A power exchange on the political stage

The Phoenix Candidate

by Heidi Joy Tretheway

a Contemporary Romance

 Buy Links:

Amazon | iBooks | BN | Kobo | Print

Synopsis:

Fans of Scandal, House of Cards, and The Good Wife will love Grace Colton…

Congresswoman Grace Colton is the most famous woman in politics—and the loneliest—until a drawling, sexy stranger offers her one night, no strings and no regrets.

Grace wakes to an empty hotel room and a phone call: the dark horse for the 2016 presidential election, Senator Shep Conover, is considering her as his vice presidential running mate. But first, Grace must be vetted and coached by Shep’s political consultant, Jared Rankin, who already knows too many intimate details about her. He’s Mr. One-Night Stand.

Grace is torn: Play nice with Jared to join the senator’s ticket, or play hardball and back the slick frontrunner? Grace must decide where her loyalties lie and if she can trust Jared with her future—and her heart.

 
The Phoenix Candidate is an erotic romance set in the world of presidential election politics. Recommended for mature readers due to sharp dialogue, wickedly hot sex, and a few delicious taboos. This full-length novel is first in a series and can be read as a standalone.

Review by pearls

He's a political consultant grooming her for a political campaign, but she will not be controlled.  They both crave power and freedom, so the power exchanges that happen here are significant to who they are and what they are willing to do in the name of love.  Grace is the Phoenix candidate because her story is one of pain and sorrow; however, she has risen from those ashes over and over again.  Can she continue to rise or will she reach a breaking point as the political games threaten to squash her spirit?  I found Grace to be the kind of politician I wish we had more of:  she sticks to her principles and her promises to her supporters despite the personal costs.  While she enters the game quite naïve, she learns fast. In contrast, Jared is the jaded game-player who learns to live again, rather than just going through the motions.  I especially liked the addition of the forum on women in leadership--giving the novel some meat and allowing Grace to grow beyond her grooming.

 Heidi Joy Tretheway Bio:

Heidi Joy is a sucker for campfires, craft cocktails, and steamy romance in books and real life. She sings along with musicals (badly), craves French carbs, and buys plane tickets the way some women buy shoes.
 

Her first career as a journalist took Heidi behind the scenes with politicians, rock stars, chefs, and detectives, all of whom inspire her stories. Heidi Joy is currently working on her eighth book from her home in Portland, Oregon.

She adores hearing from readers at author.heidi@gmail.com.

 Links:

Website | Facebook | Amazon Page | Goodreads |

 Twitter | BN | Newsletter signup

 

Giveaway

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

TinkNCognito goes Undercover with Inside Out review

The Inside Out Trilogy

by TinkNCognito

IF I WERE YOU

I first read If I Were You by Lisa Renee Jones several months ago, after receiving a copy to read and review.  I was interested in the description immediately.

When Sara McMillan finds a stack of journals in a storage unit, she’s shocked and enthralled by the erotic life the writer led. Unable to stop reading, she vicariously lives out dark fantasies through Rebecca, the writer—until the terrifying final entry.

Certain something sinister has happened, Sara sets out to discover the facts, immersing herself in Rebecca’s life. Soon she’s working at the art gallery Rebecca worked at and meeting Rebecca’s friends. Finding herself drawn to two dangerously sexy men, the manager of the gallery and a famed artist, Sara realizes she’s going down the same path Rebecca took. But with the promise of her dark needs being met by a man with confident good looks and a desire for control, she’s not sure anything else matters. Just the burn for more.  (from Amazon.com)

I mean, from that description, who could resist, right?  Well, I was hooked from the beginning.  We start by reading an entry from Rebecca’s journal and it was so tantalizing that I just felt compelled to keep going.  As we get deeper into the story, we grow to really like Sara.   We see her struggle to find out more about Rebecca and do the right thing but she just keeps getting sucked further and further into the dark world that Rebecca described with such sensual detail.

When Sara meets Mark and begins working at the gallery, we can’t help but wonder ‘is this the man from the journals?’  And then Chris enters the picture – brilliant artist, seemingly dark side and he too could be the man Rebecca describes.  Sara is drawn to both men, both are powerful, sexy and both seem to want her!  But can she risk getting involved?  Must she get involved to find out what happened to Rebecca?  Could she resist the sexual desires they bring out in her or is she already lost to them?

As the story evolves, Sara discovers things about herself that she never knew.  She finds that she has her own dark sexuality but how far will that lead her?  Does the man who is capturing her heart and leading her down this path know what happened to Rebecca and can Sara take the chance and give her mind and body to him?

So many questions remain at the end of the book but the whole time we are on the edge of seat to see what happens to Sara, Chris and Mark and wanting to know what happened to Rebecca.  The book is smartly written, really sexy, and one that you can’t put down until the very last page and even then, you just want to keep going.

And thank the heavens we have the lost journals to hold us over until Being Me comes out on June 11th 2013.

Rebecca’s Lost Journals

The Lost Journals are brilliant fillers to a wonderful series.  As I was reading If I Were You, I kept thinking how interesting it would be to actually read more of Rebecca’s Journals.  Little did I know at the time that we would get to do just that.

The Lost Journals are broken into several pieces:
Volume 1 – The Seduction describes just how Rebecca gets involved with her Master.  She is seduced by this man into a dark, intense relationship.  We get to see what Rebecca is thinking as she is pursued and we get into the seduction as it unfolds.  The scenes are steamy and we are left panting and wanting more.

Volume 2 – The Contract describes just what the relationship will entail.  If she signs it, Rebecca will become the submissive for this very dark, very sexy man.  She may agree to give him her body but can she do this without giving away her heart?  Is this what she wants and can she keep him by signing.  We really want to know who this man is.  The sex keeps getting hotter so much so that we really understand how Rebecca is slipping under his control.

Volume 3 – His Submissive shows Rebecca’s life after signing the contract.  She is exploring her dark sexual side, submitting to his every whim, being shared by her Master with others and doing things, behaving in ways, she never would have thought possible.  But is she happy with herself and how her life is going?  Is she falling for her Master and will he ever feel the same way for her?

Volume 4 – My Master shows Rebecca in over her head with her sexy, dark Master.  She loves him but not what he wants from her.  And she doesn’t believe he loves her, isn’t sure he is even capable of love but can she get away from him?  He has had such control of her mind and body, how does she escape to find herself again.

Each of the Volumes have clues as to the identity of the mystery man but we never find out definitively who he is.  We are each left with our own speculations.  And we are no closer to finding out what happened to Rebecca but it was sure fun to try and answer those questions while reading her Lost Journals.

Being Me!!!

I arch into him, drinking in his passion, instantly, willingly consumed by all that he is and could be to me. . . .
Sara McMillan is still searching for Rebecca, the mysterious woman whose dark, erotic journal entries both enthralled and frightened her. Tormented by a strong desire to indulge the demands of her new boss while also drawn deeper into her passionate bond with the troubled artist, Chris Merit, Sara must face a past as deeply haunting as Rebecca’s written words. In one man’s arms, Sara will find the safe haven to reveal her most intimate secrets and explore her darkest fantasies. But is safety just an illusion, when the truth about Rebecca has yet to be discovered?  (from Amazon.com)

I have been lucky enough to get an ARC (advanced reader copy) of Being Me and what a ride!   We continue to see the relationship building between Chris and Sara but Chris is still holding back.  What secrets is he keeping and why can’t he open up to Sara?

We see more and more animosity between Chris and Mark and can’t help but wonder about it?  What was the cause and how far into their past does it go?  Chris and Sara are definitely a couple but Mark still seems in pursuit of Sara as well.  Is it because Sara is with Chris or is there more going on than meets the eye?

And what has happened to Rebecca?  Is Sara living her own life or reliving Rebecca’s?

I really don’t want to give anything important away but we do get lots of answers in this book.  It is full of surprises and more intense sexual situations but when the last page is read, we are still left wanting to know more.  Will  Chris and Sara grow closer or will his dark past drive a wedge that even love can’t conquer.  For the answers, we will have to wait until the final installment of this great series – Revealing Us – which hits bookstores on September 10th, 2013.


BEING ME releases on Tuesday, June 11, 2013     AMZ.com

Comments:  

What question/plot point do you hope gets answered in Being Me?

Commentators will be added to this week's Being Me contest.  One winner will receive a copy of Being Me on it's release date.  Drawing held night before release date Must leave contact info to be notified. 

BEING ME: The Art of Writing a Review 101

by pearls

Sara and Rebecca in BEING ME have something in common:  they both know (and love) art.  However, neither believed they could actually make a living with it.   They remind me of my friends and myself.  We met 5 years ago on an online book club.  We knew what we liked, but we didn’t see ourselves as professional reviewers.  Now, all of us write our own book blogs and our reviews are tweeted and printed on dust jackets.  Which just goes to show that anyone can do it! Like Sara and Rebecca, we were able to share with others our passion, helping them to see the value in the art.  

Posting a review is a great way to show whether you support an author. (Not to mention cheaper than buying a million dollar painting.)  But many readers don’t post a review because it suddenly feels like an English class essay assignment.  

But that is NOT what you should do at all.  Think about telling your best friend about the book:  you wouldn’t discuss symbolism, irony, or stylistic devices.  You would say in a sentence or two whether you liked it or hated it.  In the same way, Sara let her passion for a piece move her buyers because the technical mumbo-jumbo would turn most away.  So just like Sara in Being Me, writing a review should be you being you. 

So whether you are posting the review on Amazon, Goodreads, Smashwords, Siren, or Ellora’s Cave, etc, here are a few tips on how EASY it is to write a review.  {And win the love of your author}

1.    Be brief and specific.  Anything beyond two paragraphs belongs in blogs and journals. 
2.   Start with a short description of the plot or main idea. One sentence will do.  
3.   State if you enjoyed it or not, perhaps mention what made you feel that way.
4.   State if you would recommend this to someone [NOTE: I do not mean if you would recommend it to everyone, but would you recommend it to someone that enjoys this genre.]
5.  Is there something about the book that you feel important to mention?
6.  IMPORTANT:  If you did not finish the book, say that.  And mention why. 

That’s it.  You are done.

 

Important side note:

Never give a bad review because you dislike the topic.  For example: If you do not like ménages, and the book has ménages, it is fair in step 5 to forewarn future readers.  But --it is not a reason to give a negative review.  Simply list it as your reason for not finishing the book.  The rating should be based upon how the author wrote the book, not on if you bought a book on a topic you hate. 

STILL not comfortable writing a review??   

Find a review that matches what you would have said  and “like” it or mark it as “helpful”.  

Class Assignment:

Write a review of BEING ME book 2 in Lisa Renee Jones’ Inside Out series, now optioned to STARZ.

In Being Me by Lisa Renee Jones, Sara continues her search for the missing Rebecca, but also tries to decide where she fits in the art world and with whom—Chris or Mark or neither.  I enjoyed every part of this rollercoaster ride, from seeing into the souls of Chris and Mark to the incredibly hot passionate scenes.  This is a must read, with mysterious turns throughout the book keeping you on the edge of your seat.  I laughed and cried, and sighed:  watching Sara transform and seeing into the real Chris and Mark, all while Rebecca’s diary trail of bread crumbs, was an exhilarating journey.--pearls

And I would definitely give Lisa Renee Jones an A+.  

BEING ME releases on June 9. 

Amazon.com           Nook 

Return back each day for a new snippet 

I do as he bids and the instant I comply, he lowers his mouth to linger above mine, his hands still holding my arms, his breath warm, teasing me with the kiss I burn for, but he withholds. I am breathless when his mouth brushes mine, and shocked when his teeth nip my bottom lip. I yelp with the sting and my fingers loosen behind me. He holds my arms in place, so I can’t reach for him, and his tongue snakes forward. He licks the wound be- fore he delves deep into my mouth, stroking me into a compliant moan.

“Pain,” he explains moments later, his arms still wrapping my shoulders,“that becomes pleasure.”His eyes burn into mine. “Lace your fingers again.”

 Giveaways and Contest!

Lisa Renee Jones has three great contests happening.  Follow these links to sign-up!  Readers         Bloggers

We also have a contest!  

To register, post a link to a review that you have written of any Lisa Renee Jones title.   Multiple links means multiple entries. (Can be same review posted on multiple sites.) 

On June 8, the day before the release of BEING Me, we will announce the winner of an ecopy of the book, chosen by Random.org.  You must leave a way for us to contact you.