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Release Day Review and Giveaway! MORE THAN THIS by Shannyn Schroeder (O’Learys #1)

It’s the release day for Shannyn Schroeder’s MORE THAN THIS! Check it out and grab your copy of this sexy new release today!

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Title: MORE THAN THIS
Author: Shannyn Schroeder
Genre: Contemporary Romance

About More Than This:

A sexy bartender stirs up a daily lesson plan for an adventurous teacher…

When she discovers her ex-husband is about to be a father, Quinn Adams is on a mission. Determined to get pregnant without the commitment of a man, Quinn sets out for her own adventure. But everyone seems to think she need to focus on herself first. With a list of challenges compiled but her sister and their friend, Quinn embarks on some life-altering fun.

Her first challenge is to go on five dates within two weeks. After a few disastrous attempts, Quinn’s ready to give up—until sexy bartender Ryan O’Leary offers his assistance. Ryan is the go-to person for everyone in his large family, so it’s natural for him to want to help Quinn. However, as they get to know each other better, friendship with Quinn isn’t enough for him. Now, it’s time for him to show her how serious the Irish can be. Will the bartender quench Quinn’s thirst by mixing up more than she ever imagined?

More than This cover

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"'Friends?' She held out her hand. 'This is a mistake. We can have something special.' 'We already do.'"

Excerpt:

Quinn stood outside her loft, wishing that she’d been smart enough to meet this guy at the restaurant, if that’s what you could call it. It had barely been a step up from fast food. Now he stood in front of her, still talking about himself, when all she wanted to do was curl up on the couch with a good book. This is what she got for picking a guy based on his online profile. Next time she’d make sure she had at least a phone conversation before making a date.

Jeff suddenly stopped his rambling and asked, “So, I think we really hit it off tonight, right?”

She stared blankly at him. Lying had never come easy to her. “I had a pretty good time.”

He stroked her arm, and she locked her knees to stop herself from pulling away. He wasn’t a bad guy. He didn’t give her the creeps. Jeff was even kind of good-looking: tall with dark hair and brown eyes, a little on the skinny side. But something turned her completely off.

When his hand stopped stroking her arm and his fingers interlocked with hers, the sweatiness of his palm was apparent. Eww. How was she supposed to disengage without seeming like a bitch?

“I’d like to see you again.”

“Maybe. Why don’t you send me an e-mail and we can set something up?”

“Can I have your number?”

She shifted slightly to the left, nearer to the door. “I don’t like to give out my number to too many people. This was just our first date and all.”

“But definitely not our last.” He leaned in to kiss her.

She saw it coming, thought she’d get a little peck on the cheek, but his mouth crashed into hers. When she didn’t immediately open her lips, his tongue poked and prodded. It was slimy and gross. When she tried to step back, he pulled her closer. The quick move startled her and in her shock, she inadvertently opened her mouth.

That was one hell of a mistake. He jabbed his tongue so far into her mouth, it was like he wanted to inspect her molars. And he was a sloppy kisser too. Saliva everywhere.

Her stomach started to churn just as he pulled away. “How about we take this upstairs?”

Not in this lifetime. “I don’t sleep with guys on the first date.”

“There’s a lot of territory between a kiss at the door and sleeping together.” He waggled his eyebrows at her.

Like she wanted to dry-hump that? “No, thanks. I should be getting in. It’s late and I have work tomorrow.”

“Oh, okay.” He really sounded disappointed. “Maybe we can get together this weekend.”

She slid toward the door, hoping he’d get the hint and not try to swoop in for another kiss. “I’ll be pretty busy this weekend. End of the school year stuff. But send me an e-mail. Good night.”

She didn’t wait for him to respond. She practically ran for the door. After scrubbing her mouth twice and then throwing her toothbrush in the trash, she called Indy. She plopped on the couch and put her feet up on the table. While Indy’s phone rang, she stared at the green nail polish on her toes. What a waste of a perfectly good pedicure.

"Quietly, he pulled away, trailing his fingers down the side of her throat, past her throbbing rabbit-pulse, to her collarbone. She opened her eyes and blinked to focus, He took a ha;f step away from her. 'Too pedestrian, my ass.'"

Review:

More Than This is a cute, relatable friends-to-lovers story. I really liked both Quinn and Ryan, and found their sexual tension to be delicious and believable. The secondary relationships were a lot of fun too–Quinn’s with her sister and their BFF and Ryan’s with his big family (most of whom are subjects of other books in the series, yay!) Plus, friends-to-lovers is one of my catnip reads, so… 🙂

I especially appreciated that Ryan and Quinn’s “black moment” wasn’t over-the-top dark, and that neither one of them behaved in either a TSTL- or overly d*ckish way to get them there. At times it did feel like they were getting close to reconciling their differences just to pull back for reasons that they should have just resolved–at one point I had to go back and re-read, to see if I missed something (I hadn’t, not really–one of them really did say “we should have a relationship” and the other got excited just for it to all fall apart a millisecond later because…IDK why, exactly…plus, how many times did their friends and family have to tell one of them that the other one liked them “that way” before they paid attention?), and the misunderstanding card does come into play at times–but in the end it was a very satisfying read, and I’m looking forward to reading more in the series as soon as I get a chance. (Where we’ll finally see the side plot of what’s happening in the neighborhood resolved, I hope?)

Rating: 4 stars / B+

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

"Any fool can see the way your face lights up every time you see him. No other man is interested in trying to compete. You love each other. Admit it and get it over with."

Preorder the Series Now:

A Good Time

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Something To Prove

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About the Author:

Shannyn Schroeder is the author of the O’Leary series and the For Your Love series, contemporary romances centered around large Irish-American families in Chicago and the Hot & Nerdy series about nerdy friends finding love. Look for her new series – The Dating Challenge in 2019. When she’s not wrangling her three kids or writing, she watches a ton of TV and loves to bake cookies.

Connect with Shannyn:

Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook | Book and Main Bites

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"'I'll still respect you in the morning,' he said with a smile. 'But will you still be my friend?' 'I'll be whatever you want.' He hoped it was more than a friend."

 

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2 Comments

  1. Anita Yancey Anita Yancey

    Loved the review and the book sounds fantastic.

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