Only For You {Review & Giveaway}

Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance

Author: Genna Rulon

Published: September 24th 2013

ARC provided for honest review

Book Synopsis:

"In its purest form love is self-sacrificing, eternal, selfless, enduring, truthful, forgiving and indulgent. It also feels an awful lot like a kick to the stomach when you try to fight it!" All Everleigh Carsen wanted to do was complete her final semester at Hensley University and begin the life she planned. When a wave of violent crime seizes campus, Everleigh is persuaded by her best friend to attend a school sponsored self-defense seminar, where she meets volunteer instructor, Hunter Charles. After Everleigh's biting sarcasm induces Hunter to eject her from class, an explosive relationship is born. Everleigh is determined to forget the striking man, but fate-that fickle shrew- continuously intervenes. Unable to escape him, she casts Hunter as her prime adversary. The only complication...Hunter is resolutely pursuing his vindication...by any means necessary. Verbal warfare ensues, and despite Everleigh's ingenious efforts, in Hunter, she has finally found her equal. Only For You is a compelling tale of friendship, desire, and redemption-brimming with witty characters, intelligent dialogue, unexpected twists, profound sorrow, unfettered hope, and love's unassailable perseverance.

 This story is appropriate for readers 18+ Only For You is the first book in the For You series by Genna Rulon. Each book in the series can be read as a stand alone novel.

 Globug's Take

Two words, hilarity and intensity. This debut from author Genna Rulon is like a suspense thriller movie with a side of comic relief. I instantly fell in love with Everleigh and her best friend/roommate/honorary sister Sam. They have signed up to attend a self-defense course offered by the college due to recent attacks on the female students at Hensley. The martial arts instructor Hunter has the looks of a god but may be the devil. When he puts Everleigh in her place and humiliates her in front of the class, she's ready for war. Hunter isn't even aware of her first attack. So clever. If you haven't heard the song Sweet As Whole by Sara Bareilles you have to do that now. All girls need this song when dealing with assholes.

Everleigh can only assume Hunter is gay. There's really no logical reason he would be able to rival her snarkiness otherwise. So Everleigh decides to befriend Hunter. The banter between Everleigh, Sam, and Hunter is part of what makes this one of my favorite books this year.

The attacks on the female students continue to escalate. With no leads to a suspect, you begin to question every new character as the potential bad guy. I got so frustrated at one point when I feared I would not be able to get the happy ending I was hoping for. I was not expecting the twists in the story. It becomes truly painful when the guy behind the attacks is revealed. I won't give details around this part of the story. The suspense and then heart break are also what makes this story so well written. I laughed and cried and may have had some moisture control issues reading this story(yes I'm referring to the sexy parts.Very sexy parts.). But let me reassure you that the story does get it's happy ending. I also want to mention that at the beginning of each chapter, the author starts with a quote that sets up what the chapter will be about. I loved so many of the quotes she used. I will probably start making memes with most of them. Only for you is a Must Read. 

Favorite Quotes

--"I was a fool, alone and angry, preparing to do what every fool did at such times-- I was going to a bar to drink myself smart." 

--"Robbi and I were hot, I'll give you that, but you and Hunter set the building on fire. Anyone standing in a five foot radius had spontaneous orgasms by proxy."

--"You can't move past an incident and then bring it back up at a later date as if there had never been a resolution. He doesn't have that right, he's not a woman. We own that privilege exclusively. Possession of a penis bars him from reopening closed cases."

Author Bio and Links

 Genna Rulon is an up and coming contemporary romance author.

During her 15 years in the corporate world, Genna, inspired by her love of reading, fantasized about penning her own stories. Encouraged by her favorite authors, many of whom are indie writers and self-published, she committed to pursuing her aspirations of writing her own novels.

Genna was raised in Long Island, New York, where she still resides, surrounded by the most amazing family and friends. Married to a wonderful man, who patiently tolerates her ramblings about whichever book she is currently working on, even feigning interest relatively convincingly! Genna is blessed with two little boys who do their best to thwart mommy's writing time with their hilarious antics and charming extrapolations.

Author Website  **  Author Goodreads  **  Twitter  **  FaceBook  **  Pinterest

AMAZON  **  Barnes & Noble

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Shattered by Elizabeth Lee Review and Giveaway

Synopsis:

Alyssa Boyd had big plans. Big plans that included getting the hell out of the little town she’d grown up in with her two best friends. When she decided it was time to let one of them know her true feelings for him; a change of plans resulted in a tragic turn of events. Now, Alyssa is left alone to find her way out of the darkness that an untimely death has left in its wake.

Jesse Vaughn was never good at letting people in. He’d learned a long time ago that it’s easier that way because people leave, or, unfortunately, die. The one person he wanted to let in doesn’t want him anymore. The only problem is he can’t stop thinking about her. Jesse returns to the childhood home he left behind with one goal in mind… to convince her that they should be together. 

When Jesse finds Alyssa she’s not the same girl he left behind. She’s wild, reckless and hell-bent on not giving Jesse a second chance. Lucky for Jesse, his stubborn streak has always been a mile-wide and he’s not about to give up on her.

When your life has been shattered can you really pick up all the pieces and move on?

My Thoughts:

What do you get when you put romance and heartache into a blender and add in a guy and a girl?

A felony most likely! LOL Ba doom Ching! Anyway Shattered was a beautiful story about what happens when tragedy changes your life. It's about a guy and a girl, Jesse Vaughn and Alyssa Boyd who both lost their best friend to an accident and how they struggle to pick up the pieces afterwards. Starting with Alyssa, I really felt her pain throughout the book because I know how it feels to lose your best friend. (Granted my Best friend was a dog but still). Losing someone you love more than anything else is very hard to deal with. After the death of her best friend Garrett, she is put on pills to help her cope with her grief but it ends up turning her into a lifeless shell.

The person I was off the meds was nothing compared to the zombie-like existence I led while on them.

That quote spoke to me because like Alyssa I too was a broken empty shell caused by the pain of loss and those pills they give you don't help at all they just shut you down emotionally. Alyssa, Garrett and Jesse were like the three musketeers until the accident claimed Garrett. After that Jesse took off for Florida leaving Alyssa feeling alone and abandoned. After nine months of grieving and trying to survive Jesse comes back throwing her world into chaos as she tries to deal with him being back, why he left in the first place and her feelings for him which haven't gone away with time. I really loved Alyssa's character. I felt like I could understand what she was going through because I have been in a similar place as her. Having to take meds just to get through the pain of loss and trying to find something that will help you out of the darkness of despair. Her relationship with her mother has never been loving and comforting so she has no one but her girlfriend January and even that doesn't help because her friend is stuck up her mans ass 24/7. Alyssa acts out and starts depending on her medication to help her not feel anything as she flirts with danger in the form of the town man whore Collin Smolder. Thankfully though Jesse isn't going to let her do something she will regret.

“I’m sorry that you feel that way But, if you think for one minute I’m going to stand by and watch you act like a complete idiot, then you really have lost your goddamn mind.”

Jesse was amazing! He too has suffered after losing Garrett and on top of that his childhood wasn't pleasant with his parents never hanging around for long. He already has a complex about letting people into his life because he knows nobody stays for long. He has always silently been in love with Alyssa for years and never told her due to his fear. Him and Garrett would always look out for her and when he sees her running around with Collin he does his best to keep her from him. I fell so hard for Jesse in this book. Yes he was broken and left Alyssa when she needed him most but the boy had a fucked up set of parents that obviously left an impression on him. I wanted to snuggle him to my bosom and sing him a Lullaby lol. Wen you get to the part of why he REALLY left you get angry, or at least I did! I hated that part because he didn't want to go dammit! 

“Maybe it’d be best if you went without her. She needs time to heal and she's not going to be able to do that with you here.”

I love how the story went back and forth between both Jesse and Alyssa's perspectives. You got to see it from both of their sides and really got an understanding of how they both dealt with their emotions. Through flashback scenes you get a glimpse of how things developed between these two and fall in love with their story. The author gives you something to root for as you go, with these beautiful and sweet scenes between Alyssa and Jesse.

“I don’t care what anyone says about you, Jesse Vaughn, you are the sweetest boy I know.”

I’d bring her a milkshake every night if I got to see the smile that was on her face at that moment.

It was so amusing and frustrating to watch Jesse and Alyssa try to repair their relationship with both of them being stubborn. She is a major drama queen.

She cracked me up towards the end of the story when she got scared and started hyperventilating. Jesse had to calm her down with his tongue! HOLLA! Wish somebody would kiss me when I start bitching and freaking out! Jesse wasn't completely innocent either, this boy was hot headed and had a tendency to get pissed when provoked!

This was such a beautiful story and I found myself getting sucked into it with every chapter. It wasn't as depressing as you would think if you just based your opinion on the title and synopsis. There were beautiful moments that took my breath away and I will certainly never look at broken glass the same way again.

Yes there were sad moments but the beauty that bloomed from the pain of the main characters brought tears to my eyes and made me feel like a big mushy pile of soggy oatmeal lol! From beginning to the beautiful end I enjoyed every minute of this book and am now draggin' ass tired because I couldn't put it down long enough to sleep!! The only thing about this book that might trip you up are a few minor spelling issues, other than that though you should really add it to your must read list! 

About The Author:

Born and raised in the middle of a Midwestern cornfield (not literally, that would be weird), I’ve spent my entire life imagining stories. Stories where the right guy always gets the right girl, first kisses are as magical as they are on the big screen and anything is completely possible if you believe.

Although this journey began years ago, it recently took on a whole new life. After years of devouring hundreds of Romance, YA and New Adult novels, I had an epiphany... I should write a book. And I did it! My first YA/New Adult novel is out now!

If I’m not reading, writing, enjoying drinks with my amazing group of girlfriends or chasing around a sarcastically funny one-year old, I’m probably watching television shows that were created for teenagers, while my husband teases that I’m too old to watch them.

 Shattered is available for $2.99 on Amazon!

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Learn more about ELizabeth on her blog:http://elizabethleewrites.blogspot.com/



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