Dare To Run by Jen McLaughlin (Review & Excerpt)

Title: Dare To Run
Series: The Sons of Steel Row #1
Author: Jen McLaughlin
Release Date: February 2, 2016 - Signet
Format: Print Galley
Pages: 316

She knows what he’s like on Boston’s mean streets. Now she’s going to find out if he’s got some heart.

Lucas Donahue is not ashamed of his criminal past, but after a brief stint in prison, he’s ready to go legit and live a normal life. The problem is, no one leaves the gang without permission—even if he is one of the boss’s top men. Plus someone’s placed a hit on him. And then there’s that feisty little bartender who’s going to cause him even more trouble.

Heidi Greene knows to keep her distance from a ladies’ man like Lucas—even if she can’t keep her eyes off him. When he rescues her from an attack in the alley outside her bar, she’s forced to stay by his side for safety. But the longer she spends time with him, the greater her chances are for getting hurt in more ways than one.

I'd read a bunch of books by Jen McLaughlin under her pen name, Diane Alberts, but this is my first one under this name. Can I just say that I really loved this book?  Lucas and Heidi were an awesome couple, and they helped make every page exciting.

Guest Post & Giveaway: Out of Line by Jen McLaughlin

Out of Line

Jen McLaughlin

Desperate to break free…

I've spent my entire life under my father’s thumb, but now I'm finally free to make my own choices. When my roommate dragged me to my first college party, I met Finn Coram and my life turned inside out. He knows how to break the rules and is everything I never knew I wanted. A Marine by day and surfer by night, he pushes me away even as our attraction brings us closer. Now I am finally free to do whatever I want. I know what I want. I choose Finn.

Trying to play by the rules...

I always follow orders. My job, my life, depends on it. I thought this job would be easy, all the rules were made crystal clear, but when I met Carrie Wallington, everything got muddy. She's a rule I know I shouldn't break, but damn if I don’t inch closer to the breaking point each time I see her. I’m ready to step out of line. And even worse? I’m living a lie. They say the truth will set you free, but in my case…

The truth will cost me everything.

Today I have a fun little peak for you, inside the life of author Jen McLaughlin.  Fun!!  Sit back and take a look, and enter the giveaway at the end.  Good luck!!

Review: Take Me by Diane Alberts

Title: Take Me
Series: Take A Chance, #4
Author: Diane Alberts
Published: August 26, 2013 - Entangled Ever After
Format: Ebook received for review

Married in the morning…

Professional heartbreaker Mike Worth thrived on the chase—and dancer Morgan Collins represented the ultimate prize. But there was no way he was going to throw away his single-man status…not even for an elusive redhead with sparkling eyes and mile-long legs. So how did he let one drunken Vegas night end with I do instead of hell no?

Morgan’s life revolved around her career and she had no intention of letting a man interfere—even if Mike made her question all her rules about love. At his urging, she reluctantly agreed to give their spur-of–moment marriage a chance. But once their trial-honeymoon ended, would she choose to follow the dance and leave her unforgettable husband behind?

Ok, I think this is the last book in the Take A Chance series, and it totally rocked! It went out with a bang, and if you’ve read any of this series you MUST read this one. The epilogue alone was freaking fantastic, and then you get the story of Mike and Morgan. This couple is something else, I tell ya! Now I’ve read three out of four of these books, somehow I skipped book two. Either way, I don’t think you’d be terribly lost to read these as a standalone, but I think they absolutely rock as a series in order.

Review: Play Me by Diane Alberts

Title: Play Me
Series: Take A Chance, #3
Author: Diane Alberts
Published: July 29, 2013, Entangled Publishing
Format; Ebook provided for review (Thank you, Entangled!)

Even the best-laid plans can go awry.

Single-mom Kiersten Worth knows a bottle of champagne and night of hot, no-strings-attached sex is the perfect solution to her jilted bride blues…and Garrett Kelly, long-time friend and her teenaged son’s sexy basketball coach, is just the stud for the job.

Garrett wants more from the elusive temptress than a casual affair, but he never expects it to come in the form of an unexpected pregnancy. When he proposes an unorthodox solution—move in and raise their baby together—Kiersten has to decide whether to let down her guard and open her heart to the man who secretly loved her for years, or risk losing his tender embrace for good.

Play Me is the story of Kiersten and Garrett. I really fell for this story the whole way through. The writing was terrific and grabbed me right from the start. The storyline was smooth and quick moving. Everything was perfect.

Quote-Tastic - Play Me

Well, yep, I took last week off.  But I am back again this week, and I have something funny for you.  This is from Play Me by Diane Alberts, which I also have up for review. I'm hoping to get it up tonight...

Review: Try Me by Diane Alberts

Title: Try Me
Series: Take A Chance #1
Author: Diane Alberts
Published: May 2012, Entangled (Ever After)
Format: Won Copy

What happens in Vegas...can lead to romance.

It took one wild night for Sergeant Jeremy Addison to realize that Vegas? Was a bad idea.

Bloody. Bruised. Dehydrated. Abandoned in the desert, and left to stagger down the road. The only way this leave could get worse was if his savior was his ex-best friend's sister...and the girl he'd loved since childhood.

The last person Erica expected to find on the roadside was her high school crush. She hadn't seen Jeremy in seven years—ever since the night he said he loved her, and she ran away. Losing him then had been a mistake, but wanting him now could be catastrophic if he discovered the secret that chased every other man from her life. But with a tall, tattooed Marine determined to prove he's always been faithful, can Erica resist his advances...or will she surrender ground and give love a try?

Try Me was one of those books that was just fun to read. I didn’t try to over-analyze things, I was just along for the ride. I won this book on Proserpine Craving Books and Diane Alberts has made me a new fan.