Release Day Blitz: Sweet Girl: Cristin Harber
Sweet Girl (Titan #1.5)(Prequel to Garrison's Creed: Titan #2)
Cristin Harber
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A SWEET GIRL
Nicola Hart grew up under the heels of her older brother and his best friend, Cash Garrison. Years of ignoring the spark between her and Cash didn't keep their attraction from turning into a slow burn. Just shy of her twentieth birthday, Nicola needs to know: he wants her or he doesn't.
HE CAN'T STAY AWAY FROM
She's his best friend's little sister. The definition of hands off. Cash has tried to ignore her for years. Instead, he's looked at every pretty little thing who's crossed his path, all to ignore the girl he seems destined to want. But when half the school is interested in Nicola, it's time to stake a claim and hold the hand of the one he really loves.
Sweet Girl is the novel length prequel to best-selling Garrison's Creed. Before Cash and Nicola can fall in love forever, they have to suffer through their first love.
Right. And now she was alone on the deck
again, avoiding the alcohol-brave stares of freshmen boys. She glanced back
into the house, wishing—
The familiar slide of Cash’s arm and the
smell of soap paralyzed her thoughts.
“You look…” Breath hot, he whispered one
word slower than the next, his lips a fraction away from the shell of her ear.
“Gorgeous.”
A full body shiver started at her neck and
ran south. “Hey, Cash.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, letting
her eyes roam over him. “Bet you’ll break a few hearts tonight.”
He locked her in tighter. His breath was
kissed by bourbon, and the scruff on his cheeks rasped against her skin. “Nah.
Not in the mood.”
“The female population on campus is both
relieved and saddened.”
“Oh yeah?” He pulled back an inch, then
spun her into a loose hug, facing him. “Why’s that?”
“’Cause there’s still a chance, but it’s
not tonight.”
A lazy smile curled. “Oh, you’re cute,
Nic.”
God, he was gorgeous. Would his mouth taste
like liquor? Her plan to get buzzed had not inoculated her against his
dangerous good looks and charm. Her mind raced. “So I’ve been told.”
“What, by your date?” Cash tilted his head. He stepped back, dragging his arm off
her neck, letting his hand smooth down her bare shoulder. His fingers drifted
to her elbow. Another step, and he stuck his thumbs in his jeans pockets. His
blue gaze smoldered. His button-down shirt, a little wrinkled, untucked and
unbuttoned at the collar, was rolled up on his arms.
“I’m sure J’s said something like that tonight.
Jaycee and Mira tell you their plans for you tonight?”
“Could not care even a little bit.”
She still felt where his fingers had
traveled on her skin. Wanting that feeling again was driving her to
distraction. Her eyes raked over his chest, sliding up to his face. He studied
her. Intently. In an unnerving way, she could almost feel it. She swallowed and
stole her eyes away because it was all in her head.
Cash stepped forward. “Let’s get out of
here.”
His voice graveled. It had texture. She
felt each word as it coated over her senses. Why did everything out of his
mouth seem so much heavier? “I just got here, Cash.”
“Me too.”
“I didn’t come by myself.” Jacob was
wandering around somewhere. Though she didn’t care.
“Neither did I.”
The air was thick. Tense. So much was
unsaid. So much anticipation. She could taste it, feel it. Her heart raced; her
pulse pounded. If she could touch him, hold onto his muscled arms, crawl onto
his crazy-wide chest, if his arms could wrap around her and she could drown in
his scent—
“What are you two so serious over?” Roman
startled her.
One second. Two… What to say when she
couldn’t think?
“Nic’s not feeling good,” Cash offered. A
challenge danced in his eyes.
Roman’s protective gaze sliced to hers.
“You’re not? What’s wrong?”
She swallowed at Cash’s lie, and now the
ball of sexual-tension-meets-too-many-drinks was in her court. Was she
misreading all of this? So much could go wrong. Two decades of friendship down
the drain, not to mention Roman would kill Cash. “Car Bombs. I should’ve known
better.”
Sweet Girl takes us back to the beginning...to Nicola, Roman, and Cash in college. Nicola is Roman's little sister who has a crush on her big brother's best friend, Cash. They were lifelong friends that were now sizzling with sexual tension. She was supposed to be off limits, but Cash had a hard time staying away and his interest developed into more than something brotherly. But Cash has a reputation as a man-whore. She has her own fan club and an overprotective brother and nosy room mates.
There's hidden feelings, over protectiveness, jealousy, secrets and sneaking around. The relationship between them was not supposed to happen but they were powerless to stop it. But they both were afraid of how people would react especially big brother, Roman. And Nic is also dealing with a questionable work situation that will change her life in more ways than she realizes.
I loved the younger versions of Nicola and Cash. They were sweeter, softer, vulnerable, but they had undeniable chemistry and a strong connection. We already know how strong it was based on what happens in the second Titan book Garrison's Creed. But they are much different then when they are older: seasoned, tough, emotionally closed off, and still internalizing the hurt as a result of their past. And now we see even more how they go to that point since we know more about what happened before. And a young Roman is so different too. Definitely not quite as astute as his older counterpart.
Even though this story technically was not needed in order to connect with Garrison's Creed or the rest of the series, I have to say that I enjoyed gong back to these characters when their love began. It has more of a New Adult feel to it rather than the action-packed, romantic suspense of the rest of the series. But it was a sweet story of first love and heartbreak with a little twist of suspense. It gives us the bigger picture between Nicola, Cash, and Roman and makes Garrison's Creed that much more meaningful to see this couple get a second chance to get it right. It made me want to go back and read Garrison's Creed again.
I have to say that I got totally sucked into this series and read most of them in a few days. I just kept one-clicking and moving on to the next couple. I love the sexy, strong, alphas and the tough women of Titan. The stories are full of action and suspense, but also connections, emotions, humor, and challenging love stories. I am looking forward to finally getting Roman's story in Hart Attack and also Parker's story in the future.
Rachel's review will be posted on Blog Tour July 10
Book 1: Winters Heat (Colby Winters) FREE!
Book 2: Garrison's Creed (Cash Garrison)
Book 3: Westin's Chase (Jared Westin)
Book 4: Gambled (Brock Gamble)
Book 5: Chased (Asher McIntyre)
Book 6: Savage Secrets (Rocco Savage)
Book 7: Sweet Girl (Prequel to Garrison's Creed)- July 7, 2014
Book 8: Hart Attack (Roman Hart)- coming Fall 2014
Book 9: TBD (Parker's story)- coming late 2014
Cristin Harber is a USA Today bestselling romantic suspense and military romance author. Fans voted her onto Amazon’s Top Picks for Debut Romance Authors in 2013, and her debut Titan series was #1 romantic suspense, #1 military romance, and a USA Today Top 100 bestseller.
She lives outside Washington, DC with her family and English Bulldog.
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