Repeat by Kylie Scott [Release Blitz + Excerpt + Review]

Hello! Welcome to the release blitz for Repeat by Kylie Scoot hosted by InkSlinger PR. I'm really happy to share my thoughts on this book with you, and just the book in general! I've enjoyed Scott's previous books (particularly the Stage Dive series), and was thrilled to have an opportunity to read this one. It did not disappoint! 

Title: REPEAT 

Author: Kylie Scott

Release Date: April 7th 2019

Find it on: Goodreads, Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Aus, Nook, Kobo, Apple Books, Paperback, Audible 

"A page-turning romantic feast that will have you desperate for more. I was immediately hooked." —#1 New York Times bestselling author Rachel Van Dyken

From New York Times bestselling author Kylie Scott comes an irresistible new romance.

When a vicious attack leaves 25-year-old Clementine Johns with no memory, she's forced to start over. Now she has to figure out who she was and why she made the choices she did - which includes leaving the supposed love of her life, tattoo artist Ed Larsen, only a month before.

Ed can hardly believe it when his ex shows up at his tattoo parlor with no memory of their past, asking about the breakup that nearly destroyed him. The last thing he needs is more heartache, but he can't seem to let her go again. Should they walk away for good, or does their love deserve a repeat performance?

"On the floor, Gordon farts, and we both wrinkle our noses. Dog farts are gross. Another definite."

I received an ARC from the author and InkSlinger PR in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own. Any quotes I use are from an unpublished copy and may not reflect the finished product.

I absolutely loved this! I read Repeat in a single day, and would have read it in a single sitting if my children didn't constantly need something, but my little monsters always come first. Clem and Ed were wonderful characters that will forever have a place in my heart!

Kylie Scott always writes super authentic characters, and it's impossible not to fall in love with them! Clem is struggling to find herself after losing everything that made her, well, her. She has no memory of her friends and family, or who she was as a person. She can no longer work at her job, because she doesn't remember how to do it, and it would take too long for her to re-learn. At twenty-five, she's starting from scratch, and becoming a different version of herself in the process. 

All of this is equally complicated for Ed, because he remembers both past and present Clem, and he has to come to terms with the person she is now. He fell in love with her once, and we see his emotional turmoil as he starts to fall in love with her again. It's not easy, because there's a lot of baggage, but we slowly learn about their breakup and how it impacted both of them. Even their friends were burned in their breakup, so Clem has to deal with their damaged feelings, despite not remembering what happened or her role in it.

It was beautiful and complicated, emotional and little scary. There's a mystery component to the story as well, which added an additional layer, and made me question everyone's intentions. Everyone that wasn't Clem or Ed was suspicious, and I wondered if they had ulterior motives. It wasn't difficult to narrow it down at the end, but it was really well-done. 

The secondary characters were lovely, especially Iris, and I enjoyed their parts in the story. I really hope we get another book from Leif's perspective (Ed's brother)! Also, Clem doesn't remember having sex or kissing, even though she knows she's done it before. All of her sexual encounters with Ed were new and exciting for her, and incredibly hot for us! The man is impressive and gorgeous. He's also incredibly sweet and protective, and I only wanted the best for them both. 

I really have no complaints about this one. It was perfect and amazing, and everything I wanted! If you haven't read Kylie Scott before, I highly recommended her books. I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from this one!

"Romance isn’t all kissing and bedroom action, you know. Though there’s often some of that too. Don’t be a mindless slave to misogynistic prejudices. That’s never a good look. Think for yourself, form your own opinions. These are stories about women standing up for themselves and what they believe in. Women working to be whole and demanding what they deserve."

My Weekly Pull [58] & Can't Wait Wednesday [28]

My Weekly Pull is something I do every Wednesday to show which comics I had pulled for me that week! If you're into comics, or you're looking to start, please join me! If you decide to do your own post, there's a link-up at the bottom. I would love to stop by and check it out!

 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #3 by Tom Taylor, Juan Cabal, Andrew Robinson

Miles Morales Spider-Man #3 by Saladin Ahmed, Javi Garron, Marco D'Alfonso

Jacob's comics for the week!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Urban Legends by Gary Carlson, Frank Fosco, Kevin Eastman

Guardians of the Galaxy #2 by Donny Cates, Geoff Shaw, David Marquez

Hulkverines #1 (of 3) by Greg Pak, Ario Anindito, Greg Land

Venom #11 by Donny Cates, Ryan Stegman

I'm really enjoying both of these Spider-Man comics! It's clear Tom Taylor has a knack for Peter Parker, and Saladin Ahmed is perfect for Miles Morales. He's constantly surprising a laugh out of me, and having Miles say things that are both relevant and hilarious. He's just a kid in this comic, and it's nice to see him acting like one. Curfews, school , fighting crime at night -- all normal teenage behaviors. 

Can't Wait Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings, that highlights upcoming releases that we're anticipating and excited to read. It's a spinoff of the feature Waiting on Wednesday that was hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

Repeat by Kylie Scott

Expected publication: April 7th 2019

Synopsis (via Goodreads): From New York Times bestselling author Kylie Scott comes an irresistible new romance.

When a vicious attack leaves 25-year-old Clementine Johns with no memory, she's forced to start over. Now she has to figure out who she was and why she made the choices she did - which includes leaving the supposed love of her life, tattoo artist Ed Larsen, only a month before.

Ed can hardly believe it when his ex shows up at his tattoo parlor with no memory of their past, asking about the breakup that nearly destroyed him. The last thing he needs is more heartache, but he can't seem to let her go again. Should they walk away for good, or does their love deserve a repeat performance?

I l-o-v-e-d Kylie Scott's Stage Dive series, and Repeat sounds like it's going to be just as amazing (and potentially heartbreaking)!

*Share your My Weekly Pull post! Please leave the direct link to your My Weekly Pull post and not just your blog's URL. Thank you for participating and happy reading!

Deep (Stage Dive, #4) by Kylie Scott

Narrated by Andi Arndt

Synopsis (via Goodreads): Positive. With two little lines on a pregnancy test, everything in Lizzy Rollins' ordinary life is about to change forever. And all because of one big mistake in Vegas with Ben Nicholson, the irresistibly sexy bass player for Stage Dive. So what if Ben's the only man she's ever met who can make her feel completely safe, cherished, and out of control with desire at the same time? Lizzy knows the gorgeous rock star isn't looking for anything more permanent than a good time, no matter how much she wishes differently.

Ben knows Lizzy is off limits. Completely and utterly. She's his best friend's little sister now, and no matter how hot the chemistry is between them, no matter how sweet and sexy she is, he's not going to go there. But when Ben is forced to keep the one girl he's always had a weakness for out of trouble in Sin City, he quickly learns that what happens in Vegas, doesn't always stay there. Now he and Lizzie are connected in the deepest way possible... but will it lead to a connection of the heart? 

“I'd never needed to know that my sister was a screamer. Never. That Mal was a screamer too just kind of confused me.”

No. No no no no noooo. 😭

I didn't devour Deep like I did the other books in this series. Maybe I don't like bass players? Sadly, I doubt that's the problem. Ben just annoyed the hell out of me. He was so mellow about everything. Dude finds out he's about to have a baby with Liz and he basically does the equivalent of a shoulder shrug. That nonchalant attitude is pretty much how he behaves the rest of the book, too.

I didn't really like how their relationship happened either. All of the secrets and sneaking around, ugh. They were two consenting adults and shouldn't have had to hide their feelings for each other. Ben didn't want to upset his friends, and Liz... she just wanted to make Ben happy. She jokes about stalking him, which he laughs off later, but no...she totally did. It seemed like a tainted romance even in the beginning. 

I don't know why Liz put up with Ben's nonsense. She had her sister and Mal, two people who would do anything for her, and she pined after Ben the entire book. Ben can't decide what he wants, and his apology at the end was rubbish. Liz most definitely deserved better. Oh, and Ben's sister? He should have never, ever let her speak to Liz like that. He didn't even pretend to intervene. 

Halfway through the book I hoped Lizzy would end up with a guy from a different band. His name currently eludes me... Vaughn? I can't remember. He wasn't mentioned very often, but he was obviously attracted to her even though she was pregnant. She only ever smiled around him, and their bathroom scene was more romantic than anything Ben ever did for her. 

I still enjoyed the overall story because of all the other familiar characters. It was nice to learn what was going on in their lives, but I was disappointed with Ben and Lizzy. I just didn't like either one of them. I wanted more chivalry from Ben, and I wish Liz had been less of a doormat. 

Stacking the Shelves [4]

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews. This meme is for sharing all the books you’ve added to your shelves throughout the week.

I had a pretty good book week this week (and last), so I'm going to combine the two! 

Giveaways:

Here So Far Away by Hadley Dyer

I usually enter a Goodreads giveaway on a whim, so I was shocked and thrilled when I got an email saying I had won a copy of this book! I never win things! Yay! I also cannot wait to read this--it looks amazing! 😍

NetGalley:

Say You'll Remember Me by Katie McGarry

Library:

 Deep (Stage Dive #4) by Kylie Scott

Renegades (Renegades #1) by Marissa Meyer

Other:

 HeartShip (Full Hearts #1) & HeartOn (Full Hearts #2) by Amy Jo Cousins

I'm so excited about all of these books! I'm going to read them all this week--😅 Haha! Maybe not all of them, but definitely a few! Have you read any of these? Let me know what you thought!

Play & Lead (Stage Dive, #2-3) by Kylie Scott

Narrated by Andi Arndt

Synopsis (via Goodreads): Mal Ericson, drummer for the world famous rock band Stage Dive, needs to clean up his image fast—at least for a little while. Having a good girl on his arm should do the job just fine. Mal doesn't plan on this temporary fix becoming permanent, but he didn't count on finding the one right girl.

Anne Rollins never thought she'd ever meet the rock god who plastered her teenage bedroom walls—especially not under these circumstances. Anne has money problems. Big ones. But being paid to play the pretend girlfriend to a wild life-of-the-party drummer couldn't end well. No matter how hot he is. Or could it? 

“We’ve broken my bed,” I said, stating the obvious.

“In battle, sacrifices must be made, pumpkin.” 

This was another book that had thousands of quotes to choose from! Mal is hysterical, and Anne doesn't take any shit from him. “The first male to pee on me, however, would pay with his balls.”

I think I might have enjoyed Play even more than Lick, if that's possible. Mal and Anne have their problems, but they also have their individual demons to deal with. It was lovely watching the two of them learn to depend on each other, and finally connect emotionally. There was no judgment between them, just love and acceptance.

Also, Mal is a riot to read about! I really enjoyed his character in Lick, even though his appearances were brief. It was great to hear his story and learn more about him.

♡

Narrated by Andi Arndt

Synopsis (via Goodreads): As the lead singer of Stage Dive, Jimmy is used to getting whatever he wants, whenever he wants it, whether it's booze, drugs, or women. However, when a PR disaster serves as a wake-up call about his life and lands him in rehab, he finds himself with Lena, a new assistant to keep him out of trouble.

Lena's not willing to take any crap from the sexy rocker and is determined to keep their relationship completely professional, despite their sizzling chemistry. But when Jimmy pushes her too far and Lena leaves, he realizes that he may just have lost the best thing that ever happened to him. 

“Even with the head start, he was gaining fast. Given he liked jogging and I liked pie, this was to be expected.” 

The first two books made me really dislike Jimmy, so I was excited to see how he would be portrayed in Lead.

I don't know if I liked it more than Play, but it was another delicious read! I love how all of their stories are intertwined, so we still see familiar characters from the previous books. There's also no confusion, and Scott sets up their stories beautifully. I already have an idea what the last one will be about!

Lena was an awesome female character, and I love that she admitted to having feelings for Jimmy in the beginning. Both she and Jimmy were aware of her feelings, but they tried to make them go away instead of acting on them. It was sweet and heartbreaking at the same time. It was also an interesting spin for their story, and very different from the previous two books.

You learn a lot about Jimmy's childhood and the many obstacles he's had to overcome. Not all of his problems went away just because he became famous. If anything, they only made some of them worse. He's learning to deal with his addictions, and Lena plays a large role in that.

I am absolutely in love with this series and cannot wait to read the final book! 

Lick (Stage Dive, #1) by Kylie Scott

Narrated by Andi Arndt

Synopsis (via Goodreads): Waking up in Vegas was never meant to be like this.

Evelyn Thomas's plans for celebrating her twenty-first birthday in Las Vegas were big. Huge. But she sure never meant to wake up on the bathroom floor with a hangover to rival the black plague, a very attractive half-naked tattooed man in her room, and a diamond on her finger large enough to scare King Kong. Now if she could just remember how it all happened.

One thing is certain, being married to one of the hottest rock stars on the planet is sure to be a wild ride. 

“I was going to kill him. Slowly. Strangle him with the overpriced thong. A fitting death for a rock star.”  

Lick is another audiobook I stumbled across on Overdrive (it's synced to your library with your library card). Overdrive is free, which is awesome, and they offer ebooks and audiobooks. I know a lot of people use Audible, but Overdrive lets me pull from most of my local libraries with one library card.

I was looking for a quick romance with steamy sex scenes, and that's exactly what I got. 🤤 There was also a deeper story there that I wasn't expecting, and it made everything else more meaningful. It was also completely believable. I could honestly see myself reacting similarly to their situation. There wasn't an ista-love, or anything like that, it was just two people that fell in love twice.

One of my favorite quotes from David is, “It’s not fair that I remember and you don’t, Evelyn.” He knew exactly what he was doing when he spontaneously married Evelyn. David, a rock star with girls begging to be with him, chose to marry her. It kills him to remember the reasons why, and what they did together, only to find out that she can't even recall who he is. I would have been furious if that had happened to me.

Ev is understandably shocked when she starts putting the pieces together, and I love how careful and kind she was. She desperately wanted her memories from that night to come flooding back to her, but I thought it was sweet the way she would remember just a fraction of a story only to have him elaborate and give her more details. Those moments were special to him, they meant something.

It didn't take me long to get through this book, so if you have an afternoon to spare, read this. Seriously. I giggled and laughed, swooned a little, and cheered them on from the sidelines. I borrowed the audiobook from my library, but now I own physical copies of the entire series.

I think the next book, Play, is from Mal's perspective. I loved his character in this book, even though his appearances were brief, and I'm excited to read about him on a more personal level.

“Mal!"
"What?"
"Close the door down there and lock it," David yelled. "Don't you come up here under any circumstances. Not till I tell you it's okay. Understood?"
There was a pause then Mal yelled back. "What if there's a fire?"
"Burn.”