Blog Tour: Kristen Ashley's "Sebring (Unfinished hero #5)."

The Hopeless Romantics Book Blog are pleased to be a part of the Blog Tour for Kristen Ashley's "Sebring (Unfinished hero #5)."

Amazon.com:   http://amzn.to/1OhsUBy

Amazon UK:    http://amzn.to/1ltJ8Rv

Synopsis:

Nick Sebring has issues. Born feeling like an outsider in his own family, growing up under the shadow of a brother who could do anything, Nick isn’t that great of a guy. But when this culminates with Nick lashing out to hurt his brother through the woman he loves, Nick turns inward and makes some decisions about the man he intends to be. 

And as he does this, he falls in love and truly learns the man that he’s grown to be. 

When his love is murdered right before Nick’s eyes, Nick knows he has to avenge her. He knows how he’s going to avenge her. And he has no qualms using Olivia Shade to exact that vengeance. 

Olivia Shade has grown up on the outside of her family too. Her problem is that they don’t want her outside. They want her all the way in, right under their thumbs. She pays the price for seeking escape and learns her lesson—she’ll never see a dawn where she wakes up free. 

Then she meets Nick Sebring, and even as she fights it, the hope that died years ago starts to blossom. She can find love. She can have a man of her own. She can be happy. She can be free. 

Olivia hopes while Nick schemes. 

However, as Nick peels back the layers of all that is Olivia Shade, he finds something surprising. He understands its fragility. He falls in love with its beauty. He seeks to protect it. 

But he forgets to protect his Livvie from one thing: Nick Sebring.

Review: Surj 

Kristen Ashley's "Sebring" absolutely killed me. It was one of those books that was read with such a heavy heart from start to almost finish, leaving me feeling so sad for the most part. Don't get me wrong, Nick and Olivia's story was absolutely brilliant and there isn't a single thing I could fault about it but their journey to finding their HEA was definitely not an easy one, where love, loyalty and trust would be tested to it's very limits, that sense of foreboding never far from my mind.  

What I absolutely loved about this couple's relationship was the pace at which it developed from sex into so much more. It was a slow build and rightfully so. Here were two people from the opposite sides of the fence. Two people who had been hurt and so devastatingly so in the past. Two people who struggled to trust. Two people who would fight their feelings until the fight was completely knocked out of them and what was left was something so beautiful, so moving, so touching, so almost perfect, it was difficult not to fly the flag for a HEA for them. I savoured every single minute of what Nick and Olivia shared but in my heart of hearts I knew that at some point the wind would be knocked from my very lungs because anything built on lies and deceit never had a chance of turning out good. And so I braced myself for that fall, knowing full well it would come at some point. 

For one magnificent second, connected to Nick Sebring, I believed. I believed in 

a better world. I believed I could feel complete. I believed I could have someone by my 

side. I believed I could feel safe. I believed I could be happy. I believed I could be loved. 

Right from the start, there was a depth, an intensity to Nick and Olivia's story that took ahold of my heart and refused to let it go. I was so absorbed, so engrossed, so captivated and so addicted to what unraveled before me that I struggled to put this book down. In fact I read it in one day, I was so invested in what I was reading. Nick Sebring stole my heart. He was absolutely perfect in every way, even his imperfections had me swooning like a giddy teenage One Direction fan. He was the epitome of man and his bedroom skills were just unbelievably wow. Be prepared for freezer time ladies because this was also one very hot read. 

If before sex it had been a battle for control for us, now it was war. 

It wasn't hungry. It was wild. Frenzied. Abandoned. 

And Olivia, it was difficult not to be affected by her story. She was in a world she didn't belong, locked in a cage with no way out. She'd tried once and failed, the consequences leaving me absolutely shattered for her. I completely understood why she closed herself off from the world. It wasn't about being an ice cold princess, it was about protecting everyone from the life that had been forced upon her. If anyone needed saving, it was Olivia and I was praying that Nick Sebring would be that knight in shining armour. 

With the time they'd spent together, he know knew so deep it was the fucking air he

breathed that Olivia Shade was something of exquisite beauty not allowed to be what she 

needed to be. She was not a ghost who could be seen. She was a hostage in a lavish cade. 

"Sebring" was such an amazing conclusion to the "Unfinished Hero" series and I have to say, it was actually my favourite of the five books. In fact this is probably in my top five favourite KA books EVER, it was that good. The story line, the characters, the writing, everything about it was simply impeccable and I loved how so many of the characters from the previous books were brought in, their stories equally given a nice little conclusion that left me feeling more than a little contented. I'm absolutely gutted it's all over. This book really was the icing on the cake for this series. Oh and the epilogue I guess would be that perfect little cherry on top. 

"You mean more to me than yesterday. And yesterday you meant a fuckova lot to me."

"Sebring" gets a well deserved ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️  from me. 

Excerpt:

In the hotel room, Nick heard the knock at the door.

He moved to it, looked out the peephole and felt the corners of his mouth hitch up when he saw her.

Fuck, those big green eyes, perfectly arched dark brows, the olive tint to her skin, the expert way she shaded under her cheekbones…

She was a coldhearted criminal but she was one that was very easy to look at.

And even easier to fuck.

He opened the door.

He was going to say something but he didn’t get the chance when her hand darted out and she caught him under his jaw, using it to push him in and around until his back hit wall.

She stared up at him, her hand wrapped around his jaw, her expression holding an emptiness that was so extreme it was almost like a void he could fall into and get lost forever.

He heard the door swish closed and latch.

Then she was up on her toes, her head moving toward his, those green eyes dropping to his mouth.

She didn’t get her lips to his before his tongue was out, as was hers, both of them colliding and tangling before her mouth slammed to his just as her body pushed in, pressing hard, forcing him tighter to the wall.

He shoved out. Gripping her wrist at his jaw, he yanked it down, twisting and slamming her against the wall, slanting his head to deepen an already deep kiss. Their tongues again clashing before he actually took her mouth.

But he took her mouth.

And like she’d done to his, he consumed it.

His fingers still around her wrist, he yanked it around his back, using his body to shove her tight to the wall, pressing his hardening cock against her stomach.

She arched, and moving quickly, whipped him around so his back was to the wall and she took over the kiss. Tearing her wrist from his hold, she curled her fingers around his throat just as she cupped his hardening crotch with her other hand.

Fucking hell, this woman was hot.

But he was done playing.

And he was done kissing.

Her mouth, that was.

He pushed her away. She struggled to regain control.

She lost this struggle when he caught her hand and dragged her down the short hall into the room.

She lost her footing when he gave her hand a strong tug and she fell into him with a soft gasp.

He let her hand go, caught her hips and threw her four feet onto the bed.

That got him another soft gasp which took his cock from hardening to rock-solid and throbbing.

He bent over her, holding her now intense green gaze, spanning her hips with his hands. Shoving backwards, he found the hook of her skirt, released it and pulled down the zipper.

He moved his fingers to curl them into the sides of her skirt’s waistband. With a vicious tug that took her hips and panties with it, he yanked off the skirt.

Chest to the bed, eyes to her cunt, the black curls neatly groomed with a precision that meant her wax technician was a master with possible OCD issues, they were also glistening with wet.

Having the tussle at the door, seeing the utter perfection of her pussy, smelling her, watching her legs part in invitation, her knees shifting up, Nick couldn’t have gone gentle if he’d wanted to.

Luckily he didn’t want to.

He bent his neck and devoured her.

Fuck, she tasted just as perfect as she looked.

As he fed, he felt her excitement ramp. Tasted it. Ate it. Gave her more. Consumed the result. Drove her to the edge.

And when he had her there, he stopped and moved over her.

Not surprisingly, she used both the pump she already had planted into the bed and the calf she had wrapped around him to flip him and then she was straddling him, pushing up, her hands already to his fly.

Normally, he would not allow this.

Her face flushed with need, her manner urgent, even desperate, all that surged through his blood, his gut, straight to his cock.

So he allowed this.

She tugged his pants down, grabbed his dick, guided it to her and took him home.

At the beauty of her sheathing him, he gritted his teeth against the urge to let go and release way too fucking early. Bucking his hips, he watched how much she liked taking him, her head thrown back, her shining, straight mass of silken black hair swaying.

Then she dropped forward into a hand in the bed by his side, locked eyes with him and rode him violently as he watched until she gave it to herself and she kept doing it until she forced it from him.

Fucking spectacular.

He came down buried inside her, his eyes opening to see her still resting in her hand in the bed, her body moving gently with her still-labored-but-evening breathing, her dark hair framing her oval face, her straight bangs brushing her lashes, her green eyes locked to his trying to brand him, make him hers.

No way in fuck that was happening.

But he’d take more of this.

A lot more.

That said, the woman was going to learn how to give up control.

Not surprisingly, without a word, she swung off his cock, moving immediately toward the side of the mattress.

Nick focused on pulling up his trousers, doing the fly and angling off the bed. By the time he was up and had turned his attention back to her, she was on her feet, facing him, arms twisted behind her to do up the skirt she’d put on.

He held her gaze.

“We got all night, Olivia,” he informed her.

Not even a hint of a response to him calling her the name she hadn’t given him.

Then again, he knew she knew him; she’d make it her business.

She also knew he’d do the same with her, even before he sat next to her the night before.

Her expression might not have changed but his words spurred her to action, this being walking his way.

She stopped. Her eyes still on his, she lifted a hand and touched his chest lightly with just the pad of her middle finger.

It lasted half a second.

Then she dropped her hand, turned and walked away.

He heard the door close behind her and he couldn’t stop his smile.

Fuck yes, a seriously cool customer.

And the hottest fuck he’d had in his life.

Author Bio:

I was born a middle class white child in Gary, Indiana, USA. One of the last of a dying breed. I nearly killed my mother and myself making it into the world, seeing as I had the umbilical cord wrapped around my neck (already attempting to accessorize and I hadn’t taken my first breath!). Mom says they took me away, put her back in her room, she looked out the window, and Gary was on fire (Dr. King had been assassinated four days before). She remembered thinking it was the end of the world. Quite the dramatic beginning.

Nothing’s changed.

All I’ve ever wanted to do was write (well, and be the Queen of the World, but you gotta start small) and I’ve published a gazillion books and counting (and a gazillion is a lot! shoo!).You can learn about my titles that have been released or that are soon to be released in the Titles section of the website. Even though I jump genres, there is always a theme to my books…humor (hopefully), engaging characters (again, hopefully) and romance (definitely).

My loves are movies, music, food and fashion and I partake of all of them as often as I can (the middle two more than the others, the former, which takes time I don’t often have and the latter, which takes money I rarely have). In fact, I love food so much, I like to share my good fortune so I put my recipes on offer for you on this page (see top menu and don’t miss them, they’re awesome!).

I grew up in Brownsburg, Indiana and have lived in Denver, Colorado and the West Country of England. Thus I’m blessed to have friends and family around the globe. My family was (is) loopy (to say the least) but loopy is good when you want to write and growing up it was large and multi-generational. We all lived together on a very small farm in a small farm town in the heartland. I grew up with Glenn Miller, The Everly Brothers, REO Speedwagon and Whitesnake (and the wardrobes that matched). Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music, clothes and love was a good way to grow up.

And as I keep growing up, it keeps getting better.

So here I am, thank goodness.