Blog Tour and Giveaway: Conspire: Erin Noelle and SE Hall
Conspire
Authors: Erin Noelle and S.E. Hall
Release Date: August 26, 2014
He wants answers.
She wants freedom.
The search is over...when they Conspire.
She giggles and kisses my lips softly. “I live here, so I’m not escaping, frowny-face. I need to use the bathroom.” She wrestles out from underneath my hold, stretching her arm to the chair beside the bed. Sitting up on the edge, she slips on a satin robe before standing.
“Why are you covering up that body, babe? I was already hard waiting to watch you go,” I tease…except not at all teasing.
“What?” She glances over her shoulder with a sassy grin. “You don’t like it?” She looks at her silky attire and runs her hands over the robe enticingly. “I’ll have you know, I’ve been told pink is my color.” Her mouth turns down subtly the second the words escape; a faraway sadness ghosting across her eyes for a fleeting second before she quickly dismisses the thought away and fakes a smile.
A surge of nausea consumes me, a shiver elicited with the chill that creeps up my spine, the unfair devil of irony dousing me in frigid shame and guilt.
It’s her—my Jocelyn—was Devon’s…fascination, his ‘I hope she feels the same.’
I just made love to the woman my little brother never even got a chance to ask on a date.
So I started this book with really not much idea what it was about since the blurb is set up that way. So I am going to try to do a review with no spoilers and not giving away much plot.You have a man trying to find answers and justice. His usual career skills serve him well during this quest. We can call him Graham or Bryce. He is smart, manipulative, charming and multi-talented. Even though we knew more of what was going on with him, he still had an air of mystery. He is determined, charismatic, and sexy. He really is totally alpha, but has this sweet, loving side to him and is not a man that fights his feelings. I really liked him.
And then there is the vivacious, sweet Jocelyn. She is owner and Daddy's little girl and PR at their family company. She's feeling a bit stuck, patronized, and taken for granted. She is sick of being told what to do and is starting to rebel against the people that want to keep her in the same place without much control. She has a good spirit that is being beat down and making her frustrated and bitter. She is intelligent, friendly, caring, and responsible. But toxic people are getting to her. She longs to explore her own dreams and needs. She is caught between issues with her job, her family, her ex, and being attracted to someone she probably shouldn't.
They have instant chemistry and attraction even though the situation is not ideal to begin anything sexual or romantic. But it is hard to resist. And their lives are about to become tangled up in one big mess. Who is lying? Who is keeping secrets? Who is good or bad?
There are hidden agendas, subterfuge, and secrets all swirling under the surface adding complications and guilt.
He needs answers and to put all the pieces of the puzzle together.
She wants to find herself, experience life, and break away from certain people and situations.
Together they are passionate, intense, and compatible, but neither is providing full disclosure.
Can two people conspiring both get what they want or is one bound to lose?
Comic relief was provided by her best friend, Alyssa and his new friend Reagan who is mixed up in the whole situation, but was a big help to him. They were funny and the feisty interactions between all of them were welcome diversions to the seriousness of the plot and the break up the intense passionate moments. And then there were the people that that just put me(and the main characters) on edge whenever they entered the scene.
It was told in both points of view which was important especially due to the secretive nature of the plot. This is a combination of two authors and I could not tell how the work was divided even though I am familiar with both of their writing styles. So I could not tell if they each wrote one point of view or how it was combined in process. I had a little trouble in the beginning as I was trying to figure out what was going on but then it started flowing together and combined their styles well.
It was a romantic, sweet, humorous story built around a mysterious tragedy with suspected foul play. So it kept me intrigued, guessing, and hoping in the end something good would come out of a bad situation. I did figure out many of the twists on my own, but there were a couple of surprises. But it kept my attention and I genuinely liked the characters and the story line.
I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Once I dug in, I really enjoyed the storyline. I figured how it was going to end earlier than I usually do, but was still able to enjoy watching Bryce and Jocelyn come to their conclusions.
The characters were either easy to love or easy to hate and there were few characters outside the main group.
Graham was so set on protecting his brother and getting to the bottom of his death that watching him use his professional skills to answer a personal vendetta was great. He was smooth without being cold, and watching him try to juggle his alias with his growing attraction added a good tension.
Jocelyn was interesting because she had finally had enough of doing what everyone around her expected. We actually see her backbone grow and stiffen as she works to exert her independence.
Her best friend and assistant, Alyssa, bring some fun and levity to any scene she’s involved in. Reagan also acts as a great sidekick and support for Graham as he investigates what Devon was dealing with when he died.
And then there is Hunter, who is so easy to call names because he is absolutely unlikeable. His ego, attitude, and everything about him made me wonder how Jocelyn stood him for so long. And Jocelyn’s father was a cold piece of work as well.
This didn’t really feel like any of SE Hall’s books I’ve read, or even those of Erin Noelle that I’ve read. It was a great mix all on it’s own with more suspense and tension. I had a bit of a struggle following the timeline early on in the book, but when it smoothed out (and Bryce and Jocelyn had met) I found it much easier to follow and enjoy. This read a lot like two parallel and interconnected plots -- the search for what really happened to Devon and the attraction between Jocelyn and Bryce/Graham. Sometimes this weaving was seamless while other times one thread or the other would be forgotten, but it was enjoyable all the same.
I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Erin Noelle is a Texas native, where she lives with her husband and two young daughters. While earning her degree in History at the University of Houston, she rediscovered her love for reading that was first instilled by her grandmother when she was a young child. A lover of happily-ever-afters, both historical and current, Erin is an avid reader of all romance novels. In 2013, she published the Book Boyfriend Series, which included books Metamorphosis, Ambrosia, Euphoria, and Timeless, and thus far in 2014, has published When the Sun Goes Down, a contemporary romance novel, and Transparent, a romantic suspense novel. Her books have been a part of the USA Today Bestselling list and the Amazon and Barnes & Noble overall Top 100.
S.E. Hall is the author of the Amazon Best Selling Evolve Series, Emerge, Embrace, Entangled (novella) and Entice as well as the bestselling stand-alone NA Romance, Pretty Instinct. She also co-wrote Stirred Up, an erotic short story with her CP and friend, Author Angela Graham and is honored to be a part of the USA Today and NYT Best Selling Devour box set. S.E., which stands for Stephanie Elaine, resides in Arkansas with her husband of 18 years and 3 beautiful daughters of the home, and one married daughter who graced her with two beautiful grandchildren. When not in the stands watching her ladies play softball, she enjoys reading and writing and the occasional trip to the casino. She’s also clutch at Baggo, when it’s warm outside, and definitely the woman to pick on your side for some Flip Cup!
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