The Vampire Games by Stephanie Archer

The Vampire Games
by Stephanie Archer

Release Date: January 31st 2016
Rate: 3.5 stars (Enjoyed it)

Synopsis:

My name is Bianka, and I live in a world a lot like yours. Or at least, I used to.

Then I got harvested.

Taken into eerie darkness underneath the surface of my world, I’ve learned that cities like mine – Hidden Oaks – are just places that the vampires keep humans until it’s time to drink their blood. Now it’s my turn. They’re harvesting me.

But I’m fighting hard, and the vampires have noticed. A sponsor is buying me. A handsome, mysterious vampire with piercing eyes, who wants me to fight other humans in The Vampire Games. If I lose, I’ll be harvested. If I win, I’ll join my sponsor, Phillip, as one of them.

I’ll be turned into a vampire.

All I must do to spend an eternity with Phillip is sell my soul.

The scary part? I’d do a lot worse for him than that.

I have had The Vampire Games in my TBR for a while now. Everything that resembles the hunger games even if you add the paranormal aspect to the story makes me a bit skeptical because this could end up as a major fangirling moment for me or end up hating the story. Hence why it took me so long to finally start this book.

To sum up the story a bit, the main character, Bianka, has no clue what's happening in her city. Humans are harvested for the vampires who apparently rule the world without the humans even knowing. Even though she ended up in a "nice cage" she tried to run. But instead of getting away from that awful place she goes and tries to help her friend, Mark. This leads her to enter the vampire games after she has been bought by her first vampire savior, Phillip. The prize of winning the vampire games? Becoming a vampire. But Bianka has another thing in mind if she wins the games. And so their story begins.

From the beginning Bianka was presented as a strong female character that knows how to adapt to every single situation and most important how to survive. She's also kind and good since she ends up going back to save her friend instead of running when she had the chance. Phillip on the other hand, was shown as an antagonistic savior. He tried to do the right thing among her kingdom and when saving Bianka. However, he assumed that everyone wanted to be a vampire and that's where he was wrong.

The romance between these two very different characters is a progressive one as well as awkward. The characters are drawn to each other but the situation of Bianka fighting for her life and Phillip being a vampire come between them more than once. I liked that Bianka wasn't too eager to jump into a relationship or something like that just because they were supposed to be together.

The world was well-built and the writing helps the reader to create a clear vision of what Stephanie Archer's world would look like. However, was nothing that we haven't read before due to the big games, trying to win to save their lives, etc. 

For my liking, when I ended the book, it gave me the impression that the book was too short and that mostly everything in the story was hanging in the other. Nothing was solved. Only Phillip and Bianka's relationship and that the world was not what Bianka thought it was which was solved in the first chapters. I would say that the impression the story gives to the reader is a bit weak.

Despite this not so original dystopian topic, the whole story is a good one that I truly enjoyed and easily devoured in less than an hour and a half. So I highly recommend it to all those YA paranormal romantics out there. Give it a try. I will definitely be waiting for the next book and see what's going to happen between the two main characters.

Release Day Launch: Accidentally Married on Purpose (Love and Games #3) by Rachel Harris

    

We are so excited to bring you the Release Day Launch for Rachel Harris' ACCIDENTALLY MARRIED ON PURPOSE!! ACCIDENTALLY MARRIED ON PURPOSE is the third book in her Love and Games Series published by Entangled Bliss.

Accidentally Married on Purpose (Love and Games #3)
by Rachel Harris
Publisher: Entangled: Bliss
Release Date: July 14th 2014

Synopsis:

One ring plus one wild night equals one crazy love

Sherry Robicheaux loves men. She loves love. And she loves an adventure. So when she meets a mysterious man while working backstage at a country music concert in Vegas, she’s all about what’s happened in Vegas staying there.

Country music superstar Tyler Blue just wants a weekend of anonymity…though there’s something about the spunky waitress with the streaks of purple hair that tempts him like no other. Until the next morning, when they both wake up with fuzzy memories…and rings on their fingers.

Convincing Sherry to maintain the ruse for his public image isn’t the hardest part—it’s reminding himself that their time spent playing husband and wife in her small town of Magnolia Springs can’t last. Tyler’s first love will always be music—and the road is no place for a sweet downhome girl.

Accidentally Married on Purpose

by Rachel Harris

From opposite the long table of food, the brunette gave him a blatant once over as he came to a stop in front of her, twirling a strand of purple hair around her fingertip. When she reached his lucky belt buckle, her sinful lips twitched.

“If the words, ‘Come here often,’ leave your mouth, I swear I’ll laugh you straight back to roadie-ville.” Her words were harsh, but the smile that sprang free was playful, and Tyler found himself mesmerized by the familiar twang of her southern voice.

So much so that he’d almost missed what she said.

“Roadie-ville?”

“Sorry, do you prefer techie?” Her cute nose wrinkled as she stuck her hands in her back jeans pocket. “I heard someone else say that earlier, but I swear that sounds like a computer nerd.” She looked him up and down again, this time her gaze lingering around his hips. Slightly south of the belt buckle. Hot damn. “I think roadie fits you better. Sounds sexier.”

Tyler scratched the side of his jaw. Was she messing with him? He’d heard a hell of a lot of come-ons since making it to Nashville and had been propositioned in every way possible. But this was a first. The woman stared back, smiling that damn seductive smile, and he realized she honestly had no clue who he was. For some reason, he was in no hurry to correct that just yet.

He couldn’t recall the last time he’d gone anywhere without being recognized, much less his own concert. But since the room was swarming with crew, Tyler could understand the confusion…if she weren’t a hardcore fan, and clearly, this woman wasn’t. Tyler swiped a hand over his mouth, hiding a smile.

“Sugar, you can call me anything you like,” he drawled, laying it on thick even to his own ears. Her pretty lips parted, and he grinned. “And what can I call you?”

Her smile twisted into a smirk. “Who said you could call me at all?”

He laughed, shocked again, and for the first time in a long time, speechless.

She winked. “I’m Sherry.” When she said her name, she looked right into his eyes as if he should remember it, and he had no doubt that he would. The confidence pouring off her was sexy as hell. “And…you are?”

“Tyler,” he replied, glad she’d gone with just her first name so he could do the same. The rest of the world simply referred to Tyler as Blue, the front man for the band bearing his last name. Even so, he stood back and waited for a sign of recognition.

It never came.

When it became obvious she really had no clue who he was, nor would she guess any time soon, Tyler felt a knot of tension release between his shoulder blades.

“So, Sherry, you planning to watch tonight’s show?”

She pulled a face. “I’m not much for country, other than the line dances. All those songs about trucks and trains and whiskey and dogs, though that last one I can forgive.” Her smile softened and Tyler moved closer, wanting to be nearer the genuine warmth of it. “No offense to your boss or anything,” she added with a slight grimace. “I heard he’s pretty hot…even if he is the man-whore of country music.”

A shocked laugh burst from his lips. “Excuse me?”

She waved her comment away, as if she hadn’t just insulted him to his face—which, he guessed, she hadn’t really. At least not on purpose. “Just a theory I have. I’m sure he’s a perfectly adequate boss.”

Now, Tyler laughed for real. “Yeah, he’s…adequate.” Shaking his head, he propped his hip on the table. This was the most fun he’d had with a woman in months—and they both still had their clothes on.

Author of fun & flirty escapes about sassy girls-next-door and the hot guys that make them swoon. I grew up in New Orleans, watching soap operas with my grandmother, and staying up late sneak-reading my mama's romance novels. Today, I still stay up late reading romances, only now I do so openly.

A Cajun cowgirl now living in Houston, I firmly believe life's problems can be solved with a hot, sugar-coated beignet or a thick slice of king cake, and that screaming at strangers for cheap, plastic beads is acceptable behavior in certain situations.

I homeschool my two beautiful girls and watch countless hours of Food Network and reality television with my amazing husband. I write YA, NA, and Adult romance and LOVE talking with readers!

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Blog Tour: Night Games by Collette West

Night Games
by Collette West
Release Date: February 28th 2014
Rate: Average (3 stars)

Synopsis:

The moment Grey Kelleher locks eyes with All-Star shortstop Chase Whitfield, she's a goner. For years, she's watched him play on TV, and now she's gazing at his hard, lean body across a bar in her hometown.

Grey's crush on Chase goes all the way back to his rookie season. So when she approaches him for an autograph, she's startled by what a jerk he can be.

Chase is no mood to humor his fans, even one as alluring as Grey. He's in the last year of his contract and stuck having to prove himself on a minor league team. He's only there to rehab an injury, nothing more.

But when Grey tells him off, Chase realizes her fiery spirit may be just the distraction he needs to take his mind off not being in the majors. His heart is safe. No one's going to break his streak as baseball's most eligible bachelor. Not even someone as irresistible as Grey.

Night Games was a good, sweet romance. While I have to admit that I liked it, I also have to say that I have some mixed feelings, too.

Grey's a good woman, hard worker, with a celebrity crush on Chase Whitman. One opportunity of watching her baseball idol with her sister, leads her to met him and that's the very moment Grey's world changes forever.

Chase Whitman had it all: fame, money, women and the dream work of being a baseball player. His life's now kind of miserable due to a leg injury, and the last thing he was searching for was a woman like Grey: who would put his world upside down.

Okay, I truly liked the idea: famous baseball player meets normal girl. Falls in love, a little bit of drama and they end up together, happily ever after. Sometimes you just want one of those stories and Night Games promised that.

While I enjoyed the story, it is also true that the plot was kind of slow and nothing big happens. To me, there was no "wow effect" and I couldn't quite catch the climatic point in the story. I ended up, rushing things a little bit just to get to the end and see how Grey and Chase's relationship would end.

Despite this, I liked the touch of drama in their relationship. The author mixed some actual problems with Grey's past and Chase's famous status and job. I liked that they both were implicated in the drama. There was also some action, brought by the couples' problems, that kept things interesting until the very end.

The romance was a good one. The main character is the perfect representation of a good girl, a hard worker who has a tough life since her mother's sick. She also sticks out for the people she cares and you easily like her from the beginning. Once thing in particular that I didn't like about her is her sudden mood change: she could easily go from hating Chase to the very next second remembering her teen crush on him and go all girly on him. It was kind of confusing to me. 

Chase Whitman would be the perfect sporty guy: handsome, with money, a womanizer and someone who knew that had everything. You instantly like him, 'cause he's a good guy with a façade. However, there were some scenes where he seemed kind of bipolar: sometimes he was a jackass in his full man douchebag moves and all of a sudden was the sweetest and most comprehensive boy in the world. What? Wanna give me a heart-attack or what, Chase?

Pretty much the scenes between these two characters were lovable and sweet, but at the same time intense. There's a lot of potential in Chase and Grey's relationship and you end up liking them. 

The only scene that didn't like and made me doubt about their relationship, was the whole let's get marry. It was way unexpected and soon (a few chapters only). And then Chase learns something bad about Grey's past and suddenly he can marry her anymore? I had to insert in this chapter a !"come-on-face".

The ending, once again, was nothing that wowed me. It was as expected a happily ever after, but without any swoony aspect or climatic touch that would blow my mind. I think that maybe I was expecting a little more about Collette's story.

Despite my mixed feelings with Night Games, I bet you would have a good time reading Collette West's debut novel. It's not an awful story, on the contrary, Chase and Grey's romance story is a good one, and I'm sure you would have a good time reading it. So give it a chance, it might surprise you!

Author's dream cast

Chase Whitfield (leading man): Wentworth Miller

I needed someone with a sexy edge, and a long, lean athlete's body. Chase's blue-green eyes are hypnotic, and I think Wentworth's would fit the bill nicely. In terms of ethnicity, he's visually ambiguous which I love. He could be white, black, Latino - you name it. 

Grey Kelleher (leading lady): Lily Collins

What draws Chase to Grey is her chocolate brown eyes and I think Lily's convey that sense of innate warmth and understanding. Lily's ebony hair and alabaster skin are also a perfect match, as well as the bangs Chase likes to part with his lips.

Noah Martin (Chase's driver/new best friend): Jonah Hill

Noah idolizes Chase, and I couldn't help but notice the similar dynamic Jonah had with Leonardo DiCaprio in THE WOLF OF WALL STREET. Noah's out of shape and his hair is no stranger to frizz, but he means well.

Erin Kelleher (Grey's sister): Lea Michele

Picture Rachel Berry at her most obnoxious, and that's Erin in a nutshell. She has a big mouth and she's not afraid to stick her foot in it, especially when she's had a little too much to drink. From the stands, she heckles Chase to no end when he ignores her entreaties to bend over.

Irina Portanova (Chase's current girlfriend): Gisele Bundchen

She's a bombshell. Sun-kissed skin. Honey-streaked hair. Big boobs. As Chase's current celebrity girlfriend, she's known to turn heads as a world famous lingerie model. Too bad she can't seem to hold his interest past her annoying accent.

Brody Hernandez (Grey & Erin's friend): Jay Hernandez

Grey and Erin haven't seen Brody since high school, but Chase doesn't know that. When he sees Grey hugging him in a bar, he gets all kinds of jealous.

Collette West grew up as somewhat of a jock-nerd hybrid. Entering the world three weeks premature, her dad nearly missed her birth because he had seats behind the dugout for a sold-out, highly-anticipated match-up between two of baseball's biggest rivals. Not to be outdone, her book-loving mom taught her how to read by the time she was three. A love of the game coupled with an appreciation for the written word were instilled in Collette's impressionable brain from a young age. No wonder her characters believe in the philosophy: sports + romance = a little slice of heaven.

Splitting her time between the Pocono Mountains and Manhattan, Collette indulges her inner fangirl by going to as many games as she can from hockey to baseball and downloading every sports romance novel in existence onto her iPad. When she's not clicking away on her laptop, she enjoys walking her dog in Central Park, satisfying her caffeine craving at the Starbucks on Broadway and keeping an eye out for Mr. Right. But above all, she loves dishing with her readers. Email her at collette_west@yahoo.com. Sign-up form for email newsletter: http://eepurl.com/OetSj

Win (1) Gift Card and Signed Paperback of Night Games

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Release Day Launch: Night Games by Collette West

Night Games
by Collette West
Release Date: February 28th 2014

Synopsis:

The moment Grey Kelleher locks eyes with All-Star shortstop Chase Whitfield, she's a goner. For years, she's watched him play on TV, and now she's gazing at his hard, lean body across a bar in her hometown.

Grey's crush on Chase goes all the way back to his rookie season. So when she approaches him for an autograph, she's startled by what a jerk he can be.

Chase is no mood to humor his fans, even one as alluring as Grey. He's in the last year of his contract and stuck having to prove himself on a minor league team. He's only there to rehab an injury, nothing more.

But when Grey tells him off, Chase realizes her fiery spirit may be just the distraction he needs to take his mind off not being in the majors. His heart is safe. No one's going to break his streak as baseball's most eligible bachelor. Not even someone as irresistible as Grey.

Collette West grew up as somewhat of a jock-nerd hybrid. Entering the world three weeks premature, her dad nearly missed her birth because he had seats behind the dugout for a sold-out, highly-anticipated match-up between two of baseball's biggest rivals. Not to be outdone, her book-loving mom taught her how to read by the time she was three. A love of the game coupled with an appreciation for the written word were instilled in Collette's impressionable brain from a young age. No wonder her characters believe in the philosophy: sports + romance = a little slice of heaven.

Splitting her time between the Pocono Mountains and Manhattan, Collette indulges her inner fangirl by going to as many games as she can from hockey to baseball and downloading every sports romance novel in existence onto her iPad. When she's not clicking away on her laptop, she enjoys walking her dog in Central Park, satisfying her caffeine craving at the Starbucks on Broadway and keeping an eye out for Mr. Right. But above all, she loves dishing with her readers. Email her at collette_west@yahoo.com. Sign-up form for email newsletter: http://eepurl.com/OetSj

Win (1) Gift Card and Signed Paperback of Night Games

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