Say You’re Mine
Series: Shillings Agency #5
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Diane Alberts
Release Date: December 7, 2015
Navy SEAL Steven Thomas has only ever been able to count on three things: waking up in the morning, going to sleep sometime during the night, and Lauren Brixton. She’s been his best friend since grade school, and what they have is the only relationship he’s managed not to ruin.
Until one drunken night puts that all in jeopardy.
Lauren’s watched Steven flit from one-night stand to one-night stand, seemingly not interested in something more. So when the long-ignored attraction between the two of them blows up in their faces, she does the only thing she can—she pretends she doesn’t want him. But all’s fair in love and war, and Steven’s not about to lose the only person in his life who matters…
He’d die for her. Kill for her. Fight for her. But not love her. He didn’t do love. Didn’t want it. Hell, he didn’t deserve it. Guys like him didn’t get to be loved.
Diane Alberts remains one of my go-to authors in category romance for constantly delivering on the swoony and panty-melting romance with deliciously stubborn heroes. Her Shillings Agency series has been a favorite of mine from the beginning. I’ve been itching to get my hands on Steven’s book since a little peek of him in Taking What’s His. While this is book 5 in a series, it is also easily read as a standalone.
Steven Thomas is exactly the kind of hero I love to read about; a lot broody, broken, with a strong penchant for dirty talk. Still suffering from the remnants of his last tour as a SEAL, Steven turns to alcohol and women to heal him. But lately he’s become almost too numb for even the strongest alcohol to do the trick. But one night after too many shots, he gets a whole new perspective on life…when he realizes that his best friend of over twenty years, Lauren may be open to more than friendship with him.
Lauren has had feelings for Steven that she’s tried to deny for years. She’s been there for him though it all; his tours and the rock bottoms he hit after. But she’s never seen him quite like this and she knows if she doesn’t do something drastic soon it may be too late. So she tells a little fib to keep him close. But no good deed goes unpunished, and all of a sudden the fiery chemistry that’s been brewing between them comes to a head and becomes too much for either one of them to deny.
But what happens when the man that despises lies above anything else finds out that the person closest to him has been deceiving him?
This was a sexy little friends-to-lovers romp. I love me my dirty talkers and Steven certainly didn’t disappoint on that end. I enjoyed this thoroughly and read it in one sitting. I knew from the very beginning where everything was leading up to, but my issue with the book wasn’t the predictability. I just failed to see the main conflict as being much of a…conflict. It just seemed a little contrived and blown way out of proportion for what it was. While I can understand Steven’s issues, it just didn’t add up for me I suppose.
That being said, I most definitely enjoyed this recent addition to the series and would gladly recommend it to any lovers of a sexy friends-to-lovers trope. It’s a quick and entertaining read that’s bound to leave you satisfied.
A sexy, captivating and thrilling conclusion to a trilogy that captured me from the very start! If you haven’t met Hudson Chase, you haven’t lived. The man is intense, sinfully sexy, protective, with a touch of broody. While I’m not usually a reader of trilogies since my attention span seems to wane somewhere around book 2, I’ve been dying to get my hands on this book for one reason and one reason only: Hudson.
Always Dangerous was my first book by Dee J. Adams and it’s safe to say after finishing, that it certainly won’t be my last. I love a steamy romantic suspense, and Adrenaline Highs delivers on that end flawlessly. Now you’re probably thinking to yourself, but Lana, this is book 6 in the series and you’re starting with this book. And to you, my OCD friend, I say, I like to live dangerously.
Right then.
Aurora Rose Reynolds books always have been and will continue to be my guilty pleasure. A little fluffy, a lot steamy and with a dose of insta love, I don’t know any other author that can pull all that off in one book and actually make me enjoy it. Something about this boys and their “booms”. I can’t even explain it. But I like it.
Now before you start reaching for rotten tomatoes and pitchforks, allow me to clarify my rating here. See, here’s the thing, I liked this book. It was wonderfully written and being my first book by this author I already know I’ll be reading all her others. I’m also completely hooked on this series and absolutely loved the set up as well as all the secondary characters. I also truly enjoyed both MCs here. At this point you’re probably sitting there and thinking, then why the hell are you marking this only 3.5 stars?
Well…bluntly put…it was just too sweet for my tastes. *ducks flying tomatoes*
Now I loved that this wasn’t a source of shame or secret for him. He owned it. It wasn’t a secret and he didn’t make it one, nor does he make it a given to spread it around campus either. The problem? I just don’t buy it. Ugh. I’m sorry! It’s that damn cynic in me, but a college junior, surrounded by football groupies, all his teammates are male sluts, but he’s a virgin because…reasons.
But this was also wonderfully…refreshing. This is my second time reading about a male virgin and I believe Jen Frederick pulled it off very well. Knox is just one of those characters that you can’t help but love. He goes after what he wants with a single-minded intent and feels no need for immature mind games that you’d find with most heroes in the NA genre.
What ultimately brought my rating down was 2 specific things.
In the book’s defense I am not, nor will I ever be a fan of insta-love, no matter how well it’s pulled off. And it IS pulled off wonderfully here. It’s just not my cuppa. I can’t help it. I gave it the old college try (pun intended) but could never really see past it. Perhaps because he was also a virgin on top of everything else? Whatever the case may be, I suppose I just wanted a little more interaction between them before this came into the mix. Like say, at least 12%?
It felt good to give in, to surrender. He rewarded her with more pleasure. Sex with him felt like embracing a thunderstorm, riding a wild bronc.
It’s been a hot second since I first met Jesse as Kimber’s famous pop star boyfriend in 
A musical collaboration that wins a grammy serves for a night of celebration. The pull between Reckless Beat’s front man, Mason Lynch and Sidney Higgins has always been there. One night of celebration and alcohol leads to a sizzling threesome between Signey, Mason, and Mason’s best friend and Reckless Beat’s drummer, Sean Taiden. But then a video recorded on Mason’s phone meant to capture the moment to forever remember in private gets leaked, it ruins everything and completely shatters Sidney. She lost everything; her career, her self-worth, and the man she thought she trusted.
Having absolutely loved 
