CALICO
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Callie Hart
Release Date: April 12th, 2016
Coralie
Twelve years ago, I ran to stay alive.
Port Royal, South Carolina, was my home. I was born there. I fell in love there. And I nearly died there. I never thought I’d go back. Now, after so many years, I have to return to bury the man who made my life a living hell. Some nights, I used to cry myself to sleep, praying my father would die. Other nights were different. Other nights, there was him.
Callan Cross.
My first confidante. My first kiss. My first love. My first everything: Callan was the glue that held me together when everything else was falling apart. He was my savior. He was there for me whenever I needed him…
Until he wasn’t.
Every night, I’ve seen the love of my life in my sleep.
I just never thought I’d have to face him again.Callan
Twelve years ago, I f*#@ed up big time.
Living life through a camera lens is sometimes easier than dealing with it head on. Scratch that. It’s always easier. For over a decade, I’ve been a master of my art, taking photographs all over the world. Yet despite all of the countries I’ve visited, the amazing things I’ve seen, the beautiful women I’ve screwed, my heart has remained in pieces.
Coralie’s the only woman I’ve ever loved, will ever love. And I’m determined to show her that we’re meant to be together. Even if it means unearthing the bones of the past in the process.
A lifetime and a thousand miles have stood between us.
Now, there’s no length of time I won’t wait, no distance I won’t travel, in order to make her mine.
Callie Hart is an obsessive romantic who loves throwing a dark twist into her stories. Her characters are imperfect, flawed individuals who dictate when she eats, sleeps and breathes. Callie’s Internationally Bestselling Blood & Roses series has garnered well over 1000 5 star reviews.
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They were two damaged people who’d managed to heal each other with something as simple as unconditional love. The fact that they were best friends who had phenomenal sex was a bonus.
I have one question right now: Where has this series been all my life?! No really, what a perfect treat this was to get a fantastic balance of super hot sex AND a wonderful story. Sometimes a girl just needs some great smut in her life, and this book hit the spot so well. But it’s so much more than erotic romance, the story is great, the characters well developed, and the writing just flows. Suffice it to say I loved it!
I simply adored Mason. He was such an endearing character. The way he calls Katrina ‘Kitty-Kat’? *swoon* I loved everything about these two; the way they protect each other; their shared history, their friendship, and their clear affection for one another. And between the sheets they’re absolutely combustible! Katrina was a wonderful heroine as well but I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that Mason really stole the show here. This was a man that really went after what he wanted once he realizes what he’s missed all these years. He knew what he needed and he didn’t hide it.
I’ve been waiting for River and Vaughn’s book since first meeting them in 
Then there were terms like …manhood stood
Or this…
and this one…
Don’t you hate it when everyone loves a book but you? Le sigh. This review is actually painful for me to write. Why? Because I adore Pepper Winters. I’ve read the woman’s entire backlist, so when I saw she was coming out with a secret project and revealed the cover to this book, I was beyond thrilled. Heck, I couldn’t wait to get my grabby little hands on it.
Then when 2 days later I looked down at my kindle and realized I was only at 15% I began to get a little twitchy.
Do you like broody, protective uber alphas who prefer monosyllabic conversations unless they’re in bed and letting their inner caveman do the talking? Do you like sassy as hell heroines that give as good as they get and have more zingers than an episode of SNL? Do you like a sizzling hot sexual chemistry that brews even hotter with a slow burn sort of pace the author sets? Do you like your erotica written perfectly balanced with an addicting sort of story and a dash of suspense thrown in? Well lucky day! Because do I have the book for you!
If you’ve read the previous books in this series, then you’ll remember Elle Cooper, Tate Cooper’s sister and now James Bowen’s sister-in-law? If you haven’t, no worries, because you can easily read this book as a standalone and not be even slightly lost. Jack Copeland is James’s shadowy and grumpy friend that now has a tie to Elle that he’s not too happy about. The woman infuriates him almost as much as she turns him on. And Elle absolutely loves to tease Jack to within an inch of his sanity.
Jack does an upstanding job avoiding all things Elle, until the day where Elle lands in life threatening trouble and Jack is determined to protect her at all costs. He’ll do his job and walk away afterwards, but Elle is determined to make him lose all reason and patience in the process.
I gobbled up this book with a pervy sort of glee I haven’t felt in a long while. I loved these two together. Nothing beats a good hate/love scenario for me, and boy do these two serve that up on a silver platter. You can’t help but love Elle even if she lands herself in scenarios where you’ll want to throttle her. Jack is everything I love in an alpha; broody, slightly crass, protective, and a dirty, dirty man in bed.
Truth be told, I struggled with my rating for this book for days now. I’ve been marinating and marinating over what to rate it. Do I rate it as a part of the Tall, Dark, and Dangerous series which it didn’t seem to fit at all? Or do I rate it as a standalone I felt it should have been? After much deliberation, I’ve decided to go with something in the middle of the two. Because here’s the thing, while I did truly enjoy Brave Enough, I didn’t find it fit the series. Aside from Tag being a hero that was first introduced early in the series, there is really no other connection. The story felt different, the romance felt different, and the entire feel of it was just different.
I’m going to be real for a hot second here; the last few releases in this series left me underwhelmed. So much, in fact, that I was about to give up on it entirely. There’s been a plethora of secondary characters introduced since 
The Beast doesn’t mess with a happy couple’s HEA; it expands on their emotional journey. It’s an emotionally gripping, lovely, and at times sweet and at times sexy continuation to a beloved couple.
But while I loved the set up, I had a hard time believing that Josh spent 5 years being celibate because he was “married”. Considering their arrangement, I just couldn’t wrap my mind around that. I connected to Alexia and her reasons, but Josh’s seemed a bit extreme.
I’m a huge fan of Joya Ryan, but for some reason, this is the first book I’ve read in her Search and Seduce series. Having said that, I had absolutely no problem jumping right into the story and this is perfectly written as a standalone.
