Check out a great series, full of family drama and romantic upheaval … I’ve only made it thru the first two so far (and I share what I think below) but I can’t wait to read the others!
*****
Ward Sisters Books 1-4
by Lucy Gage
Ward Sisters Series
Release Date: January 12, 2015
Blurb:
Back to December (Ward Sisters, #1)
Only One (Ward Sisters, #2)
Right Here Waiting (Ward Sisters, #3)
This Year’s Love (Ward Sisters, #4)
Bonus Content
Welcome to the world of the Ward Sisters, Emily, Anne and Charlotte. Get to know them, their friends and the new people who have come into their lives.
Start with Emily’s story, Back to December, where you’ll meet the oldest Ward daughter, and the movie star, Rob Deacon, who sweeps her off her feet.
Then, in Only One, you’ll get to know Emily’s bodyguard, Liam Neely, who happens to be Rob’s best friend. You’ll also meet Jenna Ackerman, Rob’s assistant and his other best friend, the woman with whom playboy Liam falls in love.
In Right Here Waiting, you’ll learn about Emily’s lifelong best friend, Meghan Miles, and meet the soldier who steals her heart, Captain Neil Murphy.
And then, in This Year’s Love, you’ll hear middle sister Annie Ward’s story of how she fell for her sister’s ex-boyfriend, Josh Ricker.
Additional glimpses into the lives of these characters – in the form of deleted scenes which didn’t make it into the published narrative – are included at the end of each story. For any fans of the series, these are peeks at the characters you won’t want to miss.
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*****
Excerpts:
Back to December
Emily looked at Rob and couldn’t read what he was thinking. She could tell there was something on his mind, but she had no clue what it was.
“Care to share?” she asked, curious.
“Can I kiss you?” he replied, his voice steady.
Em was stunned. She didn’t know what to say. It had been over five years since she had been asked to be kissed. She nodded slowly, so as not to appear too eager, though she was, in fact, dying to kiss him. She had been looking at his mouth quite a bit these last few hours, and it always seemed so kissable.
Rob leaned toward her, and she met him halfway. That heady forest scent invaded her nostrils more thoroughly now and her brain swam. He looked at her with a sweet smile, just a little grin that said he was looking forward to this. She met his eyes and his smile with one of her own, though she suspected that, as soon as he’d asked, he’d known what her answer would be by the expression on her face.
His lips brushed against hers, gentle at first, with just a little bit of pressure. The gesture implied respect without stifling the desire that raced through Emily’s blood. Her skin heated and the dampness between her thighs, which had been present since dinner, bordered on embarrassing. How could she want someone so much from just a simple kiss?
Only One
They walked back to the car, hand in hand, in an unusual silence. Jenna started to step around the car to the passenger’s side, and Liam tightened his grip on her hand so she couldn’t let go. Her expression said she was curious as he drew her toward him and leaned against the car hood. She let him guide her until her body was pressed against his and their faces were inches apart.
His heart raced again, which Liam found odd – he hadn’t felt nervous before he kissed a girl since junior high. Swallowing hard, he brushed the hair from her face like he’d done earlier. Her breath hitched, and he knew she wanted him to kiss her as much as he wanted to do it. He looked at her mouth, then into her eyes. They leaned in at the same time, crushing their lips together in a long-overdue kiss.
Heat rushed through his body and his dick hardened before she even slid her tongue into his mouth. As their tongues danced, one hand found her ass and pulled her pelvis to his, while the other threaded into her hair, bringing her mouth closer, and deepening the kiss. She whimpered and gripped his neck.
The kiss lasted a few minutes and then they needed air. They leaned apart, touched foreheads, their breath labored.
“Wow,” Jenna whispered.
“Yeah. I agree,” Liam said.
Right Here Waiting
Meghan stared back at him as intently. Finally, she said, “What’s going on here, Neil?”
“What do you mean?
“This. What’s happening between us? Am I reading you wrong? Are you not interested in me?”
Neil couldn’t let her think that. No. Never. He’d wanted her for too long to let her ever believe he wasn’t interested, even for a moment. He pulled back, stood still and looked at her. He looked at her mouth. He wanted to kiss her, but if he waited until they were alone, she might give up on him. Danny was right, he had to stop sabotaging this.
Neil threaded his hands in her sun-kissed hair. In her eyes, he saw a desire to kiss him as powerful as his own. He leaned in, pressed his lips to hers and a wave of heat washed over him. Meghan leaned into the kiss, opening her lips, and as he slid his tongue into her mouth, Neil had to use every ounce of restraint his military training had afforded him to keep it from getting indecent.
Meghan pulled away and saved Neil from himself.
This Year’s Love
“Are you okay?” she asked.
He nodded slowly and swallowed.
“Uh huh,” he muttered.
His dilated pupils said he liked what he saw. She grinned. In two strides of his long legs, he was right next to her and it was Annie’s turn to gasp – he towered over her.
He looked at her, shook his head, then he crushed her to his body, his face a breath away. She opened her mouth and his tongue plunged inside. Unlike the other morning, he knew this was her and not Em. Yet, he kissed her with even more passion, stealing her air.
Before she knew what was happening, he lifted her off the ground, wrapped her legs around his waist and carried her to the bed. They collapsed onto the mattress, and when his pelvis pressed into her core, they moaned in unison.
“God, you’re beautiful,” he breathed around her lips.
*****
Author Info:
As a child, Lucy Gage relished time to use her imagination, whether it was playing with her siblings – dolls, cars and trucks, make believe, LEGOs – or reading a book. That still translates today, as she writes the stories bouncing through her head, or reads the work of others. Her two imaginative children play the same way she did in her youth and love to read. She considers this her greatest accomplishment to date.
Married for the past dozen years, she and her family live in rural Maine. When not at the keyboard, she most enjoys gardening, hiking, amateur photography, the beach, dancing, crafts, ice skating, snow shoeing, boating and of course, reading.
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*****
Review:
(Because this is a box set of four stories, and I’ve only read the first two, I’m going to give my feelings as I read them so they are independent of each other.)
I really enjoyed the first book – Emily and Rob’s story. It’s an interesting look at the celebrity life and the difficulties that arise when you bring someone in who isn’t used to it. The characters are interesting (both the main and supporting), with an immediate connection. But both of them are insecure and when faced with a big issue, neither of them handles it very well. I got a little frustrated at the two of them but I think the ending was sweet enough to make up for it. Since all of the stories in the box set are in close proximity, both from a time and character perspective, it will be interesting to see them from other’s perspectives in later stories.
I absolutely LOVED Liam in the first story. The friendship that he has with Emily is such a great part of her story and I was curious to see what it would take for him to find The One. Having said that, unfortunately I didn’t like him as much when his story was finished. Through the majority of his story I just wanted to smack him. Granted he’s never been in a serious relationship but he’s old enough to know how this works. One stupid decision after another on his part just frustrated me to no end. Luckily I did like Jenna, at least through the majority of the story. I totally see why she thinks the way she does about her relationship with him (see above stupid decisions) but it definitely goes downhill for me once they get together for good. As much as I was looking forward to seeing Rob and Emily from someone else’s viewpoint, I didn’t enjoy where the story went. Unless it comes into play in Book 3 or 4, I think we could have done without a lot of the soul-searching that was done. I’m also not sure how I feel about the storyline going from present to the past & then working its way back to present, alternating between characters. I can kinda see why, since we’ve seen some of this before with Book 1, but it was awkward at first. Once I got into it though it flowed a lot better. And, like with Rob & Emily’s story, the supporting characters help so much to make this a wonderful read.
I’m looking forward to giving Book 3 a shot – the story of Emily’s friend Meghan. She played just a little role in Emily’s story (and hardly appeared at all in Neil’s) but I’m curious about her. The little we’ve seen about her is intriguing. And Book 4 is definitely on my radar – it gives the other side of Emily’s story and I’m curious to see more of what happened from Josh’s perspective.
*****
Giveaway:
5 Copies of the Ward Sisters Boxed Set (eCopies)
https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/2cf664b41/
*****
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