Blog Tour: Everything I've Never Had

Everything I've Never Had by Lynetta Halat

Cover Designer: Sarah Hansen at Okay Creations.
Release Date: 9/2/2013
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Blog Tour Hosted by: Angie’s Dreamy Reads

Blurb:

Celeste Hebert has always appeared to have it all, but there are many things she's never had, been forbidden from having.

One night. One song. One kiss. The perfect trifecta to unleash the floodgates of a forbidden attraction between the widow and her husband’s bad boy cousin, Adrian.

Celeste endeavors to rebury the feelings that surface after this one night since her powerful family despises him. Kindred spirits, best of friends they attempt to douse their attraction; however, Adrian always seems to know exactly how to push her buttons and may prove too much to resist.

Having defied his family by making his way on his own terms, Adrian struggles to regain their acceptance. When he meets his cousin’s wife and wants her for his own, he feels he’s finally lived down to the title—black sheep. But, when his cousin dies unexpectedly, Adrian fights his attraction and swears to honor them both by helping her raise her boys.

Finding himself enveloped in a cocoon of love and acceptance, Adrian knows it’s more than just physical attraction. However, unforeseen events threaten to destroy those he now holds dear and his newfound peace.

Will the ties that bind them be their undoing?

My Thoughts

"We all have our own hurt, our own pain even if it's not obvious to the world."

After Celeste husband died of cancer, her husband's cousin Adrian was able to pick up the pieces. When it came to Celeste's she really didn't have much of a choice. What her parents says goes even if shes almost 40 years old. Even her friends would joke around that her family was a mafia. Her family doesn't like Adrian hes everything they don't want for her but that doesn't stop them for falling for one another. After one sizzling kiss they both made it known, but their family wouldn't agree and there would be so much trouble to try to be together.

"Sometimes we forget to appreciate the things that truly matter because our vision is so clouded by all of the mundanes. The here and now become our obsession , and we forget the concept of our finite state because with all the little things vying for our attention it feels like we'll go on forever."

I really enjoyed the book. I was hooked from very start and had a hard time putting the book...Kindle... down. I loved the connection between the two and I liked all the characters they were very likeable. I liked that their relationship wasn't an instant thing. As much as I like the cheesy instant love connection many books have, it makes the relationship to me fake and too good to be true. I liked that they eventually developed these feelings and had their ups and downs in their relationship which made it feel realistic. No relationship is perfect and these two had to go through quite a lot to make their relationship work. Up until the ending I couldn't help but feel I wanted more, something more to happen. Maybe seen more how everything went for Adrian after he came back with PSD. I wish there was more conflict in the story but that's OK because the book was great anyways. I thought that this book was beautifully written, easy to read, very sweet and romantic.

"Our past might have been rocky, but I think our future's inevitable."

Overall I really enjoyed going through this emotional journey into Celeste and Adrian lives and recommend you lovely readers to check out this book.

"Strength isn't the ability to feel strong, Celeste. It's the ability to overcome weakness. You may feel all sorts of ways, but that;s not going to stop you from doing what need to be done."

000

Adrian runs his hands up my arms and shoulders until they grasp both sides of my neck to tilt my head back so that I'm staring straight into his arctic blue eyes. I immediately start trembling, and it's not with fear. "Celeste, I'm begging you not to leave here looking like that. You look gorgeous, babe, but I can't sit here all night wondering who's hitting on you, who's imagining moving that scrap of fabric over to get a glimpse at what is..."
"What is what?" I breathe heavily.
"What is underneath it all." His brow wrinkles, and I feel his hands tighten their pleasurably painful grip. "What is underneath it all?"
"Just me, Adrian, just me," I breathe. "That's all."
"So everything then. Just like I thought." He removes one of his hands to run it up the back of my thigh. My eyes widen and I swallow hard.
"That's not a good idea," I whisper. His hand wraps all the way around my thigh, his fingertips coming to rest along the crease of my left cheek. My thigh pulses with fire.
"Why not?" His fingertips tease back and forth a little. Even though it’s a light touch, it feels like his calloused fingertips mark me.
"Why not? Look at us. We can't even have a civil conversation for everything that has passed between us, and you want to further complicate it. What you're doing will further complicate matters."
His hand stills. He exhales loudly and lets his head drop on my chest. "You do this to me. I don't act like this. That day in the park, watching you cross and uncross your legs. Throwing your hair over your shoulder. Laughing without a care in the world. Cheering me on like it was your favorite thing to do! It killed me. Killed me. I've never wanted a woman the way I want you. Never."
His words rain down on me like fiery drops of lust. I close my eyes and rewrite that memory. I thought he was just being an ass, but his unexpected anger was because he was yearning for me. I bite my lip, open my eyes, and shake my head. "It's just because you can't have me, Adrian. I'm nothing special."
"Oh, baby, you have no idea." He runs his nose up my throat, scenting me as he goes. I lean my neck back, giving him more access even as my brain screams at me to run—not walk—out of this room. But when he says, "You're everything to me." My head falls back even further and my eyes close again as I feel him slant his head and attack my chin, throat, and neck with closed-mouth kisses. I hear myself moan and give myself one more little jolt to try to spare myself from this delicious torment that will only end in frustration.

All rights reserved. Copyright Lynetta Halat 2013.

000

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For as long as she can remember, Lynetta Halat has lived to read and has written countless stories and plays since she was a young girl. A teacher by day and an avid reader and closet writer by night, she has always dreamt of penning books that people could connect with and remember; and her first novel, Every Rose, was the perfect catalyst to launch her into the world of publishing. Her love of the English language prompted her to attain her master's degree in English from Old Dominion University in Virginia. A self-proclaimed "Coast Girl," she lives in Mississippi with her adorable husband, two amazing sons, and two loveable dogs. She is currently at work on her third book.

Author Links

Facebook | Website | Twitter | Goodreads