Blog Tour, Review & Excerpt: TOUGH LUCK (Hard Rock Roots #3) by CM Stunich
Release Date: November 14, 2013
Genre: New Adult Romance
Hosted by: Love Between the Sheets
Synopsis
Ronnie McGuire is my target.
But I wish he wasn’t.
I didn’t sign up for this destruction, this pain.
In his music, I hear his soul crying out for me.
If I could, I’d run away from here and never look back because to tell you the truth, I’m terrified. There are forces weighing in on me that even I don’t understand. I’m scared. Things are dangerous. This could get real ugly, real fast.
& & &
Lola Saints is a godsend.
But I wish she wasn’t.
I don’t know sh*t about her, but already, I’m hooked.
When she plays, I can almost imagine the ghosts of the dead are calling out to me.
If I could, I’d shed my soul and leave the pain of the past behind me. But I can’t. I have to figure out if there’s a way to fall in love anew and respect the old. But something else is going on, something weird. Something that tells me my tough luck might just run out real fast.
*This is NOT the last book in the series. There will be later books featuring Turner and Naomi again, and they also appear in this volume quite a bit. 😉
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Excerpt
“You look like you’re about to pass out. Take a breather, will ya?” I tell him, wishing he’d give me some sign of life in those dead eyes. They’re dark and swimming with negativity. I can tell he’s not living in the here and now. He’s somewhere else altogether. My job is supposed to be to keep him there, force him down into the depths of pain and let him impale himself on his own tragedy. Instead, I get the urge to pull him back.
Before I can stop myself, I’m spinning around in front of him and bumping the toes of my shoes against his, clutching his shirt in two grasping hands and pressing our mouths together. I’m not shy with my tongue, forcing it between his lips and tasting all of that melancholy and anguish. At first it’s like kissing a fireplace hearth, all old ash and extinguished flames, but just as I’m about to pull away, I see a spark. It’s small at first, burning deep within him, taking over his lips and scorching me with brilliant heat.
Ronnie’s hands come up and find my ass. He doesn’t start off with small talk either. He goes straight for the gold, grabbing and caressing my flesh with greedy hands. Careful, Lola, or you might get burned. I push up against him, struggling to stay on my tiptoes so our faces can stay somewhat even. I kind of want to climb his ass like Godzilla on top of the Empire State Building, just get all up in there and find my perch. Ronnie responds to my scrambling by lifting me up by the cheeks and slamming my back into the metal pole of a street sign.
“Oi, watch yourself, fuck face,” I growl out, but the small ache in my spine is nothing compared to the raging burn that’s coming up from below.
What the hell are you playing at, bitch? This is not what you’re supposed to be doing. I hear my logical self screaming at me from the back of my mind, but I don’t pay it any never mind. What I am supposed to do anyway? A forest fire’s just caught in a dry bush. I could put it out, but it’d take a lot of effort. It’s easier just to let it burn.
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Abby’s Review 5 stars
To be honest I have not been feeling everything from CM lately. Book 2 in this series turned me off a little because of the needle drug use. Then I start this and I see the disclaimer about it being Ronnie’s story and not Turner and Naomi and I am thinking WTH. Then I read the dedication. ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT.
“For the broken, the blinded, the bloody; for the ones who don’t see straight but see crooked instead. For the hearts that beat in tandem with the plucking of strings, the snapping of sticks, and the growl of rebel voices.”
Then I am in chapter one highlighting away.
“It might have been her sister that got us stuck here, but that’s just the dandelion swaying up there in the Goddamn breeze. Down Below there’s a root.
And just like that CM has won me back, and captivated me. Urging me on with a few words into the first chapter. Screaming You want this! You want Ronnie’s story. You might not have known that you wanted it, but you want it more than Turner’s right now that’s for sure.
I think in Real Ugly I saw Turner as a Book Boyfriend and then in Get Bent I was totally turned off by it. This story has a ton of drug use as well but it didn’t wretch my gut the same way. Maybe it was because I always saw Ronnie as a messed up guy. Sure while reading this the thought occurred to me that maybe they are all a bunch of shady characters that hell will have a place for, but somewhere I am wanting them to find redemption and some sort of peace.
This story is written like poetry on so many pages. If you could see my kindle and all that I have highlighted you might be like, why didn’t you just highlight the whole damn book. And maybe I would if I could. Writing alone total 5. So glad CM Stunich won me back with this story.
Here’s how she describes this soon to be O
” I hold onto Lola’s hips, moving us towards that perfect crescendo, to that moment when the lights go dark and the crowd holds its collective breath.”
Yep it’s that good, I’ll finish with this,
“My name is Ronnie McGuire, and I am not afraid to hold a shirtless ass kicking. Take it off at your own risk. “
Copy provided for honest review
About the Author
C.M. Stunich was raised under a cover of fog in the area known simply as Eureka, CA. A mysterious place, this strange, arboreal land nursed Caitlin’s (yes, that’s her name!) desire to write strange fiction novels about wicked monsters, magical trains, and Nemean Lions (Google it!). She currently enjoys drag queens, having too many cats, and tribal bellydance.
Always a fan of the indie scene and ‘sticking it to the man,’ Ms. Stunich decided to take the road less traveled and forgo the traditional publishing route. You can be assured though that she received several rejections as to ensure her proper place in the world of writers before taking up a friend’s offer to start a publishing company. Sarian Royal was born, and Ms. Stunich’s books slowly transformed from mere baking chocolate to full blown tortes with hand sculpted fondant flowers.
C.M. is a writer obsessed with delivering the very best and scours her mind on a regular basis to select the most unusual stories for the outside world.
Ms. Stunich can be reached via e-mail or by post and loves to hear from her readers. Ms. Stunich also wrote this biography and has no idea why she decided to refer to herself in the third person.
Come visit me at www.cmstunich.com and follow me on Facebook !
