Showing posts with label Cassia Leo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cassia Leo. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

New Release: Forever Ours by Cassia Leo.

Happy Release Day Cassia Leo! 
 
Today we're celebrating the release of Forever Ours. 
Forever Ours is the highly anticipated prequel to the New York Times and USA Today bestselling Shattered Hearts Series. This should be before Relentless.



Sometimes, it takes more than love to mend a shattered heart.

After eight years of being tossed around from one home to another, never forming any meaningful friendships or bonds with her foster families, Claire's caseworker gives her an ultimatum: Behave or your next home will be a halfway house.

When fifteen-year-old Claire arrives at the home of Jackie Knight and meets Jackie's fifteen-year-old son, tattooed guitarist Chris, she fears she'll be seeing the inside of that halfway house soon. But Chris isn't like any other guy Claire has ever encountered and he soon gains her trust through his music and unwavering patience.

Claire has finally found her forever home and she and Chris soon find themselves falling in love.


But Chris’s dreams of musical stardom and Claire’s need for a stable home soon put their love in jeopardy. Chris struggles deeply with his plans for the future, entirely reluctant to leave Claire behind; until Claire does something that may break their love — and the only home she’s comes to know — forever.



Chapter Eleven
Chris
Forever Addicted

I tumble out of bed and drag myself out of my bedroom and into the hallway. When I push open the bathroom door, my eyes widen at what I’ve stumbled upon. Claire is standing next to the toilet, holding her new cell phone over the toilet bowl. Her lips are pressed together in a hard line across her delicate face.
“What the fuck?” is the first thing that slips out of my mouth.
“I don’t want this thing anymore.”
“Please don’t drop it in the toilet.”
“What is the point of having a cell phone if you never answer it?”
Oh, shit. She’s had this phone two months and it’s turned her into a crazy person. I don’t dare say this out loud, but I’m beginning to wish I’d gotten her something else for her birthday.
If I don’t call her back within a few minutes, she accuses me of playing games. If she doesn’t call me back right away, it’s because she was busy. I don’t think she even realizes how insane this sounds.
“What do you want me to do? Just tell me what you want and I’ll do it.” I inch closer to her and she smiles when she realizes she has my attention. “You want me to promise I’ll never wait more than five minutes to call you back? Would that make you happy?”
She loses the smile and purses her lips. “This phone has turned me into an addict. I look at it every two minutes to check for missed calls and texts from you. It’s sick!”
I reach for her wrist and slowly move my hand down until the phone is in my hand. I place it gently on the bathroom counter, then I look her in the eyes.
“Babe, you’re not addicted to your phone. You’re addicted to me.”
“Shut up!” she smacks my chest and I try not to laugh too loud.
I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her against me. She’s breathing hard as my lips hover over hers. “Don’t you have to get ready for school?”
“It’s a late day. I don’t have to be at school for two and a half hours.”
I smile. It actually makes me happy that I can’t remember what day is a late day anymore since I quit school. The only regret I have about quitting school is that Claire is alone now. With Jake and Rachel graduated, and Tristan hanging out with his new girlfriend, Ashley, Claire says she spends most of her time outside of class reading.
“Good, ‘cause I have plans for you…. I gonna text you for two hours straight.”
“You’re such a jerk!”
She tries to push me away and I lean in to kiss her. At first she closes her mouth, but she laughs when I plant a loud kiss on her cheek. And I seize the opportunity to kiss her hard.
Seconds later, we’re lying on my bed, the sheets bunched up beneath her and my hand easing down her waist to her hip. She grabs my hand to stop me and I smile as I move my hand up. I trail my lips over her smooth jaw and plant a soft kiss on her neck. I hear a sniffing noise and I quickly pull my head back, afraid she’s crying.
“Oh, my God. You smell so good,” she says, leaning forward so she can sniff my shoulder.
“Really?”
She grabs fistfuls of my T-shirt and brings them to her nose as she inhales. “Yes! Is that some kind of cologne or something?”
“No, it’s laundry soap and you use the same one.”
“No, it has to be something else.”
I reach up and lightly drag my fingertip across her jawline. “Yeah, it’s laundry soap and my pheromones, which you obviously can’t get enough of. Addict.”
“Shut up.”
“What? There’s nothing wrong with that. I can’t get enough of your scent either.” I bury my face in the crook of her neck and she lets out a soft gasp when I lick her skin. “You smell sweet and salty at the same time, like raspberries with a hint of the beach. It’s fucking intoxicating.”
“Really?” she breathes. “That’s what I smell like to you?”
I nuzzle my nose against the sensitive spot behind her ear and she giggles softly. “See what you do to me? I can’t get enough of you.”
I kiss her neck and her skin is so soft, I want to devour her. But I respect her boundaries. So minutes later, we’re on my bike on the way to drop her off at school.  As usual, she plants a kiss on the front of my helmet, leaving a kiss mark on the glass. Then she bats my hand away when I try to grab her ass as she walks away.
Something about this feels too perfect. I keep waiting for my mom to tell me that Claire’s being moved to another foster home. Or that my mom will find out about us and Claire’s caseworker will have her removed from our home.

Something bad is coming. It could be next week or next year. All I know is that this can’t continue the way it has. It’s too perfect. Nothing in my life has ever been this good or easy.







FOREVER OURS will be on sale for 99¢ on May 27th and 28th. After that, the price will go back to regular price of $2.99


RELENTLESS:

Kindle: 

PIECES OF YOU:

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BRING ME HOME:

Kindle: 

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cassia Leo grew up in California and has lived in three different countries. She loves to travel and her dream is to one day score a record deal based on her awesome shower singing skills. She is the author of the Shattered Hearts series (Relentless, Pieces of You, Bring Me Home) and the Luke and Chase series.


Come chat with her on

You can also follow her blog at http://cassialeo.com to stay up to date on new releases and giveaways.


Sunday, May 11, 2014

Black Box by Cassia Leo is on SALE!!


To celebrate Mother’s Day and Mental Health Awareness Month, author Cassia Leo put BLACK BOX on sale for 99¢! A portion of the proceeds from the sale of BLACK BOX this month will go to benefit the Keith Milano Fund and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.


About Black Box:

♥️ Three fateful encounters....
♥️ Two heart-breaking tragedies....
♥️ One last chance to get it right.

From New York Times best selling author Cassia Leo, comes an epic love story about rewriting destiny.

Over the course of five years, Mikki and Crush cross paths on three separate occasions. Their first encounter changes Mikki's life forever, but their second meeting leaves them both buried beneath the emotional wreckage of a violent attack. Mikki is left with more questions and grief than she can handle, while Crush is forced to forget the girl who saved his life.

Now nineteen years old, Mikki Gladstone has decided she's tired of the mind-numbing meds. She books a flight to Los Angeles to end her life far away from her loving, though often distant, family.

Twenty-one-year-old Crush has always channeled his blackest thoughts into his music, but he's never had great aspirations. He decides to fly to Los Angeles to record a demo of the only song he's never performed in public; a song he wrote for a girl he doesn't even know: Black Box. He has no expectations of fame and he's never felt like his life had any purpose... until he meets Mikki in Terminal B.

When Mikki and Crush cross paths for the third time in Terminal B, neither has any idea who the other person is; until they slowly piece together their history and realize that fate has more in store for them than just another love story.

 
About the author:
 
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cassia Leo grew up in California and has lived in three different countries. She loves to travel and her dream is to one day score a record deal based on her awesome shower singing skills. She is the author of the Shattered Hearts series (Relentless, Pieces of You, Bring Me Home). She is also the author of the popular Luke and Chase series.

Come chat with her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorcassialeo or Twitter:www.twitter.com/AuthorCassiaLeo

Or you can follow her blog at http://cassialeo.com to stay up to date on new releases and giveaways.

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Amber reviews Black Box by Cassia Leo. #giveaway



About Black Box:

♥️ Three fateful encounters....
♥️ Two heart-breaking tragedies....
♥️ One last chance to get it right.

From New York Times best selling author Cassia Leo, comes an epic love story about rewriting destiny.

Over the course of five years, Mikki and Crush cross paths on three separate occasions. Their first encounter changes Mikki's life forever, but their second meeting leaves them both buried beneath the emotional wreckage of a violent attack. Mikki is left with more questions and grief than she can handle, while Crush is forced to forget the girl who saved his life.

Now nineteen years old, Mikki Gladstone has decided she's tired of the mind-numbing meds. She books a flight to Los Angeles to end her life far away from her loving, though often distant, family.

Twenty-one-year-old Crush has always channeled his blackest thoughts into his music, but he's never had great aspirations. He decides to fly to Los Angeles to record a demo of the only song he's never performed in public; a song he wrote for a girl he doesn't even know: Black Box. He has no expectations of fame and he's never felt like his life had any purpose... until he meets Mikki in Terminal B.

When Mikki and Crush cross paths for the third time in Terminal B, neither has any idea who the other person is; until they slowly piece together their history and realize that fate has more in store for them than just another love story.



Amber's Review:

5+++ Breathtaking Star Review by Amber Presley Boyd

This Black Box is yours to keep, to stash your troubles away. Just lock it up and call my name, and I’ll be there always…”

It has taken me a week after finishing this book to be able to put words into how it left me feeling. I have read most everything that Cassia Leo has published it seems and she has yet to disappoint in my opinion. I knew Black Box was going to be a different kind of love story, but it was so much more than I was prepared to experience. It is a love story, it’s a mystery, it’s a story about loss, a story about feeling hopeless and connecting so deeply with another person that hope begins to look possible again. It’s about fate and what can happen when you put something out in the world expecting nothing and then getting a chance at everything. Seriously, this book was such an emotional roller coaster of a journey, so get ready and I mean get some wine (or bourbon), some chocolate and a truckload of Kleenex.

“There’s a little blackness inside all of us.”

This book follows the encounters of Mikki and Crush, two souls that have experienced more hurt and loss than anyone that young should ever know. When they meet at the start of the book in the airport they are both drawn to the other, but it’s like they aren’t sure why but they need to be around the other. As a counselor, it was sometimes hard to read Mikki’s thoughts and how hopeless she felt and how she feels so out of control in her illness despite the best efforts of treatment. I must also say that there were times initially that I got really pissed at Mikki for her somewhat blasé attitude she had about her plan; the way that she knew how it would hurt her family and then when she connects with Crush but is still willing to walk away. I was angry with her because suicide has touched my life more than once and it’s something that those left behind struggle with probably as much as the person committing the act struggles to find peace in their world. But as much as I got frustrated or angry with Mikki, I empathized with her, the source of her pain, and feeling that nothing would ever be okay again. On the other side of this is Crush and I pretty much loved Crush from the word “Go”. He figures out pretty quickly that Mikki is “the girl”, the stranger that saved his life and he in turn saved hers. He just had this quiet intensity about him that made you want to know more, and seriously, he utters some of the most amazing lines in this book. I think he knew that Mikki was not ok and that need to find her and be with her for a while was made possible by another twist of fate in the form of Mother Nature. The snowstorm that drew them together and started bringing to light memories for the both of them, that made them discover each other’s hurts and hopes, was probably the greatest twist of fate and the third final encounter that changes everything.

“A consequence of loving someone close to you is that you also lose a piece of yourself. And you never really know when it’s safe to give away another piece…”

If it’s possible for a story to be both heartbreaking and heartwarming then Black Box certainly fills that bill. Because as Mikki and Crush come to the realization that they are tied to one another in ways that they never thought possible, they must also start to confront the demons that keep them from moving forward. In Mikki’s case her demons are not only from the horrendous traumas of her past but also those of her mental health. Crush knows that he loves this beautifully fragile and somewhat broken girl with all he has; watching him try to convince Mikki of that love, of the possibilities that their loving each other could bring was sweet and just made me cry at times because he just wants to show her that she is worth it. Man, for someone to love that deeply someone that they’ve really only had three brief but oh so powerful encounters, we should all be so lucky.

I know that it seems reviewers are always raving about books these days, I mean is every book I read exceptional? Well, no. But when a book touches my heart, or makes me scream out loud while reading, or makes me need over a week to come to terms with the fact that it has ended? Yeah, well that is exceptional in my book! Black Box took some twists I didn’t see coming. It went places that no teaser could prepare me for and had me highlighting so many beautiful passages, plus that fact that Cassia includes a fan-freakin-tastic play list and throws in some references to some of my all-time favorite 80’s movies (hello Pretty in Pink!). So really I don’t know what else to say but GO GET IT NOW!!

I pre-ordered it so I got a deleted scene that was also amazing. So if you follow Cassia Leo’s Facebook page and get the book, she has a link, if you can find the post, to get that scene if you leave a review wherever you get your books from. It was perfection to me and I encourage you if you have the opportunity to get the scene, do it.  (Click here for the post about the bonus scene. Cassia Leo is also giving away a Kindle Fire, so click here to enter)


A few of my favorite lines…


“I don’t want to just exist. Existing is not enough. I want to feel everything. I want to live my life my way, not the way everyone else thinks I should, suffocating...”

 

“I want to kiss you, but I want to do it when you’re least expecting it.”

 

“You think I don’t understand how you feel? I do know how you feel. You’re afraid.” I reach for her face and she turns her head. “You’re afraid of being vulnerable, physically and emotionally. You’re afraid of loving completely. Most of all, you’re afraid you’ll live your whole life without ever being truly happy because you don’t even know what it is…”

 

“Mikki, I fell in love with a girl I knew three years ago for all of twenty minutes. A girl who want even conscious. Either I’m one sick bastard or I don’t really care about whether or not you’re the kind of girl who doesn’t fuck.” He reaches for my face so I’m looking at him. “Look at me. I knew when I saw that tattoo on your chest – the bunny - that you got that tattoo because I had saved your life the day we met on Twitter. And I hate that you had to go through what you went through for us to meet again in that parking lot, but I knew the moment I carried your limp body into my car that that was it. I knew that fate would never stop bringing us together. No other girl could ever – will ever – compare to the only girl who’s meant for me. Do you understand that?”

 

 “It’s not just people who change. The world changes when we change. You can’t deny it or prevent it. The minute you glimpse a future that isn’t entirely filled with loneliness and despair, the world becomes a different place. Maybe the world isn’t black. Maybe it’s more like a murky gray with flashes of color here and there. Blink and you’ll miss them…”

 

 “Fate can save you and it can kill you. Either way, fate binds us through an invisible web of circumstances. Change one undesirable fate and another desirable fate is canceled out.”

 

 “Fear is crippling. Fear of the future can convince us that there is no way out and nothing is ever going to get better. Fear is blinding; it can make us miss the warning signs flashing right in front of our eyes. It can also make you miss those brilliant flashes of color, when the world isn’t so gray. But, if you think about it, being afraid isn’t such a bad thing. Because fear is a reminder that you still have something to lose. Something worth holding onto.”


Book Links:
 
 
Add Black Box to your Goodreads shelves.
 
 
Goodreads Giveaway:
 
Click here to enter to win a signed copy of Black Box on Goodreads.



About the author:

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cassia Leo grew up in California and has lived in three different countries. She loves to travel and her dream is to one day score a record deal based on her awesome shower singing skills. She is the author of the Shattered Hearts series (Relentless, Pieces of You, Bring Me Home). She is also the author of the popular Luke and Chase series.

Come chat with her on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/authorcassialeo or Twitter:www.twitter.com/AuthorCassiaLeo

Or you can follow her blog at http://cassialeo.com to stay up to date on new releases and giveaways.

Monday, March 10, 2014

Happy Release Day to Black Box by Cassia Leo!! #giveaway

 

 
 
Happy Release Day to Black Box by Cassia Leo!!





Synopsis:
 
 
Over the course of five years, Mikki and Crush cross paths on three separate occasions. Their first encounter changes Mikki's life forever, but their second meeting leaves them both buried beneath the emotional wreckage of a violent attack. Mikki is left with more questions and grief than she can handle, while Crush is forced to forget the girl who saved his life.

Now nineteen years old, Mikki Gladstone has decided she's tired of the mind-numbing meds. She books a flight to Los Angeles to end her life far away from her loving, though often distant, family.

Twenty-one-year-old Crush has always channeled his blackest thoughts into his music, but he's never had great aspirations. He decides to fly to Los Angeles to record a demo of the only song he's never performed in public; a song he wrote for a girl he doesn't even know: Black Box. He has no expectations of fame and he's never felt like his life had any purpose... until he meets Mikki in Terminal B.

When Mikki and Crush cross paths for the third time in Terminal B, neither has any idea who the other person is; until they slowly piece together their history and realize that fate has more in store for them than just another love story.
 
BLACK BOX PURCHASE LINKS
 
B&N:

 
 
 
 
AUTHOR BIO
 

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cassia Leo grew up in California and has lived in three different countries. She loves to travel and her dream is to one day score a record deal based on her awesome shower singing skills. She is the author of the Shattered Hearts series (Relentless, Pieces of You, Bring Me Home, Abandon) and the Luke and Chase series.
 
 
 
BLACK BOX ON GOODREADS


Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Cover Reveal: Forever Ours by Cassia Leo. Excerpt and Giveaway.


FOREVER OURS

Cover Reveal

 

 
 
SYNOPSIS

 

Forever Ours is the highly anticipated prequel to the New York Times and USA Today bestselling Shattered Hearts Series. This can be read as a stand alone or before Relentless.

 

Sometimes, it takes more than love to mend a shattered heart.

 

After eight years of being tossed around from one home to another, never forming any meaningful friendships or bonds with her foster families, Claire's caseworker gives her an ultimatum: Behave or your next home will be a halfway house.

 

When fifteen-year-old Claire arrives at the home of Jackie Knight and meets Jackie's fifteen-year-old son, tattooed guitarist Chris, she fears she'll be seeing the inside of that halfway house soon. But Chris isn't like any other guy Claire has ever encountered and he soon gains her trust through his music and unwavering patience.

 

Claire has finally found her forever home and she and Chris soon find themselves falling in love.

 

But Chris’s dreams of musical stardom and Claire’s need for a stable home soon put their love in jeopardy. Chris struggles deeply with his plans for the future, entirely reluctant to leave Claire behind; until Claire does something that may break their love — and the only home she’s comes to know — forever.

 



EXCERPT

 

There are moments in life that you know will be burned into your memory forever. Chris calls these “movie screen moments” — where everything slows down and you know that something important is about to happen that will change the course of the story. He says that the best songs are written about movie screen moments. I don’t know if this is true. All I know is that this is one of those moments.

I can feel it in the air. And I know that when I look back, I’ll remember everything about this moment in time; the smells, the tastes, the sounds, and the touch. The touch.

Chris and I are both sitting on the carpet with our backs leaned against the sofa, our fingers woven together as MTV plays in the background. This is something we’ve done every day for the past six weeks, ever since summer break began. As soon as Jackie leaves for work in the morning, we both get up and have breakfast together. He usually makes me a bowl of cereal or I make us both some scrambled eggs. Then we hang out in the living room for a few hours until his friends come over. Sometimes, Chris plays his guitar for me. Sometimes, we sit here and pretend to watch MTV, holding hands while Mr. Miyagi lays out across both of our laps, begging to be petted. Well, I don’t know if Chris is pretending to watch MTV, but I know I am.

All I can seem to think about when I’m near Chris is whether or not this will last or if he will be just another person I have to lose. But this doesn’t stop me from enjoying these hours spent together. I’ve never been happier in all my life. Not even when my mom was alive.

I’ll admit. I was sort of hoping today would be different then all the other mornings Chris and I have hung out. Not that I don’t like this small moment of closeness we share every day. But today’s my sixteenth birthday. I guess I figured that would make today even more special for us. I was kind of hoping I might get my first kiss.

“Tristan’s coming over in half an hour and we’re going to the mall. You want to come?”

My heart sinks a little. Chris knows that Tristan and I don’t get along very well. He hasn’t even wished me a happy birthday and now he’s leaving to hang out with Tristan.

I try to let go of his hand and he tightens his grip. “What’s wrong?”

I attempt to pull my hand away again and this time he lets go. “I don’t want to go to the mall.”

“Are you okay?”

I stand up and he immediately stands with me. “I’m just tired. I think I’m gonna go back to bed.”

I take a few steps, but he grabs my hand to stop me. When I look over my shoulder at him, he’s wearing a crooked smile. “Can you take Mr. Miyagi upstairs with you?”

My shoulders slump as I turn toward Chris’s Shiba Inu where he’s lounging on the sofa.

Chris chuckles. “I’m only kidding. I’m not going anywhere with Tristan today. I’m taking you for a ride.”

“What?”

“On my bike.”

 “I’m not going on that thing.”

Chris got his motorcycle license the week after he turned sixteen less than three months ago. He’s been trying to get me to ride with him on his crappy racing bike ever since the first time I let him hold my hand.

“Come on,” he pleads. “I have something I want to show you, but I want to do it alone. I don’t want to ask Tristan to take us. Please?”

I stare into his eyes for a moment and he tilts his head. His brown hair always looks calculatedly messy, the way it’s just long enough to cover his ears yet still sticks out in all the right places. His skin is so smooth; I often find myself wishing I could press my lips to his cheek just to feel the softness of his skin. And don’t even get me started on the metal stud in his tongue. The way he plays with it when he’s tuning his guitar gives me butterflies. I don’t know what Chris sees in me other than the way my hand seems to fit so perfectly in his.

He pulls me a little closer and lifts my hand to his mouth. My heart races as he lays a soft kiss on my knuckles. “Claire, it’s your birthday. And I know you probably haven’t had a whole lot of birthdays you want to remember for the rest of your life, but I want this birthday to be the one you never forget. Let me take you for a ride.”

I stare at his lips as he says these words and that’s when it happens. This is that moment; the moment where everything slows down and nothing is ever the same.

 

 

Text BOOKLOVE to 41411 to get a text alert when this book is released.

 


AUTHOR BIO

 

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cassia Leo grew up in California and has lived in three different countries. She loves to travel and her dream is to one day score a record deal based on her awesome shower singing skills. She is the author of the Shattered Hearts series (Relentless, Pieces of You, Bring Me Home) and the Luke and Chase series.

 

Come chat with her on



 

You can also follow her blog at http://cassialeo.com to stay up to date on new releases and giveaways.

 

Thanks for reading!

 

FOREVER OURS ON GOODREADS

 


 

 

SHATTERED HEARTS PURCHASE LINKS

 





BOOK THREE:

Kindle: