[Blog Tour] Screwball by Linda Morris

Screwball Synopsis:

Passion dominates the diamond in the second novel in this fun and flirty baseball romance series by the author of High Heat.

Paul Dudley, president of the Plainview Thrashers, is spinning out of control. Preserving his family’s baseball legacy in these tough times takes everything he’s got, and constant clashes with his father have left him struggling for authority over the team and even his own future. So when sports reporter Willow Bourne, a one-night-stand from a year ago, walks back into his life, he knows he can’t give into his feelings for her—no matter how strong they are.

Willow never expected to see Paul again, and she’s got her reasons for keeping her distance. Except the more time she spends around Paul, the harder it is to hide her secrets—or stop herself from falling head over heels.

As the sparks between them fly, Paul discovers what Willow has been concealing from him, leaving him with a difficult choice—keep the team his top priority or make his own legacy by following his heart…

Buy Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iTunes

Review
3.5 Stars out of 5 Stars

This book was not what I expected it to be. It surprised me early on with the way it started. It starts off with a little bit of background form one of the main characters, Willow. We see a little bit of her history and then Willow is at a club and she is drawn to a man. They have a one night stand and I was like ok lets see what happens. It was extremely shocking to find out that Willow becomes pregnant from that one night stand. I thought this was crazy but it made the situation and the characters more real. I liked this because in all the books we see that characters have the perfect relationship but in this one it starts off rough.

What makes it more rough is that they just have that one night stand with each other without even knowing their last names or anything about each other. I was like wow, know what is going to happen? How is she going to find a guy named Paul who could be anywhere in the states? Well, leave that to destiny. She gets a job at a sports blog and she is doing a profile on a team with no other than THE Paul, the president of the Plainview Thrashers. Both are shocked but Willow especially since she holds the truth about their son Jack. He is just a few months old so not too much time passed.

Paul has no idea about Jack but he is still attracted to Willow. This book felt so real to me because of all the problems they faced. I have never read a book with such a quick start. The problem starts right away. Paul and Willow have a lot to work through. Willow needs to tell Paul the truth. She also has tor write a piece about the Thrashers. The Thrashers have lot of issues and she must remain conscious of that. Will she risk making Paul and his father look bad?

Paul needs to makes his family legacy survive. This means that his father owns the Plainview Thrashers and he will own it one day. Paul has a lot of problems with his father. His father is hardheaded and mean. They clash a lot and that is a problem. So will Paul choose his family legacy or will he choose his family?

I liked that this wasn't really a chase. The family was already started. Now it is Paul who has to chose between two very important things. Will it work out in the end? 

Linda Morris Bio:

Linda Morris is a writer of contemporary romance, including High Heat, the first book in the Hard Hitters series; Melting the Millionaire’s Heart; The Mason Dixon Line; and Nice Work If You Can Get It. She writes stories with heart and heat, along with a joke or two thrown in. Her years of Cubs fandom prove she has a soft spot for a lost cause.

Links: Website | Facebook | Pinterest

Twitter: @LDMorrisWriter

Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Read more »

Inner Fire Book Tour (ARC Review)

Inner Fire

by R.L. Stedman

Release Date: 11/30/14

 Summary from Goodreads:

‘‘Maybe it would be better if I started at the beginning.’ Gran watched me carefully. ‘This ability we have; my mother, me. You. We draw heat along our bodies; anger makes us flame.’

When her friend is assaulted, Corrine Peterson can’t help reacting. But she didn’t think and now her hands are burnt, Gran is coming to look after her and, scariest of all, strange men are watching her house. Could they be terrorists? Secret agents? 

It seems that Gran’s idea of a solution is to introduce Corrine to Rowan. Okay, sure, maybe eighteen year old Rowan is gorgeous – but he has his own troubles. And right now, Corrine doesn’t need complications in her life.

But in a world of surveillance and secrecy, complexity is inevitable. And as the tension mounts Corrine realizes - maybe Gran can help her, after all.

Add to Goodreads

Buy Links:

Amazon

Inner Fire will be on a countdown deal the week of the book blog tour, discounted down to .99c (and gradually increasing in price over the week) 

Review:
3 out of 5 stars

So when I choose a book to participate in a blog tour I look at the synopsis. I liked the synopsis for this book and I really liked the cover. It caught my attention so I right away wanted to be a part of the tour. This book starts off with a glimpse of the main character, Corrine. It doesn't take long before her Inner Fire is shown. So fire that Corrine has is not like some kind of superpower or something that a lot of people have. This fire is a mutation that is passed on through generations but not everyone is lucky to have it. Corrine's mother didn't get the gene but Corrine, her great grandmother, and grandmother have it or had it. 

Corrine's great grandmother, or Gran as she calls her, is sent to go help Corrine because Corrine has had a little accident and let her inner fire out literally. She actually set fire to a store and quite possibly a man (for good reason) but you will find this out for yourselves. When this happens Corrine's hands get burnt so that is why Gran is called. This leads to a series of events that put Corrine in danger so her mother, father, and Gran decide it is best for Corrine to go stay with Gran in the middle of nowhere. Corrine absolutely hates the idea but she has to go.

This is where I didn't like the book so much, everything just happens so quickly. So when Corrine goes to Gran's house she meets a guy, Rowan, the grandson of Harry. Gran is kind of seeing/dating Harry so this is how Rowan and Corrine meet. Rowan invites Corrine to go out and walk and Corrine decided to go. I didn't like how this happened way to quickly, I mean they just met one day and they are already kissing. I did not like this at all because it was Corrine's first kiss and Rowan just kisses her without any warning really. This made me sad and I just couldn't believe Corrine. She did not stop it or anything. From there they just keep kissing and stuff. Their relationship just moved too quickly and Corrine grew attached to Rowan even though she didn't know him that much. It just didn't feel right to me. 

During her time with Gran another accident happens but this is because they were attacked again so it wasn't really the fault of Corrine. This mysterious people going after Corrine gave the story a little more depth but I don't think it was enough. This book had great potential but it fell a little short for me. The idea of the inner fire was really great but it lacked something. It just didn't have that little extra something to make it special. Overall it was ok but if it had a little BAM or POW (if that makes sense) it would have been better.

Excerpt

As we neared the doors everything seemed to move in slow motion and all the clatter of the railway station seemed to fall away, until there was only my heart pounding slowly, slowly, and three men, running toward us.

A hand grabbed at my arm. Dimly, I could hear Dad shouting ‘Leave her alone, you bastards!’

I twisted, pushed. My hair flew into my eyes. Dad bounded towards us, tried to grab one of the men, but they sidestepped him easily, gracefully, as if they were dancing, and knocked him to the ground.

‘Dad!’

He lay on the floor of the train station, groaning, and the crowd scattered.

‘Come on, little girl,’ said one. He had little flecks of gray in his hair.

He held my arm so tight.

Desperately, I shook my arms, my head, anything to loosen that grip.

Dad staggered to his feet but he seemed slow, so slow, and these men were strong. They half-dragged me back into the station, away from the doors. Weirdly, I felt really calm. Like I was cut off from everyone, like I was looking at people through glass. This isn’t happening; it’s not real, not real at all.

About the Author

My name is Rachel Stedman. I’m a physiotherapist (physical therapist) by background, but now I work as a freelance contractor. I live in the wild and windy place of Dunedin, New Zealand, with my husband and two kids.

I write mostly for children and young adults. In 2012 I won the Tessa Duder Award for an unpublished YA work and my first novel, A Necklace of Souls, was published by HarperCollins in 2013 (available in the United Kingdom and on Book Depository from June 2015). This year, A Necklace of Souls was awarded Best First Book at the 2014 New Zealand Post Book Awards and won a Notable Book Award from Storylines. Inner Fire is my second novel.

Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook

GIVEAWAY:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Tour Organized by:

YA Bound Book Tours

Read more »