Tag: Kim Karr

Excerpt Reveal: Hot Stuff by Kim Karr

Posted September 22, 2017 by Rowena in Promotions | 0 Comments

Kim Karr‘s Hot Stuff releases this coming week and we’ve got an excerpt of the hot contemporary romance to share with you lovely readers.

Check it out!

Hot Stuff by Kim Karr
Release Date: September 27, 2017
Publisher: Self Published, Kim Karr
Genres: Contemporary Romance

Get ready to fall in love with this new standalone sports romance from New York Times bestselling author Kim Karr.

He’s the newly drafted quarterback.
Hot. Arrogant. Too sexy for words.
Ready to score.

I’m an athletic intern, and the coach’s daughter.
Driven. Determined. Prepared to conquer the world.
Completely off-limits.

The NFL is full of rules. Rules I’ve never broken. Never challenged. Never even scratched–until the day Lucas Carrington crashes into my life with his hard body and I-don’t-give-a-f*ck attitude.

After I almost injure my father’s star player, I volunteer to make sure he’s in top shape. At first, it’s hell. I don’t like his cockiness, his easy smile. Don’t like the way he oozes sex. Or how his penetrating eyes follow me everywhere.

That doesn’t stop me from wanting him. He’s meant to be a distraction–something to occupy my mind for these precious few remaining hot summer nights before I’m forced to leave football behind forever.

I know what we’re doing will lead nowhere good. I know we’re crossing the line. And I know my father will never understand.

None of that matters.

But maybe it should.

Rules aren’t meant to be broken.

Or are they?

Order the Book:

AMAZON

Excerpt

Gillian Whitney

I wasn’t in a hurry.

Yet I walked as fast as I could across the grounds.

When I found myself inside the large brick building and heading down the hall to the training room, my palms began to sweat. After I wiped them on my gym shorts, I unlocked the door and scolded myself for being nervous.

I could do this.

I could absolutely be in the same room as a hot guy with ripped abs, sinewy muscles, and broad shoulders.

I’d been around men like him my entire life.

So what made him different?

I had no idea. All I knew was my pulse raced when I thought of his strong arms. His firm pecks. His hard body. His rugged good looks.

It was dark inside the room, no one was here yet, and I took a moment to breathe deep before flicking on the lights and then emptying my bag.

This room was about half the size of the Bear’s Training Room in Chicago, but it was still state-of-the-art. Remodeled a few years ago, it had been designed with the Bears’ needs in mind.

“Hey,” a deep voice said. “I’m reporting for duty as ordered.”

I jumped, turning to see Lucas in the doorway.

His blue gaze practically drank me in and instantly I felt my nipples harden. I was wearing a tank top and feared their protrusion was more than evident. It was just so hard not to notice how gorgeous he was. Even in his grungy state, there was so much raw power emanating from him. Unshaved, and his hair a sexy mess, he wore sweatpants and a Bears T-shirt. A duffle hung from his shoulder in a lopsided way, and it was the first thing I noticed about his condition.

Something about it wasn’t right, and I snapped right back into work mode.

“Good morning,” I said. “How do you feel today?”

He dropped his duffle to the ground. “Terrific.”

“No headaches, nausea, or dizziness?”

“Nope,” he said. “How long is this going to take?”

Grabbing a water bottle from the refrigerator and a heart rate monitor from the drawer, I slowly started toward him. “Less than thirty minutes, as long as everything checks out.”

His expression grew pensive. “Great. Then let’s get this over with so I can get back to what’s important.”

There was something in his tone that was off. Sure, he was being a smart-ass, but I was used to dealing with that from disgruntled players. It was their coping mechanism. There was something else going on. “This is important, Lucas.”

“Yeah, right, of course it is.” His voice was cool.

I strode past him and went directly across the hall to the weight room, where I flicked on the lights.

Lucas was obviously in a hurry because he was on my heels.

I tossed him the monitor and then pointed to the treadmill. “Strap that around your chest and then hop on.”

Okay, it sounded a little dirty.

At that, he shot me a glance, and I tossed one right back. But then I was momentarily stunned when he stripped his T-shirt off to affix the monitor to his chest. Lucas had the body of a god, and by the smug look he wore, he not only knew it, but he also knew I knew it.

Climbing onto the treadmill, he tossed his shirt over the rail. Then he pushed the speed button, and the machine roared to life.

I placed the water bottle in the cup holder in front of him. “Get to a pace you’re comfortable with, one you can sustain, and if you start to experience any dizziness or headaches, tell me right away and we’ll stop.”

“And if I have none?”

With the monitoring device in my hand, I watched his heart rate increase and his blood pressure remain steady. “Then we go for the full twenty minutes.”

“And then what, I get a prize?”

I ignored his comment. “No, then, although I can’t diagnosis you, I would say you are non-symptomatic.”

Giving me a nod, he drank some water from the bottle and after he’d put it back in its place, he programmed the timer. From beside him, I noticed he still appeared to have some lingering neck spasms. Not that unusual after what happened.

About ten minutes later he looked over at me. He didn’t speak around his huffing and puffing. That was fine by me because every time his abs and pecs rippled, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about how his sweat would taste if I ran my tongue along the ridge of his ribs or around the concave cup of his belly button.

It was wrong on so many levels.

By the time eighteen minutes passed, his mouth had set into a tight, hard line of determination. Sweat had also coated his entire upper body, but it was far from disgusting.

Ridiculous as it was, I couldn’t stop flicking my gaze from the monitor to his muscled thighs and occasionally to the incredibly mesmerizing set of dimples on his back.

God was he sexy.

“Everything cool?” he asked.

No, everything was not cool.

It was hot.

He was hot.

And I was in so much trouble.

Teasers

About the Author

Kim Karr

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | PINTEREST | GOODREADS

Reader * Chocolate Lover * Writer * Coffee Lover * Romantic * Beach Lover * Yoga Beginner

Kim Karr is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of eighteen novels. Best known for writing sexy contemporary love stories, she enjoys bringing flawed characters to life.

Her romances are raw, real, and explosive.
Her characters will make you laugh, make you cry, make you feel.
And her happily-ever-afters are always swoon worthy.

From the brooding rock star to the arrogant millionaire. From the witty damsel-in-distress to the sassy high-powered business woman. No two storylines are ever alike.

Get ready to fall in love.

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Guest Review: Frayed by Kim Karr

Posted November 12, 2014 by Tracy in Reviews | 2 Comments

Guest Review: Frayed by Kim KarrReviewer: Tracy
Frayed by Kim Karr
Series: Connections series #4
Also in this series: Mended
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: September 2nd 2014
Genres: New Adult
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

He didn’t think, he didn’t question—he just acted.What she wanted, she took—without regard.It was only one night, but it changed everything.

After losing his fiancée, Ben Covington is unsure he’ll ever love again. But he’s so deeply drawn to Bell Wilde that he’s thrown for a loop. Maybe it’s purely sexual chemistry that’s igniting their spark… or maybe it’s his second chance at love.

Bell Wilde has just gotten her life back on track and may not be up the challenge of Ben Covington coming back into it. However, once the spark is reignited…there’s no stopping it. But even if they both manage to pull together their frayed hearts, a secret from Bell’s past just might shatter them both.

 

Tracy’s review of Frayed (Connections #4) by Kim Karr

Six years ago Ben and S’Belle had a one night stand. Ben had a girlfriend at the time and even though S’Belle called him a couple of times he never responded to her.

Now Ben is running into S’Belle all over the place and he can’t get her out of his mind. To be truthful he hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind from the moment he met her. Now he’s ready to take things further with her but she tells him she just wants a relationship that consists of sex only. That’s fine for a time but then Ben decides that he wants more. They have their ups and downs but things seem to be going well. That is until S’Belle breaks news to him that causes him to run away. He comes back but he’s not the same man.

The story of Ben and S’Belle is really a story about two people kind of growing up together. That sounds odd I’m sure if you’ve been reading the series because really, Ben has grown tremendously in the past three years. But Ben and S’Belle have so much more growing to do as people and they find that they can do that when they’re together. They are so good together but they aren’t perfect. I think I liked that about their relationship. They certainly kept each other on their toes, that’s for sure.

I felt the story did drag in the second half of it. It seemed like all would be worked out and then the story kept going which then led to more strife. It was good but I felt it could have cut a bit of that out and still been just as good.

In the end I think it was my favorite book of the series. I didn’t like Ben at all in the first few books so the fact that his book is my favorite is kind of shocking…but there you have it. 🙂

Rating: 4 out of 5

The Series:
Book Cover Book Cover Book Cover Book Cover Book Cover Book Cover

This title is available from NAL. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

four-stars

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What I Read Last Week

Posted August 5, 2014 by Tracy in Features | 2 Comments

Ok.  I’ll be the first to admit it.  I’m a slacker. That’s the reason that this post, which is normally up on Mondays, is going up just now.  And in the middle of the afternoon, no less!  Sorry about that. I’ll try to mend my slacker ways but I fear it’s all set in stone. 🙂

So…getting the girls ready for school.  Holy shit it’s expensive.  As my oldest gets older the prices just go up and up!  Oy.  I had to register them both today and for the oldest it was $215.00 and the youngest $70.00.  That last number seemed like a dream compared to the high school charges. Geez.  Oh well, whatcha gonna do, right?  I certainly hope so.  

Giveaway: Violet…I sent an email last week but haven’t heard from you.  I just sent another so please check your spam folder to make sure it didn’t end up there. 🙂

On to what I read last week:

I started off the week with Lick by Kylie Scott.  I really liked this story of a woman who wakes up after a 21st birthday binge in Vegas and finds herself married to a rock star.  The book tells us their ups and downs and everything in between.  You can read my full review here. 4 out of 5

Next up was The Right Wrong Number by Barbara Delinsky.  This was a free story I picked up about a woman who is excited about a business deal and calls a friend to tell them about it.  She doesn’t get her friend, however, she gets a guy named Charlie.  The two actually hit it off and have a long conversation but then the woman drops her phone and the call ends.  She tries to get him back on the phone but has no idea which wrong number she dialed.  The story was cute and sweet but really short.  3 out of 5

Blurred by Kim Karr was next on the list to read.  The story, if you’ve been following this series, shows us Ben’s side of the story.  Ben was Dahlia’s boyfriend at one time.  The novella takes us through Ben’s emotional turmoil after his mother dies and him trying to get his life back together.  I think it was a good story as it takes care of all the details and back story for Ben that won’t crowd up his love story, Frayed, when it releases. You can read my full review here.  3.5 out of 5

Her Secret, His Surprise by Paula Altenburg is the story of a couple who have a one night stand.  She finds herself preggo but when she calls the bar that she met him at (he was the bartender) they say they’d never heard of him.  Two years later and the man who is the father of her child shows up to be her administrative assistant.  She’s not sure she wants someone who is a drifter, from job to job, to be in her daughter’s life.  Unfortunately for her the minute he sees his daughter he knows.  He’s not what he seems but he’s not sure he can make her believe he’s solid.  Good story – very enjoyable. 3.75 out of 5 (read for Book Binge)

For Her Spy Only by Robyn DeHart is a novella about a woman who has a one night stand with a noble who has no desire to marry and no desire to have children.  Six years later the noble is looking for a certain cartographer and he finds her instead – who is the cartographer’s widow.  This was a short but sweet story.  I liked both the characters and the story.  3.5 out of 5 (read for Book Binge)

Rock Addiction by Nalini Singh.  I know this isn’t coming out til Sept. 2nd but when I got the ARC I couldn’t stand to not read it.  Unfortunately I didn’t care for it as much as I wanted to.  Still a good story but I did have some issues with it. I’ll post my review closer to the release date. 3.5 out of 5

Wilder’s Mate by Moira Rogers is a kind of a paranormal western but set in an alternate universe.  The first book in the Bloodhound series, the story is about a woman who is searching for her mentor who was kidnapped by vampires and the man who helps her – that she happens to fall in love with.  It was an interesting story and I was intrigued.  I wish it had some more back story about the Bloodhounds, one of which our hero was.  Definitely needed more on that.  3.5 out of 5

Claimed by the Alpha by Renee George is a short story about a woman who has been fighting cancer for 4 years.  The man who loves her dearly is a wolf shifter and wants to change her but she refuses.  The story is about him taking some definite risks and trying to make her see his side of things.  It was cute but very short. 3 out of 5

 Last for the week was Fangs of Anarchy by Dakota Cassidy
– a 5 part story.  It’s really a (approx.) 200 page book that’s broken
up into 5 parts.  The story follows Claire who is a werewolf and has
just killed her alpha.  She is aided in disposing of the body by Irish
who is a vampire and president of his MC.  The men in this story might
be in MC’s but really it’s not an MC read.  It’s a love story between
Claire and Irish with a mystery that is the catalyst to throw them
together.  I liked the stories, the world building, the romance and the
humor in these.  I’ll definitely be reading more of this series in the
future.
Fangs of Anarchy – 
Killing the Alpha
(Part 1) 4 out of 5
Forbidden Alpha (Part 2) Girl Most Lycan 3.5 out of 5

Forbidden Alpha (Part 3) Were in the World is Gannon Dodd? 4 out of 5

Forbidden Alpha (Part 4) In the Zone 3.5 out of 5

Forbidden Alpha (Part 5) Revelation 4 out of 5
 
My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
Silver Wolf Clan by Tera Shanley
 
Happy Reading!

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Review: Blurred by Kim Karr

Posted July 31, 2014 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Review: Blurred by Kim KarrReviewer: Tracy
Blurred by Kim Karr
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: August 5th 2014
Genres: New Adult
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
three-stars

The story before the love story….

When he lost the only woman he’d ever loved, it seemed there was nothing left to live for.

Even as a boy, all Ben Covington ever wanted was to spend forever with Dahlia London, the beautiful girl next door...then one life-altering decision tore them apart and he was forced to leave her.

Now, despite having returned to win her back, he’s still alone. She’s with someone else—someone she’s never going to leave.

Resigned to a future without his former girlfriend, Ben numbs his broken heart in a haze of liquor and women. But then the only woman who ever even turned his head while he was with his girl reappears unexpectedly. And he’s never forgotten their one incredible night together. But will Ben’s destructive behavior destroy his future with her before it even begins?

If you’ve read the first two books in the Connections series you’re quite familiar with Ben Covington. He was Dahlia London’s first love until she met River Wilde. Ben went through a really tough time in his life while he was away from his family, (I won’t go into detail because I don’t want to give too many spoilers if you haven’t already read books 1 & 2 in the series) and returned to find his one true love in love with someone else. That really messed with his head.

This book continues months later and Ben is messed up yet again as he deals with the death of his mother. She was an anchor in his life and when she dies he just can’t handle life in general. He starts drinking heavily and screwing around with women which, of course, doesn’t help at all. He makes a decision to get out of the country and heads to Australia for a while for some much needed head-clearing.

Unfortunately all good (and life avoiding) things must come to an end and he is called home to testify in a trial. He heads back to California but is again at a loss. He has no job, no car, no place to live and not many friends. This story takes us on Ben’s journey while he reminisces about his life, his friends, the women in his life and how he’s handled all of it – the good and the bad. It also show Ben dealing with his current life and the positive and negative things that happen to him.

The story is a decent read and gave me some much needed background on Ben. I can’t say I particularly liked him all that well in the first two books and while this novella didn’t have me falling in love with him, I can say that I liked him a hell of a lot better than before. By the end of the book he seemed to have gotten his shit together and started moving into a more positive part of his life which I was quite happy about. I’m actually looking forward to reading his full novel, Frayed, to see where he heads next with Bell Wilde.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Kim Karr

three-stars

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Guest Review: Mended by Kim Karr

Posted June 19, 2014 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: Mended by Kim KarrReviewer: Tracy
Mended by Kim Karr
Series: Connections series #3
Also in this series: Frayed
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: June 3rd 2014
Genres: New Adult
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
three-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Music has the power to heal, but not all broken hearts can be mended.

Always in control, Xander Wilde considered life on the road to be a perfect fit for him. But when disaster strikes on the band’s latest tour, fate intervenes…and a newly single Ivy Taylor, the only girl he has ever loved, steps back into his life.

After moving past her painful breakup with Xander years ago, Ivy was poised to become the next big name in music…when suddenly she withdrew from the limelight—the same day she announced her engagement to her controlling agent, Damon Wolf.

Xander knows he should keep his distance. But once they’re on the road, he can’t resist pursuing her for a second chance. Yet a jealous Damon can’t let her go—and he’s keeping dangerous secrets that could destroy them all.

When the three of them come together, everything falls apart. But if Xander and Ivy can hold tight to the bond that connects them, they just might have a chance to reclaim the powerful love they thought they had lost forever....

Xander and Ivy were once in a relationship that had all the elements of a life long commitment. They were inseparable and had made plans for the future. Unfortunately, in their senior year, Xander’s father committed suicide and it changed Xander’s life. Instead of going to Chicago to go to college with Ivy he would be staying home with his family. He didn’t know how to tell Ivy but she made that easy when she made some assumptions about him, dumped him and it tore them apart.

Now it’s 12 years later and Xander is the manager of his brother’s band, The Wild Ones, who are on tour. The lead singer they got to replace Xander’s brother, River, suddenly can’t perform and the band is stuck and may have to cancel the tour. Ivy, who has become somewhat of a star, steps in when they need her the most and the tour continues.

Xander hadnt seen Ivy for 12 years and when he did he was struck by how much he still loved her. She was engaged to her agent, Damon Wolfe, however, so he knew she was off limits. When Ivy steps up to take the lead singer’s place the band is excited – so is Xander. Unfortunately, Ivy is still living under that assumption she made about Xander all those years ago and it makes things tense for everyone. Xander finally comes clean and all is well. The couple looks like they’re going to live happily ever after and glide off into the sunset…except, they don’t. When Xander heads home for a few days to be with his brother and Dahlia, things with Ivy hit the skids and neither Xander nor Ivy can figure a way out of it.

Though I wasn’t a huge fan of Xander’s during books 1 and two in the Connections series I was really interested to read his story. I always like reunited lovers stories as well so the fact that his book contained that trope made me want to read it even more.

The book starts out when Xander and Ivy are just 17 years old and getting ready to graduate. The prologue shows us how strong and wonderful the relationship between the two are and it’s incredibly sweet. They are a great couple and it makes us believe that nothing can tear them apart.

We cut to 12 years later and apparently something COULD tear them apart. They are not together nor have they been since the summer after they graduated high school. We don’t figure out the exact details of what happened between the two until later, but it obviously has something to do with the fact that Ivy believes that Xander cheated on her. Right off the bat, knowing how much Xander is so torn up about Ivy being engaged to another man, makes me think that the cheating never happened. She starts to sing and tour with the band, the couple works out their issues and all is good. Xander and Ivy are pretty great together and I loved seeing them reunite and hope for the future. That is until Xander has to leave New York due to a family emergency. When he returns things are FUBAR like he never believed they could be.

It is at this point in the story that the author started to lose me. What Ivy does because of Damon Wolfe, her ex-fiancé and agent, is so unbelievably stupid I almost put the book down permanently. Ivy was much smarter than that and I couldn’t believe that her character would fall for Damon’s lies. I was happy that Xander didn’t give up on Ivy but then again did I want him to be with a woman who could betray him like that? IDK. Supposedly it was for Xander that she did what she did but it didn’t gel with me.

As the story moved on there were several events in the book that I didn’t care for. The band, after the tour is finished, just kind of gives up on the band. They move into other jobs and there’s not really a discussion about ending the band but it happens. That was just odd. There was also a portion about Xander and his family parentage that was interesting but I couldn’t really see how it worked into the story other than to cause sensationalism. A character in the book had previously give Xander leverage against Damon but yet…there was more to the whole story of Damon and Xander and Xander’s father. Again, it was interesting but didn’t really move the story along. The last part of the book seemed like a big love fest and I found that it just filled pages and didn’t really move me one way or the other.

So…in the end I found this book to have it’s ups and downs. While I was plowing through the first part of the book and found it quite compelling the second part of it left me wanting, I’m sorry to say.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

The Series:
Book Cover Book Cover Book Cover

three-half-stars

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