Blog Tour with excerpts and review - Songbird Caged by Lisa Edward

Tara has made a promise.

A promise to wait six months for Riley to come home from his tour of duty, so they can be together.

But as secrets and lies are uncovered, it leads Tara to question their commitment, and she is finding it difficult to keep that promise.

 

The distance between them is growing, and only one person can fill the void, Tara’s best friend Cole.

As Cole tries to support Tara, he is struggling with demons of his own, that threaten to tear him away from the life he has built for himself. 

After devastating news is received, who will be there to pick up the pieces?

  

 

 

                

Foxy Rating = FIVE STARS

*ARC provided by the author in exchange for my honest review (blog tour)

This is the second book in the Songbird trilogy and picks up just after Riley has left for his tour of duty for six months. Tara made a promise to wait the six months for him but then she didn’t bargain on her feelings for Cole taking a major sucker punch to her heart.

Goodness I just don’t know where to start. This book had me in a total head spin and my emotions all over the place. I’m not usually a lover of love triangle reads but hey this is my third in as many weeks so who knew I was getting a new addiction thrust upon me. People say you can never be in love with two people at the same time. Well to them I say read this book and you will forever doubt your previous convictions – it really messed my mind up!

I really felt the quandary Tara was in – her promise to her new fiancé Riley and her devotion to her best friend Cole. Who would she chose? Why should she chose? But chose she must!

Riley didn’t really have much interaction in this book as he was out of the picture having left for an overseas war zone. This book was mainly the changing relationship of Tara and Cole. At the end of Songbird I would have said I was very much team Riley but now I have totally switched sides as Cole was such a sweetheart in this book. Well he did have episodes where I wanted to roundhouse kick him (the bimbos) and what the heck with the spineless swine he was at the function with his mother? It turned me right off and I was ready to throw my kindle down but, no, for the majority of the book he was divine. I love men who can face their failings, reveal their true self, cry, protect, covet, be sexy and irresistible  – yes Cole was all these in one gorgeous abs-tackular package.

For the most part I understood Tara but at times I was so frustrated – well actually I was frustrated most of the book because of her dogged determination even though the truth of her feelings were glaringly obvious to everyone else but her.

I couldn’t understand the ‘rich’ people and the Victor that Cole became when he was with them. His mother was a total abhorrent (I’d have disowned her years ago!) and as for the forced engagement? WTH? Cole’s father and grandfather were amazing and I just found it hard to connect them to this other world of Cole.

It’s really hard to give a full review of this book and the series so far as it would give loads of spoilers away but none the less it is a must read. When I start a book I can usually get an inkling for the rating I would give at the end but this book? Oh no way! I was a five, then a three, then a DNF (when the kindle nearly got thrown at the wall!) then back up to a four and so on. This gives the evidence of my feeling for this book and the effect it had on me. The ending though? Oh my flipping flappers – what a cliffy! The lovely ending and all that glorious outpouring of feeling. Devine. Then just as I was slipping into happy clappy land THE call came. The cliffy. OUCH. Loved it! Five heart stomping, ass clenching stars.

I can’t wait for the final book Songbird Freed. But I need a little time to recover first me thinks …..

“I’d like to take you out.”

I looked at Cole, slightly amused. “We go out all the time.”

“No, we go to your place, we come here. We go to the gym, for a run on the beach, or we go to Songbirds. We don’t go out.”

We were sitting on Cole’s couch in his apartment, looking at light fittings for Reds on the Internet.

He was wringing his hands. “Would you like to go out with me?” he asked.

I frowned. “What, like on a date?”

“If that’s what you want to call it. I don’t know, I’ve never been on a date. But if going out to dinner and then a club together is a date, then sure, let’s call it a date.”

I looked at him warily. “You do know I’m engaged, right? You haven’t forgotten?”

He shrugged. “In theory. But there’s no harm in letting me take you out. I mean, officially take you out—on a date.”

I had to think about this for a minute. Was it asking for trouble to let him believe we could actually date when I had made a commitment to Riley?

“You know, even if you pay for dinner, I’m not going to sleep with you,” I said with a smile.

“So what’s the point of paying for dinner, then?” he asked cheekily. He took hold of my hands in his. “I wouldn’t expect you to sleep with anyone on a first date. You’re not that kind of girl.”

I exhaled slowly, weighing up how to respond. “Okay, we can go out on three conditions.”

He nodded.

“Firstly, we need to have other people there, so maybe Marcus and Nicole can come with us.”

“Like a double date,” he said, teasingly.

I chuckled, and shook my head. “Secondly, you have to stop calling it a date.”

He grinned at me cheekily.

“Thirdly, you have to wear your Calvin Klein jeans, the ones that fit your butt really well.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

I awoke with a start.

My arm had gone to sleep from laying on it all night, and my face was squished into someone’s neck. It was Cole’s. I inhaled his warm cedar and musk scent. Even after sleeping on the couch all night, he smelt unbelievable.

Sitting up, I moved my head from side to side, trying to stretch out the kinks.

“Good morning, sleepy head. Did you just sniff me again?”

I looked down at Cole. He was grinning up at me as I rubbed my shoulders and numb arm.

“Good morning,” I replied with a groan, as I stretched my arms over my head. “You know I’m staying here so I don’t have to sleep on a couch. Kind of defeats the purpose, spending the night out here.”

He sat up and started rubbing my arm, trying to get the blood to flow back into it.

“I disagree. I’m sure I’m much more comfortable to lay on than your lumpy couch.” He moved his attention to my shoulders, and I sighed. “Besides, it’s not every day I have someone dribble all down my neck.”

I wiped my hand across my cheek. It was damp. Oh my God, I had dribbled in my sleep. I checked Cole’s neck and quickly wiped it dry.

“You should be used to it,” I said, trying to make light of the embarrassing situation. “You have girls drooling over you everywhere you go.”

He chuckled. “No one who matters.” He took my hand away from his now dry neck and held it. “Until now, that is.”

Songbird, book 1

 

 Every relationship changes you, some for the better, others can shatter your confidence and almost destroy you.

For the musically talented, twenty-four year old Tara O’Connell, her relationship with Stephen almost broke her, until Tara found the strength to leave.

Now she is on the road to discovering that it is never too late to pursue your dreams and follow your heart. 

As Tara’s self-belief grows, she meets two men she is instantly drawn to who will change her life forever. 

Corporal Riley Hammond is a soldier in the Australian Military Special Forces. With his smiling sapphire blue eyes, Tara falls for him instantly. He is thoughtful and caring, and gives her the support and love she needs.

While Cole Michaels is the overconfident singer in a popular local band. His charisma, emerald green eyes, tattoos and piercing, have girls falling at his feet. But while Cole pushes 

Tara’s buttons, he also pushes her to reach for the stars.

Both men couldn’t be more polar opposites, but both offer Tara different qualities that she needs to fulfill her destiny. 

As Tara continues her journey, she will discover fate can offer you more than one path. Her fate is in her own hands, and the choices she makes, will shape her life forever.

For a limited time, purchase Songbird for only $0.99!

                      

 

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While Lisa Edward has called Melbourne Australia home for her entire life, she has lived and worked in England, and travelled through most parts of Europe and the United States. She loves nothing more than spending time with her husband and beautiful daughter, or curling up into the early hours of the morning with a great novel. By day, Lisa works in the analytical IT field, so relishes the opportunity to foster her creative side through writing. Her deep appreciation for literature was nurtured from a young age, being taught to respect books and get lost in their stories. She enjoys reading honest and realistic novels that are relatable, thought provoking and leave a lasting impression. She can’t write without music playing, using the emotions from different songs to invoke that of her characters. Lisa takes inspiration from her own life experiences, the people around her and those she has met in her travels.