Blog Tour, Review & Giveaway: CAKE by Nicole Reed
Synopsis
Would you be willing to make a mess of your life to get exactly what you want?
Kylie Lord has known Trent Moss and Dray Savage since college. Trent, the smart and kind-hearted humanitarian has had her heart from the moment they met, but someone else always has his. Dray is an arrogant professional football player who happens to be Trent’s best friend and Kylie’s nemesis “with benefits.”
Five years after graduation, Kylie is commanding the world with a new image and a successful business; however, she lacks the one thing she wants and the one thing she can never have. That is, until one fateful night when Kylie decides to go after all of her forbidden fantasies and risk everything.
Two men, completely different and poles apart, but together they are her idea of perfection. One can only offer her tonight and the other forever, but can Kylie settle for just one man, or can she have her cake and eat it too?
AMAZON / BARNES & NOBLE / AMAZON CA / AMAZON UK
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Dawn’s Review 4 Stars
What a fun, steamy, drag your emotions through a wringer kind of book this was! Going in, I knew to expect a love triangle, but this triangle was different than one I expected. Kylie crushed on Trent for years, never to have her feelings returned except in the form of friendship. Then there’s Dray. Holy hottie on a stick! Kylie’s treated him like a brother and he’s been a total ass to her most of that time.
Then things change. And boy do they ever! What Kylie thought she knew about the men in her life is brought into question. There’s so much to consider and this is a heartfelt look at the turmoil that Kylie faces as what she thought she believed and felt turns on its head. My heart beat fast, I laughed, cried, and steamed up the place with the hotness factor. I truly appreciate that Nicole Reed pulled me through all of those emotions.
Another factor that made this a win for me is Nicole Reed’s inclusion and treatment of Kylie’s relationships outside of Dray and Trent. Her best friend, Madison, her employees, and her mom and aunt. The depth of relationships, particularly with Madison and her aunt, Leigh, and the way Nicole adds humor and love and pain left me feeling as though I were also a part of their relationships.
Overall, Nicole Reed delivered a don’t want to put it down read. There are a few twists that I didn’t expect and in the end, I felt it ended in the best way possible. I will definitely be reading other books by Nicole Reed as her dialogue, pacing, and story line captured me from the beginning and had me trying to find ways to read non-stop.
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Abby’s Review 4 Super Solid Stars
Wow, this was surprising book. It was light enough, yet still sexy and different to keep you engaged throughout the whole book. There are enough twists to keep a refreshing spin on the entire book.
Kylie and Madison are best friends. Kylie is a tall brunette, curvy but beautiful. She has been hung up on the same guy for too long without him reciprocating her feelings. She find herself falling for a man she never in a million years would have seen herself with. Kylie fights her feelings and this is a story of her figuring her heart out.
I enjoyed the friendship with Kylie and Madison. Strong female friendships in stories are always something that completely adds to the book for me. There is a lot more to Madison’s story. I wish that the author gave a little more here. I think that it is leading to another book to give her story but I am not sure and at the end I was a tiny bit confused with where this left her.
There is also a storyline here about Kylie and her aunt. This completely adds to the story. I like when a book has other really good story lines that flow with the main one. Kylie’s aunt is dying of breast cancer. Even though you know that loss is coming you still are vested in all of the conversations and you get a lot from Kylie and her aunt’s relationship.
Dray is a football player who can be little immature. By the end of the story, for a second you want to wop him upside the head and at the same time you want to hug him. One thing you are certainly left with is a feeling that he loves Kylie.
Overall, I think that Nicole Reed did a great job building characters that you enjoyed in Cake! Although I’m still scratching my head on the title to this one.
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Nicole’s Review 4 Stars
What do you do when the guy you love only sees you as his sister and best friend? Do you spend your life waiting around to see if he will ever get his head out of his ass, or do you give yourself the chance to move on? In Nicole Reed’s Cake, Kylie Lord is forced to answer those very questions. A successful business owner with model good looks, Kylie has only ever loved one man…Trent Moss. And Trent has loved more than one woman, none of them Kylie. He sees her as his rock and voice of reason. He seems to have no clue about Kylie’s feelings and what their friendship costs her. Because Trent sees Kylie has his rock, he doesn’t hesitate to call her for help when his NFL playing foster brother, Dray Savage, suffers a severe head injury in a game. Even though Kylie can’t stand Dray, (as in thinks he is a gross disgusting man whore can’t stand him), she agrees to help. And that is when the world as Kylie knows it gets completely rocked. Cake is ultimately a story of how one choice can set you on a path you had no idea existed or if you could survive. The path that Kylie finds herself on will test her in many ways. She will have deal with different kinds of loss, and each one will cost her dearly. She will have to really look at herself and what she wants. She will make decisions that will determine her path forever.
There were so many things I loved about this book. There were some incredibly funny characters, sage Southern women and take your breath away passion. I really loved Kylie’s relationships with the women in her life. Each woman was strong and wise in her own way, and they gave Kylie the strength to really look at what she wanted. I will tell you now that the ending pissed me off and completely confused me. Maybe it had something to do with finishing Cake at 1:30 this morning, but I was hopping mad at the end. Having had time to cool off, I think I can see where Nicole Reed was going. She was bringing the story full circle. At least, I hope that’s what she was doing. Either way, I really enjoyed Cake and made peace with the ending. I give it 4 stars!
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Excerpt
“Do you feel that, Kylie?” He continues to caress my arm with his hand. “That’s power running between you and me. I never imagined it would be so strong, so intense. Can you even conceive what my body rubbing against yours well feel like? Please unlike either one of us has ever experienced. Sex in its greatest form.”
His words hypnotize me, seduce me, and demolish my inhibitions so that even my common sense agrees with what he is saying. I’ve never wanted sex as much as I want it with Dray at this moment. In my head, I can see images of us entwined together, his dark against my light skin. The sight, in my mind’s eye, so clear, so erotic, that my breathing becomes erratic just with the thought. Closing my eyes, I feel his fingers glide to my breasts, circling the tip through my clothes. My clit throbs in tune with his movements almost as if he is touching me there. Dray grasps my nipple tightly as he pulls and squeezes. The dual motion overwhelms my senses, and an orgasm overcomes me, rippling up and through my body. Clenching my legs together, I moan as I ride it out. My body shakes, tingling with the aftermath of what just happened, and what I need to be happening again; however, sanity returns with me still sitting on the side of the couch. Opening my eyes, Dray stares at me like he knows my every thought. At least now, he has a supreme satisfied smile on his mouth and his shorts are in a superior tent out front.
“Damn girl. That is about the hottest sight I’ve ever seen. Had you been butt-naked, I think I would have exploded right along with you.”
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About the Author
I love angst….I thrive on it, but only the fictional kind. I adore a story that grips the reader from the beginning and doesn’t let go…EVER. I’m an avid reader who just recently discovered my love of writing. My favorite things in life include my three wild & crazy kids, Reese’s Pieces, and every genre of music. I reside in the Deep South.
