Thursday, November 7, 2013

Blog Tour Stop + Giveaway! "Barely Surviving" by Courtney Cross





Synopsis:
He was captivating, scorching hot and wickedly tempting. The epitome of power and strength encased in the body of an angel and he had possessed me. Need for him coursed through my veins white hot and I had been incomprehensively burned”
Our connection had been instant, intense and all consuming, seriously unexplainable to most, but crystal clear to us.
 Jonah Jacobson was the summation of all my fears, nightmares and smouldering deep desire. After living a life that knew only pain, violence and fear inflicted by successful, power driven men, everything he signified should have repelled me but it didn’t.
The driving force of our bodies needing to merge was immediate from the day he walked into my life. I was beyond wealthy, heiress to millions, but inside I was a numb, empty shell that he saw. He saw what lay within, the poison that runs through my veins. He saw the real me. And still he wanted me anyway.
But I also had secrets. Secrets I believed, if they were to be released, would shatter both our lives and destroy the tangible pulse of vibrant male sexuality the other half of my soul required to live.
Jonah had his own torment to bear, his own tragedies and heartbreak to carry. Both tired of barely surviving, my biggest fear was if our secrets were to be unleashed and truths were told, the lifeline he gave me would break and so would my heart, Forever.





Review: 
4 Stars

I want to preface this whole review with this; if you have a real hard time with grammar and punctuation, this book may drive you nuts-but you will do yourself a disservice if you don’t stick with it. There were many words misused, punctuation lacked quite a bit and there were words missing. For me, that is HUGE…..but this story immediately pulled me in. I was able to look beyond the errors and really sink into this story.

For starters….this book was just WOW. And that is a WOW in a good way. I love a good alpha male story….those happen to be one of my favorite kinds, and this book really fit the bill. Jonah was scrumdiddlyumptious. Yep…yummy. Total alpha male, total lover, total panty-melter, but not in a nasty cocky sort of way. Now, starting out with the prologue, this book really made my jaw drop and my heart break for Savannah (Ava). I was sucked in and couldn’t put the book down.  If you aren’t sucked in by the prologue, I may be totally shocked.

Ava didn’t let her emotions run her life…..not in her job, not in her personal friendships and certainly not in the bedroom.  That all changed when she met Jonah in the boardroom of the solicitors office where she had some unexpected business to attend to. She described Jonah:

Not when it came to the most devastatingly attractive, orgasm inducing face and body ever. ~Ava

You see, Ava was all about having a man and letting him go….but for her pleasure only, of course. Her terms. However, when Jonah inserts himself into her life and makes sure she never walks away, she fights the attraction to the bitter end….until she no longer can fight what she knows is real.

Fucking Jonah had been everything I imagined and so much more.  A level of hunger and dominance I have never experienced. ~Ava

Ava lets loose with him while they are in bed and finds that she marks him up (bites him, scratches him….you know the marks you make when it feels really good? Yeah….those marks) and she feels very ashamed.  Ava tried to pull away because she felt she wasn’t ‘good enough’ for Jonah….she felt he deserved more, deserved better.  She tells him this on numerous occasions.  Jonah doesn’t accept her telling him that. He is so protective of her and has this immense need to be with her (inside her) at all times…..ALL TIMES.  He doesn’t care about her past…he only cares that he is her future.

I saw you last night Ava, the real you and I love that. We all have demons sweetheart and I can deal with yours if you can deal with mine. ~Jonah

I am just as fucked up as you are. I see that in you. But I also see the sexy, passionate, and hot as hell woman you really are when you allow yourself to be and I crave that.  ~Jonah

I just fell in LOVE with Jonah….he was very sexy, very alpha and very wonderful! He just was. When Ava referred to him as her ‘fuck buddy’, he fought to make sure she realized that he was there for the long haul….he was there for her and was going to be in it for a relationship. She finally realized that he was serious with her and she eventually lets her walls down. After a particularly hard night and some secrets were revealed, life went downhill really quickly. Ava felt things had changed and thought that by telling Jonah her secrets, he was now turning on her. It was a hard and emotional ride we took with Ava as she started to unravel and potentially mess up the one relationship that mattered most to her. She happens upon Jonah in a very “compromising situation” and nearly loses it. Ava couldn’t take what was happening and needed to leave…’fight or flight’ kicked in. Jonah fought…..he fought so hard to make her see that she was his life. He needed her.  I just felt his hopelessness….he wanted to get through to her, but she was done. My heart broke for him! (Weird reaction based on what he had done, but it happened nonetheless.)

“You love me I know you do and I love you more than fucking life itself. Love can empower us, heal us and bind us together. I just need you to give me a chance to prove it, just one. You’re it for me Ava, I can’t survive without you.” ~Jonah

I want to say that this book made me feel the gamut of emotions. I really enjoyed it and really got sucked in. I do not spoil books and feel that telling too much of this plot will ruin it…..but I will say that this book was a GREAT story. Like…..really good. Again, look past the errors and just feel the emotions, feel the characters and feel the journey Ava and Jonah take. This does end in a cliffhanger, but I feel the way it ended didn’t leave you *totally* hanging….it leaves you wanting more and I smiled at the end. I honestly did….because I want to know how Jonah did that!!! I am excited to read the second book, Divinely Living. I sent a message to the author asking if she had an estimated release date, but I haven’t heard back from her by review publishing date.

I loved how Jonah made her feel and how he said everything with confidence. One of my favorite exchanges:

“Nobody gets to see you come from now on but me”. His possessive words sent a delicious shudder down my spine. Jonah felt my reaction “Now you get it” A warm hand caressed the shudder.
“Get what?” I sat back slightly with a soft moan as the small rocking movement stirred my rising hunger.
“How it feels to be owned. That’s how you’ve had me feeling for weeks now. I’m glad you’ve joined me”. ~Jonah

I will leave you with a good quote from Jonah that I think summarizes the realization that SHE is everything he needs….and more:

“I’m tired of just surviving sweetheart it’s time to start living”. ~Jonah

I give this book 4 heart-wrenching, steamy alpha stars.

Love,
Bethany


Purchase: 

About the Author:
Courtney Cross

Courtney Cross is a 36 year old mother of three wonderful boys who earlier this year fulfilled a lifetime ambition by putting the workings of her dirty mind into her first erotic romance novel. She is an avid reader of many genres and when not reading or writing, she can be found hanging around football pitches watching her three sons indulge in their passion. With a love of all things erotic, thought provoking and emotionally charged as well as a believer in pushing boundaries, she hopes to be able to continue sharing the workings of her naughty mind with readers of her novels for a long time to come!
Social Links


Giveaway:



Bare Naked Words
 

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