Far Too Tempting by Lauren Blakely Cover Reveal

ABOUT FAR TOO TEMPTING:

Jane Black has written the break-up album of the century, earning her a Grammy, a huge legion of new fans, and the pressure to repeat her success. Sure, the heartbreak from her husband's unconventional abandonment might have been her inspiration, but it hasn't done her any favors in the dating department. So when Matthew Harrigan, the toughest music journalist out there, asks for an interview, Jane agrees-as long as her personal life is completely off-limits.

British, gorgeous, and way too tempting, Matthew's the first guy Jane's been attracted to since her husband. As she spends more time with him and their relationship heats up, though, so does her writer's block. How can the queen of the break-up pen the perfect follow-up when she's seriously in love?

TEASERS:

ABOUT LAUREN BLAKELY:
Lauren Blakely writes sexy contemporary romance novels with heat, heart, and humor, and her books have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iBooks bestseller lists. Like the heroine in FAR TOO TEMPTING, she thinks life should be filled with family, laughter, and the kind of love that love songs promise. Lauren lives in California with her husband, children, and dogs. Her novels include Caught Up In Us, Pretending He's Mine, Playing With Her Heart, and Trophy Husband. She also writes for young adults under the name Daisy Whitney.

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GOODREADS

Twosome Tuesday: Beats by Kendall Grey

Beats (Hard Rock Harlots, #2)

by Kendall Grey

Synopsis:

WARNING: BEATS is specially formulated for horn dogs, porn oglers, smut peddlers, BDSM junkies, M/M and M/M/F addicts, DP dabblers, and lovers of A2M backdoor sexy times. If you don't fall into these categories, can't stomach hot man-on-man action, or if you have no idea what the above acronyms mean, please back away from BEATS now. This isn't the book you're looking for. Failure to heed this warning could inadvertently throw unauthorized users into a persistent vegetative state, or at the very least, require administration of a defibrillator to the chest and/or groin area. Nobody wants that.

For months, shy drummer Jinx Hardwick has been silently crushing on her tall, dark, and scary bandmate, Toombs Badcock. Drawn to his frightening ink and scars, she yearns to uncover the shadowy secrets lurking behind his silver eyes, but Jinx is too intimidated to even look at him, let alone talk to him. When she stumbles upon Toombs and their manipulative lead guitarist Rax in a compromising position, Jinx realizes her chances of winning Toombs's heart aren't just a long shot-they're nonexistent. To make matters worse, Jinx's family needs her at home. She's about to back away from it all-Toombs, the band, her dreams of fame and fortune-when Rax makes her an offer she can't refuse: a no-holds-barred night alone with Toombs. There's one small catch. She has to go through Rax to get it.


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Don't forget to check out our Housewive's commentary after our reviews!

Heather's Review
4.5 Pearly Smooches!

Toombs is both the bane of my existence and the reason I get out of my bunk every morning. He's an expert at unhinging me with little more than a glance. When he's around, I can't talk. Can't create. Can't even think.

Jinx is in love with Toombs. Toombs consumes her every thought. But, while he does seem to be into Jinx, he is completely in love with their band-mate Rax.

When you spend months with the same people in a cramped tour bus, you notice things. Sometimes they're things you wish you could forget. Like a glimpse through the crack in a bunk curtain of Rax's tattooed hand resting on Toombs's bare shoulder. And the soft glances volleying between them onstage, or their backs pressed to one another as they play searing duets. And the time I walked in on them masturbating each other on the couches in the front of the bus.

Jinx is suffering from writer's block. Her feelings for Toombs, her jealousy of Rax, and her family's money problems back home are taking a serious toll on her creativity. Jinx is not as free sexually as the rest of her band-mates are. Sex has only ever been part of a relationship for her. She is completely uncomfortable with being around Letty and Shade's very open relationship as well as Toombs and Rax's sexual expeditions with groupies. All of this, combined with her worry for her family have her depressed and on the verge of quitting the band and going back home.

Rax takes an interest in Jinx and propositions her for a threesome with him and Toombs. Jinx doesn't want Rax, but they are a packaged deal. The way to Toombs is through Rax. Can she completely break out of her shell and accept Rax just so she can have her heart's desire?

Letty, of course, being the queen of all things kinky, advises Jinx to go for it.

"I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. The way to a guy's heart is straight through his dick. Once you conquer the cock, his soul is a piece of pecan pie drizzled with cum, begging to be savored."

In getting involved with both men, she learns a lot about the dynamics of their relationship. Rax seems to have some hold over Toombs and Jinx doesn't like it at all. Lust, love, and hate collide in a night of epic sex.

Sandwiched between love and hate and their respective erections, I'm no longer in control of my body.

What is supposed to be just a night of sex turns into a huge mess. Everyone's libidos and feelings are all over the place. Secrets come out… Hearts are broken… Will the band survive another blow so soon?

Beats is not as "out there" as Strings. While you still get some of the brazenness from Letty and Rax; Jinx is more "normal." She is just a girl, in love with a boy. A boy, who is in love with someone else. In this case, the man she loves happens to be in love with another man. I can't imagine feeling like you have to share the man you love with someone else just to be with him; or the pain Jinx felt every time she saw Toombs look longingly at Rax, the way she looks at him. Being in her head, warring with herself on whether giving into her desires is right or wrong; on whether, or not she can live with the choices she has to make, is hard. I just want to give her a big hug and a shoulder she can cry on.

Once again Kendall has blown me away! Under all of the kink her books tell a great story. The characters are so complex and I can't help but love every one of them. I cannot wait to read Nocturnes(Hard Rock Harlots #3).

Selene's Review

5 Conquering Smooches!

Toombs is a rainbow of wrong, but the storm that precedes him is so damn right.

This book completely caught me off guard. I loved it.

Seriously. Loved. It.

Don't get me wrong, in a lot of ways it was completely over my head and outside of my comfort zone but it drew me in and would not let go. So much of what happens in this book is foreign to me (thank you Google), yet I found myself fascinated by and attached to these characters. Where Strings was a sexy, laugh a minute romp fest with a love story tucked inside, Beats is a seriously gritty love story with some sex thrown in to shake things up. And boy does it.

Can I just say how much I LOVE KG's writing? I think she's brilliant. I really do. She has a way with words that mesmerizes me … which is why this review is going to be full of quotes (sorry, I warned you).

Jinx is the drummer in Killer Buzz Float along with Letty, Shades, Rax, and Toombs. If you've read Strings (Hard Rock Harlots, #1), you no doubt know and love these characters! They are on the verge of hitting it big, having just landed a record deal, and are about to start working on the music for their first album after finishing up their tour. Jinx has too much clouding her head … she's got family troubles back home and boy trouble on the road … she's for sure in lust, maybe in love, with Toombs and can't get her head in the game.

Nothing changes the fact that I'm out of beats. For him. For the band. For myself.

While her creative juices may be running dry, her other juices (ew … I can't believe I just wrote that, LOL) are flowing just fine. Thanks to Master Manipulator Rax, Jinx finds herself in a little triangle with him and Toombs. Jinx struggles to understand the nature of Rax and Toombs' relationship and I'm right there with her!

"We come together. It's all or nothing with us." Toombs harsh expression softens by a hair.

A million questions flood my mind, but I only ask one. My audacity shocks me. "I know what Rax wants. But what does Toombs want?"

The moment stretches into an eternity of silence balance on the seesaw of our precarious stares.

"I do what Rax tells me to do."

"Because you can't think for yourself."

He angles closer. His pupils flare black.

"Because I belong to him."

The dynamics of the three personalities involved are nothing compared to the dynamics of each individual relationship (Rax/Toombs, Jinx/Toombs, Jinx/Rax, and Jinx/Toombs/Rax). Jinx finds herself in a power struggle with Rax for Toombs' affection. I found this aspect of the triangle particularly interesting considering Jinx is always so timid and non-confrontational. The fact that she stands up to Rax (especially during their threesome) had me all kinds of fired up!

I hate how submissive he is with Rax. I want to protect him. To whisk him away from Rax's influence. I want to prove to Toombs that I'm the one he needs.

I think the evolution I liked best though, is Jinx's. Her limits are tested in every way … physically, sexually, and emotionally. And here's where the quote overload happens!

With each ingress, a little part of my relative innocence dies while another part of me awakens. - Jinx

I'm consumed. By what, I don't know. A bizarre mixture of confusion, elation, fear, uncertainty, guilt, triumph, and loss of control … Whatever it is, this energy between us, these raging, perfectly matched heartbeats must mean something. - Jinx

Nothing about this scene is right, but at this point, I'm so full of wrong, I'll do whatever they want and ask myself for forgiveness later. -Jinx

Sex and craziness aside, here's what Beats boils down to for me …

Toombs and Jinx are two people struggling to find themselves, struggling to establish their own identity and finally do so when they find each other. And with that, I will leave you with my favorite lines from Beats (it's poetry people!).

"Sometimes the one you love introduces you to the person inside - the real one who you're so close to, you don't even recognize her. Sometimes the one you love knows you better than you know yourself. They bring out the best in us when we least expect it."

Nocturnes (Hard Rock Harlots, #3) will be Rax's story .... BRING IT!!!

Twosome commentary from the Housewives!

Promise Me Light Blog Tour and Giveaway

Promise Me Light

(Promise Me #2)

by Paige Weaver

Goodreads

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available 9.24.13

Promise Me Darkness (Promise Me #1) is also on sale for $0.99.
Amazon Purchase Link

Synopsis

The epic conclusion of New York Times bestselling book "Promise Me Darkness"

"I'm darkness, Maddie. Stay away from men like me. You'll only get hurt."

At one time my life was simple. Easy. But that was before the war. Now I was no longer an average college student. I was a survivor. A woman living in a ravaged world. My future was not bright and my life was far from perfect. The war had taken so much from me… but it wasn't finished yet. It wanted more.

It wanted my heart. My soul. The one person I couldn't live without.

It wanted Ryder Delaney. My best friend. The bad boy. The one person who could fight like no other and love me like no one else. I watched him walk away one hot summer day and I prayed he would return. I needed him like I needed air to breathe and water to drink. Without him I was lost. A light without her darkness.

Until he returns, I'll wait for him. And I believe he will return because love is powerful… And so is the light calling him home.

Trailer

Selene's ** Spoiler Free ** Review

4 tear-jerking smooches

"I love you, Maddie. Remember that. I'll love you forever. Now let me go."

Promise Me Light picks up right where Promise Me Darkness left off. The United States has been attacked and all power has been knocked out by a nuclear weapon EMP. The world is a different place - law and order (not to mention technology and modern day luxuries) are a thing of the past, survival is all that matters. Ryder, Gavin, and Brody have left the safety of the Delaney farm to find Eva who has been captured. Maddie stays behind and lets Ryder leave without telling him she is pregnant with his child. Two weeks later, they return with Eva but without Ryder. He's been shot and captured by enemy forces.

Maddie is devastated and struggles to accept that Ryder may never return to her and their unborn child. As Maddie tries to cope with the reality of losing Ryder, she recalls memories from their past as children, teens, and young adults. Through a series of flashbacks, we learn more about Ryder and Maddie's feelings for each other. I especially loved these flashbacks and how they show Ryder has always been in love with her.

He said from the time he was a little kid, he never felt like he belonged anywhere. He said with you, he was home. You saw him as someone good. Someone that thought he hung the moon.

The months that follow are rough. A brutal winter and enemy attacks all stand to destroy the life the survivors are trying to build especially Maddie and the life she wants for her unborn child.

I had shed so many tears in the last few months that the last thing I wanted was to ever cry again. But the tears fell anyway, cold and wet on my frozen cheeks. I left them unchecked, refusing to brush them away. They reminded me of what I had lost. What I didn't have. What I would never have again.

I really liked Promise Me Darkness and went into Promise Me Light excited to continue Maddie and Ryder's story. Honestly, it really wasn't what I expected ... not that I didn't like it, because I did, very much! Maddie and Ryder's story seems to take a back seat to the war. Once I accepted that though, I enjoyed the book more and more.

This book is much darker than the first and extremely suspenseful and full of angst. I found myself taking little breaks to avoid what bad things I imagined might happen next. Regardless of how their story ends, PW has crafted two amazing characters with Maddie and Ryder. Even though Maddie's stubbornness causes more harm than good, I loved her passion for Ryder and how hard she fights to find him, hoping to bring him back to her. I love them … best friends turned soul mates is one of my favorite storylines.

About the Author

Paige Weaver lives in Texas with her husband and two children. Her love for books became a love for writing at a young age. She wrote her first book as a teenager and continued writing throughout the years. Encouraged by her husband, she finally decided to self-publish. Her debut novel, Promise Me Darkness, was released in April 2013 and quickly became a New York Times and USA Today bestseller. Her second book, Promise Me Light, will be released in September 2013. She is currently working on other novels to be released in 2014.

Author Links
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Very Bad Things Blog Tour and giveaway

Very Bad Things (Briarcrest Academy 1)

by Ilsa Madden-Mills

Synopsis:

Born into a life of privilege and secrets, Nora Blakely has everything any nineteen-year-old girl could desire. She's an accomplished pianist, a Texas beauty queen, and on her way to Princeton after high school. She's perfect…

Leaving behind her million-dollar mansion and Jimmy Choos, she becomes a girl hell-bent on pushing the limits with alcohol, drugs, and meaningless sex.

Then she meets her soulmate. But he doesn't want her.

When it comes to girls, twenty-five-year-old Leo Tate has one rule: never fall in love. His gym and his brother are all he cares about...until he meets Nora. He resists the pull of their attraction, hung up on their six year age difference.

As they struggle to stay away from each other, secrets will be revealed, tempers will flare, and hearts will be broken.

Welcome to Briarcrest Academy…where sometimes, the best things in life are Very Bad Things

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Teasers:

Housewives commentary to follow our reviews!!

Heather's Review

5 - ball busting SMOOCHES!
How was that for a lesson in clarity Leo?

"Fuck Briarcrest Academy, and fuck you all."
I smiled for real…without even trying.
It felt good to be bad.

Nora appears to have the perfect life. She is very wealthy, makes good grades, and is the class president. She is a beauty queen and a talented pianist. Nora seems to excel at everything she does. But, no matter how "perfect" she is, it is never enough for the one person she wants to please the most, her mother. When, she walks on stage to address the incoming senior class of Briarcrest Academy, something in her snaps and she. is. DONE! Screw the good girl routine. Nora wants to be bad.

From the moment she'd taken the stage, my eyes had followed her. Probably because she was tall and blonde and wealthy, a prime example of an American princess-type. I bet she was popular and the quarterbacks girlfriend. I bet she had a pet Chihuahua she carried around in her purse. No doubt, her parents gave her anything her heart desired. She was spoiled rotten and didn't know shit about the real world. Nora Blakely was everything I avoided when it came to girls.

Leo is 25 years old and guardian to his brother Sebastian who is also a senior at B.A. They've recently moved from L.A. to Texas so that Sebastian would have a chance at a better education. When Nora takes the stage at Sebastian's orientation, Leo is instantly taken with her. But, girls like Nora expected love and commitment and those two things, he gave up on a long time ago. When Leo gets to his vehicle to head home, he notices that Nora is in the car parked next to his.

As if she sensed me, her eyes opened and when her green ones found mine, I swear, it felt like someone hit the pause button on the universe and she was all I could see.

Nora's mother was LIVID with the episode she pulled and that only added fuel to Nora's flame. What has Nora ever gotten from being "perfect?" It didn't make her mother love or respect her. Being bad gave Nora a rush and she craved it like a drug. She makes a list of "very bad things" that she wants to accomplish. Included in this list are things like drugs, alcohol, getting a tattoo, and meaningless sex.

…After pretending for so long and holding it all inside, I simply sought relief, just like I'd gotten at the open house when I'd let those hateful words come out of my mouth. And if saying bad things to people made me feel better, then how much better would I feel if I took it a step further?

She starts off with drinking and then a little vandalism. Moving right along to meaningless sex; Nora wants Leo. But, he is dead set upon not getting involved with her. Nora will not be deterred. She knows that Leo wants her and puts the moves on him every chance she gets.

"Lets go in the bathroom and fuck."
He exhaled heavily and stood up from the stool.
"No?" I said…
"You don't want me, Nora. I'll fuck you, and when I'm done, I'll leave you."
"Well if not you, then someone else will do, "I said with a shrug…
"Go back to your damn table. No fucking today, Nora," he bit out…
I smiled and batted my lashes. "Tomorrow?"
"Are you high?" he asked me, his eyes boring into mine.
I laughed. "God, no. This is all me," I said bitterly. "I don't need drugs to be a whore, Leo. I can do it all by myself."

There are also very tender moments between Nora and Leo.

"Tell me about your family."
"Sometimes I dream my family is dead," she said, "and it's not a nightmare."

"I'm not perfect. People think I am, but I'm not."
"Maybe I wouldn't like you so much if you were."

Leo purposely tries to push her away. Yet, he still has the audacity to warn her off of the guy she is interested in. Leo is experiencing a foreign emotion, jealousy.

"If I want to fuck Cuba, then I'll enjoy every dirty moment. I'm not afraid of getting my heart broken Leo. There's not one there to break."

She shows up at Leo's house to meet up with Sebastian for a party one night. When he notices how hot Nora looks in her little black dress, that green eyed bastard makes an appearance.

"What do you have on?"
"You don't like it? I didn't think you noticed."
"If there was ever a fucking dress I've ever noticed, it's that one… "

When Leo finally loses control and kisses her; Nora realizes that she has fallen in love with him. Leo ends the kiss abruptly and once again pushes her away.

"…You're a good girl with all these great talents and someday you'll have a big future. Just not with me. I'd just drag you down. I'd end up hurting you."
"You already did," I whispered out…

Now that her heart is involved, this thing with Leo has become too painful. It is time to let him go, get back to her list, and move on.

He was my Prince Charming, but I wasn't his Cinderella.

Nora is shameless! She gives Leo a lesson in "clarity" he won't soon forget! She plays the game and plays it well. I found myself wanting to jump out of bed fist pumping and cheer her on.

Leo begins to realize the depths of his feelings for Nora. He has tried so hard to fight it but, the heart wants what the heart wants…

"The truth is I never intended for this song to be sung in public, because I wrote it for this girl... and, she.. well, she's moved on. She was the one for me, but I screwed it up... It hurts like hell to think about her, about never having her as mine... She makes me all crazy inside. She makes me hear songs in my head... She makes me feel like I can have something good in my life..."

Could you love me, love me, love me
Do it, please, fall for me.
Baby, give me one more moment,
Just one more moment with you.
~"Fly Away" by Leo Tate

.................................................................................

I never understood "book music." For me it is just a huge distraction. While reading Very Bad Things, I actually took breaks to play songs. The first song is Willa Ford's, "I Wanna Be Bad." This was her fight music and the song I cheered to! The second song is Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me." I don't think I will ever hear this song again without my heart breaking a little for sweet Nora.

I am big time girl crushing on Nora. I do love Leo, don't get me wrong but God, Nora... that girl captured my heart. Going into this book I expected the bold, brazen side of Nora. What took me by surprise was the broken, vulnerable Nora. Suddenly, she doesn't seem wild but courageous. She is fierce. She is determined. Nora is a survivor.

When Ilsa offered me an ARC for an honest review I was ecstatic. When I read Very Bad Things, I was BLOWN-A-WAY! Trust me when I say that this book is spectacular! I did not fall in love with Ilsa's book until AFTER I read it! I did not even know her.. although, I did have the book on my radar from all of the amazing teasers.(Ilsa's got the best street team, I have ever seen!) I am pimping the shit out of it because I believe it is truly fabulous! Believe the hype! It is even better than what you are hearing! Buy it! Read it! Leave a review and please share it with us. I can't wait to see how much all of you adore this book!

Thank you Ilsa for creating these beautiful characters! Thank you for giving me the honor of being among the first to fall in love with them. I am SO excited for you, because you are going places sister! You have a real gift and it won't go unnoticed! XOXO

Selene's Review

5 "F*ck you all" Smooches

"I can't forget the words you've never said."

Nora Blakely is officially my new favorite heroine. I love her. And I love Ilsa Madden-Mills for dreaming her up.

From what you've heard, you probably think this book is a love story. I did, before I read it anyway. It quickly became the story about a girl named Nora. She is beautiful, yet flawed, vulnerable and broken. Love is a huge part of her story, but her story is SO much more.

Everyone thinks Nora has the perfect life, that she is the perfect girl. What she lives in though is a perfect hell. The façade she has perfected to keep her demanding mother satisfied and the demons from her past hidden finally cracks and Nora spirals out of control. She pledges to change, erasing that perfect girl's existence. Nora creates a "List of Bad Things" and sets out to rewrite her life.

Nora's List of Bad Things

• Change my image. Get a tattoo? Wear slutty clothes? Dye my hair?
• Drink alcohol. Drugs optional. Drugs required. Proceed to rehab?
• Have meaningless sex. Often. With different people.
• Be the aforementioned bad girl whenever possible. In school. At home. Everywhere.
• Do not under any circumstances be called perfect.

Nora decides to set her rebellious sights on Leo, her classmate's older brother. She shamelessly throws herself at him only to be refused by Leo even though he finds himself drawn and attracted to her. As she continues to spend more and more time with Leo, Nora realizes her feelings for him are anything but meaningless. And while Leo might feel the same, he refuses to consider the possibility that Nora just might be the girl for him.

Leo REALLY pissed me off! He leads Nora on several times, only to dismiss her over and over. Poor Nora, God bless her, she just keeps taking chance after chance, putting herself out there for Leo.

"Falling for someone can be a lot like playing roulette. You don't know what will happen when you place that bet, but you take a deep breath anyway and put all the chips out there. And when the ball spins around and around, you pray it lands on your number. Probability says you'll likely loose, and in this game of love with Leo, odds were I would lose, too, but I had to try."

The way he treats her is seriously heartbreaking. The only thing that keeps me from kicking his ass is the fact that we also get to hear Leo's point of view so we know that he does care and is fighting his feelings for her. He truly believes that he will not be able to love her the way she deserves to be loved. I could totally respect him for that if he would keep his hands (and lips) to himself.

"She licked her lips, and I ached to kiss her mouth. I wanted to lick it, nip it, suck on it; I wanted to own it. I wanted to give her a kiss she'd never f*cking forget."

I'm perfectly fine with him wanting to do those things but, dammit, Leo don't start something you won't finish!

"I won't kiss you again," he said rubbing his hands across his mouth, wiping it away. "It was a big f*cking mistake."

Really Leo? Is that how you treat someone you care about? And I'm sad to say there is more where that came from.

Early on, I was Team Leo because he is a good guy and he seemed to care about Nora. Eventually though, I stopped hoping for a Nora/Leo happily ever after and just wanted Nora to have any kind of happily ever after…be it with Leo or someone else. Nora so deserved it.

At the root of Nora's misery is her mother. The woman is pure evil. There is no other word for her. She's cruel, demanding and absent. She accepts nothing less than perfection from Nora. On Nora's birthday, while having lunch, her mom continues to earn her Mommy Dearest crown …

You're such a f*cking baby, Nora. Fine, eat your dessert like a two year old. It doesn't matter how fat you are anyway, you'll always be worthless."

She never even wished her a happy birthday.

Between Leo and her mom, poor Nora can't catch a break. She has a pretty horrific experience from her childhood she is dealing with and struggles to come to terms with. With the love and support of her aunt and best friend Mila, Nora does begin to see her worth and believe that maybe she is worthy of happiness. Nora's ex Drew re-enters her life and she tries to push her feelings for Leo aside enough to give her relationship with Drew a chance. Drew genuinely cares for Nora but he realizes that she still has feelings for Leo.

"When something hurts this bad, Nora, you need to f*cking let it go. Let him go."

And just when it looks like Nora could finally get her happily ever after with Drew, Leo decides it's time he made his move.

"I fought you and me together, and it decimates me knowing I messed up, that I didn't even give us a chance. It was all right there in front of me, plain as day, but I kept pushing and pushing until you gave up. The hardest thing I've ever done is pretend I didn't care for you."

Will Nora give Leo another chance or has Nora cashed in her chips and stopped gambling on him?

Nora does indeed get her happily ever after but I'm not saying with whom …. Get the book, fall in love with Nora, and find out for yourself!

Ilsa has completely wowed me with her debut novel. She's written characters you can't help but love, a story that is unique and captivating, and an ending that made my heart smile.

Housewive's Commentary

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