Review & Giveaway: Layers (Stark #1) by Sigal Ehrlich

Layers (Stark #1) by Sigal Ehrlich
Published October 10th 2013

Purchase Link: Amazon

According to Hayley love is a subject of ridicule, a myth created by hopeless romantics.

When Hayley makes a resolution to declare her loose lifestyle era R.I.P, it’s all good in theory…

That is until she meets Daniel Stark, a well-respected, mid-thirties business man who is known for his short temper, lack of steady relationships as well as his strict preserve of his private life.

Opinionated, sharp tongued Hayley accidently steps into his office leaving Daniel resolved to put Hayley in her place and have her in his bed.

Both Hayley and Daniel can’t avoid the immediate instigation of the attraction between them.

In a unanimously agreed upon verdict by Hayley and her two best friends, Ian the gay self-absorbed, aspiring model and Natasha the witty, borderline neurotic soul mate, Daniel Stark is to be Hayley’s pure physical attraction, emotions aside era closure.

Will it indeed be a closure, or a beginning to something neither Hayley nor Daniel ever bargained for…

My Thoughts

I heart Layers… HARD!!
Well that was a lovely reading experience! I definitely enjoyed meeting the hot, sexy Mr. Daniel Stark, and I’m thinking it’s time to consider updating my laminated list of favorite fictional males because HOLY HOT MAN IN BOARD SHORTS Layers was DAMN good!!!! I want the next book now!!

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, let me tell you about this book…

In Layers, we meet Daniel Stark who is the owner and inventor of Stark Solutions. He’s been listed in Forbes for his achievements and has amassed a wealth that has rivals trying to get a piece of his fortune. He doesn’t trust easily and forming any meaningful relationships hasn’t quite worked for him in the past. So when he crashes into Haley Grace as she tours his company and sneaks into his private kitchen for a quick caffeine fix, he’s taken aback by her bold assessment of Mr. Stark realizing she doesn’t quite know he’s the target of her harsh opinion.

Haley never intended to interview for Stark Solutions. To be frank, she lost a bet and found herself interacting with this mysterious Stark employee named Daniel and telling him how pretentious she finds the owner of the company to insist on a private kitchen. The nerve!

When she’s later asked to return for a second interview with the owner himself, she’s shocked to find that the employee she talked to in the kitchen is Mr. Stark himself. What ensues is her turning down a job offer and ripping him a new one for making a joke of her and disrespecting her time. However, as Daniel slowly drops his guard and exposes his passionate yet playful side, Haley finds herself intrigued and reconsiders her opinion of him. There begins a romance that’s not without its share of obstacles.

There are so many different layers to him; he never ceases to amaze me. ~ Haley

I immediately came to enjoy Haley Grace as a character. I like her openness and confidence, but what stood out most was her honest and accurate assessment of Daniel. Her mental dialog, which at times could be a bit harsh, was never off the mark. I sort of found her mental babble about him humorous. Haley’s not shy about sharing how she feels about Daniel and admitting he can be a bit arrogant, volatile with a side of psycho. However, there’s no doubt a genuine attraction and deep seeded longing for him exists and she ultimately begins to have strong feelings for Daniel.

Have you lost your words now, do you need a moment? ~Daniel

Daniel Stark is the quintessential attractive character that’s gorgeous, refined, and confident - yet can also be domineering and impulsive. I actually liked the edgy side to his character. It made him exciting and unpredictable which is how I like the leading male to be at times. But most importantly, I liked how Haley responded to Daniel and how she handled his mood shifts with tempered patience. She was never intimidated by him but rather would confront Daniel in a way that resonated with him. Haley had an ability to step back and view him from a careful distance to try and understand his responses to people and situations. They ultimately fell into a passionate yet playful relationship which was fun to see unfold. I enjoyed their moments together and reading their playful dialog created a light feeling to balance the heated moments. Exciting!

The sea, the sunset, our closeness, him, his words. I want to stay in this moment forever.

Sigal Ehrlich as a graceful, yet vivid way of making the reader feel like they’re in the moment with her characters. She’s not overly descriptive, so I can only describe it as knowing the right words to use at the perfect time to create that feeling where the reader is right alongside the cast as they journey through their day to day. She times her back-story reveals carefully to create the proper flow and pacing, which ultimately creates a solid grounding for feeling in the moment with the story.

In addition, I truly enjoyed the secondary cast, especially Tasha with her genuine ability to be the right kind of friend when Haley needed it. I would have loved to see more of Ian, but I have a feeling I’ll get my wish in the second book, so I’m looking forward to seeing more of them.

Lastly, I knew going into it that there would be a cliffhanger. However, for some reason, the cliffhanger in Layers didn’t annoy me as most cliffies often do. I guess because Sigal Ehrlich did what authors should do in their first installment, which is to lay the foundation for the story, make you fall for the characters, don’t overwhelm the reader with excessive drama, yet whet your appetite for more because when you turn the final pages of the first book you’re not quite ready to let the story go. Well done! I can’t wait to read the continuation of Stark!

5 Suns

Book Two in the Stark Series!

Inner Core (Stark #2) by Sigal Ehrlich

Expected publication: January 31st 2014

When Hayley makes a resolution to take back the control over her life, and declare their relationship R.I.P, it’s all good in theory…

That is until Daniel decides to prove her wrong and get her back.

Together, Hayley and Daniel seem to have it all. But can love ever be enough when two strong personalities collide and while reality takes the lead?

Faced with more obstacles than she could have ever bargain for when it comes to Daniel, struggling to keep her own identity while sharing a life with her man. Buds of doubt start rooting in Hayley’s confidence, making her rethink her decision.

And just when it seems that they might make it together after all, life happens. Bringing a threat that neither Hayley nor Daniel could ever anticipate, a threat that could break them apart forever . . .

About the Author

By teen age, Sigal already lived in three different continents where she was lucky enough to experience and visit varied places, meet unique people, which only helped fuel her overly developed imagination. Currently, Sigal calls Estonia home where she lives with her husband and three kids.

Not exactly sure where they will end up next…

When she is not hiding in her office, writing, she enjoys music, reading and taking care of her little clan.

With a great believe in "don’t wait for things to happen - make them happen," she enjoys anything exciting life has to offer.

Author Links
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pintrest

The author was gracious enough to offer one lucky Waves of Fiction Blogluvin follower a SIGNED COPY of Layers (Stark #1). Simply fill out the rafflecopter and leave a thoughtful comment for Sigal Ehrlich. This giveaway is open to US Residents only. Good luck!

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Author Interview & Giveaway: CJ Roberts of Captive in the Dark Series

Event Location: Live Interview at the Summer Lovin’ Indie Author Event in Pomona, CA

Friday, July 12, 2013

CJ Roberts

On Friday, July 12, 2013, we (Rachel and Arlene) had the pleasure of attending a Summer Lovin’ Indie Author event at the Pomona Mining Company. We have a separate post that will go live on July 22^nd, so be sure to stay tuned for that because there will be some fun book updates and giveaways.

However, there was one event that happened that evening which left us absolutely star-struck, and we couldn’t wait to share with all of you!! During the party, we got the chance to mingle with the author CJ Roberts who many of you know is the creator of the highly addictive series Captive in the Dark. During the evening, we worked up the nerve to ask her if she would entertain a live interview from us, and to our absolute surprise she said YES!

Captive in the Dark, Seduced in the Dark & Epilogue by CJ Roberts

So, we spent about 20 minutes chatting with Ms. Roberts about her writing process, characters and publishing experience.  First and foremost, we want to share what an amazing person she is with her hilarious as hell conversation style and insightful moments that are all part of her twisted yet captivating personality. The time might have flown by, but I can assure you, it was one of the best author moments to this day!!

As part of this post, we’re excited to share some of our Q&A discussion with CJ Roberts as well as a SIGNED Series giveaway so stay tuned!!

Q&A Discussion with CJ Roberts

Waves of Fiction (Arlene): “First off, thank you so much for taking the time from this event to talk to us about your books and your writing process. We are both huge fans of your Captive in the Dark Series! What we’d first like to know is what kind of reaction have you gotten from your books?”

CJ Roberts: “The reaction kind of surprised me because it’s been mostly good.”

Waves of Fiction (Arlene): “What’s been the harshest reaction?”

CJ Roberts: “I get the harsh reactions too. I mind the reviews when they slam the content especially when I’ve put a warning label on it. You know what this content is, and they’ll be like ‘OMG, it has kidnapping and it has violence!’ The second one is where they attack you personally... I am not writing a book about human trafficking and how it’s awesome. I’m wrote a book about two characters who find themselves in very extraordinary circumstances.  Obviously, it’s not the experience most people have and really especially with Caleb’s character. What interested me about him was I’ve always had a thing about villains. I love Lex Luthor. I have a thing about the baddies, but the thing I wonder about the bad guys is - Why are they bad? What made them this way?”

Waves of Fiction (Arlene): “How long did it take you to write these books?” 

CJ Roberts: “I started it in 2002… I write stuff all the time just for me, instead of keeping a diary… I sent out the whole query letter, but the thing is nobody knew me and the book’s subject matter so I got rejected by everybody.   And he’s (husband) is a big techy guy so he knew about the whole self publishing thing and thought I should try it. I said okay, but I thought for sure people would be what the f*^% is this?” *laughing*

Waves of Fiction (Rachel): “Well, let me tell you... YES! That’s what you think when you read it but…” *lots of laughing*  

Waves of Fiction (Arlene & Rachel): “You can’t stop reading them!!” 

Waves of Fiction (Arlene):  “Did you do any research for the series?”

CJ Roberts: “OMG, I did tons!  I did a lot of research once I knew I was going to be putting it out there. Before I didn’t care it was choppy - paragraph here, just what I wanted for that day.  And then once I decided I wanted to publish it, I had to go back and make it something that other people could read and understand.  If you notice in my books, I don’t have a lot of descriptions. I will describe, but I mean character descriptions. Because I already know the characters, and I never felt the need to be like this is what the characters look like.”

Waves of Fiction (Arlene): “You know what, though, I felt like Caleb was very well described. I had a vivid picture of him in my head.”

CJ Roberts: “Right.”

Waves of Fiction (Rachel): “Everyone thinks he looks like Paul Walker.”

Waves of Fiction (Arlene): “I didn’t so much with Livvie, I couldn’t picture her for the longest time.”

CJ Roberts: “That’s because all authors in the very beginning write themselves, some version of themselves into the work, so I didn’t have to describe Livvie because I already knew what she looked like. I was writing in the first person.  It’s hard to write in the first person and be descriptive at the same time.  In the first version there was no third person perspectives.  It was all first person Livvie, the whole book.”

Waves of Fiction (Arlene): “So when you wrote her perspective in the first books, how hard was it switching over to Caleb’s perspective in the final book?”

CJ Roberts: “I didn’t write two books. I wrote one book, and it was awful.  But I sent it to a beta reader and she said ‘You know what, I loved it so much, I wanted it to be better.’ So I took two years and made it better, and that’s when I wrote Caleb in.  That was really cool, that was my - I’m going to write a character for someone to understand.”

Waves of Fiction (Rachel): “Where did you get the idea of the whole series?”

CJ Roberts: “It started when I was in the military. I got to Germany and when I got there I had no cell phone, no friends, knew no one in the country and staying in a hotel.  I thought I could disappear and no one would know anything for weeks because I hadn’t checked into my new squadron. They could wonder ‘Wasn’t someone supposed to show up a few weeks ago?’ My mom wouldn’t even know who to call because it’s a foreign country. It scared the shit out of me. So I just sat in my hotel and started writing, just because I was bored and that’s what I do when I’m bored.  After that I started having dreams and it just nagged me, so I’d just keep writing. Another reason I wrote the series is because I wasn’t finding something I wanted to read, so I wrote it myself.”

Waves of Fiction (Arlene): “Do they talk to you? Some authors say their characters talk to them.”

CJ Roberts: “Yes, I think my characters are real people. In my mind they’re real people.”

Waves of Fiction (Arlene): “So when you wrote that last page, how did you feel? What was it like saying goodbye to them?”

CJ Roberts: “Which last page?”

Waves of Fiction (Arlene): “Oh, good point.” (Rachel): “Epilogue, let’s go with Epilogue.”

CJ Roberts: “I never planned on writing Epilogue.  I write as I go, so when I got to the end of Seduced in the Dark I was really sad.  I had spent ten years with these people. How do you say goodbye to ten years?  I think I wrote the book but that last chapter took me six weeks by itself because I could just write forever.  So I cried at the end of that. But then I wrote Epilogue and it’s not really goodbye then because I felt like it goes on. Anytime you want to go back and visit people you get to know them like I got to know them.”

Waves of Fiction (Arlene): “Did you have the ending in mind; did you know where it was going to end?”

CJ Roberts: “No. I had no idea where it was going to go, which sucks for timing because I can’t tell people when it’s going to be done or when it’s going to be out.

Waves of Fiction (Arlene): “So you didn’t know how it was going to end?”

CJ Roberts: “No I didn’t , so for the second book I knew I could write forever so I thought maybe I’ll just write down a rough outline so I had a little plot point thing.  However, around Chapter 19, I just took a like a hard freakin’ left and my outline went to shit. So I told myself, I’m going to go over here now, I guess.  So I didn’t’ know what was going to happen until it was happening.”

Waves of Fiction (Rachel): “Where are you with Agent Reed’s story?

CJ Roberts: “I have some really good ideas. He’s become my new obsession.  I’m going to start writing in September.”

Waves of Fiction (Arlene): “Publishers, any hits?”

CJ Roberts: “Yeah, I do have some interest, but they want me to change the book and edit some of the language and do this and that and other things. I really didn’t want to do that, so, um…”

Waves of Fiction (Arlene):  “They’ve already taken a life of their own.”

Waves of Fiction (Rachel): “I think you’d have a huge outcry from your fans if you changed.”

CJ Roberts: “That was the big thing for the people who’ve been with me this whole way, they would…and that matters to me.  When people read book one, they can review it 5 stars or 1 star. Whatever people’s opinion is, that’s fine.  But when they get into the second and third book those are people who’ve been with the series and those opinions matter to me most, especially with the third book.  I don’t have many negative reviews, by far the good reviews outweigh the bad but any negative review that far into the series, I’m like oh I’m sorry, I let down a fan.  I hope I get you next time.”

Thank you so much to CJ Roberts for taking the time to sit and chat with us. It was fun talking about squeezing kittens and falling in love with baddies. We had a blast! J We can’t wait to read Agent Reed’s story. Happy writing!!

To our Waves of Fiction followers, we hoped you enjoyed the Q&A discussion we had with the author.

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CJ Roberts SIGNED Series!!

For those of you that haven’t had a chance to read CJ Roberts’s Captive in the Dark series, we are offering a SIGNED SERIES Giveaway. So be sure to read the content disclaimers and the giveaway details. If you feel it’s something you’d like to try, be sure to fill out the rafflecopter and share a thoughtful comment about the interview for a chance to win.  Good luck!

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Giveaway Policy: No purchase necessary. Must be 18 years of age and older to enter. Must reside in the United States. The retail value of the books are $35.15 USD, which were purchased through Amazon. Taxes for the books were paid at purchase. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Winners will be selected after August 17, 2013 randomly by Rafflecopter. Entries will be reviewed for accuracy. Waves of Fiction is not are not liable for lost items shipped/emailed. If the items are not claimed via email within 24 hours of receiving notification the item will be forfeited with no winner or an alternate winner may be selected at blog’s discretion with email verification by August 20, 2013. Waves of Fiction has the right to obtain and publicize the winner's name and likeness. Void where prohibited by law.