Review: Sweet Sound of Silence by Melanie Dawn

Ryder Hawkley swallows his words the way he swallows his guilt. A life-altering tragedy keeps him locked away in a silent prison—a self-imposed punishment for a horrific mistake. His reputation…

Freak.
Weirdo.

Alexis Honeycutt arrives at college craving one thing—independence. Now, away from home and free from her family's overprotection, she attends a party with friends that will ultimately change her life. The moment she spots Ryder Hawkley sitting across the room, Alexis is intrigued.

Dangerous.
They whisper.

The intensity shimmering from Ryder’s haunting eyes beckons her, but Alexis vows to stay away from him. Only, she can’t seem to get Ryder’s unnervingly quiet stare out of her head.

Ryder is determined to ignore Alexis’s contagious smile the instant she strolls into the room. Despite his efforts, he is drawn to her and finds himself questioning everything he’d been holding on to for the past two years.

Although this book is part of a series, it CAN be read as a standalone. This book is intended for readers 17+ due to some language and mature themes.

I absolutely adore this book! Melanie Dawn has blown me away with each book she has written.They are each beautiful books where the characters are beautifully written and the emotions on each page suck you in. Sweet Sound of Silence is book 3 in the So Much It Hurts series. It can be read as a stand alone, but I suggest reading the first two books because they are wonderful.

From the very first page of this story I was sucked in. In the very first chapter the author had my heart pounding with sorrowful anticipation. I knew something heart wrenching was about to happen, and I was right. Ryder is just a teenager when tragedy strikes his household, and he blames himself. As such, he is stuck in a self-imposed prison of guilt, self hate, and anger. He doesn't know how to climb out of these emotions, and they cause him to be silent. When I say silent, I mean he cannot talk. Try as he might, he cannot get words out. He is filled with so much anxiety when he tries. And he does try, so hard, but to no avail. He is in his second year of college. Though he doesn't talk, he attends parties, goes to bars, and maintains his grades, all while keeping everyone at a distance.

We met Alexis in book 2, Then There Was You. Again, you don't have to read the book to get a good grasp on her, but I HIGHLY recommend it. She is in her first year of college. She is excited and scared to be away from her mother for the first time. Her roommate, is pretty awesome. I really enjoyed her fun, loyal, and protective personality. Alexis "meets" Ryder one night at a party. Not really meets, but sees him. They make eye contact and there is instant attraction. However, she pushes her feelings aside because of his reputation around campus. He pushes his feelings aside, because he doesn't want to feel. Then, they have class together and are partnered up. Alexis has the ability to see deeper into Ryder's actions and mannerisms. Ryder doesn't like it. He keeps trying to push her away, but there is something about her that keeps sucking him in. 

I really enjoyed these two characters together. Alexis brings hope, understanding, and light to Ryder's dark world of guilt. You can gradually see the change that she brings about in him. Alexis life isn't all perfect, though, and Ryder always seems to be her dark knight in shining, brooding armor. Their fall happens gradually, and you can FEEL every second of it. Melanie Dawn has a way of bringing the emotions to life. I was rooting for these characters. I so wanted Ryder to break through his silence. I was yearning for it as he and Alexis were. This heart twisting, beautiful story is one that you do not want to miss!

I cautiously reached out to him. Grasping the back of his neck, I pulled him toward me again. Despite his fury, he let himself get tugged into my space. His angry breath was hot on my face. His narrowed eyes bore holes into mine. And yet, there was something else—something indefinable.

As I ran my fingers through the soft hair around his hairline, his breathing began to slow, and the muscles in his neck began losing tension. When his lips parted, I thought he might say something. Instead, he glanced down at my lips then back up again.

My mouth suddenly felt very dry, so I licked my lips. “To be here like this with you…” I moved closer to him, closing the gap between us. “To see the steps you’re taking for me....I just…I’m sorry…I just can’t help what I’m feeling. About you. For you. With you.” I held my breath for a second, partly thinking he’d fling me off of him and bolt for the door. But he didn’t.

Instead, he reached up and curled a strand of my hair around his index finger, gently tucking it behind my ear. I watched out of the corner of my eye, anticipating the moment his fingers would graze my skin. When his forefinger brushed against the edge of my ear lobe, I shivered beneath his touch. A flash of heat pulsed through my body, lighting my insides on fire. The hair on the back of my neck stood at attention. Every nerve ending on my skin ached to be touched by his gentle fingers. He must have noticed me quivering because his stormy, brooding eyes flicked toward the delicate skin of my neck, where I could feel my heartbeat pounding in the hollow crevice between my collarbones.

The way he looked at me, craving something and yet denying himself the pleasure, made me feel light-headed. Kiss me already, my mind demanded. He looked at me like he could do much more than kiss me. The quickening I felt down below was proof that I’d let him.

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Melanie Dawn is a thinker, a dreamer, and a hopeless romantic. She's an avid reader who recently discovered her love of writing as well. When her head isn't in the clouds, she spends her time as a a jack of all trades to her family. Melanie resides in the hills of North Carolina with her husband, her three children, and her cat.

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Review: With Me by Gabbie S. Duran

What happens when you take a chance one night … make a decision that will change your life forever?

Kasey Wilson, the girl next door, had a crush on the boy next door … Joseph Mitchell was that boy. 

Kasey was left with the consequences of her decision when Joseph left her behind, leaving for the Marine Corps. She never thought she would see Joseph again, leaving her to continue on with her life, moving forward. 

But fate has a way of intervening …

Joseph Mitchell always lived with the regret of walking away that night, never to see Kasey again. Finally ready to settle down, he’s now engaged to someone else. But when he finds Kasey again, he learns of a secret she’s been keeping, a secret that will change both their lives forever. 

Can they finally have the relationship they never had? Or will Joseph be forced to walk away again?

With Me was a quick read for me. It was pretty simple for me to guess what was going to happen right off the bat. Kasey has always had a crush on the boy next door, Joseph. The story starts off when her very religious, strict parents are out of town and she invites him over for dinner. She invites him to stay to talk afterward. When he is getting ready to leave, they end up kissing and then she loses her virginity to him. Of course, he has to leave for basic training the next morning as he has enlisted with the Marines. Well, turns out Kasey gets pregnant and her parents are so appalled that they ship her off to live with her aunt. When Joseph finishes basic and comes looking for her, she is of course gone. He is told that she is off at college. He is heartbroken, but goes back to serve. Fast forward 5 years later...

He coincidentally runs into her, and the daughter he never knew about. But wait! Joseph is engaged (to a horrible, spoiled girl, in my opinion.) All his fiancee does is complain and boss him around. I really don't know why he would be with her. She is awful. So he finds out that Josephina is his daughter and that Kasey did try to contact him several times, but she believed he wanted nothing to do with them. He never got the letters she sent. He is determined to not let Kasey and Josephina slip through his hands.

I enjoyed this story and the characters to a point. It lacked depth and felt a little two dimensional to me. While the characters were likable and had a little bit of a personality, they felt a little stiff and formal to me. Josephina is a four year old girl. While I understood that she was supposed to be intelligent for her age, she spoke well above her supposed age, like maybe how a 7 or 8 year old would talk. It was a little unbelievable to me. 

Despite these things, it really was a sweet story and I did enjoy it. I would recommend this book to someone who is looking for something that is quick and not heavy.

Gabbie is a Southern California native, who lives with her wonderful husband, two amazing kids and a senior citizen kitty. When she’s not writing you can find her reading or sneaking off for a run. Some might say it’s a crazy life, but she wouldn’t change anything about it.

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Game Play by Lynda Aicher

One night, one time, nothing more.

That’s all it was supposed to be. They’d agreed their first night together would be their only night together—and Minnesota Glaciers defenseman Dylan Rylie was fine with that. Giant hickeys and claw marks on his ass had never been his style, even if the very memory of Samantha Yates’s merciless sexual energy gets him hard within seconds. He needs to focus on getting a better contract, not mind-blowing orgasms.

One night, one time, nothing more.

Fresh off representing the US at the Games and with nowhere else to play, Samantha gave in to one night of frantic passion with the Glaciers’ brawny hotshot. She couldn’t get hurt—not if she controlled the outcome. And she planned to leave Minnesota soon, anyway. She didn’t expect to be recruited to coach Dylan after they’d gotten down and dirty.

When brutal on-ice workouts lead to kinky locker room sessions and “one night” falls by the wayside, Samantha insists on keeping things casual, despite Dylan’s quiet hope for more. But when Dylan goes down—hard—and his career is in jeopardy, Samantha is the first one by his side. What will it take to keep her there after he’s healed?

Lynda Aicher has always loved to read. After years of weekly travel implementing computer software into global companies, she ended her nomadic lifestyle to raise her two children. Now her imagination is her only limitation on where she can go and her writing lets her escape from the daily duties as a mom, wife, chauffeur, scheduler, cook, teacher, volunteer, cleaner and mediator. Find her at: http://lyndaaicher.com 

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Sidelined by Emma Hart

Three people. Three

motives. Three reasons.

When the game leaves the field in the second book in the USA
Today bestselling BY HIS GAME series and mixes with sex, lies, and betrayal,
the future isn't the only thing on the line...

Macey Kelly has sworn off men. Unless they’re going to zip
in and out of her apartment—and her vagina—quicker than they can give her an
orgasm, she’s not interested. Finding out her boyfriend of three years got her
cousin pregnant was a total confidence knock. Luckily for Macey, confidence is

something she has in abundance, so all Mitch’s asshole move
did was make her pretty cynical toward men.

The last thing Jack Carr needs at the start of the season is
for a dark-haired, sexy as sin, gyspyesque beauty to be consuming his thoughts.
Football is his life, which leaves no time for girls. Unless they’re the love
‘em and leave ‘em girls. Becoming one of the best running backs the league has
ever seen by racking up the yards is his top priority… not bedding Macey Kelly,
despite her affinity for blow jobs and total sexual abandon.

Avoiding each other is the perfect solution, but when your
best friends are in a serious living together kind of relationship, that isn’t
always an option. Sometimes, sex on tap is the easiest option. And the
sweetest.

Until Mitch shows up with a bombshell that could shatter
Macey’s perfectly carved out life. It’s been a year, but he isn’t giving her
up, not now he has a chance at winning her back. And he knows her buttons.
Every single one of them.

Unfortunately for him, Jack Carr isn’t a loser. The star
running back has his eye on the Vince Lombardi—and on Macey. But seeing her
hanging between them both isn’t something he’s down with, not when he discovers
why she’s so against anything more-ish, as she puts it.Macey quickly realizes
she’s the ball being passed between two desperate yet opposing teams, and that
only one of them can score the touchdown. But will the winner be the guy she
lived with and loved for three years, or will the winner be the guy who
understands her and makes her body come alive?

In this game, someone will be sidelined, and calling the
play isn’t always as easy as it seems.

(SIDELINED is a full-length, standalone novel. It's not

necessary to read BLINDSIDED before this book, but it is advised.)

AMAZON

“You remember to write down the orange juice one?”

“No, actually. I forgot.”

He licks his fingers and comes over. I kick a little more frantically, because, well, explaining them is going to be awkward. Jack grabs my pen and the orange pad and scribbles on it.

Note to self: Get a second carton of OJ for Jack.

“Noted.” I pull the square off the pad and drop it on the floor with the others.

“Why is my name on the pink notes?”

Ah, fuck.

“And Mitch’s on the yellow?” He turns toward me. His face is dangerously close to mine, and there’s a glint in his eyes that… Well, I don’t know what it is, but it sure as fuck isn’t good.

“I was…drawing up a pros-and-cons list,” I mutter.

“Seems to be a helluva lot more yellow than pink, baby.”

“Well, in my defense, half of Mitch’s say ‘fucked my cousin,’ which adds to his total.” I smile weakly.

“All right, I think I’m gonna regret askin’ this.” Jack sits up straight. “Why are you making pros-and-cons lists?”

I open my mouth and close it again. Shit. I was kind of hoping to avoid this conversation.

“Promise you won’t get mad,” I say softly, looking down.

“M, talk to me.”

“I…” I swallow, sensing that that’s the closest to an agreement I’m going to get. “I saw Mitch earlier.”

I wait, but Jack says silent.

“I asked him why he was outside my apartment yesterday.”

“Doesn’t take a fuckin’ genius to work it out,” Jack grinds out.

“He wants me back.” I look at the TV. “He…doesn’t seem to understand that I’m not in love with him.”

“You sure about that, Macey?”

I frown, snapping my eyes to Jack, who’s now leaning against the table. “Of course I’m sure!”

“Yeah? ‘Cause you don’t seem to hesitate running to him when he comes knockin’ at your door.”

“What are you saying?” I stand up slowly, my stomach twisting at his words and the implications of them.

“According to you, he broke your heart so fucking badly that you hate him. Yet, when he knocks at your door or hangs out outside your apartment, you’re not exactly hesitant when it comes to runnin’ after him to see what the fuck he wants. Yet you can’t call me.” Jack turns slowly. “That’s what I’m fuckin’ saying.”

“According to me?” The words fall from me in disbelief. “According to me? You think I want him here, fucking with me again? You think I want to sit there and listen to him declare his seemingly endless love for me while begging me in the same breath to give him another goddamn chance?”

Jack pushes off from the table and walks to the door. His fingers curl around the handle and he looks at me, his green eyes on fire, so angry that they’re sending tremors through my body. “You answer him?”

“What?”

“He begged for another chance. Did. You. Fucking. Answer. Him?”

From Emma Hart, the New York Times bestselling author of the

Game series, comes a brand new series where the game is realer, the tension is
tighter, the sex is hotter, and the stakes are the highest of all…

Two people. Two agendas. Two games.

What happens when the out-there It-Boy of football meets the
secret It-Girl of fashion?

As the daughter of Hollywood’s sweetheart, Leah Veronica
can’t even buy a coffee without finding her face on a magazine stand, so it’s no
wonder she’s launching her first fashion line in secret. With it debuting at
New York Fashion Week in just under a month, extra time in the spotlight is the
last thing she needs.

The son of the best quarterback the league has ever seen,
filling legendary shoes as the L.A. Vipers’ quarterback was inevitable for
Corey Jackson. So was meeting Leah Veronica—the first girl to hand him his ass
without putting a hair out of place.

Getting the handsome, prickly blonde into his bed becomes
his number one goal. But getting the sexy, over-confident footballer the hell
away from her becomes Leah’s—at least until she realizes the best way to do
that is to give him what he wants.

If only it was that simple.

When Corey discovers who she is, and private photos of
Hollywood’s finest find their way online, everything they thought they knew is
thrown into disarray.

And when secrets are exposed and hearts are shattered, they
have to figure out if they’ve been blindsided by love or reality, and if it’s
worth running the extra yard to win the game they never meant to play.

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By day, New York Times and USA Today bestselling New Adult author Emma Hart dons a cape and calls herself Super Mum to two beautiful little monsters. By night, she drops the cape, pours a glass of whatever she fancies - usually wine - and writes books.

Emma is working on Top Secret projects she will share with her followers and fans at every available opportunity. Naturally, all Top Secret projects involve a dashingly hot guy who likes to forget to wear a shirt, a sprinkling (or several) of hold-onto-your-panties hot scenes, and a whole lotta love.

She likes to be busy - unless busy involves doing the dishes, but that seems to be when all the ideas come to life.

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Blog Tour Review: The Design by R.S. Grey

Title: The Design
Author: R.S. Grey
Release Date: March 1, 2015
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Five minutes until the interview begins.

Fresh on the heels of her college graduation, Cameron Heart has landed an interview at a prestigious architecture firm.

Four minutes until the interview. 

She knows she’s only there because the owner, Grayson Cole, is her older sister’s friend.

Three minutes. 

For the last seven years, Grayson has been the most intimidating man Cammie has ever had the pleasure, or displeasure, of being around.

Two Minutes. 

But the job opportunity is too good to pass up. So, Cammie will have to ignore the fact that Grayson is handsome enough to have his own national holiday. 

One. 

After all, she shouldn’t feel that way about her new boss. And, he will be her new boss.
…
“I’m not scared of you,” I said with a confident smile.
“Perhaps we should fix that, Ms. Heart. Close the door.”

Amazon

I was super excited about this book. I loved Cameron (Cammie) in The Duet. Her character is so awesome and she deserved a book. Then add in the hot Grayson Cole and I was jumping up and down when The Design hit my kindle.

The story was sizzling from the very beginning. Grayson Cole is a very good friend of Cammie’s sister so she has had a crush on him since she was a teenager. But now she is all grown up and Grayson acts awful to her.

Grayson hires Cammie to work at his architecture firm. He fights his own attraction for her every day. But when these two get together it is AMAZING!!! I loved how they were together.

I love RS Grey’s writing style. Her books are so fun and sexy. The story was flawless for me. This book can be read as a standalone but Cammie’s sister who is in the book a lot has her own story, The Duet. I loved that we got to see more of Brooklyn and Jason.

Another absolute hit for RS Grey! She is becoming an automatic one click for me.  

I paused just outside of the front doors and took a deep breath, trying to get my bearings. I was twenty minutes early for my interview. My outfit was still wrinkle-free. My pad-folio was filled with extra copies of my resume and reference letters, and I’d rehearsed every possible question that Grayson Cole would ask:
Greatest weakness? My inability to settle for anything less than what I deserve. I’m stubborn and persistent.
The honest answer? My inability to overcome my schoolgirl crush on you even though you’re a self-righteous ass.
I would NOT be giving him the honest answer.

I am a lover of books, chocolate, reality TV, black labs, and cold weather. Seriously, if I had it my way, I would be curled up on the couch with all of those things... everyday.
I live in Texas where I spend my free time writing and reading. My favorite authors include Mindy Kaling & Jonathan Safran Foer. I'm a comedy geek and love all things "funny". Women like Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Mindy Kaling are definitely the biggest inspirations for my writing, though I think my work tends to skew a bit smuttier than theirs.

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