Release Blitz, Review and Giveaway: Give Me Grace: Kate McCarthy

by - Thursday, July 10, 2014


Give Me Grace (Give Me #3)
Kate McCarthy
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Release Date: July 10, 2014
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Cover Design: Okay Creations
Photograph: Scott Hoover Photography
Cover Model: Colby Lefebvre

Casey Daniels has a past forged in Hell. Despite the friends, the endless supply of women, and the muscle car he spent years restoring, it still eats away at him.

Grace Paterson is in Sydney as a temporary bassist for Jamieson, the band Casey handles security for. She’s also infuriating, off-limits, and completely irresistible.

A deal is struck, and despite their intense and powerful connection, both think it will be easy to walk away. But life can be more ruthless than either of them ever imagined. Not only does Grace have a secret she’s desperate to keep, Casey has questions from his past that he’s willing to do anything to get answers for. 

It’s not until someone wants one of them dead that Casey realises his love for Grace is the one thing he could never walk away from. 

In a story of revenge, betrayal, secrets, and love, Casey will need to reconcile his past with his present, before the future he never knew he wanted is snatched away.  


I slipped out the front door, letting it softly click shut behind me. Casey was sitting in his car, staring straight ahead as I walked down the drive. Opening the car door, I slid inside and shut it. He didn’t acknowledge my presence, or even look at me at all. He simply shifted gears, and with a quick glance in his rearview mirror, pulled out onto the road.

I clicked my seat belt into place. “Casey?”

With a hard swallow, he shook his head, keeping his eyes on the road as we drove. Despite his controlled composure, his face was pale and tension surrounded him like an aura.

“Casey, you’re scaring me.”

“I’m sorry.” Our eyes met for a brief moment, the connection intense. Raw pain flickered in his eyes before it was quickly banked. “That’s the last thing I want to do.”

His palm slid over my bare thigh, riding upwards as he continued to drive. The touch sent arousal spiking through me, but not enough to override the concern.

“Where are we going?”

He shook his head as if he had no clue. After a moment, he replied, “I want to drive, but I don’t want to be alone. I want to be with you.”

My eyes fixed on his profile as he drove. The knuckles of his right hand were white on the steering wheel and his jaw tight. Something wasn’t right. In fact, something was very wrong. I slid my hand over his, my pulse racing when he flipped his palm over and grabbed hold.

“Casey?”

He glanced over at me.

“I want to be with you too.”

His answer was a squeeze of my hand before letting go.

We sat in silence as he drove. I stared at the dashboard, having no idea what to do or say or how to fix what was wrong.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Sure.” A smile came to his lips. It was forced because it never reached his eyes. “Just a bad day at work, you know?”

“No, I don’t know. Maybe you should tell me.”

The roads were eerily quiet when he pulled to a stop at a red light. “I don’t want to talk right now.” His hand fell on my thigh again, the calloused palm scraping my skin as it slipped upwards. Reaching between my thighs, he dragged my panties to the side and slipped his fingers inside, gently massaging my clit and dragging a moan from my throat. He leaned over, putting his mouth on my ear, his breathing coming harder and heavier.

“I want to fuck you, Grace. Not just tonight, but every night,” he professed, his fingers working me expertly. The red light turned green, but with no cars around, Casey ignored it. “Hard enough for it to hurt, so that when you leave, me fucking you is the only thing you can think about.”

I closed my eyes, my head falling back against the headrest. I wanted him to fuck me that hard. I wanted to feel him inside me even when he wasn’t there, but not like this. Not when he was using sex to mask a hurt so painful and deep I could feel the ache of it surrounding me until I felt suffocated.

“No,” I gasped.

He froze at the single word, his hand stilling instantly.

“There’s something wrong, Casey. I can feel it.”

His hand slipped out of my panties and I mourned the loss. “I don’t want to talk about it,” he snapped.

Tension bled into the car as he put it in gear and accelerated swiftly. My eyes burned. When we were good, it was wild and intense and consuming, but we always spiralled into such a hot mess. I wasn’t sure if Casey and I would ever find a happy medium.

Drawing a deep breath, I forced calm. “Maybe you should take me home.”

“No.”

My brows flew up. “No?”

“No.” He shook his head, his tone cold and harsh. “This was your deal, and now you want to turn it into some kind of relationship? That’s not what this is. This is about you and me and sex. So maybe you should spread your legs so we can both get what we want.”


As I sit here trying to write my review all I can think is HOLY CRAP! Where to start?! What a wild ride! I have been waiting for Casey's book since Give Me Love. As excited as I was for his book, I was also a bit nervous to see if it would meet my high expectations and honestly...it completely did!

Casey Daniels has made promises in his past that have shaped his decisions. One he failed to keep that has f***ed him up. One he made to his friend Travis that helped him get on with his life and find direction. And one that time is fast ticking away on that he vows to resolve asap. He is surrounded by friends that are his family, but is still lonely and unfulfilled. He hides behind smirks, sarcasm, and casual sex. But he is determined to settle some demons from his past once and for all even if he has to use some people to do it. 

Promises were made to be broken, right? Wrong. Not when breaking them meant you failed so f***ing bad, you lost your entire world in the blink of an eye...It was like you were somehow still breathing even though your heart wasn't beating anymore. 

Grace Paterson is called to Sydney by her older brother Henry, the lead guitarist for the band Jamieson. They need a fill in for an injured bassist and she agrees to help. She is a model, living a life she never wanted and dealing with her own demons nipping at her heels. She has armor that is strong and a plenty of attitude. 

"You've just gotta lose the cold armour, Grace....He won't be able to bust down your castle walls if you don't....You need someone who's going to push your buttons, and not just the ones in your panties." (John)

Put these two people together who are already walking the edge and having a really bad day and Kaboom! It equals anger, sparks, sparring, temptation, tricks, taunting, a**holery, and a bi**hfest. But the more they end up in each other's presence, the more their interactions fluctuate. Casey and Grace fall into this flirty, feisty rapport and it is hard to resist despite Casey being warned off by overprotective family. But they both have issues swirling around  them, affecting their present and their ability to consider a relationship. And Casey places great emphasis on keeping promises so when making new promises it is a scary prospect. The test will be if they can satisfy their itch without getting emotionally involved because they both have situations in their lives making "them" a bad idea. 

I have loved Casey since the beginning and fell even harder for him while getting his point of view and seeing his hurt, pain, fear and insecurities under his tough, cocky facade. He is sexy, charismatic, funny, and also conflicted, damaged, and lost. And he will do whatever he has to for those that he cares about. And when he cares, he loves hard and deep. His past is eating him up and he needs answers in order to move on.

And Grace is pretty bad ass herself. She gives back as good as she gets. She is sassy and tough and a bit edgy, but also sweet. She is responsible and cares about those important to her and sacrifices herself if needed. We also get her point of view and see how complicated her own world and feelings are. She has secrets that she is reluctant to share.

I loved them together no matter if they were fighting, teasing, kissing, loving or pushing each other. They make each other crazy, but they are alike in many ways. They are independent, stubborn, passionate people with deep hurts but big hearts. But they have so many obstacles internally and externally. And just when one thing would go their way, it seems like another issue would come up. She and Casey are both tough with hard shells, but are vulnerable and soft underneath. They want a connection but are afraid to grasp it. And Holy H*ll their chemistry is hot! Like sizzling hot! Not only their verbal interactions, but the passion of their physical reactions are intense. But their time together has a built in expiration date adding more stress to the situation. 

Be careful what you wish for, Casey, because once you get it, giving it back is gonna hurt like a motherf***er. 

"People come and go, Casey. Some crash into your life and leave in the blink of an eye, others stay with you for years, but it doesn't matter how long you have them for....because the way they make you feel stays with you forever, and you've made me feel so much."

This installment is full of sexual tension, fiery interactions, secrets, lies, mystery, intrigue and underlying danger.  Things always seem to get this messy, complicated, dangerous and explosive when the bad ass brigade, their friends, or women are involved. And it is not always the men's fault or their jobs since the women often are in the middle of it all too. It is a race to stay safe and get answers with many variables in play. It kept me thinking, guessing, shocked, surprised, and totally enthralled. I loved trying to piece all the little details together to try to figure out where the story was going and was was really going on. There were several twists I never saw coming and lots of situations that made me think and and try hard to figure out before they were fully revealed. But it was such a journey getting there. It had me laughing, gasping, sad, scared, angry, frustrated, happy, swooning, and worried all at various times. These characters(and I) were literally put through the wringer. *Side note: I admit I actually messaged Kate McCarthy and called her out as being mean to my poor Casey. She just kind of laughed at me. Evil? Perhaps. 

The Jamieson and Valentine clan might have been may family, and don't get me wrong, when everything was good with them, it was like the stars aligned and shimmery fairy dust fell from the heavens, but when it went to sh*t, it went there via the seventh circle of hell. 

This book packed in a lot of story, but seemed perfectly paced. Some of the slower parts were funny or sweet, and then others were suspenseful, dramatic, sexy or revealing that pushed the story faster. But at no time was I bored. In fact in ways I did not want to see it end. She began giving hints at some potential upcoming stories with Mac, Jake, Mitch, and Coby. And I would have been happy to just continue right on into one of their stories. 

I love all of the characters in this series. They are all so unique, strong, dynamic, and quirky. They play hard, love hard, and stand up for each other. But also torture, terrorize, tease, and bust each other as needed. We got to see more of Coby, Mitch, Henry, and Tim in this one who have always been more in the background, along with the other couples Travis and Quinn, Jared and Evie, and  the rest of the gang from the other books. We also met a couple of new guys who really interested me and another kick ass woman too. And more of Grace's family and friends. Oh and even a dog from hell that was quite a character himself.

Fans of this series will totally fall for Casey and Grace. This series just keeps getting better and I am excited for more. But I can honestly say I feel that Kate did Casey proud and exceeded my high expectations. It was humorous, emotional, powerful, surprising, and intense. She took the story to places I never even considered, threw in some big twists, shook things up, and brought it all back together. And I devoured every page of it and was left emotionally spent when I was done.

I was gifted a beta copy in exchange for an honest review. 
#1 Give Me Love
 

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Kate McCarthy
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Kate McCarthy grew up in a small town outside of Port Macquarie, Australia. Raised in a house just a short walk to the beach, Kate enjoyed the peaceful, relaxed atmosphere and friendships that come from being raised in a friendly, small town area.

She now resides in Brisbane, Australia, a city in the state of Queensland where she works as an accountant, along with a sideline wedding cake business and her writing. 

She is married with two children, has two dogs and house in the suburbs, and a pile of friends and family dotted all over the country that help keep her sane.

When she’s not busy running after naughty kids, filthy dogs, crunching numbers, piping buttercream and writing books, you can find her curled up in bed in the early hours of the morning reading new books and re-reading old favourites. Her favourite books are the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward in which she longs to eventually join the brotherhood and change her name to Phierce Mutha.

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