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Today on my blog I have the Then, Now, Forever tour. On my stop there is a spotlight, excerpt, review, and giveaway.
Book 1:
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Stella
“I’ve been in and out of hospitals for the past ten months.
I’ve had half my liver removed and even though this time the doctors are very
optimistic that they’ve removed all of the tumours, they can’t be sure. In
another three months they want me here again for a check up. Right now I feel
better than I’ve ever felt. I know the damn thing is gone, at least for the
moment. Despite that, I can’t make any plans for the future, not yet. I need to
go somewhere where nobody knows me, where I can relax and maybe even forget
about all this. Where I can meet people who don’t think of me as the girl who
lost her father and her brother in a car accident, and who has cancer. I want
to have fun, even if it’s for a couple of months.”
When Stella decides to
visit her estranged cousin Lisa in Genoa, she has no idea Italy will give her a
new reason to live.
Max
“Her gaze locked on a scene so beautiful, the picturesque
beach paled in comparison. A lifeguard emerged from the water, his orange
trunks stuck to his legs and water dripping all over him. He shook his head to
get rid of some of the water in his hair and Stella felt as if everything
started developing in slow motion – tiny drops of water slid from his neck down
his broad chest and muscular arms, along a weaving tattoo on his right
shoulder, and continued downwards towards his chest and washboard stomach,
finally getting lost in the waistband of his trunks. A part of another tattoo
peeked over his trunks on his left hip, the other part hidden under them. It
was a total Baywatch moment.”
Their love is epic. But
there are too many things keeping them apart.
“How could you keep this from me, Lisa? If you had told me
the first day I met him, I would have avoided him like the plague. Nothing
would have happened between us.”
“I kept your secrets, too, Stella.”
Are Max
and Stella strong enough to fight not only for their love, but for their lives?
Review:
OMG!! WOW this book is amazing and I honestly don’t think I
can do justice in this review or even explain to you just how much this book
has affected me deep down into my soul and will stay with me forever.
When I got asked to review this book I knew from the
synopsis that I would like it but I had no idea that I would fall in love with
not only the characters but the story itself. Or that I would find myself so
consumed by the characters story line that it would be bring so many emotions
out in me. I am not an emotional reader and can count on one hand how many
books that have touched me deep into my soul and have fingers left. In A
Heartbeat has been counted as one of those very rare books for me. So let me
try to explain just why thus book has grabbed a hold of my heart and soul so
deeply.
Teodora’s writing is so beautiful that she paints pictures
with her writing and makes you feel like you are actually in Italy
The characters are just as amazing as the scenery of Italy
It’s not all happy in their world as secrets come out and
hearts are betrayed but as I kept reading I kept finding myself holding my
breath and just has Teodora had ripped out and shredded my heart and I couldn’t
take anymore I kept reading to see if there would be a happy ever after but I
am not going to tell you that. You have to read this amazing epic book yourself
to find out. 5/5 Bloody Fangs
Buy Links:
Book 2:
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Then
Gia
had let Beppe into her life so easily, as if it was the most natural thing in
the world. She’d held him when he’d hurt so badly he’d thought he might die;
she’d talked him down when he’d been so angry he’d considered doing something
he’d regret for the rest of his life.
Gia
had saved his life.
At least once he needed to be strong
for her.
This right now, this moment, was theirs. It
belonged to them, not to abusive or dead fathers, not to guilt, regret or
sorrow, not to the past or the future.
But will their love survive
when tragedy separates them?
“I have to go, Gia. I’m tired and I feel
empty. I know you need me, but I have nothing left to give you. I need to
heal.”
“I miss you so much it’s hard
to breathe.”
Now
Beppe was still Gia’s closest friend. But
they’d never be anything more than that again. Remembering what it felt like to
have the person you love most in the world torn away from you still hurt. Gia
was determined never to be put into that position again.
There was never lack of love,
but can Beppe win Gia’s trust again?
Forever
“When I was broken you gave me pieces of
yourself and made me whole again.”
Excerpt:
They managed to remove all the shards from his back
and arms using only a local anesthetic.
It was a miracle Beppe
hadn’t sustained worse injuries, considering the force of the impact. While the
doctor tended to him, Gia filled all the forms. Thank God she was nineteen, or
they would have had a much bigger problem on their hands trying to find someone
to come with them and explain Beppe’s injuries.
He was released three
hours later, glass-free, pumped full of antibiotics and pain killers. Gia took
him to her house, cooked them both dinner and refused to let him go back home.
She helped clean him up without disturbing the bandages too much and then
tucked him in her bed.
“Where are you going?”
Beppe asked when Gia covered him with a soft blanket and turned to leave.
“I'm going to sleep in
mum’s room.”
“What? Why?”
“I don’t want to bother
you during the night. You need rest and your back hurts, I don’t wanna
accidentally hurt you...”
“Stop. You’re not gonna
hurt me. The bed’s big enough. Just come over here.”
She looked at him,
hesitating. It wasn’t just that she didn’t want to disturb him. She felt the
need to cry and scream and throw stuff, but didn’t want to break down in front of
him.
“Gia, please. I need you
to stay.”
Slowly she nodded and
walked over to her wardrobe to get some fresh clothes.
“OK. I just need to take
a shower.”
Walking into her
en-suite bathroom, Gia closed the door firmly behind her and turned the shower
on, hoping the sound of the water would drown her sobs.
When she finished in the
bathroom, she found Beppe in the exact same position as she’d left him – on his
tummy, his head turned towards her, his eyes open, but heavy with sleep and
pain killers. Gia hesitated again
thinking it might be better to go sleep in her mum’s room after all, but
instead she moved to the side of the bed.
Beppe tugged the blanket aside and patted the mattress, his usual smirk
trying to appear on his lips. She lay next to him then, turning on her side to
face him.
“You cried in the
shower,” he stated. There was no point in denying it – if he hadn’t actually
heard her, the red, swollen eyes must be a dead giveaway, so she nodded and
sighed.
“Don’t. Please, don’t cry for me. I can’t stand to
see you cry.”
“How can I not? I’ve
been watching that monster beat you and over and you won’t even let me
help.”
“You are helping. Every
single time.”
“Yeah. After. I want to
help so that this never happens again. I don’t want to heal your wounds and
hold you while you cry. I want it to stop.”
Excerpt 2:
Many nights she woke up
so shaken by the need to feel Beppe close to her that her every nerve ending
tingled with pain. She craved his touch like a drug addict in withdrawal. Gia
would reach frantically for her phone and dial Beppe’s number with trembling
hands. The ringing always seemed to go on forever while she waited for Beppe to
pick up.
“Gia? Is everything OK?”
She'd hear his sleepy voice and that was all it would take to make her break
down. “Baby, you’re scaring me. Please say something.”
“I miss you so much it
hurts to breathe.”
“Amore...” Beppe would suck in a tortured breath and Gia was sure he
was crying as well.
They didn't need to say
anything else and Gia was never sure how she’d fallen back to sleep, but when
she woke up the next morning she always had the phone clutched firmly in her
hand.
Beppe invited Gia to
visit every time they spoke, yet every time she refused. If it was so hard to
hang up the phone and severe the connection she had with his voice, how could
she leave when she actually saw him, touched him, kissed him? It would be
impossible and she knew it – she’d already let him go once, there was no way
she could ever do it again.
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Buy Links:
Author Bio:
Hi, my name is
Teodora and I live in London with my husband Ted and my son Jason. I've been
writing ever since I can remember, but it became my full time job in 2010 when
I decided that everything else I've tried bores me to death and I have to do
what I've always wanted to do, but never had to guts to fully embrace. I've
been a journalist, an editor, a personal assistant and an interior designer
among another things, but as soon as the novelty of the new, exciting job wears
off, I always go back to writing. Being twitchy, impatient, loud and hasty are
not qualities that help a writer, because I have to sit alone, preferably
still, and write for most of the day, but I absolutely love it. It's the only
time that I'm truly at peace and the only thing I can do for more than ten
minutes at a time - my son has a bigger attention span than me.
When I'm procrastinating, I like to go to the
gym, cook Italian meals (and eat them), read, listen to rock music, watch indie
movies and True Blood re-runs. Or, in the worst case scenario, get beaten at
every Wii game by a six year old.
Stalker Links:
Twitter
Teodora has offered a giveaway for 3 sets of e books and a swag pack. To enter tell me 2 things you like to do when you are procrastinating. Don't forget to leave your email so you can be contacted. Good Luck!
Teodora has offered a giveaway for 3 sets of e books and a swag pack. To enter tell me 2 things you like to do when you are procrastinating. Don't forget to leave your email so you can be contacted. Good Luck!
Thank you for stopping by my blog today. I would also like to say Thank You to Teodora for letting me review your book and for letting me participate in this tour.
~Sabrina
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