Blog Tour Review: Down Shift by K. Bromberg

Posted October 13, 2016 by Cocktails and Books in Blog Tour, Reviews / 0 Comments

Blog Tour Review:  Down Shift by K. BrombergDown Shift by K. Bromberg
Series: Driven, #8
Published by Signet Publication Date: October 4th 2016
Pages: 400
Also in this series: Slow Burn, Sweet Ache, Hard Beat
Buy on Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Bookshop.org
Find on: Goodreads
four-half-stars

The New York Times bestselling Driven series continues with a standalone story about finding love where you least expect it…  Behind the wheel, racing champion Zander Donavan is at the top of his game. But after too much excess in his personal life, he’s forced to step away. He needs to accomplish something all on his own—outside of his famous father’s shadow.    Getty Caster is running away from the abuse that clouds her past. She thinks she’s found the perfect escape—until she discovers a stranger in the beachside cottage she’d been promised. He’s undeniably sexy, but she’s there to heal. Alone.   Before long though, fighting with each other turns into fighting their attraction. And giving into desire sets off a chain reaction that has their pasts colliding. With an unexpected love on the line, can they overcome the fallout to build a future?

Cocktails and Books received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect our opinion of the book or the content of our review.

I had high expectations going into Downshift.  Zander was a beloved character from the Driven series.  I was worried this book wouldn’t live up to the hype and I couldn’t imagine a story that would drag me in like Colton and Rylee.  But Kristy knew exactly what she was doing with Zander and Getty.  The prologue alone gutted me.  The emotion poured off the pages as Zander and Colton had an extremely tense encounter.  Hateful words were exchanged and my beloved Colton was in pain all because of Zander.  

Zander lashes out at Colton (his adopted dad) and doesn’t feel like he can explain why.  He distances himself from his mom (Rylee), Colton and his siblings.  You feel the pain bleed off the page for this family.  But every individual has a path to healing their deepest scars and Zander needed the space to sort his out.  Getty just happens to be where Colton runs too and they have to find a way to make their new living arrangement work.

Kristy Bromberg is superb at writing broken characters who fight to move beyond their past demons.  Getty is no different.  Her past is riddled with bumps and bruises and she has suffered greatly at the hands of her own family and ex-husband.  She is just learning to stand on her own, trust herself and most importantly trust others.  

Getty and Zander’s romance is a friends to lovers story.  It is a slow build where the two of them dance around each other.  They spend time together, have little intimate moments and realize that there is definitely more between them.  After Driven, we all wanted Zander’s story and K. Bromberg delivered.  Down Shift is an incredible, emotional story with plenty of heat and romance.  This is a definite must read.  t  Bromberg continues to surprise with this strikingly mature and deeply-felt romance! Although Zander is the son of Colton Donavan from the Drivenseries, this book can absolutely stand on its own. Down Shift is an incredibly sexy and emotional story. Zander and Getty’s book reminds me why I love reading contemporary romance. A definite must-read! 

Meet Zander & Getty in DOWN SHIFT –

the newest stand alone in the Driven Series by K. Bromberg!

NOW AVAILABLE

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2cgkF2W

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2cg6Ayp

iBooks:http://apple.co/2c0TqU3

Nook: http://bit.ly/2cMG67O

Kobo:http://bit.ly/2ctJho8

EXCERPT

“You don’t know anything about me.” My voice is slight but strong, my need to assert myself front and center despite his calling me on the carpet.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Socks. I might not know where you’re from or why I ruffled your feathers today, but I know you’re stronger than you give yourself credit for. Whatever it is that you ran from back home, you did it. You got out and are making it on your own. That takes guts and you deserve mad props for that. I know you like things messy and are goddamn cute when you’re tipsy. I know you’re stubborn as hell and gorgeous as fuck. And that your kiss tastes like an aged whiskey: something I want to sip slowly, feel on my lips, savor on my tongue, and take my time with before I get drunk on it.” With a lift of his eyebrows and a nod of his head, he walks past me, leaving me with my mouth agape and eyes wide.

I can’t move. Just stand staring at the door in front of me as I try to process what he just said, what he meant by it, and yet there’s no use because we just had a whole one-sided conversation and that need to banter with him is gone. Lost to the tingling in my lower belly and the wild spinning of my thoughts.

“Oh, and, Getty?” Zander calls out to me from the kitchen, refusing to continue until I turn to face him, standing there unabashedly shirtless. “If you ever call me pretty again, we’re gonna have a real problem. I guarantee you there is nothing pretty about me.”

I almost smile at the fact that out of all of the crappy things I said to him, that is the one that bugged him the most.

“You are kind of pretty, though,” I murmur, unable to resist goading him further, needing to try to get us back on an even playing field. Because hell if right now I don’t feel like I’m on the low end of the teeter-totter.

His immediate response? A snort to signify that his chiseled abs and the tall, dark, and handsome thing he’s got going on are nothing more than average.

“Last warning, Socks.” His eyes flash with mirth. And what looks like desire.

An unexpected part of me—the one who usually hides and doesn’t ever take a chance—wants to say it again. Just to see what he’d do if I did.

“So damn pretty.” I don’t know who’s more shocked at my comment, him or me, but we stand there for a moment, gazes locked, unspoken words warring across the distance between us.

He walks toward me with a predatory gleam in his eyes and a salacious smirk on his lips that catches me off guard. “I know I said you were brave, Getty, but now you’re just playing with matches.”

I draw in a long inhale as he steps right in front of me. I can’t look at him. My nerve is suddenly gone. Outside, rain pelts the roof. The constant drip into the bucket in the hallway serves as a metronome to this anticipatory silence we are dancing in. The goose bumps on his chest are the only thing I can focus on.

When his thumb and forefinger direct my chin up so I’m forced to meet his eyes, every part of me hums from his touch. From the want of something I don’t quite understand myself and couldn’t ever put into words. Our eyes meet—his intense, mine searching for answers that aren’t his to give—before his gaze flicks down to my mouth and then back up again.

“Not yet, Getty.” He closes his eyes for a beat, and I see what I think is restraint reflected in his grimace, before a ghost of a smile spreads on his lips. “I don’t think you’re ready to light this fire just yet.”

Want more K. Bromberg?

Sweet Cheeks releases on November 14th

Pre-order on iBooks Here: http://apple.co/2dsJdmh

About K. Bromberg

New York Times Bestselling author K. Bromberg writes contemporary novels that contain a mixture of sweet, emotional, a whole lot of sexy, and a little bit of real. She likes to write strong heroines, and damaged heroes who we love to hate and hate to love.

A mom of three, she plots her novels in between school runs and soccer practices, more often than not with her laptop in tow.

Since publishing her first book in 2013, Kristy has sold over one million copies of her books across sixteen different countries and has landed on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestsellers lists over twenty-five times. Her Driven trilogy (Driven, Fueled, and Crashed) is currently being adapted for film by Passionflix with the first movie slated to release in the summer of 2018.

She is currently working on her Everyday Heroes trilogy. This series consists of three complete standalone novels—Cuffed, Combust, and Cockpit (late spring 2018)—and is about three brothers who are emergency responders, the jobs that call to them, and the women who challenge them.

She loves to hear from her readers so make sure you check her out on social media or sign up for her newsletter to stay up to date on all her latest releases and sales: http://bit.ly/254MWtI