Rock and Roll Never Forgets by Barbara S. Stewart Review

Rock and Roll Never Forgets

(Rock and Roll Trilogy #1)

by

Barbara S. Stewart

Beth Morgan is a young woman who’s just been given the ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity to meet her favorite band, Traveler. That meeting leads to a chance encounter with her idol, the band’s lead singer, Andy Stevens. What follows is a love story. A journey through the peaks, valleys and trials of a relationship lived in the public eye; the miles they traveled together through his career in the music business, and her struggles to stay obscure in a world she never really settled into comfortably. In the end it's all about love, fate, and what the heart can't hold back.

Barbara Stewart (7/13/1959) was born in Havre de Grace, MD, and grew up in southeastern Pennsylvania, and the central east coast of Florida. She resides in Middleburg, FL with her husband Gene.

Barbara has worked in the electronics industry, and most recently in healthcare. She's a volunteer for the American Cancer Society, and won the Hope Award for volunteerism in 2009.

She writes love stories that usually evolve from music - a song she hears that paints a picture, and refers to her writing as 'the sound-track of her life.' Sprinkled through her stories are humor and sadness based on experiences shared with family and friends.

A reviewer on Amazon recently said, "This isn't a romance, it's a love story." (readingmaven)

"As a new writer. I hope you will continue my journey, travel with me, see what song inspires me next, and I hope that you see more growth with each page you turn."

She finds great enjoyment in reading - it's an escape, a journey into new and different places - but her favorite genre is romance. She loves to explore and support other self-published authors.

You can find Barbara at

http://www.amazon.com/Barbara-S-Stewart/e/B0076J5RHE/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

Rock and Roll Never Forgets by Barbara S. Stewart

This story is uncommonly über romantic compared to most stories I come across these days. I would classify it as contemporary romance and not erotic in the least. It is super sweet, almost fairy tale-isk yet somehow still down-to-earth. Everyone seems to go on and on about what an ugly cry book it is, but to me it's more of all included full book. The lives are rich in things that really mean something instead of useless nonsense— "A Life Well Lived. " This is the type of book that women of all ages and walks of life will love. It's got a little of this, little of that, something in there to which everyone can relate.

When Beth and Andy first met, it's like insta-love. They can just see something in the other. No matter what happens throughout the entire book, their special link is always there.

Despite this connection. They can't always seem to get on the same page.

"Do you ever think about tomorrow?"

"'Tomorrow' isn't a day of the week, Bethy. I just kinda roll with today."

There are several ups and downs of regular life they go through. The story twists and turns. I loved the knowledge and history of music, real people and places. Beth's wonderfully close family is a treasure, canning, sewing, quilting, spending time together. There's a certain elegance to everything. I really love the symbolism of the quilt throughout.

I want my life to be remembered as a quilt. Wrap it around you. Let it warm you. Each of you is a piece of my quilt of life. Each of you put there for a different reason. Maybe your block of time was a small one, maybe you were the center block of color in a particular pattern in the quilt of my life, but each of you, are an integral piece.

Beautiful story.

***Copy given in exchange for an honest review***

toni

FangirlMoments and My Two Cents

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The Escape by Shoshanna Evers Review

The Escape, Book 2 in the Pulse Trilogy

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In Book Two of the erotic dystopian Pulse Trilogy, Jenna escapes New York City only to be tracked down by a soldier who might be her only hope of survival.

Jenna doesn’t know if she believes what Emily and Mason told her—that America is rebuilding and a better life awaits her outside of Manhattan. But with the power grid down and no connection to the outside world, Jenna will die if she stays at Grand Central’s FEMA camp, selling her body to soldiers.

Private Ken Barker is sent to capture Jenna when she escapes—but Jenna knows he’s one of the good guys and tries to seduce him into joining her. Their passionate sex kindles something even stronger than lust between them, and when Barker goes back to Grand Central he sees the horrors there with new eyes.

Now it’s his turn to escape the city, and he knows he must take Jenna with him or she’ll die at the camp. On the road, they’ll start a new life together, hoping against hope that the electricity between them will prove more than just a spark—that together they might finally light up their dark nights.

The Pulse, Book 1 in the Pulse Trilogy

Book One in the heart-pounding Pulse Trilogy—a gripping erotic romance set in post-apocalyptic New York City one year after an electromagnetic pulse destroys America’s power grid.

“Intense, exciting, and sizzlingly sexy—a perfect post-apocalyptic romance!”  –Heather Thurmeier, bestselling author of Escape to My Arms and Stuck on You

Emily Rosen lives in a military camp at Grand Central Station, where women sell their bodies to soldiers for extra rations. When she discovers a dark secret—that America is rebuilding outside of New York City, and everything the city’s refugees have been told is a lie—she escapes, the soldiers hot on her heels…

But Christopher Mason, a convict who broke out of prison after the Pulse, finds Emily first. Although he’s survived this long on the streets by looking out only for himself, Emily is beautiful, alluring, and impossible to leave behind.

Now Emily must convince this intimidating, magnetic stranger to be her guide as they journey out of New York and into the unknown. She’ll barter with her body, but sex with Mason can never be currency—it’s pure passion, and everything she desires. Despite the crumbling world around them, can Emily and Mason discover true love blooming in the darkest of places?

The Pulse, Book 1 in the Pulse Trilogy is available now on Amazon, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, Amazon UK, and wherever ebooks are sold…

CLICK FOR MY REVIEW OF BOOK 1

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The Thrust, Book 3 in the Pulse Trilogy 

In the gritty conclusion to the erotic dystopian Pulse Trilogy, one couple undertakes a desperate rescue mission in post-apocalyptic New York City.

Trent Taylor and the people of Letliv, a thriving fishing community on the Connecticut coast, must join forces with the survivors of the FEMA camp at Grand Central to save his sister Annie, who is living on the Tracks as part of the soldiers’ private harem.

Clarissa has spent the past year under control of the soldiers, but Trent’s passionate touch sparks her desire. She’s not entirely sure if she’ll be safe with the mysterious stranger, who still mourns his wife’s untimely death. But with her growing need for Trent, and the danger the women of the Tracks face—Clarissa will have to gather everyone together to fight the rule of the soldiers who keep them prisoner. Could their struggle for freedom—and love—mean an escape from this dystopian nightmare?

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The Escape by Shoshanna Evers

This is a dystopian, almost apocalyptic series. An EMP has gone off shutting everything down in the US. Most of the population has died.

Book one was pretty good so I'm finally on to book two. Book one was about a couple escaping New York. Martial law is in effect, and the ones in charge are cruel and insane. Book two gives us glimpses into what that couple is doing now as well as other escapees and the camp from which they broke out.

I didn't like book two as much because I feel the story is becoming too broad maybe. By the end of book two, I felt like the third book would not be enough to finish all that was started in book two. The series arc feels like it's just going to get bigger instead of heading toward a conclusion. There may be too much going on for me to feel the connection I felt with book one.

I did like how the storyline makes you think about things you never would in our current world. All the things we would miss...like google search and socks. It brought up points that I never would have thought like how many foods do not have viable seeds in order to grow more because of genetic engineering.

"I'm thinking how strange it is, how perfectly normal people have become prostitutes, thieves, rapists, and murderers. How did that happen?"

I have no idea exactly which direction the storyline is going but it appears to be war.

If you're looking a end of the world type read that's erotic and occasionally dark themed (flashes of nonconsensual sex and torture), you should check this out.

***Copy given in exchange for an honest review***


toni

FangirlMoments and My Two Cents

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Running Wild by S.E. Jakes Review

Title:  Running Wild (Havoc #1)

Author:  SE Jakes

Release Date:  June 30, 2014

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Embrace the danger.

Sean Rush is an adrenaline junkie. That’s why he was in the Army, why he steals and races classic muscle cars . . . and why he can’t stay away from bad boy Ryker, a Havoc Motorcycle Club lieutenant. Fortunately, Ryker can’t seem to stay away from Sean—he’s spent the last eight months breaking into Sean’s apartment and stealing into his bed, leaving Sean physically satisfied but increasingly restless.

Sean has always avoided relationships. He likes to come and go without being controlled. And Ryker is possibly the most controlling man he’s ever known. Still, he finds that he wants more from Ryker than their silent nighttime encounters.

Then one of Sean’s thefts goes bad, and Ryker’s protective instincts kick into overdrive. He takes Sean to the Havoc compound, determined to keep him safe. But Sean’s past threatens the safety of Havoc—and everything Ryker holds dear. Worse, Ryker’s hiding secrets of his own. Soon it’s obvious that the adrenaline rush can’t keep them together anymore. But maybe love can.

Running Wild by S.E. Jakes

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love it! M/M about a biker and an ex soldier car thief. Both guys were so dominate, hot alphas. No one in the story was what society would call a good guy but not what readers would call a bad guy either. The heat within this book is off the charts, like I could just lick my kindle. And the comedy was an awesome feature also. Complete all around yum, a must read. I can't wait for more.

"I'm not riding in the bitch seat."

He was trying not to grin, but failing. "Why not?"

"I know exactly what it means when you ride on the back of a guy's bike."

"Really?"

"It means you fucking own me, Ryker."

"Don't I?"

toni

FangirlMoments and My Two Cents

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Hard Roads by Lily White Review

Title:  Hard Roads 

Author:  Lily White

Release Date:  July 21, 2014

Blurb

This life isn’t one that I chose for myself. 

Years spent as a daughter in the Dominion MC left me washed up and struggling to breathe. Life was never flowers and sunshine. It was gravel and dust, the trails of dirt left behind when the brothers tore out, floating up from the ground to hover in front of an angry, red sun.

I could never have imagined that a life sitting at rock bottom could get any worse, but it did. 

Life is funny like that.

Just when you think things can’t get any more bleak, a shade is drawn leaving you staggering and blind – lost in a world of heartache and sorrow.

I met J.D. Brooks on the road and he swept me off my feet. Literally. But not in the way you might think.

He was both an angel and a demon. 

He was the most vicious storm that ever darkened my life.

He was also my salvation.

Stripped from the hands that always held me back, I was released into a nightmare that would threaten everything I thought I knew about the crap hand I’d been dealt.

I thought I could never hate a man more than the one who stole me from the life I’d known. 

And in our time together, he would teach me one important lesson:

That in the end, it doesn’t matter how our paths intersect, because when it comes down to the basic truth of our lives... 

...we’re all stuck traveling down hard roads.

Review

I wanted to read this because I like dark reads and MC books so this sounded like something I would like. 

Sometimes when I read a dark book, I don't like any of the characters and the plot is so negative that I can't really enjoy the storyline.  Those reads in my opinion are more in the category of horror than dark erotica.  I need to feel a connection with at least one of the characters.  I need to care about their outcome.  Lily met that specification with this book.  She found a good median that includes graphic darkness and determined love.  No part of the book could be labeled soft, but most MC stories are pretty gritty.  This book has that grit with a depraved boost.  

I felt sorrow for Holly quite frequently, but I also felt inspiration.  She endures a lot, yet, she's such a fighter.  I like her strength, perseverance and ability to love.  All she wants is to be out of the life in which she's grown up and hates but for which she's repeatedly extracted payment.

J.D. is the main male lead.  I can't label him as an actual good guy.  He's hard, yet repentant.  He isn't past gone in brutality like so many of the men around him, but he isn't an innocent either.  He also just wants out.  In order to accomplish this, he must finish one last job—Holly.

There are several side characters than range the whole spectrum between good and evil.  I love Henry.  He's my favorite character.  Holland seems like a great guy also.  The really bad guys totally creeped me out especially Diablo (shivers).  

*Contains drugs, bondage, rape, torture, mutilation, murder (in detail not as a side thought)—Warning for those that can't handle truly dark reads.

*Also contains consensual sex, passion and sacrifice.—Warning for those that can't handle any sweetness.

***Copy given in exchange for an honest review***


toni

FangirlMoments and My Two Cents

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Complementary Colors by Adrienne Wilder Review

Complementary Colors 

by 

Adrienne Wilder

My sister Julia manipulated my life into a prison to keep me silent about our dirty family secret. Her greed made me a slave and circumstance left me with no way to escape.

Trapped, the only way I could silence the nightmares driving me to insanity was to wrap them in color, hold them with shadow, and stitch them to negative space with line.

But no matter how bright the pigments, no one could see my confession.

Except for Roy Callahan.

I thought he was just another nameless one-night stand in a long line of many. 
But I was wrong. Roy could see past the façade of my life and through the veil color over the canvas. He could see what the world couldn’t.

And with him I’d find the courage to tell the truth about the boy.

The boy who kissed me.
The boy who loved me.
The boy whose name I couldn’t remember.

Georgia born and bred, I am an artist, a writer, and a general pain in the ass. 

I spend most of my days working on my next book or designing cover art for other writers. For stress relief I do olympic lifting and occasionally run (but hate it). I have been in love with writing since I was very young but it wasn't until recently that I decided to pursue it as a profession. 

I have experimented in several genres and found that since I identify as male, male romance has been the most comfortable for me to write. I don't discriminate in my books. All characters are fair game. I do however, prefer a happy ending at some level. 

I don't write the standard romance book. Some might even argue that what I write isn't romance at all. Personally I think of them as love stories, where even in a fantastical world, there are realistic outcomes to the obstacles the characters face. 

Many of my books have dark turns and twists where the characters fight for the light at the end of the tunnel. I write action, fist fights, gun fights, down right dirty evil people who have to be stopped, things catch fire, blow up, and fall in. My characters come in a unique range. They are not all good guys, but the majority of them have very good hearts. Many of them have been through hell in their lives, and many of them have a laundry list of faults. But hopefully they manage to surprise you with their tenacity and loyalty. 

If all goes well, there will be a myriad of different kinds of books available this year. If I am really lucky, you will enjoy them.

Complementary Colors by Adrienne Wilder

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Amazing!

I love this book. It contains two elements of great interest to me: psychology and m/m relationship. I feel that both parts were so well developed that either could have carried the book by itself.

Mental health is one of my biggest fascinations. I am not a psychologist, but I have taken loads of classes on the subject. I believe the author is very accurate in her depiction of how a mind is broken and the after effects. All of the build-up, background and steps to overcome were completely gripping. I was full of emotions through it all. I just have to throw in that Julia is my most hated character of all time.

The connection between Roy and Paris is beautiful. The author does such a wonderful job of making them real. I love reading M/M, but often it just feels like it's written just for the sexy (much the same with a lot of M/F written these days). I actually felt the bond between them and loved the sex scenes because I sensed they were truthful. The lengths they were willing to go to protect or save the other made my heart swell. These guys are definitely one of my favorite couples. So much about Paris broke my heart. And Roy is so sweet. Where do I find my Roy?

I can't gush enough about how much I am enthralled by this story. This book is one of my top reads ever.

toni

FangirlMoments and My Two Cents

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