Blog Tour Review & Giveaway: Gone to Dust by Liliana Hart

Gone to Dust (Grave Diggers #2) by Liliana Hart
Publisher: Pocket Books
Publication date: June 20th 2017
My rating: 4 Stars
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | TBD | Kobo

 

New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Liliana Hart’s second book in her sexy, suspenseful Gravediggers series, GONE TO DUST, features an elite group of mysterious men who might be dead to the world, but are also tasked with saving it—and no one can ever know.

The Gravediggers aren’t exactly what they seem. They’re the most elite of the world’s fighting forces—and all they have in common is that they’ve been betrayed by the countries they’ve died for. Because they are dead. To their country, their military, and their families. Sometimes the dead do rise…

Miller Darling is one of the most popular romance novelists of her time. Not bad for a woman who doesn’t believe in romance. She’s as logical as they come, and she doesn’t believe in happily-ever-afters. What she does believe in is family, so when her brother disappears, she doesn’t think twice about packing her bag and her laptop and heading out to find him.

Elias Cole lived and breathed the live of a Navy SEAL. Now he’s “dead” and his hero’s honor tarnished. The only thing keeping him sane are the men who are like him—The Gravediggers—and the woman who makes his head spin. He’s never met anyone like Miller Darling. Her smart mouth and quick wit keep him on his toes, and damned if he doesn’t find that appealing.

When Miller receives a package from the brother who abandoned her asking for help, it’s clear she’s in over her head with the mess he’s gotten himself into. She needs a professional, and Elias is just the man for the job. Only her brother is a former SEAL—the man who left his team to die—and Elias is more interested in vengeance than saving his life.

My Thoughts:

Gone to Dust was an adventure, and hot romance all wrapped into one thrilling story!  Sort of Romancing the Stone meets Mission Impossible except instead of a treasure hunting scoundrel for the hero we have Elias Cole, an ex-SEAL and complete sweetheart! 

Miller Darling is a romance novelist immersed in writing the last bits of her latest novel for her fast approaching deadline; surviving on coffee, junk food, and the occasional shower.  Miller wakes the heck up when she receives a very disturbing package in the mail demanding her presence in a foreign country or else her brother, Justin, dies.

Miller is shocked and fearful, but not altogether unsurprised at the trouble her brother has gotten into.  Her parents were obsessive in their search for the treasures of King Solomon, and that fanatic type drive led to their deaths twenty years earlier.  After their deaths, Justin took up the searches and left Miller behind in Last Stop, Texas.  If it weren’t for Tess, her best friend, Miller would’ve felt very alone in the world.  Well, alone except for the annoying Elias Cole; a man who worked her up and left her wanting.  He’s part of Tess’s mortuary crew, although if Miller thinks hard about the situation it really doesn’t make sense for all these military-type hotties to be working for the funereal home since Last Stop is a dinky town.

Miller is in need of some help, and she’s about to get it along with some answers about those sexy “gravediggers”. 

I enjoyed Gone to Dust so much! More than The Darkest Corner.  Like I said, it was a fun adventure; action, beautiful settings, a gorgeous high tech yacht, and a strong capable alpha male like Elias to share it with.  Miller is no slouch in the equation as far as characters go. She’s a romance writer, who may not have experienced the world first hand, but she’s researched the heck out of situations, and Miller’s imagination is rich with possibility, and useful information.  Readers will definitely appreciate her occupation!  The story was exciting, fun, with loveable characters and a smoking hot romance!  I had a lot of fun with this fast, action packed ride!

About the author:

Liliana Hart is a New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of more than forty titles, including the Addison Holmes Whiskey and J.J. Graves Mystery series. Since self-publishing in June 2011, Liliana has sold more than four million ebooks. She’s hit the #1 spot on lists all over the world, and all three of her series have appeared on the New York Times bestseller list. Liliana is a sought-after speaker who’s given keynote speeches and self-publishing workshops to standing-room-only crowds from CA to NYC to London. Visit LilianaHart.com, facebook.com/lilianahartauthor, twitter.com/Liliana_Hart.

Praise for Gone to Dust, Book 2:

“Lucky fans of the super-talented Hart don’t have to wait long for the second installment of her new romantic suspense series Gravediggers, as the installments are being released back to back. In the first book, Hart set up her world where five men, declared dead to the world at large, work for a super-secret anti-terrorism force. Hart’s new heroine is a very talented romance writer who takes no crap from anyone — even secret commandos. Miller and Elias are both funny and sexy together, which helps make this book nonstop entertainment, with plenty of witty bantering and thrilling adventure!”

—RT 4 ½ star TOP PICK Review

“Modern Cliterature...Enjoy [this] lusty [passage] adapted from summer’s raciest reads…”

—Cosmopolitan, July 2017

Praise for The Darkest Corner, Book 1:

“Gritty, deadly, and peppered with unexpected humor, this supersexy, adrenaline-charged story will keep readers on edge and breathless until the last page.”

—Library Journal

“Liliana Hart sets up a fascinating and intriguing premise of individual men forced into taking extreme steps. Her heroine’s reluctant immersion into this world allows readers to discover the treachery and danger looming all around…a thrilling series!”

—RT

“A cool blend of entertaining antics and suspenseful moments, with a slightly morbid sense of humor thrown in for good measure. (Our heroine was a mortician, after all!) I had a blast getting to know this cast of characters and can’t wait to see what exciting things Liliana Hart has in store for us next.”

—Harlequin Junkie

 The publisher has generously offered up a  copy of The Darkest  Corner by Liliana Hart to one lucky readers.  Just fill in the rafflecopter below for a chance to win!

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Tour Stops:

June 20

Moohnshine’s Corner

RT Book Reviews – Gravedigger Giveaway Bundle (Book 1 and 2) drawing opens

For the Love of Books and Alcohol

Dirty and Thirty

The Reading Cafe

Red Carpet Crash

Celtic Lady’s Reviews

Booktalk with Eileen

June 21

Book Sniffers Anonymous

Abigail Books Addiction

Crossroads

Fandemonium Network

Little Black Book Review

Blonde Bookworm

Eye on Romance

June 22

Read Your Writes

Three Boys and an Old Lady

Rock Stars of Romance

A Midlife Wife

Tigris Eden

Under the Covers

Positively Book Crazy

June 23

Ramblings from a Chaotic Mind

Once Upon An Alpha

Reading Diaries

WTF Are You Reading

Thoughts in Progress

The Lovely Books

The Sassy Bookster

June 24

Romance Junkies

June 26

Reviews by Crystal

Blogging by Liza

June 27

Pick of the Literate

The Reader’s Den

June 28

Dew on the Kudzu

Read for Your Future

Bookfan-Mary

June 29

Bea’s Book Nook

JoJo the Bookaholic

June 30

Readaholic

The Book Avenue

July 5

Caffeinated Book Reviewer

July 7

Romance Reviews Today

July 9

RT Book Reviews – Gravedigger Giveaway Bundle (Book 1 and 2) drawing date  

 

September 25

Authors on the Air Global Radio Network – Gravediggers Series interview

 

Review: Until It Fades by K.A. Tucker

Until It Fades by K.A. Tucker
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication date: June 27th 2017
My rating: 3.5 Stars
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | TBD | Kobo

Twenty-four-year-old truck stop waitress and single mother Catherine Wright has simple goals: to give her five-year-old daughter a happy life and to never again be the talk of the town in Balsam, Pennsylvania: population two thousand outside of tourist season.

And then one foggy night, on a lonely road back from another failed attempt at a relationship, Catherine saves a man’s life. It isn’t until after the police have arrived that Catherine realizes exactly who it is she has saved: Brett Madden, hockey icon and media darling.

Catherine has already had her fifteen minutes of fame and the last thing she wants is to have her past dragged back into the spotlight, only this time on a national stage. So she hides her identity. It works.

For a time.

But when she finds the man she saved standing on her doorstep, desperate to thank her, all that changes. What begins as an immediate friendship quickly turns into something neither of them expected. Something that Catherine isn’t sure she can handle; something that Catherine is afraid to trust.

Because how long can an extraordinary man like Brett be interested in an ordinary woman like Catherine…before the spark fades? 

My Thoughts:

Catherine thought she was in love with her thirty-year old art teacher when she was seventeen.  Her mother dragged her to the police and made her make a statement when she caught them sneaking off together.  Her reputation was dragged through the mud and Catherine’s teacher let her take all the blame, crushing her heart in the process.  Six months later, Catherine finds herself eighteen, pregnant and with very little job options seeing as most in town shun and whisper against her.  My heart went out to Catherine, because her mother threw her under the bus and she was ostracized by the town when it should’ve been her lecherous art teacher who got in trouble! I was outraged for her! At any rate, Catherine let her dreams of going to Art College and now works as a diner waitress to support her and her five-year old daughter. 

Catherine’s love life leaves something to be desired which is why she’s driving herself home after a blind date gone wrong on the stretch of highway that Brett Madden, a famous hockey player, has just crashed on. Seeing the wreck, Catherine stops and saves Brett, but won’t let her name be released to the press or Brett in an attempt to stay under the radar.  She’s had her brush with fame or infamy and doesn’t want any more attention.  It’s only a matter of time before Brett and the press gets a hold of her name.  Brett is grateful, of course, but there’s an immediate connection and attraction. Is it just the gratitude drawing him to her or could it be something deeper they both feel?  Catherine trusted those swoony feelings before and was burned, so she has a tough time letting her guard down. 

I totally understand where Catherine was coming from; she went through so much at such a young age with little support from anyone except Lou, Misty and Keith.  I would feel the need to be cautious, too, but it was a just a tiny bit frustrating in a few spots.  I was irritated Catherine kept letting her relationship with Brett stagnate to the point he might move on.  I so desperately wanted some happiness for Catherine romantically, that I wanted to shake her a few times.  But, she really deserved to be swept off her feet after everything she went through.  Brett, on the other hand, was an absolute dream come true.  He was so steady, honest and humble in spite of being such a big star and a total hunk!

There wasn’t a ton of angst which I’m not real keen on, so good news for me, but Until It Fades wasn’t my favorite K.A. Tucker story.  Still, it was a feel good, fairy tale sort of sweet romance that’ll leave you happy in the end.   

Review: Dear Aaron by Mariana Zapata

Dear Aaron by Mariana Zapata
Publication Date: 10th June 2017
My rating: 4.5 stars 

Ruby Santos knew exactly what she was getting herself into when she signed up to write a soldier overseas. The guidelines were simple: one letter or email a week for the length of his or her deployment. Care packages were optional. Been there, done that. She thought she knew what to expect. What she didn’t count on was falling in love with the guy.

I’ve been a massive fan of Zapata’s work for some time now; her slow burn romances are written so well, that she’s become an auto buy author for me. So when she announced that she had a new book coming out in just a few weeks I was super excited. Of course I got myself a copy straight away and despite having bazillion things to do I started this book immediately. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book this quick in a long time, all my priorities were thrown out of the window, as I devoured this brilliant read. I loved the format in which Zapata wrote Dear Aaron the most, it started off with emails between our two main characters Aaron and Ruby, when Ruby is assigned to be Aaron’s pen pal whilst he’s out on deployment. Both Ruby and Aaron had previously been assigned to pen pals before, so this one didn’t appear any different. But boy were they wrong. 

Like I mentioned before Dear Aaron was one addictive read, the format of emails between Aaron and Ruby, I was completely suckered into, the format was so easy to get into that despite the early awkwardness of our characters getting to know one another, I found myself flying through the pages. I loved getting to know Aaron and Ruby over the course of the story, how slowly overtime they found that they could finally lower down the barriers that they had up for so long and just be who they were. Ruby was such a great character, she was one of those people who had always done so much for other people and hardly ever put herself as a priority (reminded me a lot of myself!). And so having Aaron assigned in my eyes was the perfect thing to have happened, he wasn’t a judgmental character, but actually wanted Ruby to do what was best for her and often pushed her in the right direction to do so, in addition help build her confidence at the same time. I of course fell for Aaron’s character straight away, he too had been through a lot, and deserved to be happy and laughing and so I extremely looked forward to his interactions with Ruby more and more. I of course knew the direction that I wanted this book to go in, I couldn’t see any other way happening, and so really appreciated the slow build up that Zapata gave us of their relationship. I of course found myself experiencing every single feeling that Ruby was going through in the build up of her getting to know Aaron too! I was nervous as hell, excited and later constantly swooning! What can I say Aaron was one heck of a guy. My only minor complaint is that I wished certain things hadn’t been misunderstood and then maybe we could have got more of the swoony scenes, I definitely wanted and needed more! But this aside Dear Aaron was a book that I couldn’t get enough of, I loved experiencing the communication between Aaron and Ruby, the subtle changes from awkward to witty as they got to know each other, the development of their characters (especially Ruby’s, she seriously came a long way in this book) and the development of their relationship. I for one would welcome more books on these two characters, as they easily cemented their places as firm favourites of mine! Zapata is one author whose work you seriously don’t want to miss out on. I’m honestly glad that I still have two of her books to read, as I don’t know what the heck I’d do otherwise!

Review: When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Publication Date: June 1st 2017
My rating: 4 stars.  

The arranged marriage YA romcom you didn't know you wanted or needed... Meet Dimple. Her main aim in life is to escape her traditional parents, get to university and begin her plan for tech world domination. Meet Rishi. He's rich, good-looking and a hopeless romantic. His parents think Dimple is the perfect match for him, but she's got other plans... Dimple and Rishi may think they have each other figured out. But when opposites clash, love works even harder to prove itself in the most unexpected ways.

This book was super adorable; I did have my reservations at first going into it. I blame this largely on the books that have been working for me lately; adult and that I’ve just been really struggling to get back into the flow of YA books. But despite the initial struggle, Menon completely won me over with characters such as Dimple and Rishi and her take and setting of the story. 

Coming from an Indian family myself, I could totally understand the pressures that Dimple felt about settling down in life with the perfect husband. Despite views and norms changing a lot these days, there are still a lot of families who live by these ideals, which can be frustrating in a big way, when all you want to do if live life to the fullest and enjoy what you do, just like Dimple wanted to. I loved how Rishi popped up in Dimple’s life when she was least expecting him to and how they both changed their ideals in order to adapt and make room for each other in their lives. Dimple and Rishi were just totally adorable! I loved how Rishi wasn’t your typical macho guy, but could easily get embarrassed by things, he didn’t realise how super talented he was and the lengths that he would go to for Dimple. I loved watching the development of their relationship; it was super cute and just left me with a goofy grin on my face the entire time. What I appreciated the most from this story was the character development in this book. Both Dimple and Rishi had their dreams they wanted to pursue and their fears of not achieving them. And I’m glad that both characters were able to give each other the extra encouragement that they needed in the right direction. Both characters were just perfect for each other. 

When Dimple Met Rishi was exactly the sort of book that I needed in my life, it featured a romance which was beautifully done and touched upon pursuing you dreams and passions no matter what. Bravo Menon on a wonderfully written debut book, I for one can’t wait to read your future books!