Ripe For Reader: Blog Tour & Giveaway - PROMISE ME by Kristin Mayer

With her best friend happily married and now pregnant, Sam Matthews should be overjoyed. Instead, she can only see what is missing in her life. Pushing her emotions aside, she retreats to a piece of her past that she’s kept hidden, something that even her best friend knows nothing about.

Taking a step into her future, Sam moves to North Carolina where she once again encounters Mark Robertson. He is persistent and hard to resist, and little by little, he uses his charms to break through Sam’s walls.

As Sam starts to open her heart to Mark, she convinces herself that the past should stay in the past. But when her past creeps into the present, her secrets could cost her every hope and happiness in her future.

Promise Me is the third book in the Trust Series.

BOOK TRAILER

PROMISE ME

(Trust #3)

by Kristin Mayer

ARC Review

Released: May 15, 2014

My rating: 4 of 5 ⭐️

For Sam Matthews, seeing her best friend happy and married is a double edged sword. Of course she is thrilled beyond belief her BFF has finally been able to find her slice of bliss, but her own shortcomings in that department stand out painfully in contrast. A single event in her past she has buried so deep has left an indelible stain on her and driven her to find sexual release in meaningless encounters, without any risk of emotional involvement.

When her new position with the football team brings her to North Carolina, she once again bumps into star quarterback Mark Robertson. One of her no-strings-attached one time encounters from a few months back, Mark makes it clear he would not be adverse to a repeat performance, and finds out quickly that when pushed for more than a physical release, Sam shuts down fast. Interested in more than a simple booty-call, Mark simply bides his time.

Mark's straightforward approach and gentle persistence, eventually break down Sam's heavily enforced walls. But even when trying to put her heart into it, Sam finds that her past still won't let her go. If she shares her secrets, will she win his trust, or lose his love?

*****

Third book in the Trust Series, I actually think PROMISE ME could easily be read as a standalone novel. Sure, you'd miss a few references to past events, but the core of the story is all contained in this book.

Less dramatic than the previous two Trust books, in that there was no suspense factor, no unknown entities or hidden agendas anywhere. PROMISE ME was more of a pure romance novel with a very heavy erotic edge and a suggestion of kink in there as well, although we don't really get to experience any. An emotional ride, for sure. In some ways a bit frustrating to read, when it deals with something that could have been dealt with or should have been dealt with, but wasn't due to a misguided sense of guilt. I'm sure, however, there is a lot of truth in that.

The character of Mark is fabulous. One would expect a star QB to be a bit of an arrogant and cocky bastard, but aside from being reasonably self-assured, his crazy-neurotic but loving family seems to have kept him fairly grounded and he is unbelievably thoughtful and patient when it comes to Sam. But, he came, he saw and he will bide his time until he has her conquered!

Sam has spent to much time alone with her 'secret', so that the imagined stain of it has taken on massive proportions in her perception. A stain, and guilt that shouldn't even exist. In every other aspect of her life, she is a bit of a 'ball-buster', not afraid to go head to head in defense of friends or loved ones and relatively confident. Yet it takes endless patience on Sam's behalf to convince her of her worthiness when it comes to matters of the heart.

A well-written series by Kristin Mayer with deliciously dominant men, from the gently persuasive to the ridiculously overbearing, and the capable women who can clearly handle them!

✨From heart-breaking tenderness to panty-melting heat in the blink of an eye!!✨

**Copy provided in return for an honest review**

I received a couple of catcalls as my body moved to the music. I knew the best thing was to always ignore them as I let the music take me over. My hips swayed, and my hands went up in the air. The third song started playing, and a light gleam of sweat coated my skin. Some unwanted bodies had tried to get close to me, but I knew how to keep my distance from strangers without losing my rhythm. It was freeing. I was lost in the beat when familiar hands came around my front. I knew it was Mark.

His mouth came to my ear. “Hey. Wanna dance?”

Mark pulled me to him. Our bodies joined, and we began moving together. His head came down and kissed the exposed part of my neck, and I tilted to the side to give him full access. The crowd had thickened and was pressing in on us. The pulse of the music drove us. We moved until we were both a hot mess, and neither one of us had said a word through multiple songs of the most hip-grinding, dirty dancing I had ever done.

After nibbling on my earlobe, Mark said, “Let’s say bye to the boys, and then I’m taking you home. I think all these assholes got the picture of whose bed you belong in.”

Turning to face him, I kissed him hard as his hands stroked my back. His leg went between my legs, and we started moving again. Our hot tongues danced with each as our bodies moved as one. We were both sweaty and hot. We were about to be a sexual explosion out here if we didn’t leave soon.

Pulling back barely, our lips still touching, I responded, “Now, all the girls who were hanging around, hoping for a shot with you, know who you’re taking to bed tonight.”

He grabbed my ass, bringing me closer to him, and it only increased my sexual need for him.

Mark bit my lip and then said, “I like you a little jealous. Let’s go before I lose my remaining bit of self-control.”

Kristin Mayer is a wife, a proud mother, and a full-time Analyst and Import Manager. Since an early age, she has always enjoyed reading and writing. While visiting her father one weekend, he suggested that she should take up writing again. With family and a career, she didn’t give it a lot of thought, until a story entered her mind and wouldn’t leave. It just kept forming and developing over a couple of months. At the beginning of 2013, she decided to sit down and write it all down, but she kept it to herself. One sentence developed into two, and before she knew it, she had the makings of a novel. Kristin tries to live life to the fullest during every moment. She loves to travel and meet new people. She holds a degree in International Business and uses it daily in her job. Kristin now adds “author” on her list of jobs, and feels very blessed and thankful.