NOW is the time to check out Brenda Rothert!

Welcome to the Now Series blog tour! 

We are so excited to be taking part in this tour. Both of us are huge fans of high school sweetheart/child hood crush romances and when we read the blurbs for both books, we were hooked! We couldn't get them onto our kindles fast enough!

Now Emmaline Carson is a sharp, settled graphic designer who loves painting, cooking and girls’ night out with her older sister Layla. But then – in the years before she went to art school in Paris – she was a shy, awkward teenager with frizzy hair, a flat chest and a massive crush on the boy across the street, Cole Marlowe. Too bad her incredibly hot neighbor only had eyes for Layla.

Cole is now a confident, laid-back attorney who’s even hotter than he used to be. He’s planning to stay single while working his way up the corporate ladder – until he’s knocked off course by a chance run-in with Emma.

Everything is different between Cole and Emma now. He finally sees her in a way she only dreamed of, and their hot chemistry is fueled by a growing friendship. But Emma’s deception of her sister – who wants Cole for herself – and the secret Cole’s been keeping for more than a decade threaten to tear apart what’s only just begun. Because sometimes the only thing standing in the way of now is then.

 

I have to say that I loved this book. Once I started, I couldn't put it down. I completely lost track of time and before I knew it, I was done and it was past 3 am.

I totally agree! I loved it too and found myself sneaking to read it at work just to finish! (shh! don't tell)  

OMG! I can totally picture that! 

I have to say that this is one of the rare books that didn't really have anything that annoyed me. There were a few minor things that at the time had me rolling my eyes a little, but they made perfect sense later.

Again, I have to agree! I loved pretty much everything about it! The story flowed and the plot was captivating and the characters were awesome, well with one exception.

  I know where that's going!

 Nice lead in huh!    

I have to say that I'm surprised that it's you and not me bringing up the "Issue". Or should I say "Irritation"?

Well, with an "irritation" such as this, I was too impatient for you to say something! Lol 

 

LOL. Ok, let's jump into this! Layla. How I hate thee. Let me count the ways... 

#1 You're a major b!tch

#2 You treat your sister like a doormat

#3 You're trying to sleep your way through the state of Illinois...

Should I keep going? 

I thought for sure you were going to cut me off before I could even make a list! 

Like I said, I did not like her!

LOL. I'm thinking I should just sit back and let you rant. Seems like you don't need me!  But...you know me. I love a good rant! 

In some ways I think it was worse that Layla was Emma's sister since if she had just been a friend, Emma could have walked away and severed ties. But she couldn't do that with her sister. And the way she took advantage of Emma...I was seeing red. I don't care how much I want to be close to my sister, I'm not letting her come into my apartment any time she wants to screw every Tom, Dick or Harry she passed in the street! I have having serious Monk moments while reading. I kept thinking that Emma's whole apartment needed to be sanitized! 

You said Dick.... But yes, that was a major put off for me. And when Cole saw her 'sex happened here' note, I was livid right along with him! I wanted to burn the couch and go shopping for a new one! That's just... eewwww. *shudders* 

LOL. OMG! You're like a 10 yr old boy! I meant it as a guy's name! But I agree with you. That note was just plain disgusting and crass! Even if Cole hadn't been the one to find it, and it was just Emma, if it were my sister, I wouldn't want to know. It's bad enough that I know you're going to be using my apartment for random sex with strangers, but I don't need to know and have proof that it happened! And there was just no good response for Emma to give in that situation. And I think what makes it even worse is Cole knew that his mom and Emma/Layla's mom were pushing for Cole and Layla to end up together. I know he wasn't interested in Layla, but that would seriously gross me out to know a woman that claimed to want me was sleeping with random guys and using her sister's place to do it! That shows she has no respect for her sister. 

Absofreakinlutely! No respect! It's like you took the words right out of my mouth!    As for Emma, I understand she wanted to have a relationship with her sister, but I felt she should have stood up more and put her foot down about the use of her apartment for Layla's sexcapades. But other than that, I thought Em did great with standing up for her and Cole's relationship, once it finally became public.

In a way I agree with you. Don't get me wrong, I loved Emma, but she was so scared of how everyone would react that at times I had to roll my eyes about it. But, she had valid fears because she was right...Layla didn't react well. It was downright scary! And I loved when Emma told off her mom when she found out about Emma and Cole. You know her mom didn't mean to favor Layla but I was still glad that Emma got everything out in the open. 

I know what you mean, I liked when Emma told her mom off too! And yeah, the whole keeping the relationship quiet irked me too. I kept thinking, "Who cares! you love him, he loves you so F!@K everyone else! 

That was my only complaint about Emma. When Layla did find out, I got it. Especially after seeing how horrible she was in the flashbacks, but I wanted Emma to scream it from the rooftops! Because...I loved Cole. He was AMAZING! I want one of him in real life!

OMG! Me too!   Cole was the perfect hero! And yes I would have been shouting from the rooftops as well!   And Layala's reaction was so not cool! I wanted to her for overreacting the way she did. But after that the story seemed to get back on track. Emma and Cole were so great together and I was so eager to see them get their HEA!

Me too! My only complaint at the end was the quick reconciliation between Layla and Emma. It just rang false to me.  

I know. I wanted Emma to make her work for a reconciliation I felt Layla deserved to wallow and beg forgiveness for longer after how awful she was when they were growing up as well as her reaction about Emma & Cole. But, other than that the ending was really great and overall I really enjoyed this book! The fact that Brenda Rothert made Layla so bad (in a good way) and evoked such strong feelings throughout the book was phenomenal!

I couldn't agree more. Brenda Rothert did an amazing job with Layla because I really hated her. Actually, she did a great job with the whole book. And I can totally see how they would "make up" for their parents even if things weren't completely copacetic between them again. 

I think we're in agreement that this book was a definite must read. A full 5 stars all the way!

Ok, let's move on to the second book in the series! 

Once again, 26-year-old Layla Carson has the attention of a man eager to satisfy her. Ben Montrose, the hot, confident cop who gets off on frustrating her, is eager to show her just how arresting he can be. But as a reforming sexaholic, Layla’s sworn off casual hookups, and doesn’t miss the days of her early 20s –much.

Ben’s caught off-guard when the sexy, outspoken attorney turns him on and then turns him down. But the confident former Marine knows he can handle the simple seduction of a beautiful woman. He finds Layla’s weak spot – competition, which he happens to share – and challenges her to a game that could make them, or destroy them.

As they compete to crown the master of seduction, Ben and Layla discover there’s more to their game than power and foreplay. But as the stakes go up, they realize the game has changed, and they both stand to lose more than they bargained for.

Going into this book…I hated Layla. I wasn’t looking forward to reading about her. After the crap she pulled and the way she acted in the previous book, I just didn’t care about her story. Even as I started this book, my heart wasn’t in it…Until I met Ben. 

OMG! I hated Layla too! (see above for our rants! ) And you practically had to twist my arm to get me to finally read it! But once I got into it, I fell in love with Ben!  

Ben was a HUGE bright spot for me. He was everything you would expect in an alpha male. And with my dislike of Layla, everything I would want to see matched against her. All the typical alpha behaviors that would typically have me reaching for my Irritable gifs worked with Ben. 

I'm surprised you didn't use them on Layla! She had so many moments where she was irritating and I was embarrassed for her! 

Yeah, I agree with that. I felt like as much as she'd changed, she didn't believe in that change herself and she kept putting herself down. I couldn't stand that. If you say it enough, other people are going to start believing it.  

That annoyed me too. But at the same time, I was also calling her a Slutbag McGee for her actions! She was just unbelievable! 

LOL. I can’t say that I ever loved Layla (because I didn’t), but I warmed up to her…some…but that’s about it. The fact is, I hold grudges and I couldn’t forgive her for her actions toward Emma in book 1. But, I enjoyed the little mystery/suspense story that was thrown in with the notes she received. I just wish there had been more to it. Because by time the end was nearing, I kept wondering if we would ever get a resolution of it. 

I also liked the suspense element! But we're both fans of romantic suspense, so we shouldn't be surprised by it. But I have to agree with you, I didn't like that there was such a big gap between occurrences of that story. 

I can't believe I'm going to say this...but at one point, I actually felt sorry for Layla. Her "best friend" Lane was just awful. Layla walked away from the table for just a minute and Lane took advantage of that to hit on Ben. I was cheering for him when he turned her down but when he told Layla about it, she wasn't surprised and said as much. She accepted it as normal. And I don't care how awful Layla was, she deserved better friends than that. Melanie was a good friend. Melanie was what Layla should have realized she deserved in a friend. Not Lane. I wanted Layla to tell off Lane and end the friendship, but she didn't. So in that way, I think Emma was the stronger of the two sisters. 

Again, I agree with you! Emma has a great friend in Dani. I love her and their friendship. But Lane was awful! I was shocked that Layla just accepted Lane's actions with just a "that's how it is" attitude! What happened to the ball busting lawyer!? 

I think she was so caught up in her own hype of being a "whore" and "mean girl" that she thought she deserved it.  

Yeah, I can see that. I really wanted    Lane!

LOL. I was right there with you! 

Well, overall...*said grudgingly* this was a good book. I loved Ben and had trouble putting this down. 

I was surprised at how much I like it. I laughed all the way through it...you know...even though I still don't like Layla.  

Lol. So, what's your final rating? I hold grudges so I can' only give it a total score of a 3.5. Ben totally gets a 5 though. 

I would be willing to give it a 4. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.  

 

There you have it folks, this series is a must read! Even Lindsay said so...even if she did hold a grudge against Layla.