Title:   Unbreak Me (New Hope Book #1)

Author:   Lexi Ryan

Genre:   New Adult, Contemporary Romance

Release Date:   May 24, 2013

New Adult contemporary romance. Due to sexual content and heavy subject matter, this book is intended for mature readers.

“If you’re broken, I’ll fix you…”

I’m only twenty-one and already damaged goods. A slut. A failure. A disappointment to my picture-perfect family as long as I can remember. I called off my wedding to William Bailey, the only man who thought I was worth fixing. A year later, he’s marrying my sister. Unless I ask him not to…

“If you shatter, I’ll find you…”

But now there’s Asher Logan, a broken man who sees the fractures in my façade and doesn’t want to fix me at all. Asher wants me to stop hiding, to stop pretending. Asher wants to break down my walls. But that means letting him see my ugly secrets and forgiving him for his.

With my past weighing down on me, do I want the man who holds me together or the man who gives me permission to break?

Title:   Stolen Wishes (New Hope Book #1.5)

Author:   Lexi Ryan

Genre:   New Adult, Contemporary Romance

Release Date:   January 7, 2014

**Contains sexual content and adult language and situations. Intended for mature readers.**

Cally…

A sexy smile. Intense blue eyes. A goodness that makes him want to save me from these rumors when no one else would care. I didn’t ask for a hero. William Bailey was never supposed to be anything more than a wish, a dream, an unrequited crush. Not for a girl like me–a girl whose fractured family has stolen her chance at a decent life.

William…

Since the death of my parents, I’ve always done what’s expected of me, what’s “best” for me. Until Cally. The moment her haunted eyes meet mine, the fractured pieces of my heart feel whole again. I don’t just want to save her. I need her to save me.

Stolen chances. Unbroken wishes. Two lonely souls grasping for hope in the darkness.

**This novella takes place seven years before the events in WISH I MAY and shows William and Cally falling in love for the first time. It can be read before or after WISH I MAY or on its own.**

Title:   Wish I May (New Hope Book #2)

Author:   Lexi Ryan

Genre:   New Adult, Contemporary Romance

Release Date:   October 4, 2013

I grew up wishing on stars.

My father taught me to believe…in destiny, in magic, in happily ever after. Dreams were my scripture and the starry night sky was my temple. Then Mom stopped believing, left him, and took us with her. At the age of sixteen, I cashed in my dreams to pay the rent, pawned my destiny to keep my sisters together.

Now, seven years later, I’m returning home, grieving the death of my mother, and settling my sisters back into the life Mom threw away. I never intended to stay. I don’t want to deal with my father, who is so invested in the spiritual world he forgets the physical. I don’t want to face William Bailey, whose eyes remind me of the girl I was, the things I’ve done, and the future I lost.

This would all be easier if Will hated me. As it is, I have to hold my secrets close so they won’t hurt him more than they’ve already hurt me. But he wants to be in my life. He wants what I can’t bring myself to confess I sold. He wants me.

I find myself looking to my stars again…wondering if I dare one more wish.

I love Asher…and his note is just perfection!

Keep reading to see the full Love Note!

Dear Maggie,

Nine months ago, I was looking out into the depths of the New Hope River and wishing I could disappear into the blackness.

I thought I’d tasted all life had to offer. Fame. More money than I knew what to do with. Something I thought was love. If this was the best life could give, what the hell was the point?

Then you were there and I saw something in your eyes that started to wake me up—not all at once, just little by little, like a summer morning from my childhood, the sunshine climbing through the window and calling softly for me to join the day.

I was wrong, by the way. I didn’t have a clue how good life could be or what love looked like.

I’d been looking for happiness in screaming fans and my next high. When I didn’t find it there, I thought it didn’t exist. You showed me how to find it in the silence of a low-lit room.

I thought love was passion, heat, and wild need. Falling for you taught me that those are only on the periphery, and love, at its core, is open, waiting, changing without trying. Love is the riverbed, bending and stretching for the water. Love is the underwater stone whose rough surface is rubbed smooth by just being still.

Love is you. And it’s me. But mostly, it’s us. Holding each other when the water gets rough.

Thank you for waking me up. I was sleeping through the best parts. Happy Valentine’s Day.

All my love,

Asher

Unbreak Me by Lexi Ryan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4 “Operation New Me” Kisses

The synopsis got me…the cover sold me…but this book was so much better than I anticipated. Confession time, I have a soft spot in my heart for sluts…I can’t help it and my poor Maggie was no exception…I loved her big time. But that wasn’t the only thing I love, everything from the characters to the beautiful writing to the twists and jaw dropping moments that kept slapping me in the face…this story held my interest from beginning to end.

Margaret Marie Thompson…Maggie…oh my dear sweet and sad Maggie. Hiding secrets…living up to everyone’s low expectations but attempting to turn over a new leaf. She is so strong…too strong because she carries the weight of her decisions and her secrets with her every day. Thinking of it as a penance for her actions. It’s sad…so sad, broke my heart. I hurt for her because no one should have to live thru all the pain she has had to by themselves. She’s also very proud – she doesn’t do anything anyone wants her or expects her to do…if she does anything it’s because she chooses to. She’s a beautiful, smart, talented girl and wouldn’t you know it she has two boys just dying to love her.

‘I hesitate for a minute. I was looking for some solitude down here, but I’m drawn to this man who looks as lost and lonely as I feel.’

Asher ‘Sexier Than God’ Logan…and oh boy does he live up to that name. Former rock star of the band Infinite Gray (awesome band name btw) with a wicked past all his own. Drugs, booze, probation and a pain in the ass soon to be ex that enjoys clinging to something that hasn’t been there in a while. Asher blew me away with his heart and his passion and his caring nature for Maggie. He is drawn to her and more than on a physical level. He wants her for more than sex which is new for Maggie, obviously – you don’t get the town slut rap for being a nun! Asher is swoony and dreamy and a former rock god! Really!?! What’s there not to love about him??

‘Asher should be the poster child for the sexy bad bo. I bet he ever has a few tats under tha pressed dress shirt. He’s a big guy, not just tall but large, solid, filling his black oxford in a way that makes it difficult to keep from starting.
Hell, staring is inevitable. Not drooling is difficult.’

William Bailey…poor Will. He got the shit end of the stick. First he gets stood up by Maggie – there a looooong story to go with that one – then his impending marriage to her sister – another loooooonger story and in the end…where does that leave poor Will? Stuck. He is so over the moon for Maggie – and she came back to New Hope! So that means something right? He has a chance…or he wants a chance. I don’t think Will can see the world if Maggie is around – it’s like everything else ceases to exist and it’s so sad because he deserves that in return. And then some. Because damn it that boy is 100 different kinds of amazing.

‘I am an addict and Maggie Thompson if my drug.’

This story is semi-love-triangle-ish. Yes…Maggie has feelings for both guys, different levels at different times but her connection with them is very different – both represent different things to her. Will is her past…but Asher is her future. My heart was torn because I did and do love both guys…a lot. I am all about past and shared history and Maggie and Will have a lot of that…but this might be the first time I was on the new guys side. I am 100% team Asher for Maggie. Asher and Maggie have a very strong connection that she tries to fight tooth and nail…plus you have all other sorts of side drama going on, Maggie and Asher do not have it easy!

‘”You’re good to me, and that scares me. I don’t deserve you.”
“You deserve better,” he growls.’

So the book is told from all three of their POV’s, which I wasn’t expecting. It was clear and concise and I enjoyed it – there were times it was very necessary and pertinent to be in each different perspective. I can’t lie…Asher was my fav…Will squeezed my heart…as did Maggie, but Maggie also made me laugh. Maggie is the kind of girl I could totally go to the bar with and have a good time. She is a good time, the problem is, that’s what she is known for. I can’t even put into words the kind of pain that girl pulled from me…the stigma that she dealt with day in and day out, the sacrifices she made for family and the way she held it all inside and kept her head up, gah…Maggie kinda rocks my face off, just sayin.

“You’re so gorgeous.”
“I like the look of you like that,” she tells me with a grin. “On your knees like you’re worshipping me.” I lift my gaze to meet hers.
“You have no idea.”

Eeep! This is the beginning of a series! *happy dance* And up next…my dear, sweet Will gets a book, Wish I May. That makes me so happy. Unbreak Me was a heart squeezing story about the power love has to forgive your past and break down walls…to show you a brighter tomorrow. I truly enjoyed Maggie and Asher’s story – can’t wait to see what’s in store for the rest of the New Hope series.

View all my reviews

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Once a college English professor, I now write full time. I live in rural Indiana, where, when I’m not writing, I get to hang out with my husband and two kids–a six-year-old boy and a two-year-old hellion, er, girl. Not surprisingly, reading and writing remain my favorite activities, though both come in bits and pieces these days, not the big hunks of time I enjoyed before I had children. When I’m feeling virtuous, I like to go running (I use that word liberally. I’m really, really slow) or do yoga. Don’t worry, I’m always careful to balance out such activities with a hearty serving of ice cream or a chocolate martini.  I love hearing from readers, so I hope you’ll drop me a note.

Representation: All questions regarding subsidiary rights for any of my books, inquiries regarding foreign translation and film rights should be directed to Dan Mandel of Sanford J. Greenburg and Associates.

I grew up wishing on stars.

My father taught me to believe…in destiny, in magic, in happily ever after. Dreams were my scripture and the starry night sky was my temple. Then Mom stopped believing, left him, and took us with her. At the age of sixteen, I cashed in my dreams to pay the rent, pawned my destiny to keep my sisters together.

Now, seven years later, I’m returning home, grieving the death of my mother, and settling my sisters back into the life Mom threw away. I never intended to stay. I don’t want to deal with my father, who is so invested in the spiritual world he forgets the physical. I don’t want to face William Bailey, whose eyes remind me of the girl I was, the things I’ve done, and the future I lost.

This would all be easier if Will hated me. As it is, I have to hold my secrets close so they won’t hurt him more than they’ve already hurt me. But he wants to be in my life. He wants what I can’t bring myself to confess I sold. He wants me.

I find myself looking to my stars again…wondering if I dare one more wish.

Have you read Unbreak Me, the first book in the New Hope series?

© 2013 by Lexi Ryan

I can hardly breathe. My brain doesn’t have time for something as trivial as oxygen when it’s so busy cataloguing her features, memorizing the exact shade of her mocha eyes, warring with the anger and regret that have sprung to life as if they never left me to begin with.

I never thought I’d see her again. I didn’t think I wanted to.

The moment I step closer, I realize my mistake. Being near her is like a sip of water to desert-parched lips. It whips something through me—memories, lust, first love. Heartbreak. She tilts her lips up to mine, and I actually think for one goddamned ridiculous minute that I might kiss her, that I want to. That I would swallow all my pride and forgive her for just one taste.

I step back before I can give in to the impulse, and her cheeks blaze to life, her blush as cute as the rest of her. That’s the word for her: cute. Sweet smile and peppy ponytail, she exudes cuteness.

Except her ass. Her ass doesn’t even land in the same stratosphere as cute, and those tight little pants do nothing to hide its soft, round curves. And her breasts. There’s definitely nothing cute about the way her T-shirt stretches across their fullness. Or her go-for-miles legs. Not to mention the narrow strip of skin exposed between her shirt and pants. Just looking at the single inch of flesh below her navel, and I practically taste strawberry wine on my tongue.

Moonlight. Her warm skin under my tongue. The sound of her moan as my tongue dips lower.

The memory grabs hold of my senses and won’t let go.

Fuck. I can’t even lie to myself. Nothing about her says cute. Everything about her says sex. And mine.

Wish I May by Lexi Ryan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

*ARC Given to Blog for Honest Review*

4 “Strawberry Wine” “Hello.” Kisses

You never forget your first love. The first person you give you heart to…the first person you share your dreams with…they will always hold a piece of your soul. That is what Wish I May made me remember. This book is e-freakin-motional to the 10th degree and I loved every agonizing second of it. After Unbreak Me, I was aching for Will to get his HEA and I’ll be damned if that boy didn’t earn it. Oh…and if you haven’t read Unbreak Me…I highly recommend it. Wish I May is the second book in the New Hope series, and a lot of the characters and story line might not make as much sense if you haven’t read Unbreak Me.

Cally Fisher…every now and then I get hit with these agonizingly broken heroines that just make me want to scoop them up and save them. Because they need it. Badly. And Cally needs more than saving. She needs healing…she has spent her whole life not living for herself. Since she was 16 she hasn’t been able to make one choice for herself. She is possibly one of the most selfless heroines I have ever read and my heart broke for her for every decision she had to make. She is brave, she is strong and she is an amazing big sister. Every choice she has ever made was for Drew and Gabby, her little sisters, and what she could do to make their lives better, to save them from going through what she has had to. And even when she is finally given the opportunity to do what she wants…with the boy she has always loved…she still struggles.

‘”Look at you. You’re all grown up.” He grins, and my knees go a little weak. How could I have forgotten the effect this man’s smile has on my knees?
“I could say the same for you.” I bite my lip. Hopefully no drool has escaped.
That knee-killing grin grows wider. I’m toast.’

William Bailey…I fell in love with Will in Unbreak Me…so I was already swooning for him before he even said one word in Wish I May. My poor Will is just as broken as Cally, but in very different ways. He has never had a family and he wants so desperately to have one. He wants a life that he can share with someone, he wants a marriage and his forever…we saw that clearly with his actions in Unbreak Me. And now…against all logic, the girl that has always owned his heart comes back into his life. He shouldn’t want her, he shouldn’t still love her, she broke him seven years ago…everyone keeps telling him to move on. But you can’t fight fate and there is nothing about Cally and Will that doesn’t scream forever.

‘I never though I’d see her again. I didn’t think I wanted to.’

So Cally and Will have my kryptonite…history. They were each others first loves! GAH! I love that. Love Love Love! They have history…history so deep that even after seven years, countless secrets, unending heartbreak, they still cannot deny their feelings for each other. That’s another thing that is amazing to me about Will…even after Cally broke his heart, he is willing to see past all of that. Why? Because he cares more about keeping her in his life than holding that against her. She means more to him than that…because he can see it written all over her face that what they had years ago is still there. An oh boy is it.

‘I push myself out the door before I can change my mind and I’m greeted by a night of glittering stars. The stars in New Hope are brighter and more plentiful than anywhere else I’ve ever been. When I was a little girl, I’d would look out my bedroom window each night and pick my favorite one and only then would I make a wish. My father taught me to believe in the magic of wishes and destiny, and I was such an adoring daughter that his words were my scripture and the starry night sky became my temple.’

Cally and Will have some ah-freaking-mazing chemistry. Let’s just say I would kill to have Will take me out to dinner! 😉 Of course he is swoony, he was swoony in Unbreak Me with Maggie and they weren’t even together! Did you think I stood a chance in Wish I May? Nope…not even close. And it wasn’t just the stuff he would say, which trust me…was pretty fantabulous – but it was the little things. How receptive he was to her…the little looks, the small actions, he did anything and everything he could for her, even if he knew he shouldn’t. He is the quintessential nice guy – he went above and beyond to do whatever Cally might need and all because he loved her. Never stopped.

‘He lowers his head and glides his lips over my neck in a movement so sweet, so simple, my breath leaves me in a rush. “I’m supposed to be pissed at you,” he whispers. “You broke my heart.”
“Then why aren’t you?”
“When I saw you again, there was no room for my anger. I want you too much.”’

So my poor sweet Cally…so many ways I hurt for her. She comes back to New Hope to bring her sisters to live with their dad…and in doing that, she brings back all the history of her past. Or really…her mom’s past…a stigma that she is now plagued with and never wants to live up to. She is her own worst enemy in this book…which is partly due to the ghosts of her mother and also her past that haunts her and why she won’t allow herself to be free. Not only is she plagued with her decisions but she’s also hiding behind them. It was a little frustrating because up until the end of the book, you do not know the entire truth. You are fed bits and pieces but it was a good kind of frustrating…you want to pull your hair out, but you’re enjoying it the entire time.

‘He presses his mouth against mine as his hand returns between my legs. It’s not a gentle kiss. It’s hard— punishing and demanding— and I need it. I could lose myself here, in this kiss that is equal parts desire, anger, and regret. I could forget who I am, what I’ve done, and become the stroke of tongue against tongue, become the pleasure of his hand working between my legs as I moan into his mouth.
He breaks the kiss and leans his forehead against mine. “You feel so damn good.” His hand moves slowly, smoothly.
How can he affect me so much more than any other man I’ve ever been with? He’s always been the standard by which all other men have been measured and come up short.’

I felt bad for Cally though…she carries the weight of her entire family on her shoulders…and oh boy, her family. I already said it, but I cannot stress it enough, Cally is hands down the best big sister in the world. Her mother recently passed away from a drug over dose (and there is a huge twist with that – can’t spoil but I did not see that coming!), her dad hasn’t really been in their lives since they left New Hope…Cally has had to be the adult! Making sure her sisters ate and went to school, taking care of them, dropping out of high school to get a job – oh wait, make that two jobs. Worrying about everything that she shouldn’t have had to. See what I mean about the pressure?

“I don’t need my memories to be head over heels in love with you, Cally. All I have to do is know you.”

There was a lot that I didn’t see coming with this book…I was very pleasantly surprised. It was similar to Unbreak Me with the alternating POV’s, except this time we were only in Cally’s and Will’s. Every now and then we got a flashback to seven years ago…different points in time…like before she moved, their last night and strawberry wine and Will telling her hello instead of goodbye *sigh* (you have to read to understand)…or when Will’s heart was breaking because Cally was pulling away….or when Cally had to make some very hard decisions…I know I keep eluding to them, but like I said, some you don’t even find out the full weight of until the very end and I can’t spoil it.

“I want your heart. I have no interest in buying it or controlling it. I want you to give it to me freely. Because you already own mine. You always have. You always will.”

I am so into the New Hope series – which is another thing I loved about this book, it’s a series! Seeing Maggie (and a little bit of Asher), hearing about what’s going on with them and loving it. I have so many thoughts about who could be next…I am hoping it’s Hannah, but for some reason I think she might be last…maybe it’ll be Lizzy (they’re both Maggie’s sisters). I am also hoping that down the road we might get a Drew book (Cally’s sister)…Drew is a little spitfire! This series is beautiful combination of emotional writing, loveably heartbreaking characters, over coming secrets and the power of forgiveness and has quickly become one of the best series I’ve ever read.

View all my reviews

Click here to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway

Once a college English professor, I now write full time. I live in rural Indiana, where, when I’m not writing, I get to hang out with my husband and two kids–a six-year-old boy and a two-year-old hellion, er, girl. Not surprisingly, reading and writing remain my favorite activities, though both come in bits and pieces these days, not the big hunks of time I enjoyed before I had children. When I’m feeling virtuous, I like to go running (I use that word liberally. I’m really, really slow) or do yoga. Don’t worry, I’m always careful to balance out such activities with a hearty serving of ice cream or a chocolate martini.  I love hearing from readers, so I hope you’ll drop me a note.

Representation: All questions regarding subsidiary rights for any of my books, inquiries regarding foreign translation and film rights should be directed to Dan Mandel of Sanford J. Greenburg and Associates.