Review + Giveaway: Until It Fades by K.A. Tucker


 Until It Fades by K.A. Tucker

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: June 27, 2017

Format: eARC

Source: Publisher









Atria Paperback | ISBN: 9781501133381 | On sale: June 27, 2017 | 368 pages | $16.00
Atria eBook | ISBN: 9781501133398 | On sale: June 27, 2017 | 368 pages | $7.99


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 three thousand outside of tourist season).

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

But when she finds the man she saved standing on her doorstep, desperate to thank her, all that changes. There's an immediate connection, and it's more electric than the bond of two people who endured a traumatic event. It's something neither of them expected. Something that Catherine isn't sure she can handle; something she 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?

Spoiler alert: I loved this book! It's been two weeks since I read Until It Fades and wrote the review below. And in those two weeks I still haven't stopped thinking about these characters and their story. I completely fell in love with Cath, with Brett, with their journey - and, even though I rarely re-read anything, I'm already wanting to pick this one up, flip to the beginning and experience it all again. I hope you'll pick up Until It Fades and love it just as much as I did. Now on with the review...

Catherine has spent the last several years keeping her head down, working hard to support her young daughter on her own, and trying to live down the scandal of an affair with her teacher while she was a seventeen year old high school student. The small town's vitriol was firmly aimed her way once the affair became public (the teacher being the beloved son of a prominent family). Now twenty-four, Catherine has a small circle of friends and leads a quiet life.

All that changes when she saves the life of a man after a horrific car accident. And not just any man - Brett Madden is one of the top hockey stars in the country and the son of Hollywood royalty. As the media descends on the small town, Catherine at first refuses to come forward, having no desire to once again be the center of attention, or have her past dredged up for public consumption. But then Brett Madden shows up and she begins to question if it's time to take a chance and really live, and love, again. 


I connected with Catherine quickly and it was easy to feel for this young woman who had weathered so much on her own. The high school affair and ensuing scandal fractured her already tenuous relationship with her family so her support systems consisted of her boss at the diner where she worked, a fellow waitress, and a childhood friend turned local cop. Tucker created such a fully developed character in Catherine that I felt like I knew her inside and out, knew how she would react in any given situation. And when Brett entered the picture, it was easy to understand her hesitation - not just for the spotlight to be on her once again, but also to explore their undeniable connection and attraction. 

I was so invested in the budding relationship between Catherine and Brett and, despite the obvious spark between them, Catherine's skittishness meant the romance was definitely of the slow burn variety. I found myself looking forward to their every interaction and ate up every flirty text message, every phone call, every meeting. Brett was completely genuine and had an ease about him even as he was dealing with the aftermath of the accident and the sudden uncertainly of his ability to return to the career he loved. It was impossible not to fall for his sweetness, his humor and his thoughtfulness. 

Until It Fades also included an amazing cast of secondary characters. From Lou and her husband Leroy, the diner owners, to Catherine's best friend Keith and her brother Jack, to Brett's parents (I adored Brett's father), each one added so much and made for a richer story. 

As a longtime fan of Tucker's, I tend to read everything she writes. This contemporary romance is lighter than her usual work and I absolutely loved it. It was sweet, it was heartfelt, it was emotional and it instantly became a new favorite. Do yourself a favor and experience this feel-good story for yourself. You can thank me later.

4.5 STARS

Note: This title was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion of the book or the content of this review.

GIVEAWAY



About the Author:

K.A. Tucker is the author of He Will Be My Ruin and the Ten Tiny Breaths and Burying Water series. She currently resides outside of Toronto with her husband, two beautiful girls, and a Chug. 

Find K.A. Tucker online:


Top 5 Wednesday: Hate to Love Ships


Top 5 Wednesday was created by Lainey at GingerReadsLainey.
Click HERE for a complete list of participants and future topics.
This week's Top 5 Wednesday topic: Favorite Hate to Love Romances

So haters-to-lovers isn't my favorite trope, but there are still a few that totally worked for me. 
Here are my favorites.


Daemon + Katy | The Lux series 

Juliette + Warner | The Shatter Me trilogy

Hannah + Garrett | The Deal

Lily + Cade | P.S. I Like You

Rose + Connor | The Addicted/Calloway Sisters series


What's your favorite hate to love romance? 
Let's discuss!



New Release + Giveaway! Damaged Like Us by Krista and Becca Ritchie


If you've been around here any time at all you know how much I love the Addicted series by Krista and Becca Ritchie. Simply put, it's my favorite contemporary series ever. Over the span of ten incredible books I became completely immersed in the world of characters that felt like friends and family. And now I am over the moon to help announce that the first book in the spin-off series, Damaged Like Us, is now LIVE! I'm practically jumping out of my skin for this one, people, because the excitement is REAL! Read on, order your copy using the links below, and don't forget to enter the giveaway!

Damaged Like Us

by Krista & Becca Ritchie
Like Us #1
Publication Date: June 27, 2017
Genres: New Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Purchase: Amazon | iBooks

Don’t date your bodyguard.
It was the one rule he had to break.

Maximoff Hale is a force of nature. A ship unwilling to be steered. Headstrong, resilient, and wholly responsible — the twenty-two-year-old alpha billionaire can handle his unconventional life. By noon, lunch can turn into a mob of screaming fans. By two, his face is all over the internet. Born into one of the most famous families in the country, his celebrity status began at birth.

He is certified American royalty.

When he’s assigned a new 24/7 bodyguard, he comes face-to-face with the worst case scenario: being attached to the tattooed, MMA-trained, Yale graduate who’s known for “going rogue” in the security team — and who fills 1/3 of Maximoff’s sexual fantasies.

Twenty-seven-year-old Farrow Keene has one job: protect Maximoff Hale. Flirting, dating, and hot sex falls far, far out of the boundary of his bodyguard duties and into “termination” territory. But when feelings surface, protecting the sexy-as-sin, stubborn celebrity becomes increasingly complicated.

Together, boundaries blur, and being exposed could mean catastrophic consequences for both.

     “Number twelve.” I nod to the list.
     He eyes me for a long moment before focusing on the paper. “It says that you’re not used to letting other people behind the wheel.” It actually says I always drive.
     I glance at him once, then back to the road. “I didn’t realize that you can’t read.” I switch lanes.
     I can almost feel his smile stretch. “Always a precious smartass.” I hear him flip a page. “You have a typo on number thirty-two.”
     He called me precious. What the fuck does that even mean? Precious. I have to let it go, but the word scrolls across my gaze like a tickertape banner. “What typo?”
     “You forgot a comma.”
     I let out an irritated groan. “This isn’t a term paper. Don’t critique my grammar.”
     Farrow kicks up one of his shoes on my seat. Balancing his forearm on his knee. Then he bites the staple off and spits it out. I tense and try to watch him and the road simultaneously.
     He has a very particular way he moves his hands. They shift with meticulousness and care. A sort of accuracy that belongs to surgeons and someone equipped to disassemble and reassemble a gun blindfolded.
     I’ve imagined those hands on me too many times to count. Don’t fucking restart now. I’m trying not to, but having him this close, the NC-17 fantasies vie to breach the surface.
     Thumbing through the papers, Farrow tells me, “You’re about to miss our exit.”
     "Shit."

About Krista & Becca Ritchie

Krista & Becca Ritchie are New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors and identical twins—one a science nerd, the other a comic book geek—but with their shared passion for writing, they combined their mental powers as kids and have never stopped telling stories. Now in their early twenties, they write about other twenty-somethings navigating through life, college, and romance. They love superheroes, flawed characters, and soul mate love.

They are the New Adult authors of the Addicted series and Calloway Sisters spin-off series, and you can find them on almost every social media, frolicking around like wannabe unicorns.

Discussion: ARC Overload


So I currently find myself in a position I've not been in before. One that I'm sure is familiar to many of you. Let's call it... ARC OVERLOAD. Do I see you nodding your head already?

It's not like this is some new phenomenon. It happens all the time. I know this because I see some of you post about it. But - it's new to ME.

Here's the thing: I'm not one to request a lot of ARC's. Typically it has to be a book by one of the handful of my favorite authors or one with a synopsis so amazing that I just have to have it. This doesn't happen often. Sometimes a couple months can pass without me requesting a single title. And when I do request a book and get denied... well, it happens. I never view it as a personal slight, to me or my blog (I've never understood that particular reaction), and all it means is that I'll get the book on its release date along with most everyone else.

But (there's always a but), there seems to have been a perfect storm of circumstances that now have me experiencing ARC OVERLOAD.

1) I was in a blissed-out book haze one recent afternoon and had a field day at Edelweiss. And requested eight books. Yes, eight. And, so far, have been approved for at least half of those.

2) Those emails direct from the publishers who tell me that since I previously requested Book X I'll probably enjoy Book Z and I can download it now from NetGalley. Yeah, the emails must have been sprinkled with book crack because I was all over those.

3) A direct request from an author for a book that sounded so right up my alley and, despite all the other ARC's already pending, I couldn't help myself.

4) Blog tours that I had previously signed up for are coming up soon and, because I typically choose to do review posts... yeah, the ARC's for those are coming in as well.


Now for the real irony? And the real reason I rarely request ARC's? Because my reading philosophy has long been: I read what I want to read - when I want to read it. I try not to get my head turned by all the shiny new releases, the latest book that everyone is reading/talking about, or (you guessed it) ARC's. I love the freedom of reading whatever my heart desires at any given moment. A book that's been on my shelf for 3 years, a series that I want to binge, a book I picked up at the library. I'm a total mood reader and I never know what I'm going to pick up one book to the next.

And yet here I am, currently buried under a pile of ARC's, knowing I'm on a timeline, and ignoring all the books that I really, really want to be reading. You see the irony, right? That I did this to myself? Yeah, me too.

So. My current plan? Get through these ARC's (without requesting more!) and consider this a lesson learned. And then I can get back to my bookish happy zone: reading exactly what I want to read. Again.

Do you ever experience ARC OVERLOAD? Is that your usual
state of being or do you prefer to keep a handle on it?
Let's discuss!



The Sunday Post #61


The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer.
It's a chance to share news - a post to recap the past week on your blog, 
showcase books and things we have received, and share news about what is
coming up on your blog in the week ahead. You can find the info here:

  • It's been a quieter week with less going on. Last week just felt busy start to finish. I enjoyed the slightly slower pace.
  • Eye infection is all cleared up. Hallelujah! The first day I was able to actually wear mascara again I was like, "My precious!" 😉 
  • It's been a scorcher of a weekend with temps in the mid-90's. I realize it's only the fifth day of summer but... is it over yet?
  • I am so over being crazy behind on book reviews so I'm making an effort to get caught up over the next few weeks. Fingers crossed that I made some headway!    


FINISHED:
Until It Fades - K.A. Tucker

CURRENTLY READING
Words in Deep Blue - Cath Crowley
Etched in Bone (AUDIO) - Anne Bishop

ARCs FOR REVIEW:

Lucky in Love - Kasie West
Just Friends - Tiffany Pitcock
Henry & Me - Sasha Clinton
Royal Pain - Tracy Wolff



How was your week? Any new books? Any news to share? 
You know I want to hear about it! :)

Review: When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

Series: No

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary

Release Date: May 30, 2017

Format: Hardcover

Source: Library loan

Find it here: GoodReads | Amazon

The rom-com that everyone’s talking about! Eleanor & Park meets Bollywood in this hilarious and heartfelt novel about two Indian-American teens whose parents conspire to arrange their marriage.

Dimple Shah has it all figured out. With graduation behind her, she’s more than ready for a break from her family, from Mamma’s inexplicable obsession with her finding the “Ideal Indian Husband.” Ugh. Dimple knows they must respect her principles on some level, though. If they truly believed she needed a husband right now, they wouldn’t have paid for her to attend a summer program for aspiring web developers…right?

Rishi Patel is a hopeless romantic. So when his parents tell him that his future wife will be attending the same summer program as him—wherein he’ll have to woo her—he’s totally on board. Because as silly as it sounds to most people in his life, Rishi wants to be arranged, believes in the power of tradition, stability, and being a part of something much bigger than himself.

The Shahs and Patels didn’t mean to start turning the wheels on this “suggested arrangement” so early in their children’s lives, but when they noticed them both gravitate toward the same summer program, they figured, Why not?

Dimple and Rishi may think they have each other figured out. But when opposites clash, love works hard to prove itself in the most unexpected ways.

When I picked up When Dimple Met Rishi the hype was kind of insane. It seemed to be the current "IT BOOK" that everyone was reading and loving. And hyping. So color me a little hesitant going in to this one. And the verdict is: I get it. I so get it. 😊

Dimple chafes at her parent's expectations and is determined to buck tradition and live life on her own terms. She's not interested in fashion or makeup or finding the Ideal Indian Husband. Instead, she's focused on her passion for web development, going to Stanford, and having a successful career in a field dominated by men. Attending InsomniaCon is a dream come true - until she learns that her parents have been matchmaking and her intended is now her partner for the summer. 

Of course. Dimple should have guessed.
It was the I.I.H. [Ideal Indian Husband] nonsense again.
She suspected the entire community of aunties was in on
it. It was like some bizarre version of a geocaching club; 
the minute somebody's daughter turned eighteen, all the
aunties began to scheme the shortest route from her 
parents' home to the ultimate prize - her sasural.

Rishi embraces his parent's traditional ways and takes the responsibility of being the oldest son seriously. He sees practicality and stability in arranged marriages and takes pride in upholding the cultural tradition and honoring his parent's wishes. And he doesn't quite know what to make of the outspoken girl who throws her iced coffee on him at their first meeting.

"Hello, future wife," he said, his voice bubbling with glee. 
"I can't wait to get started on the rest of our lives!"

It was so refreshing to read about a female YA character that wasn't wallowing in unrequited love or crippled by insecurity. Dimple was a girl who knew what she wanted and was usually fearless about going after it. And Rishi - could he be any more precious?! Sweet, kind, thoughtful and, despite his own self-assessment, quite romantic. I absolutely adored Rishi.♥

He wondered if he should feel a stab of jealousy - 
Dimple bonding so well with his muscled, much-cooler younger 
brother - but all he felt was this warm, almost gooey 
feeling in his chest. Like his heart was wrapped in microwaved Nutella.

I loved the easy flow of the story, the inclusion of Dimple and Rishi's culture, their familial relationships, and the evolution of their relationship. I thought Menon did an excellent job of allowing each of them to show real growth. They both questioned their beliefs and their goals and came to understand it didn't have to be all or nothing. They truly brought out the best in each other.

She'd been so sure that Rishi and she would have  absolutely 
nothing to do with each other. But that was Rishi... 
he was like a pop song you thought you couldn't stand, 
but found yourself humming in the shower anyway.

I was completely charmed by these characters in all their funny, awkward, sweet, and totally adorkable glory. Sure, there was an element of predictability but who cares? It was worth it to get to experience the heartwarming goodness that is When Dimple Met Rishi.

4/5 STARS

Have you read When Dimple Met Rishi? 
What did you think?



Top Ten Tuesday: Series I Want to Start

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme 


This week's Top Ten Tuesday topic: Series I've Been Meaning To Start But Haven't
Yeah, I could do multiple posts on this topic, but let's see if I can keep it to ten...


ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS

THE VAMPIRE ACADEMY

BETWEEN THE LINES

GRISHA TRILOGY

THE WINNER'S TRILOGY

THE ROYALS

ARCANA CHRONICLES

FALLING KINGDOMS

TRUE NORTH

HADES HANGMEN



Have you read any of these series?
Which should I start first?