Friday, April 12, 2013

VBT: Giveaway and Review ~ High Stakes by Cheryl Douglas



BLURB:

Former party girl, Alisa Turner, made a deal with her daddy, Trey. He’ll provide the seed money for her new business venture as long as she promises to stay out of trouble. Too bad her good intentions tumble 30,000 feet when she meets a sexy stranger on a flight to sin city.

Hotel mogul, Liam Bryson, has never believed in love at first sight, but when a sexy little siren twenty years his junior tempts him into a night of high stakes Blackjack, he’s suddenly playing for keeps.

Alisa wakes up in Liam’s bed the next morning, cursing Tequila and the five carat diamond on her left hand. She demands an annulment before her over-protective father finds out she reneged on their agreement, but her new hubby isn’t prepared to let her go without a fight.


Purchase Links:

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Excerpt:

“Good afternoon,” he said, beginning a lazy perusal that started with her bare, bronzed legs and ended where it had started, fixed on her eyes.

Alisa was too shocked by her physical reaction to his scrutiny to respond to the casual greeting. She was used to male admiration, but when a man was this obvious, she usually felt irritated, not warm and tingly all over.

His eyes zeroed in on her bare left hand, and he smiled, revealing a flash of white teeth and disarming grin so sexy it should have come with a warning label. No man had a right to be this handsome. It simply wasn’t fair to the poor unsuspecting girl seated next to him with no hope of defending herself when endless hours filled with nothingness stretched out before them.

“Your boyfriend must be crazy to let you travel to Sin City all by your lonesome.” His voice was low and raspy, filled with sexual innuendo and promise.

“I, uh…” Spit it out, damn it. “Don’t have a boyfriend.”

He licked his full lips as his intense eyes outlined her face. “Husband, fiancé… lover?” His voice deepened even more as he uttered the last word, sending thrill bumps skittering across her bare skin.

“No, no, and…” She drew a shallow gulp of air into her lungs, but the word still sounded breathless. “No.”

“Damn, I really need to fly commercial more often. I had no idea what I was missing out on.” He smiled again as he extended his hand. “Liam.”

She hadn’t expected his hands to be calloused or rough, and they weren’t. He was obviously accustomed to sitting behind a desk, and that suited her just fine. She loved elegant, refined men, and he more than filled the bill. “Alisa.”


Author Bio: 


Cheryl began her professional career as a nutritionist, but her love of books started at an early age. She studied writing for many years before she decided to pursue her passion as a full-time career. After receiving constructive criticism from several well-known authors, Cheryl finally had the confidence to write her first romance novel.

The first book in the Nashville Nights series, Shameless, was a book that had been dwelling in Cheryl’s subconscious for years. For her, the surprise came when the manuscript began taking on a life of its own. Characters came to life, secondary characters became more prominent, outlines were forgotten, and a single title evolved into an eight book series, and another eight book spin-off series entitled Nashville Nights, Next Generation.

One word would aptly describe Cheryl: workaholic. She lives and breathes her writing, when she’s sleeping, watching TV, driving, reading… it’s always in the periphery of her mind. Her imagination rarely takes a holiday, even when she escapes to a sandy beach with her husband and son, she’s planning, plotting, outlining, and daydreaming.

Cheryl feels blessed to be able to get up every day and do something she loves. The thousands of fans who have embraced the Nashville Nights have made that possible. She writes for the readers who ask for more, she writes to satisfy the muse residing inside of her, but most of all, she writes because she couldn’t imagine doing anything else with her life. It took her thirty-seven years to decide what she wanted to be when she grew up, but now that she knows, she’s convinced she’s found her purpose.


Website / Facebook


Cheryl will be awarding the following prizes to randomly drawn commenters during the tour:

* two $20 Amazon Gift Cards

* ten trading card/cover flat packs (US/Canada)

* ten eBooks from the Nashville Nights series (winner's choice)

* two sterling silver necklaces (US/Canada)


As always the more posts you comment on during the tour, the more chances you have to win!

Here is the Tour Schedule.



My Thoughts:

High Stakes is a gamble that I would recommend taking. This book was a pretty quick read.

I liked the characters and the story. This book had romance that was more mature in nature. ;-)

Alisa met Liam on an airplane and they agree to spend the day together. He decides he will not let her go and the rest as they say, is history.

Alisa is not quite over her broken heart. She had found her fiance cheating on her. She tries to get over it by being obnoxious and partying too much. Her Dad says she needs to get it together or she's cut off.

Liam is twenty years older than Alisa and raising a 14 year old daughter but he knows that he wants Alisa on a much more permanent basis.

This story is a little far fetched but well written and very enjoyable.  I rolled my eyes a few times but continued on with the story. I liked it and will be reading the next book as well. :D

I would probably recommend this one to romance readers, provided that they aren't looking for something really deep and realistically meaningful.

I received a copy of High Stakes from Goddess Fish in exchange for my honest opinion. I honestly enjoyed it and I will read the next book in the series as well! 


Have you ever hit it off with someone on an airplane?






I'd love to know what you're thinking. Please leave a comment!

30 comments:

  1. No but i have only taken a plane 3 times in my life ( oki 6 with the return^^) and i was a child most of the time^^;; then i was student and i went to study abroad so too much stress to think about anything else.

    this could be a good read when i don't want something too long or too serious... the excerpt made me smile after all^^

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    Replies
    1. You'd like it. There are some serious moments, don't get me wrong.

      Delete
    2. oups i forgot my email once again -_-
      isabelle(dot)frisch(at)gmail(dot)com
      and to be precise i enter for the international prize ( amazon gift card/ebook)

      thanks!

      Delete
  2. I've never had a 'Liam' sitting beside me on a plane. Worse luck!!

    marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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  3. Thanks so much for having me to today and thank you for taking the time to read High Stakes!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for stopping by and for the good read. :D

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  4. Anonymous had something interesting to say, HUH? LOL. I like that it's a quick read and a mature romance. I'm the kind of reader you mention...I don't want my reads to be too deep and if it's a tad of a stretch in the realism department, that's OK with me. I don't need my romances to be very realistic.
    catherinelee100 at gmail dot com

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    1. lol! IDK what that was all about.

      I like a variety and I did like it. Some people don't so I like to let them know what they are looking forward to.

      That being said, I've read books that stretched reality a little too far. High Stakes was mostly believable. :-)

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  5. I agree with Mary, I've never had a Liam sit beside me either. I get stuck with a 90 year old man.

    Kit3247(at)aol(dot)com

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  6. Nope. I haven't really traveled by airplanes much, though. I'm from Europe :)

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  7. I'm actually glad you mentioned there were parts that stretched realism for you, Brenda. While I was writing it I questioned the whole 'love at first sight' thing so much I put the question out there on Facebook. I wanted to know if most readers would find that a stretch. I'm so glad I did. I heard the best real life love at first stories that day. Those are the kind of stories that inspire my books, so just asking the question turned out to be a blessing!

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  8. I believe in love at first sight too. I married mine. :-)

    Also, books would be boring if you all followed the same formula all of the time. I'm glad you followed your instincts and wrote it this way.

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  9. +JMJ+

    I once sat next to a guy who turned out to be from Manchester, hometown to a couple of my favourite bands. We didn't speak until there were only two hours of the flight left, and it was mostly friendly chat. Neither of us was very interested in making friends! But I do regret only asking him about one band and not the other, just because I was a little embarrassed to admit I was a fan of the latter. Who knows? He might have been a fan, too!

    Anyway, even if I were lucky enough to sit next to a Liam, I think the opportunity would be lost on me! =P

    Responding to your review now . . . Children can often be quite unrealistic in Romances. I recall reading one story in which the heroine was a widow who didn't think the hero (with whom she had a "friends with benefits" relationship) would hack it as a stepfather. He was determined to prove her wrong and asked her to let him baby-sit the children for a few hours. And he proceeded to bomb miserably! LOL! The story did not actually resolve that conflict, but since they agreed to stay together, anyway, we can assume that they learned to work it out the way we ordinary mortals do.

    In any case, I'm not sure how much realism the Romance genre can really support. As you said, this book was so unrealistic at times that you were rolling your eyes. On the other hand, a book which goes too far in the other direction, so that it loses a bit of the "faerie-tale" aspect, might not have the satisfying Happily Ever After we read the genre for.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad that they are each different. I would hate to get bored with reading.

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  10. Hm maybe I'll try this one. If you liked it then I prolly will too! :) And no cant say that I have hit if off with anyone on an airplane.
    -Amber
    goodblinknpark(AT)yahoo(DOT)com

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    Replies
    1. Me either Amber. Of course it'd be hard for me to do considering I've never flown on one. lol!

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  11. Even far fetched stories are fun to read about! Think about things like twilight or something! I think this sounds like a fabulous read.

    andralynn7 AT gmail DOT com

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    Replies
    1. Yes and I like Twilight but the difference is in paranormal books we know not to expect reality right from the start. lol!

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  12. I must have missed out on a Liam as well. Bummer
    debby236 at gmail dot com

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  13. No, I don't like flying. Too nervous for anything!
    bhometchko(at)hotmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've never flown. I don't think my nerves could handle it!

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  14. THANKS FOR THE GIVEAWAY AND GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR BOOK! SHELLEY S. calicolady60@hotmail.com

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  15. No Liam's for me on planes either and I've flew a lot however not in recent years. I did marry my Liam although he has a different name and we're closer in age. He was very bold as well and knew exactly what he wanted too. So here we are 20 years later and 6 beautiful children as well :)
    Thanks,
    Lori
    lorih824 at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Lori,

      Isn't it wonderful to know you have what others are still looking for and unfortunately some will never find?

      I know that I appreciate having my husband and I feel for all those still looking. Especially when they don't have many good prospects.

      Have a great day!

      Delete
  16. I wish! I have never had anything exciting happening on a plane (romance-wise anyways lol). But once I did have a very cute guy sit next to me on a train and we ended up talking almost the entire trip until we both got off and went our separate ways

    xo_veronica16[at]hotmail[dot]com

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  17. I've only flown on a plane twice by myself, and only one before I met my husband, and I was heading to my then boyfriend. So, I would say no not in a romantic sense. I have however, talked to the person sitting next to me and had some nice conversations.

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  18. I had one passenger (well, two really) who helped me calm down after a very stressful take off. But other than that, no. Both were female -- very sweet. And one didn't even speak English, but held my hand at take off.

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