The Pleasure of Reading Today: Book Tour #giveaway #review RoomHate by Penelope Ward

Swoon-worthy Justin Banks is FINALLY HERE in

RoomHate by Penelope Ward!

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Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1WmdZLK

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1PysqdM

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Kobo: http://bit.ly/1POvSnW

Nook: http://bit.ly/1PLGnSL

Blurb

From New York Times Bestselling Author, Penelope Ward, comes a new standalone novel.

Sharing a summer house with a hot-as-hell roommate should be a dream come true, right?

Not when it’s Justin…the only person I’d ever loved…who now hates me.

When my grandmother died and left me half of the house on Aquidneck Island, there was a catch: the other half would go to the boy she helped raise.

The same boy who turned into the teenager whose heart I broke years ago.

The same teenager who’s now a man with a hard body and a hardass personality to match.

I hadn’t seen him in years, and now we’re living together because neither one of us is willing to give up the house.

The worst part? He didn’t come alone.

I’d soon realize there’s a thin line between love and hate. I could see through that smug smile. Beneath it all…the boy is still there. So is our connection.

The problem is…now that I can’t have Justin, I’ve never wanted him more.

Author's note – RoomHate is a full-length standalone novel. Due to strong language and sexual content, this book is not intended for readers under the age of 18.

RoomHate Excerpt

Copyright © 2016 by Penelope Ward

His eyes darted to the side, and he noticed me standing there. We just stared at each other. It was ironic, but the only times I could ever feel the remnants of our old connection were in fleeting moments of silent eye contact. Sometimes moments of silence spoke the loudest.

I left him alone again, making my way back down the hall and into the restaurant to tend to the customers I’d been ignoring.

Things really started to get busy. Without Jade working tonight, we were short-staffed, and I was having a hard time keeping up with the orders. Sandy’s had indoor and outdoor seating. Normally, I would only be working one section, but tonight I was going back and forth between the two.

It was nice out, so I knew they would have Justin performing outside. I kept glancing over to the small stage to see if he was there. It was past eight, and he hadn’t made an appearance yet.

Sometime close to eight-thirty, I was in the middle of serving a large party of ten when I first heard it: the chilling sound of a soulful voice that was not familiar in the least. He gave no introduction. No warning. He just started to sing out the first few words, followed by the strum of his guitar. The song that Justin had chosen to start with was a cover of Ain’t No Sunshine by Bill Withers.

The entire room soon quieted down, and all eyes were on the stunning blond male specimen with the spotlight shining down on him. Despite the fact that I was carrying a large round tray of dirty dishes, I couldn’t move. The vibration of his thick, smoky singing voice had completely paralyzed me, penetrating my body and soul.

Aside from the lone teardrop that fell the night he lost it on me during steak dinner, I hadn’t shed any more tears—until now. It was all too much. Hearing how different his voice sounded, how he’d trained it over the years, was a wake-up call as to how much I had missed. All of the hours of practice that must have gone into honing that beautiful voice, and I wasn’t there for any of it. The guilt, the emotions, the reality of a decade gone…everything started to pummel me at once. Not to mention the song—about a girl leaving. It probably had nothing to do with me, but in my mind, it sure as hell felt like it did.

Review

Dear Penelope Ward, you outdid yourself with this book.

Amelia and Justin grew up together, her grandmother took care of them and love them unconditionally. After a certain incident Amelia makes the decision to move away leaving Justin without hope and answers.

Fast forward a good number of years and Amelia's grandmother just passed away, leaving the beach house where they spent many summers in a happy daze to both of them 50/50. Amelia and Justin's encounter after all those years is less than ideal, Justin is angry, resentful, and he didn't come to the house alone...

This is a book that you will savor from beginning to end, these are two characters that are fighting an internal war with their feelings for each other and what is wrong and right.

I love Justin's character, he's a bit of a jerk, he has a confident aura that makes him more attractive that he already is and can we mention that the man is a skilled god in the bedroom? But behind all that is a little boy that was left behind who still hadn't healed from his best friend's abandonment.

Amelia is confident, independent, and definitely a better woman than me, I couldn't put up with seeing the man I loved since I was a kid doing or hearing the things he did. She knows she made a mistake all those years ago and she definitely regrets it, but is it too late to claim the love of her life?

The story goes from present to past which helps the reader understand better the kind of relationship these two characters have had throughout their lives. There is a development almost halfway through the story that changes it all, it was brilliantly executed.

Although the story has two very strong leads, I felt like every single character in this book played an important part in Amelia and Justin's lives, none of them was inconsequential to the storyline.

I kept asking myself over and over how the author was going to bring them back together after all those years, how she was going to heal the hurt that was still palpable, how they were going to find it in themselves (specially Justin) to forgive and move forward, but all these questions were answered in the more exquisite manner, slowly and very sweet.

I read this book twice and I can honestly say that I can't get enough of it. I love it when an author leave me with characters that will stay with me because all the emotions they brought to the surface, and Penelope Ward did just that.

About the Author

Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal Bestselling author. She grew up in Boston with five older brothers and spent most of her twenties as a television news anchor, before switching to a more family-friendly career. She is the proud mother of a beautiful 11-year-old girl with autism and a 9-year-old boy. Penelope and her family reside in Rhode Island.