Join author Lori Ryan on her Blurb Blitz Tour for Ever Hopeful, presented by Goddess Fish Promotions, from January
27 – February 7, 2014. Please leave a
comment or question for Lori to let her know you stopped by. Lori will be awarding one Kindle Paperwhite
(US/CANADA) or a gift card of an equivalent amount (International giveaway) to
a randomly drawn winner during the tour.
To enter her giveaway please fill out the Rafflecopter form below. You can follow the rest of Lori’s tour here. Tune in for my review later today.
Ever Hopeful
By Lori Ryan
Evers, Texas, Book 1
Publisher: Lori
Ryan
Release Date: January 23, 2014
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Length: 179 Pages
ISBN: 978-1-941149-08-9
ASIN: B00I0VQ7Y4
Add to Goodreads
About the book:
Combining heart-soaring
contemporary romance with heart-pounding suspense is a trademark of New York
Times and USA Today bestselling author Lori Ryan—and in her novel Ever Hopeful
she delivers spectacularly on both counts.
Two-months pregnant and
trapped in a violent marriage, Laura Kensington realizes that her ruthless and
powerful in-laws will never let her go, even after the strange sudden death of
her abusive husband. Fleeing far away to
the Texas ranch of Cade Bishop, a strong yet tender man who believes in second
chances, Laura finds herself irresistibly drawn to Cade’s gentle passion and
giving heart. But there is no escaping the shadows of her past and soon danger
re-enters her world, pulling Laura into a deadly web of lies, betrayals, and
murder. And only Cade Bishop’s quiet
strength and unwavering love can set her free.
BUY LINKS: AMAZON AMAZON UK PRINT VERSION BARNES& NOBLE
“You wanna know the first
time he beat her so badly she couldn’t leave the house for a week?” Cade asked.
“No,” Shane managed to say
but Cade wasn’t listening to him. He was staring at the wall like he was seeing
the story he was telling and he was too trapped by the power of it to see what
was around him or hear Shane’s voice.
“When her brother died. She
wanted to go home to the funeral, but her husband had a business dinner she
needed to be at. She had the nerve to ask him to postpone it so she could fly
home for her brother’s funeral. The irony was, she couldn’t go to the dinner
with him anyway. After the beating he gave her, she couldn’t be seen in public
for over a week so she missed the flipping dinner anyway.”
The brothers sat together
without speaking for a long time. There was nothing to say. Shane couldn’t
imagine the fear Laura must have been living in every single day. The threat of
having the person you thought you loved and could trust turn on you like that.
“I wish he wasn’t dead,” Cade
said. Shane didn’t have to ask why. He was thinking the same thing himself. If
her husband wasn’t dead they could hunt him down and have the satisfaction of
teaching him what it was like to be hit by someone so much stronger than
yourself, to live in constant fear.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Lori is an award winning
author and stay-at-home mom. Her second book, Penalty Clause, won first place
in the romance category in Lcuky Cinda Publishing’s Annual Global Writer’s
Contest in 2013.
Lori has had a number of
careers before embarking on her newest adventure of writing novels. After
graduating from the University of Connecticut School of Law, she practiced law
for three years, working primarily in the areas of utilities law and
intellectual property litigation.
More recently, Lori owned and
operated a dog training business in Austin, Texas, where she specialized in
aggression and became an expert in the field of dog bite analysis. Lori sold
her dog training business in 2013 and is now a full time writer and mother of
two.
Lori still lives in Austin
with her husband -- who is endlessly supportive of her changing career paths --
and her two children, one cat, and three dogs.
How can your readers follow
you?
To follow me on Facebook,
visit: http://www.facebook.com/loriryanromance
To visit my website, visit: http://www.loriryanromance.com/
Want to be a part of my
online street team? Email me at Loriryanauthor@gmail.com and put the words
‘street team’ in the subject line. I’ll email you back with directions for
joining my team.
To join my email list to
receive updates and news, including sneak peeks and free giveaways or contest
news, visit http://www.loriryanromance.com/#!join-my-mailing-list/cdpp.
To buy my books, visit my
author page on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/loriryan.
Release: January 26th
I’ll be having events and
contests January 26th through February 9th
Ever Hopeful will be priced
at 99 cents for the first two weeks!
Price increases to 2.99 on
February 10th
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book as a part of a book tour in exchange for a fair and honest review.
The first book in Lori Ryan’s
new Ever,
Texas series, Ever Hopeful
is an emotionally charged second chance romance with suspense elements, well
developed characters, and the reminder to never lose hope. Taking both the reader and her characters on
a journey beginning with a smoothly paced plot, Ms. Ryan takes us from Connecticut to Evers, Texas as pregnant heroine
Laura Kensington attempts to flee her abusive deceased husband’s domineering,
and at times frightening, mother for a new life. Taken in by May Bishop, and her family, Laura
begins the process of recovering from being an abused wife to a healthy,
hopeful and happy adult woman.
Tackling the subject of spousal abuse, with as much realism as an author
can while writing a fictional novel, Ms.
Ryan reminds us that while leaving an abusive partner behind is the first
step in recovery, it’s just the first of many steps a victim has to
undergo. Fortunately for Laura, Cade
Bishop, May’s son who lives on the family ranch, is just the kind of man an
injured woman needs to be around. A
gentle man who has spent his lifetime helping rescue neglected animals, Cade
slowly helps Laura get accustomed to life on a ranch, the realization that hope
is something she’s entitled to and awakens a need for companionship on several
levels. Growing closer as they spend
time together, Laura and Cade slowly begin to fall in love.
Ms. Ryan does a very good job
developing both Laura and Cade’s characters; we watch as Laura goes from being
a fearful, traumatized victim to a woman who can stand on her own two
feet. Learning to trust and depend on
others is a difficult lesson for Laura, but Ms. Ryan handles it in a believable way. Ms.
Ryan also gives us Cade’s back story and we learn that while he has grown
up and lived a mostly “charmed” life (compared to Laura’s), he has some issues
of hiw own. Burned by an ex, Cade has to
decide on whether or not he wants to let Laura into his heart and on just how
deeply he wants to commit himself to a woman expecting another man’s
child. He also has to make sure that his
tendency to rescue neglected animals doesn’t get in the way of Laura’s recovery
– he can’t confuse his desire to help with giving her the room to learn to say
no and to let her stand up for her own rights.
The secondary characters are also well developed and Ms. Ryan does a good job providing a suspenseful
situation that will need to be resolved before Laura’s life is truly her own to
live. I especially liked May and Shane Bishop, Cade’s mom and older brother,
who accepted and helped Laura as she works to rebuild her life. I also enjoyed getting to meet the people of
Evers, Texas, a small town with plenty of personality and charm. Ms.
Ryan even does a good job developing the villains of the story, and
resolving the issues which will get in the way of Laura being able to lead a
new life.
Will Laura and Cade realize the feelings they have for each other are
more than enough to build a life on?
Will Laura want to stay in Evers for the rest of her life? You’ll have to read Ever, Hopeful to find
out. I enjoyed it and look forward to
reading the next book in this series.
My rating: 4.5 out of 5 Crowns
