Naomi's Reading Palace

Waiting On Wednesday # 102 – The Jewel & Screwdrivered

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine where I have the chance to spotlight an upcoming release that I’m eagerly anticipating.

The Jewel

Author: Amy Ewing

Series: The Lone City #1

Genre: YA Fantasy

Expected Publication: September 2nd 2014

The Jewel means wealth. The Jewel means beauty. The Jewel means royalty. But for girls like Violet, the Jewel means servitude. Not just any kind of servitude. Violet, born and raised in the Marsh, has been trained as a surrogate for the royalty—because in the Jewel the only thing more important than opulence is offspring.

Purchased at the surrogacy auction by the Duchess of the Lake and greeted with a slap to the face, Violet (now known only as #197) quickly learns of the brutal truths that lie beneath the Jewel’s glittering facade: the cruelty, backstabbing, and hidden violence that have become the royal way of life.

Violet must accept the ugly realities of her existence... and try to stay alive. But then a forbidden romance erupts between Violet and a handsome gentleman hired as a companion to the Duchess’s petulant niece. Though his presence makes life in the Jewel a bit brighter, the consequences of their illicit relationship will cost them both more than they bargained for.

Very Wicked Things (Briarcrest Academy, #2)

Title: Very Wicked Things
Author: Ilsa Madden-Mills
Series: Briarcrest Academy #2

Genre: NA Contemporary

Published: May 13th 2014

Born on the poor side of town...

Ballerina Dovey Beckham is a scholarship student at Briarcrest Academy, determined to prove she’s more than just a girl with the wrong pedigree. She does whatever it takes to succeed in her endgame, even if it means surrendering her body…but never her heart.

Until the day she meets him, and he rips apart all her well-laid plans. Suddenly, the girl everyone thought unbreakable might just shatter.

Born into wealth and privilege...

Cuba “Hollywood” Hudson is rich, spoiled, and a star football player. With his fast cars and superficial girlfriends, he lives the high-life, hiding his secrets from the world.

Until the day he meets her, and she offers him something he’s never tasted... love.

But once in a lifetime kind of love doesn’t come easy. When trust crumbles and doubts creep in, both will have to decide to either love or let go... forever.

Welcome to Briarcrest Academy, where sometimes, only the wicked survive.

Buy Now - Amazon

I loved Cuba when I met him in the first book so I was excited to see that he had his own stories. I read the Novella, Very Wicked Beginnings and I knew I wanted more, so I dove straight into this one. I wasn't disappointed at all! Cuba really is a sweetie, but hides it behind his strong personality and swims in guilt. Learning his secrets really is heartbreaking and makes you love him more.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

Very Wicked Things

Ilsa Madden-Mills

Briarcrest Academy #2

Genre: NA Contemporary

Published: May 13th 2014

I really am enjoying this series. Cuba and Dovey were sweet to read about!

“Seriously. Cut the smooth talk and listen to yourself. You and I are over. You screwed that up, not me, so don’t give me any of your bullshit lines about being your inspiration. And I’m getting whiplash from all your mood swings, so pick one and stick with it.”

~ Kindle Arc Loc 1086

The Beginning -- A Duet: Ryder & Two Worlds Colliding (Scorpio Stinger MC, #0.5-1)

Title: The Beginning -- A Duet: Ryder & Two Worlds Colliding
Author: Jani Kay
Series: Scorpio Stinger MC #0.5-1

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Published: June 15th 2014

THE BEGINNING - A Duet: Ryder & Two Worlds Colliding is a compilation of TWO books that starts off the Scorpio Stinger Series.
It contains:
Ryder (Prequel) Book 0.5
Two Worlds Colliding Book 1
Bonus Chapters 1 - 5 of Razor & Lexi's story (NEW material never seen before)

The Princess & The Biker
A modern day Romeo & Juliet story.

Ryder Knox wants freedom from the hatred churning in his gut. Saved by the Scorpio Stingers MC boys, he owes his life and allegiance to them—they are his family.
He doesn’t need a smart mouthed woman who pushes every one of his buttons. But he can’t get Jade out of his head.

Jade Summers is a good girl. She wants a man just like her lawyer daddy.
Not the alpha male, cocky biker who storms into her life, who looks like a sex god with tattoos and piercings. He’s demanding, controlling and won’t take no for an answer.
Their chemistry is off the charts and they are drawn to one another like magnets. Neither can resist the other.

Two worlds collide. Their families are determined to tear them apart.
With everything stacked against them, is what they have strong enough to overcome the odds?
They must choose: family or one another.
The ultimate price may be too high.
Will their polar opposite worlds destroy and rip them apart forever?

WARNING!!!
Extreme language and sexual situations. Recommended 18+
This book is intended for mature audiences (18+) who are not offended or squeamish about extreme language or graphic sexual situations (including rape scenes).

Buy Now - Amazon

My friend Itara @ My Midnight Fantasies told me I just had to read this series and because I have been meaning to dive into the world of bikers, when I saw this pop up for 99c, I just had to grab it. I am so glad that I did because I really enjoyed it. It was intense, hot and steamy.

Today I will split my reviews for both the novella and the full length book.

Nomi’s Weekly Wrap Up is a combined meme with the Sunday Post hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, Bought, Borrowed and Bagged hosted by Braine @ Talk Supe and Stacking The Shelves hosted by Tynga’s Reviews. I’ll share news, post a recap of the past week and tell you what will be happening on my blog in the week ahead. I will also tell you about the books and goodies that I have managed to pick up.

Another quiet week at the palace. The kids have been busy at school and I have been doing the usual, reading and blogging. I spent a day Beta reading, which is always fun since I have been doing my course.

All 3 of my blogoversary giveaways are still running! You have one more week to enter… So what are you waiting for?

1 ~ Australian Giveaway (AUS ONLY)

2 ~ Paranormal Giveaway (INT)

3 ~ Contemporary Ronamce Giveaway (INT)

read more "Nomi’s Weekly Wrap Up #101"

Very Wicked Beginnings (Briarcrest Academy, #1.5)

Title: Very Wicked Beginnings
Author: Ilsa Madden-Mills
Series: Briarcrest Academy #1.5

Genre: NA Contemporary

Published: May 10th 2014

A Prequel Novella

Girls say I’m a walking, talking sex god. Guys call me Hollywood because my life is golden.

It’s not.

But, ESPN did rank me as a four-star recruit, calling me one of the best defensive players since Briarcrest Academy opened its esteemed doors. So yeah, with football and a stellar GPA, my future seemed good.

Then Dovey Beckham shows up in her short skirts and ballet shoes. Driving me insane. Making me want to beg for her attention.

But that wouldn’t happen, because Cuba Hudson didn’t beg for
anything.

She walked around BA like she owned the place, and most days she looked right through me…the one girl I couldn’t have.
So, of course, I made it my mission to claim her, to put her notch on my bedpost.

Because no girl can resist the Heartbreaker of BA.

Welcome to Briarcrest Academy, where wicked love begins…and ends.

WARNING: This dark and twisty new adult romance contains sexual situations and graphic language.

Buy Now - Amazon

I read and reviewed Very Bad Things last month and enjoyed it so much I had to continue on in the series. Very Wicked Beginnings was a fun prequel novella that follows on with two other characters: Dovey and Cuba. I really liked Cuba, the player, in the first book so I just had to see who would capture his heart.

Title: Easy
Author: Tammara Webber
Series: Contours of the Heart #1

Genre: NA Contemporary Romance

Published: November 6th 2012

Rescued by a stranger.
Haunted by a secret
Sometimes, love isn't easy...

He watched her, but never knew her. Until thanks to a chance encounter, he became her savior...

The attraction between them was undeniable. Yet the past he'd worked so hard to overcome, and the future she'd put so much faith in, threatened to tear them apart.

Only together could they fight the pain and guilt, face the truth - and find the unexpected power of love.

A groundbreaking novel in the New Adult genre, Easy faces one girl's struggle to regain the trust she's lost, find the inner strength to fight back against an attacker, and accept the peace she finds in the arms of a secretive boy.

Buy Now - Amazon

I have been meaning to read this book for sometime due to all the positive reviews from my blogger friends and I must admit how much I enjoyed it! There was so much growth in the characters from beginning to end and even though there are a lot of sweet moments, there are some dark aspects, which help make relationships stronger. Overall it is a book anyone should enjoy, because there is a big message in it that you will take away from it when you are done.

Swoon Thursday is a super HOT meme created by the fabulous girls over at YA Bound.

Very Wicked Beginnings

Author: Ilsa Madden-Mills

Series: Briarcrest Academy #1.5

Genre: NA Contemporary

Published: May 10th 2014

Today I am sharing some sweet moments from a novella in a series that I am loving!!

My world … my fucking life … altered when her eyes connected with mine for what seemed like a long time, but it only had to be a few seconds. They were blue. A peacock blue with hints of green.

~ Kindle Loc 403

“Guys like you aren’t part of my plan,” she said.
“If that’s a challenge, then I accept.”

~ Kindle Loc 532

Title: The Lover's Secret
Author: J.C. Reed
Series: No Exceptions #1

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Published: August 5th 2014

When a sexy encounter comes like a dream and leaves like a nightmare…

Brooke Stewart thinks she’s finally safe. After witnessing the crime of a killer, she can move on from her past. But after one night at the Trio Hotel and meeting the sexy stranger with the green eyes that can steal one’s soul, her life is changed forever. Passions run deep. The game is supposed to be for one night with no strings attached.

What she doesn’t know is that the sexy stranger has an agenda of his own. Brooke Stewart has something he desperately wants, something he can't admit to the woman he tries to get to surrender. A secret so deep it would upend her life if she found out too soon. He’s almost reached his goal, and then she gets a letter she was not meant to read. Suddenly, secrets get a completely new meaning.

Is the past really ever the past?

Buy Now - Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iTunes

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine where I have the chance to spotlight an upcoming release that I’m eagerly anticipating.

The Beautiful Ashes

Author: Jeaniene Frost

Series: Broken Destiny #1

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Expected Publication: August 26th 2014

In a world of shadows, anything is possible. Except escaping your fate.

Ever since she was a child, Ivy has been gripped by visions of strange realms just beyond her own. But when her sister goes missing, Ivy discovers the truth is far worse—her hallucinations are real, and her sister is trapped in a parallel realm. And the one person who believes her is the dangerously attractive guy who's bound by an ancient legacy to betray her.

Adrian might have turned his back on those who raised him, but that doesn't mean he can change his fate…no matter how strong a pull he feels toward Ivy. Together they search for the powerful relic that can save her sister, but Adrian knows what Ivy doesn't: that every step brings Ivy closer to the truth about her own destiny, and a war that could doom the world. Sooner or later, it will be Ivy on one side and Adrian on the other. And nothing but ashes in between…

photo 4001200ebook_COMEBACK_zpsca4b7a7c.jpg

Title: Come Back
Author: J.A. Huss
Series: Dirty, Dark, and Deadly #2

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Published: July 21st 2014

“Secrets keep the darkness alive,” Harper tells me. But that’s not how I see it at all. Secrets keep me alive. The truth is overrated. Honesty is never the best policy. And everything you know absolutely can hurt you.

The contracts I fulfill are just agreements. Death is a business deal. Secrets are currency in my world. I pay my debts with them. I feed on them. They ground me in the present and they promise me a future. I’ve lived a life filled with secrets for so long—I forgot what it’s like to… feel.

Until I saw Harper. Until I saw how beautiful she’s become. How perfect, and pure, and innocent of all the ugly that goes on around her. And that dirty promise I refused the night her father turned me into a killer twelve years ago is suddenly on the table again.

Harper can be mine. No—Harper will be mine. All I have to do is complete the mission.

Death is a business deal.

And I just shook his hand.

Buy Now - Amazon

I have been keen to get my hands on Come Back since finishing Come last month, and I can tell you I wasn’t disappointed! It was action packed from beginning to end and I was still left wanting more!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

Come Back

J.A. Huss

Dirty, Dark, and Deadly #2

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Published: July 21st 2014

I loved this book... and now I am on edge waiting for more!

“You take away the dark emptiness, Harper. You take away all the years of indifference and dissociation and right now”—I cup her face again—“right now, this is more real than anything I’ve felt in years. Maybe ever. This feels like something new. Something apart from what I was and a way forward into what I can be. This feels like hope, baby.”

~ Kindle Loc 1726

Title: Stan
Author: C.J. Duggan
Series: Summer #1.5

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Expected Publication: 26 December 2014

I had plans, big plans, but all that changed the night Bel Evans darkened my doorstep.

Stan Remington is the go-to man; what he doesn’t know about Onslow means one of two things: it doesn’t exist or it hasn’t happened yet.

And when it comes to Onslow, for Stan, being an only child has meant a guilt-riddled sense of duty to help out at his parents’ caravan park every summer. Same old town. Same old story.

Until Belinda Evans.

The wild and annoying doctor’s daughter spends her summer family holidays at Remington’s Caravan Park, and normally she’s not Stan’s problem. But then she sabotages his planned weekend escape. Now Stan finds himself not only caretaking the caravan park on his own, but also responsible for Bel.

Just the two of them.
Under the one roof.
For one long, long weekend.

In a world where mundane routine and small-town boredom is his norm, one weekend changes every element of his world to anything but boring.

Pre-order Now - iTunes

Title: All for This
Author: Lexi Ryan
Series: Here and Now #3

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Expected Publication: August 4th 2014

What if you would never remember the day you made the most important decision of your life?

That’s what they’re telling me about the day of my accident—the day I put on Max’s ring and chose him over Nate. I’m counting on the wisdom behind a decision I don’t remember making.

Max is amazing—sexy, sweet, and kind. I was starting to believe happily-ever-after might be in my future after all. Then the unthinkable happened and my world imploded. If I’m going to make this work with Max, I need my missing memories, or at least answers from about those five days before my accident.

But what does my future hold if those answers aren’t anything like I imagined?

Buy Now - Amazon

I have been hanging for this book since the little revelation in the end of Fall to You. I wanted answers to everything; what happened for Hanna to fall, what was going to happen in her love life and what her future was going to be like. I knew that there would be some big decisions to be made, but had no idea how it would all happen.

This week begins the 3rd and final giveaway in my 2 Year Blogoversary celebrations! Week 3 is my International Contemporary Romance giveaway!! These are more books that I have read and loved, and I hope the lucky winner loves them too!

All three giveaways are running right now, so please check out the others while you are here.
(links at bottom of the post)

One winner has the chance to win all the ebooks and swag (if in the US) that are shown in the banner above
There are 21 eBooks from 13 Authors.

This week’s giveaway is INTERNATIONAL.

(All giveaway details are listed below the widget.)

Entry -Form

Giveaway 3 is a Contemporary Romance giveaway (Starts 10^th August). There are 21 eBooks from 13 Authors.

(The giveaway is international.)

Giveaway Includes:

Title	Author
Trisha Wolfe	The Darkest Part (Living Heartwood, #1)
Eden Summers	Blind Attraction (Reckless Beat #1)
A.M. Jones	Ink Slapped
J.A. Huss	eBook of choice
C.J.Duggan	The Boys of Summer (Summer #1)
C.J.Duggan	An Endless Summer (Summer #2)
C.J.Duggan	That One Summer (Summer #3)
C.J.Duggan	Ringer (Summer #3.5)
Hanna Peach	Bound by Lies (Bound #1)
Heidi Joy Trethaway	Tattoo Thief (Tattoo Thief #1)
Heidi Joy Trethaway	Tyler & Stella (Tattoo Thief #2)
Krista & Becca Ritchie	Addicted to You (Addicted #1)
Krista & Becca Ritchie	Ricochet (Addicted #1.5)
Krista & Becca Ritchie	Addicted for Now (Addicted #2)
Lauren Blakely	The Start of Us (No Regrets #0.5)
Lauren Blakely	The Thrill of It (No Regrets #1)
Lauren Blakely	Every Second with You (No Regrets #2)
Katy Evans	Remy (Real #3)
Kylie Scott	Lick (Stage Dive #1)
Jen McLaughlin	Out of Line (Out of Line #1)
Lexi Ryan	Lost in Me