Blog Tour and Giveaway: Every Kiss: Tasha Ivey
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After witnessing Makenna’s journey to find herself again, Callie is reminded of her own struggles with love. No, Wes wasn’t always the easy going guy that he is today. He was moody and unpredictable in the worst of ways, and she was certain to call him out on it every chance she got. Looking back, she’s amazed at how much their lives have changed since they met.
Before tragedy shook them to the very core of their lives. Before her dream career began. And before Wes wasn’t a broody jerk with a closet full of personalities.
Yes, just four years ago, everything was different…
Makenna and Shane are just a couple of lovesick college students, and Callie is doing her best to keep up with the demands of her junior year. Life is boring, and she is totally fine with that. But boring flies right out the window the day Makenna cons Callie into helping with Shane’s brother’s birthday party. She expects a gangly pimple-faced teenager, but Wes is far from it. He is temperamental and opinionated, but he is also incredibly hot and thoroughly enjoys pushing her buttons. And she pushes his right back.
Even though their undeniable attraction draws them to one another, Wes is clear with Callie about one thing. Relationships are off limits. Friendship is all he has to offer, unless of course, Callie is willing to add a few benefits to that. He works hard to keep the reasons for his aversion hidden, but secrets have a way of making themselves known sometimes, no matter how deep you bury them.
Two of those secrets hold the key to unlocking Wes’ fears of the ultimate betrayal. And the other secret has Callie falling even deeper than she ever dreamed.
But she’s unsure of one thing . . . is she enough to save him from himself?
Playlist
Teaser: The Hangover
Oh, what kind of hell is this?
The light streaming through the windows only amplifies the pounding in
my temples, and each footstep going down the stairs sounds more like a sledge
hammer connecting with the wall over my head. I want to crawl under a rock
somewhere and die. I knew it would be like this, but I continued to drink
anyway, like a great big idiot. And then, I only made things worse by drinking
whiskey with Wes.
Oh, yeah. Almost forgot about that. That’s probably why I have this
funky taste in my mouth. Deciding I’ll feel better if I clean myself up a bit,
I grab my bag and carefully head into the bathroom, lazily stripping out of my
clothes and laughing at myself when I notice I’m still wearing my bikini.
Not caring to fight for the perfect temperature, I just aim for
somewhere in the neighborhood of boiling hot and step in, squealing as it
stings my skin and then groaning because it actually feels good. I lather my
hair and body and rinse until I’m clear of not only soap, but tension, too.
Even though my head is still pounding, I feel refreshed when I step out and
pull on my clean clothes—a pair of black running shorts and my slightly
wrinkled Breaking Benjamin t-shirt.
It takes a while to get my long hair free of tangles, but in the end,
I opt to pile it all on top of my head in a messy bun. I don’t have the heart
or motivation to deal with it today. And instead of putting my contacts back
in, I slip on my glasses. The lenses are narrow rectangles, thickly framed in
glossy espresso. I rarely wear them, but I always appreciate how well they
match the low lights in the bottom layers of my blonde hair.
After brushing my teeth—twice—I begin shoving everything back into my
bag, but I freeze when I see movement at my right. I turn toward the open door,
and the realization that it’s been open the entire time I’ve been in here makes
my head pound even more. Wes is in his bed. And looking right at me.
“How long have you been awake?” I ask, praying to all that is holy
that it was after I got dressed.
“A while.” His sleepy voice is gravelly. Deep.
All I can do is stand here with my hands on my hips and gape at him.
What do I say to that?
“You know,” he begins, seemingly unfazed by my embarrassment. “You
looked nice yesterday, but I like this look better.”
“Now is not the time to joke around with me.”
He rolls his eyes. “Not joking. I’m dead serious. Your wild hair, the
glasses, the band shirt, bare feet . . . it looks good on you. I’m not the type
to say shit I don’t mean.”
If I didn’t know what to say before, I certainly don’t now. And this
is totally not like me at all. I’m never speechless. I never blush. Why in the
hell does he affect me like that?
“You’re a little testy this morning. Hangover?” He rolls onto his back
and rests his hands behind his head, leaving his chest exposed and causing a
little flutter in my stomach.
“Yes.” Finally, the real me decides to break out. “I have to know. Did
you see the whole show or did you wake up after I was dressed?”
He huffs out a little laugh and rolls back to his side, folding the
blankets back and standing. Inside my head, I’m screaming and bouncing around
like a psycho cheerleader. He’s a nude sleeper apparently. Wes stands and walks
into his closet, bare-assed and completely gorgeous, and he yanks some jersey
knit pants from the shelf and steps into them before walking into the bathroom
like it’s no big deal.
“Now we’re even, sweetheart.”
Other books in this series:
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Every Breath (Every Life #1)
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Kim's 5 star review
How does someone give their heart away when they don’t have all of the pieces?
Not that Makenna really wants a second chance at love anyway. She is stuck in her tragic past, secretly living every day for her deceased fiancé, while her new boyfriend, Drew, is gently nudging her into the present.
Desperate to appear normal again, she slaps on a happy face and goes through the motions of a normal, healthy relationship—but with the exception of even a single kiss. And she’s okay with pretending, but Drew needs more than she’s willing to give.
Surprisingly, it’s an innocent letter from a soldier halfway around the world that has her seeing life differently. Sawyer is at his breaking point, and his depression sucks him in deeper every day. Makenna becomes his only lifeline to home, and he’s hanging on by a very weak thread.
By helping him, Makenna learns to let go of grief before she’s left with only a ghost of the woman she once was, finally freeing her from guilt and showing her that it is possible to love again. But when she discovers that both of the men in her life are hiding something, she makes two shocking revelations.
One of them is insanely in love with her, and one of them destroyed her happy ever after.
Even though a fairytale ending does await her, is she willing to face her own demons to fight for it?
May contain spoilers for the first book Every Breath....
This begins where Every Breath left off, but it is in Callie's point of view. Callie is Makenna's outspoken best friend and Wes is her easy going husband. They have been supportive of Mak and all that she had been through to find her new happiness with Sawyer.But then the story reverts back to Wes and Callie's beginning four years earlier. We see how they met and all of their struggles that they went through to get where they are now. And in going back, we also see a younger Makenna and her boyfriend Shane, who we did not really get a chance to know in the first book.
Makenna, Shane, and Callie are all college students during this time while Shane's brother, Wes is five years older and already has an established successful career.
Callie and Wes initially get off to a rocky start. Wes is having some personal issues and they immediately rub each other the wrong way. They are feisty, funny, a little mean, and have undertones of flirtation. They taunt, annoy, and tease, but eventually an unlikely friendship is forged. Neither of them think they are looking for attachments. Neither of them wants to get hurt. So what is there to do? Resist, resist, resist! Both are afraid to be the one to fall, but are unable to deny their connection or chemistry.
In this book, Wes is described as tall, dark, and moody. This is not the relaxed, supportive, loving and a genuinely nice guy that we met in the first book. He is a complex man: smart, successful, protective, fun, flirty, and sexy. But also fearful, mysterious, resistant, damaged, surly, and has difficulty coping with certain aspects of his life. He tries to keep his life in order and controlled to avoid feelings and attachments. He is a big time runner and King of denial. He is emotionally scarred and has terrible trust issues. But he knows what he wants, even when he tries to lie to himself. I loved him, but seriously wanted to smack him often.
He's a control freak on the outside to cover up the screwed up mess on the inside.
Callie is sweet, sincere, strong willed, and opinionated. She is not afraid to fight back, call him out, and put him in his place. She also knows what she wants and is not afraid to push the issue. She thinks she can handle no attachments, but deep down she really does want the happiness that Mak has found...someone to love and be loved in return. She fights for those she cares about and is a force to be reckoned with.
"Most girls don't call me out on my bullshit, so you caught me a little off-guard. But surprisingly, I actually like it."
Together they are a complicated nightmare. They run hot and cold and circle around as friends, frenemies, and lovers. Their sexual tension and chemistry is there, but emotionally they are immature. They drove me crazy, but also made me love them. They both had these tough, opinionated, exteriors but were truly sweet, loving people underneath. But it was not easy breaking down all of Wes' barriers. It was hard, painful, frustrating, and maddening, but it only made it more meaningful as he started to make positive changes. Their personalities were stubborn, pushy and challenging, but they also balanced each other out in some ways.
"As far as me treating you differently, I don't know what to tell you. I know I've been hot and cold, but cold is safer for me right now. I'm trying to stay the hell away from hot as much possible with you, and it's damn hard."
The warning bells are going off big time. This man is so going to break my heart. And I'm going to let him.
I loved seeing a younger Makenna and really getting to know Shane. He was perfect for Mak. They were truly adorable together and had so much going for them. It just gives more meaning to the events that happened in Every Breath. It gut punched me all over again just thinking about it. But we also got see a little of Makenna and Sawyer in the present and that also made me happy.
When I first heard the second book was going to be about Wes and Callie, I was surprised and not sure if we needed to know their whole story. But I was wrong. This book exceeded my expectations. Even though we already knew where they ended up, it did not stop me from feeling anxious or fretting about all they were going through. But it really made me love Wes and Callie even more to see all of their struggles, inner turmoil, and to know how they were there for each other and for Makenna during difficult times. It was angsty, humorous, romantic, tense, emotional, heart breaking, and sweet.
Tasha Ivey writes with such a smooth, engaging writing style. Her characters are deep, have significant issues, and are truly as likable as they are frustrating. Her story lines are unique with little twists. There is some mystery usually lurking in the background that you are trying to figure out along the way. And she sucks you into these people's lives and makes you feel for them. I have loved each one of her books and and this was no exception. I am looking forward to the next installment Every Glance. Dalton perhaps?
Thanks to Tasha Ivey for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Tasha Ivey is a literature fanatic, whose love for
the written word fostered her development into the writer she has become. A
lover of an extremely erratic mixture of literature, she has been influenced by
authors from Jane Austen and E.M. Forster to Charlaine Harris and Alyson Noel.
But her biggest influence and literary hero? Nicholas Sparks. Aside from
writing, since she doesn't have anything other than a shriveled up prune on the
left side of her brain, she prefers to spend her time being creative in other
ways like painting, cake decorating, and various types of crafts. That is, if
the constant voices streaming through her head allow her to stop making up
stories for a while. Lucky for her, she has a huge supportive family, including
her amazing husband and two kids, who doesn't complain too much when she hangs
out with her characters more than she does with them. Sophie, the dog, however
. . . she does complain. A lot.
Other books by by Tasha Ivey:
Giveaway:
Tasha is giving away 3 signed copies of Every Kiss
and 3 $10 Amazon Gift Cards
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