Chantal Fernando is 26, a mother of three beautiful little boys and lives in Western Australia. Chase is her debut novel, followed by Kade, Ryder, James and Maybe This Time. She is currently working on a few other projects.
"...a powerful, beautiful, well-crafted book, a modern love story with a
living heart and soul." - Indie Reader (an Indie Reader Top
Book Pick)
"...will enchant fans of women's fiction who enjoy realistic romance,
thought-provoking reads, juicy love scenes and unexpected twists of plot."
- Midwest Book Review
"Every once in a while, you come across a book that makes your
heart race from the moment you hear about it. This was one of those books for
me." - Aestas Book Blog
Synopsis: Adult Women's Fiction/Romance
This is not your typical love story. It’s not so black and
white. Lines are crossed. Walls are smashed. Good becomes bad. Bad becomes
very, very good.
Shayda
Hijazi—the perfect daughter, the perfect wife, the perfect mother. For
thirty-three years she has played by the rules, swallowing secrets, burying
dreams, and doing whatever it takes to anchor her family. Shayda Hijazi is
about to come face to face with the one thing that can rip it all apart, the
one thing her heart has always been denied: love.
Troy
Heathgate—untamed, exhilarating, dangerous—a man who does exactly as he
pleases. Life bends to his will. Until he comes across the one thing he would
give it all up for, but can never have.
Born
on the same day in opposite corners of the world, their lives collide. And
nothing is ever the same again. Now Shayda is flying free and Troy has found the one thing that centers his
soul, but even as they beat the odds, a cancer diagnosis puts Shayda in a
painful dilemma. On the one hand is the man who makes her feel gloriously alive
and on the other, her children, and a husband ravaged by the past.
Spanning
three decades, 53 Letters for My Lover is a fiercely sensual, emotional ride to
the heart of an epic, forbidden love that defies it all—an intimate exploration
of love, loyalty, passion, betrayal, and the human yearning for hope, happiness
and redemption.
AUTHOR WARNING: This book is a blend of women's fiction and romance. It
involves infidelity and an attempted rape. If you are not comfortable with
these subjects, this may not be the best book for you.
BOOK TRAILER
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Leylah
Attar writes stories about love—shaken, stirred and served with a twist. When
she's not writing, she can be found pursuing her other passions: photography,
food, family and travel. Sometimes she disappears into the black hole of the
internet, but can usually be enticed out with chocolate.
This is a slow building inferno that sets my heart ablaze. A poignant tale portrayed over years and continued to transcend time. A story of star crossed lovers.... Two entirely different individuals from varying cultures, countries and traditions. Both blessed with birth on the same day. Two halves of the same soul, tangled and knotted together through life's unruly wings. Of sacrifices, redemption and salvation.
We can never choose who we fall in love with. Love just happens. It just... soars!!!!!!
“It’s one of those moments that sears itself in your heart, where you realize that somehow, miraculously, through all the mistakes you can make, through all the hurt and pain, happiness can still find it’s way through all the cracks in your heart.
This one quote, is the perfect and all encompassing portrayal of this story, this tale, of life.
*************
" It started long before this, when stars were mere particles in swirling clouds of dust. And every event since has conspired to bring us together.”
Twelve years passes by as they are both separated by circumstance until they meet again.
Shayda Hijazi and Troy Heathgate still sizzle. Eyes locked, the hair on the back of their necks stand at attention, the heat that courses through their bodies at the slightest touch, the tremble that causes goose bumps to raise and the nerve rattling yearning that ignites their deepest and innermost desires.
I cross the parking lot, acutely aware of his eyes following me, and don't let my breath out until I get in the car. I hope it's another twelve years before I see him again. Maybe he'll have tobacco teeth by then. And thick, bushy hair growing out of his ears. And, please god, a beer belly. Yes, a beer belly would be nice.
Lust lurks; the female heart throb, the gentleman with dark hair and blue eyes.
"If Troy Heathgate locks in on you, you're done for. Even when you know he's so, so bad for you, it feels so, so good."
"When it comes to you, I'm blind, Shayda." He lifts my chin. "I don't see a mum or friend or wife or co-worker. Just you, Shayda."
I feel like a giddy schoolgirl, with butterflies in her stomach just thinking about the cute boy at school. This is what Troy does to me; he turns me inside out, upside down and all around. Wooooooooooo!!!!!!!
Leylah Attar you have created a teenage monster turned lust driven and desired filled woman, temped to jump straight into those page and become Shayda myself. To be able to engage my own carnal desires and passion filled yearnings, uh huhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.......
This is a must read debut book for 2014. An EPIC love story, with wonderfully enriching and well developed characters, that slap your emotions silly and brings out the romantic, fierce fighters in us all. Simply a beautiful beautiful tale.
*ARC provided on behalf of the author through AToMR PRomotions* A big big Thank You.
**This can be read as a STANDALONE. The second book in the Lost series tells Jessica and Parker’s story.**
All Jessica wants -as a college graduate — is to be a good girl. She landed the job of her dreams at a museum and is trying to eliminate temptations. No more short skirts (when she can help it). No wild parties. And no men.
She particularly excels at that last thing. . .
Until her path crosses Parker’s. Again. Jessica remembers the last time their paths crossed very well. She was left with a seriously bruised ego. She knows it would be best to avoid him altogether. But the charming Brit makes it hard for her to elude his electrifying pull. He is as irresistible as he is captivating.
And enigmatic.
Because underneath the sleek Armani suit and the sweet British accent that makes her crave his touch, Parker isn’t the perfect gentleman everyone thinks he is.
He’s exactly what Jessica doesn’t want, but desperately needs. A bad, bad boy.
AUTHOR BIO
My name is Layla Hagen and I am a New Adult Contemporary Romance author.
I fell in love with books when I was nine years old, and my love affair with stories continues even now, many years later.
I write romantic stories and can’t wait to share them with the world.
And I drink coffee. Lots of it, in case the photo didn’t make it obvious enough
Laura Marie Altom’s heart-stirring new romance will have you believing in the power of love—and passion—to heal even the most wounded souls.
Never again. Fleeing her hometown to escape an abusive marriage, Ella Patton swears she has surrendered to a man for the last time. But while living under a new name, she meets a kind, handsome stranger who seems different—and will be moving on soon, making Ella reckless enough to break her rules. With a kiss, the stranger opens the door to desires Ella believed she would never know. Then he makes an unexpected proposal.
A dot-com billionaire from humble beginnings, Liam Stone is a man whose past has made him compassionate yet guarded—much like the beautiful, secretive woman he stumbles upon in a remote Southern town. Though he intends only a dalliance, when the time comes to return home to San Francisco, Liam cannot bear the thought of leaving her behind. But when he tries to entice her to join him, he finds the tables turning dizzingly fast. Suddenly a little seduction becomes a huge battle for one thing: control.
About the Author
After college, Laura Marie Altom did a brief stint as an interior designer before becoming a stay-at- home mom to boy/girl twins. Always an avid romance reader, when she found herself replotting the afternoon soaps, she knew it was time to try her hand at writing.
Meet Liam Stone and Ella Patton. The Pretty Woman story with a twist.
Liam is the self made dot-com billionaire, of Zoogle. A lifetime of hardships and hardwork has paid off and paved a successful business and with money anything is possible. Slumming it in a small Southern town while his associates handle business deals and his vehicle is being fixed. Liam remains incognito, staying in a shabby Inn and keeping to himself. Harbouring abandonment issues from a tender age, Liam doesn't date and when he does, it's on his own terms. Liam Stone favours his privacy to the point of indulging in contractual "relationships". The purpose of his contracts, is for total Control. He must leave people before they get the chance to leave him. That is until he meets the lovely Ella Patton.
Ella Patton is on the run. She's hiding from an abusive husband, Blaine, under the pseudonym of Julie. Ella's scars run deep, literally and figuratively. Her husband likes Control and is a master of deception. On the outside he's the rich, romantic, loving husband, but when the mask comes off.... he's... Now on the run and working in a small Southern town, Ella is saving to move even further away from her husband. Ella's skittish and is hiding a horrifying secret.
While working the snack bar at Wal-mart, Liam notices her and after a night of partying he can't seem to get Ella out his mind. Ella needs money and Liam wants Ella. What better for each party to obtain their goals, than a contract for fair wages. After considerable persuasion, Ella takes Liam up on his deal.
Now, let's all guess here... we have two individuals, with their own dark pasts, fighting for the one thing, that they will both eventually have to relinquish.
Problems arise from the get go. Liam listens to his friends and decides he's too infatuated with Ella, and leaves her stranded in the penthouse for a week with no communication. Ella, hates all the money Liam is throwing at her and with the feeling that she has no Control over things, Ella leaves. Liam and Ella become estranged for weeks.
One day they finally reunite and Ella decides to bear it all. No more hiding. Even though she builds up her courage to become intimate with Liam, she is still hiding a dark secret, a secret that can make or break her relationship with Liam.
Reliving her past daily when looking into the mirror, Ella feels dead on the inside, an empty capsule. On the underside of her breasts she bears the ugly, possessive marks of a deranged husband.
But all Liam sees is beauty, a lovely young woman fighting hard to survive while fighting to stay in Control. She gave up that control once and it only gave her heartache, pain and fear.
My thoughts: This was a great story line, but poorly portrayed. There were too many contrasting characteristics and situations. The story wanted to take the Pretty Woman concept with a few changes in the overall plot of the story, so whilst there were many statements of scenes that did pull it off, it didn't suit this book at all. Very much overdone and was unnecessary. As much as I liked the idea of Liam, that's all it was, an "idea". I didn't feel any emotional connections let alone any connections to the hero and heroine. The only character I liked was Willow, the friend (which I didn't include in the review) because she was supposed to add substance to the novel, but again it was lacking. Willow was allowed to literally walk all over Liam and Ella, why?? I have no idea. This aspect should have been played upon more to add development and overall intensity and drama. *ARC provided byRandom House Publishing Group - Loveswept from NetGalley*
A Connection Series Novella featuring Ben Covington
The story before the love story….
When he lost the only woman he’d ever loved, it seemed there was nothing left to live for.
Even as a boy, all Ben Covington ever wanted was to spend forever with Dahlia London, the beautiful girl next door...then one life-altering decision tore them apart and he was forced to leave her.
Now, despite having returned to win her back, he’s still alone. She’s with someone else—someone she’s never going to leave.
Resigned to a future without his former girlfriend, Ben numbs his broken heart in a haze of liquor and women. But then the only woman who ever even turned his head while he was with his girl reappears unexpectedly. And he’s never forgotten their one incredible night together. But will Ben’s destructive behavior destroy his future with her before it even begins?
Kim Karr is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of romance, including her sexy New Adult romance series, Connections. She describes herself as wearing a lot of hats–writer, book-lover, wife, soccer-mom, taxi driver, and the all-around go-to person of the family. However, she always finds the time to read. She believes in soul mates, kindred spirits, true friends and Happily-Ever-Afters, and loves to drink champagne, listen to music, and hopes to always stay young at heart. Kim lives in Florida with her husband and four kids.
Title: Carnage #2: The Story of Me Author: Lesley Jones Release Day: August 1st 2014 Synopsis When your world, your life and all of your hopes and dreams for the future are ripped out from under you, how do you go on?
Death without dying is not only the most painful kind of death, it's also the most painful kind of life and I don't know if I'm strong enough to live it.
I spend my lonely days and nights trying to make sense of what my life has become. Do I have the strength to move forward into the light, or should I just let the darkness take me?
I'm Georgia Rae Layton McCarthy and this is the story of me, just me.
I'm no longer a part of an us, it's just me. Alone.
I was born and raised in a small working
class town in Essex, just outside of East London. I am married with three sons
and in 2006 we all moved to the other side of the world, settling on the
beautiful Mornington Peninsula, about 50K outside of Melbourne Australia. It's
a whole new way of life for us down here, we are so lucky to live in such a
beautiful part of the world.
I am currently a stay at home mum but in the
past I have worked at Marks & Spencer, as a classroom assistant/teachers
aid and have run my business.
As well as writing, I love to read and have been known to get through four or
five books a week. My other interests are watching my boys play football...The
round ball version. I am happy to admit
to being an addict of social media and I owe a lot to my Facebook and Twitter
family in promoting my work. I am also rather partial to a glass... or bottle
of wine, a nicely chilled Marlborough Sav Blanc being my favorite. Being a born
and raised Essex girl, I will happily admit to be being a big fan of spray
tans, Shellac and am regularly, waxed, tinted and sculpted, although I am more
likely to be found in thongs/flipflops than a pair of white stilettos these
days.
starts off right where Carnage ended. It's filled with raw, gut wrenching emotions, a complete tear jerker. Straight from the start my emotions were on a precipice. Waivering continuously, between pain and suffering, to pity and guilt, hatred, boredom with certain scenes- too much deja vu from book 1. Hilarity and to loving the ending and the tragedy that was Georgia's life. She lived, loved and was given the second chance to do it all over again. Never forgetting and forever keeping a place in her heart for her loved and cherished ones passed. Let's get this ball rolling!
"I'm damaged goods…"
"a beautiful young woman, trying to find her way in life after having the most devastatingly, fucked-up thing happen to her."
Georgia is still reeling months after her life was destroyed. She's trying to piece together the little life she has remaining and is struggling with all the emotions. Going through the stages of grief and struggling to keep herself sane and together.
A night of partying too hard, drunk off alcohol and drugs, Georgia drunk dials Cam. This is where all the good stuff starts people!
Georgia is known for running, that's all she ever does, it's her way to handling or rather to post pone handling matters she's not ready for and chooses not to be ready for. As usual she gets into a tiff with Cam and he decides, enough is enough, he's going fight for Georgia and ensure he makes this life and himself enough for her. Make herself enough for her.
"I love the fuck out of you.
I will talk.
You will listen.
We will be together.
I've waited long enough.
No more fuckin' around, Kitten.
This Tiger's about to roar."
It's about effing time!! Fight for her Cam. The man has a ways with words. So raunchy, hot and debilitating all in one. No bullshit, no promises, his raw and brutal honesty, is what pushed Georgia to strength, it's what sealed my personal love for Cameron King! Despite their differences and all the obstacles both Georgia and Cam faces, he remains a rock. Her Rock.
"Spoilt little Kitten, always wanting everything her way, always wanting everything, full stop, no matter who gets hurt along the way."
Georgia as a child was selfish, as an adult she was a force to be reckoned with. Her selfish desires knew no bounds.
They talked, reminisced, fought (something, they're extremely good at), they got jealous or what is and what will never be, they fell in love all over again. And they continued to have mind blowing orgasms. Hooorraahhhh!!!!
They LIVED!!!
" I love the fuck out of you, Kitten. I missed my chance once. I ain't letting it happen again."
"Marry me."
My thoughts:
A well written second instalment, the conclusion to all my tears. As much as I am Team Cam and extremely happy he got his HEA, I was slightly disappointed that the book was so predictable as well as book #2 having a few too many characteristics from book #1. Perfectly understandable that this is a hard story to write and why LJ had book 1 as a standalone. She is one of my most respected authors.
All my stars go to Mr TDH. He proved to me the bad ass he really is. The take control, and ask questions later type of man. Cam did what had to be done and he learned how, in small ways, VERY SMALL WAYS to relinquish control also.
****
There's a part in the book that had me laughing and reminiscing about my kids.
"George, I wouldn't swap ya for the world, babe. I might sell ya for a few quid, but I wouldn't swap ya."
After reading this phase, I remembered my little Aria, complaining about her sister not loving her because her bigger sister, Allina, doesn't want to play with her. Aria asked if she could sell her sister and buy a new one. lol, my girls crack me up.
*****
There is another part in the book that says "Australia has been good to me, and I wanted to be able to give something back." This was such a profound statement. It made me feel connected to Lesley Jones as an individual. Cheers!! to you LJ. You've certainly made all Aussies proud.
*ARC provided on behalf of the author for an honest review* Thanks so much!!!
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