Today I'm excited to be part of the Blog Tour for Leave the Lights On by Karen Stivali. This tour is hosted by The Novel Tease. Click HERE for the complete tour schedule. Thanks for allowing us to participate! Our tour stop includes my review as well as a giveaway.
Leave the Lights On by Karen Stivali
Publication Date: November 5th 2013 by Samhain Publishing
About the Book:
"When love throws you a curve, swing for the fences. "
Parker Wood's dreams of becoming a professional baseball player are shattered when he's injured in a devastating car crash. After two years in hospitals and physical rehab facilities, he's ready to move back to his childhood home and take over the family landscaping company. The house and business are his, now that his father has passed.
Sophie Vaughn has suffered through a hellishly public divorce from a husband who couldn't manage to stay faithful for two months of marriage. Determined not to let her personal drama impact her successful wedding and party planning business, she buys her parents' old house, hoping the comfort of familiar surroundings will help her heal.
When Parker and Sophie discover they're neighbors once again, it's as if time has stood still. Their friendship is quickly rekindled, along with the decade-long crush neither of them ever admitted having. Then the heat between them exposes a long-held secret that threatens to tear them apart...unless they can detach from their painful pasts and move forward-together.
Warning: Contains sultry summer nights, steamy pool-side encounters, and you'll never look at a jar of peanut butter the same way again.
My Thoughts:
Leave the Lights On
was a pure comfort read, well, that’s if you don’t count all the steamy scenes.
Those might make you a little uncomfortable, but in all the right ways!
Both Sophie and Parker have had a rough patch. Sophie was married for two months before finding
out her dirt-bag-of-a-husband was cheating on her, so she’s divorced and living
back in her family home while her parents migrated to Florida. She now
concentrates on her party/wedding planning business, but things are about to
change when her best friend/childhood crush, Parker, moves back next door.
Parker has spent the last two years recovering from an accident
that ended his dreams of a baseball career. He’s now back home after his father
passed away to take over the family business; moving back next door to Sophie,
his best friend since grade school. Little
did Sophie know Parker always had a thing for her.
A second chance romance is one of my all-time favorites,
especially when the couple knows each other so well from years of friendship. It
hurts when you’re in love with someone for so long and you think they never
felt the same way, so when things work out my heart just soars!
He no longer noticed
the rain or heard the thunder—his whole world had condensed into the kiss. The
only word his brain could form was Sophie.
I’m kissing Parker. Sophie repeated the words to herself but couldn’t
quite believe they were true.
*sigh*
Over the years both Sophie and Parker secretly pined for
each other but unfortunately neither one knew the other had feelings, so life
and other people got in the way. When
they meet each other again they are both intensely attracted, but self-doubt
from their pasts have them both worried that the feelings may not be returned.
Thankfully, that only lasts for a split second before Sophie and Parker
discover everything they’ve been missing over the years! These two have
misunderstandings and have to work through some of their insecurities, but they tackle their issues like adults.
Yes! No stupid miscommunications that
make you want to pull your hair out!
They’re romance was sweet and oh-so-sexy! Just the right amount of build-up and
anticipation created super hot and steamy scenes. Years of longing made for a fiery connection:
Touch her. She’s real and she’s right here. How many times had he
imagined this? Wished he were right where he was? Longed to run his hands across her? To feel her stroke against his skin? More than he could count or remember.
Leave the Lights On
is a win for anyone who loves the sweet satisfaction of an unrequited love
finally reciprocated! This romance that will curl your toes, make
you swoon, and leave you on a happily-ever-after high!
About the Author: Karen Stivali is a prolific writer, compulsive baker and chocoholic with a penchant for books, movies and fictional British men. When she's not writing, she can be found cooking extravagant meals and serving them to family and friends, who never seem to mind the excessive quantities she tends to prepare. She attributes her ability to multitask to the fact that she rarely sleeps, which gives her more hours every day.Karen has always been fascinated by the way people relate to one another so she favors books and movies that feature richly detailed characters and their relationships. In her own writing she likes to explore the dynamics between characters and has a tendency to craft romantic tales filled with sarcasm and sexy details. Although she writes in three genres (erotic romance, contemporary romance and women's fiction) all of her stories are love stories with happily ever after endings.
Karen has published several erotic romance novels with Ellora's Cave including two award winning stories: Always You (published September 2011, First Place Winner of the RWA Passionate Plume Award - 2012)and Marry Me (published June 2012, First Place Winner in the NEC-RWA Bean Pot Reader's Choice Award - 2013). To learn more about Karen you can visit her website where she blogs original recipes, sassy commentary on The Bachelor, and tidbits about her journey in the writing world. Karen can also be found attempting witty banter on Twitter.
Connect with Karen Stivali:
As part of this tour a generous giveaway has been provided: **Open to US ONLY**
1 WINNER will receive: (1) $20
GiftCard to either Amazon or Barnes and Nobles, (1) e-book (winner’s choice)
from Mrs. Stivali’s entire published collection.
"Leave the Lights On was a pure comfort read, well, that’s if you don’t count all the steamy scenes. Those might make you a little uncomfortable, but in all the right ways!" <---- I love it!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great review, Rachel! This sounds perfect for me.