Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Book I insist you read: Eight by ES Carter


Love isn't free
You pay its price with your heart.


Title:
Eight
Series:
Love by Numbers #6
Author:
E.S. Carter
Release Date:
June 13, 2017

Blurb

I'm sorry for your loss.
Why do people say that?
When someone you love is taken from you, when a part of you dies along with them, you haven't lost them like you would your car keys or mobile phone. They aren't stuck down the side of the sofa or left in the ignition of your car for you to find later. You haven't absentmindedly put them somewhere and forgotten. You will never lose them because they live in you.
The soul crushing hurt that burns your lungs with every breath you take comes from knowing where they are and not being with them.
The ugly and real definition of grief is being left behind.
I'm sorry they left you.
I'm sorry you are alone.
I'm sorry it hurts to breathe.
Loss; it doesn't even compare.
She was my first love.
She is my last love.
I am an empty husk who pretends to be filled with enough love for those of us she left behind.
Our little girl and newborn son need me.
I am both mother and father now.
I am hollow and empty.
I am a shell.
So why does the girl with the face of an angel and eyes that mirror my emptiness, look at me like I'm her everything?

*Book #6 in the 'Love by Numbers' series. Can be read as a standalone.*

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34910096-eight

Review

Grief is a difficult. Often in romance, the reader usually is at the tail-end of the timeline. Eight does not address the topic but immersing us into one man's journey of loss. I will not spare you; it's realistically painful. You witness the collateral damage to everyone in and out of the family. But is this only what the story delivers? No, more. So much more.



ES Carter gives in Eight all the feels. We are on a journey of how one young single father comes out the other side of grief. What happens when he meets a woman who reflects the same pain he has back at him? Maybe they can find a way to a new happy. Josh and Halle are written so relatable and want to get to know them with every page turn. All my favorite LBN characters make an appearance -what is a LBN book without Mrs Fox? Amazingly, you not only get to know Josh and Halle as primary characters, but Ivy-bell steals the scenes every time she emerges. As always, Ms Carter balances her storytelling with just the right amount of humor in the right moments to allow you to catch your breath.


So break out the Kleenex readers, you are going to need them. There is no doubt based on the PM photos I'm getting from fellow readers. But in the end you will be graced with a beautiful story that makes you believe once and for all, everyone has the chance for a HEA if they see it. Although Eight can be read as a standalone, this reader HIGHLY recommends you read One, Love by Numbers #5, first to get into the backstory. However, if same sex storyline is not your 'thing', you can read this as a standalone. Definitely a top 2017 read for me. 5++ stars out of 5 stars.


Purchase Links



Excerpt

“Halle, have you fallen asleep in there?”
I crack open my eyes and my arm gives an involuntary twitch in the now cool water, splashing some over the edge of the full tub.
“No,” I answer croakily. “I mean, yes, I was, but I’m awake now. I must’ve nodded off.”
It’s a good thing he can’t see me because I swear my face is glowing red with embarrassment.
I hear him chuckle, followed by, “You’ll end up all wrinkly, and I’m not snuggling with a prune.”
“You have something against prunes?” I call out, my voice a little stronger, my smile trying to break free at his teasing.
“Nope. Nothing against dried fruit, it keeps me regular, but I’d rather snuggle with you.”
At that, I snort. Only Josh could make a joke about bowel movements and still have me wanting to do more than snuggle with him.
“You’re a goof.”
“And you’re beautiful,” he calls back through the closed door.
The smile on my face creeps even bigger and by the time I’ve dried off and slipped on my shirt, not bothering with my bra, knickers or jeans, my smile is so big it almost breaks my face.
“Is it safe to come out?” I ask through a crack in the door, the light from the bathroom sending a shard of brightness across the dim room beyond.
Josh looks up from his place on the bed where he’s propped himself up. His back leans against the headboard, his sexy, dark framed glasses slip down his nose and a book lays open on his lap.
Is there anything more attractive than a handsome man who reads?
Standing here admiring Josh as he does just that, I can safely admit that, for me at least, there is nothing sexier to me than this man who reads.


Also Available in the Love by Numbers series
*NB: Books one and two are a duet, and should be read in order. All other books in the Love by Numbers series can be read standalone.

#1 Nineteen

#2 Twenty-One

#3 Three

#4 Thirteen

#5 One

Author Bio

ES Carter lives in Cardiff, South Wales. The home of castles, dragons and folklore.
Her family joke that she was born with a book in her hand, and the urge to write stories soon followed.
At eleven, she won her school's literary prize. At ages fourteen to sixteen - her poetry phase after falling in love with Dylan Thomas and e.e. cummings - she had a few poems published, but life, love and family overtook her dreams, and she was in her thirties when she began the scary journey of self-publishing.
Her debut and internationally best-selling series, 'Love by Numbers', are a set of interconnected stand alone romances, all with varying themes of love. From second-chance to romantic comedy and M/M romance. These stories do not need to be read in order, in fact, she is often guilty of advising readers to start at the last book and work their way back through.
Contemporary romance is not the only genre she writes, her second series, 'The Red Order', is as dark and twisted as you can get, but there is beauty there too if you can open your eyes and look.
With many more stories bursting to be set free, she hopes you stay along for the ride.
She loves to connect with readers, so please feel free to friend/follow her on Facebook, IG and Twitter or join her reader's group, E's Elite <3

Stay in Touch


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1 comment:

Beth Cranford said...

Love all of this. And you!!

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