Reviews

Shameless by Cheryl Douglas – Review/Excerpt

 

BLURB:

 

Trey Turner may be topping the country music charts, but his life has been going downhill since his wife left him five years ago. He’s desperate to make amends for the mistakes he’s made and convince Sierra their love deserves a second chance.

Sierra Brooks is happy for the first time since her divorce. She has a career she loves, and a man who loves her. Unfortunately, the man she intends to marry isn’t the only one professing his love for her. He may be able to offer her safety and security, but will she decide to risk everything for another chance with the man who broke her heart?

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EXCERPT:

 

Excerpt One:

 

Prologue

Five Years Earlier

 

The sexy little waitress stretched to offer her neck as Trey Turner prepared to do another body shot at the urging of his inebriated friends. He licked the salt off her neck as he felt a small hand grip his shoulder.

 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

 

He turned to see his wife, Sierra, staring up at him, disgust darkening her bright blue eyes. He heard a few of his friends mutter curses as the crowd broke up and went back to drinking and dancing.

 

“Baby, I was just havin’ a little fun.” His words slurred and he wondered how many body shots he’d had before Sierra intervened.

 

The waitress slid her hand down his chest, hooking a finger through his belt loop. “That was fun. How ‘bout we pick up where we left off later?”

 

Sierra turned away, not waiting for his answer as she began weaving her way through the crowd.

 

“Sierra, baby, wait,” he called, trying to push his way through the throngs of people before she reached the door. He grabbed her wrist just as she was about to cross the threshold. “Wait. Please, don’t go.”

 

“It’s over, I’m done with this shit,” she said, trying to shake loose of his grip.

 

He had more than a foot and a hundred pounds on her. She wasn’t going anywhere until he decided he was ready to let her go, which wouldn’t happen in this lifetime. “What’s that supposed to mean? Where the hell do you think you’re going?”

 

“Home to pack.”

 

He felt the room begin to spin out of control. “What did you say?”

 

“I’m leaving you. Our marriage is over.”

 

His grip on her wrist tightened. “No, you can’t leave me.”

 

She pressed a hand to his chest. “It’s been over for a long time. I’m just making it official.”

 

“We’re not having this conversation out here in front of a hundred people,” he said, pulling her through the horde of friends he’d invited to his private party. He opened the door to the small dressing room usually occupied by the nightly entertainment that performed at Jimmy’s bar. “We’ll have some privacy in here.”

 

She was finally able to shake free of his tight grip. “I’ve already said everything I have to say to you.”

 

He gripped her waist. “Don’t do this, Sierra.” He bent to kiss her neck. “I love you, baby. God, I love you so much. I can’t live without you.” He backed her toward the couch as he lowered himself down on top of her.

 

“You’ve been living without me for the past year, Trey. You’ve spent your days on a tour bus and your nights in a stadium or bar.” Her voice broke. “We lost our baby girl and you don’t seem to care.”

 

“Don’t say that,” he whispered furiously. “Don’t ever say that I didn’t care about Callie. I loved her, Sierra. It damn near killed me when we lost her.”

 

She glared at him. “Really? Is that why you boarded that goddamn tour bus a week after her funeral?”

 

“I’m a musician; it’s what I do.” He knew the excuse was weak. Sierra was right. He’d been trying to run away from his grief and sadness instead of staying at home where he belonged, supporting his wife.

 

She shook her head, looking defeated. “It’s what you do—it’s who you are. Trey Turner, country music’s award-winning, platinum-selling mega-star. What about my husband? Callie’s father? Where is he?”

 

He closed his eyes, feeling disgusted with himself for letting her down again. “Baby, I’m sorry. Look, I know I’ve made mistakes, but let me make it up to you, okay?” His hand eased up her shirt to cup her breast.

 

Her head rolled back and she closed her eyes. “No, we can’t do this. It won’t fix the problem.” Making love to her may not solve all of their problems, but it would buy him some time to figure out a way to convince her to give him and their marriage another chance. “Just relax,” he whispered, licking her neck.

 

“Hmm, that feels so good.” She wrapped her denim-clad leg around his. “But then you had lots of practice with your girlfriend right before I got here, didn’t you?”

 

He cursed himself for indulging in the adolescent drinking game and giving his wife reason to question his fidelity yet again. “Sweetheart,” he whispered, flipping the button on her jeans. “You’re the only one I want; you know that.”

 

She squeezed her eyes shut as she shook her head. “No, I don’t.”

 

He hated that he had given her reason to doubt herself, to doubt them. “Let me prove it to you, then.”

 

His tongue traced the soft fullness of her lips until she finally parted for him. He groaned, taking her mouth with a savage intensity. His mind raced; fear warring with panic as he realized this may be the last time they made love, the last time he had the right to touch her.

Review:

Can I admit that I don’t like the title of this book?  I really don’t and I’ll you why…when Garth Brooks came out with this song, for me it was the beginning of the end for me when it came to Garth.  As a diehard country fan (yes, I’m still a head banger but I grew up on Waylon, Willie and the boys), I was completely turned off by the whole country music scene.  All that said, the title of the book is perfect once you read it.  Its perfect, actually.

As you have read in the prologue, their marriage is over.  Finished.  No talking. Okay maybe sex but after that nothing.  Fast forward 5 years.  Trey is still the country music star but instead of making records, he drinking again, feeling sorry for himself.  He’s so low that his family is getting really concerned.  When his sister asks him to come out for the evening, he begs off but decides to come anyway.  He ended up getting the shock of his life.

Sierra has tried to put the hurt of her relationship with Trey behind her.  She moved to a different state, tried to forget the pain of the divorce, found a great job and a man to love her.  When she sees Trey in the bar, almost immediately she is drawn to him.  Forgetting all reasoning, she decides to sing with him and then agrees to his proposal.

I will say that after the prologue and the first couple of chapters, I was hooked.  unfortunately, the middle of the book lagged a bit for me.  I kept turning the pages, still hooked, but it seemed to slow for me.  For Trey, this was is one and only shot at getting his life in order and his ex-wife back.  Yes, did he use sex as a weapon, you bet he did.  What bothered me was that Sierra kept pushing and pushing and then ultimately pushed everyone away.  Sierra never admitted to herself her real reason for leaving Trey until the very end of the book.

Trey took the blame for everything that happened in the book too easily.  Some of it needed to land on Sierra’s feet and I felt like she was just using to see if she really loved her fiancé or not.  Oh and he turned out to be a real “winner”.  Ugh!  He and Trey’s off and on girlfriend, Megan, were a pair.  They were the perfect foil, if you will, for the relationship blunders between Sierra and Trey.  In fact all of the secondary characters were well thought out and written.  I can’t wait for Josh, Marisa, and Lexi’s books.  🙂

In the end both characters were flawed,  I especially appreciated the ending.  I was glad to see that Sierra finally copped to her true feelings to Trey and subsequently to her friends and family that the break up was as much her fault as it was Trey’s.  She put her big girl panties on and admitted it.  *sigh*  It took her almost losing Trey and everything that she had to figure it out.  The conversation between Sierra and Josh was spot on and I fist pumped after I read it.  Ms. Douglas doesn’t sugarcoat Josh’s conversation with Sierra either.

I will say that there is a lot of sex on the book but it does have a point.  Sex was the ONE thing that they were good at in the relationship but it soon became the one thing that came between them.  Again, great job.  Sex doesn’t cure it all in a relationship.  Talking, being there for one another and giving yourself to that other person are parts, too.

I can not wait to read the rest of this series.  Keep in mind that there are 8 books in Nashville Nights and then their kids get in the act with Nashville Knights, Next Generation.  I’m a series kind of gal, so I’m off to shop for the rest of them.

 

*as a side note, I hummed Shameless when I read the book and yes, still don’t like the song.  Had to put on The Dance by Garth Brooks and sang along.*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Cheryl began her professional career as a nutritionist, but her love of books started at an early age. She studied writing for many years before she decided to pursue her passion as a full-time career. After receiving constructive criticism from several well-known authors, Cheryl finally had the confidence to write her first romance novel.

 

The first book in the Nashville Nights series, Shameless, was a book that had been dwelling in Cheryl’s subconscious for years. For her, the surprise came when the manuscript began taking on a life of it’s own. Characters came to life, secondary characters became more prominent, outlines were forgotten, and a single title evolved into an eight book series, and another eight book spin-off series entitled Nashville Nights, Next Generation.

 

One word would aptly describe Cheryl: workaholic. She lives and breathes her writing, when she’s sleeping, watching TV, driving, reading… it’s always in the periphery of her mind. Her imagination rarely takes a holiday, even when she escapes to a sandy beach with her husband and son, she’s planning, plotting, outlining, and daydreaming.

 

Cheryl feels blessed to be able to get up every day and do something she loves. The thousands of fans who have embraced the Nashville Nights have made that possible. She writes for the readers who ask for more, she writes to satisfy the muse residing inside of her, but most of all, she writes because she couldn’t imagine doing anything else with her life. It took her thirty-seven years to decide what she wanted to be when she grew up, but now that she knows, she’s convinced she’s found her purpose.

 

Book Information

 

Book Title: Shameless (Book One, Nashville Nights)

 

Book Genre: Contemporary Romance

 

Book Publisher: Self published (Douglas Publishing)

 

Release Date: Currently Available

 

Buy Links

 

Amazon Buy Link for Shameless:

 

Barnes and Noble Buy Link for Shameless:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shameless-cheryl-douglas/1109801559?ean=2940033098941

 

All Romance Ebooks Buy Link for Shameless:

https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-shameless-749624-149.html

 

Other Links

 

Website:

http://www.cheryldouglasbooks.com

 

Facebook:

http://www.cheryldouglasbooks.com

 

 

 

 

 

12 thoughts on “Shameless by Cheryl Douglas – Review/Excerpt

  1. Loved your honest review. I am definitely reading this book cause after the two excerpts I have read from it …. I need to know more. I can deal with a little lag in the middle but I refuse to hum Shameless…that’s where I draw the line, hahaha. Just teasing!
    Thank you for being part of this book tour! Can’t wait to read Shameless!
    uilani25(at)hotmail(dot)com

  2. I don’t know the Garth Brooks song. I found your review very helpful thank you.

    marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

  3. I have to say, that except for the comment about Garth, whom I adore, this sounded like an honest review. The story is so NOW. I am looking forward to reading this book and the rest of the series.

  4. Sounds like a great read, what did inspire you to start writing this book?

    galaschick78 at gmail dot com

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