Six Chicks and Their Love of Books: Before You by Lisa Cardiff Blog Tour w/ review and giveaway

Friday, May 16, 2014

Before You by Lisa Cardiff Blog Tour w/ review and giveaway

Aubrey Keaton has never had a supportive family. Luckily, she has Camden…

Her childhood friend. Her savior. Her boyfriend.

Even after Camden leaves their hometown to chase his dream to be a musician, Aubrey can’t imagine her life without Camden and his family.

Before starting a job search for her own dream job, Aubrey decides to visit Camden in California for a month. But when she arrives, something unexpected happens…she meets Jax Carmichael, the lead singer in Camden’s band.

Jax Carmichael doesn’t have time for a relationship…much less love.

Even if Aubrey is irresistible, she’s a complication he doesn’t want or need. He has spent the last few years building Chasing Ruin, and the band is on the verge of being signed. Pursuing Aubrey could destroy his band, and he’s worked too hard to be successful without his family’s money, or connections, to let that happen.

Aubrey feels an attraction to Jax like something she’s never experienced before.

Confused, she tries to resist, but when her relationship with Cam begins to unravel, she realizes that Jax might just be the one thing she needs.

My Review
4 Stars

Before You was a great fun read full of angst and betrayal. I read this book in a matter of hours and felt everything from happiness to sadness to anger.

Aubrey and Camden are childhood sweethearts. Aubrey didn't have the greatest upbringing. Her dad is MIA and her mother has always been more focused on herself and her flavor of the week than she was about Aubrey. When Aubrey was 10 they moved in with her grandmother and that is when she met Camden. Camden and his parents have created a new "family" for her and are her source of comfort and support . Cam's parents were the parents she always wanted and Cam was her everything.

While Aubrey stays in Colorado to finish her masters degree Camden is living the good life in LA pursuing his dreams of a musical career in a band. But with the band came popularity and attention and groupies. Aubrey flies to California to spend a month with Camden but he is preoccupied with everything but Aubrey.

It is during her month long vacation that Aubrey becomes friend with Jax Carmichael, lead singer of the band that Camden is in. You can see where this is going, right? Angst galore!!!! I spent a good portion of this book wanting to smack Aubrey upside the head! She had that blindfold on tight! I mean, considering her situation growing up, and the relationship with Cam's parents, I understood her hesitancy to confront Cam but damn girl!! Stand up for yourself.

Jax was super hot. Right from the get-go. He is the tried and true definition of a bad boy. But the more we got to see him, the more we saw a softer, emotional side to him. I am a sucker for bad boys with player ways being completely caught off guard by a girl when they least expect it. Lisa Cardiff did a phenomenal job developing their relationship. Jax and Aubrey were perfect together! I will even go as far as saying that i was OK with Cam by the end of the book....meaning i didnt want to junk punch him and then poke his eyes out.

Before You was a fun, angst filled read that flows well. The secondary characters are just as wonderful as the main characters and I hope we will get to see more of this all star cast. 4 stars

Jax either started pulling her toward him or she started leaning toward him, she wasn’t sure which. The way his thumb delicately stroked her wrist scattered her alcohol-soaked wits, and it took her a few seconds to remember to breathe. Bre stared at his mouth; completely fascinated by the sensual curve of his lips and she just barely resisted the urge to wet her own lips in anticipation. With his mouth only inches from hers, he whispered, “You can’t look at me like that, Bre. I’m trying to be good. I know you’re Cam’s girl and the band’s important to me, but there’s only so much I can resist, and when you look at me like that I want to ignore all the reasons why kissing you is a really bad idea.” Unable to speak, she closed her eyes, trying to regain her senses, but it was hard when she could feel his heated gaze and his warm bourbon breath tickling her face. She knew the rational thing to do was push him away, but she didn’t want to. His lips brushed hers, moving slowly, causing a tingling sensation that she suspected wasn’t a figment of her imagination. “Hmmm...” she murmured, draping her arms carelessly over his shoulders, breathing in the smell of him, wanting to be closer to him, wanting more of him, wanting to forget everything but him. As he wrapped his arms around her waist, his tongue caressed hers once, then twice, and then his fingers began tracing the skin on her thigh just below her hemline at an indecently slow pace. Just as he started lowering her to the floor, inching his body between her legs, she heard laughter outside the still open door. Bre’s eyes popped open. “Jax always hides out in his room when he gets in his moods.” Bre froze, recognizing Katie’s shrill voice. “Maybe he knows where Bre is. I haven’t seen her for over three hours.” “Probably not, you know how Jax is with his personal space.” Bre’s eyes blinked in confusion. Then, suddenly she scrambled backwards and onto her feet, nearly tripping over the almost empty bottle of bourbon. “It’s Cam,” she mouthed to Jax, bracing her hands on the footboard of his bed, completely shaken, but oddly disappointed by the loss of contact with him.

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After spending years practicing law and running a real estate development company with her husband, Lisa decided to pursue her dream of becoming a writer and she must confess that inventing characters is so much more fun than writing contracts and legal briefs. A native of Colorado, she lives with her husband and three children in Denver. When she isn’t managing the chaos of raising three children and owning her own business, she can be found reading or writing a book.