The Last Hour by Charles Sheehan-Miles Review with Giveaway

The Last Hour
by Charles Sheehan-Miles
Series: The Thompson Sisters
Publish Date: April 19, 2013
482 Pages
Source: Author for review - Thank you!
Find It: Goodreads / Amazon / B&N


Twenty-seven year old Carrie Thompson-Sherman has the life she always wanted: her PhD, a prestigious fellowship, and an amazing husband. 

Her life begins to unravel as a jealous colleague puts her fellowship in jeopardy and a haunting secret Ray Sherman carried home from Afghanistan comes to light. 

Hounded by a federal investigation and the ensuing media feeding frenzy, Carrie and Ray desperately lean on each other, until a disastrous accident puts both Ray and her sister's lives at risk. 

In the last hour, Carrie and Ray will each find themselves faced with a choice.

A choice that will change everything.  -(from Goodreads) 

The Last Hour is the third book in Charles Sheehan-Miles' Thompson Sisters series. The books are companion stories that obviously follow the Thompson family and MY GOODNESS they are excellent. I've read A Song for Julia (HERE) and Just Remember to Breathe (HERE) and absolutely loved them both. Every time I pick up one of these books, I think it can't be possible to love it as much as the one before it - but every time, I'm wrong. I'm so invested in this family and I feel like I know them all so well, it's ridiculous. It's fiction, you guys. 

The Last Hour is the story of sister Carrie Thompson and Ray Sherman - I've met them before in the previous books so I was overjoyed to spend some time with them on a more intimate level. If you've not read either of the previous books IT'S OKAY, you don't have to - these books can be picked up in any order, really. 

Within the first paragraph, which was a horrible car accident, I was holding my breath. Not everyone in the car walks out conscious and talking - a couple of the people on the inside have some pretty serious injuries. I'm telling you, there was some tough, emotional, gut-wrenching stuff written into these pages and it was hard to read after I have spent so much time getting to know and love these characters so much. But I've grown accustomed to Charles Sheehan-Miles writing really great, emotional, and sometimes tough stuff into his stories and it felt really good to be back in shis world with this family again even though they were having some of the worst times of their lives. 

Neither of the previous books hooked me in quite the same way as The Last Hour. That isn't to say they are not really wonderful stories, because they are. But this one is a little different in terms of what is at stake for this couple and their future together. I was on the edge of my seat, I had to remember to actually inhale and exhale, and there was some mad Kindle-clicking involved. I almost think I need to read it again just to take the time to absorb everything because I was trying to devour everything on the first go round. 

I highly, highly recommend any and all of the books in The Thompson Sisters series by Charles Sheehan-Miles to anyone that is looking for a great story. Again, you can pick them up in any order and start the series. Fans of strong family relationships and sibling stories will absolutely love these books, and they are wonderful New Adult romances. I wrote about them when I recommended New Adult books HERE and I will continue to throw these titles out to people in real life and online. I'll quickly pick up the next title by this author. This series is solid, friends. 

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The Last Hour will appeal to fans of:

New Adult Contemporary Romance
with Issues
Romance: No triangle. Already established.

Stories with Military subplot

The Last Hour by Charles Sheehan-Miles

is currently available for purchase.

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Charles Sheehan-Miles has been a soldier, computer programmer, short-order cook and nonprofit executive. He is the author of several fiction and non-fiction books, including the indie bestsellers Just Remember to Breathe and Republic: A Novel of America's Future.

Follow Charles Sheehan-Miles:  Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook / Website

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And now for a Giveaway!

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Visit each of these blogs for 

reviews, promotional posts, and chances to win. 

Big News from Alessandra Thomas! SUBJECT TO CHANGE Cover Reveal & PICTURE PERFECT Cover Re-Launch

First! PICTURE PERFECT has a new cover! 

Picture Perfect by Alessandra Thomas

Series: Picturing Perfect #1
Publish Date: March 26, 2013
306 Pages

Find It: Goodreads / Amazon / B&N

Fashion design major Cat Mitchell has a closet full of gorgeous clothes - and not a single thing fits. After two years of runway modeling for easy cash, an accident shattered her lower leg bone and her self-esteem in just one swift fall. Ten months of no exercise, prescription steroids, comfort eating and yoga pants meant returning to campus as a size twelve instead of her former size two. When her gorgeous long-time friend with benefits sees her for the first time after her accident and snubs her in front of all her friends, Cat’s self-image hits rock bottom. Her sorority sisters all insist that she looks gorgeous, but all Cat sees is the roll of her stomach when she sits down, or the dimpling at the back of her thighs that wasn't there last year. Cat’s therapist prescribes something radical to stop the downward spiral - nude modeling for a nearby college's human form drawing classes. When Cat faces her fears and bares it all for the class, she realizes that she's posing naked in front the most gorgeous, buffest guy she's ever seen in her life. He asks her out after the class, and after one steamy night together, Cat's absolutely smitten.

Nate’s pretty close to perfect – he takes Cat rock climbing when he discovers that it makes her feel strong and becomes a great chef after he learns that the perfect pesto sauce makes her swoon. Cat starts to feel like her old self again - confident and beautiful - as long as Nate's around. Even when he discourages her from entering the Real Woman Project, a design competition for plus-sized apparel, she reasons that he's just trying to prevent old body image wounds from splitting wide open again. But when Cat goes home with Nate for Thanksgiving, she discovers something shocking from his recent past that proves that he hasn’t always been so encouraging of women of all shapes and sizes. Cat has no idea what to think, but she does know one thing - this might destroy their relationship before it's even had a chance to get off the ground. 

Before Cat can figure out whether the real Nate is the sensitive, adoring guy she fell in love with, or an undercover asshole, she'll have to finally feel comfortable in her own skin - even if it means leaving him forever. -(from Goodreads) 

I read Picture Perfect back in March and was completely taken in by this story - I could identify with Cat in so many ways. So, so many of us can! I think all older-YA/mature-readers need to pick this one up. 

(You can read my thoughts HERE to see why I loved it so much.) 

Next! SUBJECT TO CHANGE has a cover! 

Subject To Change by Alessandra Thomas

Series: Picturing Perfect #2
Publish Date: June 25, 2013
300 Pages

Find It: Goodreads

Joey made her dad a deathbed promise that she would become a doctor, and dedicate herself to fighting the very cancer that took his life. There’s just one problem -three years into her pre-med classes, she's struggling to stay on top of the curve, let alone prove she's dazzling enough to earn a spot in an Ivy League medical school. In a Hail Mary move, she throws a basic Business 101 class into her semester schedule, banking on a perfect score to boost her GPA.

That is, until she’s paired for a final project with Hawk, the bartending, motorbike-riding, gorgeously bedheaded loser who falls asleep in class and communicates in one-word sentences.

Hawk does whatever he wants, whenever he wants, which sets Joey on edge – in every possible way. As they get to know each other, her urge to scream at him is curbed only by her fantasies of tearing his clothes off. Soon those fantasies become reality, and Joey realizes Hawk makes her feel more fully herself than any of the rich boys her mother and sorority sisters approve of.

But the promise to her father hangs over her head, and the harder Joey tries to succeed in her chosen career, the faster everything falls into a hopeless tailspin of bad grades, broken promises and guilt. It doesn't help to have Hawk sitting like a devil on her shoulder, insisting she should be free to live however she wants to live - like he does.

The only thing Joey knows is that her neatly organized life is crushing her - and Hawk's bad attitude might be the only thing that can save her. -(from Goodreads) 

Alessandra Thomas won me over with the first book in this series. I loved Cat Mitchell's story so much that it's basically a no-brainer that I'll be back for Subject To Change as soon as I can get my grabby hands on it. Impatient, impatient! Can't wait for release day! 

Congratulations Alessandra! These look great! 

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Alessandra Thomas is a New Adult writer who swears she was in her twenties yesterday. Since she's not, she spends her time looking back on her college years fondly, and writing sexy stories about guys and girls falling in love and really living life for the first time. When she's not writing, you can find her with a spoonful of ice cream in one hand and the newest New Adult release in the other.

Follow Alessandra Thomas:  Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook

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Are either of these on your to-read lists?