what they have is really worth fighting for.
A breathtaking, scorchingly hot story about love, friendship, family and finding your way back from the edge of heartbreak.
#10. The Pairing by Katie Ashley
One word.... Pesh. He is successful, kind, and HOT!
One word.... Pesh. He is successful, kind, and HOT!
After her former boyfriend left her pregnant and alone, Megan McKenzie swore off men. She spent the last eighteen months focused solely on her son, Mason, along with finishing nursing school at the top of her class. Although she’s not ready to complicate her life with a long-term relationship, a nice no-strings attached hook-up is just what she needs. At her godson, Noah’s, baptism, she finds the perfect candidate in the soft-spoken godfather, Pesh Nadeen. After all, the widower could use a good time too. But after drinking too much, the night doesn’t end the way she thought it would. Forced to leave Pesh’s house through a walk of shame, Megan hopes to never, ever see him again. For Pesh Nadeen, the very sight of Megan sends him into an emotional tailspin. Since she reminds him too much of what he has lost, he wants to be out of her sight…at first. But the more he gets to know her, there's something about the diminutive blonde that causes his protective side to go into overdrive, and he finds himself wanting more. When Megan is assigned to work in his ER to complete her nursing clinicals, he sees it as fate, but she’s having no part of it. She only wants a physical relationship while he wants far more.
What happens next is a sexy game of cat and mouse to see who will break first or if both of them will eventually get more than they ever bargained for.
