Review & Giveaway: When We Met Anthology
SYNOPSIS:
Today’s premiere
New Adult authors combine their talents to tell four original stories from
inside one house.
When four girls decide to live off campus together as juniors at a college in Michigan, they expect it to be their best year yet. Little do they know, it’s a year that will change the rest of their lives.
BEHIND HER EYES by A.L. Jackson
Unable to live down her ex-boyfriend’s deception, Misha is determined to avoid betrayal. When, the new guy next door, Darryn starts to get under her skin, her defenses start to crumble. But trusting Darryn seems impossible, especially if he’s not sure he can trust himself.
SAVING ME by Molly McAdams
On the outside, Indy is always ready for a party—but inside she’s breaking. Kier makes a weekly routine of saving the girl next door from herself on Saturday nights… but when will she be ready to remember him on Sunday morning?
FOULING OUT by Tiffany King
Working at a sports bar, Courtney has become a pro at sidestepping propositions from arrogant jocks—which makes her a more elusive catch for campus basketball star Dalton than he expected. But when he falls for the saucy waitress, Dalton will have to rethink his game plan to prove he’s not the jerk Courtney expects.
BENEATH YOUR LAYERS by Christina Lee
In order to ace her fashion internship, Chloe must team up with local college dropout and set builder, Blake—much to her chagrin. But after some "hands-on" experience, Chloe will have to ask herself if Blake factors into her carefully laid plans…
When four girls decide to live off campus together as juniors at a college in Michigan, they expect it to be their best year yet. Little do they know, it’s a year that will change the rest of their lives.
BEHIND HER EYES by A.L. Jackson
Unable to live down her ex-boyfriend’s deception, Misha is determined to avoid betrayal. When, the new guy next door, Darryn starts to get under her skin, her defenses start to crumble. But trusting Darryn seems impossible, especially if he’s not sure he can trust himself.
SAVING ME by Molly McAdams
On the outside, Indy is always ready for a party—but inside she’s breaking. Kier makes a weekly routine of saving the girl next door from herself on Saturday nights… but when will she be ready to remember him on Sunday morning?
FOULING OUT by Tiffany King
Working at a sports bar, Courtney has become a pro at sidestepping propositions from arrogant jocks—which makes her a more elusive catch for campus basketball star Dalton than he expected. But when he falls for the saucy waitress, Dalton will have to rethink his game plan to prove he’s not the jerk Courtney expects.
BENEATH YOUR LAYERS by Christina Lee
In order to ace her fashion internship, Chloe must team up with local college dropout and set builder, Blake—much to her chagrin. But after some "hands-on" experience, Chloe will have to ask herself if Blake factors into her carefully laid plans…
GOODREADS:
BUY LINKS:
Amazon: http://amzn.com/B00INIXHME
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EXCERPTS:
Behind Her Eyes by A.L. Jackson
Now I could feel him, his
eyes all over me, caressing me slowly, up and down.
I let all my insecurities
drift away as I swayed in time to the music, in sync with the throb of the
crowd and the intermittent
lights that glowed against my lids.
A charged moment passed,
before strong hands found my hips and gripped them from behind. For
a beat, I stiffened,
before I again gave in to this sublime release. And again, he felt good. Right.
All this
intense energy that
ricocheted between us wrapped me up in a frenzy of nerves, alight and alive.
The
smell of him took me
whole, all soap and man and sex.
Oh God.
My heart beat frantically,
racing to keep up with my thoughts that were spiraling out of control.
A shimmer of fear
slithered through me, before he pulled my back into the safety of his firm
chest.
And that was what I felt.
Safe.
With him, and I didn’t
know why, and I was searching inside myself for resolve, for the commitment
I’d made to never allow
myself to be so easily played again.
But it was just out of my
reach.
Darryn held me close, our
bodies moving in time, like we shared the same breath, the same space.
I leaned back, my head on
his shoulder as his face found the curve of my neck. Chills sped, spinning my
body into a violent
cataclysm of need. He let his hands roam, palms pressing hard as he ran them
down
the front of my legs,
spanning them wide as he trailed them back up to my hips and over my stomach.
Fingertips dipped into my
ribs as he slid them up the curve of my sides, and he lifted my arms as he
went,
in the same fluid motion
fastening my hands around the back of his neck.
All those butterflies
scattered, a clash of discordant wings that fluttered haphazardly through my
insides, leaving my
stomach in a coiled mess of confusion and need.
Why him? Why now?
Holding me close, he
brushed his mouth over the shell of my ear, his whispered words injected
directly to my manic
heart. “Goddamn, Misha. What are you trying to do to me?”
I suddenly found it
impossible to breathe, because it was him who was slowly undoing all the fibers
of reservation woven
through my weakened spirit.
“Can’t get you off my
mind.” He leaned in closer, his hand sweeping up my stomach. Fingers
brushed between my
breasts, and I released a sharp gasp.
“Been dying to touch you,”
he murmured low.
SAVING ME – MOLLY McADAMS
“I’m about to embarrass the hell
out of myself, but I don’t care anymore. I feel like when I’m near you, I’m
safe, and it makes no sense to me. It is the weirdest feeling to have
with someone I only know three things about.”
My eyebrows rose at that and I
turned to fully face her. “Three?”
“Yes. Three things. Your
name is Kier, you’re extremely quiet, and you are the biggest puzzle I’ve ever
tried to figure out.”
“I’m the puzzle?”
“Yes!” she said in exasperation.
That had to have been the most
backward statement I’d ever heard. “And why am I a puzzle?”
“Because of what I just told you.
I don’t know you, you don’t even talk to anyone, and I feel safe when you’re
near me! Why is that? I feel like I’m going crazy because all I’ve been able to
think about for these past two weeks is you, and how every time you open your
mouth it’s like déjà vu, and I just—I don’t know what’s happening.” Her green
eyes were massive and she looked like she was on the edge of losing her shit.
I took a few steps toward her and
lowered my voice. “Calm down, Indy. You’re fine.”
“I just don’t understand,” she
said loudly, the pitch of her voice rising. “Do you believe in past lives?” she
asked suddenly.
I paused, a laugh slipping past
my lips. “I’m sorry, what?”
“Past lives? Like that whole
stupid YOLO saying is really just bullshit, because we’re about to get another
shot down the road?”
I tried to contain my smile, but
she was really fucking adorable when she was like this. “What does that have to
do with what you’re freaking out over?”
“In stories with soul mates they
find each other no matter what in every life. And it’s like they have a weird
connection they can’t explain.”
I closed the distance between us
and dropped my head so I was looking directly into her eyes. “Are you saying
we’re soul mates?”
“No!” she said, horror lacing her
voice, her cheeks filling with heat.
“I think you were,” I teased.
“I wasn’t, I was just saying that
in stories . . . I don’t know what I’m saying, okay? But I don’t get what’s
going on with us!”
“So now there’s an us?”
“Oh my God,” she whispered. “I
need to stop talking.”
I laughed and took a step back.
“I’m teasing you, Indy. And no, I don’t believe in past lives. I think we have
this one, and that’s it.”
She sighed, and her body visibly
relaxed. When she spoke again, she sounded exhausted—and in a way, defeated. “I
don’t, either, but I can’t figure out how to explain this feeling like I know
you.”
I ground my jaw for a few seconds
as her green eyes held mine. “Because maybe you do know me. You’re just not
ready to remember why.”
Beneath Your Layers
Christina Lee/When We Met Anthology
I motioned
for the bar. “Want me to get you a soda or a water?”
Chloe
stared at me for another long moment before she said, “No, thanks.”
We listened
to the next song quietly standing beside each other, lost in our own thoughts.
Until she turned to me and said, “Truth or dare?”
“Dare,” I
said, almost breathless. Given her mood, maybe she’d give me something good
this time.
“Your turn,
Blake,” she said. “Do something spontaneous.”
My fingers
trembled from wanting to touch her so badly and all I could think about was
doing just that.
“You sure
that’s what you want?” I said, turning and backing her against the wall.
“Yes,” she
breathed out.
“Something
spontaneous or something I’ve been thinking about doing for days?” I said, my
lips coming closer to hers. “Maybe weeks?”
Her breath
caught. “It . . . it’s your call.”
My head
swung forward, our foreheads practically touching. Fluttery breaths were
escaping her lips. I place my arms on either side of her head and she bit down
on her lip.
My heart
thrashed in my chest and all I could think about was how desperate I was to
kiss her, but how nervous I was to blow this opportunity.
So I
attempted to read her signals and they were definitely mixed. Her eyes flitted
between panic and lust.
When I
pinned my hip against hers, I could’ve sworn I heard a low moan in the back of
her throat.
“Please,”
she rasped out. “Please . . . don’t . . . Blake.”
My stomach
was in my throat. Fuck, either I’d scared her or I’d been reading her wrong.
I leaned
back to give her space, but her fingers suddenly skimmed across my waist,
clenching my shirt and drawing me nearer.
“Don’t
what?” I asked in confusion. She was so fucking messing with my head.
“Don’t . .
.” She was panting now. “Don’t stop.”
Fouling Out
By
Tiffany King
From
the upcoming New Adult anthology
The
warmth inside the building was soothing after walking from the car outside. I
felt mildly disappointed when Dalton dropped his arm from my shoulders, until
he reached for my hand. As we strolled along, I became hyperaware of how
something as innocent as handholding could become somewhat erotic while sipping
wine together. Dalton slid his thumb across the top of my hand in slow
methodical strokes before gently caressing my pulse point. The hairs on the
back of my neck felt as if they were standing on end. Each sweep of his thumb
was a sensual dance with my sensitive skin, making it tingle.
It
was becoming apparent to me that it might have been a bad call on my part to
skip lunch. Between the scent of Dalton’s cologne and the alcohol I was
consuming, I was already feeling slightly intoxicated. I nibbled on a few cubes
of cheese to attempt to alleviate the buzzing in my head. Dalton’s breath
teased my neck, making me shiver in a good way. I should have put some distance
between us so I could regain my bearings, but instead I snuggled closer to him,
wishing we were somewhere else with a lot fewer people around.
All
the air escaped my lungs as Dalton slowly captured a bead of wine from my
bottom lip with his finger. I watched with bated breath as he moved the finger
to his own mouth, sucking the drop of wine. It was all I could do not to moan
as my insides turned to putty.
“You
need to stop looking at me like that,” Dalton murmured in my ear.
“Like
what?” I licked the rest of the wine off my lip with the tip of my tongue.
This
time it was Dalton who groaned softly. Placing his hands on my hips, he slowly
backed me into a dim corner, away from prying eyes. “Like you’re thinking how
great it would feel if I hoisted you up on that wine barrel table over there
with your legs wrapped around my waist.”
“Are
you sure that’s not you thinking that?” My hips responded almost instinctively
as he pulled me snugly against his body. I could feel him, rock hard, pressed
to my stomach. The wanting desire I had been keeping at bay from the moment he
showed up at my house looking practically delectable with low-riding jeans and
a black V-neck sweater that accentuated his well-toned chest was threatening to
explode.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this anthology. I love all of these authors individually, so why wouldn't I love them all in one place? Each novella tells the story of one of four roommates in what they've dubbed "Hamilton House." And with each story, you can easily see why these authors shine in the New Adult genre. Although they have very limited roles in each others' stories, it gave a little more depth to the novellas to see little glimpses of the different characters throughout the whole anthology. Generally, I usually find novellas a little too short to feel complete, and while these definitely all had a clear beginning-middle-end, with every one, I was disappointed (sometimes even a little shocked) it was already over. But, again, I think that's a testament to how well these ladies can write that I wanted more! Out of the four, my favorite was probably the first story, A.L. Jackson's Behind Her Eyes - I just connected to those characters the best, but I enjoyed all four stories in their own right.
When We Met (as an anthology): 4/5 stars
BEHIND HER EYES by A.L. Jackson: 4.5/5 stars
SAVING ME by Molly McAdams: 4.5/5 stars
FOULING OUT by Tiffany King: 3.5/5 stars
BENEATH YOUR LAYERS by Christina Lee : 3.5/5 stars
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