11 December 2014

Bring Me You Tour Stop!

Pro quarterback, Ethan Christopher thought he had found his home when he met rock musician, Mia Devereux. She was the welcomed distraction in his football-focused life.

Things may not have been perfect. Their individual careers made being together difficult. Her touring. His away schedule. As her success grew, they spent more extended periods apart.

But at the end of the day, he knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Only her.

When Mia met Ethan, she felt a connection unlike any she’d ever felt. She gave him more of herself than she thought was even possible.

But she knew it wasn’t enough. There was a lot she didn’t share, couldn’t give him.

An event two decades in her past made sure of that.

Those demons that she’d so carefully tucked away wanted out. As Mia struggled with the stress of touring and being apart from Ethan, her defenses weakened, allowing the demons to fight their way to the surface, leaving her in a vulnerable place. A place where bad choices were made.

Choices that both of them will regret.

Can Mia and Ethan's love survive her past? Or will if fall apart under the weight of her choices?
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23366654-bring-me-you
I love a good sports romance.  What I love even more is when a story transcends its genre and becomes so much more.  This book is definitely more.
Ethan is a pro football player and Mia is the lead singer of a band. They are introduced through Mia’s friend Luke and there’s an instant attraction.  Then that attraction turns into…more.  They begin to feel for each other a way that neither has ever felt before.  The problem is, they are both at the precipice of big things in their respective careers, which means trying to build a relationship on extended periods apart.  But, they persevere because they love each other.  Ethan knows that Mia is the one, but what he doesn’t know is that Mia is keeping a big part of herself from him. It’s self-preservation, but it also may mean the end to something really beautiful for them both.
This is a book that grabs you from the beginning and doesn’t let go.  You feel the attraction, desire and connection between Mia and Ethan, and that’s the cornerstone of what made this story work so well for me.  The characters were very realistic for me.  So realistic that there were many moments I would have liked to slap or choke them.  But, that’s what drives a story like this, bad decisions based off of past wounds that you have a hard time blaming the character for.  It works.
I will warn you that this book does end in a cliffhanger.  I will say that this is a book that needed a follow up, but that doesn’t mean I’m happy about being left hanging.  Dammit.
Overall, I did really enjoy this book.  It’s basically what I want every book of this genre to be when I sit down to read it.  Engaging and frustrating and enjoyable to read.  4.5 stars.
With a few people ahead of her, Mia’s anticipation was high as she walked through the gate, dragging her wheeled carry-on behind her and her backpack over her shoulder. In mere moments, she would lay her eyes on Ethan, feel his arms around her, breathe in his—
She stumbled as the wheel on her carry-on caught on a lump in the carpet. Annoyed, Mia turned around to right her luggage. When she looked up again, she spotted Ethan and her heart filled with joy at the sight of him as did her eyes.
She stopped mid-step and began to cry. It wasn’t dainty, quiet tears. Nope, it was more like big elephant tears and some not-so-attractive sobs. Her heart was going to explode any minute, she was sure of it. She had never been so happy to see anybody in her life.
He grinned and made his way through the crowd to her. Letting her backpack fall to the ground, she hurried to her fiancé, throwing her arms around his neck.
Ten weeks without holding him.
He wrapped his strong arms around her waist and lifted her in the air, hugging her so tight she thought she might pee her pants.
“Hi, suga,” he whispered against her ear, his warm breath sending shivers down her neck and straight down her back.
“Hi,” she replied, kissing his smooth cheek. His arms around her felt so good. She had missed that, how they made her feel safe. Home.
Ethan put her down and cupped her face with his strong hands, placing his lips on hers. She didn’t realize how much she’d missed the taste of him.
Ten weeks without kissing him.
It was no wonder that the kiss quickly increased in urgency. This wasn’t just a hello kiss. It was an ‘I want to possess you’ kind of kiss. As soon as he could get them out of there, she’d let him do just that. Possess her.
Mia put her hands on his wonderfully strong chest and lightly pushed away, her eyes darting across his handsome face before smiling up at him. “So, we’ve got like seven hours until I have to be back here. What do we want to do? Back to my place?”
“Hell no! That wastes time getting there. So I, uh, got us a room at one of the hotels near the airport.”
Her smile grew wider. God, she loved the mind of this man! “Seriously? You and I—together?”
He chuckled quietly. “Yeah, we’ll be like two virgins.”
“Haha! No, I don’t think so,” she said, rising on her tip toes to steal another kiss from those fabulous lips. “Let’s go!”
She picked up her discarded backpack and he took her carry-on from her and, with his free hand, he laced his fingers through hers and gave her a squeeze. For these next few hours, she would not be leaving his touch. No absolute way.
“Where is the hotel?” she asked, looking up at him. Even though she just saw him on Skype yesterday, he looked different to her. Maybe it was the three dimension thing throwing her off.
“They said walking distance from the airport.”
Mia couldn’t stop smiling. She knew this was just for a few hours but she needed this so badly. She was starting to sink fast and needed him to help keep her afloat. She had held it together for so long that when she found out it’d be over two months before seeing him again, she had snapped. She didn’t know how to cope anymore so she reached out for her go-to remedies—alcohol and drugs. It had been so long since Mia had felt the need to take them. Hopefully this time with him will be what she needed to get back on the straight and narrow.
They quickly made their way from the airport to the hotel, checked in and, with hurried steps, made their way to their sanctuary for the next several hours. Mia was surprised by an attack of nerves as he opened the door for her. She’d had sex with him hundreds of times. He was her fiancé, the man with whom she would spend the rest of her life. How could she be nervous? If she was being honest, she wondered if things would be different and if they were, would he like it—would she?
She went inside the room and busied herself with taking care of her bag and her jacket. She stayed there and took a deep breath to center herself, to try to rid herself of these stupid nerves.
Ethan stood behind her and snaked his arms around her waist, enveloping her in the warmth of his body. Mia leaned back into him, her head against his chest. “Hey, beautiful,” he whispered before brushing his lips against her cheek.
She turned in his arms and placed her hands on either side of his face. She gazed briefly into his amber eyes before pressing her mouth to his warm and wonderfully sweet lips. She couldn’t imagine if she would have had to wait until March for that kiss.
Putting a large hand to her back, Ethan drew her even closer to him. Mia smiled against his mouth when she felt the hardness of his erection between them. She glanced up and loved the eagerness she saw in his eyes.
Suddenly, she was lifted in the air. A surprised shout escaped from her when she landed on the soft bed. Mia looked up to find him peeling off his sweater and shirt. She stared longingly at his lean muscular chest that looked so much better in person. She couldn’t wait to touch him, taste him.
Mia gasped as Ethan quickly undid and stripped her of her jeans. Her pulse quickened as he removed his pants. That got her into gear. She sat up and clumsily took off her shirt and tank top and when they were off, he stood at the foot of the bed, his honey-colored eyes drinking her up. “You coming?”
He let out a boisterous chuckle. “Not for awhile, suga,” he said, making his way onto the bed.

During the day, Ryleigh is an analyst, but even then, she’s writing, sneakily crafting scenes on post-it notes. She's been told she's a bit of a geek...some say nerd. She'll agree to it all. She loves music. It's been a force in her life for as long as she can remember. Her love of Star Wars and superheroes has probably been going on just as long...see, this is where the geek/nerd thing comes into play. But, most of all, Ryleigh loves the written word. She's been writing for a long time. Her first story came to her during one of her history classes. She wrote it in the margins of her notebook in teeny tiny letters so no one knew that she was writing a book instead of taking notes on 16th Century Europe. She currently lives in Chicago, Illinois, with her husband and son, along with her Siberian Husky, Mick Jagger, and her cat, Winston Churchill.


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