Queen of the Night Reviews: Hearts on the Line Series Blog Tour & Giveaway

Join author Nadia Lee on her Virtual Blog Tour for the Hearts on the Line Series, presented by Author’s HQ, from December 26 – January 22, 2014. Please leave a comment or question for Nadia to let her know you stopped by. You can enter her tour wide giveaway by filling out the Rafflecopter form below.

Guest Post - My Plans for 2014 by Nadia Lee

I have two separate themes going on for my 2014 plans. One is personal, and the other is professional.

First theme: put me first --

This is intensely personal to me. I had a son two years ago, and since then I’ve let myself go. Oftentimes I felt so guilty about taking time off to do something nice for myself because it seemed wasteful. Somehow I was supposed to be a Supermom, who cooks every meal--delicious and nutritious and within budget of course!--and keeps the house clean, takes care of my son and husband's needs, and writes, and so on.

By the time I was done doing things for everyone and everything, I was just exhausted. I stopped going to the gym and hanging out with people and be more proactive with my rehab (I have a bad back and it requires weekly therapy in order for me to manage the pain). It's true that women are terrible at taking care of themselves first because so many us have been conditioned to be selfless. But I can see that I'm not a very good mom and wife and friend when I feel stressed out and tired. There's a reason why the airline emergency instructions always state: help yourself first before helping others!

So my personal plan is to do something every day to make myself feel good and/or pampered. It can be something as simple as reading for pleasure while drinking hot chocolate (which I should do more often since I just bought some pure chocolate powder from Belgium!) or something as fancy as getting a massage for half an hour. I also want to start exercising more regularly as well.

I want to try it for a year and see how it affects me and those around me. Hopefully it'll make me become a better mom and wife and friend and writer.

Second theme: professional (basically my publication and writing goals) --

I want to publish the rest of the books from the Hearts on the Line series. This is how the publishing schedule looks right now:

Vengeful in Love -- out in December 2013

Reunited in Love -- out in January 2014

Redemption in Love -- out in February 2014

Sweet in Love -- out in March 2014

Hearts on the Line Book 5 -- out in spring 2014

Hearts on the Line Book 6 -- out in summer 2014

Hearts on the Line Book 7 -- out in fall 2014

Hearts on the Line Book 8 -- out in winter 2014

Just so you know, I'm not writing them ALL right now! I'm finished up to Sweet in Love, and currently working on the fifth book. :)

It'll be challenging to put my health and wellbeing and family first and at the same time make sure not to neglect my career.

What about you? What are your hopes and aspirations for 2014?

Vengeful in Love Hearts on the Line, Book 1

Publication Date: December 19, 2013

Revenge is sweet...

Self-made billionaire Alex Damon wants his pound of flesh from the people who ripped his family apart. When he discovers his enemies' daughter is working at his company -- and most likely spying for them -- he decides to start his revenge by seducing her. Natalie Hall is stunned at the personal interest from the CEO of her company. Vulnerable, with an already bruised heart, she wants to avoid any involvement -- but she can't deny the desire he arouses in her. ...but love is sweeter...

What should've been a straightforward eye-for-an-eye starts to unravel as Natalie's unflinching loyalty and kindness begin to thaw Alex's cold intent. But caring for her is unthinkable...since he plans to use everything in his power to ruin her family and everyone else she holds dear.

Reunited in Love Hearts on the Line, Book 2

Publication Date: January 9, 2014

A temporary reunion...

Newly jobless and adrift, former investment banker Kerri Wilson travels to Virginia to see her best friend and regroup, only to run into billionaire playboy Ethan Lloyd. It's been years since she's snuck out of his bed after the most amazing sex of her life, and he's so not her type -- she likes them tall, dark and manageable. But he's too hot to resist, and she succumbs to another sizzling, no-strings-attached (or so she thinks) night.

Unwilling to let her go this time, Ethan makes a simple proposition: a job, a place to stay, and an exclusive affair that will end when either of them finds someone else. But with her dark, painful past catching up to her, Kerri may have to bolt again -- even though her heart is telling her to stay. And Ethan's not giving her up without fighting to make their "temporary" arrangement something far more permanent...

Bilingual former management consultant Nadia Lee has lived in four different countries and enjoyed many adventures and excellent food around the globe. In the last eight years, she has kissed stingrays, been bitten by a shark, ridden an elephant and petted tigers. She shares an apartment overlooking a river and palm trees in Japan with her husband and son. When she's not writing, she can be found digging through old Asian historical texts or planning another trip.

Website: http://www.nadialee.net

Mailing List: http://www.nadialee.net

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/nadialee

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/nadialeewrites

While we’ve all heard or read the phrase that “revenge is a dish best served cold”, the reality is that revenge is seldom clean and emotionless, something the characters in Nadia Lee’s Vengeful in Love learn firsthand. Filled with well-developed characters, good dialogue and an intriguing corporate mystery, Ms. Lee grabbed my attention from the first page and kept it throughout her story. A contemporary romance, set in both Washington D.C. and Hong Kong, Ms. Lee’s new series, Hearts on the Line, is off to a really good start with Vengeful in Love.

A self-made billionaire, Alexander Damon has learned a lot of lessons on the way to success; the most important lessons being those dealing with trust. Determined to take revenge against Emily Rodale, the woman he holds responsible for his father’s failures, Alex has planned the perfect revenge.   Seduce Natalie Hall, Ms. Rodale’s goddaughter, and use everything he has to destroy anyone who stands in his way.

The adopted daughter of a U.S. Senator, Natalie Hall has learned that when it comes to business and love, it’s better to keep the two things separate. When her boss at DDE, a defense contractor, is fired and she gets an unexpected promotion, Natalie is surprised and a little bit leery about having to work up close and personal with Alex Damon, the company’s owner. Determined to ignore her intense attraction to the man, Natalie finds herself between a rock and a hard place when Alex makes it clear he’s deeply attracted to her too. Even though she knows she shouldn’t give in, she can’t help what her heart and body both want.

The scenes between Alex and Natalie are well written and enjoyable; they have great verbal and physical chemistry. While Alex and Natalie both are determined to keep things only “physical” in their “non-relationship”, it soon became apparent to me that they were emotionally involved from the start.   While both Natalie and Alex are well educated, they both had difficult experiences in their childhoods which have left emotional scars. Natalie has never felt loved by her adopted family, even though they saw to it she was educated and brought up in the best environments, and Alex had to deal with his father’s business failure and emotional problems on top of his mother’s abandonment when their lives changed . As if the emotional issues they are both dealing with weren’t enough, there’s the added situation that someone at DDE is giving privileged information to the Rodale Company and Natalie is suspected of being a corporate spy.

Ms. Lee does a wonderful job dealing with the characters ongoing physical attraction, while at the same time developing an emotional connection between them. Natalie is determined to be loved for who she is and not her social or business connections and Alex is determined to keep his emotional involvement light. While I was really drawn to Natalie’s character right away, and thought Alex was hot and smart, I do have to warn you that Alex is not your typical hero; his calculated seduction of Natalie, his determination to use Natalie to get revenge and his occasional lack of communication make him difficult to like at times. In fact there’s a scene where I think I would personally would have assaulted him because of his behavior (no, I’m not giving spoilers – I’ll just say it’s a doozy!).

The secondary characters, from Natalie’s adopted family to Emily Rodale and her son, Charlie, are well written and contribute a lot to the story. At first it’s easy to dislike them all, and their behavior towards Natalie when things really start to hit the fan, but Ms. Lee shows that there is always more to the story than everyone thinks they knows. It’s also clear that none of them really know Natalie and Alex, and that they need to learn that honesty, integrity and loyalty are more than just mere words. I especially liked Alex and Natalie’s best friends, Ethan Lloyd and Kerri Wilson, who will be the main characters in Reunited in Love, Ms. Lee’s next book in this series.

Will Alex realize he loves Natalie and that she’s the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with before it’s too late? Will Natalie forgive Alex for what he’s done? You’ll have to read Vengeful in Love to find out. I really enjoyed it and can’t wait to read the next book in this series.

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars