Cover Reveal: Taking Chances by Ariadne Wayne

Contemporary Romance
Releasing: 3/30/2014

Lauren and Mark Burrows lost their parents in a car accident one night. Despite their father being the drunk driver, both struggle with the urge to turn to drink; Lauren most of all. When all they have is each other, Lauren feels lost when Mark falls in love with Cassie Warren and moves out.

Ethan Stone has been alone since his divorce. His ex-wife took him for everything, and he has felt empty for a long time. He's not looking for love, but Lauren brings him back to life. The question is whether she can fight her demons for the man she loves, and if Ethan can handle the wild ride that is life with Lauren.

Ethan leaned over to kiss her. “I’m looking forward to going to bed too. If I’m invited.”

She laughed, slapping his arm. “Are you kidding? After all that fuss at the door, you had better bring your A game tonight, Mister.”

“I don’t know about that, but I could do with loving you some more. We’ll have to leave pretty early. My schedule is full tomorrow.”

“You still came?”

“Lauren, I told you. You’re worth the effort. If I have to look for work down here, I will.”

“I can’t believe anyone would do that for me.”

“I love you. Even if you don’t feel the same way, I’ll be there when you need me.”

She kissed him. This man was special, and he was hers.

“I do feel the same way. My whole life, no-one ever loved me,” she said.

“I bet that’s a lie. You have such a good heart. Anyone who doesn’t love you isn’t worth knowing.”

“Can we skip dinner and get to the bed part?”

Ethan squeezed her hand. “Not after the effort I put in. Maybe afterwards.”

“Well, you can’t wash the dishes. There’s no hot water left.”

“You didn’t leave any for me?”

Lauren draped her arms over Ethan’s shoulders. “No. You should have joined me.”

“Next time, beautiful.”

She looked away, not wanting to meet his gaze. “What is it, Lauren?”

“No-one’s ever called me that before.”

    “Well, get used to it.”

Ariadne Wayne loves books and lives in Auckland, New Zealand with her husband and two children. Having always had a prolific imagination she now writes the words down instead of storing them in her head where she can't share them.

When she's not writing she works in Telecommunications, frequently banging her head on the desk with the random things that can happen to the ordinary phone line.

This Cover Reveal is brought to to you by Reading Addiction Book Tours.

January 2014 Love With Food - Review + Coupon Code

Love With Food is the easiest way to discover what's tasty, delivered to you door! For only $10/month (+ $2 shipping), members will receive a curated box of unique, hard-to-find tasty foods which varies based on seasonal themes. Say goodbye to boring grocery selections and HELLO to a monthly tasty surprise! Also, you'll be donating a meal to a hungry child in US.

The Box

Venus® Embrace Sensitive VoxBox - Review

If you aren't familiar with Influenster, it is a free-to-join community of trendsetters, social media masterminds, and educated consumers who live to give opinions of products and experiences. They invite members to sample their "VoxBox" programs, totally free of charge in exchange for sharing honest opinions in via reviews and on special media. Anyone can sign-up!

Let Love Shine by Melissa Collins - Review

What comes after “they lived happily ever after?”

Maddy and Reid have seen their fair share of trials and tribulations, of love and loss. Facing down the biggest challenges of their young lives, they managed to survive and endure. With the future stretching out before them, they must learn to navigate new and unfamiliar paths. 

Being new parents, starting new jobs, and continuing college is enough to overwhelm any couple. New challenges come up daily, as do small victories. Watch Maddy and Reid grow stronger together in this “one year later” tale of the everyday stuff that happens in real life. 

With a solid foundation of love under their inexperienced feet – and with the help of their family and friends – Maddy and Reid learn how to let love shine, lighting the way for a beautiful future to come.

Here we are a year later and we couldn’t be happier to have Braden’s first birthday party tomorrow with our friends and family. Between prepping for the party, me working overtime, and Maddy finishing her last summer course, we’ve barely been able to stay awake past eight every night.

But watching them dance and laugh in front of me makes it all worth it.

I pull them both into my arms and just hold them for a quick second before Braden starts shimmying out of Maddy’s arms. He’s caught sight of his Lightning McQueen racecar on the floor and is reaching for it. Handing him his car, Maddy puts him in his bouncy seat. The sight of my wife taking care of our son, talking baby talk and kissing him sweetly should warm my heart.  But all I can see is her ass right now. Yep, I want her.

“Get over here.” I pull her back to me once Braden is situated and brush her hair out of her eyes. “You look beautiful, you know that?” I trail sweet, soft kisses behind her ear and down her neck.

“Hmmm,” she mumbles and it makes me smile against her skin.

Moving from her neck across to her mouth, I feel her lean into my lips. This is something else of which I’ll never get tired. Her full, luscious lips pressed against mine; the taste of her sweet mouth still drives me crazy. “Well, hello there.” Pulling away from our kiss, Maddy arches her eyebrows as she presses her hips into my groin. The last motion surprises me more than a little. To say that our sex life has been different in the last year is, well, it’s an understatement to say the least.

“What? I’m not allowed to want my wife.” I grab her ass and push her into my erection a bit more. Our hands roam as the kiss rises in intensity. I fist a handful of her hair and pull her mouth even closer to mine. It’s the hottest kiss we’ve had in a while. Just as her hips start to roll into mine, we’re distracted by a sound, and smell, to which we’ve grown all too accustomed in the last year.

Before I can even move my hands from her body, Maddy’s pinching her nose closed. “Not it!” She calls out and laughs.

“Damn, you’re getting quick!” It’s kind of been our thing to decide who gets to change him. I scowl playfully at her and she just laughs at me.

“Dude, you’re killing my game.” Braden smiles as I hold him out in front of me. “Holy crap! What the hell did you feed this kid today?” Seriously, he’s lethal.

“He ate the same as usual. He’s just a stinky little monster.” She says the last sentence to Braden in that ridiculous baby talk. You can talk sweet about it all you want; it’s still poop.

Let Love Heal by Melissa Collins - Review

Perfection. We all strive for it, but what happens when the desire to be perfect consumes you? 

What happens when the need to bury your mistakes blinds you?

Melanie Crane has always been the perfect daughter, friend, student – she’s been perfect at everything, in fact. But when she lets her insecurities, the ones that she keeps hidden from 

everyone, get the best of her, she falters in her pursuit of perfection. Melanie crumples under the pressure and buries her pain. Numbed by sadness and guilt, she is determined never to let anyone find out how broken she really is.

Bryan Mahoney may appear to have everything in order. He’s charming, witty and completely swoon-worthy. In short, Bryan has life all figured out, but appearances can be deceiving. When the landscape of Bryan’s family changes in an instant, he’s left to pick up the pieces.

Not all bruises leave a mark. Now, weary and afraid, Melanie and Bryan must find a way to let love heal their broken and jaded hearts.

Let Love Stay by Melissa Collins - Review

If you’re lucky, you’ll fall in love – truly, madly and deeply in love. But what happens when that honest and pure love isn’t enough to erase your fears? What happens when your past rears its ugly head and threatens your future?

Maddy and Reid had that kind of love – the all-encompassing, Earth shattering, once in a lifetime kind of love. Then life happened. Old wounds that were thought to be long healed and scabbed over are ripped opened and they are forced to face the possibility that, maybe, they are not strong enough to fight their demons and embrace the light.

Together, they found out what love is, but now they will each need to heal on their own before they can ever be together again. They must face their fears and beat down their pasts in order to find their way through this crazy uphill battle called love.

They’ve let love in, but now, they need to find out how to Let Love Stay.

I get out of the truck and walk over towards the two of them.  Maddy’s back is to me as I approach her and her date, so she doesn’t see me right away.  But once the guy sees me, she spins around to look at what has caught his eye.

Her face is shocked and when our eyes lock, my heart skips a beat.  There’s a pull between us.  As much as I hate to admit it, she owns me.  Her eyes are magical.  They dance with light and passion and when she looks at me, they are filled with love.

The love and passion that are sparkling in her emerald green eyes evaporate when she realizes the scene that I’ve just stumbled upon.  I can only imagine what’s going through her mind, but I’m sure the images of me kicking Logan’s ass are flashing vividly through her mind.

I’m no more than a few feet from them when the guy pushes Maddy behind him to protect her from what he perceives as a threat.  He’s not very far from the truth, but she’s not the one who needs protecting.

Menacingly close now, he pipes up.  “Who the fuck are you?  What do you want?”  Okay, I’ll give the prick a little bit of credit for trying to stand up to me, but he has no clue what he’s competing against here.

The caveman in me wants to deck this guy and drag Maddy into a bed – any bed – and claim her, repeatedly, until she understands that she’s mine and no one else’s.  I’m going to do that anyway, but hopefully I can refrain from knocking this guy on his ass.  I’d like to have the use of my hands tonight.

My eyes never leave Maddy’s, but my words are directed at him.  “Me?  I’m the boyfriend, asshole.”  Maddy’s eyes widen slightly as I say “boyfriend.”  Did she really think we ever broke up?

I avert my gaze from Maddy for a minute to stare this douchebag down.  “And who the fuck do you think you are?”  He falters, not enough that most people would notice, but I’m in predator mode.  I see his throat work hard to swallow past the newly formed fear.  His pupils dilate slightly and the pulse beating in his neck picks up as adrenaline surges through him.  If he thinks he’s going to win this battle, he is wrong – so fucking wrong.

He puffs out his chest as he says, “I’m Maddy’s date for tonight.”  He snickers lightly as he says, “You know?  She never mentioned a boyfriend when I asked her out.  Must not be much of a boyfriend if she doesn’t even mention you.”  He swells with pride at his snarky little quip.  In the split second he looks away from me to gauge Maddy’s approval, I lay him flat on the ground as I drop my shoulder into his gut and take his legs out from underneath him with one of my own.  I freaking love my takedown skills.  I didn’t even have to bust up my hands.  I’m definitely going to need them in a little bit.

I straddle over him and pull him up by the collar.  “Whether she mentioned me or not, she’s mine, so lay the fuck off.  Got it?”

Maddy still hasn’t said a word and I haven’t actually spoken directly to her.  I’m pretty sure she understands my actions though.  Wordlessly, I reach my hand out to her.  This is her chance.  If she still wants me, then she’ll come with me.  This is who I am, who I’ve always been.  If she can’t understand that I love her, that I want her more than anything, then it’s not because I haven’t tried as hard as I possibly could to prove it to her.

Hand still outstretched, I look her directly in the eyes, as I try to convey everything that I’m thinking, that I’m feeling.  In what feels like an act of God, she understands me and laces her hand in mine.

Let Love In by Melissa Collins - Review

What would happen if you lost everything? If the people who were supposed to love you unconditionally were no longer there for you, how would your world change?

Madeleine Becker lost everything when her parents died when she was ten years old. Ripped from her home and everything that she has ever loved, she is forced to start all over again. The only way for her to move on is to build walls around her heart and keep everyone at a safe distance. Her logic: she can’t get hurt if she doesn’t fall in love.

That theory is blown to pieces when she meets Reid Connely during her freshman year at college. He is gorgeous and darkly mysterious. He understands Maddy’s pain all too well, but sharing his pain would mean breaking down the walls he put up around his own heart. Conflicted between loving Maddy and hiding his dark past, Reid starts to reevaluate his world. Maddy’s inner strength, snarky personality and breath taking beauty help Reid to make peace with his past.

Together they find out what happens when they let love in.

Dang Toasted Coconut Chips Review

What are Dang Coconut Chips?

  

• Vegan 

• Gluten Free

• Non-GMO

• No Cholesterol

• Good source of fiber

• High in Lauric Acid

The Fifth Paw Review

  

                                                       

The Fifth Paw® ($14.99) was conceived and developed with pet parents like you in mind. With the goal of making a more enjoyable and safer walk for you whole family, Stephen Longo designed The Fifth Paw to keep your hands clean and in control while out for a stroll. It's affordable and easy to use, it is now available for pet parents everywhere and fist most medium and large flat woven or leather leashes to facilitate a more sanitary and satisfying walk for all. Enjoy walking with your dog(s) even more!

Graze Box Review + FriendCODE

Graze is a new weekly snack box ($5) that offers weekly deliveries of delicious, healthy, natural foods like nut and seed mixes, juicy dried fruits, tasty crackers, dips and dippers, and other natural treats. Graze has a unique rating and preference system to ensure that you’re discovering new flavors and textures while still making sure you get what you want. You can pick from a "Nibblebox" (pick from 90 snack varities) or a "Lightbox" (pick from 50 low-cal nibbles) and you can customize your snacks based on your preferences.