Jess—aka Reviews by Jess—is a sassy, top-ranked Goodreads reviewer who reads a little of everything. From steamy romance to dark fantasy, plus stories featuring mental health, hidden disabilities, and LGBTQ+ rep, she brings bold, unfiltered reviews readers can trust. Expect sass, sparkle, and a TBR that’s about to explode.

Reviews by Jess- Unfiltered. Unapologetic. Unforgettable Reviews.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Review: Thrust

Thrust Thrust by Victoria Ashley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

First, let me start by saying I loved this book by Ashley and can't wait to read/listen to another. I'm usually not big on Love Triangles, especially when it's siblings, but Ashley constructed the best one I've read/listened to by far. Kai and Wen did a phenomenal job on the audio for this story and made it that much better! They we're intoxicating to listen to and made it, so I finished this book in one listen.

View all my reviews

Dirty Secret by Mira Lyn Kelly Release & Giveaway




Title: Dirty Secret
Series: Slayers Hockey #1
Author: Mira Lyn Kelly
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: October 19, 2019



Blurb

In my defense, I didn’t know she was his sister

"Sexy and fun with a delicious hockey hero, DIRTY SECRET is great for fans of Elle Kennedy, Toni Aleo, and Sawyer Bennett. I devoured this book!" -NYTimes Bestseller Lexi Ryan

This team hates me. Something about my chronic case of resting prick face and that thing with the captain when the season started.

My fist, his jaw. Yeah, we go back and not in a good way. 

Coach says no more “confrontational BS” or I don’t play at all. And that’s a hit my career in the NHL can’t take. 

So the plan is simple. Keep my head down and finish out my contract with my fists checked.

There’s just one problem. 

Allie. The girl from Vancouver eight months ago. The one with the sexy, shy, and sinfully bold smile and the sweetest, wettest mouth I ever tasted. The girl who blew my mind and then blew out of my life without giving me her number. 

Turns out she’s the captain’s little sister. 

And even though my career depends on it... I can’t stay away from her. 







Purchase Links

AMAZON
B&N / KOBO / APPLE BOOKS
GOOGLE PLAY






Playlist



Excerpt

When I get home, I kick my Chucks into the corner by the closet and look around my empty apartment feeling at loose ends. I don’t trust myself with the replay of the game I just watched. I can’t handle seeing Vaughn Vassar looking at me like that again tonight. Not without risking things neither of us ought to risk.
Closing my eyes, I slowly lower myself to sit at the stepdown to the living area and try to focus on all the reasons leaving the bar was the right thing to do. Telling myself that kiss from this afternoon was a mistake, no matter how good it felt.
So good.
I could be back at the bar in—
Knock, knock, knock.
Sucking in a startled breath, I push to my feet. My heart speeds as that restless feeling in my belly turns into a kind of instinctual pull that draws me to the door.
I don’t have to check to know this isn’t my brother.
It’s not George looking to chat, or Helene showing up with snacks and office gossip.
Not tonight.
My fingers tingle as I reach for the knob, my heart races, and my mind empties of all the reasons this is a mistake. Of everything except the relief surging through my veins as I swing the door open. Vaughn is braced against the frame again. He’s lost the suit jacket, and his big arms are flexed and straining as he barely holds himself back.
“I shouldn’t be here,” he says, the words gravel rough and rubbing against me in ways that only make me want to hear more. “I don’t even have a fucking excuse to check on you.”
“But you came anyway,” I whisper, drinking him in.
“I came anyway.”
The muscle in his jaw jumps over and again as his silver eyes swirl with an intensity that matches the energy coming off him in waves. I shouldn’t be reaching for him, but I don’t think I could stop if I tried. I want this. I want him. My fingers curl into the gap between the buttons of his dress shirt and I tug.
There’s a beat of resistance when he pulls back and our eyes connect—and then he’s launching forward on a growl so savagely possessive, I feel it through the deepest part of me. That big arm I couldn't stop staring at sweeps around me as his mouth crashes against mine in a feral kiss. This isn’t tender or tentative. It’s desperate and hungry and has me half climbing his body before my shoulders hit the door he just swung shut with his foot.
Hands roaming over my thighs and ass, he alternates between gentle and desperate, stroking one second and gripping the next. Making me groan around the thrust of his tongue. Making me rock into that thick, steely ridge lodged between us.
“Allie, tell me this isn’t a mistake.”
I need more of his mouth, more of his kiss. More of his huge chest pressing hot and hard against my own so I can’t feel anything but him. “It’s not a mistake.”
It’s critical. Necessary.
It’s my first full breath in weeks, months. “We just—we just need to get it out of our system. That’s all.”
His nostrils flare, and his eyes burn over me as his hand tightens in my hair. “I don’t think—” But instead of finishing whatever he was going to say, he blows out a harsh breath and gives me a single nod.
And then I have it, the crush of his kiss.



Author Bio


Hard core romantic, stress baker, and housekeeper non-extraordinaire. Mira Lyn Kelly is the USA TODAY bestselling author of more than a dozen sizzly love stories with over a million readers worldwide. Growing up in the Chicago area, she earned her degree in Fine Arts from Loyola University and met the love of her life while studying abroad in Rome, Italy… only to discover he’d been living right around the corner from her back home. Having spent her twenties working and playing in the Windy City, she’s now settled with her husband in Minnesota, where their four amazing children and two ridiculous dogs provide an excess of action and entertainment.


Author Links

Chemistry by Tess Oliver Release & Giveaway




Title: Chemistry
Author: Tess Oliver
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: October 21, 2019



Blurb

Their chemistry inspired a generation. It's been nearly a decade, can the spark be revived?

Jameson and Kinsey were sizzling hot magic together on-screen in Forever Kisses nine years ago, but as their relationship continued off screen, the real drama began. With the paparazzi chasing them down for every stolen cup of coffee together and their entire relationship being broadcast through tabloid channels, the relationship quickly fell apart. Hearts were broken, harsh words were hurled and ugly rumors spread like wildfire through the silver screen world.

Forever Kisses was destined to become an instant cult classic, but Jameson's and Kinsey's careers weren't so lucky. The pair, who were once considered box office gold, were being whispered about as poison.

Now, they each need a box office hit, and Sawyer Croft, Forever Kisses' director, is convinced he has the perfect project. Will Jameson and Kinsey find that chemistry they once had or will this be the final piece of heartbreak, the end of the movie and quite possibly their careers?







Purchase Links







Excerpt

I stared out at the rowdy, spontaneous party going on around us, but all I could think about were his hands touching me, his arms holding me against him. So this was what Cassie meant when she said the rest of the world peeled away and the only things left were the two of us. It was as if nothing else existed at that moment, just Jameson and me, moving slowly around the dance floor. We were no longer moving to the rhythm of the music. We were just moving in unison, pressed closely against each other, dangerously close. Every part of me reacted to his touch. The strength of his arms, the warmth of his body, the scent of his soap, it was all so damn intoxicating I couldn't help but fantasize about Jameson taking my hand, pulling me back to his trailer to rip off my clothes and restart where we'd left off nine years ago. 






Author Bio


Tess Oliver is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling romance author. With over 1 million books sold she has topped the charts in nearly every store. She is well known for her relatable characters who "become your friends" as you journey with them and for intriguing stories that will have you "devouring her books in just one day". Tess lives in Southern California, the land of perpetual sunshine and traffic, with her husband, kids and a small herd of pets. She recently left her career as a teacher for her dream job of full time author and has never looked back. 


Author Links

Monday, October 21, 2019

Deranged by Bella J Excerpt Reveal


DERANGED by Bella J. is releasing October 23rd!!!

Pre-Order available now: https://amzn.to/31wr91r

Add it to your TBR: http://bit.ly/DerangedTBR

BLURB:
Temptation. It’s a powerful thing.

It possesses you. Corrupts you. Turns a pure soul into a reckless beast.

Once it has you in its clutches, you can’t escape it. It won’t let go, not until it perverts everything innocent.

The day she walked into my life, I should have known I’d never be the same again. Her secrets lured me in, enticed me with truths that would be my ultimate ruin.

I had a war to win. Battles to fight. But her scent turned me into a crazed hunter, manipulating me down a different path of destruction.

In the end, she will be my downfall.

Until then…I’ll keep her.

Pre-Order available now: https://amzn.to/31wr91r

Add it to your TBR: http://bit.ly/DerangedTBR

EXCERPT REVEAL:
I made my way through the crowd, never taking my eyes off her. She stood motionless by the door, her gaze reaching for me across the sea of people between us. I wasn’t sure whether it was the buzz of the atmosphere around us, or the magic I saw swirling in her irises, but as I broke through the crowd, I rushed to her. And without thinking twice I grabbed her face between my palms, forcing her back and crashing my lips against hers.

It was insane. I didn’t even know her. I didn’t know who she was other than she called herself Wraith. I didn’t know where she was from. How old she was. Did she have family around here? I knew nothing about her. All I knew was, I wanted to kiss her. So, I did.

I felt her hesitate, pulling back slightly. But I held her face between my hands, refusing to let go, and I forced my tongue through the barrier of her lips while fusing my mouth to hers, desperate to taste her. It felt like I was on a high I had never been on before, this kiss of a stranger forcing a kind of rush through my body I couldn’t explain.

I continued to push her back into a corner, hiding us from the rest of the bar.

She didn’t touch me, but she kissed me back. Her tongue lapped against mine as if she was searching for my taste like I was hunting for hers. She tasted sweet, like oranges, with a subtle trace of mint and heat all swept together in one mind-blowing kiss. The thrill, the thirst, and the urge to never stop was overwhelming. It had my insides tangled up in a vice of desire and hunger, a need to explore and push the limit with this woman who somehow just walked into my life uninvited.

Her gentle moans might as well have been a wrecking ball, slamming against my chest, breaking my self-control into nothing but shattered pieces of lust. It was driving me mad, and I had to tear my lips from hers in order to catch my breath. Leaning my head against hers, I didn’t open my eyes. “Who. Are you?”

Pre-Order available now: https://amzn.to/31wr91r

Add it to your TBR: http://bit.ly/DerangedTBR


Start the American Street Kings Series today! Books MUST be read in order. 
Depraved, Book 1: https://amzn.to/35TiARB
Defiant, Book 2: https://amzn.to/2qupBbe


MEET THE AUTHOR:
All the way from Cape Town, South Africa, Bella J lives for the days when she’s able to retreat to her writer’s cave where she can get lost in her little pretend world of romance, love, and insanely hot bad boys.

Bella J is a Hybrid Author with both Self-Published and Traditional Published work. Even though her novels range from drama, to comedy, to suspense, it's the dark, twisted side of romance she loves the most.




Murder?


Murder?
Stockholm Sleuth Series Book 3
by Christer Tholin
Genre: Mystery Crime Thriller


Christina’s idyllic existence with her husband Patrik comes to an abrupt end when Patrik suddenly vanishes from their suburban home in Stockholm. Christina is precipitated into a hellishly desperate and anguished search for Patrik – which after six weeks turns up nary a trace of him.

At her wits end, she contacts local sleuths Lars and Elin, who, after a brief investigation, reach the conclusion that Patrik simply decided to abandon his cushy existence to embark on a new life –without Christina.

Lars and Elin ultimately trace Patrik’s movements to the wooded wilds of northern Sweden, but too late – he’s found dead. The police rule his death an accident, but Christina thinks otherwise – and so she asks Lars and Elin to do a thorough investigation of the circumstances surrounding Patrik’s demise. Was his death really accidental, or was foul play involved? And was the mysterious Natalia somehow implicated?

Unfortunately, none of the countless leads that Lars and Elin follow up gets them any closer to solving the mystery of Patrik’s death. But then they get a startling break that results in Christina having to make a tricky and extremely consequential decision that plunges our three protagonists into a life or death struggle.

MURDER? is the third, standalone book from Christer Tholin’s Stockholm Sleuth Series.
If you like fast-paced action and surprising twists and turns, then you will love Christer Tholin's sleuth series. 

**Read FREE with Kindle Unlimited! 


Secrets?
Stockholm Sleuth Series Book 2


"Dammit! She’d made a huge mistake. She’d never make it out of here - they were going to kill her."

In the crime novella SECRETS?, fledgling private investigator Elin Bohlander takes on what looks like an easy assignment — at first: to determine if her client’s boyfriend is having an affair with another woman. To do this, Elin follows him to a secluded cabin in the woods, where she soon discovers that what’s actually transpiring is stranger than anyone thought. Having ventured too far, she’s stumbled upon a hornet’s nest and put her life at risk. But it’s too late. Can Elin win the unequal fight against a gang of brutal child molesters?

SECRETS? is the second, standalone book from Christer Tholin’s Stockholm Sleuth Series. In the previous novel VANISHED?, Elin and her colleague Lars solve their first case together. 

If you like fast-paced action and surprising twists and turns, then you will love Christer Tholin's sleuth series.

**Read FREE with Kindle Unlimited!



Vanished?
Stockholm Sleuth Series Book 1


“He could only hope he’d get out of here in one piece.”

To come to terms with his recent divorce, Martin, an attorney in Berlin, plans a peaceful vacation – two weeks in a Swedish summer house seem to be the solution. It won’t be peaceful, however, and those two weeks will change his life forever. He takes a liking to Liv, a Swedish woman whom he meets in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, they don’t get to have their first date – Liv disappears under mysterious circumstances. Martin begins his search but soon realizes he can’t find Liv in a foreign country by himself. He hires two private investigators, and their discoveries make everything seem even stranger. 

The complexities in this suspenseful criminal case lead to a hunt across Sweden. Martin comes close to finding answers, but his search lands him in very real danger, eventually leading to the first deaths. Soon he‘s wondering if he can get Liv and himself out of this situation alive. 

**Read FREE with Kindle Unlimited!


Christer Tholin grew up in the North of Germany, Schleswig-Holstein. Today, he lives together with his family in Stockholm, Sweden, where he works as a management consultant.

Already for ages he has been a great fan of crime stories and therefore, had the desire to write his own crime story with the characters acting in Sweden. This crime-fiction is now available under the title "Vanished?". 

The crime novel starts at a slower pace - like Martin's holidays, but the tension goes up more and more. It comes to a number of surprising turns giving new impulses to the story. Apart from that, the lovely country Sweden is described with the view of a foreigner. 



$20 Amazon
Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

A Fresh Restart


A Fresh Restart
by Chelsea Falin
Genre: Contemporary Romance

A sweet contemporary friends-to-lovers romance novella with a strong dose of second chance at love and a sweet HEA. No cliffhangers. (Heat Level: 2 flames.)
Josette Miller and Walker Anderson grew up together in small-town, Dade City, Florida. Inseparable during their youth, Josette dreamed of growing up and moving away. When she left ten years ago, Josette didn’t know how Walker really felt about her.
But Dade City just wasn’t the same with Josette, and Walker left shortly after, regretting he’d never told Josette how he felt. In a twist of fate, Josette and Walker find themselves moving home within months of each other. They aren’t kids, anymore, and the attraction this time around is mutual. Maybe a “Fresh Restart” is just what they needed to get their happily ever after.


Chelsea Falin is the 25 year old independent author of well over ten titles. She began writing with intents to publish in 2006, at age 16, and finally published in 2009, at age 19. Chelsea writes in a variety of genres, including but not limited to: romance, young adult, comedy, cooking, poetry, and dramatic fiction. Professionally, Chelsea is also a freelance blog/article writer, web designer, and book blogger.
In her personal life, Chelsea is the mother of a six year old daughter. In her free time, she enjoys reading, writing, fishing, hiking, biking, traveling, and spending time with her friends or family.


Follow the tourHEREfor special content and a giveaway!






Review: Black Tie Optional

Black Tie Optional Black Tie Optional by Ann Marie Walker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love this book by Walker and can't wait for the next installment!! Pick it up Black Tie Optional today!

View all my reviews

Review: Turn Me Loose

Turn Me Loose Turn Me Loose by Anne Calhoun
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I really hate it when this happens, but I just couldn't connect with the characters. This book by Calhoun was well written, only not for me. I will give her another shot at a later date, but for now, I need to move on.

View all my reviews

Review: Blood Guard

Blood Guard Blood Guard by Megan Erickson
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

It was a nice try for Erickson but it just didn't do it for me. I tried really hard to like this book but I just couldn't get into it. Maybe it was the characters, maybe it was the storyline or just a little of both. Either way I couldn't finish this book.

View all my reviews

Review: The Dirty Book Club

The Dirty Book Club The Dirty Book Club by Lisi Harrison
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

This was my first by Harrison, and it will most defiantly be my last. I tried to get into this book, but it was not for me. That's not saying that others may not like it, but it wasn't for me.

View all my reviews