Saturday, November 4, 2017

New Release-Review: REAWAKEN by Christina Lee-Includes Excerpt & Giveaway!


REAWAKEN
UNDER MY SKIN SERIES, BOOK 2
CHRISTINA LEE
M/M ROMANCE
RELEASE DATE: 11.02.17


Cover Designer: KANAXA

BLURB
Losing his adoring husband shattered Tristan Rogers world. For the past few years, he’s been going through the motions, running their dog grooming business while hiding the loneliness he feels down to his bones. When he witnesses an ugly breakup between a pretentious customer and his boyfriend, Tristan can’t help but intervene. Something about the unassuming younger man calls to him, and he can’t help wondering if he’s experienced some heartache of his own.
Life took a tragic turn for Jonas “West” Hollis as a teen, and he’s felt indebted to his overbearing lover ever since. Tristan’s kindness draws him from the start, but with his dreams finally in reach, West can’t risk getting close to someone else. Not now that he can live his life and stand on his own merit.
From innocent texts to companionable rides on Tristan’s boat, what starts as an unexpected friendship between the men sparks into undeniable attraction. Neither are ready for anything deeper than a couple of passionate nights wrapped in each other’s arms but their connection becomes too intense for either to ignore. If Tristan and West want to heal their broken hearts, they’ll need a considerable amount of trust and courage—not only in themselves but also each other.

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EXCERPT

“Promise you won’t let me drown?”

“If I did, I’d miss out on whatever meal you promised as payback,” he replied with a smirk. “And believe me, I’m all for that.”

A nervous laugh jumped from my throat, even though the idea of cooking for him—for anybody, really—thrilled me. I pulled the sticky orange life vest over my neck and fastened it, figuring I’d bob around at first and get used to the water.

After I jumped in, I stuck close to Tristan, still nervous that I’d somehow float away from him and feel abandoned in this giant body of water.

“You ready to try without the life vest?” he asked in a tentative voice.

My pulse pitched, but I still nodded. I knew he wouldn’t leave me stranded or let anything happen to me.

“We’ll just practice floating.”

Tugging me closer to the edge of the boat, he helped unsnap the vest. As he fished it over my shoulders, his gaze met mine. “It’s okay. I got you.”

He placed the vest on the platform, where my fingers were digging into the edge for dear life.

Tristan moved behind me, his hands winding around my waist, and I immediately felt goose bumps line my skin. Just like I did when I was lying in bed with him. His lips found my ear, and it made all the hair along my nape stand on end. “Breathe, West. It’s going to be okay.”


Carra's Review

Here’s an easy summary for you: GO BUY THIS BOOK!  It’s sweet without being overly so, sensual and sexy, a wonderful hurt/comfort story (for both main characters), and yes it did make me swoon :-)  A nice bonus was the bit of age gap between Tristan and West.

Both West and Tristan have had terrible loss in their past, Tristan his husband and West…well, everyone.  They come together through a kind of unexpected meeting, and very slowly form first a tentative acquaintance—which gradually moves on to friendship and eventually one heck of a lot more.  Things progress at an unhurried pace as West tries to spread his wings for the first time, craving his independence and wanting to make it on his own after years of support that he now feels stifled by.  Tristan is the one to allow West his space, respecting his needs and supporting him unconditionally…even if they are just starting out as friends.

There is so much love, support, and tenderness to be found in these pages, along with grief to come to terms with and healing.  It was incredibly gratifying to see West come into his own, no to mention Tristan finally taking a chance to move on.  And the two of them together are a completely natural fit, their relationship easily developing and filled with emotion.

The angst level is just right, and the bit of tension introduced with West’s ex is well done without being excessively dramatic.  We also get to see characters from the first book of the series, which I love to see.  The themes of love, trust and healing flow smoothly throughout the story, and by the end that warm and fuzzy feeling was flowing quite strongly for me.


Reawaken is a story I can highly recommend, it was a 5-star read for me and is definitely re-read material.  Even though it is part of a series, it can be read as a standalone—but I’m pretty sure if you haven’t read the first story, Regret, yet then you’ll surely want to once you’re done.  This book is meant for readers 18+ for adult language and sizzling sexual content.





Mother, wife, reader, dreamer. Christina lives in the Midwest with her husband and son--her two favorite guys. She's addicted to lip balm, coffee, and kissing. Because everything is better with kissing.

She writes MM Contemporary as well as Adult and New Adult Romance. She believes in happily-ever-afters for all, so reading and writing romance for everybody under the rainbow helps quench her soul.



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1 comment:

  1. Oh that's difficult so I'll say the first one I read "The Darkest Flame"

    ReplyDelete