Thursday, 31 March 2016

Release Day Blitz, Excerpt & Review ~ Down to My Soul (Soul #2) by Kennedy Ryan


Down to My Soul concludes the journey of Rhyson Gray and Kai Pearson that began in Book 1 of the Soul Series, My Soul to Keep! You must read Book 1 first.

Release Week Pricing
Both Books 99¢ This Week


Book Description:

RHYSON

She doesn't wear my ring.
We never stood before a preacher.
The only vows exchanged were between our bodies; between our souls.
But she was mine and I was hers until I ruined it. I have to believe that every day, every step, every breath brings me closer to making things right.
To making her mine again. 

KAI 

I've seen promises broken.
I know love makes no guarantees.
But things were different for Rhys and me, until he lied, and I walked away. Only there's a chain between our hearts that I can't break. Even if I forgive him, a shadow from my past hangs over us; over this love that reaches all the way down to my soul.

Add it to Goodreads: http://tinyurl.com/hvyhqaf

Buy Links:

iBooks:  apple.co/1TzobTg
Barnes & Noble: to come

Book One: My Soul to Keep


Goodreads ➔ bit.ly/1OrzB3r

*Add the Audio Book for only $1.99! 


Excerpt:

“Rhys?”
His name rushes from my mouth on a breath, and I’m off the bed, hurling myself at him top speed. Somehow my legs wrap around his waist and my arms tangle behind his neck. I couldn’t hold back and play this cool if I wanted to. Every part of me that’s been fighting to stay focused, to keep working, to be on, collapses against him. Surrenders to the feel of him in my arms and the smell of him. My fingers lace through his hair. I scatter kisses across his face, the sharp angles and taut skin warm beneath my lips.
“So I take it you’re happy to see me?” He chuckles, pressing his forehead to mine, hands squeezing my thighs.
“Happy?” I release something that’s half a sob, half a laugh, pulling back a few centimeters to let him breathe. “What gave you that idea?”
We stop grinning at the same time, laughter dissolving, our bodies exchanging sensual information. My breasts flattened to his chest. His erection growing and hardening against my core. Our breaths mingling and hearts tattooing beats through our clothes and into the other’s skin.
I move first, leaning in to capture his bottom lip between mine, sucking and pulling between my teeth. Licking into his mouth like there’s honey hidden inside. He groans into the kiss, walking backward until we reach the bed and dropping me so I bounce a little, his eyes roving over me head to toe.
“Pep, what the hell are you wearing?” Humor and desire tussle in his eyes.
I look down, laughing when I see the young Jackson brothers emblazoned across my chest, my legs ending in the footed bottoms.
“If I’d known you were coming, I could have made sexier arrangements.”
“Arrangements?” He quirks a dark brow, placing a knee on either side of my legs, hovering over me like a promise. “Lingerie would have been nice. Other rock stars have girlfriends who wear lingerie.”
“Oh, are you referring to yourself as a rock star now?” I grin up at him, feeling whole for the first time since he kissed me goodbye a week ago. “That’s not egomaniacal at all. Is there a club? You guys have rock star meetings? Does one of you take rock star minutes?”
“You are sitting in here listening to my music in the dark.” He leans forward to tug at the zipper beneath my chin. “Maybe you’re actually one of my crazed fans. Or a groupie. I might even find a Mrs. Rhyson Gray t-shirt around here somewhere. My girlfriend doesn’t like those.”
“No, she doesn’t.” I shake my head, eyes never straying from his.
A small frown jerks his brows together. He tugs again at the zipper, but it doesn’t budge.
“Pep, it’s stuck,” he says.
“Sometimes it does that,” I answer easily, enjoying the frustration spreading over his expression as he keeps pulling and it keeps staying.
He places my hand over his cock, hard and poking through his jeans.
“Well, it’s not exactly a good time for it to do that.”
I laugh, grasping my zipper and tugging. Wow, it really is stuck. These are vintage PJs, older than I am and threadbare in places. I’m surprised the zipper hasn’t rusted before now. I sit up, bringing our bodies closer as I jiggle the little hook a few times. Nothing.
“Just how attached are you to this Jackson Five onesie?” His glance burns hot across my subtle curves visible through the thin flannel, telegraphing his intentions.
“Well this is Michael’s original nose.” I release a fake exasperated sigh. “But I do have my sewing kit.”
“All I needed to hear.”
Sorry, boys.
He grabs the two ends of the collar separated by the zip line and pulls until there’s a ripping sound, the panels falling back to reveal my naked breasts and my panties. A wicked grin spreads across lips.
“You naughty girl.” He runs a finger over the writing on the front of my calendar panties, carrying a current that simultaneously hitches my breath and gets me wet. “Wearing Monday panties on a Thursday. My little rebel.”


Our Review:

Reviewed by Donna ~ 5 stars
***ARC received for an honest review***


“Sometimes our best intentions come with our worst decisions.”


I adored the first book in this series and was a little reticent to read this one at first as I had extremely high expectations. My Soul to Keep was my first Kennedy Ryan read and she totally captivated me with her lyrical writing, intense character connection and Kai and Rhyson’s all-consuming story. Well, I needn’t have worried because Kennedy Ryan delivered once again, in spades. This is the continuation of Kai and Rhyson’s story, therefore you need to have read My Soul to Keep first.

Down to My Soul continues where My Soul to Keep finished and once again I was thrust into the lives of Kai and Rhyson, full throttle, with intensity, emotion and once again passion. With fantastic dialogue that keeps the reader thoroughly engaged Kennedy Ryan totally captivates you from the offset and while their lives were never going to run smoothly these two throw their all into trying and at the end of the day that was all I could hope for.


“There’s no happiness without you anymore. This didn’t have to happen.”


Being friends first and foremost really gave a fantastic foundation for Kai and Rhyson and knowing everything about the other has its pluses and negatives. These two can read each other like an open book so when one is hiding from the other, they know.

Rhyson really puts his heart and soul out there in this book and Kennedy Ryan captured this perfectly. Emotionally brutal at times Kennedy Ryan draws you in to his inner turmoil and his fight to keep Kai by his side. His growth throughout was a necessary evil but it was great to watch him finally really trust and give his all to his forever love. He just needed her to open up too and accept it with open arms.


“Every wall I’d ever raised, every defense I had, you got past them all…You went deeper than anyone ever had. You peeled away every layer of skin, sunk through the flesh, and I felt you right next to my bones. For the first time in my life I felt fully…known.”


The one thing I have loved about Kai and Rhyson’s relationship from the offset is its “realness.” They were two characters that had their issues, but they knew they were flawed and try desperately to overcome their faults. They want to be better for the other while still keeping their own identities. Kai was just breaking out into the music world and was desperate to make it on her own without the constant nametag of being Rhyson’s girlfriend. Rhyson wanted to navigate Kai through the pit-falls of the music industry and while he only had her best interests at heart it was hard for Kai to accept as being anything other than Rhyson being overbearing and interfering.


“She blurs everything. Erases every line I’ve drawn in the sand. Forces me to rethink the boundaries of right, wrong, acceptable, never would, and couldn’t ever. She’s my absolute.”


We still have the suspense and intrigue with Kai’s mysterious texts and my heart was in my mouth so many times just wishing that she would share the burden. The be all and end all for Kai was to protect Rhyson at all costs, even if it meant her own sanity was at stake. I loved the way Kennedy Ryan explored the behind the scenes of the music industry and all the pressures and sharks that it encompasses. As a person looking in you think that their lives are glamourous but sometimes fail to realise the hard work that goes into it, it was eye opening at times, the constant invasion of privacy and navigating your way through agents and companies that just want their pound of flesh no matter the consequences.


“She promised me that you would make mistakes, and that the real test would be to love you through them. It’s a test you already passed when you loved me through mine.”


But most of all this was a love story, a love story that has had me captivated from the first word of the first book and has kept me engrossed to the very end of the second. A love story that Kennedy Ryan penned perfectly and one that you cannot help but become emotionally invested. A love story that would stand the test of time and delivers all the bumps and curveballs with stark reality and intense emotion. A road that was far from straight but with every twist and turn a lesson was learned and a remedy found. This was a journey for both characters but one that had a pot of gold at the end, a pot that had all the riches that these two deserved and the only one they needed…each other.


“He is mine and I am his. Our darkest secrets, shared. Our deepest places, reached. We are completely known. Completely loved down to our very souls.”

About the Author:

I just can't write about myself in third person for one more bio! I'm a wife, a mom, a writer, an advocate for families living with autism. That's me in a nutshell. Crack the nut, and you'll find a Southern girl gone Southern California who loves pizza and Diet Coke, and wishes she got to watch a lot more television. You can usually catch me up too late, on social media too much, or FINALLY putting a dent in my ever-growing To Be Read list! I love to hear from readers at kennedyryanwrites@gmail.com. 

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Giveaway:

($10 Amazon Gift Card, Rhys + Kai mason jar glass, Reader's Choice Kennedy Signed Paperback)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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