Hold Me Today Is Here! New Release From Maria Luis
Title: Hold Me Today
Series: Put A Ring On It #1
Author: Maria Luis
Author: Maria Luis
Genre: Sexy Contemporary Romance
Release Date: January 17, 2019
Blurb
Rock bottom has never felt so good.
At least, that’s what I tell myself when I bargain with the enemy and score a renovation for my hair salon.
The enemy? Nick Stamos, my best friend’s older brother.
He’s got a body and face the Greek gods would envy but his personality needs a major overhaul.
He’s surly.
A rule-follower.
Did I mention he’s seen me naked?
I may have crushed on him for years, but the only place I want Nick swinging his hammer nowadays is at my salon.
Except, he needs something in return. . .
A fake girlfriend.
And I’m just reckless enough to say yes.
MY REVIEW
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
After writing over 700 book reviews in less than two years, it gets harder and harder to be creative; however, Luis is one author who continues to excite my reader's heart, suck me into her stories, and effortlessly has me in love with her characters before I even realize it. My problem with her books is my inadequacy to do them justice in a review. Her skills as a storyteller continue to grow as she sharpens her wit, perfects her pacing, and pours more of herself into her work. And this book? This book is easily the pinnacle of her work to date. There is so much MORE in this book! More impeccably timed humor, more perfected imperfections of authentic characters who steal the reader's heart, more soul-deep connections between the characters and the reader, and more complex, deep emotion. And steam. We can always count on Luis for just the right amount of fun, smexy times! So whatever term you prefer, “This book is everything,” or “This one has all the feels,” Hold Me Today is THAT book.
Where do I even begin with these two characters? Nick is the swoon-worthy alpha that every girl wants, but he's such a darn nice guy with a big heart and a sweetly vulnerable side that is oh, so delicious as it's revealed. And Mina, OMGee, Mina. This girl has layers for days and so many contradictions. She’s a tough, driven over-achiever, yet she’s been searching all her life for a place to belong. She's had challenges all of her life and she's fought and scraped for every millimeter of success. Is it wrong that I have a girl crush on her? She is easily my favorite Luis heroine, because there’s just something about a girl who fights every day to overcome challenges and negativity and is successful in spite of it. Then, throw in a happily ever after with the guy who was made for her, the one who knows her, loves her imperfections, and fits her like no other – my heart is done. Wrecked. Destroyed. And I couldn’t be happier!
Nick is Mina's best friend's older brother, and they’ve know each other forever. For most of those years she was simply his sister's friend and a thorn in his side, but he sees things in a different light when he agrees to renovate her hair salon and they spend more time together. And did I mention she agrees to be his “fake" girlfriend to keep the media off his trail after the whole “Put a Ring On It" debacle? Hindsight being 20/20, Nick realizes that, at every pivotal point in his life, Mina has been there offering comfort and support but asking nothing in return. A part of me wishes they had seen the light sooner, but destiny has a way of playing out so we learn the life lessons we need in order to make us ready for the next chapter of life. Sometimes when I read a book, I think of how I would have written things differently, but Luis got Nick and Mina's story exactly right, every step of the way. This is perfection, pure and utter perfection.
This is the first book in the Put a Ring On It series, and Luis has set the series up in such a way that I’m insanely excited about what is to come! Not only am I completely in love with Nick and Mina and can’t wait to see them again, but there are hints of some wickedly wonderful things to come with both Dominic and Owen's stories. If you like romantic comedy (and who doesn’t?) you'll definitely want to grab this one and start reading ASAP. Humor, heat, heart, and an author pouring her soul into the characters and their story. What's not to love? This one deserves all of the stars in the night!
You're absolutely going to want to read this one! One-click the link below, and check out the giveaway, below! Until next time, dear reader
Much love between the covers,
BookAddict
*See my other reviews here.
Purchase Links
$2.99 for a limited time!
Free in Kindle Unlimited
Excerpt
~ Mina ~
A masculine hand sticks through the closing elevator doors, cutting off my train of thought as I lurch forward to jab the KEEP OPEN button. I smack it once with a heavy, don’t-fail-me-now finger, then again, my gaze flitting to the doors that are inching closed like the gates of Mordor.
That hand balls into a fist and then a suit-encased forearm appears, followed by a long leg and a brown, leather dress shoe. The leather is so soft, so visibly supple, I wouldn’t doubt that they cost more than my mortgage.
“Gamóto.”
At the Greek curse for “fuck”, and the more than familiar gravel-pitched voice, my back snaps straight, and I yank my gaze up. Up past the lean waist not even a suit jacket can hide. Up past the barrel chest and the bulging, I-swing-hammers-for-a-living arms. Up to a face that’s as unforgiving in its aristocratic, angular bone structure as his hair is a wild, dark mop on his head.
Only that curly hair and a pair of full, pillow-soft lips—not that I’ve ever tasted them, of course—make him seem more human than rigid statue.
Bingo.
Has there ever been more appropriate timing? I don’t think so.
She who asketh shall receive—or however the saying goes.
For possibly the first time in six years, I smile at the man standing just inches away.
Nick Stamos stares down at me, his pewter eyes hard and narrowed with suspicion. “Trying to amputate my arm, Ermione?”
My smile slips, hackles twitching like a cat’s fur standing on end when stalked by a predator. Er-me-o-ne. His tongue rolls over the R in my given name, his Greek accent perfect and sultry despite the condescension dripping heavy and thick with every purred syllable.
Don’t let him get to you.
Only, he’s gotten to me for years now.
“If by amputate you mean save,” I murmur with practiced flippancy, “then sure. It’s not my fault if technology doesn’t want to work for you.”
Those slate-gray eyes, unlike any pair I’ve ever seen, drop to where I’m still pressing the KEEP OPEN button. When his dark brows rise, taunting me with their perfect arches, I follow his lead and glance down at the illuminated button.
CLOSE DOORS.
Oh. Oh.
Air puffs up my chest with indignancy as I inhale swiftly. “You didn’t really need that arm, did you?”
Nick snorts derisively. Without sparing me another look, his big hand circles my wrist. His touch is bold, his skin hot. A shiver of something—revulsion, I hope—rolls down my spine, unwinding and unfurling until even my gold-painted toes curl in my heels. And, as though he fears I’m completely incompetent, he angles my still-pointed finger at the button to close the doors.
Pushes down and lingers, as though to taunt, see? This is how a contraption called an elevator works. Welcome to the twenty-first century, Ermione.
Ermione. Even in my head I can hear him slinging around the name I inherited from my maternal grandmother, knowing that it makes my mouth pinch and my hands clench.
My smile has, as it always does around him, completely evaporated.
The elevator pings shut.
Locking me in with Satan’s mortal sidekick, my best friend’s older brother.
Author Bio
Maria Luis
is the author of sexy contemporary romances, though she may or may not have a
few historical romances hiding in the cobwebs of her computer.
When she's not writing about strong men and the sassy women who sweep them off their feet, Maria is a historian who specializes in medieval England and 19th century New Orleans. What do the two eras have in common, you ask? Not much, except for disease, scandalous activities and crime--Maria's favorite topics.
Maria lives in New Orleans with her better half, where she can generally be found hiking with her two dogs, Zeus and Athena, kayaking in Louisiana's inter-coastal waterways, or curled up on the couch with a good book.
When she's not writing about strong men and the sassy women who sweep them off their feet, Maria is a historian who specializes in medieval England and 19th century New Orleans. What do the two eras have in common, you ask? Not much, except for disease, scandalous activities and crime--Maria's favorite topics.
Maria lives in New Orleans with her better half, where she can generally be found hiking with her two dogs, Zeus and Athena, kayaking in Louisiana's inter-coastal waterways, or curled up on the couch with a good book.
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