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Maryse's Book Blog

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Katie Ashley – The Proposition Series Reading Order

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This series is quite popular, indeed! I know many of you have already read and loved it (by the recommendations I’ve received, alone ;)) but also because it’s been on the NYT Best Sellers list! Congratulations, Katie!

I had the pleasure of meeting Katie just a couple of days ago, and she is as sweet as can be!

Look at some of these recommendations I’ve received!

Annie: A manwhorish business man who got rejected by the MC in the past finds an opportunity to proposition her into having sex with him for something she desperately wants. Very sexy, sexy novel. I read it in one sitting!

Lori: Hi Maryse! I know you said you would be reading this soon but I hope you can move it up even more on your TBR list. I just finished this book last night and it is a 5 star read for sure!!! Loved it!

Donna: Btw, I also read the Proposition which was also on your list!  Awesome book….

Jillian: I absolutely LOVED, LOVED this one!!!!

About book #1:

With her thirtieth birthday looming, Emma Harrison finds her biological clock clanging and the elusive knight in shining armor yet to appear. She’s running out of options, especially after her gay best friend backs out from being her sperm donor. Of course, there’s always a sperm bank, but Emma fears a donor mix-up might impregnate her with the spawn of Satan.

Resident company womanizer, Aidan Fitzgerald, is used to always getting what he wants, especially in the bedroom. When Emma spurns his advances at the company Christmas party, he’s determined to have her no matter what it takes. After Aidan learns of Emma’s predicament, he is quick to offer a proposition that will benefit them both. He will father Emma’s child, but she must conceive it with him naturally. Not one for hook-ups or casual sex, Emma is reluctant to take him up on his offer, but his charm, coupled with her intense desire for motherhood, wins out.

Soon their baby-making sessions become more than just physical. Aidan can’t seem to walk away from her while Emma begins to wonder if Aidan could be the one. But can Aidan leave his past behind to become the man Emma needs him to be?

   

How to enter for a chance to win the signed set? Just leave a comment below (anything’ll work, but let’s talk about your 2013 favorite reads, so far!)

And by tonight (Wednesday, February 20th, 2013) by 11pm EST, I will randomly select one winner.

The winner will be contacted and will have 48hrs to respond with a mailing address, so if you are picked, do not delay or you will lose your chance. Sorry for my international readers, this is a open to U.S. residents only (but you’re welcome to comment and join in any time!!).

Latest Paranormal & Contemporary Romance Book Releases – February 19th 2013

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Well… I haven’t read these books yet, but wow… half of the covers are so gorgeous that I want to. And you’ll notice a couple down there with our one of our new favorite cover models that we still haven’t identified. 😉 Gorgeous though… that is FOR SURE!

<— Oh and look what has just been released today!! Book #3 in the popular “Kathleen Turner Series“. By the way… this author will be at Book Bash!!

PARANORMAL

 

CONTEMPORARY

           

Book Review – Time Stands Still by Lori Otto

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Time Stands Still: Book Two of the Emi Lost & Found series
Okay for all of you who haven’t read book #1… come with me. *points over there* —-> start at this review (Emi Lost and Found), and avoid comments, etc… ’cause #1 has stuff that happens in it, and so does #2. Stuff that if you know about it beforehand, will alter your reading experience. ‘Kay? So don’t scroll down. I’m gonna try to do this review spoiler-free, but just in case. Don’t. Look. Down. (but know that I loved book #2 BIG time!)

For those of you going into #2…(maybe wait a bit before reading this review, too.) You’ll know when you can come back and read it.

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Okay so… you’re here, and you want to know why I continued reading, right? And wondering if you should too. Here is an important letter from the author for YOU, and me… all of us that got to this point.

Okay – onto the review!!!

Gah!!!! OMG that was so beautifully bittersweet. I loved it!! I cried in the beginning, held back tears throughout… smiled, swooned, and stressed. There is a quiet intensity to this book.

Denisa: Just finished Finding Emi the whole series. I really didn’t think I could get on after the 1st 2 chapters of the second book, heartbreak!

Maryse’s Book Blog: I’ve started #2 and wow. Soooooo real. The author captured it perfectly.

Joanna: Such good writing…

Denisa: Couldn’t agree more about the writing fab!

Maryse’s Book Blog: I can’t wait to be done work so I can get back to it. My goodness it was pulling at my heartstrings SO MUCH!!! Since because of that spoiler, I already “knew” stuff I didn’t know if I’d be as affected, but the author wrote it so well that I was right there with her.

Detailed emotions, played out slowly, sometimes excruciatingly so, but at a pace that it never gets to be too much. And by the end, you realize you’ve been gently caught up in a whirlwind. Experienced a myriad of hurt, happiness, doubt and growth. Peace and pain and peace again. And pain again.

I stare at the bouquets of flowers. In the moonlight, they all just look grey. Grey daisies, grey roses, grey lilies… a few grey potted plants. Everything looks ugly, lifeless.

At times slow, even a bit exasperating in it’s gradual pace, but by the end, it all made sense. Complete and utter sense. While I wanted “Emi” to plod ahead, and make decisions, and jump in already, the main character, as real as she is to me, has to live it… And the reader does, too. Experience everything. Question everything. Hesitate like crazy. Heal. Not heal.

I don’t want closure. Closure means I begin to put him behind me. I can never do that.

I sometimes wanted to rush her. She, too, wanted to rush at times, but… *shakes head* sometimes realizations collide and what your subconscious throws at you at the most inopportune times can really throw a monkey wrench in where you “thought” you already were. And what you thought you were ready for.

I would walk away from it all. Run from the reality of my life.

So what’s this one about? Remember how book #1 ended? Well… this one explores the aftermath. The days, weeks, months… as Emi struggles to live again, and then eventually picks up the pieces of her life (and meets someone new). But will her love for Nate always take precedence? Is she getting close to Jack for the right reasons? Quite an emotional journey in all respects of Emi’s life and sometimes so sad, so real. And often… wonderful. Patient.

An honest story willing to play it all out and have the characters truly live out every detail. And when I finally reached the end of book #2… again. Something I didn’t see coming had me hooked. I was already into it, but by the end of #2 *sob* Oh wow… just… *my heart*

I’m dying for #3 now. I have to know!!! I’m not ready to walk away and luckily I don’t have to, as #3 is ready and waiting.

4.5 stars for that incredibly heart-wrenching beginning, the sweet tentative romance (oh how I love Jack – at one point he gave me full body shivers… goosebumps) and the heart-wrenching ending (but just… in a different way).

Here is the reading order guide: Emi Lost and Found Series

17,000 Likes!! Time for another celebratory giveaway!!

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WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT!! Congratulations to Cindy & Andrea!!

*happy dances*!!! Wooohooo! While I’ve been off finishing Time Stands Still: Book Two of the Emi Lost & Found series (review to come soon, I loved it!! Made me cry and cry!!!), guess what happened? We GREW again!

Time to celebrate the growth of our reading group!! With TWO $35 gift cards! (and I will also be making a donation this time to: https://www.unicef.org)

How to enter for a chance to win a gift card? Just leave a comment below, (and indicate whether you would prefer the Nook or Kindle gift card), and tomorrow by 11pm EST (02/19/2013), I will randomly select TWO winners (each one will win a $35 gift card). The winners will be contacted and once I receive a response back confirming the email address, the $35 gift card will be sent to the email address provided (make sure it’s valid!!).

NOTE: The winners will have 48 hours to respond to the winning email notification. If no response is received, I will randomly select another winner. Make sure to check your email, so you do not loose your chance. This is open to anyone that can receive an emailed giftcard from either of these two companies.

:arrow:  OH AND!!! —-> Many of you have been asking how to receive a notice each time my blog is updated. Just use this link right here:

“Subscribe to my blog and be updated everytime I post: https://ma.ryse.me/emailmeblogupdates“

And if you haven’t “liked” my Facebook page yet, come on over and join us! We’re a fun and extremely active group and we’ve got really REALLY good taste in books! https://www.facebook.com/MarysesBookBlog —> AND!!! We can cry together. It’s fun! ;)

Red Phoenix – Brie Series Reading Order

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Here’s another alternative lifestyle/BDSM “short installment” series (that is complete). It was brought to my attention by a fellow reader on my “What To Read After Fifty Shades” list, and it does appear to have some great reviews!

Tanna: “It was so much hotter than hot. Intensely sexy. I read the Brie short stories shortly before reading the 50 Shades series.”

Erin: “If you like 50 shades I recommend shadowlands series by Cherise Sinclair, and the Brie series by Red Phoenix.”

About book #1:

Brianna studied to be a serious filmmaker, but finds herself working retail just to make ends meet. In walks Sir, a charismatic individual who leaves her with a business card. Brie becomes curious about The Submissive Training Center, but fights the urge to join. Irresistibly drawn to the mysterious world, she enrolls in the six-week course. One thing is certain, Brie is about to learn more about herself in one day than her previous twenty-two years.

About the series (as per the author):

“I started with a simple concept: Geisha training for submissives. It was only meant to be a single novelette, Brie’s First Day of Submissive Training – but people kept begging for more. I wrote about her second day, Brie Learns to Obey, and it still wasn’t enough. 🙂 By Brie’s third day, I realized I had a series on my hands.”

And here are the TWO sets of “serial installments” (“Training” and “After Graduation”) compiled into full length books:

            

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