Tour! A Review & Excerpt of Taming Cross by Ella James!

Taming Cross (Love Inc #2) by Ella James
Genre: Adult Fiction (Contemporary Romance) 17+
Date Published: August 20, 2013
Publisher: Barkley's Books

The Blurb:
For twenty-three years, Cross Carlson was a playboy. You know the type. Tall, dark, and wealthy. Blue-eyed. Charming. He seemed to have it all so easy. But Cross was harboring a terrible secret - one that helped ruin the life of an innocent girl and almost ended his own.

Finally out of the hospital, Cross is flailing, scarred in both body and mind and stifled by the weight of the secret he still keeps. The only way to absolution lies in a Mexican convent, and going there could cost him everything.

If there's anyone who knows what it's like to screw up big time, it's Meredith Kinsey. Just a few years ago, Merri was an ordinary girl with a job at her college newspaper and white picket fence kind of dreams. Now she's holed up in a Mexican convent, hiding from a drug lord who thinks he owns her.

What happens when the only way out of hell is with the son of the man who put you there? They say love conquers all, but does it really?

***RECOMMENDED FOR READERS 17+ DUE TO SEXUALITY AND MATURE LANGUAGE.***

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My Review:

Taming Cross by Ella James is the second book in the Love Inc Series. Let me start by saying: I love Cross! LOVE him. He's not perfect, he's flawed, and he's a touch broken, but he has such a heart, and all these things combined make him a perfect book boyfriend. *sigh* I had a good first impression of him from book one, and he certainly didn't let me down. Merri hasn't had it easy. She's had a tough life that only got tougher, and she blames herself for it because of the choices she made. She felt like a very real person with a dark and gripping history. The lives of both of these characters pulled me deep into the story.

I really enjoyed this story. This book wasn't all about the romance. Don't get me wrong, the romance in Taming Cross was completely drool worthy, but the plot itself has some depth to it. It brings attention to a pretty devastating issue that definitely needs more awareness.

Taming Cross by Ella James was provided to me by Mark My Words Book Publicity for review. The opinions are my own.

The Excerpt:

Sister opens the door to a small reading room with green carpet and white bookshelves, and we pause before going in. All at once she pulls me to her chest and kisses my head.

“Be brave, Merri, my love. You must do what you must do. We only want what's best for you.”

And then she...leaves. She leaves me here, before I even see who's in the room.

For the longest second, I stay on the threshold, staring at the man who is facing the bookshelf.  My eyes run down the length of him, expecting to find Jesus or one of his Sicarios, but that's not what I find.

I don’t know who this man is. He’s tall, with dark hair and large bones. Long legs, wide back, big shoulders. He looks lean, almost sick, because I can tell he shouldn't be. He reminds me of a starved lion I saw once in a documentary.

He turns toward me slowly, and as he moves I'm frozen, like in those nightmares where you're being chased but you can't run.

At first I'm not looking at his features—only the expression, which is somehow both solemn and surprised. And I feel like I've been struck dead, because he has an angel's face. It's not just the flawless blue of his eyes or his celebrity-perfect bones. It's not his perfect, straight-line nose or that lush, cherubic mouth. It's not his smooth skin. It's what I see inside his eyes. Something so intense, so sad, so ecstatic, so relieved, that I know he must be God's answer to my prayer.

For the longest moment, he just looks at me. I feel like I'll unravel in the brilliance of those ice blue eyes. I'm so thrown off I whisper exactly what I'm thinking.

“Are you here to take me?”

His lips curl slowly, into something that's not at all a smile. My heart stops as he steps slightly closer.

“Rescue you.”

Check out my review of Selling Scarlett, book 1 in the Love Inc Series!

About the Author:
Ella James is an Colorado author who writes teen and adult romance. She is happily married to a man who knows how to wield a red pen, and together they are raising a feisty two-year-old who will probably grow up believing everyone's parents go to war over the placement of a comma. Ella's books have been listed on numerous Amazon bestseller lists, including the Amazon Top 100; two were listed among Amazon's Top 100 Young Adult Ebooks of 2012.

To learn more about Ella James and her books, check out Ella James' blog and visit her on Goodreads, Facebook and Twitter.