Tag Archives: midseason

Distant Thunder (Rising Storm, Midseason #2), by Larissa Ione

14 Jul

29351354Format: e-ARC, 79 pages

Publisher: Evil Eye Concepts, Inc

Published: April 5, 2016

ASIN: B01C3Y7SIC

Genre: Romance

Back cover blurb: Secrets, Sex and Scandals …

Welcome to Storm, Texas, where passion runs hot, desire runs deep, and secrets have the power to destroy… Get ready. The storm is coming.

As Sebastian and Marylee plot to cover up Sebastian’s sexual escapade, Ginny and Dakota continue to reel from the fallout of Dakota’s announcement. But it is the Rush family that’s left to pick up the pieces as Payton, Brittany and Jeffry each cope with Sebastian’s betrayal in their own way…    

My review: Is it September yet? I can’t wait to see what happens once the plan Marylee has set in motion comes to pass. Although this wasn’t quite a gripping as the previous midseason episode, and wasn’t full of Ione’s usual trademark smexy times, it progressed the story quite a bit to set it up well for season two. That second storm is certainly on its way in

***Disclaimer: This e-ARC was provided to me by the publisher via InkSlinger PR in exchange for an honest review. Huge thanks to them. ***

My rating: 4/5

4cupcakes

 

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After the Storm (Rising Storm, Midseason #1), by Lexi Blake

12 May

29351355Format: e-ARC, 81 pages

Publisher: Evil Eye Concepts, Inc

Published: March 29, 2016

ASIN: B01C3VRB32

Genre: Romance

Back cover blurb: Secrets, Sex and Scandals …

Welcome to Storm, Texas, where passion runs hot, desire runs deep, and secrets have the power to destroy… Get ready. The storm is coming.

In the wake of Dakota’s revelations, the whole town is reeling. Ginny Moreno has lost everything. Logan Murphy is devastated by her lies. Brittany Rush sees her family in a horrifying new light. And nothing will ever be the same…    

My review: Ginny Moreno totally redeems herself in this first midseason episode of the serial “soap opera”. I didn’t like her much in the earlier books, but here she steps up and shows some backbone after Dakota’s revelations in front of the whole town. Of course, Dakota is still completely delusional about what she’s done, which makes for great reading. All the storylines work well together, and I even felt sorry a bit for adulterer Travis Salt. Great work from Lexi Blake, and I look forward to the next installment.  

***Disclaimer: This e-ARC was provided to me by the publisher via InkSlinger PR in exchange for an honest review. Huge thanks to them. ***

My rating: 5/5

5cupcakes

 

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Happy Release Day: Distant Thunder (Rising Storm, Midseason 2), by Larissa Ione

5 Apr

Rising Storm - Header banner

I’m very, very excited to be part of the release day today of the second of two midseason episodes in this wonderful series. Keep an eye out here on the blog in the next few days for my review, and read on for an exciting excerpt.

Welcome to Storm, Texas, where passion runs hot, desire runs deep, and secrets have the power to destroy…

Nestled among rolling hills and painted with vibrant wildflowers, the bucolic town of Storm, Texas, seems like nothing short of perfection.

But there are secrets beneath the facade. Dark secrets. Powerful secrets. The kind that can destroy lives and tear families apart. The kind that can cut through a town like a tempest, leaving jealousy and destruction in its wake, along with shattered hopes and broken dreams. All it takes is one little thing to shatter that polish.

Reading like an on-going drama in the tradition of classic day and night-time soap operas like Dallas, Dynasty, and All My Children, Rising Storm is full of scandal, deceit, romance, passion, and secrets.

With 1001 Dark Nights as the “producer,” Julie Kenner and Dee Davis use a television model with each week building on the last to create a storyline that fulfills the promise of a drama-filled soap opera. Joining Kenner and Davis in the “writer’s room” for the Midseason Episodes of this serial opera are bestselling authors Lexi Blake and Larissa Ione who have brought their vision of Storm to life.

So get ready. The storm is coming.

Rising Storm - Midseason 2 Distant Storm

Secrets, Sex and Scandals …

Welcome to Storm, Texas, where passion runs hot, desire runs deep, and secrets have the power to destroy… Get ready. The storm is coming.

As Sebastian and Marylee plot to cover up Sebastian’s sexual escapade, Ginny and Dakota continue to reel from the fallout of Dakota’s announcement. But it is the Rush family that’s left to pick up the pieces as Payton, Brittany and Jeffry each cope with Sebastian’s betrayal in their own way…

 

Distant Thunder - Teaser 1

 

Experience Rising Storm Here…

Rising Storm Midseason Episode 1 (March 29): Lexi Blake’s After the Storm
Amazon ** Kobo ** iTunes ** Barnes & Noble ** GooglePlay ** All Romance EBooks

Rising Storm Midseason Episode 2 (April 5): Larissa Ione’s Distant Thunder
Amazon ** Kobo ** iTunes ** Barnes & Noble ** GooglePlay ** All Romance EBooks

 

 

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Check out this fantastic excerpt from DISTANT THUNDER!

 

It had only been three days since the Great Founders’ Day Disaster, but it felt like a month. For the first twenty-four hours after Dakota’s revelation, the town had been mostly shell-shocked. Then the story started spreading through social media, and last night after Marcus dropped Brittany off after dinner at Murphy’s, she discovered that someone posted the Founders’ Day Disaster on YouTube. The media had descended on Storm like locusts this morning, and her father, whom she’d only seen in passing since Founders’ Day, had adopted a shelter-in-place stance.

Brittany had given him suggestions on where he could shelter in places that were much, much hotter than Texas, and then she’d run out the front door toward her car, only to be swarmed by reporters.

“Ms. Rush, is it true that your best friend is pregnant with your father’s baby?”

“Ms. Rush, how do you think this scandal will affect your father’s reelection campaign?”

“Ms. Rush, did you know about the affairs your father was having with your friends?”

Ugh. She and her mother shouldn’t have left Francine’s cabin so soon, and Jeffry certainly should have remained with one of his buddies. But when Marylee snapped her fingers and went into crisis mode, everyone came running and fell in line like good little minions.

“This blows,” Jeffry said, looking up from where he was lounging on the couch with his iPad.

“What blows?” She sank onto the love seat across from her brother. “The game you’re playing? Or the fact that we’re trapped like animals? Or maybe the fact that our father is a lying, cheating bastard who slept with our friends? Or the fact that my best friend is going to give birth to our little brother or sister?”

Yep, she might be a little bitter. And it was ex-best friend.

He tucked his feet under him on the couch and sighed. “Yeah.”

“I can’t believe Mom thinks we need to be here for him—”

She broke off as their mother, Payton, came around the corner with a tray of finger sandwiches and a pitcher of lemonade. They hadn’t spoken much about any of this, and Brittany wasn’t sure how to go about it. As far as she could tell, her mother hadn’t so much as shed a tear over the fact that her husband had knocked up a girl young enough to be his daughter and had probably slept with a dozen more.

“I brought you something to eat,” Payton said, and if she’d heard Brittany talking, she was choosing to ignore it. “Your father and grandmother are finished with their meeting with Mr. Stayton, and they’re on their way up to talk to you.”

“This should be good.” Jeffry reached for a sandwich as their mother put them on the coffee table. “I was wondering how long it would be before we got the circle-the-wagons lecture. Five bucks says he tries to convince us that everything Dakota said was a lie.”

“I know you two are angry and confused and you have a lot of questions,” Payton said as she took a seat next to Brittany, looking all prim and proper in a subdued green dress and gray scarf. “But we’ll get through this. I promise.”

 

stunning sensual young couple in love posing in summer field, happy lifestyle concept

 

 

Author pic - Larissa IoneAbout Larissa Ione:

Larissa Ione is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. An Air Force veteran, she traded in a career as a meteorologist to pursue her passion of writing. She now spends her days in pajamas with her computer, strong coffee, and supernatural worlds. She believes in celebrating everything, and would never be caught without a bottle of Champagne chilling in the fridge…just in case. She currently lives in Wisconsin with her U.S. Coast Guard husband, her teenage son, a rescue cat named Vegas, and her very own hellhound, a King Shepherd named Hexe.

 

 

 

Website | Facebook |Twitter | 1001 Dark Nights | Rising Storm on Goodreads

 

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Happy Release Day: After the Storm (Rising Storm, Midseason 1), by Lexi Blake

30 Mar

Rising Storm - Header banner

 

I love this series so much and am thrilled to be part of the release day today of the first of two midseason episodes. Keep an eye out here on the blog in the next few days for my review.

Welcome to Storm, Texas, where passion runs hot, desire runs deep, and secrets have the power to destroy…

Nestled among rolling hills and painted with vibrant wildflowers, the bucolic town of Storm, Texas, seems like nothing short of perfection.

But there are secrets beneath the facade. Dark secrets. Powerful secrets. The kind that can destroy lives and tear families apart. The kind that can cut through a town like a tempest, leaving jealousy and destruction in its wake, along with shattered hopes and broken dreams. All it takes is one little thing to shatter that polish.

Reading like an on-going drama in the tradition of classic day and night-time soap operas like Dallas, Dynasty, and All My Children, Rising Storm is full of scandal, deceit, romance, passion, and secrets.

With 1001 Dark Nights as the “producer,” Julie Kenner and Dee Davis use a television model with each week building on the last to create a storyline that fulfills the promise of a drama-filled soap opera. Joining Kenner and Davis in the “writer’s room” for the Midseason Episodes of this serial opera are bestselling authors Lexi Blake and Larissa Ione who have brought their vision of Storm to life.

So get ready. The storm is coming.

Rising Storm - Midseason 1

Secrets, Sex and Scandals …

Welcome to Storm, Texas, where passion runs hot, desire runs deep, and secrets have the power to destroy… Get ready. The storm is coming.

In the wake of Dakota’s revelations, the whole town is reeling. Ginny Moreno has lost everything. Logan Murphy is devastated by her lies. Brittany Rush sees her family in a horrifying new light. And nothing will ever be the same…

 

The pregnant girl with a hat in the field of wheat on a sunset

Experience Rising Storm Here…

Rising Storm Midseason Episode 1 (March 29): Lexi Blake’s After the Storm
Amazon ** Kobo ** iTunes ** Barnes & Noble ** GooglePlay ** All Romance EBooks

Rising Storm Midseason Episode 2 (April 5): Larissa Ione’s Distant Thunder
Amazon ** Kobo ** iTunes ** Barnes & Noble ** GooglePlay ** All Romance EBooks

 

Sign up for the newsletter so you don’t miss a thing!

 

Check out this fantastic excerpt from AFTER THE STORM!

 

“I didn’t know I was pregnant until I woke up from the accident.” Ginny’s voice was an impassioned whisper. “I found out two things that changed my life in that moment. I found out that my best friend was gone and that I was pregnant. And I prayed so hard that I hadn’t lost all of Jacob forever.”

Forever. That’s what she was looking at. She was looking at an entire lifetime of being a mother without a son. She loved her daughters dearly, but she would mourn Jacob forever. And this selfish girl was equating her pain as though they were the same. As though one night of spreading her legs gave her the right to mourn him.

“I think you woke up and realized you had two options. Take care of that baby alone or worm your way into Jacob’s family and his money.”

“I never cared about the money.”

Celeste wasn’t going to listen to that tripe. “Of course you did. Not enough to keep your legs closed. You say you loved Jacob but how long did you wait before you hopped into bed with that Murphy boy? Did you even break it off with my brother-in-law? How many men do you need on your string?”

“I’ve never slept with Logan, but I will admit that I’m in love with him. I love him in a way I never loved Jacob. Jacob was my best friend, but I know now that he wasn’t my soul mate. I pray with everything I am that this is his child, that we receive a miracle because I don’t want him to be lost forever, but I won’t hide what I feel for Logan and I won’t pretend it’s nasty. Not even to placate you, Celeste. I want to make things right between us and that means apologizing to you. Celeste, I’m so sorry I hurt you. I never meant to. I should have been braver. I should have been stronger, but I woke up and the world had crashed around me and I wanted the love you could give me. That all of you could give me. I’m sorry that it brought you so much pain.”

Something about the way she was standing there enraged Celeste. How could she stand there looking so innocent? How could she say exactly the right things to garner empathy? Celeste didn’t want to empathize. She wanted to fight and tear up things and destroy the world around her because it seemed so damn intent on destroying her. She wanted to burn it all down.

She didn’t feel her hand snap back, didn’t quite understand what she was doing. The world seemed tinged in red at the corners as though rage now filtered her vision. And it slowed everything down. In horror she realized she was going to strike Ginny Moreno. Her hand was going to bring justice her words never could.

And then it slapped against flesh. A strong hand circled her wrist and Travis stared down at her like he had no idea who she was.

 

copyright szefei

 

 

Author pic- Lexi BlakeAbout Lexi Blake:

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Lexi Blake lives in North Texas with her husband and three kids. She began writing at a young age concentrating on plays and journalism. It wasn’t until she started writing romance that she found success. Lexi believes in happy endings no matter how odd the couple, threesome or foursome may seem.

Visit Lexi Blake’s website and follow her on:

 

Rising Storm Website | Facebook | Twitter | 1001 Dark Nights | Rising Storm on Goodreads

 

 

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