Blog Tour & Giveaway : Mike's Way Back (Finding Perfect, #1) by Amy Gregory

Mike’s Way Back (Finding Perfect #1)

by Amy Gregory

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Publication Date: September 30, 2013

Cover Designed By: Davis Snodgrass

Event organized by: Literati Author Services, Inc.

Purchase Links:

 Amazon US | Amazon UK 

 Amazon CA | Barnes & Noble

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Synopsis

Detective Mike Sterling walked away from his dream job telling himself it was to honor the promise he’d made his mother, while lying in a Chicago emergency room. A year later, he’s still fighting the demons that followed him back to his boyhood town.

Taryn Watts is an award-winning designer, going from project to project, living from a suitcase. Her plan for Renlend Kansas was the same as always. Go in, get the job done and get out, just the way she likes it. Growing up as a cop’s daughter, her every move was controlled. When she escaped to college she vowed to never fall in love with a cop –ever. Until she found herself sitting across from the ruggedly handsome stranger. Looking into Mike’s ice blue eyes they pulled her, called to her, but there was a haunting in them she knew too well.

Mike is drawn to Taryn, her passion for her work and her stunning beauty left him breathless, but what surprises him most is the peace he feels when he’s near her. Maybe it’s because Taryn is a temporary addition to his town and his secret is safe, or maybe it’s because she makes him feel safe. Mike knows he can’t keep up this charade and when Taryn moves to Renlend for an extended stay he can’t hide the truth any longer.

Can Taryn forget he’s a cop and give him her heart, or will his demons drive them apart?

Welcome to our Blog Tour stop for 
Mike's Way Back.
You can follow the rest of the tour HERE

My Review:

Mike's Way Back by Amy Gregory is a fast-paced enjoyable read. It has a nice combination of lovable characters, sexiness and romance. Mike and Taryn were great characters to follow. They have an awesome chemistry and they are funny too!

Mike is a cop who had to make a difficult decision once tragedy struck. He returned to his childhood town and now works has a detective in Renlend Kansas. He left the Chicago PD after making a promise to his mom, but in reality he is trying to forget that terrible day that marked his life. Mike has not been lucky in love, but only one look at Taryn has his heart beating again. Taryn has no time for a relationship. She is invested in her work as a designer and spends most of her days traveling from one project to another. When her next project brings her to Renlend Kansas, the last thing she expected was to fall under the spell of a pair of mesmerizing blue eyes. Mike appeared unexpectedly in her life and when she finds out he's a cop, she's disappointed. Growing up in a family of cops was hard enough, the last thing she wanted was to fall in love with one. As days go by and their relationship grows, both Mike and Taryn will have to overcome their personal demons if they want a shot at making their relationship work.

This story was good. I connected with Mike and Taryn from the start and I finished reading this book in a couple of hours. I loved that this was an easy story to follow. No major drama in the story. It's a romantic/sweet love story that kept my interest until the very last page. I really liked Andrew and Scott (Taryn's best friends) and their sense of humor ;) I have to admit that I had a hard time connecting with Gabby, the bookstore owner, and the main character of the next book in the Finding Perfect series. I really wanted to connect with her since the next book is all about her and Shane, her mystery man. To be honest, Shane already won me over with his cockiness ;) I'm really anxious to discover Gabby's secret and to see if I connect with her in the next book.  

My Rating:

I give Mike's Way Back by Amy Gregory, 3.5 sweet, romantic, sexy, enjoyable stars!

About the Author

When asked ‘when do you have time to write’, Amy Gregory simply laughs. The real answer is, “in bits and pieces”. She and her husband live in Kansas City with their three fantastic kids that keep them running in three very different directions. Because she sits so much, she always carries a notebook with her at all times.

She has an off the wall, snarky, off the cuff sense of humor that often shocks even those who’ve known her for years. And she loves that her children have all been blessed that ability to make others laugh as well. At least she’s grateful most of the time! Her husband often teases her about how she “makes this stuff up” when he’s reading a piece of her work. … The answer—“it just comes to me when I’m typing”. Scary thought, huh!

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***Tour-Wide Giveaway***

Tour-Wide Giveaway

Blog Tour: Racing to Love (Book Two Jesse's Soul) by Amy Gregory

To Add Racing to Love to Goodreads Click HERE

Racing to Love

Book Two:  Jesse's Soul
By:  Amy Gregory
Released:  January 3, 2013
Contemporary Romance


GR's Summary:

Jesse Frost lived the life most men would kill for. Fast bikes, fame, money, and looks. He hadn’t thought much about those things throughout his career. He was just an easy-going guy from Texas who always worked hard for everything he got in life. He’d been the shy guy in school, so when the prom queen found him years later, he thought he had finally made it. Her mirage, however, left him empty and certain there was no one that wanted him just for the man inside.
Emery Kincaid has a last name that is revered in their world. A woman in a man’s world and succeeding, Irish through and through, she has the temper and sass to boot and a reputation that precedes her. She has remained strong because she’s had no other choice. The pain she masks runs deep and hiding it is the only way she can survive. 
Thrown together and forced to be in each other’s space day in and day out, sparks start to fly—from chemistry and the brakes she tries desperately to throw on. Without a doubt, Jesse thinks he’s found her, but the girl that stole his heart has a stubborn streak a country mile wide. 
What Jesse doesn’t know could break his heart. Hiding her true feelings for him is the only way for Emery to protect him and in turn—herself. She barely made it out the first time. If she let Jesse in and he walked away…well, that’s a risk her heart can’t take.

Racing to Love was a sweet and beautiful love story that truly touched my heart.  There were no cliches in this New Adult Contemporary Romance.  Jesse was a professional motorcross rider.  He was a sweet, caring, loving, compassionate, and down to earth guy.  He was lonely, and wanted more than anything to find the "right" woman, and love her forever. He was loyal, and trusting.  In the recent past, a girl that he had a major crush on in high school, started paying attention to him.  She was a high maintenance, spoiled, rich girl, that was use to getting her way.  She set her sites on Jesse, and he thought she really liked him.  Really, she just wanted to have a one night stand with a celebrity before she got married.  He didn't know she was engaged, until the morning after, she pulled out her engagement ring and put it on.  Jesse was broken hearted, and kept to himself after this experience.  Then, the head mechanic in charge of running taking care of his bike, left unexpectedly, and this is how he ends up meeting the beautiful, talented, and intelligent Emery, as she is the new head mechanic in charge of his dirt bike.  Emery is the daughter of Jesse's boss Reid, who Jesse has been close to, but he had never met Emery until now.  Instantly they are attracted to one another, and the chemistry heats up between these two main characters, as they get to really know one another.  

Emery Kincaid was different from most female characters that I have read about in New Adult Romance.  She was more mainstream or like the average woman.  She wasn't a virgin, or extremely sexually experienced.  She was somewhere in between.  She was a mechanic, and loved working on dirt bikes.  It was her passion, and she was the best at what she did.  The "Kincaid" name held a lot of klout in the professional dirt-biking circuit.  Her father Reid was an excellent mechanic, as was her grandfather, and her brother Riley, who had also been a successful, professional motorcross rider.  I loved Emery's character!  She was sassy, sarcastic, and snarky.  I enjoyed the bantering that went on between Emery and her father, as well as the bantering between Emery, and Jesse.  She was playful, and had a great sense of humor.  She was also well-respected by the male mechanics that were under her, and if one of them disrespected her, or a rider, she put them in their place, and if that didn't work, she fired them.  She had a little bit of a temper, and it made things interesting.  

The supporting cast of characters were a lot of fun, and added to the story.  Carter, and Molly were Jesse's good friends, who also were a couple, and were both professional dirt bike riders.  Molly was my favorite supporting character.  She had such a big heart, and became Emery's best friend.  Molly and Emery were a lot alike, in the fact that Molly was also, fun, feisty, and strong-willed.  I loved reading about Molly's easygoing nature.  I didn't read the first book, Carter and Molly's story, but now I really want to.  It was great seeing Emery's family, Jesse's family, and the small group of Jesse's best friend's come together, and make one big, fun, loyal, loving, and supportive family.  I look forward to learning more about the supporting character's, by getting to read each of their individual stories.

Racing to Love was a very emotional story for me to read. Emery had Ovarian Cancer in the last few years, and consequently had to have a hysterectomy.  Colin, her fiancé at the time, had left her right after her hysterectomy, and said he couldn't be with a woman that couldn't have children.  Due to the emotional scars, from her past, it was very difficult for Jesse to break down her walls.  Not only was she scared to get her heart broken again, she didn't think it would be fair for any man to have to sacrifice having children, to be with her.  Then there was the constant sickness, and testing she would have to have for the rest of her life to see if the Cancer had returned.  This was a difficult subject for me to read about.  I cried, and mourned, for everything Emery had gone through, was currently going through, and would still have to go through, in the future.

The reason I enjoyed Racing to Love so much, was because it had an authentic and realistic feel to it.  It dealt with the realities of heart break, dealing with a serious illness, and learning to let go of fear, and embracing life, with faith, hope, and trust.  It was about embracing love, Jesse and Emery being a strong unit, and knowing that whatever came their way, they would get through it together.

Racing to Love, by Amy Gregory, was a sweet, and beautiful love story, that touched on many important themes.  Ms. Gregory, didn't sugar coat the harsh realities of life.  Instead, she made us contemplate, and ponder, the importance of how we deal with the hardships life can deal us.  She stressed how important it is to live your life to the fullest, let go of fear, and embrace hope.  Regardless of what happens in our lives, it's important to not give up, and if you have friends, family, and someone to love, those are the things that will bring you the ultimate happiness in life.  I give Racing to Love 4 Sweet, Loving, Loyal, Hopeful, and Courageous Stars!  

"The harder they fight, the harder they fall adage applied to woman too, and Jesse knew if he could win her over, knew that with someone that fought that hard, she'd love even harder."  (EARC, 33-34) 

"Reading people wasn't much harder than reading terrain to him.  Taking in every bump, rut, and roadblock was just the same as watching every sigh, raised eyebrow, or sharp intake of breath,"  (EARC, 46)


"He was playing with fire, but God she was beautiful.  The chase she was sending him on was fueling the flame, making her all the more enticing."  (EARC, 68)


"Now he knew age was nothing when it came to being grown up.  It was how a person handled that thing called life that proved everything."  (EARC, 248)


"Jesse knew though to hang on to a woman that found joy in simple gestures, because they weren't all like that.  Emery saw him for more than a man that had a little bit of fame and status with his name and saw beyond the pretty face.  She saw what others didn't and for that he would be eternally grateful."  (EARC, 258)

Amazon/Paperback/Nook

Amy Gregory leads an incredibly active lifestyle in Kansas City with her husband and their three fantastic kids who keep them running in three very different directions.  When she’s not rushing her oldest daughter to tumbling, her youngest daughter to music lessons, or sitting track-side watching her son practice motocross, she’s taking the few minutes in between to scribble the next pages in her Racing to Love series. 

When asked, “When do you have time to write?” Amy Gregory giggles.  “In bits and pieces,” she says.  

Amy is known for her snarky, off the cuff sense of humor, which you’ll find shining through in the characters she’s created.  Her debut novel, Racing to Love, Carter’s Treasure, is set for release June 7, 2012.

I’ve spent my whole life trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up, and now I’ve finally found it. – Amy Gregory 

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