Looking for an adventure and a love story? Check out this fun book! THIS LOVE is one that will make you wistful for the world unknown and the music you heard in the world around you! Check out more about this book by Hilaria Alexander, read Tina’s Thoughts and an excerpt, and enter a giveaway to celebrate this fabulous book!
THIS LOVEHilaria Alexander
Genre: New Adult Romance
Release Date: August 4, 2015
Running off to Amsterdam is the best decision Ella ever made in her life. In just a few months, she’s been able to put her past behind her and has found a new family and friends. She can almost ignore the voices in her head telling her this idyllic scenario is temporary.
When Lou Rivers shows up in Amsterdam, he’s the constant reminder of the life she led and the mistakes she made. As the two of them embark on an emotional and musical journey across Europe, Ella will have to face her own insecurities and make a decision that might break them apart forever.
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Do you ever read those books that make you want to travel the world or wish you had a hidden talent to explore? That is exactly what I felt when I finished this book. THIS LOVE by Hilaria Alexander whisked me away and I have been bit by the wanderlust bug. I need a one way ticket to Amsterdam! This story was a beautiful tale of love, life, choices, and music. I loved how Hilaria was able to seamlessly weave those themes together to create a story that was captivating.
THIS LOVE features two musicians who fall in love and their choices. I loved reading books about people who are connected on a different level, one where a hobby or mutual love and respect comes into play. Ella and Lou have an instant connection through music that grows into something profound and life changing. Their relationship is lovely to watch unfold. I loved watching Ella learn to let her misgivings go and to embrace what they had for however long they might have it. Lou is enamored with Ella and watching him woo her is so sweet. Their love story seemed deeper because they had such a connection, one that was mixed with passion and love.
I appreciated that Ella is a strong heroine in this story, albeit sometimes a bit too headstrong. She is younger than Lou (not too crazy of an age gap) but she is independent and bright. Ella is a free spirit trying to find her purpose in life and leave the drama of the past in the past. I loved how she matures and grows into herself. She finds a passion that was long forgotten, but that passion has developed into something living and breathing in her soul. This story might be primarily a love story but watching Ella mature, make hard decisions, and fall in love with what she had to leave behind, well it makes the story that much more powerful.
Every person in this story is important. The secondary characters create a mismatch family for Lou and Ella, giving them the support, love, and stability they need. These many characters enhance the story, never taking center stage, but instead helping the main characters develop in their emotions, actions, and life. The interactions between the people we meet in the pages of this book are necessary and impact the main characters.
After reading this book, I feel the need to grab my passport, find an airline ticket, and leave for destinations unknown. This book will make you smile, cause you to hear the music around you, and inspire you to seek an adventure, both an inner journey and to a final destination. Don’t miss this adventure of a book!
I had never kissed with my eyes open. This was going to be my first time. It took me a couple of seconds to be completely aware of what was happening and realize that I wasn’t imagining his lips pressed on mine. I closed my eyes then, and my lips parted, searching for his tongue. I had wanted this kiss for days, and my tongue wrapped around his a little too fast, too eager.
His hands cradled my face so softly, so gently. My arms circled his neck, and I ran my fingers through his hair. His lips were silky soft, and there was a faint taste of cinnamon on his tongue from the apple tart we just had. His tongue caressed mine over and over until I was breathless. A moan escaped my mouth as he released me and he attacked me again, nibbling at my bottom lip. When he kissed me again and started sucking on my tongue, I was a goner. Heat spread under my skin, coursing through my body, all the way to my fingertips.
He stopped kissing me and released a breath. I found him looking at me with an expression of wonderment in his eyes.
I was glad it was nighttime. The way he was looking at me, had my heart hammering against my chest, and the blood rushing to my cheeks.
Maybe one day I would live to tell Lou Rivers had mad kissing skills. I’d be like one of Elvis’ many flings telling the press—decades later—how great he was. I wondered if I’d get to say we had gone out on dates.
“I’m really sorry about earlier,” he said.
“You should never follow a kiss with an ‘I’m sorry,’” I told him playfully.
“I can’t catch a break with you, can I?” he asked, chuckling.
I shook my head no, but I was smiling at him.
“Are we good?”
I nodded.
“Was it good?” he asked, leaning in, bumping his shoulder against mine.
“Oh my God! What are you, fifteen?” I slapped him playfully on the arm.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” he said with a smugness I hadn’t seen before.
“You know, I’m really not too sure it was that good. I can hardly remember it, already,” I teased.
“You already forgot our first kiss?” he jokingly asked, the smile on his face telling me he was enjoying this. Our first kiss. By the way he said it, it sounded like it was going to be followed by many more.
“I might need a refresher,” I answered, looking at him defiantly.
He leaned down and kissed me again. This time, things were different. Our first kiss was slow, gentle, building. As his lips claimed me, he closed the distance between us, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me to him. As his tongue kept teasing me and tantalizing me, he placed a hand around my waist, and with the other one behind my head, he dipped me slightly backwards. Show-off. I gripped his shoulders, trying to hold my balance. His body was flushed against mine, and I felt something else as well. Apparently, it didn’t take much for him to get…excited. I liked that I was the one doing that to him. His tongue circled around mine over and over, going deeper. It knocked the breath out of me. This one was an unforgettable kiss. And now I was going to want more; there was no going back.
He stopped, leaving me mid-kiss. A sigh escaped me, and as I opened my eyes, I glanced at him. He was breathing fast, and even in the semi-darkness his eyes looked wilder and even more magnetic than usual. A satisfied, lopsided grin spread on his face.
“There. You shouldn’t forget this one. I was trying to be a gentleman earlier.”
“So you were,” I replied, trying to regain control of my body.
He leaned down, gave me one last peck, took my hand, and said, “Let’s go.”
Neither of us could say a word the entire time we were walking back, but his hold on my hand was strong, and I felt like I never wanted to let it go. From time to time, I could feel his eyes on me, but I never looked in his direction, partly because I had a stupid smile I couldn’t wipe off my face. I wanted to lean into him and have his arms around me.
When we got to Johan’s, I finally looked up. Now, this was going to be awkward. How were we going to say goodbye? With a handshake, a hug, or another kiss?
Thankfully, I didn’t have time to think about it much longer, because his strong arms enveloped me and slowly pushed me backwards, until I was against the brick wall. He pressed his body against mine and my arms ran up his body, wrapping around his neck. Our noses touched first, and then our mouths were devouring each other again.
Everybody thinks they know how to kiss, but a lot of people don’t give it the right emphasis. Some guys are so rushed with it, like they are just trying to hurriedly open the doorway to your vagina. That’s one way to shut that door down for good. Guys seem to forget that kissing is the prelude to everything else. It’s the way you introduced yourself. Some guys I’ve kissed wouldn’t open their mouth enough or even give you enough access to their tongue. And they’d be so boring. After a few minutes, I was ready to be done with them. But this, the feeling of his tongue around mine and his soft full lips kissing my face and my neck…I could have kissed him for hours. Lou went from wrapping his tongue around mine to gently biting my bottom lip, and then kissing me under my chin, all the way under my ear, only to trail back up and do it all over again.
His light stubble tickled me at times, but somehow it only made me more aroused. I started shivering under his touch when he slipped one hand under my sweater, trailing all the way up to my ribcage, sliding it under my bra. He took one of my breasts in his hand and started teasing my nipple with his thumb and index finger. I grinded my hips against his while a moan escaped my mouth. I ran my fingers through his hair and started trailing kisses on his neck, sucking on his earlobe. His other hand made its way under my sweater, and they were both caressing my back and it almost seemed as if he was aiming to take my bra off. Okay, this had gone too far.
“Okay, smooth kisser,” I whispered in his ear, my voice low and breathy, “it is Amsterdam and all, but we’re still in the street, making out next to my place of employment. I’d say we have gone far enough,” I pulled away from him, holding his gaze, panting like prey running away from its hunter.
“You’re right,” he said. “I’m sorry.”
“You do say that a lot,” I teased him, mimicking what he had just told me a few days earlier.
“Just tonight, I swear,” he replied, giving me a grin that was hard to resist.
Hilaria Alexander was born and raised in the south of Italy, where her family still lives. She attended college at the Istituto Universitario Orientale in Naples, Italy, and lived one year in Tokyo, Japan, as part of an exchange student program. She now lives in Oklahoma City with her husband and kids. When she isn’t at work, she is reading, catching up on her favorite TV shows and making up story-lines in her mind. She loves traveling and is a self-proclaimed concert addict. This Love is her second romance novel. She published her first novel, Prude, in January 2015.
Do you ever read those books that make you want to travel the world or wish you had a hidden talent to explore? That is exactly what I felt when I finished this book. THIS LOVE by Hilaria Alexander whisked me away and I have been bit by the wanderlust bug. I need a one way ticket to Amsterdam! This story was a beautiful tale of love, life, choices, and music. I loved how Hilaria was able to seamlessly weave those themes together to create a story that was captivating.
I had never kissed with my eyes open. This was going to be my first time. It took me a couple of seconds to be completely aware of what was happening and realize that I wasn’t imagining his lips pressed on mine. I closed my eyes then, and my lips parted, searching for his tongue. I had wanted this kiss for days, and my tongue wrapped around his a little too fast, too eager.