Cruel North (The North Brothers 4) by JB Salsbury-review tour

Cruel North (TheVanessa and North Brothers 4) by JB Salsbury-review tour

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Apple /

Add Cruel North to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3BO81ju

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 29, 2022

A teenage girl with my eyes and a familiar glare, strolls into my life and she’s calling me Dad.

Vanessa was my high school girlfriend and the smartest person I knew. She had a plan, a future, and she swore nothing would get in the way. Until she became pregnant. I thought we agreed on our plan. I sent her the money. Then she disappeared.

Her parents told me she was in South America for a year. They told me she needed space. I never heard from her again.

Seventeen years later and she’s back. I’m staring into those green eyes that used to tempt and taunt me. But it’s not just about us anymore. We have a daughter.

Wanting to get to know her, I convince them to move in with me for one month. I’m so angry with Vanessa and she seems to be equally upset. Every insult from her smart mouth invites me to engage. The brutal chemistry between us ignites old embers. I wish I could hate her. Instead, I want her.

But too much time has passed, and I fear some hurts run too deep to heal.
At the end of thirty days, I’ll have to let them go.
Unless I figure out a way to keep them.

••••••

REVIEW: CRUEL NORTH is the fourth instalment in JB Salsbury’s contemporary adult THE NORTH BROTHERS erotic, romance series. This is thirty-five year old attorney Hayes North, and thirty four year old single mother/app developer Vanessa Osbourne’s story line. CRUEL NORTH can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous instalments is revealed where necessary.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Vanessa and Hayes) CRUEL NORTH focuses on the second chance romance and relationship between Vanessa Osbourne and Hayes North. Vanessa Osbourne and Hayes North were high school sweethearts. Hayes wanted to be a professional hockey player, and Vanessa wanted to delve into computer technology but a surprise pregnancy was something neither expected, and Hayes was in no position to become a young father. Fast forward to present day wherein, Hayes is blindsided with the appearance of Haven, a seventeen year old young woman claiming to be his daughter, a daughter he never knew existed. Vanessa Osbourne never told her daughter the truth about her father, but a box full of heart breaking memories becomes the catalyst to push Haven to go in search of the father she knew nothing about, a father who now lives and works in New York City. With her daughter searching for Hayes, Vanessa goes in search of the daughter whose heart she broke. What ensues is the rebuilding romance and relationship between Hayes and Vanessa, and the potential fall out as Vanessa and Haven’s time in New York comes to an end, an end predicated upon perceived betrayal and misunderstanding.

Vanessa Osbourne’s hatred for Hayes North is powerful in the wake of Hayes pushing Vanessa out of his life. As a single mother Vanessa struggled with every aspect of their lives but not only did Hayes walk out of her life but so too did her parents who refuse to acknowledge their granddaughter’s existence. Hayes North had no idea that Vanessa kept the child he never wanted.Having watched his father’s life implode, Hayes refused to follow the same path, as he battled between head and heart in an effort to get to know the daughter he never knew.

The relationship between Vanessa and Hayes is one of second chances; a rekindling romance between two people torn apart by immaturity, misunderstanding, heartbreak and dysfunctional family relationships. Hayes wants a chance to get to know the daughter he never knew but Vanessa struggles to get past the hurt of being abandoned by the man that she loved. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and intense without the use of over the top sexually graphic language and text.

Once again, there is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters. We are reintroduced to Hayes siblings: twin brother Hudson and Lillian, Alexander and Jordan, Kingston and Gabriella, as well as their father August; security specialist James, Hayes and Vanessa’s daughter Maven, Vanessa’s parent Nicholas and Annabella; Vanessa’s best friend Tag, and Hayes’ best friend Ellie.

CRUEL NORTH is a story of misunderstanding and mistakes, family and friendships, betrayal and forgiveness, love and acceptance. The premise is emotional and captivating; the romance is seductive and provocative; the characters are independent, determined and charismatic.

Click HERE for Sandy’s review of TRUE NORTH

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

NOTE: Excerpt intended for mature readers due to strong language and content

 

Hayes
“Let’s go.” I open the passenger side door to my car, and when Haven climbs in, I give Hudson a chin lift, thanking him for having my back.
He nods back with a look that says I better be nice.
Fuck me. My own twin acts like I’m the enemy here. Like I’d hurt my own daughter?
I climb behind the wheel and fire up the engine, grateful for the steady hum of the supercharged V8 that cuts through an uncomfortable silence.
“Nice ride,” Haven says and touches all the buttons and knobs. “Is this real leather?” She runs her hands along the seats, and I notice that she has long elegant fingers that are exactly like Vanessa’s.
“Yes.” I force my eyes to the road, feeling oddly uncomfortable with such precious cargo.
“I have a Jeep,” she says. “It’s a piece of shit.”
I’m not great at conversation on a good day, so I grunt like a fucking caveman.
“So what’s it like?”
I see out of my peripheral that she’s facing me. “What’s what like?”
“Being a millionaire.”
I lose the battle with my eyeballs, and they dart toward her before I wrangle them back to the road. Vanessa’s family has a net worth equal to mine. I can’t imagine Haven grew up without.
I clear the discomfort from my throat. “I hear you’re a pretty good athlete.” My tone sounds like I’m accusing her of something, and I don’t know why. Maybe I should’ve just let Hudson take her home. I suck at this.
“I am. I’m good at a lot of things.”
Confident, like her mom. Good.
“Oh yeah?”
“Mm-hm.” She doesn’t elaborate.
I take the bait. “Like what?”
She shrugs and looks casually out the front window. “You want the condensed version of my life so that you don’t have to actually invest?”
“No,” I say dryly and grip the steering wheel tighter.
The uncomfortable silence is back and goes on for so long that I start to sweat. I flip on the AC and aim the vent right at my face.
“Listen, uh… Haven… I…” I sound like an idiot who can’t string two words together. “I’ve been thinking—”
“About how you wanted my mom to abort me?”
Fuckin’ hell. “No.”
“About how you abandoned her and left her to have a baby alone at—”
“Jesus, no.”
“About how you’re a rich selfish asshole who couldn’t even be bothered to look for the woman who carried your unwanted child to see if maybe she needed anything like money for food or clothes or a safe place to live or—”
“Haven, stop.”
“—or money so that kid could play sports and afford equipment so she wouldn’t get made fun of for wearing the wrong shoes or sweatpants to games.”
“What are you talking about? Your mom’s family is wealthy.”
“Yeah, well, thanks to you and your mighty sperm, they disowned her.” She tilts her head, just like her mother does before she delivers a brutal tongue lashing. “Ohh, you didn’t know that, did you?” She makes a tsking sound. “You would’ve if you looked for us. Ever heard of Google, asshole?”
“That’s enough.”
“Hey, you’re the one who wanted me to ride with you—”
“I get it. You want to hurt me. I’d do the same in your shoes.”
She slams her mouth closed without response. She faces forward and crosses her arms at her chest. “Whatever.”
“We need to… get to know each other. The three of us have a lot to talk about.”
“I have nothing to say to you.”
I cough out a laugh. “Could’ve fooled me.”
“Are we almost to Uncle Hudson’s house?”
He gets to be Uncle Hudson, and I’m Asshole? My jaw ticks. “Yes.”
I use the rest of the time in the car to breathe in and out and try to calm my temper. Vanessa’s parents disowned her. I shouldn’t be surprised, and yet, I am. She’s their only child, for fuck’s sake.
I have a million questions and worry I won’t get the chance to ask Vanessa if we can’t even be in the same room without fighting. Time feels like it’s slipping away, and I don’t know how to grab onto it. But I know I have to try.
I pull up to Hudson’s building. Haven makes a reach for her seatbelt.
“I have a proposition for you.”
Her hand freezes on the buckle, and her eyes narrow.
My God, it’s like looking in a mirror. “One month in New York. Rent free, all expenses paid, you and your mom.”
She eyes me cautiously. “What’s the catch?”
Here’s where I might lose her. “You live with me.”
“Yeah, right.” She snorts. “Mom will never agree to that. I’m pretty sure she hates you.”
She’s not exactly my favorite person right now either. “Leave the convincing to me.”
Her smile is a little wicked. “You’re either really brave or really stupid.”
“I’m not stupid.”
Her brows pop high on her forehead. “You clearly don’t know my mom.”
I don’t respond because she’s right. But she’s also wrong. I got the fiery Vanessa Osbourne to care for me once. A month in New York shouldn’t be too hard. 


 

J.B. Salsbury is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her husband and two kids.

Her love of good storytelling led her to earn a degree in Media Communications. With her journalistic background, writing has always been at the forefront, and her love of romance propelled her career as an author.

She spends the majority of her day behind the computer where a world of battling alphas, budding romance, and impossible obstacles claws away at her subconscious and begs to be released to the page.

Website: http://www.jbsalsbury.com/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/JBSalsburybooks
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JBSalsbury
IG: https://www.instagram.com/jbsalsbury/

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True North (North Brothers 3)by JB Salsbury-Review & excerpt tour

True North (North Brothers 3) by JB Salsbury-Review & Excerpt tour

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 9, 2022

The North name is a heavy burden. Two things I learned young—the best way to keep my head on is to keep my head down, and… never fall in love.
But I’m a sucker for a damsel in distress.

Lillian came into my life swinging. Mistaking me for my abusive twin brother, she greets me with a swift kick to the balls and a busted lip. Then she really shakes up my world.

She needs her job, but she needs a break just as much. And nothing silences my demons as efficiently as playing the hero.

To protect her from my jerk twin—her boss—I take her on a business trip and quickly learn that she’s different. Blunt. Honest. Intriguingly strange. I’m transfixed, so when she unknowingly sinks a multimillion-dollar deal, I don’t speak up. Something my family won’t forgive.

Now, I have a choice to make. I can go against my own blood and burn the North legacy to the ground, or play it safe, commit to my self-imposed rules and predestined future. Choosing her would ruin my life as I know it, but I’m starting to wonder if a life without her is worth living.

•••••

REVIEW:TRUE NORTH is the third instalment in JB Salsbury’s contemporary, adult THE NORTH BROTHERS erotic, romance series focusing on the North brothers: Alexander, Kingston and twins Hudson and Hayes. This is thirty-two year old, billionaire businessman Hudson North, and PA Lillian Gillingham’s story line. TRUE NORTH can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Hudson and Lillian) TRUE NORTH follows the forbidden relationship between thirty-two year old, billionaire businessman Hudson North, and PA Lillian Gillingham. Lillian Gillingham is Hayes North’s personal assistant but his treatment of Lillian borders on abusive and feral. With Hudson’s assistant on maternity leave, our hero hires Lillian as his assistant for a series of weekend meetings, meetings in which Lillian will offer her opinion in the face of shock and and potential loss. Truthfully blunt, and often without thinking, Lillian is always on the verge of a potential breakdown until the man in charge sends our heroine packing but not before Hudson finds himself falling for the woman that calls to his heart. As Lillian and Hudson’s relationship goes from professional to personal, Hudson discovers a betrayal at the top, a betrayal against the woman with whom he is falling in love. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Hudson and Lillian, and the potential fall-out as Lillian struggles with issues of trust, believing she is Hudson’s latest project, not the woman he loves.

Lillian Gillingham is a bit of a mess. With no official diagnosis, Lillian often finds herself stretched to the limits, honest to the point of blunt and rude, and a little scattered in her every day life. Living with her brother in New York, Lillian battles between head and heart believing she is not worthy of another’s love. Hudson North doesn’t do long term relationships, in fact, it has been several years since anyone has seen our hero with someone else. Lillian is, and was, an employee of the North family, and in this, their relationship is scrutinized by the man at the top. Refusing to walk away, Hudson threatens to bring down the top when secrets are revealed, betraying the woman he loves.

The relationship between Hudson and Lillian is one of immediate attraction but Hayes presents Lillian as a lost cause; a mess, an incompetent, and a nobody who is nothing but a waste of oxygen. Refusing to accept his brother’s description of our story line heroine, Hudson, who has a bit of a savior complex, offers Lillian everything and more, an offer that threatens his position within North Industries. The $ex scenes are erotic, passionate and intense without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful and energetic secondary and supporting characters including Lillian’s brother Aaron and his friend Dirk, and via the phone Lillian’s mother. We are reintroduced to Hudson’s siblings: twin brother Hayes, Alexander and Jordan, Kingston and Gabriella, as well as their father August; Hudson’s driver Carina, and escort Ellie.

TRUE NORTH is a story of dysfunctional family relationships, friendships and love; power and control; acceptance and understanding. The premise is intriguing, captivating and emotional; the romance is seductive and impassioned; the characters are charismatic and determined. TRUE NORTH ends on a bit of a cliff hanger-you have been warned.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

 

HudsonWe stroll down the street, taking turns with the fried bread and looking at each booth that offers some variation of Native American cuisine. Lillian finds a way to strike up a conversation with everyone. The woman likes to talk. And I’m getting an unexpected level of enjoyment watching her.
“Let’s head to the arts section.” She tugs on my jacket sleeve. “I want to get a souvenir—oh, look! A bouncy house!” She hooks her hand into the crook of my elbow.
I startle a little at the contact, even though, so lost in her excitement, she doesn’t seem to notice she’s even touching me.
“We have to jump in the bouncy house!”
“Why? We’re not six years old.”
She drags me closer to the jungle-themed contraption, complete with inflated palm trees, monkeys, and bananas decorating the entrance. “Because it’ll be fun.” She whirls around, her pale blue eyes dancing. “You do remember what fun is, don’t you?”
“My idea of fun isn’t making a fool out of myself in front of a bunch of kids.”
“Why not?” She toes off her shoes. “Kids don’t care if you look like an idiot.”
“You go ahead.”
“You’re missing out,” she calls as she ducks through the strips of green plastic made to look like hanging vines.
Within one minute, she’s laughing with the kids, jumping in a blur of black, with her golden hair flying in every direction. I don’t mean to stare, so I pull out my phone, sure that there’s an email I can attend to, but her laughter keeps my eyes from the screen. I’ve never heard a sound so authentic, free from the constraint of social expectation or acceptance. Have I ever met a person who gets this much joy from something so simple and childish? Lillian balks at a three-Michelin-star meal and finds a contagious kind of joy from a bouncy house.
She’s breathing hard as she has an in-depth discussion with the kids about what she dressed up as for Halloween and who would win in a fight between Sophia the First and someone named Doc McStuffins. A little girl asks her where Lillian’s mom is and if she wants to have a playdate tomorrow.
“See that guy there?” Lillian points me out to her new friends. “He’s afraid of bouncy houses.”
The group of littles reply in multiple forms of shock.
An evil smirk tilts her lips. “I think he might feel brave enough to try if you guys go talk to him.”
“Oh, come on…” I grumble.
Three kids who I wouldn’t guess to be older than five come barreling toward me.
“Don’t be scared!”
“My little sister isn’t even afraid!”
“You can hold my hand.” A small hand slips into mine and holds on. The little girl with bright brown eyes and black hair tilts her head back to look up at me, and something warm seeps into my chest. “Just hold on, okay?”
Only an asshole would say no to that face.
I kick off my shoes and let her drag me to the bouncy house. The kids are still shouting their encouragement while Lillian dissolves into a fit of laughter.
“Don’t be a wussy!” one of the boys calls out while jumping furiously.
I release the little girl’s hand and walk straight into Lillian’s space. Her laughter dies, and I watch her throat bob with a hard swallow.
“I’m going to pay you back for this,” I say low so the kids don’t hear, which makes my voice rumble.
A spark fires in her eyes. “You’ll have to catch me first.”

 

Read more here>>> https://bit.ly/3oFoTD6

J.B. Salsbury is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her husband and two kids.

Her love of good storytelling led her to earn a degree in Media Communications. With her journalistic background, writing has always been at the forefront, and her love of romance propelled her career as an author.

She spends the majority of her day behind the computer where a world of battling alphas, budding romance, and impossible obstacles claws away at her subconscious and begs to be released to the page.

Website: http://www.jbsalsbury.com/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/JBSalsburybooks
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JBSalsbury
IG: https://www.instagram.com/jbsalsbury/

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Wrecked by J.B. Salsbury-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway

WRECKED by J.B. Salsbury-Review, Excerpt and Giveaway

 

WRECKED
by J. B. Salsbury
Release Date: July 18, 2017
Genre: adult, contemporary, romance

 

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo / BAM /

iBooks / Books-A-Million / Google Play /IndieBound

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 18, 2017

When you can’t trust yourself, how can you ask anyone else to?

It’s been months since Aden Colt left the Army, and still the memories haunt him. When he moved into a boat off the California coast, he thought he’d found the perfect place to escape life.

Then Sawyer shows up, and turns his simple life upside down.

Beautiful and sophisticated, she seems out of place in this laid back beach town. Something is pushing her to experience everything she can—including Aden. But as much as he wants her, starting a relationship with Sawyer puts them both at risk.

For Aden, the past doesn’t stay there; it shows up unexpectedly, uncontrollably, and doesn’t care whose life it wrecks.

••••••••••

REVIEW: WRECKED by J.B. Salsbury is a stand alone, contemporary adult, romance story line focusing on twenty four year old Sawyer Forrester , and former US soldier /fisherman Aden Colt.

Told from dual first person points of view (Sawyer and Aden) WRECKED focuses on the building relationship between Sawyer Forrester and Aden Colt. Sawyer’s twin sister Celia is dying-a brain tumor is destroying her life-and she asks one thing of her sister before she dies. Sawyer must return to Celia’s home in San Diego to box up her life but in doing so must pretend to be Celia so as not to worry her neighbors and friends. Enter Aden Colt, the property’s new landlord, and the man with whom Sawyer will fall in love. What ensues is the building love between Sawyer and Aden, and Sawyer’s struggle to keep secret her sister’s dying wish in the face of too many secrets and lies.

WRECKED is a story of secrets, lies, heartbreak and betrayal. Pretending to be her sister Celia, Sawyer finds herself struggling with the truth, and falling in love with a man who believes she is someone else, goes against everything Sawyer believes and observes. Sawyer is the quiet, uptight twin; the one who is afraid to try something new, and lying about her true identity is a struggle for our story line heroine. Aden Colt is a broken man; a soldier who lost everything on his last deployment overseas, and in the ensuing months battles the demons that continue to destroy his mind. Meeting Sawyer (aka Celia) finds our hero accepting what was and what will never be but his PTSD, inability to trust, and growing anxiety threaten his relationship with the woman with whom he is falling in love- a relationship with an end date as Sawyer prepares to pack up and move back home. The $ex scenes are intimate and seductive without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

We are introduced to Sawyer’s twin sister Celia, their parents Tom and Darlene Forrester, Colt’s uncle Calvin Hurtado, and neighbor/ Vietnam war veteran Jenkins, as well as an assortment of friends and acquaintances of Celia Forrester.

WRECKED is an emotional and heartbreaking story line about one woman’s struggle to step out of her comfort zone as she embarks on her sister’s journey one last time, and one’s man battle with the ghosts from the past. The premise is energetic and moving; the characters are colorful, tragic and animated; the romance is fated and passionate. WRECKED is an intense and tearful story from the pen of author JB Salsbury.

Copy supplied by publisher

Reviewed by Sandy

 

 

excerpt

NOTE: Excerpt intended for mature readers due to content and language

 

Oh no, fuck no!
I thought he was kidding. I should’ve known better. Aden’s intentions with me since I stupidly boarded this boat have been my torment for his enjoyment. He loved watching me squirm over the bait tank and when I proved I wouldn’t shy away from a challenge, he pulled out the big guns. From his flirty smiles to his teasing touches, he’s discovered my weaknesses and is exploiting them for his own entertainment.
Now this? Raw fish probably still warm from fighting for its life.
And now I’m God knows how many feet above water sitting on a two-seater bench held up by rusty ladders and staring down a piece of glistening pink meat.
“You have to eat it, it’s a rite of passage.” He offers the meat to my lips and I quickly turn my face away.
“I’m really not hungry.” As if the idea isn’t enough to turn my stomach, watching him clean the fish before sectioning off enough for lunch wasn’t much of an appetite builder.
“Of course you are.” He brings the piece to his own mouth and takes a bite, closing his eyes with a moan as he chews.
I feel a rush of bile hit my throat, or maybe it’s beer, either way it’s warm and it burns. “That’s disgusting.”
“You’re telling me you don’t like sushi?”
My eyes widen. Sawyer would say she’s never had sushi. But Celia’s a different story. She ate a live cricket in the eighth grade on a dare. She didn’t even flinch. “I like sushi, just not directly from the…um…source.”
“Doesn’t get fresher than this.” He takes another bite and I can’t deny that his response to eating it does give it some appeal.
“I think I need soy sauce or that green stuff.” What’s it called?
“Just try it.”
“I really don’t want to.”
“Oh come on.” He smiles in that cute crooked way that makes my heart dip and dive. “Live a little.”
I chew the inside of my mouth debating the cost/benefit of taking a bite of this fresh-out-of-the-ocean fish. On one hand, I’ll impress Aden. That in and of itself is worth the ick factor. But what if I throw up all over his boat? Is the chance of impressing him worth totally humiliating myself? I groan when I realize what I’m doing, exactly what I swore I wouldn’t do. I’m making an internal pros and cons list. I close my eyes and steel my resolve and my spine. Don’t think, just decide. I pop open my eyes followed by my mouth.
“Yeah?” He stares at my parted lips.
I nod, hoping he’ll hurry before I change my mind.
Lifting the rose-colored flesh forward, he places it between my teeth. It’s a small bite so I close my lips around his fingers expecting him to pull away…but he doesn’t. For a moment I’m suspended in his gaze, totally stuck while his hot fingers rest between my lips. This should be grossing me out; after all, I watched him gut this fish with his bare hands and to wash off all the blood he merely dipped them into the ocean. But all the thoughts of raw fish and a stranger’s finger do nothing to stave off the warmth blooming in my belly. My tongue pulls the meat deeper into my mouth, brushing against the rough pad of his forefinger. He bites his lip but finally drops his hand.
He watches intently while I chew and swallow.
“How was it?” His voice is low and gruff.
Lost in the heated moment, I barely tasted it. “Good.”
His hand cups the back of my head and he pulls me toward him, stopping just short of our lips touching. “I can’t fucking take this anymore.” His breath is sawing in and out, bursting against my mouth with impatience. “Let me.” It’s a demand, not a question.
A kiss. I don’t need to channel Celia or flip a coin…I know what I want.
I lick my lips and close the slight distance between us. 


 

About The Author Black and Red

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JB SalsburyJ.B. Salsbury is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her husband and two kids.

Her love of good storytelling led her to earn a degree in Media Communications. With her journalistic background, writing has always been at the forefront, and her love of romance propelled her career as an author.

She spends the majority of her day behind the computer where a world of battling alphas, budding romance, and impossible obstacles claws away at her subconscious and begs to be released to the page.

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