Release Review Blitz & Giveaway ($25 GC) - Kiss the Sky

Release Blitz

Title: Kiss the Sky

Authors: Krista & Becca Ritchie

Genre: New Adult Standalone Romance

Release Date: January 24, 2014

Hosted by: Love Between the Sheets Promotions

Synopsis

Virgin. Sex addict. Daredevil. Alcoholic. Smartass … Jackass. Her five friends are about to be filmed. Reality TV, be prepared.

Rose Calloway thought she had everything under control. At twenty-three, she’s a Princeton graduate, an Academic Bowl champion, a fashion designer and the daughter of a Fortune 500 mogul. But with a sex addict as a sister and roommate, nothing comes easy.

After accepting help from a producer, Rose agrees to have her life filmed for a reality television show. The Hollywood exec is her last chance to revive her struggling fashion line, and boundaries begin to blur as she’s forced to make nice with a man who always has his way.

Twenty-four-year-old Connor Cobalt is a guy who bulldozes weak men. He’s confident, smart-as-hell and lives with his equally ambitious girlfriend, Rose Calloway. Connor has to find a way to protect Rose without ruining the show. Or else the producer will get what Connor has always wanted—Rose’s virginity.

This New Adult Standalone Romance can be described as Friends meets The Real World. Expect fist fights, drugs, sex of varying degrees, crude humor and competitive alpha males. Definitely for mature readersaudiences only.

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A Review by Jenna

 Virgin. Sex addict. Daredevil. Alcoholic. Smartass … Jackass. Her five friends are about to be filmed. Reality TV, be prepared. 

I feel I must admit that this is the 1^st book I have read by these authors who I am assuming are sisters.  I actually had no idea that they had written a series that had introduced the people in the book in their previous series. I don’t know whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, but in my opinion it didn’t make a difference as I believe this book can be read as a standalone.

The main 2 characters in the book are Rose Calloway and Connor Cobalt, who have known each other for quite some time before we meet them in this book. The prologue is of Connor at the age of 10 through 19 and we follow Connor through his 10^th birthday party to when he is at the University of Pennsylvania.  At the end of the prologue we meet Rose who is fighting with Connor in the ladies restroom. You can feel the tension in the air and in my opinion their attraction to each other. You know something good is about to start.

Fast forward 5 years. Rose’s business is in a bad shape due to her sister’s very public sexual addiction. Enter Scott Van Wright, who is a serious a-hole if there ever was one. “He carries an air of unwarranted superiority for the pure fact that he has a dick, and he knows it. He expects the girl to go tongue-tied and agree to his every demand.” Lucky for Rose, she is too smart for his BS. Whew! Unfortunately, Scott is going to be producing a reality show about the Calloway’s and their significant others. Rose feels she needs the good publicity to help her business and also for people to see her sister Lily and something other than a sex addict.  The reality show will be for 6 months and 3 camera-people will be following Rose, her 2 sisters Lily and Daisy, Lily’s boyfriend Loren “Lo” (who is a recovering alcoholic), Lo’s brother Ryke and of course Connor, Rose’s now boyfriend who she has been living with for a year. Oh and did I mention that Rose is still a virgin? Yup, she is. I give her props for that. You go, Rose!  Scott is also going to be living with these 6, yippy…

Now that we have a bit of understanding where this book is going I am going to delve into the things I loved, liked and did not like.

I loved Connor and Rose’s relationship. Loved it!

I loved how truly evil Scott was. He makes the most perfect villain.

I loved that there does not seem to be another book that is QUITE like this one. Very unique and I very much appreciated that.

I LOVED the sex scenes. I won’t say who was in them but they were delicious.

I also liked how the heroine (Rose) is not the walk-all-over you type. She’s not a sniveling person but appears to know what she wants and does not want.  

I liked how protective Lo is of Lily. Very sweet and very believable.

Now, a few things that I did not like or did not understand:

How Lily could be a sex addict but be so shy that is not even able to talk about sex. Now, I don’t know much about sex addiction, other than my husband appears to be one. ;)  I can understand her feeling powerful during it and on top of the world, but not feeling so shy speaking of it that she hides her face. I thought this strange.

I could not really connect with Daisy. I know she is 17 years old and under her mother’s control.  I can’t understand why in the world would she date these scum bag guys?? She talks about sex like it’s no issue and I kept thinking that she sounded as if she was the older sister.

I also saw the ending from a mile away. (Which I will not give away, sorry!) And I can’t say that I loved it. It seemed too copy and paste for me. But,  I appreciated that there was no cliffhanger.

I am not sure where this fits in, but I felt the book was a bit too long. At times my interest was lost. It doesn’t need to be a 400 page book (and this one was) as long as it is very well written. Normally the longer the better (Books, ladies!) but in my opinion this one could have been shorter and turned out better.

One last thing.  I hated how there was no repercussions in the end. I don’t feel I can say anything more than that, but again, it was too cut and paste for my taste.  Everything turned out perfectly and I didn’t feel it should have.

All in all I enjoyed the book and give it a 4 star rating.  I would also recommend it to readers who enjoy Romance, and evil, evil villain and a bit of BDSM. ;) (Sorry if that was a bit of a spoiler!)

A Review by Carol 

Book – Kiss the Sky

Author – Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie

Publication Date – January 24, 2014

Type – Offshoot of Addicted Series

Genre –Romance, New Adult

Rating – 4 1/2 out of 5 Stars

Book provided by Author (Release Blitz) in exchange for an honest review.

Wow…you know what?  I haven’t read a book yet about a reality show mixed in with a “New-Adult Romance”….huh….go figure!  I’m not counting EIT because that falls under Paranormal so I’m amazed, this storyline hasn’t been done to death….or maybe I’m just living with my head in the sand.

So, I am the minority in this ARC read – I haven’t read the other books in this series.  I haven’t already been introduced to the major characters and this was the first chance I had to meet and greet and get to know their own individual personalities in the story.  You know what?  I think I liked it better this way, especially since I have been reading other reviews and seeing the complaints about the personalities not exactly matching up from the prior stories.  Instead, I had virgin eyes (that hasn’t happened in eons). 

I absolutely loved this story except……I know, I know….I always have that “except” in my reviews.  I’m sorry but if you want an honest review….sit back and read.  The only quirks I had was minimal compared to the overall affect of the book in my heart.

I guess the easiest way to do this is by a list. (if you know me well enough, you know I’m anal about my lists).  Sorry, I’m going to have to SPOILER this!

SPOILER ALERT ** SPOILER ALERT ** SPOILER ALERT

• After so long of keeping her virginity intact – Rose gave it up too easily and without any hesitation knowing that Connor still didn’t believe in love.
• Scott had me scratching my head on why he gave up on Rose so quickly – if he was that infatuated with her, why not play harder ball? Why not be a bigger obstacle to Connor?
• The last 20% went too quickly and wrapped everything up too neatly.
• Connor’s mom has this “hallelujah - come to Jesus” moment and Connor smacks himself in the head and realizes he’s in love?
• She dies so quickly and without any remorse so that Connor can take over the company.
• The sex tapes turn into a profitable and positive factor in Connor and Rose’s life.
• The engagement and wedding – all in one day.

YOU ARE SAFE NOW

It just seemed a bit too unbelievable that everything could tie up together so nicely and so quickly.

Now….putting that aside, I ate this book up like a box of chocolate chip cookies!  I swore at Scott…..I shook my head in embarrassment at Daisy…..I cheered on Ryke and Lo and I fell in love with Rose.  Connor on the other hand had me swooning and then hating.  It was an “on again – off again” type of love/hate relationship between Connor and I.

Re-Cap

I think I went a tad bit hog-wild in the review so I’m going to keep the re-cap short.  How’s about some cliffy notes (oh wait….my age is showing) what do you “young-uns” call it now?  Sparky something?

1. Rose needs to save her company
2. Rose signs a contract to be in a reality show
3. Connor and Rose have been together for a year
4. Rose is a virgin and teeters on whether to give it up.
5. Rose thinks if she gives it up, Connor will have conquered her and move on.
6. Lily and Lo are the cute couple who can’t keep their hands off each other.
7. Daisy can’t be only 17 with the shit she pulls.
8. Ryke and Daisy secretly have a crush on each other.
9. Scott the evil villain first tries to get Rose to give up her virginity to him.
10. Scott switches tactics and tries to boost ratings by creating obstacles.
11. Scott is an asshole.
12. Rose and Connor continue to be the solid foundation at the house
13. Connor wants Rose as his submissive in the bedroom.
14.  Rose wants dominance but doesn’t understand why that falls flat.
15. Scott is a bigger asshat.
16. The rest is a secret.

Wrap-Up

Seriously, if you haven’t read the first two books, I think you may have a better time with reading this book.  You won’t have the same prejudices everyone else seems to be having.  I enjoyed it….I gobbled it up.  Now it’s your turn!

About the Authors

Krista Ritchie has a clone...or someone who looks exactly like her. If she's not writing books with her twin sister, she's pouring over entertainment news and ingesting copious amounts of pop culture. She likes tennis, that thing called the TV, and beating Becca (her clone) on Sega Genesis. She created YA Book Exchange to combat her book buying addiction and started Nawanda Files, a YA Book Blog that features books into movies news, to share her love for all things bookish. Oh, and she does something called science. Whatever that is.

Krista & Becca Ritchie write New Adult books that make you cringe, gasp, and go ooh-la-la. (If you do that sort of thing.) They are currently working on the spin-offs and final books in the Addicted series.

Connect with the Authors

Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Website | Krista Goodreads | Becca Goodreads

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