ARC Review: Found Underneath by K.L. Kreig

Found Underneath is Part 2 in the "Finding Me" series. You cannot read this book if you have not already read the first book and you should not read this review either as it will contain spoilers.

This is the conclusion to the Willow and Shaw story. The story picks up right where the last one left off. There are still unanswered questions about what role Shaw's sister had in the death and other secrets are lurking in this book as well. The issue with Shaw's sister becomes much more prevalent in this book and there are other answers about Willow's sister that emerge as well.

The reason you should really read this book is because of the relationship between Shaw and Willow. I warn you, Willow's emotional issues are front and center. You may sometimes want to smack the hell out of Willow. There are so many things Willow needs to say but they are locked up so tight she never seems to be able to get anything out. Shaw is transforming right before our eyes. Every barrier he put in place is being renegotiated as he discovers that he loves Willow more than he loved his life of whoring, emotional barriers and working like a maniac. Shaw knows that Willow is hiding behind walls and does everything he can to knock the walls down before he finds himself trapped inside of his own impossible walls. Even with all their barriers the love between these two characters intensifies even more in this book until it is consuming everything. That little weasel Reid is still popping up to mess things up but for the most part Willow handles it really well. Willow sees Reid for what he is and she is committed to Shaw and their relationship. The sex between these two characters is smoking hot. The author never skims on the steam or gets lazy with the scenes.

And just so you know, the situation between Willow's Father and Shaw's sister did not go down the way you might think. I mean....it wasn't great but in the end the author resolved it in a way that let the characters move forward in a believable way.

I did something with my rating of this book that I've never done before. I changed my rating after I read the author's personal blurb at the end of the book. I was going to give this book 4 stars because Willow's emotional isolation made me crazy. But then I read the author's explanation that she wasn't just building gratuitous drama into the story line but giving us a real character who isn't able to communicate in the perfect way that makes romance stories tidy. As someone who can be a little closed off I had two reactions to the author's blurb: First, oh shit, I hope I'm not as annoying as Willow. Second, I appreciate the effort to mix endless orgasms and super hot sex with some very real emotional dysfunction. Yeah, I like to see my characters get over it a bit quicker but I'm here for the struggle too.

**ARC provided by Give Me Books Promotions**

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ARC Review: Lost In Between by K.L. Kreig

The first thing you need to know is that the synopsis of the book that you will find on Goodreads and other cites does not exactly tell you what you are going to find in this book. It is true that Willow makes a deal with Shaw to be his arm candy for a few months for a quarter million dollars but that is just scratching the surface. The thing I loved about the way the author introduces Shaw and Willow is that they meet before they ever make the "arm candy" deal and Shaw is a raging A hole. I love rude guys who turn into obsessed bossy alpha lovers. I can't help it, I just fall for them every time.

When we meet Willow she is doing the best she can to make ends meet so that she can take care of her Mother who suffers from Alzheimers. Willow is working as an escort but a date escort, not a sex escort. I was a little concerned that I wasn't going to buy what Willow was selling because who wants to deal with a a no-sex escort? I got over whatever my issues were because Willow turned out to be a character that I liked. She was hung up on some deep issues. She was concerned about being abandoned because basically everyone she loved left her. She was so concerned about it that she had become the person who left before she could get left. Even though I sometimes wished she would settle her skittishness down, I liked her issues and how she dealt with them, they made her more relatable.

As for Shaw, four words: sex on a stick. Shaw is the kind of character that just kind of comes off the pages at you. Even though Shaw has convinced himself that he is in this temporary arrangement with Willow, he almost immediately gets crazy possessive. If you've read any other books by this author, you know that her Heroes are always a little over the top and Shaw was no exception. Of course Shaw struggles to convey his feelings in productive ways so he often hurt Willow's feelings when he really just wanted to say "please don't ever leave me."

In classic K.L. Kreig style, by the end of this book a third party emerges who Willow once had feelings for. And that's where things get really interesting and also near where the book ends. Willow's ex pops up, he's still in love with her and he is packing some whopper secrets about Willow's past. I don't want to give anything away and really there isn't much I can give away because the book ends in some unanswered questions. Let's just say that some things Willow assumed to be true were not. The ways in which Willow was wrong about the events of the past involve the two people that Shaw most wants to protect and he winds up torn between them with no good answers. The book built to a crescendo and then left us hanging but boy was it worth it. Smoking hot sex, all the feels, dynamic characters, you don't want to pass on this book.

**ARC provided by L. Woods PR**

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Feature: Lost In Between by K.L. Kreig

We all have one.

A price.

That magic number that will get us to agree to do anything, be anything.

Don’t sit on your gold-plated high horse and say you don’t because you do. Everyone does. Each of us has something we covet enough that we’d sell ourselves to have it.

What’s my tipping point, you ask? Apparently a cool quarter mil will do the trick.

What does one do for 250 large, you wonder? Anything the infamous, gorgeous playboy of Seattle wants. For the next four months I’ll be Shaw Mercer’s arm candy, his beck and call girl, his faux girlfriend. I’ll be his to command, mold, push and pull in any direction he sees fit.

I’ll fight falling into bed with him. I’ll fight falling in love with him even harder. I’ll fail at both. And when my past and present collide in the most unexpected of ways, I’ll learn that while one man’s love for me has never died, the only man’s love I really want will never be mine.

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ARC Review: Black Swan Affair by K.L. Kreig

I have to admit that I am a bit torn when it comes to Black Swan Affair by K.L. Kreig. This book was beautifully written and I couldn't put it down. I enjoyed so much of it, and yet I am not entirely sure how I feel after finishing it. One thing is for sure, this book was a great story and I was immediately captivated by these characters. 

Maverick has been in love with Killian Shepherd for years. But he broke her heart and married her sister Jillian. Maverick always thought that he would wake up and leave her sister for her, but when he doesn't Maverick decides to marry her best friend Kael, Killian's brother. Right before she is set to wed Kael, she gives Killian one last chance, but when he doesn't take the opportunity to be with her, Maverick and Kael get married and start their lives together. But now that they are one big family, feelings and secrets make their lives more complicated than ever. 

I felt invested in these characters right away. I knew things would be complicated going into this story, and they definitely were. I struggled with who I thought was the right man for Maverick, and I could see reasons why each one was perfect for her. I felt for all of them, and the impossible situation that they were in. Humans are so complicated and we can't control our feelings. Just because you love someone doesn't necessarily mean that you belong together. As this story unfolded, I was torn and I won't say if Maverick ended up with the person that I thought she should. Ultimately, there were so many things going on here and I think that while some will be unhappy with how things turn out that most will think that everything turned out exactly as it should.

Overall, I think that this is a book that will evoke strong reactions for readers and is one that is best experienced blindly. I really believe that this story is best experienced when you don't know what is happening. This book was completely unexpected and my heart hurt for these characters through so much of this book. They were in a situation where nothing was easy, and regardless of what I felt was the right way to go, they had to each do what they felt was right for them. While the writing was beautiful and the story was impossible to put down, there were something that personally kept me from rating this one at five stars. I think that this book is one worth reading, and if it sounds like something you might like I definitely recommend giving this one a shot. K.L. Kreig is a great writer, and I look forward to reading more from her in the future.

**ARC Provided by Social Butterfly PR**

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Feature: Black Swan Affair by K.L. Kreig

I’ve loved him as long as I can remember.

The gangly boy with big brown eyes and unruly hair who grew up into an intoxicating man. He wears scruff like he invented it and ambles with a swagger that makes panties drop.

Killian Shepard.

Shep.

We grew up together. We played Ghost in the Graveyard. Had our own rock band. It didn’t matter that he was five years older than me. It didn’t matter that he looked at me as a kid sister even as I grew into a woman. It didn’t even matter when he left me behind to go to college and start his adult life.

He’d be back.

He was always meant to be mine.

He came back, all right. But instead of smelling of promises, he stunk of betrayal. And he destroyed me—us—the day he married my sister instead of me.

So I did the only thing a girl like me in my position could do.

I got my revenge.

I married his brother, Kael.

Now we’re one big happy fucking family.

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ARC Review: Luke's Absolution by K.L. Kreig

Luke's Absolution is the third book in the Colloway Brothers series from K.L. Kreig. This is my first book from her and in this series, so I really had no idea what to expect. While this book is said to be a standalone, I would really suggest reading these in order if possible. Though I was able to enjoy most of the story starting here, there were a few times that things from the past were referenced yet not fully explained and it was confusing. 

Luke Colloway has lived his life through a lot and has come back from it. He fell in love with his brother's girl and was forced to face the fact that he wouldn't ever have the same for himself. But then Addy Monroe changed everything. He knows he doesn't deserve her, but he will do whatever it takes to make her his. But just as it appears that Luke and Addy have a shot, Luke's past returns and threatens to ruin everything. 

I liked both Luke and Addy. I felt like they had great chemistry, and you could feel the attraction between them. I will say that their connection felt rushed to me though, and while I did see some of it developing, I also felt like it wasn't entirely believable. Addy was so hesitant at first to protect herself and assumed that she knew Luke was just like guys from her past that had hurt her. But her dislike for him seemed to change almost over night and it just wasn't realistic to me. I did like that Luke was a good guy and that he was thoughtful and determined to show her he was interested in more than just sex. I just wish that I had been able to really see their connection develop into the strong bond that I believed was possible, and not just have it rushed and forced into being something that it wasn't yet. 

I also had a problem with the first half of the book as far as pacing went. This book was slow to begin and part of that was because there was just so much internal dialogue, and it was very repetitive. Especially when it came to Luke. As much as I loved getting inside his head, it got old constantly seeing him struggle with not being good enough for Addy. The other thing that kept me from loving this book was all the build up to this massive conflict from Luke's past and when all was revealed, it just fell flat for me. He majorly overreacted and the whole thing was easily resolved and moved on from and it just was this huge let down to me. As much as I was wanting to love these two and this book, it was just okay for me. There were some great moments here, but sadly this wasn't what I had been hoping for. I still think that Luke and Addy were great together and were on their way to building something great together, but it just came off as rushed and forced and I would have liked things to have happened naturally where I could have had an easier time believing in them.

**ARC Provided by Social Butterfly PR**

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ARC Review: Luke's Absolution by K.L. Kreig

OK, this is the third book in the series. I read the first two books (you can find my review of one of the two somewhere around here) and I absolutely loved them. The first two Colloway brothers, Asher and Gray are among some of my favorite alpha heroes. I say all of that to give you context on how much it truly pains me to write this review. I was dying to get my hands on this book. When I found out it was available, I did a happy dance and tore into it with no further preamble. Then a weird thing happened...it kinda sucked. So again, let me say, if you are starting this series with this book, first, maybe don't do that. Second, if you do it anyway, don't let it deter you from reading other books in the series. This one honestly isn't a reflection of the rest of the series.

Luke's absolution is Luke and Addy's story. I'm going to warn you this review is going to be short. It's going to be short because truthfully, this book could have been written in about 30 pages. There is no point writing a long drawn out review about what was really a super short book. So here it go. Addy is scarred by past relationships where she was always a consolation prize. Luke has been scarred by an event in his past which removed his faith in the people he trusted most and set him down a path to doing some very bad things. As a result, Luke doesn't feel like he's worthy to be with a good woman. Despite Luke's self deprication, he wants Addy something fierce and pursues her in typical Colloway brother fashion.

The problem with this book is that 80% of it is repetitive internal dialogue. When I say repetitive, I meant repetitive. Like the same thing was repeated and repeated and repeated.....over and over again. See how irritating that is? Luke had a conversation with himself every 3 pages about how he wasn't good enough for Addy but didn't give a eff because he would have her anyway. Addy repeated just as often how hot Luke was but how she couldn't make the same mistake again and be second string (because she believed Luke was in love with Livia). In between the internal obsessing there is some hot hooking up but just when you start to get the warm fuzzies, the characters go back into their redundant feelings.

There wasn't really any action in this book and when we get to the big conflict that the Colloway brothers are famous for, it fell really flat. It felt forced and that made it seem like Luke's reaction was really an overreaction. I didn't really feel the connection between Addy and Luke and I just wasn't invested in their story. I love this series and recommend it, I just wish this book was a better reflection of the series.

**ARC provided by Social Butterfly PR**

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ARC Review: Undeniably Asher by K.L. Kreig

This is my first book by this author and although it's the second book in the series, it's the first one I've read and I loved it!

If I had to sum up what I loved about this book, I could do it easily using one word, two syllables: Asher! I mean daaaaamn, what's a girl to do with a man like that running through the pages of her Kindle. The A in Asher is for ALPHA. Asher is a boss and THE boss and I was here for it. Everything from his dirty mouth, to his bossiness to his ability to declare exactly what was going to happen all worked for me. The thing about Asher that might put some people off is that he was intensely jealous, even in situations that did not warrant it. For me? Not a problem at all. I love the possessive boyfriend who growls every time another guy gets within 2 feet of his woman. Asher was like way over the top, he was even threatening his brothers but I still loved that about him.

Asher is Alyse's sister, Gray's, brother in law. Gray is married to Asher's brother (for those of you who need a little more help). Alyse and Asher have actually known one another for years. In fact, the background on that is a little bit sketchy. Asher first fell for Alyse when she was a young 17. Asher was 21 at the time and while something happened between them, the deal wasn't at all sealed. Alyse was kind of opened to all the possibilities love had to offer by Asher so when another older guy came along and swept her off her feet, ish started to get real messy. I don't want to give anything away about that because it turns out to be a very complex part of the story. I will say this though- WHOA!! What happened to Alyse as a teenager and how it impacted her later in life was kind of tragic. Alyse has the sense that everyone she loves leaves her and from her perspective, it's kind of true. What we find out as the book moves along and Alyse finds out too is that her perspective isn't always the right one. There are some big surprises in this book.

The connection between Alyse and Asher is intense and genuine from the first time we see them together.They are both carrying some major baggage that makes it difficult for them to trust but they want each other and they are what they need to heal. Because of the backgrounds of the main characters, they make some decisions that will honestly make you want to kick both of them in the knees. That is especially true about Alyse. Alyse was holding on too tight to the past and it started to irk me right before she pulled it together and finally moved on. The sex scenes make all the drama these two put you through totally worth it. Their chemistry is explosive and the descriptions will transport you to a place where it's very warm.

This is an entertaining novel with a great love story, some twists and turns to keep things interesting, complex characters and great dialogue. I highly recommend you give this a try. As soon as I was done reading this, I went back and purchased the first book in the series.

**ARC provided by Gossip Girls PR**

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