KCBR Blog

Even If It Hurts, an emotionally charged contemporary romance from USA Today bestselling author, Marni Mann, is live!  Check out my spoiler-free book review of this new contemporary romance. This standalone romance is total Kindle Crack! 

When you have a perfect marriage, only an impossible reconnection could make you risk it all.

OLIVER

When I met her, I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

We were so young and so passionate.

We studied business in the day and each other’s bodies at night.

We always knew it would end with the semester, so we loved hard with no regrets.

LANCE

When I met her, I couldn’t get her off my mind.

We were fresh out of college and ready to take on the world.

We fit each other like missing puzzle pieces.

And just when I thought my life was perfect, it got better. She became my wife.

CHLOE

I met my first love while studying abroad in London.

When I moved home, I didn’t think I’d ever fall in love again.

Until I met him. The man who became my husband.

The one I promised a lifetime to.

Then, my first love came back into my life …

And I realized that love was bigger than any one man. 

Download your copy online today!

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2uGBKvK

Amazon Worldwide: https://fave.co/2viugQ6

Apple Books: http://bit.ly/evenifithurtsbook

Nook: https://fave.co/2pR10xx

Kobo: https://fave.co/2qIIuHS

Add to Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2KQcFUo

Review of Even If It Hurts

Even If It Hurts by Marni Mann

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Man oh Mann, Marni made it hurt. Even If It Hurts should come with a box of tissues and blood pressure medicine. Look, you know from the synopsis that this story is going to be a complicated love triangle. You need to go into this book knowing that this story is going to strangle your heart. Let yourself fall in love with each man. Trust me, you will. Marni is going to take you on this emotional journey that’s going to be painful to read at times. She’s going to make you question your own core beliefs on love and fidelity. You will scream at this book. I think Marni wants you, the reader, to flex your heart’s muscle memory and walk in each of the character’s shoes to make you decide to feel it all, even if it hurts. It will. I had to put this book down a few times because I had felt some emotional whiplash. Then, like the emotional sadist I am, I ripped off the emotional bandage and went right back in. Just when you think you know how this story is going end, you don’t. Read this book even if you think it’s going to hurt. It’s worth every scream, and all of the swoon-worthy moments that you can muster.

Excerpt:

“What can I get you?” the bartender asked, his hands hovering, waiting to reach for one of the bottles. 

I gripped the edge of the bar top, holding the cold leather, and said, “Prosecco, please.” 

The speakeasy wasn’t too packed tonight, just a steady business crowd filling the main space and the small seating nooks that were like little dens built into the perimeter. 

My eyes were falling over the row of wine, studying the labels, when I felt a piece of fabric brush across the side of my arm. I turned just in time to see a dark suit jacket leaving my skin, and with it came a scent. One that was so sharp and demanding—the smell of power if it came in a bottle.

I couldn’t believe how much I liked it. 

My gaze traveled higher to the silk tie, the broad shoulders, and the full frame that was at least six-three and all suit. And I found myself holding in my breath as I took in this absolutely gorgeous man with thick black hair and a clean-shaven face, blue eyes so dark that they looked navy. 

“Have you ordered?” he asked in a rich, deep voice. 

“He’s making mine now.”

It was easy to see there was nothing raw about this man. He had a polished, educated demeanor with a richness that went well beyond the cost of his suit. 

He smiled, and I found myself sucked into it, unable to look away. “What’s your name?” 

With a stare as invasive as his, one I felt move straight through me, it seemed my name was something he should certainly know at this point.

“Chloe Kennedy.” 

He turned his body so he was now facing me, showing me details I hadn’t picked up before—a narrow, angular nose and tiny wrinkles at the sides of his eyes. His hand reached forward, and when it surrounded mine, he said, “Lance Hamilton.” 

“Here’s your Prosecco,” the bartender said, and from the corner of my eye, I saw him set down the glass. 

“Add that to my tab, and I’ll take a scotch,” Lance said with his eyes on me. 

I knew my cheeks were blushing, and it wasn’t because he was paying for the drink. “You don’t have to do that.”

“I can’t let a beautiful woman like yourself pay for her own drink.” His eyes narrowed. “Unless there’s someone else here who should be buying it?” 

“No.” I shook my head. “Only you.” 

My hand was still in his, gripped in a shake that I felt all the way up to my shoulder, across my chest, and down to my other hand that was clenching the cold glass of champagne. 

My comment seemed to make his smile grow, and he held my hand for a second longer before releasing me. 

“I was just coming to find you,” Molly said, startling me, her arm then snaking around my waist. “Looks like Lance found you instead.”

I glanced at my best friend, knowing Lance could hear us. “You know him?” 

“I work with Marshall,” Lance said before Molly could reply, and he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. “Nice to see you, Molly.” 

She grinned at him. “You too.” 

He hadn’t been part of the group Molly and Marshall introduced me to when we first arrived, nor had I seen him at any of the parties I attended with her. If I’d met Lance before, I wouldn’t have forgotten.

“I’ll see you back at the table,” she said, her arm leaving my waist, and she gave me a look I knew well. It was one that told me she approved, and then she was gone just as the bartender handed Lance his drink.

“Thank you again,” I said as he handed the bartender his credit card. He held his glass in the air, near mine, smiling.

“To the morning and everything that happens in between.”

I laughed, clicking my Prosecco to his scotch, and it felt like a warmth had crept over me, even before I put my lips to glass and swallowed. 

About Marni: 

Best-selling Author Marni Mann knew she was going to be a writer since middle school. While other girls her age were daydreaming about teenage pop stars, Mann was fantasizing about penning her first novel. She crafts sexy, titillating stories that weave together her love of darkness, mystery, passion, and human emotion. A New Englander at heart, she now lives in Sarasota, Florida with her husband and their two dogs who subsequently have been characters in her books. When she’s not nose deep in her laptop working on her next novel, she’s scouring for chocolate, sipping wine, traveling to new locations, and devouring fabulous books.

Connect with Marni:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarniMannAuthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarniMann

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marnimann/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/marnimann/

Stay up to Date with Marni by signing up for her mailing list here: http://marnismann.com/about/

http://marnismann.com

From USA Today best-selling author Marni Mann comes Before You, a contemporary romance and a devastating examination of the people we meet, the life we create, and the things we lose. Before You is LIVE!  Check out my spoiler-free review.  Stop by my reader group for a gift card giveaway from Marni! 

Synopsis:

It was supposed to be a typical work trip. New York to San Francisco, window seat, exit row. Maybe a mimosa.

Then, seat 14B sat down. When our eyes met, the flight became anything but routine.

I could pinpoint the moments in my life where everything changed forever.

Meeting Jared on that flight was first.

Falling in love with him was second.

Discovering the secrets he kept was third. 

Putting my broken self back together and forgetting what I learned would be difficult. Forgiving Jared would be impossible. 

He said, before me, nothing mattered. But after him, nothing would ever be the same.

Download your copy today!

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2qwXDvE

Apple Books: http://bit.ly/BeforeYouBook

Nook: https://fave.co/2P5bnb3

Kobo: https://fave.co/2J8NknL

Google: http://bit.ly/2lMzfDC

Add to Goodreads: http://bit.ly/BeforeYouMMGR

Review of Before You

Before You by Marni Mann

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’m out to dinner with my family in NYC.

Me: I can’t wait to get home.
Husband: Why?
Me: I’m reading the best book!
Husband: Vi and Penelope?
Me: I just finished and LOVED it! (Dirty Letters).
Husband: Okay. What book?
Me: Omg...it’s a Marni Mann book.
Husband: Who?
Me: I’ve mentioned her before. This one is called Before You.
Husband: Okay, cool. I’ll know if you love if you’ll make a college.
Me: I don’t know if it’s possible to make one based on this book. It’s complicated and inf#cking-credible all at the same time.
Me: I hate that I’m typing out this convo. I’m a loser but this book is THAT GOOD!

YOU! 🔽
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2OJI7GP
Before You by Marni Mann will release on 10/22. I’m going home to read this. Bye NYC!

PS - I finished this book and LOVED IT. This book is total Kindle Crack and I'm working on a college now. #bestof2019

Excerpt:

“Are you willing and able to help in the event of an emergency situation?” the flight attendant asked as she stood beside our row. She had appeared directly after the announcement that informed us that all of the passengers were now on board the plane to San Francisco and the pilots were doing their final preparations before Flight 88 pulled away from the gate.

“Yes,” I answered, and I should have gone back to the article on the housing market in lower Manhattan that I’d started when I was waiting to board. Instead, my eyes were on her.

The girl in seat 14A.

She had dark hair that went well past her shoulders, a patch of freckles under each of her eyes, and lips that were pouty and full. She wasn’t beautiful. She was exquisite.

And she had no idea at all.

In the forty-seven years I’d been alive, I’d learned something about women. There were those you couldn’t help but look at and those you just shouldn’t look at.

She was both.

That was rare.

“Yes,” she replied to the flight attendant, and then she looked at me. 

Before all of the interruptions, she had asked why I was going to California. I finally answered, “Some work, some pleasure. And yourself?”

“Same.” Her eyelids narrowed. “Are you from Manhattan? I don’t detect an accent.”

I felt the paper in my hands and knew there was no way I could go back to it. Not yet at least, not with her fiery green gaze on me.

“When you’ve lived in New York for as long as I have, you tell people you’re from there. It’s easier.”

She laughed, and it caused me to keep staring at her. “I’ve been here a while, too, and I agree. Once New York becomes home, you seem to forget everywhere else you’ve lived.” She tucked some hair behind her ear. “Why is that?”

When I’d asked my assistant to book this flight, I hadn’t considered flying commercial would put me in a position for conversation, like the one she’d just started. I hadn’t thought much about the actual flight at all besides knowing I had to be on it.

But now that I was here, I had no idea what the fuck I was thinking.

I really shouldn’t be going to San Francisco at all.

I looked away from her to glance up ahead. The main door was closed, telling me it was too late to get off the plane. The only thing I could do at this point was get some air.

I excused myself, halfway to my feet, knowing we were minutes from leaving the gate and supposed to be in our seats, and I went down the aisle. “I’ll be quick,” I said to one of the flight attendants as she approached me, and I continued to the lavatory.

When I got inside, I locked the door behind me, guessing I had about thirty seconds before I heard a knock.

If I were in any other restroom, I would have washed my face, but I wasn’t going to do that with the water from a plane. What I needed from this tight, crammed space was to catch my breath.

Because all of it had been sucked out of me, and there wasn’t any air to be found in row fourteen.

About Marni: 

Best-selling Author Marni Mann knew she was going to be a writer since middle school. While other girls her age were daydreaming about teenage pop stars, Mann was fantasizing about penning her first novel. She crafts sexy, titillating stories that weave together her love of darkness, mystery, passion, and human emotion. A New Englander at heart, she now lives in Sarasota, Florida with her husband and their two dogs who subsequently have been characters in her books. When she’s not nose deep in her laptop working on her next novel, she’s scouring for chocolate, sipping wine, traveling to new locations, and devouring fabulous books.

Connect with Marni:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarniMannAuthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarniMann

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marnimann/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/marnimann/

Stay up to Date with Marni by signing up for her mailing list here: http://marnismann.com/about/

http://marnismann.com

The Assistant, a haunting new romantic thriller from USA Today bestselling author Marni Mann is LIVE!  Check out my spoiler-free book review and gift card giveaway.

Synopsis:

At forty-two, I’m married to my best friend, and we have two beautiful children.       

Everything about my life is perfect until my father gets sick.

Before: I owned and operated a massively successful women’s shapewear company.

After: I stay home with my family because I’ve learned the importance of time.

Before: My husband could rely on me to take care of everything.

After: I hire him the perfect assistant.

My entire life can be summed up in before and afters, but something happens in the middle.

A meeting.

And it changes the course of everyone’s lives forever.

Download your copy today!

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2YqsDJg

Amazon Worldwide: https://geni.us/TheAssistantMM

Apple Books: http://bit.ly/ibooktheassistant

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2WTTpcJ

Nook: https://bit.ly/2IhsUt7

Add to Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2H9s5Si

Review of The Assistant

The Assistant by Marni Mann

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

THIS REVIEW IS SPOILER FREE. GO INTO THIS BOOK BLIND!!! Let me first start off by saying I’M SPEECHLESS. I’m literally blown away. Marni Mann put my heart in a blender and puréed it. THAT ENDING! I have to tell you that I paused three times while reading this book to scream WTF or shed a tear. Just wait till you reach 60% in… just wait for it…. The Assistant is on my Best of 2019 book list. 

Excerpt:

I breathed through that thought and filled my nose with his scent. There was a constant rotation of different shampoos and soaps in our shower. No matter what he used or the cologne he added after, Emery always smelled like leaves during a spring rainstorm with a hint of spiciness like the cinnamon and nutmeg I’d shaken onto his coffee.

After several deep inhales, I pulled my mouth away, observing how handsome he looked at his desk. He had on a pair of dark jeans and a plaid button-down with a navy sweater on top. And, even though I couldn’t see them, he had on argyle socks and dark brown leather shoes.

I just knew my husband that well.

Emery began to move his chair, swiveling it around to face me. When he stopped in front of me, I stepped between his legs, setting my coffee on his desk so that both of my hands were free. My palms went to his cheeks. I loved the way his whiskers felt on my skin. He kept his beard longer in the winter and trimmed much shorter in the summer. Winter was my favorite, and he had reminded me of one of the reasons after Alicia’s party when he rubbed it across my entire body.

From the look on his face, I had a feeling he was thinking about the same thing.

“We have the house all to ourselves today,” he said, confirming my suspicion. His hands slowly slid to the back of my thighs. “When was the last time I was able to do this”—he rubbed his nose across my navel, air from his lips bursting through my top—“on a weekday?” He continued to wrap around until his fingers were on my butt. His lips slowly parted, his eyes fiery with seduction. “I’m going to put you on top of those blueprints, and then I’m going to—”

“You have an interview in fifteen minutes.” I put a finger on his lips. “But I want you to remember the thought you just had, and when the interview is over”—I leaned in a little closer—“I want you to put me on top of those blueprints and do to me whatever it was that you had planned.”

He kissed the back of my finger, and it started to tremble.

“You’re turning me on so much; I’m shaking,” I said, pulling my hand away at the same time the doorbell rang. “She’s early. I like that.” I slipped out of his grip and took several steps back. “I’ll go get her, and we’ll meet you in the dining room.”

He nodded, and I walked out of his office, still feeling the tremors as I headed down the rest of the hallway.

About Marni: 

Best-selling Author Marni Mann knew she was going to be a writer since middle school. While other girls her age were daydreaming about teenage pop stars, Mann was fantasizing about penning her first novel. She crafts sexy, titillating stories that weave together her love of darkness, mystery, passion, and human emotion. A New Englander at heart, she now lives in Sarasota, Florida with her husband and their two dogs who subsequently have been characters in her books. When she’s not nose deep in her laptop working on her next novel, she’s scouring for chocolate, sipping wine, traveling to new locations, and devouring fabulous books.

Connect with Marni:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarniMannAuthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarniMann

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marnimann/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/marnimann/

Stay up to Date with Marni by signing up for her mailing list here: http://marnismann.com/about/