Blog Tour: Review + GIVEAWAY: Leave The Lights On by Karen Stivali

Title: Leave The Lights On Author: Karen Stivali Genre: Contemporary Romance Published Date: November 5th, 2013 Publisher: Samhain Publishing Where to buy: Amazon | Samhain Publishing Store | Event organized by: The Novel Tease

"When love throws you a curve, swing for the fences."

Parker Wood's dreams of becoming a professional baseball player are shattered when he's injured in a devastating car crash. After two years in hospitals and physical rehab facilities, he's ready to move back to his childhood home and take over the family landscaping company. The house and business are his, now that his father has passed.

Sophie Vaughn has suffered through a hellishly public divorce from a husband who couldn't manage to stay faithful for two months of marriage. Determined not to let her personal drama impact her successful wedding and party planning business, she buys her parents' old house, hoping the comfort of familiar surroundings will help her heal.

When Parker and Sophie discover they're neighbors once again, it's as if time has stood still. Their friendship is quickly rekindled, along with the decade-long crush neither of them ever admitted having. Then the heat between them exposes a long-held secret that threatens to tear them apart...unless they can detach from their painful pasts and move forward-together.

Warning: Contains sultry summer nights, steamy pool-side encounters, and you'll never look at a jar of peanut butter the same way again.

At some point in their lives, I think every woman, happily married or in a relationship or otherwise, has always thought about the one guy in their past that was more of a “best bud” than a “best they ever had.” Karen Stivali gets to explore that same what-if scenario in her book Leave The Lights On which will be published on November 5th.

Parker has spent the last two years in a rehab facility after a tragic car accident that ends his plans of being a star baseball player. He returns to his hometown after being released to run his father’s landscaping business and take over his childhood home after his father passes.

Sophie is coming off a nasty divorce and running a busy event planning business that her soon to be ex-husband has stated was the cause of his philandering ways; he started cheating on her after ONLY TWO MONTHS OF MARRIAGE. (DOUCH AND A HALF!)

Secretly each had a huge crush on the other as teens and never followed through, but fate steps in to finally bring these two sweet kids together with the help of a chocolate cake, a dish of lasagna, and a few beers by the pool.

Yes, the plot is predictable; boy meets girl again and they get together and have an HEA, but Leave The Lights On is written in way that makes the old new again. Stivali grows the relationship from rekindling an old friendship to a full blown never ending kind of love that I really liked. There was nothing contrived or phony between these two, and any secrets between these two from their pasts were unfolded believably between Parker and Sophie. Sophie is definitely not one of those “oh-my-God-I-would-die-right-now-for-you” simpering female characters and Parker could never be a dominating “you-are-MINE” kind of guy that’s popular these days.

Overall I really liked this book. It was a quick read that I finished in less than a day and flowed really well from moment to moment. I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a sweet love story that keeps you engaged for a few hours!

I’d rate this a 3 1/2 stars but will round it up to

Karen Stivali is a prolific writer, compulsive baker and chocoholic with a penchant for books, movies and fictional British men. When she's not writing, she can be found cooking extravagant meals and serving them to family and friends, who never seem to mind the excessive quantities she tends to prepare. She attributes her ability to multitask to the fact that she rarely sleeps, which gives her more hours every day.

Karen has always been fascinated by the way people relate to one another so she favors books and movies that feature richly detailed characters and their relationships. In her own writing she likes to explore the dynamics between characters and has a tendency to craft romantic tales filled with sarcasm and sexy details. Although she writes in three genres (erotic romance, contemporary romance and women's fiction) all of her stories are love stories with happily ever after endings.

Karen has published several erotic romance novels with Ellora's Cave including two award winning stories: Always You (published September 2011, First Place Winner of the RWA Passionate Plume Award - 2012) and Marry Me (published June 2012, First Place Winner in the NEC-RWA Bean Pot Reader's Choice Award - 2013).

To learn more about Karen you can visit her website where she blogs original recipes, sassy commentary on The Bachelor, and tidbits about her journey in the writing world. Karen can also be found attempting witty banter on Twitter.

All winners will be drawn on November 11th and notified by The Novel Tease via email provided.

**Open to US ONLY**

1 WINNER will receive: (1) $20 Gift Card to either Amazon or Barnes and Nobles, (1) e-book (winner’s choice) from Mrs. Stivali’s entire published collection.

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**Thanks to The Novel Tease for hosting this Blog Tour!**

**I received a copy of Leave The Lights On for the purposes of an honest review. All opinions are mine.**