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Title: Beautifully Awake (Beautifully Awake #1)

Author: Riley Mackenzie
Genre: Contemporary Romance 18+

Publication Date: September 26, 2013

Event Organized by: Literati Author Services, Inc.

Synopsis

Diagnosis: Sleep-running

Treatment: Truth

Prognosis: Beautifully Awake

Lili Porter hates the rain. Bad things happen in the rain. As a small town social worker dedicated to protecting children, she is forced to start over to escape her rural disaster. Determined to follow her father’s advice—head up and chin high—Lili finds herself in a new city, taking on a new system, this time healthcare. In doing so, she gets something she never expected, an intimate behind-the-scenes look at life in the hospital.

Lili learns that a surgeon’s hands have the power to heal more than physical wounds. And a prescription for truth can cure three years of sleep running and leave you beautifully awake

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My Review:

Beautifully Awake (Beautifully Awake, #1)

Beautifully Awake by Riley Mackenzie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lili is a caseworker in a hospital. She has had some trauma in her past, but is now living away from the town and people who hurt her and is working in a field she cares about and has a lot of support from her best friend. She has shut down her emotions for the past few years in an attempt at self-preservation. During her new rotation at the hospital, she starts working with a neurologist who is causing feelings to surface that she didn't think possible.

This book was a pleasant surprise for me. I adored the main characters, and had no problem engaging in the story. I got completely caught up in the emotions of the characters and had a tough time putting this book down once I got started. Chase is beyond hot, and once you get to know him it is hard not to love him. He definitely has a prickly side to him, but I think that is part of what makes the bigger impact when his softer side comes out. Lili is a great example of a woman who has suffered and experienced hardship, but has continued to be a great example of a friend, and co-worker. She is strong, compassionate, and it was great to experience this story through her eyes. I enjoyed this book a lot and will definitely be continuing with the series. Any time a book can get me to experience a wide range of emotions, I am impressed and this book had me feeling all over the place.

*An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review

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Title: Beautifully Done (Beautifully Awake #2)

Author: Riley Mackenzie

Genre: Contemporary Romance 18+

Publication Date: July 16, 2014

Synopsis

Diagnosis: Borrowed time

Treatment: Trust

Prognosis: Beautifully Done

Asher Craig drives fast, flies high, and screws hard. But make no mistake, he’s a gentleman. He learned way too young that we’re all on borrowed time. Fair or unfair, you only get one ride.

He vows to live for the moment because it’s the only time he owns. The past is beyond his control and the future may not exist. With his only loyalties being his family, he thrives for that edge where plunging over is always in the realm of possibility.

When a beautiful familiar face tilts his axis, he re-examines everything and realizes that second chances are overrated and a lifetime of firsts are irreplaceable. In the end, it’s not her medical degree but his trust that needs to prove that the ride together is worth it ... until it’s Beautifully Done.

***Author's note*** Contains spoilers from Beautifully Awake. We highly recommend reading Chase and Lili's story first. For readers 18+

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My Review:

Beautifully Done (Beautifully Awake, #2)

Beautifully Done by Riley Mackenzie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Asher Craig never considered slowing down or settling down. He is beyond loyal to his friends and family, but decided long ago to live in the moment every day. Asher's life changes when he reconnects with Talia, a childhood friend who disappeared after their small group of friends suffered serious tragedy. Nearly 20 years later, Asher realizes just how much he misses the best friend he was in love with. Through all the revelations of the past years, it is clear that Asher and Talia were always meant for each other.

I liked Asher in Beautifully Awake, and now I love him. I think it would be impossible not to. If there is a downside to him, it is that he gives everything he has to everyone around him and doesn't always take the time to take care of himself. Talia has been through a lot. We know a little from the first book, but find out much more about the past and the friendship between Chase, Asher, Talia, and Kimi. We also get more time with Lili and Sierra, which is great. It is hard not to fall in love with all of these characters and spending time with them through some high highs and low lows was a great experience. I don't want to talk too much about the story because there are a lot of twists and turns and it is just best to leave it at this... Read Beautifully Awake, and then read Beautifully Done. I am always impressed when an author can give me a through punch to the feelings, and this one has done just that on more than one occasion. I look forward to reading more by this author in the future.

*An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review

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About the Authors

Yep. That's an “s.” There are two of us!

We’re East coast girls separated by Long Island Sound who met in Physician Assistant School and have been besties ever since. We can safely say that thirteen miles of water does not get in the way because we talk or text, no exaggeration, at least 150 times a day. No, really, we do—about everything and nothing. Shockingly, we never (we mean never) run out of things to say. Umm, ever. We definitely laugh A LOT and we’re a tad sarcastic. And if we’re being totally honest, one or two people might have, on occasion, used our names and ‘dramatic’ in the same sentence. But it’s hard to trust the sources since they married us.

It only took twelve years, two husbands, five kids, two dogs, and a two-week vacation in Cape Cod later to decide the romance world needed a splash of medicine. Write what you know.

So you can easily find us at 4 o'clock on Bank Street beach with a glass of cold Prosecco brainstorming. And guaranteed if we bump into you, literally, it’s only because our iPhones are glued to our hands (totally out of our control) either writing or editing our next novel (and yes, it is possible to do from your iPhone, we mastered it … damn those straight quotations).

When we are not working on our book or reading the latest angsty romance on our kindles, you basically name it and we have it going on. Soccer, lacrosse, golf, swimming, dance, gymnastics, football, chess, baseball, basketball, skiing, ice skating, school, homework, and more school. Oh yeah, did we forget to mention our careers in medicine?

Needless to say, we realized fast that something had to go, so we opted for sleep. It’s completely overrated (yet so AMAZING) and delirium makes everything funnier. Good thing we share a brain and can pretty much complete each other’s sentences (definitely weird, we know), otherwise it might have taken us two years to write Beautifully Awake rather than one.

So that’s our story, who we are … just add AUTHORS to the list!