Carver's Book Cravings: Blog Tour and Giveaway: Free Me by Laurelin Paige

Title: Free Me

Series: The Found Duet Book One

Author: Laurelin Paige

Publication Date: December 9, 2014

~ Synopsis ~

Her story began long before she started working at The Sky Launch...

Screw fairytales. The only reward Gwen Anders got from her rough childhood was a thick skin and hard heart. She’s content with her daily grind managing a top NYC nightclub—Eighty-Eighth Floor. So hers isn’t a happily ever after. She doesn’t believe in those anyway.

Then she meets J.C.

The rich, smooth talking playboy is the sexiest thing that Gwen has ever encountered, but she’s not interested in a night-in-shining latex. But when a family tragedy pushes her to the brink, it’s J.C. who’s there to teach her a new method of survival, one based on following primal urges and desires. His no-strings-attached lessons require her to abandon her constant need for control. Her carefully built walls are obliterated.

Gwen discovers there’s a beautiful world outside her prison. Freedom is exhilarating—and terrifying. When she starts to feel something for J.C., she fears for her heart. Especially as she realizes that he has secrets of his own. Secrets that don't want to set him free.

BOOK ONE OF TWO. This series can be read alone or with the Fixed Trilogy.

~ Book Links ~

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20551480-free-me

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1wfjYWp

iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/free-me/id943207438?mt=11

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/free-me-laurelin-paige/1120870435?ean=2940149904143

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Laurelin_Paige_Free_Me_The_Found_Duet_1?id=pNpWBQAAQBAJ

~ Review ~

4 Stars

Gwen was first introduced to us in the Fixed Trilogy. While she wasn't a big character in those books, some were still left wondering who she really was and what was she running from? Now you find out... or at least you learn half the story.

Gwen is a manager of a bar called the Eighty-Eighth when she meets JC, a man who can see that Gwen is up tight and in need of some help. JC offers a no-strings attached offer to help her loosen up. No names, no attachments. The only problem is that they fall for each other. And he's hiding something. Will their love survive the anonymity? Or will the secrets destroy them?

This book was hard for me at first. And I really needed time to think about sine things. The reason I gave this book 4 Stars is because I had trouble identifying with the characters. For the secret that JC is hiding, I found it difficult to believe he would be in the type of club he was in, with the amount of money he had. I was relieved to hear he wasn't a "bad" guy that Gwen had fallen for. Gwen has had too much trouble for such a young woman and I really wanted her to find happiness. She's very lost. It was almost too much drama for one person to deal with and it made me question why I was reading something so depressing.

With that being said, Laurelin Paige is an amazing author. She has a way with words that has me hanging on and still curious enough to know how the next book will play out. That is why I gave it 4 stars. I still feel the urge to read this duet because I want to see Gwen get her happily ever after. It takes a special author to hold your attention even when you're squirming inside.

~ About Laurelin ~

Laurelin Paige is the NY Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of the Fixed Trilogy. She's a sucker for a good romance and gets giddy anytime there's kissing, much to the embarrassment of her three daughters. Her husband doesn't seem to complain, however. When she isn't reading or writing sexy stories, she's probably singing, watching Mad Men and the Walking Dead, or dreaming of Adam Levine.