Release Blast & Review - Consolation Prize
Consolation Prize by Linda Kage
Series: Forbidden Men #9
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary Romance
Release Date: November 12, 2016
Synopsis
Don't you just hate it when someone destroys all your carefully made plans? I mean, I had goals: college to graduate in one semester, a future I was working hard to reach, and an image of myself I wanted the world to see. My life was stacked into these precisely placed blocks. But then Colton Gamble came along and knocked them all askew. I hated how he messed everything up, how he could hog all my attention whenever he was around, how he made my pulse quicken--but only because he ticked me off...not because I was attracted to him. Oh! And I hated how he knew how attractive he was too, the shallow, full of himself, doesn't take no for an answer, too-flirty, too cocky, extremely irritating jerk. The boy had all the qualities that turned me off. Or so I thought. One night he wasn't quite the brainless, over-confident jerk I usually took him for. One night, he took care of me when I was at my lowest. He opened up to me and made me open up to him. Now I'm learning maybe he's not what I first thought he was. And maybe I'm not what I first thought I was. Maybe it’s okay to rearrange a couple of my perfectly set blocks. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll stop worrying about what I’m afraid everyone else will think and finally reach for something I really want. It’s possible some of my plans need to be destroyed, and Colton Gamble is exactly the kind of mess I need in my life. What do you think? Should I give him a try?
Desperately seeking your advice,
Julianna Radcliffe
Review
Linda Kage has managed to do it again! I have been following the Forbidden Men series since the very beginning and I cannot begin to explain just how much I have truly loved reading about these wonderful characters for the past 3+ years. When the author first announced that Sarah, Brandt and Colton were all getting their own books in the series I was super ecstatic. In Priceless (Forbidden Men #8), Sarah and Brandt’s story, we got to see two characters that we’ve grown to love finally get their happily ever after. In their book we are introduced to Julianna Radcliffe, a new bartender at the Forbidden Nightclub who eventually becomes Colton’s love interest in the Consolation Prize (Forbidden Men #9). It’s hard to imagine that some people seemed to dislike this book so much because of Julianna’s personality, but I think once you’ve made it through about 50% of the book you start to see the reasoning behind it. The story begins at Brandt and Sarah’s wedding reception where Colton is giving his best man speech for the happy couple. Colton Gamble, the youngest of the Gamble clan has finally turned 18 making him legal in the eyes of the law. When his older brother, Brandt, asks him to distract Julianna Radcliffe (a women he went on less than 1/2 a date with before Sarah), he jumps at the chance, offering himself up as a Consolation Prize for her. Unfortunately, she makes a mistake right before they are about to get down to business. Luckily, they eventually find their way back to one another and their relationship begins to blossom into the perfect HEA. Since I don’t want to give any spoilers away, I will just say that you need to read Colton and Julianna’s story because it is an extraordinary one! Pick up your copy of the Consolation Prize (Forbidden Men #9) today!
Teasers
Excerpt
“Juli can’t stop staring at you tonight.” “Juli?” That name perked me to immediate attention. “Julianna’s here?” I followed Asher’s gaze to a dimly-lit table in the back corner that bordered the dance floor. It was empty save for one individual, one of the loveliest individuals to grace the planet. I have no clue how she did it, but Julianna Radcliffe always managed to look equal parts disdainfully untouchable and wet-dream sexy.
Tonight, her dress was pure sin. She wore a long, strapless light gray number that had a front slit, exposing a perfectly toned leg most the way up her thigh and a bustier top that hugged proud, ample breasts. The paleness of her dress made the tone of her skin appear even darker than usual, which made my stomach knot with tension because I yearned to investigate all that dark-dark skin, see how it felt under my hands, how it tasted against my tongue, how it trembled when I stroked it. Yet I knew without a shadow of a doubt there was no way that would ever happen, because that lady right here was a ball breaker. You could tell it by the straight-backed, poised way she held herself, as if she might as well be behind a boardroom table, doling out punishments to her inferior insubordinates, and by the way she had no tolerance for stupidity or players. I swear, her stare alone could shrivel a guy’s family jewels to impotent nothingness. I usually had the itching urge to cover my junk whenever I talked to her. And yet she was an irresistible challenge to idiots like me. Not just because she was model-worthy stunning, which she was. Nothing on her was ever out of place; it always struck me with the urge to mess her up…in the best ways possible. But because I felt the need to be the exception to the rule, the one who got past her defenses and scaled that impossible mountain. Brandt groaned.
I glanced at him, forcing my brain back to the problem at hand, that being Julianna and her inability to take her eyes off my newly married brother. “Hasn’t it been months since you and she were over?” I asked, confused. He sent me a sharp glance. “Over? We never started. There’s nothing to be over. Juli and I didn’t even finish the one date we went on.” Asher sniffed. “Well, it looks as if she’s still willing to finish it.” “Dammit.” Brandt glanced toward his wife. “I hope Sarah doesn’t see her watching me. I don’t want anything upsetting her on our wedding day.” Asher shook his head. “So, why’d you even invite Juli?” “I work with her.” Brandt moodily tugged at the collar of his tux. It seemed odd to me that someone so classically beautiful worked in a nightclub as a bartender. To me, Julianna clearly belonged on a runway, displaying the latest fashion, or— “It would’ve been strange to invite everyone else and leave her out. Besides, we’re still friends. She’s probably my favorite coworker.” “Hey,” Asher muttered, offended since he occasionally bartended at Forbidden with Brandt too. Brandt rolled his eyes. “You don’t count.” But that only seemed to confuse Asher more. “Why don’t I count?” Ignoring him, Brandt brought his hand up to his mouth so he could chew on his thumbnail. “We need to distract her somehow. Someone needs to...” Trailing off, he turned slowly toward me, and the intent in his gaze was pretty damn clear. I paused mid-sip. “Wait, what? You can’t possibly want me to distract her?"
Giveaway
About Linda Kage
Linda Kage grew up on a dairy farm in the Midwest as the youngest of eight children. Now she lives in Kansas with her husband, daughter, and nine cuckoo clocks. Her life's been blessed with lots of people to learn from and love. Writing's always been a major part of her world, and she is so happy to finally share some of her stories with other romance lovers.
