Teaser Tuesday #5 - Unforeseen Heartbeat

Short and sweet teaser this week :)

"You're a fighter, baby…but I'm glad you never fought loving me."

- Hunter Bryant

4,000 Likes Giveaway!

You guys have been so amazing and supportive since I began my journey into the writing world, and I can't thank you enough. In the same week, I reached 4,000 likes on Facebook and 1,500 followers on Twitter. I am truly amazed and it warms my heart to see so many people enjoyed Relinquishing Liberty, and I hope you love Unforeseen Heartbeat just as much! 

Don't forget, the cover reveal for Unforeseen Heartbeat is January 3rd! It's sooo pretty, and I can't wait to share it with all of you!

As a thank you for helping me reach 4,000 likes on Facebook, here is a chance to win a signed copy of Relinquishing Liberty and a few other goodies!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Teaser Tuesday #4 - Unforeseen Heartbeat

Merry Christmas Eve! Here's a teaser to keep you guys warm on a cold winter's night…enjoy! ;)

*~Unedited and subject to change~*

“Is it bad that I’m getting extremely turned on watching you fondle my car?” Hunter's hand lowered to adjust the front of his pants and I giggled.

I carefully slid up on the hood of the car and propped myself up on my elbow, placing my other hand on my hip while I attempted to pose like a pin-up girl. “How about now?”

He groaned, and I smiled appreciatively. “Woman, you are seriously testing my self control because right about now I want to spread your legs, slide in between them and take you on the hood of my car.” 

Ohmigod I think I just came. If Hunter wanted to take this relationship slow, that was not the way to go about doing so, but I was ready and willing to have him fuck my brains out right here, right now!

He stalked towards me and my heart began pitter-patter. My eyes fluttered closed as his hands came down to rest on my knees, and I tried to spread them for him, but he kept them locked together with a vice grip. Slipping his hands behind my knees, he tugged my body down the length of the car until my feet hit the ground. I slowly peeled my eyes back open, and he was right in my face with his delicious breath cascading over my lips. “Not right now, baby,” he whispered, brushing his lips along my jaw and down my neck. “But one day I will have you just like this. With your gorgeous body spread across my car, in nothing but those sexy as fuck stiletto heels you were wearing the night we met, while I worship every inch of you.”

Fuck. Me. I think I just came again.

Teaser Tuesday #3 - Unforeseen Heartbeat

Things are getting a little bit steamy between Hunter and Maddie… ;)

*~Unedited and subject to change~*

I was about to climb off of his lap, but he buried his hands in my hair and pulled my face closer until I could feel his fiery breath rush over my lips.

“I can’t wait to kiss those beautiful lips.”

“Well why don’t you kiss me now?”

His mouth descended on me like a starved man begging for his last meal. He pulled back, brushing his thumb over my bottom lip and he looked up at me with a wry smile. “Not those lips, babe.”

Review of Windows by Emily Minton

Book Info-

Title- Windows

Series- Coming Home # 1

By- Emily Minton

Genre- Contemporary Romance

Publication Date- September 25th, 2013

Blurb-

Lucas Beck crawled through Melinda James’ window every night. Each time, gaining a piece of her heart and leaving a bit of his behind.

Lucas was in love with the girl next door, but he ruined any chance he had of making her his. So, he moved on without her.

Lindy gave her heart to the boy next door, but he left her humiliated and heartbroken. So, she started a new life without him.

They both head off to college, leaving the other behind. Lucas finds success then misery on the Football field. Lindy finds new love, but it never feels quite right.

Years later, Lucas and Lindy find themselves back in their hometown. Will Lindy open her window again and give Lucas another chance?

Exerpt

Lindy POV

"What’re you doing?"

"I was going to turn the TV to something you like."

"No need."

I give him a smile. "I know you don’t like my vampire shows. We can watch something else."

He places a soft kiss on my lips. "Do you like this shit?"

I nod my head yes.

"Then I’ll watch it with you. Who knows, it may not suck. If it does, I will still earn a blowjob for watching it."

I can feel my eyes get big. "You think you earn a blow job for watching my TV shows?"

He nods. "Hell, yeah! We’ve got a give and take kind of thing going on. I give by watching your show. Then later you take my dick in your mouth."

"What about when I watch NASCAR with you? Will you, you know?" I say with a giggle.

"Baby, you ain’t got to do shit for me to eat that pussy. Anytime you want my mouth between your legs, all you gotta do is spread ’em," he says with a panty-dropping lascivious smirk.

About the Author-

I am the proud mother of two lovable but irritating teenagers. I have been married for over twenty years, but I would gladly trade my husband for Tatum Jackson any day!

If you are wondering who that is, you need to read Sweet Dreams by KA now. Kristen Ashley is my queen!

I love to read. I am a complete mommy porn junkie! I have more books on my kindle than most people could read in a lifetime, but I will get to them all eventually!

I am also an avid blogger. I love to share my favorite books and pimp my favorite authors.

I have just finished writing my first book with the amazing Dawn Martens. I hope you all enjoy Whiskey Lullaby! I also just finished my first solo book, Windows.

Social Media Links-

Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/AuthorEmilyMinton

Goodreads- http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7171978.Emily_Minton

Twitter- https://twitter.com/AuthorEmilyMint

Facebook Event- https://www.facebook.com/events/166602743550107/

Purchase Link-

Amazon

My Review

✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭

I couldn't have been happier when Emily asked me to beta read Windows because this was such a wonderful book!

From the very beginning, I wasn't sure whether or not I was going to love or hate Lucas. He and Lindy appeared to be such good friends behind closed doors, but when Lindy found herself getting picked on in high school because of her weight, Lucas did nothing to stand by and add fuel to the fire. One night changed everything when Lucas hurt Lindy in the worst way possible, pushing away the girl he has secretly loved for years.

After being gone for 4 years, Lindy returns home glasses free and 60 pounds lighter! A rush of feelings flood back to both Lucas and Lindy when they see each other again, but there are still some unresolved issues between them. To make matters worse, someone from Lindy's past is continuing to torment her and put her life, as well as others, in danger.

Will Lucas and Lindy be able to learn to trust one another again, or will ghosts from their past continue to keep them apart?

I loved this book from beginning to end, and thought the epilogue was absolutely perfect! I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading Tara and Daniels story!

Review for Save Me From Me by Erika Ashby

Blurb:

Dani refuses to lose another parent due to her absence from their life. After pulling herself back together following the death of her father, she moves back to her childhood town to live with her mom. She’s slowly pulled back into the lifestyle she worked so hard to get away from ten years ago. She accepts that this is the life she has always been destined to live. Getting a job at the store down the road and hooking back up with her first love Gage, seems to be the logical way to go…that is until she meets Holden Reynolds.

Now that Holden is finally back home from the Navy he plans on following in his father’s footsteps. Still trying to move on from the one woman who had his heart, he busies himself in work and returning to the country boy lifestyle he’s always loved. The best way to get over someone is to get under someone, right? That’s his mindset as he travels town to town with his job perfectly content with being a rambling man…that is until he meets Danielle Brooks.

When Dani isn't leaving and Holden isn't staying will they be able to keep themselves from getting too attached? Or will they be just what each other needs to cut all the strings that have them bound? 

“You can’t save me from me, Holden.” -Dani

Author Info:

Being born an "Army Brat", Erika Ashby has been residing in Oklahoma the last 10 years finally putting an end to the nomad tendencies she had grown accustomed to. She's a happily married woman who has 5 kids between her and her husband. She has an insane passion for music and embraces her Inner Groupie any chance she has. It wasn't until the age of 29 that she realized she also had a hidden passion for reading; before then she claimed to have hated it. Six months after unlocking that deep desire she never knew she held, she turned the key to another chapter of her life which has become the desire to write. And the rest is still history in the making.

Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorEAshby

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ErikaAshby

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6625020.Erika_Ashby

Purchase Links:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

My Review:

✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭

Loved it! By far Erika's best book yet!

This was a beautifully written story of two people running from their pasts and brought together when they were least expecting to find love. But no love story is without obstacles, and while they're living their lives trying to please everyone else, they overlook that maybe they are the ones needing to be saved themselves. The love Dani and Holden share is undeniable, but is that enough to keep them together or will they continue to let others dictate the paths their lives will take?

Definitely a must read! You won't be disappointed!

Teaser Tuesday #2 - Unforeseen Heartbeat

Here's a little bit of a shorter teaser for you guys this week....enjoy! :)

*~Unedited and subject to change~*

Hunter positioned himself so that he could wrap his arms around me, holding the gun up with his hands encompassing mine. The warmth of Hunter’s hands was a sharp contrast to the cold steel between my fingers. I took a short step back until I was pressed flush into his firm, toned chest, and gave a subtle shake of my hips, grinding my ass against the front of his jeans.

He leaned in to whisper, and his lips brushed against my ear. “I know what you’re doing, and it’s not going to work.” I looked back at him incredulously. “Keep your eyes on the target.”

Teaser Tuesday #1 - Unforeseen Heartbeat

*~Unedited and subject to change~*

I knew I was awake, but my eyelids felt heavy, and I could barely open them. I kept hearing people shout in the background and what sounded like hard blows of flesh hitting flesh, but I couldn’t make anything out; the words were all swirling together. It took me a moment to register a familiar smell encompassing me, and I leaned in closer, soaking it in. It was a sharp, sweet woodsy scent much like that of cedar. My mother had a hope chest made a cedar that had once belonged to my grandmother. I used to love going through the contents with her while breathing in the soothing aroma.

“Are you okay? Can you tell me if it hurts anywhere?”

His voice sounded like heaven, but my body still refused to cooperate and answer him. Why was he asking if I was hurt? I felt fine, other than the fact that I seemed to have lost motor function and the ability to speak.

I started to get some feeling back in my arms and legs, and I felt my body cradled against another that was almost twice my size.

“Did he...did he touch you anywhere?”

Touch me? Who… Oh he must have meant Tucker. What ever happened to Tucker? He was carrying me up the stairs, but I can’t remember much after that. Asshole must have left me up here alone.

“Please, Maddie, I need you to focus if you can. This is important. I need you to tell me if he touched you anywhere…inappropriately.” I could hear the concern in his voice and to be honest it was starting to scare me.

As the numbness subsided and I regained more feeling throughout my body, I could feel pain shooting up my wrists as though they had been sprained. Jesus, what the hell happened to me?

My heart was beating rapidly and I could feel myself beginning to hyperventilate, but then I felt lips, his lips, pressed against my throat, just over my racing pulse. His warm breath cascaded over my throat, causing my heart to race faster, but soon my breathing matched his and I was able to calm down.

“Better?” He asked softly.

“Yeah.” I finally peeled my eyes open to find a symbol I had only ever seen in doctors’ offices tattooed on his forearm. It looked like a staff with wings, entwined by two snakes. Such an odd looking thing, and yet I felt better knowing that the one whose arms I was currently wrapped up in bore that symbol…like he was my protector.

“Do you think you’re okay to stand?”

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to ignore the pain in my wrists and nodded my head. He gently tucked his arm beneath mine and wrapped it across my back, allowing me to place all of my weight on him. My body still swayed unsteadily, and seeing this stranger towering above me brought back the image of Tucker’s body hovering over me and painfully pressing my wrists into the mattress. Oh God, what did he do to me?

My heart rate picked up again, and he cupped my face, focusing my attention on his stormy gray eyes and forcing away the fuzzy images that had yet to make any sense.

“Shhh, you’re okay. He can’t hurt you. You’re safe now.”

You’re safe now. Safe. Those words were repeated over and over in my mind, and when they finally sunk in, I opened my eyes one last time to look at him smiling down at me.  His lips looked so soft, and I reached up to trace my finger along his bottom lip, but my hand never made it there before I slipped back into the darkness.

*~*Help Relinquishing Liberty Reach 100 Reviews on Amazon!*~*

Your reviews mean so much to me, and I would love to give back to all of those who have shown their support! So as soon as Relinquishing Liberty reaches 100 reviews on Amazon I will have a Fan Appreciation Giveaway! 

Prizes will include: 

A signed copy of Relinquishing Liberty

$10 Amazon gift card

$10 Barnes and Noble gift card

2 eBooks of choice up to $2.99

Please help spread the word! <3

Amazon Purchase Link

Christmas Giveaway Hosted By Dawn Martens!

Author Dawn Martens is hosting an awesome Christmas Giveaway with tons of prizes: a Kindle Fire, signed paperbacks, Scentsy gifts, jewelry, makeup, movies, gift cards and more! If you've been hoping to win a signed paperback of Relinquishing Liberty, now is your chance! Giveaway is open internationally!

Christmas Giveaway!

Synopsis for Unforeseen Heartbeat (Second Chances #2)!

Well, I finally forced myself to write the synopsis for Unforeseen Heartbeat. Yay! I'm not sure if you guys are aware, but this is one of the most difficult things to write for a book (that and the acknowledgements…don't want to leave anyone out!), so I spent almost an entire day working on it, tossing ideas back and forth with some of my author and blogger friends.

I can't wait to finish this book and get it into your hands!

Be sure to add this to your TBR list on Goodreads and let your friends know as well! :)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18273986-unforeseen-heartbeat

Current Giveaways!

Looking for a chance to win some Relinquishing Liberty swag and ebooks? Well here are a few giveaways that I'm currently participating in!

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Megan's 30th Birthday Giveaway!

Holiday Giveaway Extravaganza

Swag Bash Party Giveaway

Review of Entangled by S.E. Hall

Synopsis:

Things heat up, and not just the Georgia summertime, when Dane and Laney go head to head over plans for her new duplex. But Laney's got his number, and knows just how to coerce her bossy, domineering man. Spend the summer with the gang and find out...just how many is a crowd?

The members of the Evolve Crew are getting older; so is the content. Mature audiences recommended.

Add to Goodreads

Buy Links:

Teaser:

“I’m kidding you, Ben. He’s cute, probably thirty, blond hair. Seemed very nice.” I shrug, heading to the kitchen in search of the wine I had planned. “Why do you care anyway? You and Tate okay?” “Of course we are—perfect. I was just curious. I’d simply rather have some eye candy in the hood than,” she contemplates, “well, than not.” “Slut,” I cough into my hand, trying not to laugh. “Only a look slut, I never touch. I love my Taterbear.” “Taterbear?” I snort, slamming the fridge door shut and bugging my eyes out at her. “I think I just threw up in my mouth a little. How am I supposed to look at him now?” “Oh, hush.” She pushes on my shoulder, her cheeks now the color of her hair. “Don’t you and Dane have bedroom names?” “Oh my God, Bennett! You call him that in the bedroom?” I’m nearly shouting now, bent over with my hands on my knees, bracing my body’s full-gut laughter. “Please stop talking, my ears are bleeding!” “You’re so mean, Laney,” she whines, “I’m never telling you anything ever again.” “Thank God!” I wheeze out, still hee-hawing at her. “Come on, bitch, grab your glass and I’ll give you the grand tour. If you can compose yourself long enough,” she says haughtily, and I think I hear a muttered “skank” as she leads us down the hall.

Author Bio:

S.E.Hall resides in Arkansas with her husband of 17 years and 3 beautiful daughters. When not in the stands watching her ladies play softball, she enjoys reading YA and NA romance.

Social Media Links:

Goodreads / Facebook /  Twitter

Buy Links (Emerge – Evolve #1):

Amazon / Barnes & Noble

Buy Links (Embrace – Evolve #2):

Amazon / Barnes & Noble

Buy Links (Entangled - Evolve #2.5):

Amazon

Hosted By:

My Review:

✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭

I was thrilled that I was given the chance to read an ARC of Entangled, and S.E. Hall has once again blown me away with her writing!

Let me just start out by saying, I have been Team Evan since the beginning, but this novella is seriously making me reconsider switching teams. Dane is the perfect combination of sexy and sweet, and boy does he like to have control both in and out of the bedroom! He and Laney have both grown and matured throughout the series, and the chemistry between them is stronger than ever. However, Dane still seems to be holding back. He knows he loves Laney and wants to spend the rest of his life with her. Hell, he'd marry her in a heartbeat! But he doesn't seem to think that she is ready to take that leap just yet, and rushing her into something too hastily is the last thing he wants to do.

I loved when everyone came together for Parker and Hayden's wedding, but my heart broke for Sawyer. He has been MIA and no one seems to know what's been up with him lately. When he finally makes an appearance, it's clear to everyone that he's not his usual, comical self. I hope that Sawyer is able to find the happiness he deserves in the next full length novel, Entice.

This novella was a great follow up to Emerge and Embrace and I look forward to what's in store for the rest of the crew as the rest of the series unfolds!

Exclusive First Teaser - Unforeseen Heartbeat (Second Chances #2)

I know I've been holding out on you guys for a while, but now that I'm about 1/4 of the way finished with Unforeseen Heartbeat, the second installment of the Second Chances series, I think it's time to share a teaser!

Tabby's Tantalizing Reviews was kind enough to feature me in an Author Spotlight today, and they were lucky enough to receive the very first teaser from Unforeseen Heartbeat. Enjoy!

Author Spotlight and Exclusive First Teaser!

Review for Pulling Me Under by Rebecca Berto

Title: Pulling Me Under

Author: Rebecca Berto

Series: Pulling Me Under #1

Genre: Women’s Fiction, Suspense

Age Group: Adult

Cover Designed by: Berto Designs

Paul was Katie’s rock for thirteen years, but then she watched him die.

By day, she is left with her daughter Ella’s questions about where Daddy went, and at night she's consumed with nightmares of the moment he died. It isn’t long before Katie’s mother hints that her volatile lifestyle and developing drinking habits are no way to raise a little girl.

Through it all, her and Paul’s best friend, Liam is there. Grieving the death of both husband and friend, the time they spend together seems more intimate these days, and Katie soon stumbles into taboo territory: Liam might be in love with her.

Torn between Liam’s feelings and losing Ella, one night Katie runs.

Air. Space. Thinking time. That's what she thinks she's getting when she stumbles upon that party. In the morning, in a strange bed, she can’t remember the night before.

Pulling Me Under is raw in its brutality of love and pain, with slow-building suspense to a heart-stopping conclusion.

Purchase Pulling Me Under:
Amazon US | Amazon International | Barnes & Noble 

Download the prequel novella, Precise, for FREE!

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBooks 

   Ella’s school-dress buttons and collar change color. They’re business-shirt blue and only three buttons are done up because Paul was lifeless, gone, by the time I got to him but Paul’s not really here and maybe Ella is. Maybe I’m not here, either.
   I dig my nails into the laminate until I want to scream from the pressure of my bending nails. Okay, so I’m still here.
   “What did I do?” Ella’s voice breaks, and it sounds as if she chokes on her last word.
   Ella deserves a mother who will pull her into her chest at times like this and cry about how sad they both are. I haven’t cried since before Paul’s death.
   At twenty-nine, I shouldn’t be waking up every day to this. I’d once thought widows only existed when people were old. Sure, I still have the brown hair with some type of wave to it, but I’m a shell with rotting insides.
   Paul’s bloody body, dotted with partially digested chunks of his breakfast is suddenly in front of me. Then his dead body multiplies, replicating behind me, to my left, right. He is a cage. I am the prisoner. His blood stains the floor red, causing my breath to stagger. My head spins seeing the sickening chunks and lifeless body of the man I would have given my life for.
   My daughter’s sobs fade, as if I’m being sucked away into a tunnel. The gray walls churn as if I’m in a kaleidoscope. Fire truck red and kryptonite green color blurs together to a spot in the distance. The end of the house is gone, replaced with a tunnel sucking me out of the kitchen. The choking, sobbing sound across the counter fades further.
   Suddenly, the kitchen fades to an image of my closet. Last night, I found Ella there, her fingers skimming along the circle she made of Paul’s ties. For minutes, I stood behind her in the doorway of my closet. It had been the first time in my master bedroom in months.
   Ella bopped on her knees, her feet tucked away under her bum. She’d laid out all of her favorite colors. One with Disney’s Tasmanian Devil printed on it, another in Cadbury purple. Ten or more lay around the circle. Her favorite tie had a pink and blue swirl twisting down its length, right in front of her knees.
   She stroked each tie once, her voice a steady hum. When she brushed the swirly tie, her hum reached a staccato and stopped. She picked it up in the same manner as she would her favorite doll and stroked it against her chest.
   Outside, the Melbourne rain had climaxed from gentle taps on the windows to angry thumps, making me jump.
   “Oh, Daddy,” Ella mumbled. “Can I really have it?”
   A flash of me from months ago rushed to her side, knowing to fold her legs and prop her in my lap as we sat together. That version of me plucked all her fingers, and Ella chuckled and snorted simultaneously.
   Instead? I said, “No. Ella. Out.”
   Ella spun around at the same time as a clap of lighting shook the carpet under our feet. She squealed and clamped her arms by her side, her back ramrod straight. “I want the swirly one. M—my doll needs it.”
   I held myself up on the doorjamb of the closet, my arm against the wall easily blocking out the bed and the far side of the room where no one had scrubbed out the stain. “No more. You’re not allowed in here. No one is.” My lip shook almost too much to choke out words. “How could you . . . do this? You know how naughty . . . it is to . . . to come here.”
   Even I couldn’t go in the master bedroom. Haven’t since what happened until now.
   The crumpled sheets can’t be moved. I leave the stains. Everything must remain the same. I don’t straighten my hair anymore, or sleep with a pile of pillows, or wear my comfortable jeans. No one can be in here so nothing will change.
   What if Ella found the box under the bed? If she went through it?
   Not yet. Maybe not ever. I promised myself that I wouldn’t look under the bed. There’s too much finality in looking through that box.
   Shaking my mind back to present-time I think, I know too much.
   I hate.
   I hate Paul for leaving me to fend against Mom when he knows I can’t do it by myself.
   I hate him for being selfish and thinking that I can live without him.
   Most of all, I hate me for hating him, since it’s my fault he isn’t here now.
   Ella? She wants to know. Something. Will he come back? Does he love her?
   My mom used to say things like, “It’s your fault, Katie. You hear me, Katie? You ruined my tummy, Katie.” Then she would come close enough to smell the fear coating my skin. Always, I’d gasp and try to run away. She’d grab me and yank me back by my flimsy wrist. Her voice was low and steady. Low so I wouldn’t get lost in her hysteria; steady so my mind would store this information forever.
   “You killed your brothers and sisters. They didn’t make it out of my belly because you jinxed me. You know that, right?”
   Now, in this kitchen, Ella smells a lot like that fear.

Rebecca Berto is an Amazon bestselling author. She is also a freelance editor.

She writes stories that are full of heart. She gets a thrill when her readers are emotional reading her stories, and gets even more of a kick when they tell her so. She’s strangely imaginative, spends too much time on her computer, and is certifiably crazy when she works on her fiction.

Rebecca Berto lives in Melbourne, Australia with her boyfriend and their doggy.

Author links:

Website/blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Pinterest | Newsletter mailing list 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

My Review

★★★★

What would you do if one day you came home to find your husband's lifeless body on your bedroom floor?

Four months after Paul's death, Katie finds solace in sleeping pills and Johnny Walker.  Soon she is spiraling out of control and losing her grip on reality. She often dreams of the day she found Paul surrounded by his own blood and vomit, but is unaware is she is even awake or sleeping. She even goes as far as to blame herself for killing him. That first week after his death hasn't ended for her, and she feels a constant disconnect. Katie avoids anything that triggers the painful reminder of that day. She refuses to enter the master bedroom where she found Paul, only allowing herself to sleep in the spare bedroom. She has pushed away everyone in her life: her friends, family, and even her six-year-old daughter, Ella. She knows she hasn't been the best mom, but she refuses to let her parents take Ella away from her and puts on a mask that everything is fine.

When Katie's mother, Rochelle, confronts her at a birthday party, Katie finds herself running away from her problems again and ends up at a party for her childhood friend's older brother, Brent. While there, she blacks out and wakes up the next morning in an unfamiliar bed, with her dress torn and an painful ache between her legs, but she is unable to piece together the events of what had happened the night before to lead up to this.

Liam, Brent's brother and Katie's best friend, tries to help Katie confront her issues, but pushes her away even further when he expresses his true feelings for her. Liam refuses to let Katie run off again, and when he explains to her how he has coped with the loss of Paul, she realizes she is not the only one suffering and that her and Liam are not so different after all. Sometimes it is easier to admit you have a problem and seek help when someone close to you is dealing with the same issues. 

Katie finally begins to remember bits and pieces of what happened the night of the party, but will she be able to deal with the repercussions of what had happened and seek help or will she continue to spiral further, drowning into the issues that have been plaguing her and continue to push everyone away?

I loved the synopsis for Pulling Me Under, and the storyline drew me in immediately. From the very beginning you could see that Katie has an inner battle with the way she's coping with her husband's death. Rebecca Berto did a great job of depicting how Katie's thought process jumped around and her struggle dealing with every day things in her life, including being a mom. At times I seriously just wanted to slap Katie for how she was behaving and scream at her to put her daughter first, but at the same time I felt for her and thought to myself, if I had been in the same situation I might have turned to the same outlets to deal with the pain as well.

I didn't see the end coming at all. Throughout the book I was trying to guess who was responsible for what happened to Katie at the party. Every time Katie had any recollection of that night, I immediately went with her gut instinct of who might have been, but I was so far off. I like that it kept things suspenseful, even right up to the very end.

There were a few things I didn't like about the book. There were a lot of parts that I felt were over-stretched and dragged on, and I found myself skimming over a few pages. I didn't really feel a connection between Katie and Liam, even after they grew closer. I wanted to so badly, and I knew he was the perfect one for her to lean on and help carry the burden, since they were both struggling, but for me, the feelings between them just weren't there. My biggest bugaboo was that the entire book was written in the first person from Katies's POV. . .EXCEPT part 2. Part 2 was written in the third person, and I just felt like it didn't flow with the rest of the book. I think it might have been better to to go back and forth between Katie and Brent's POV in the first person (but that's just my opinion).

Overall, I did enjoy the book. It was emotional and drew on several heart-wrenching issues that I think a lot of readers can relate to. Kudos to Ms. Berto!