The Whispering Pages Book Blog

Blog Tour Review & Giveaway
Cocky Bastard

by
Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward

Release Date: August 17, 2015
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Standalone
Cover Designer: Letitia Hasser, r.b.a designs
Model: Nick Ayler

~ Synopsis ~

He was someone who belonged in my wildest fantasies instead of a rest stop in the middle of Nebraska.

A sexy, cocky, Australian named Chance was the last person I expected to run into on my cross-country drive.

When my car broke down, we made a deal. Next thing I knew, we were traveling together, spending sexually-tense nights in hotels and taking unplanned detours.

My ordinary road trip turned into the adventure of a lifetime. It was all fun and games until things got intense.

I wanted him, but Chance wouldn’t make a move. I thought he wanted me too, but something was holding him back.

I wasn’t supposed to fall for the cocky bastard, especially when I knew we’d be going our separate ways.

All good things must come to an end, right?

Except our ending was one I didn’t see coming.

~ Add to Goodreads ~

~ Read Chapter 1 here ~

~ Excerpt ~

A knock at the door made me jump.

With a huff, I got out of bed and stood on my tiptoes to look out the peephole. Why were those things always so high on the door anyway? I was surprised to find no one standing on the other side. Maybe I’d imagined it.

Another knock.

I flicked on the lights. The sound wasn’t coming from the entrance door. It was coming from an interior door I hadn’t even noticed before.

Chance’s door.

I unfastened the top lock and cracked it open just enough so I could see what he wanted. And there he stood.

Shirtless.

Wearing only dark gray boxer briefs that hugged him like a second skin.

It took a minute to understand what he was doing there, even though he was holding up a toothbrush in question.

“I thought we had established I wasn’t a serial killer already.”

I opened the door wider.

He smiled.

Oh lord. Stop that. Right now.

“I must have left my toothpaste in my saddlebag in the car.”

I swallowed hard. “Uh huh.”

He cocked his head to the side, and his brows dipped in. “Can I borrow yours?”

“Oh. Yeah, sure.”

He walked past me and let himself into my bathroom. I waited at the door.

“You got an awful lot of girly crap in here for one night,” he said with a jumbled mouth full of toothpaste from the bathroom. “Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia.”

He was reading my Estee Lauder perfume bottle.

I heard him rinse and spit. Then there was a gargling sound. He used my mouthwash, too. Sure, help yourself.

He walked out and flicked off the bathroom light. “Is tuberose a rose?”

I shook my head, still confused by the whole situation going on.

“That’s why,” he murmured.

“Why what?”

“I couldn’t figure out what you smelled like all day. Not sure I ever smelled a Tuberose before.” He shrugged and walked back into his room but not before turning back. “Even those little black lacy underwear smell like tuberose.”

My eyes bulged. I’d taken off my bra and panties and left them on the bathroom counter.

“You…you—”

“Relax. I’m teasing. Do I look like an underwear sniffer to you?”

Yes.

No.

Maybe?

“Night, Aubrey.” He graced me with a dimple and disappeared.

AH-BREE. Damn him.

I locked the door and checked it twice, unclear if it was for my safety or his. His voice saying my name was on audio replay inside my head, getting softer and softer like a soothing lullaby with each breath as I drifted off to dreamland.

Until the knock came again.

~ Links to Buy ~

Amazon ** Amazon UK ** Barnes & Noble ** iBooks ** Kobo

~ Review ~

A new read from Penelope Ward…yes please. I knew I was going to love this book just a few pages in…..hot man with an accent…….swoon……add a sense of humor and I was a goner. I LOVED the quick witted banter and sexual undertones that radiated between Chance and Aubrey. I totally enjoyed the way that Aubrey (“Au-Bree”) would fan-girl over Chance with her inner dialogue.

This book made me laugh out loud, made my cheeks hurt from smiling and my heart ache with love. The relationship between these two characters was nothing short of entertaining and endearing. I enjoyed watching them fall over themselves while trying not to fall for one another.

Traveling to start her life over in a new town with a new job Aubrey meets Chance. An Aussie with enough charm to seduce anyone. When circumstances put them in each other’s path the best thing to do is to make the best of it…..ROAD TRIP!

Chance never misses an opportunity to rile up Aubrey and pull her from her shell. Stirring emotions she didn’t think she could feel nor should she feel with someone she had just met. This trip takes on a whole other aspect when they find themselves with an unexpected companion and a stop in Sin City!

But sometimes what happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas. A chance encounter that grew to be so much more, but then ended without so much as a word. Can she move on from the whirlwind that Chance made of her life? Will she ever get the answers to why he disappeared without a trace? Grab your copy of Cocky Bastard and find out for yourself!!

~ Rating ~

~ About the Authors ~

Vi Keeland is a native New Yorker with three children that occupy most of her free time, which she complains about often, but wouldn't change for the world. She is a bookworm and has been known to read her kindle at stop lights, while styling her hair, cleaning, walking, during sporting events, and frequently while pretending to work. She is a boring attorney by day, and an exciting smut author by night!

~ Connect with Vi ~

Additional Books by Vi Keeland

Life on Stage series (2 standalone books)

Beat

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

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1fczMX5

iBooks: http://apple.co/1DnI6f6

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

B&N: http://bit.ly/1O1Ah0q

Throb

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

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1CsRg9d

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1zk882K

iBooks: http://bit.ly/1x5c3P8 

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

MMA Fighter series (3 standalone books)

Worth the Fight (MMA Fighter Series, Book One)

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1xC6epE

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1alpVES

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1dbzZ8R

Smashwords - http://bit.ly/1is0zNX

iBooks: http://bit.ly/1co2ZpF

Worth The Chance (MMA Fighter Series, Book Two)

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1xC71aa

B&N: http://bit.ly/1gwTyJw

iBooks: http://bit.ly/1gHMCZg

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

Smashwords: http://bit.ly/NU2rCR

Worth Forgiving (MMA Fighter Series, Book Three)

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

B & N: http://bit.ly/1ljdVzb

iBooks: http://bit.ly/XBTLFX

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1kWP4ka

The Cole Series (2 book serial)

Belong to You (Cole Series, Book One)

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1fr26W2

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

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/belong-to-you-vi-keeland/1114962845

IBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/belong-to-you/id639401754

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/belong-to-you

Made for You (Cole Series, Book Two)

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1Mi0AzQ

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

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/made-for-you-vi-keeland/1115883225

iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/made-for-you/id84550637

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/belong-to-you

Standalone novels

Left Behind (A Young Adult Novel)

Amazon US:http://amzn.to/1G9HdDK

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1Rmi3xp

First Thing I See

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1fr3dF7

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

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1JWFo21

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 10-year-old girl with autism and a 9-year-old boy. Penelope and her family reside in Rhode Island.