Friday 8 July 2016

Blog Tour & REVIEW***BEAST by Alana Albertson***


BEAST
by Alana Albertson

Publication Date: June 14, 2016
Genres: New Adult, Contemporary Romance, Military Romance


 

Purchase (99c or #FREE with #KINDLEUNLIMITED!): Amazon
 
 

Synopsis 
 
Love doesn’t need to be perfect, it just needs to be true.
 
Isabella—Grady Williams is a national treasure, the youngest living Medal of Honor recipient, America’s scarred superhero. With tattooed arms sculpted from carrying M-16s, this bad boy has girls begging from sea to shining sea to get a piece of his action.
 
When my father squanders away my college fund, I make a deal with this dirty-talking Devil Dog—I will pretend to be Grady’s girlfriend for the Marine Corps Ball, and my dad will write Grady’s war memoir.
 
Grady is fearless. Hell, this badass jumped on a grenade to save his fellow Marines! As much as I crave him, I refuse to allow myself to become addicted to a dangerous man who will detonate my heart.
 
Grady—Isabella Cuesta is an angel who can see beyond my mangled skin, a pawn used to repay her father’s debt, a woman who makes me feel like a man instead of a monster.
 
But I no longer believe in fairy tales.
 
She’s mine until our contract ends. I’ll take her hard and rough, listen to all her hopes and fears, lay down my life to protect her.
 
This beauty will never let herself love a dangerous man like me—a man who has killed, a man who runs towards gunfire, a man who never backs down from a fight.
 
But without her love, I’m not a man—I’ll remain forever a beast.

 

http://bit.ly/1S8MVRe
 
 
 
 
BEAST MUSIC PLAYLIST

 
Grenade by Bruno Mars
One by Metallica
I'm Not Giving You Up by Gloria Estefan
Tale as old as Time - by Beauty & the Beast Soundtrack
If You're Reading This by Tim McGraw
One Hell of an Amen by Brantley Gilbert

 
 
 
#AMERICASBRAVESTBEAST
 
 
 
EXCERPT  ---Grady
 
I blasted the volume on the television, trying to drown out the noise from a goddamn frat party down the street. Loud music, water splashing in the pool, girls laughing maniacally—the sounds of people enjoying their lives. At least the racket sounded better than the clamor running through my head.
The ricochet of gunshots, my friend screaming in pain, his agonizing cries during his last seconds of life—that was the clatter that racketed through my skull. And I could never turn it off, not even when I slept.
Why had I been the one to survive the battlefield? The survivor’s guilt was almost worse than my physical scars.
And now, I’d been deemed a fucking war hero. At twenty-five years old, I was the youngest living Medal of Honor recipient. I’d met the President—even shared a beer with him in the Rose Garden.
He’d invited me to be the guest of honor at an upcoming Marine Corps Ball in Hawaii that he would be attending. Sounded great, but I needed to find a date worthy of meeting the leader of the free world. I couldn’t exactly bring one of the porn stars I’d recently fucked to meet the President.
My commander-in-chief had given me one piece of advice—get an education. Sounded great in theory, but only one of my eyes worked, dirt from the attack was still embedded deeply in my wounds, and the burns on my skin itched so fucking badly that I spent my free time gouging my own flesh off. And those were just the physical problems. Mentally, I was a complete fuckup. I couldn’t shake the premonition that I was headed for some sort of Final Destination fate, doomed because I’d cheated death. The littlest noise made me as skittish as one of the wild dogs in Iraq. I couldn’t focus on any task for more than a minute, and I struggled daily trying to heal from my injuries.
College wasn’t an option for me now because the thought of sitting in a room filled with people scared me more than jumping on that grenade. I wouldn’t have time to attend even if I wanted to. For the past two years, I’d endured intensive physical therapy, nonstop burn and facial reconstruction surgeries, not to mention PTSD treatment, which was the most painful experience of them all. And I’d be too drugged up to focus. My docs forced me to try a bunch of meds that gave me at worst a limp dick and at best massive headaches and sleepless nights. I’d done group therapy, individual therapy. Fucking bullshit. I’d rather get a skin graft than talk about my feelings.
The only benefit from this fucking hell that was my life was that every time I had left my place, I’d been swimming in a sea of pussy. Women couldn’t wait to get a piece of me, like being fucked by me made them some type of patriot. But that was all they wanted. One night riding a hero, and by morning they were quick to bail, find a man who didn’t look like he escaped from the circus, a man who could take them to a fancy dinner without freaking out and having a flashback. I enjoyed all the attention at first, but sometimes I yearned to find someone who actually liked me for me.
The voices down the block grew louder. I peered out the window, and could see the party raging, a bunch of rich, spoiled college kids dressed like superheroes.
Kickass. I could do this. The old me hated costume parties or anything with a theme—I’d much rather get wasted with my buddies. But since I looked like Frankenstein now, masks suited me just fine.
I pulled out my razor because I didn’t want my beard scraping against my mask. I rarely shaved because I couldn’t stand the sight of myself in the mirror. I’d never get used to looking at my face.
A freak. A monster. A beast.
My face was now split in two. On one half, my eye drooped, my skin sagged. On the other, I looked like the man I used to be.
Now I had a face only a mother could love. Too bad my mom had abandoned me years ago.
Could anyone ever stand the sight of looking at me every day? Or would I always remain some type of novelty—a patriotic pity fuck?
I dug out my favorite costume—the Hulk—stained my body with green camouflage paint, pulled on my shorts, and tugged the latex disguise over my head.
Normally, once I told a woman my name, she’d start fawning over me, and thank me for my service by sucking my cock. But tonight I wanted to try something new. I was up for a challenge. I wanted to keep my scars and my identity a secret. Maybe I’d be able to meet a girl tonight who would get to know me first before judging my appearance and my actions. Someone sweet, caring, and classy. Someone I could invite to the Marine Corps Ball. A woman who wouldn’t be scared of getting to know the real man behind the mask.
 
 
REVIEW
 
Review by: Melanie
(4 stars)

 My first read from Alana Albertson and I really enjoyed it. Very loosely based on the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale, Grady, a wounded Marine meets Isa, a former dancer, damaged from the loss of her mother.

The way these two met was brilliant, a very original idea that worked well. Even Grady having a PTSD episode during that first meet didn't scare Isa away and their story began.

Both these characters were written well, although at one point Grady really turned me off him with how he bossed Isa in one scene, he quickly redeemed himself and the rest of the story was sweet, sexy, with some drama thrown in for good measure.

I'd certainly read something from Alana Albertson again and I give Beast 4 stars.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ABOUT ALANA ALBERTSON
 
Alana Albertson is a multi-award winning author, current President of Romance Writers of America’s Contemporary Romance Chapter and the former President of both Romance Writers of America’s Young Adult and Chick Lit chapters. Alana Albertson holds a Masters of Education from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Stanford University. A recovering professional ballroom dancer, Alana currently writes contemporary romance, new adult and young adult fiction. She lives in San Diego, California, with her husband, two young sons, and four dogs. When she’s not spending her time playing with her sons, dancing, or saving dogs from high kill shelters through Pugs N Roses, the rescue she founded, she can be found watching episodes Homeland, Devious Maids, or Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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