Have you started the new series by Monica Murphy? Fans are loving this crew and we know you will too!
Title: In The Dark
Series Name: The Rules Series
Author Name: Monica Murphy
Genre: NA Contemporary Romance
Cover Designer: Sarah Hansen, Okay Creations
BLURB
Stuck spending the summer with his screwed up family, Gabriel Walker is bored out of his mind and looking for an adventure. And he seems to find it with the hot girl who lives next door. The attraction between them is instant. Electric. Soon they’re spending every stolen minute together. Talk about the perfect summer fling…
Lucy isn’t what she seems. She doesn’t live next door—she’s the girl who’s been hired to house sit for the summer while the family goes on a worldwide vacation. If Gabe wants to believe she’s a spoiled rich girl looking for some fun, she can go along with that. After the summer, she’ll never see him again.
They don’t count on running into each other at college. Now Lucy must keep up the pretense of being a rich girl—and it’s exhausting. She knows she’s falling in love with Gabe and she’s scared he feels the same. Will he still care about her when he discovers the truth?
MY REVIEW
I love this series! Monica Murphy knows how to write fun, flirty, sexy stories that stand out among the rest. Although The Rules series is very similar to your average college romance, she keeps it new and fresh with enticing covers, relatable characters and witty dialogue. The boys are your typical college playboys and come from privileged families, yet they are intelligent, down to earth and self-aware. The females are just as refreshing. Having come from working class homes they are confident and comfortable facing challenges and are bold and expressive.
Lucy and Gabe’s story was so much fun to experience. The chemistry between them is vibrant and commanding. I loved the way they both fought their attraction towards one another, ultimately becoming overwhelmed by it and fearlessly giving in. Having always feeling like she had to be in control – working, focusing on school – I loved the way Lucy let go and allowed Gabe to be the captain in their “friends with benefits” summer fling. She was able to experience feelings and desires that she had long suppressed while under her mother’s thumb by allowing him to set the pace and take the lead. While his initial draw to Lucy is purely a sexual one and he finds that she is just as responsive, Gabe is easily and quickly drawn to Lucy’s focused and determined nature that balances his fun loving larger than life attitude. Their summer fling was passionate and endearing and was perfectly balanced with self-discovery and friendship. But as the summer comes to an end, their deep unspoken feelings and emotions for each other remain unsaid leaving them both feeling downhearted and frustrated.
The lightheartedness of their summer fling is quickly evaporated upon the realization that they are now at the same college together, even sharing a class. The second half of the book takes on a more serious feel as they navigate their missed opportunity their summer arrangement has left them with. Could they possibly have a relationship? Is that what they both want? Lucy is caught up in her lies and Gabe struggles with the realization of his emotional bonds with Lucy. Their time together at school is stressful and tumultuous and leaves them feeling helpless and confused. While challenging, Lucy and Gabe come out on the other side of their trials stronger and more connected, ready and 100% willing to commit to a relationship based on trust, honesty and friendship.
In the Dark is an excellent follow up to Fair Game. I can’t wait to see where Monica takes un in the series next!
EXCERPT
He slips his hands beneath my dress as he continues to kiss me and skims his fingers along my thighs. I wrap my arms around his neck and hold him close, never wanting to let him go. He’s so strong, his body so hard and firm and muscular. I reach between us to finish unbuttoning his shirt, my fingers making quick work of the buttons until it falls open and I can touch his hot, smooth skin. I trace my fingers over his flat stomach, letting them drift down to the waistband of his pants. I’m not feeling bold enough just yet to undo those pants though. I don’t want to rush this. He runs his fingers up and down along the sides of my outer thighs and a shiver steals through me. His hands curve around, touching my ass and they grow still. I’m guessing he’s figured out I don’t have any underwear on. I break the kiss to stare up at him. His eyes have a dark gleam to them and his smile is nothing short of gigantic. “You’re a bad, naughty girl, Luce.” “I am? Why?” I ask innocently, even batting my eyelashes at him for good measure. “You know why.” He shoves the skirt of my dress up to my hips, exposing me completely and he sucks in a harsh breath. “Look at you,” he says reverently, his gaze locked on the spot between my thighs. The perv. But hey, at least he’s my perv. For tonight. A tiny part of me wishes I could keep him for all my nights.
GIVEAWAY
click the image to enter
MEET THE CREW
FAIR GAME (The Rules Series, Book 1)
When your boyfriend bets YOU in a poker game, you better know when to run...
Bad enough Jade Frost's boyfriend drags her to a boring poker game. Even worse that he actually threw her into the betting pot during an intense round...and lost. Talk about the perfect excuse for Jade to make him her ex-boyfriend.
Now she supposedly belongs to the ultra rich, extremely gorgeous Shep Prescott. He could have anything he wants yet he seems to be in hot pursuit of her. No matter how rude, how snarky, how impossible she acts, it doesn't stop him. More like her horrible behavior seems to make him want her more.
When she finds herself starting to fall for him, Jade's confused. There's more to Shep than the carefree rich charmer he portrays. No way could he want a serious relationship with her...or could he?
Add to Goodreads
SLOW PLAY (Book 3) coming November 10, 2015
Newly broke girl Alexandria Asher just wants to live a normal life. After her parents are sent to prison on embezzlement charges, she enrolls in college under her mother’s maiden name and tries her best to pretend she’s someone else.
Tristan Chadwick is everything Alex is trying to avoid. A seemingly egotistical, lazy, rich jerk, she dumps her beer on his head when he comes on to her one night at a party. This only spurs Tristan into action. He loves nothing more than a challenge. And the beautiful Alex is exactly the type of challenge that intrigues him.
Despite her reluctance, Alex finds herself quickly involved with Tristan. Underneath that playboy exterior is a good guy, a sweet and sexy guy who she is undoubtedly falling for. What they both don’t realize is the actions of Alex’s parents are the reason for so much tragedy in Tristan’s family. And when Tristan discovers who Alex and her family really is, can he forgive and forget?
ABOUT MONICA
New York Times, USA Today and international bestselling author Monica Murphy is a native Californian who lives in the foothills below Yosemite with her husband and three children. She's a workaholic who loves her job. When she's not busy writing, she also loves to read and travel with her family. She writes new adult and contemporary romance and is published with Bantam and Avon. She also writes romance as USA Today bestselling author Karen Erickson.
HOSTED BY
