Blog Tour Stop: A Beautiful Distraction by Kelsie Leverich (Review and Giveaway)

A Beautiful Distraction (Hard Feelings - Book 3) by Kelsie Leverich

Publication Date: 05/06/2014
Publisher: Penguin Group
Imprint: Signet Eclipse
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 384
ISBN-10: 0451468945
ISBN-13: 978-0451468949

(Received for an honest review from Signet Eclipse)

Purchase: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, Indiebound

Kelsie Leverich on the WEB: website, blog, twitter, facebook, goodreads

Books in the series: 

Hard Feelings

1. The Valentine's Arrangement
2. Feel The Rush
3. A Beautiful Distraction

Coverart: Click the Image for a larger, clearer view of the covers in this series.

Excerpt from, A Beautiful Distraction, courtesy of Amazon's Look Inside feature.

Synopsis:

A brand-new novel in the New York Times bestselling Hard Feelings series—where nothing’s more dangerous than a bad boy with a broken heart…

First Sergeant Rafe Murano did everything to the extreme. He trained harder, he fought harder, and, unfortunately, he loved harder. And falling for the wrong woman nearly destroyed him.

Home from a deployment and without his missions to consume him, Murano is ravaged by memories of his heartbreak. So he drinks until he’s numb and drowns himself in meaningless one-night stands. But they only take the edge off….

Until he meets Fallon.

Haunted by her past, Fallon Kelly knows all too well about the desperate desire for an escape. So when she sees the tatted-up bad boy who’s one punch away from a ride in the back of a squad car, she offers him a distraction—one that quickly becomes an addiction.

Little does she know, this bad boy can love so hard, it can break her.…

Thoughts:

Kelsie Leverich's third book in the Hard Feelings series, A Beautiful Distraction pits a ballet dancer in a gentleman's club against a bad boy military hero. The combination is combustible. Readers are treated to a very intense and passionate love story that explores what it means to be loved unconditionally and what it means to be totally satisfied in the bedroom. Leverich writes a character centered novel with a focus on the crazy chemistry that can develop between a man and a woman from totally different backgrounds. A fantastic addition to the series!

What I liked:

I find myself in a bit of a quandary with this book that's kind of amusing in some ways. The first book in the series featured a hard nosed female character who had a bit of a dirty mouth and that didn't sit to well with me. But in the third book, we have a alpha male hero with a potty mouth who hits all the right buttons for me. Apparently, I have a double standard where language and romance are concerned LOL. Kelsie Leverich however seems to have it all under control. Rafe was an amazing character.

Like I said Rafe is totally alpha. He is a bad boy in every sense of the word. He cusses, he drinks, he fights, he has tattoos, but he also has honesty, integrity and honor. He is a military hero who is used to focusing his aggression on missions and has a bit of a hard time turning that off when he isn't in combat. I loved everything about him as a male lead. He was strong, attractive and a bit jaded when it came to romance. Bad experiences in the past had changed him, but once he meets Fallon all of that starts to fade away as the distraction becomes a serious attraction. Loved him.

Fallon was also a very interesting character. It's not often you find a ballet dancer in a stripe club. It also not often the owner of the club is also a dancer. She was an enigma in a lot of ways, but I still felt like I understood her and her need to dance to feel the feelings you have for something you love. She was by no means a push over type of character. She knew exactly who she was and what she wanted out of life and Rafe wasn't it.... or so she thought. I love it when a character is really surprised by who they end up falling for. It gives the love story a very realistic feel. Leverich did it with style in this one.

The combination of these two characters was so charged with emotion and intensity that the reader will probably have to slow down and a take a breather now and then. Rafe plays hard and loves harder and his passion for Fallon is all consuming. When the reader thinks about hot and fierce love, this is probably it. Combustion was inevitable. These two really had good chemistry and Leverich uses every bit of it. The sex is steamy, the romance is intense and it's not an easy road for either of them. Very well done!

What I didn't like:

There truly wasn't a whole lot I didn't like. Leverich seems to have gotten better as the series progressed. Her writing is realistic, it's current and it's full of surprises that even I didn't see coming. What's not to like?

Bottom Line:

As usual Kelsie Leverich provides all the heat and the love I need in a good romance. Her stories have a contemporary edge to them. Her characters are flawed but believable. Her writing is descriptive, but not overdone. It's just the right combination and gets it all right. I loved it.

A Beautiful Distraction is available NOW from your favorite bookseller.

I'm giving this one 5 out of 5 apples from my book bag!

About the Author:

Kelsie Leverich is the New York Times bestselling author of The Valentine’s Arrangement and Feel the Rush. She lives in Indiana with her husband, two children, and their three pets. When she’s not writing, you can usually find her out on the lake with friends and family or snuggling on the couch with her kids and a good book. She loves stories that can sweep you off your feet, make you fall in love, break your heart, and heal your soul.

Giveaway Details:

The publisher is sponsoring a giveaway for one copy of A Beautiful Distraction by Kelsie Leverich.

~ You must be an email subscriber to participate.
~ US addresses only.
~ The deadline to enter this giveaway is Midnight EST, May 26th.

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