Synopsis

A full-length, standalone romance from the New York Timesbestselling author of Archer’s Voice.

Grace Hamilton was the girl with a plan. She knew exactly where her life was going and prided herself on always achieving her goals. It was who she was, and how she lived her life. She never stepped outside the lines, and never considered what she might desire and whom she was actually trying so hard to please. Until him . . .

Carson Stinger was a man who didn’t play by any rules except his own. Working in the adult entertainment industry, he didn’t care what others thought, and took each day as it came, no direction, no plan. He knew what women wanted from him and believed it was all he had to offer. Until her . . .

When circumstances forced them to spend several hours together, they walked away changed. But for two people who never should have meshed, overcoming the reality of their vastly different lives wasn’t possible. At least not yet . . .

THIS IS A STANDALONE SIGN OF LOVE NOVEL, INSPIRED BY SCORPIO. New Adult Contemporary Romance: Due to strong language and sexual content, this book is not intended for readers under the age of 18.

Véleményem a könyvről

Tudjátok, hogy mit szeretek legjobban Mia Sheridan-ban? Hogy mindig meg tud lepni! Ez a könyve is elállította a szavamat! Először azzal sokkolt, hogy ez kivételesen nem egy szívfájdítóan gyönyörű könyvnek indult, mint mondjuk az Archer’s Voice vagy a Kyland, hanem egy olyan forró, humoros, erotikus történetet kaptam, amelynek a főszereplője a pornósztár(!), tele van vicces évődésekkel és sok-sok erotikával, és konkrétan a könyv első felében le sem lehetett vakarni a vigyort az arcomról. Aztán bumm! Akkora fordulatot vett a történet, hogy csak pislogni tudtam!

A történet főszereplője Grace Hamilton, aki kizárólag az általa kitalált tervek szerint éli az életét. Mindent pontosan eltervezett a jövőjében, hogy melyik iskolába kerüljön be, aztán hol szerezze meg a mester fokozatot, aztán milyen állást vállaljon, mikor legyen az egyes számú barátja, a kettes számú barátja, mielőtt megtalálná a hármas számú igazit, akihez hozzámegy és boldogan élnek, míg meg nem halnak. Igen ám, csak nem is sejti, hogy egyetlen hétvége Vegasban fel fogja borítani ezt a pontról pontra precízen eltervezett jövőt.

Grace egy jogászkonferenciára érkezik Las Vegasba, a Bellagio Hotelbe, ahol mint egyből kiderül, az ő konferenciájával párhuzamosan zajlik az Adult Entertainment Expo is. Nos Vegasban minden előfordulhat, így Grace nem is nagyon foglalkozik a furcsa szituációval, egészen addig, amíg szó szerint bele nem rohan „Carson Stinger, Straight Male Performer” izmos mellkasába. Az első két találkozásuk elég viharosra sikerül, és Carson mindenáron megpróbál beférkőzni a lány bőre alá, mert borzasztóan élvezi, hogy a Grace mindig zavarba jön tőle, és folyamatosan lepattintja. Aztán egy véletlen úgy hozza, hogy két órára összezárva találják magukat egy liftben. Ez alatt a néhány közös óra alatt mindketten szép lassan leengedik a falaikat, és bepillantást engednek a másiknak a felszín alá. Olyan titkokat mondanak el egymásnak, amit előtte még senkinek, és olyan ajtókat nyitnak ki a másik előtt, ahova még ők maguk sem mertek bepillantani. Az egyik ilyen „titok”, az Grace terve az álomkapcsolatiról, méghozzá az, hogy a „kettes számú” srác fogja őt bevezetni az erotika rejtelmeibe. Carson nem akarja elengedni még a lányt, ezért bedobja, hogy maradjon vele a hétvégén, és majd ő lesz a „kettes számú” férfi. 🙂 Már ekkor kialakul köztük egy kapcsolat, és mivel Grace most az egyszer úgy érzi, hogy ki kell szakadnia a tervek nyújtotta biztonságból és valami váratlant tenni, így belegyezik a hétvégébe.

Nagyon megkedveltem Grace-t, Carson pedig maga az álompasik netovábbja, és ezt úgy mondom, hogy én nem valószínű, hogy egy pillanat alatt túl tudnék lépni a „karrierjén”, de amiket véghezvitt a könyvben… Hű! A könyv második fele sok évet ölel fel, és picit olyan volt, mintha valamelyik Julie Johnson könyvet vettem volna a kezembe, izgalmas, fordulatos és váratlan. Egyszerűen imádtam!

Ezt a könyvet a skorpió csillagjegye ihlette. A könyv elején az írónő leírja, hogy a skorpió azért különleges asztrológiai jel, mert ez az egyetlen, amit háromféleképpen szoktak ábrázolni, mind a skorpió átalakulásának különböző fázisait szimbolizálva. Zseniálisnak tartom az írónő részéről, hogy magát a könyvet is e szerint osztotta három részre, a skorpió, a sas és a galamb jegyében. Tökéletes precizitással volt felépítve a történet, lépésről lépésre mélyült, a szexi erotikusból szép lassan egy igencsak komoly mondanivalójú kötet alakult ki, ahogy a szereplők is szépen lassan találták meg az útjukat és önmagukat. Őszintén mondhatom, hogy ez volt az egyik legjobb „second-chance” történet amit valaha olvastam.

„Life is wild.”

A Sign of Love sorozatról

A sorozat minden részét egy-egy csillagjegy inspirálta. Mia Sheridan tervezi, hogy mind a 12 csillagjegy könyvét megírja. A Leo az oroszlán, a Stinger a skorpió, az Archer’s Voice a nyilas, a Becoming Calder a vízöntő, a Kyland a bika, a Grayson’s Vow pedig a mérleg jegyében íródott. 2016 március 15-én érkezik a sorozat legújabb kötetet Midnight Lily címmel, amelyet a szűz csillagjegye ihletett. El sem tudom mondani, hogy mennyire várom! 🙂 A kötetetek önállóan olvashatók és nem függenek össze. Mindegyik különböző szereplőkről szól, ez alól kivétel a Leo és a Leo’s Chance valamint a Becoming Calder és a Finding Eden.

My Review in English

Do you know what I love most about Mia Sheridan? That she can always surprise me! This book also took my breath away. It was far from anything what I read before from her: Firstly, it surprised me that this time it seemed that it will not be the usual heartbreakingly beautiful story like Archer’s Voice or Kyland, but a hot, humorous, erotic story with a hero who is a pornstar (!), with lots of humorous banters and so many steamy scenes. I read the first part of the book with a silly smile on my face. Then bumm! There was a huge plot twist at the second half that just made my jaw hit the floor.

The main character of the book is Grace Hamilton, who has a perfect plan for her life. She planned everything strictly in her future, to which school she should attend, where she should get her master degree, which job she has to apply, when she should date with her ‘first’ and ‘second’ boyfriend before she finds her ‘third’ one who will be the love of her life and they will live happily ever after. But she does not suspect that one weekend in Vegas will change everything.

Grace arrives to Vegas for a law conference. She immediately realizes that at the same time there is another event in the hotel, the Adult Entertainment Expo. Well, in Vegas anything could happen, so she is not bothered by this until she literally runs into the muscular chest of “Carson Stinger, Straight Male Performer”. Their first two meetings are a little stormy, mostly because Carson always tries to get under her skin, because he really enjoys that she always gets embarrassed. But fate helps them get together for a few hours when they get stuck into an elevator together. During this few hours they slowly let down their defenses and they allow the other one a glimpse under their surface. They tell each other’s secrets they never told anyone before, and they open doors they didn’t dare to peer behind before. Grace also tells Carson about her plans of her future relationships, and that her second boyfriend will teach her everything about erotica. Carson doesn’t want to let her go yet, so he tries to convince her that she should stay with him during the weekend and he will gladly accept the role of the second guy. 🙂 There is already a connection between them, so this one time Grace feels that she should live wild and make something unpredictable so she agrees to the weekend.

I really loved Grace, and Carson is the real dream book boyfriend despite the fact that probably I couldn’t move on so easily from his choice of carrier, but the amazing things he accomplished in this book… Wow! The second part of the book covers many years and it reminded me a little on a great Julie Jonson book, it was thrilling, twisting and unpredictable. I LOVED it!

This book was inspired by the Scorpion sign. In the beginning of the book, the author told us that the Scorpion is the one and only sign that has three different animal symbols, each of which represents a different stage of the Scorpio transformation – The Scorpion, The Eagle and The Dove. I think it was truly brilliant that Mia Sheridan divided the book into three sections based on these stages. The story was built perfectly and it deepened slowly step by step from a sexy erotic book to a beautiful story with serious subject matter. The characters also slowly found their ways and themselves, and I can truly say that this was one of the best “second chance” stories I’ve ever read.

„Life is wild.”

About Sign of Love series

Every part of the series was inspired by one of the signs of the zodiac. Mia Sheridan plans to write a book about all of the 12 astrological sign’s. Leo was inspired by the Leo’s-, Stinger the Scorpio’s-, Archer’s Voice the Sagittarius’s-, Becoming Calder the Aquarius’s-, Kyland the Taurus’s-, and Grayson’s Vow the Libra’s legend. The next part of the series, Midnight Lily will be released March 15th, 2016 and it will be based on the astrological sign VIRGO. I can’t tell you how much I wait for it! 🙂 All parts of the series are stand-alone stories (except Leo and Leo’s Chance and Becoming Calder and Finding Eden) with no cross over characters or story lines.

My Favorite Quotes From the Book

“She took part of my pain and made it her own. I didn’t want her to hurt, but to share my scars with another human was a relief that I hadn’t even known I needed until I got it.”

“And I really, really like how you make me feel–like if you looked at me every day, the way you’re looking at me right now, I could do anything, be anything, be more.”

“Why do you call me Buttercup?”

“Carson had infected me, it was true, but maybe his looks weren’t the only part of his poison. Maybe it was his spirit too. And maybe when it came to Carson, just like a vaccine, a little poison was the cure, not the disease.”

“Love doesn’t always make sense. And that’s the great beauty of it, the great mystery–the thing cynics who scoff at so-called ‘insta-love’ would bottle if they could. But you can’t manufacture mystery, honey. Believe me, I know.”

“Let’s go watch another sunrise together, Buttercup.”

“I should have bolted out of that hotel like a bat out of hell the second I laid eyes on him, standing there in all his muscled, male beauty. He was the devil. A sometimes sweet, funny devil, true. But wasn’t that just like Lucifer himself? That’s how he lured you in, ready to give up your very soul for one taste of those sinful lips, flashing that damn dimple for extra measure.”

„What I was thinking, Carson, is that you glow as well. To me, you shine too.”

“It was one of those moments when a human being does something so remarkable, so unbelievably amazing, that your heart soars and a lump immediately forms in your throat at the sheer beauty of it. And in that moment, you are able to believe that we really were created in the image of God.”

“In life, there are those who save us, both in big ways and in small. Sometimes that means being set free from a dark, windowless room, or being pulled out of a burning building. More often, it means being saved from yourself, and made to finally believe that letting someone love you, isn’t just a big lie that you’re unwilling to tell.”

Sometimes, you don’t even realize anything is wrong until someone comes along and changes you, and makes you want more. In my case, it was a beautiful girl with a plan who shattered the world I thought I knew. And when I put the pieces back together, they were all rearranged, different; and so was I. Until her, I had never even considered the possibilities.

“Sometimes therapy takes years and years, and sometimes it can happen in one miraculous instant, a lifetime of doubt and self-hatred healed in a moment of astounding love.”

“Grace had saved me by calling my bluff, and then listening to the secrets I believed made me unlovable, with acceptance in her eyes. The gift she gave me was her glow–and it shined for me so brightly, that my own darkness disappeared.”

„Yeah, life can change on a dime.” I grinned. „Wild, isn’t it?”

About the Author

Mia Sheridan is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestselling author. Her passion is weaving true love stories about people destined to be together. Mia lives in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband. They have four children here on earth and one in heaven.
Mia can be found online at www.miasheridan.com or www.facebook.com/miasheridanauthor.

Sign of Love Series

Midnight Lili is coming March 1, 2016!

Pre-Order Links