In USA Today bestseller Christi Barth’s last Bad Boys Gone Good novel, the brother who’s always followed the rules finally gets to be a little bad.

 

Kellan Maguire was a semester away from becoming a lawyer when his life imploded. Now he’s in Witness Protection, hiding from the mob and mad as hell that his brothers lied to him about, oh, everything. The only bright spot in his new life is their drop-dead-gorgeous U.S. Marshal handler. Yeah, he wants to handle her… a lot.

 

Federal Marshal Delaney Evans has protected her fair share of dangerous criminals. But Kellan is a whole different kind of dangerous—dangerously hot, to be specific. The charming, handsome, and utterly law-abiding Maguire brother got under her skin the moment they met and the more time she spends with him, the harder it is to deny their attraction. Delaney’s willing to give Kellan one night—to get him out of her system—and then it’s over.

 

Except one night isn’t enough and soon they’re breaking every rule of WITSEC to be together. Kellan’s got it bad for her, but Delaney’s career, her entire life, would fall apart if anyone found out. And then the biggest complication of all hits…

 

 

About the Book:

 

Got It Bad by Christi Barth

Series: Bad Boys Gone Good Series

Genre: Adult, Contemporary Romance, 

Publisher: Avon Impulse

Publication Date: September 18, 2018

 

Purchase Your Copy Today!

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“You have my word.”

“Great. The word of an almost lawyer,” Delaney said mockingly. “That and twelve dollars will buy me a martini.”

 

Then she instantly regretted pushing his buttons. It was habit. It was fun.

 

It was dangerous.

 

One thick, dark eyebrow winged up, like an arched frame around his stunning ice-blue eye. “First you call me spoiled, and now you’re insulting my near-lawyerness? If I didn’t know better, I’d say the lady doth protest too much.”

 

“The lady has her hands full dealing with your troublesome brothers. She doesn’t need to waste her energy constantly fending you off, too.”

 

“I think you do.” Kellan set his cup down.

 

Delaney gaped at him. Because she’d been oh-so-careful never to give away with so much as a flicker the fact the she was still interested. How could he tell something that Delaney barely admitted to herself? “You think I want to keep fending you off?”

 

“Yes.” Kellan stepped closer. In fact, he moved in way past what would be polite. Invaded her personal space just as much as he’d been invading her mind. “You like fighting with me. You could ignore my compliments, my flirty remarks. You don’t. You rise to the bait every time. I think you’re every bit as frustrated as I am.”

 

“You don’t know anything about my life outside the time I spend working on your case.” Heat flashed across her cheeks and chest. And she stepped in, too. To where the tips of her breasts brushed his chest, and her feet bumped against his. “Don’t begin to think you know me.”

 

“I don’t think. I know. I know that you may have been on dates since you met me. But none of them distracted you from whatever’s simmering between us. You want to turn back the clock to the day I asked you out and follow through on it.”

 

“I don’t.” Her words were the verbal equivalent of a foot stamp. Then, softer, as if she didn’t mean to speak it out loud at all, Delaney said, “We can’t.”

 

In response, Kellan framed her face with his hands, tilted her head back more, and kissed her.

 

Not the light, polite, introduction kiss they’d shared the first time. Delaney had obviously pushed him past that step. Kellan kissed as if he needed her to know just how badly he wanted her. His lips worked across her mouth, moving and kneading. Kellan nipped at her wide bottom lip. It felt like punishment for her making him wait so long

 

It also felt like a reward for waiting so long, and she rewarded him with a tiny moan.

 

Delaney’s hands fisted in his thick hair, pulling and tugging. It undoubtedly showed him the insta-heat burning her up inside as much as the way her leg wrapped around his calf.

 

She wanted more.

 

His tongue teased at the seam of her lips, and Delaney opened for him like they’d already done this dance a hundred times. She tasted the sweetness lingering from his drink. Desire rocketed through her, turning her nerves to lava. From the way his penis had hardened to pure steel against her belly, Kellan felt the same.

 

He streaked the backs of his knuckles down the undersides of her raised arms. Kept going to just lightly brush them along the sides of her breasts, her ribs, the flare of her hips to finally land on the curve of her ass.

 

Kellan dug his fingers in and lifted. Just high enough to press her center against his penis. Instantly, she got on board with the position, rocking against him even as her tongue twined and teased.

 

It was impossible to stop the little, breathy moans that kept escaping from her. It was impossible not to undulate against his rock hard abs and dig her fingers into the sculpted muscles of his back. Kissing Kellan wasn’t foreplay. It was a sex act all by itself. Utterly satisfying even as it drove her hunger up immeasurably.

 

And while Delaney would’ve sworn it was impossible, he was a million times better in reality than all the ways she’d fantasized being with him over the past months. Kellan ripped his mouth away to burn a trail of kisses down the side of her neck.

 

A semi rolled by, and the driver honked for a long time. It had been easy to ignore the white noise of the cars passing, but the horn broke through to Delaney. It reminded her they were on the edge of a green-scummed pond, across from a strip mall. The world could see them making out. And they’d already shot way past a reasonable stopping point.

 

So she unwound her leg and put her foot back down on the ground. Kellan seemed to get the signal. He dialed back the intensity on his kisses and rained them up the side of her face, down her nose, to end with a light peck on her mouth before easing back. Then he moved his hands to her shoulders.

 

It took a moment for her eyes to re-open. When they did, it took another moment before Delaney fully focused on him.

 

“Not only can we kiss,” Kellan said with enough authority to make her realize he wouldn’t allow her to pretend this hadn’t happened. To pretend that she hadn’t just climbed him like a tree and responded with a fervor that matched his own. “We’re absolutely doing it again.”

 

 

 

 

Got It Bad by Christi Barth
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book is #3, in the Bad Boys Gone Good series. This book can be read as a standalone novel. To fully understand the series without spoilers, please read this great series in order.

Kellan was forced out of his own life, due to his brother's crimes. Now he has to create a new one. He also has to avoid the woman who helped him start over.

Delaney's attraction to Kellan was instant. The feeling is also mutual. Her career is over if she gives in to it. The heart wants what the heart wants. Hopefully they can find middle ground before this causes them to combust.

This book got so hot so fast! The characters right from the start had fueled the spark that just kept igniting. The lure of the forbidden is always harder to ignore.


***This ARC copy was given in exchange for an honest review by its publishers and Edelweiss.

View all my reviews

 

 

 

 

Tour Wide Giveaway:

 

To celebrate the release of GOT IT BAD by Christi Barth, we’re giving away three paperback copies of Never Been Good!

GIVEAWAY TERMS & CONDITIONS:  Open to US shipping addresses only. Three winners will each receive a paperback copy of Never Been Good by Christi Barth. This giveaway is administered by Pure Textuality PR on behalf of Avon Romance.  Giveaway ends 9/7/2018 @ 11:59pm EST. Avon Romance will send the winning copies out to the winner directly. Limit one entry per reader and mailing address. Duplicates will be deleted.  CLICK HERE TO ENTER!

 

 

 

 

 

 

About Christi Barth:

 

USA Today bestseller CHRISTI BARTH earned a Masters degree in vocal performance and embarked upon a career on the stage. A love of romance then drew her to wedding planning. Ultimately she succumbed to her lifelong love of books and now writes award-winning contemporary romance.

 

Christi can always be found either whipping up gourmet meals (for fun, honest!) or with her nose in a book. She lives in Maryland with the best husband in the world.

 

Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads  |  Amazon

 

 

This promotion is brought to you by Pure Textuality PR.

 

 

This book is #3, in the Bad Boys Gone Good series.  This book can be read as a standalone novel.  To fully understand the series without spoilers, please read this great series in order.

 

Kellan was forced out of his own life, due to his brother's crimes.  Now he has to create a new one.  He also has to avoid the woman who helped him start over.

 

Delaney's attraction to Kellan was instant.  The feeling is also mutual.  Her career is over if she gives in to it.  The heart wants what the heart wants.  Hopefully they can find middle ground before this causes them to combust.

 

This book got so hot so fast!  The characters right from the start had fueled the spark that just kept igniting.  The lure of the forbidden is always harder to ignore.  I give this story a 3/5 Kitty's Paws UP!

 

 

***This ARC copy was given in exchange for an honest review by its publishers and Edelweiss.

ISBN: 978-0008311629

 

Published by: Killer Reads (24th August 2018)

 

Rating: 5*

 

Synopsis:

 

There’s a killer in your house.
The Hangman waits in the darkness of your living room. As soon as you get home, he will kill you – hang you by the neck – and make you pay for all the crimes you have tried desperately to forget.

 

He knows your darkest secrets.
The police are running out of time. DCI Matilda Darke is facing her worst nightmare: a serial killer pursuing his own brand of lethal justice, whose campaign of violence is spreading fear throughout the city.

 

And he is closer than you think.
As the body count rises, Matilda is personally targeted and even her most trusted colleagues fall under suspicion. But can she keep those closest to her from harm? Or is it already too late?

 

Review:

DCI Matilda Darke is such a beautifully written character. She's strong - capable of barking out orders with a ferocity that demands results, yet has a beguiling fragility as a result of the most unimaginable emotional trauma. In The Hangman's Hold, Matilda faces losing her very sanity as she and her team hunt down a vigilante serial killer who has decided to take matters into their own hands. 

 

This is an intriguing book that grabbed my attention from the outset. The Hangman character is utterly creepy and made me feel uneasy enough to look over my shoulder as I read, but at the same time I felt compelled to keep reading to find out what they would do next! There are many personal and professional relationships within the police team that get tested to the max when the elusive killer seems to be out of their grasp. With more twists and turns than a hangman's noose, this novel also really made me think. When is a crime paid for? 

 

Michael Wood has managed to squeeze all the elements needed for a brilliant crime novel into a truly engrossing read. DCI Matilda Darke is fast becoming one of my favourite characters because she is just so real. I'd like to thank the author, Harper Impulse, Killer Reads and Netgalley for providing an ARC. This is my unbiased review. 

 

Catch the rest of the blog tour with these fabulous bloggers here: -

 

 

Electric IMPULSE: Love, Life & Sex is Book One introducing an adult romance series and Aria Davenport, who believes her life is on a set trajectory to a predictable course of college, marriage to her beau, and a happily-ever-after conclusion. Unfortunately, life has a way of thwarting even the best-laid plans, as Aria discovers when her fiancée dumps her the day before her college graduation just as she's on the cusp of realizing all her dreams.

 

Sent into a tailspin over the sudden derailing of her careful objectives, Aria is hurt, confused, and ripe for exploitation. As the savvy, clever, secretive businessman Phoenix catches the eye of this fiery beauty and decides to make her part of his own plans for success, Aria finds her hormones are on fire. Both are consumed by a passion for sex and success that drives them together in a burst of flames that both justifies the title Electric IMPULSE and sets the stage for a rollicking ride through love, lust, success, failure, and everything in between.

 

The ideal reader of Electric IMPULSE won't be stymied or put off by graphic sexual descriptions or the ribald explorations of a young woman who finds her world has shut down unexpectedly; then opened up in new ways. Crushing disappointment neatly sets the scene for something far from Aria's intentions or knowledge, and while there is a good degree of give-and-take and some manipulation and special interests at stake; also present is the kind of growth opportunity and exploration that sets the stage for confronting childhood issues and adult perceptions.

 

Aria's growth takes place not just in the sexual arena but in her maturity level as she embarks on a journey she could never have predicted, jump-starting a stagnant love life with a relationship she can barely define as 'love', much less the kind of lifestyle she'd envisioned as being her original goal.

 

To call this story a 'romance' alone would be to do it a disservice; though a powerful romantic overlay contributes to the story's appeal. Even though lust, sexual encounters, and love are part of Aria's story, just as compelling is the account of how she changes her relationships to the men and women in her life and how she evolves new insights and perspectives about life (whether for good or bad) based on her encounters and observations with Phoenix.

 

Descriptions of these moments are astute and clear, marking the points where Aria learns about herself, Phoenix, values, and approaches to business and life.

 

Electric IMPULSE is a pointed journey of self-discovery in which Aria lets go of her perception that her worth lies in her relationship with a man and embarks on a hunt for what is truly of value to her world. She initially doesn't know what she's getting into with Phoenix, but things are just starting to make sense. Readers who follow her journey will find it thought-provokingly vivid and filled with confrontation, reflection, observation, and the kinds of questions that lead to new beginnings, empowerment, and growth both for the protagonist and, possibly, for her followers.

 

Women interested in contemporary blends of literary, psychological, and social reflection will find plenty to like about Ari and Electric IMPULSE, a story of how empowerment and self-realization actually begin.

Goodreads is so dangerous. I finish a book...off to review!! Then after a solid time scrolling through updates remember what I was really here for...

So...my expectations were pretty low for this. I couldn't tell ya why. They were though. So when this novel cleverly starts off with an actor (must be said in Tobias voice from arrested development, ty) on an airplane, getting away...I still wasn't expecting much. Until I was. Something about Carter's voice hit that Lauren Blakely feel for me-I like her male POVs-but this was kind of really cute. It was insta-lust, but with Carter imagining his future in a not-sappy but totally has the hots for the woman in 12D (or whatever). Sometimes we see people and I make up an entire future or backstory. I have, in fact, seen men that I've been attracted to and thought "hmm, in a parallel universe here's what happens." What saved this book from a case of insta-lust/insta-attraction/insta-insanity was that though Carter was quite interested, it was all kind of a lark too. And basically precisely fit the title "Acting on impulse." Sure, he was totally into her, and really wanted her--but it was a connection and he didn't over sap-ify or romanticize or alpha-male his way in there. He didn't even really pursue her aggressively. He was just charming, they had fun....she calls him on mansplaining, and basically things do not unfold in a predictable way.
Maybe coming here wasn't a terrible idea after all. The woman I like is meeting my parents under circumstances that won't induce stress. Years from now, Tori will thank me for being forward-thinking. This future-invested hero was done so cheekily, it really saved it from that shallow insta feeling that would normally plague a novel of this kind.

My comparisons to Lauren Blakely, my trusted palate cleanser, ends there. This is a higher caliber romance with more development than that if you ask me. A Puerto Rican heroine who is a personal trainer and shows plenty of all of that. An actor who loves his craft, his friends, and his family. Their families are in this book. The finesse in this book was building two characters who are good at showing their respect and admiration for each other honestly, and through gestures. (Tori telling him he has value as a rom-com actor because of how romance novels were her only escape when her father had a stroke because he felt like he had to be "more" than that. Carter checking out her community exercise class.)
"What part of 'don't call attention to yourself' did you not understand?"
I shrug. "Most of it."

Totally weird, some of the humor relied on a second person narrative style. Thankfully, it was just glimmers, and I felt the whole book was so charming I kind of loved it. Other than some gimmicks at the end I wish weren't employed cause this book didn't need them, I was super happy and surprised by the whole thing.