Smokin' Hot Reads: Blog Tour and Review: The Perception by Adrianna Locke

Title: The Perception

Author: Adriana Locke

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: March 1st

There is no greater burden than a secret, and Kari Stanley has been carrying one alone for a long time. But fate intervenes in the form of a broken down car and the kind offer of assistance from a handsome stranger with a sweet, southern drawl. In exchange, all she has to do is go to dinner with him. Temptation was never so sweet.

Max Quinn has secrets of his own. His good deeds aren't just a product of his southern upbringing; they're his atonement. As one dinner turns into two, he realizes that Kari just might be his salvation.

As they struggle to find their path together, their secrets weigh heavier on them. Will they be able to trust one another with the truth, or will their secrets keep them apart forever?

Snippet #1:

My office was bright and I wasn’t in the mood. I rolled my blinds down and sat in my chair. I checked my email before anything else.

I couldn’t help the grin on my face as I clicked the top message.

Subject: Red
Since I know you check this first thing because you’re OCD, I wanted to start your day off by telling you that I’m wearing something red today. And it isn’t my shoes, although I could add my red heels to the mix later. ;)

xo,
Kari

It wasn’t the first time she had emailed me in the morning and I loved it when she did. I clicked the arrow.

Subject: Blue
Since you just planted vivid images in my mind, I want you to know that because of your email, I’m starting the day off with something blue and it isn’t my shirt. Your skills will be required to rectify this situation this evening. Stay at my house tonight?

A few minutes went by before I heard the ping.

Subject: Pink
Only if rectifying your blue requires the use of some of my pink.

I hit REPLY.

Subject: Purple
Keep it up, sweetheart, and you’re going to be fucked so hard you’ll be purple tomorrow. This is not a request—be at my house after work.

Snippet #2:
Ignoring me, he said, “Would it do me any good at all to point out the ridiculousness that you don’t live here?”
“Nope,” I said, grabbing his hair and pulling his head back so I could see into his eyes. They were so easy to get lost in. I had found myself on the verge of agreeing to things I knew better than to agree to when gazing into them.

He grabbed my thighs, pressing his fingertips into my bare skin. His touch, coupled with the earlier unobstructed view of his body, made me ache with want.
“It wouldn’t do you any good at all to go there,” I continued, “but it might do you some good to go here.” I grabbed his right hand and placed it between my legs. He rubbed his thumb over my opening, the fabric of my panties pressing into my wetness. I pushed my body against his hand, needing the friction to ease the buildup that was beginning to grow out of control.

Max withdrew his hand and placed both of them on the backs of my legs, pulling me closer to him.
“What are you doing? I want you. Now,” I all but begged.
“I know you do, sweetheart. But I want to slow down a minute.”
I looked at him in disbelief. “I don’t want to slow down. I want you inside me.”
“And I want to be inside you,” he said, his voice deep and husky. I could hear the need in his tone, mirroring mine. He ran his hands up the backs of my legs, setting my skin on fire, until he reached my backside. He cupped both cheeks in his hands. “I always want to be inside you. But I want to enjoy your body. This,” he said, squeezing my ass, “should be appreciated. Let me love on you a minute.”
I felt myself tear into two jagged, painful pieces. The first one wanted to do just that and let him “love on me,” but the other knew good and well that I couldn’t let sex and love bleed together.

Snippet #3:

“Ready for this?” he asked, setting everything down. He attached a green spinning piece onto the end of one line and handed it to me.

“Um, we’re using an ornament instead of a worm?”
Max tossed his head back and laughed. “It’s called a lure and yes, we are. Go ahead and cast out.”
I held the pole in my hand and just looked at him. “And I do that how?”
“For heaven’s sake,” he grumbled with a smile on his lips. He stood behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, grabbing the pole.
“We could just go back inside,” I said, half kidding.

He ignored me. “You just draw it back like this, pull it forward and press this button,” he said, doing it for me. “That’s all there is to it. Now you wait for something to bite or you can reel it in and toss it out again. Up to you.”
He left me standing there and got his own pole ready. His muscles rippled through his shirt, his skin peeking from under the hemline as he reached and bent. I sat down in the cool grass and watched the show.

Max cast his line in the water a few yards away from mine. The moon began to peek through the clouds, the light making my man look even sexier.

He cast his line out again, looking completely content.
“I don’t think anything’s gonna bite,” I said, starting to reel mine in.

“That’s not the point,” he said, laughing softly.

“Getting a fish to bite isn’t the point? What am I missing?”

“Fishing is an art. You can sit here forever and not get a bite. But unless you’re feeding your family on it, it doesn’t matter.”
I looked at him like he was crazy. “Okay. So the point is to waste time?”
“No, sweetheart. The point is to let the water and the air and the quiet take you away. Fishing is something you can do alone if you need to clear your head. You can do it with a buddy or your dad if you want to bond. It’s a tradition, I guess.”
I reeled my line in and cast it out again. “So we’re bonding?”

He smirked. “This is one of my favorite ways to bond.”
“Huh. I’d have thought your favorite way to bond included more, you know, bonding. Contact. That kind of thing.” I let my gaze fall to the bulge in his jeans and looked back up again.
“You better stop looking at me like that, sweetheart,” he warned.
“Or what?”

Sometimes I just need a book about a nice southern gentlemen that comes and sweeps you off your feet and make you fall in love with falling in love and that is exactly what I got with The Perception! I fell in love with Max as a secondary character in Adriana Locke’s first novel The Exception and when I heard he was getting his own book and he would be very different from the alpha male Cane in the first book I was jumping for joy! There is just something of a smooth talking southern guy that makes me melt! I love them! The Perception will make you fall in love and make you want your own southern hottie to take home! Ms. Locke did an exceptional job on her sophomore novel and I cannot wait to see what else she has up her sleeve.

Max Quinn wasn’t looking for love when he assisted a female on the side of the road with car troubles. But when he laid eyes on Kari Stanley he would not be able to stay away from her. They start dating and things look to be going good but Kari is always hesitant to move forward, to take the next step. She would keep their relationship at arm’s length like she was protecting herself from being hurt.

“I felt myself tear into tow jagged, painful pieces. The first one wanted to do just that and let him “love on me”, but the other knew good and well that I couldn’t let sex and love bleed together.”- Kari

Kari had a painful secret that she would not tell anyone about. She held it in and because of this, she wouldn’t allow herself to open herself up to anyone. But Max was slowly working her defenses and working his way in.

“Max changed my life. He filled some sort of emptiness I didn’t really even realize was there. I had lived feeling along for so long, I didn’t even realize it. It just became who I was, a part of me.”- Kari

After opening her heart to Max, his own past and guilt come in the middle of their relationship. With so many outside influences pulling at Max and Kari can they overcome them and come out stronger? Will both their pasts come back and rip them apart? It’s a love story that you will love that make you fall in love. Definitely one to read! I’ll just leave you with one of my favorite Max quotes that will make you swoon!
“When I saw you, I saw a beautiful woman. And when I talked to you, I heard and intelligent woman. And now when I see you smile, I see my soul being completed by the woman of my dreams.”- Max

Adriana Locke lives and breathes books. After years of slightly obsessive relationships with the flawed bad boys created by other authors, she has created her own.

The Exception was Adriana’s debut novel and released late last year. The Perception is a stand-alone that follows two secondary characters from The Exception. Her third novel, Sacrifice, will be released Summer 2015.

Adriana lives in the Midwest with her family. She spends copious amounts of time playing with her kids, drinking coffee, and cooking. Her favorite things include sunshine, candy, and random quotes.

She loves to hear from readers.