kate mccarthy

Blog Tour: Fighting Redemption by Kate McCarthy (review and giveaways)


Title: Fighting Redemption
Author: Kate McCarthy
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: December 2, 2013

Ryan Kendall is broken. He understands pain. He knows the hand of violence and the ache of loss. He knows what it means to fail those who need you. Being broken doesn’t stop him wanting the one thing he can’t have; Finlay Tanner. Her smile is sweet and her future bright. She’s the girl he grew up with, the girl he loves, the girl he protects from the world, and from himself.
At nineteen, Ryan leaves to join the Australian Army. After years of training he becomes an elite SAS soldier and deploys to the Afghanistan war. His patrol undertakes the most dangerous missions a soldier can face. But no matter how far he runs, or how hard he fights, his need for Finlay won’t let go.
Returning home after six years, one look is all it takes to know he can’t live without her. But sometimes love isn’t enough to heal what hurts. Sometimes people like him can’t be fixed, and sometimes people like Finlay deserve more than what’s left.
This is a story about war and the cost of sacrifice. Where bonds are formed, and friendships found. Where those who are strong, fall hard. Where love is let go, heartache is born, and heroes are made. Where one man learns that the hardest fight of all, is the fight to save himself.

Sometimes it’s beneficial for love to hurt; it gives us a different perspective. It helps us remember the reasons why we fell in love in the first place and why and even though things become complicated sometimes, through all the hardships and temptations, we still find a way to fall in love. 
Ryan and Fin’s story is in the throes of such a battle.
Driven to impress his parents and prove that he is worth of something, Ryan puts all his heart and soul into becoming a soldier; the only way he knows how to escape the demons of his past except for one thing…his feelings for Fin. That even after those six years of being away from each other, he knew that nobody holds his heart the way Fin does…and so does she.
Fin has always been in love with Ryan. Even if she knows that she won’t completely own him. Having such a big responsibility to protect others and keeping them safe, Ryan was left with no other choice but to leave her but Fin continues to love him despite of.
How long will they be able to resist each other and the temptations of love?

“For six years I fought every day not to think of you and I lost, because every day you were all I could see. You were the best thing in my life–so sweet and innocent, and so goddamn tempting.”

Kate McCarthy is one of my favorite writers, and once again she has managed to impress. This is a bittersweet tale of finding courage and compassion; a story full of desperation and fear of getting hurt. There is enough angst and emotional confusion in the beginning to make anyone wonder whether they will end up or not, and the level of passion once they dare to start falling again is breathtaking, and boy, do they make up for lost time once they get back together.
This is one of my favorites so far from all her writings, perhaps because I, as well as many others can easily relate to the almost hopeless feeling of sensing that something wonderful is slipping away and not knowing how to fix it. The story is so well written, logical, and clear. The characters are wonderfully formed and extremely easy to understand. It’s an extraordinary story and one that we will all do well to keep in mind. Truly captivating! Her best work so far. 
If you are a hopeless romantic, like me, you will enjoy this heartfelt story of bravery, love, loss, passion, intrigue, and discovery, reminding us that true love and hope is worth fighting for.
Kate McCarthy grew up in a small town outside of Port Macquarie, Australia. Raised in a house just a short walk to the beach, Kate enjoyed the peaceful, relaxed atmosphere and friendships that come from being raised in a friendly, small town area.
She now resides in Brisbane, Australia, a city in the state of Queensland where she works as an accountant, along with a sideline wedding cake business and her writing. 
She is married with two children, has two dogs and house in the suburbs, and a pile of friends and family dotted all over the country that help keep her sane.
When she’s not busy running after naughty kids, filthy dogs, crunching numbers, piping buttercream and writing books, you can find her curled up in bed in the early hours of the morning reading new books and re-reading old favourites. Her favourite books are the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward in which she longs to eventually join the brotherhood and change her name to Phierce Mutha.

Blog Tour: Give Me Love by Kate McCarthy Author Interview, Review and Giveaways

Evie Jamieson, a former wild child, is not only a headstrong, smart-mouthed trouble magnet; she is also a lead singer with a plan. That plan involves relocating her band; including her two best friend’s guitarist Henry and band manager Mac, to Sydney to kick off their dreams of hitting the big time.

Jared Valentine is the older brother of Evie’s best friend Mac and also the man determined to make Evie his. They strike up a long distance friendship which suits Evie because she’s determined to avoid the distraction of love, not only because it doesn’t fit in with her plan but because twice in the past it has left her for dead. Moving to Sydney however, has put her directly in Jared’s path and he has decided it’s the perfect opportunity to make his play.

Unfortunately Jared, co-owner in a business that ‘consults’ in dangerous hostage and kidnapping situations, makes an enemy who’s determined to enact revenge. When this enemy puts Evie in his sights, Jared not only has a fight on his hands to make her his own, but also to keep her alive.

Is accepting the love he’s so desperate to give worth the risk to both her heart…and her life?

1. Can you tell us something we don’t know about Kate?

I hate country music. Seriously. Put it on and I’ll punch you. Or lose the will to live.

2. When did you first realize that you wanted to become a writer?

23 November 1997.  Nah, lol. I don’t know. It’s something that has always been in the back of my mind.

3. Why do you feel you had to tell this story? Is there something in this book that is based on real life experience?

It was stuck in my head and if I didn’t get it out I swear I would’ve got a stomach ulcer.

God – I HOPE not! Okay, well maybe the friendships. I don’t know about other countries but in Australia we thrive on giving shit to our friends. It’s like our national motto or something. You don’t love your friends if you’re nice to them.

4. We have a lot of characters in the book. What was your inspiration in creating each one of them? Will the rest of the gang be getting their own book, too?

I think each character adds something to the story in their own personal way. Its shows that as people we all have friends who give us something different in our lives that we need. That was a little deep so I’ll just point out here that it’s only 9am so no I haven’t started drinking yet.

Absolutely.

The next book is Give Me Strength – Travis Valentine and Quinn Salisbury.

5. Do you write to music? Any songs that inspired the story of Jared and Evie?

Mostly the soundtrack of my book is my kids screaming at me. They are loud. Earphones are my friend.

Bleeding out by Imagine Dragons is the first song.

This Is What Makes Us Girls by Lana del Rey

Give Me Love by Ed Sheeran didn’t inspire the name of the book but I think it’s a really good perspective for Jared’s character.

6. Among all the books that you have read, which of these have significantly contributed to your writing style?

My book came out the complete opposite of how I expected it to so I have no idea. I just sat down and all that came out. The characters really took on a life of their own.

7. Name 3 authors you would love to collaborate with.

BJ Harvey, Tara Sivec, JD Nixon

8. Excluding your own, name 3 books you would recommend to your friends.

Little Town series by JD Nixon.

The Redhead series by Alice Clayton

BDB by JR Ward

Sorry, they are all series books. I love a good series.

9. If you could date any fictional character, who would it be and why?

Thor because he’s got a big hammer.

Let’s do our fast talk:

1. Coffee or tea? tea

2. Lights on / lights off? OFF – so off.

3. Boxers or briefs? (For your guy) boxer briefs

4. Favorite male body part? Back. I give good massage 😉 get your mind out of the gutter. Oh wait, that’s me.

5. Do you believe in love at first sight? No.

6. 3 things you never leave home without? (apart from keys, phone and money) shoes (I keep my toes wrapped – unless I’m wearing thongs, and by thongs I mean flip flops 😉 ), what else, umm, lip balm, clothes are always a good thing. Australia isn’t that liberal.

7. Sleep in or get up early? I have kids.

8. Ever slapped a guy? No. Sounds like fun though. Must try it some time.

9. 3 celebrity crushes? Chris Hemsworth, Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki (easiest question ever – thanks!)

10. Sex on the first date? Absolutely maybe sometimes depends – I mean, if it’s Chris Hemsworth I wouldn’t even wait for the date, just get down to the business thanks.

Any advice to give to aspiring writers? Yes, stay true to your writing style.

Any message to your followers? Thanks for reading my book. Buy the next one. Or else…

For a debut novel, I think Kate did an amazing job with this book. A great love story that has such interesting characters with powerful conflicts…conflict that keeps me turning pages, wondering what’s gonna happen next.
Lead singer of the aspiring band Jamieson, Evie is a woman with dark past and was too scared to invest her feelings because of that. Until she felt the connection with Jared and it was an intense attraction she knows she couldn’t resist that no matter how hard she tried to guard her feelings, she was blind-sided by his charms and agreed to a long distance relationship with him. But he wanted more…
Jared is the older brother of Evie’s best friend, Mac. A sexy as hell, swoon worthy, bad-ass guy who fell in love with Evie in an instant and will do everything to get her. Ohhhhh I love alpha male!!!  But he had some trust issues too.
“You think I don’t trust you? It’s everyone else I don’t trust. You gotta learn to put yourself in situations where people take advantage of you.”
But despite their individual issues and their push and pull relationship, together they create a great chemistry and a good rapport that resulted to some hot and sizzling bed scenes that will definitely put you over the edge. 
Kate was able to create a story that is realistic; characters that I can easily identify and empathize with; and scenes that kept me emotionally involved. 

“One day you’ll belong to me, Evie, and I’ll know everything about you.”


The story and the characters that are intertwined are just fantastic. I also loved how she was able to create such fun and interesting support characters who made significant contributions to the story. Its a fun book to read, (I am lauging my a** off for most of the parts) with just enough drama and angst to hold my interest to the very last page. The middle part of the book came a bit slow for me and felt there were some scenes which can be skipped. But as you move towards the end of the book, it turned out to something else… Kate redeemed herself with captivating scenes, hold-your-breath moments, a turbulent ride you will never forget.
If you are looking for a book with a great mix, then this is something you shouldn’t miss. Humor, drama, suspense, action and HOT HOT SCENES and not to mention, their cute, sexy Aussie accents you can almost hear while reading. Great job Kate! Now I can’t wait to read Travis and Quinn’s story.
~4 BLOODY STARS~
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Kobo 
Smashwords 
Apple

Kate McCarthy grew up in a small town outside of Port Macquarie, Australia. Raised in a house just a short walk to the beach, Kate enjoyed the peaceful, relaxed atmosphere and friendships that come from being raised in a friendly, small town area. She now resides in Brisbane, Australia, a city in the state of Queensland where she works as an accountant, along with a sideline wedding cake business and her writing. She is married with two children, has two dogs and house in the suburbs, and a pile of friends and family dotted all over the country that help keep her sane. When she’s not busy running after naughty kids, filthy dogs, crunching numbers, piping buttercream and writing books, you can find her curled up in bed in the early hours of the morning reading new books and re-reading old favourites. Her favourite authors include (and are not limited to) J.R. Ward, Nalini Singh and JD Nixon. Her favourite books are the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward in which she longs to eventually join the brotherhood and change her name to Phierce Mutha.