Book Synopsis

After Evan Arden was imprisoned by the enemy for a year and a half, he returned from the desert as a military hero. He’d suffered some minor injuries during his captivity, was discharged from the Marines with a touch of shellshock, but was considered otherwise unharmed. Now he wonders how he ended up where he is—incarcerated in Chicago’s Metropolitan Correctional Center for using his sharpshooting expertise to take out the neighborhood park with a high-powered sniper rifle and multiple rounds of ammunition.

Lia Antonio, the woman he rescued from the desert heat the previous year, is the only person who can bring him out of his sleep-deprived psychosis and mounting PTSD. When she does, Evan knows he can’t just let her go again. He’s never considered leaving the business before—who retires from the mafia?—but he’s determined to get both Lia and himself out of harm’s way.

Evan faces overwhelming forces from multiple directions as a deal to get him out of jail turns more dangerous than he imagined. With a mob war on the horizon and the feds holding evidence over his head, Evan has no choice but to throw himself into the middle of another warzone.

In his efforts to make things right, Evan crosses the wrong man and finds himself on the business end of the crosshairs. With his acute perception and intelligence, he tries to stay a step ahead of his former co-workers, but this time, it isn’t just his own life on the line—he’s got to protect Lia from the man who once called him son.

Otherwise Occupied Trailer

Review

One thing that’s running through my mind right now

After I finished this book. I’m ruined. Seriously ruined and feeling a hell of a book hangover coming on. Shay Savage is an incredible story teller, able to write a broken and damaged anti-hero that you can’t help but fall completely in love with. It’s not every day you find an author that is able to write a book entirely in the male POV and do such an amazing job of it. After the way book 2 ended, I couldn’t wait to dive into this one. I devoured it. After the 60% mark, I read it in one sitting.

Otherwise Unharmed was a suspenseful and erotic thriller that will keep you at the edge of your seat with a major case of blue ovary syndrome thrown into the mix. Wow. Just wow.

This book picks up right where Otherwise Occupied left off, with Evan in prison after a manic episode.

How did I get here? I wasn’t stupid. I also wasn’t so far gone to not remember the basics of what happened. After serving my tour of duty as a Marine sniper in the Middle East coupled with eighteen months as a prisoner of war, being exiled to Arizona for screwing up a hit for my mob-boss, spending too much time thinking about the girl I met there, and killing my favorite hooker for betraying me, I’d finally lost it and started shooting up the neighborhood.

Still suffering from nightmares and flashbacks to his time as a POW, his insomnia is at an all time worst. But this time he has something he didn’t before, Lia, the woman that he’s been unable to put out of his thoughts since his short time in Arizona.

Evan knows that he will not be able to walk away from her this time, and will do anything to keep her safe. But what happens when you put a shell-shocked hitman between a rock and a hard place, putting his loyalty to the test?

Miss Savage definitely saved the best for last with this book.
I fell in lust/love with Evan in book 1. This one just solidified exactly why he’s one of my favorite anti-heroes I’ve read to date.

Fucking you just makes me want more though. I’m trying to see if I can make it to round six before I pass out.”
“I’m going to be sore,” she said.
“Does that mean you’ll feel it all day tomorrow—feel it constantly, no matter what you’re doing, and think about my cock inside you every minute you’re awake?”
Lia’s breath quickened, and she stared up at me for a moment before she swallowed hard and nodded her head. “Probably.”
“Good.” I wrapped my hand around my shaft and drilled into her.

Evan had two sides with Lia. There was the erotic ass-man side. Then there was also the incredibly sweet side.

We also got to see the side that he hides beneath the deadly hit man.

There’s so much shit in my head—shit I can’t unsee or undo. Sometimes it feels like there’s something inside of me just…tearing me up inside and waiting to bust its way out. I think maybe…maybe if I could get that out, then maybe the person I was is still underneath.”

I went from having my heart break for him, to feeling like it was going to beat out of my chest with all the twists and turns that took place.

Lia was a great heroine as well. She was the perfect light to Evan’s dark. She had just the right amount of backbone to stand up to him, but also just enough vulnerability to endear you to her.

This book was one amazing and erotic thrill ride. Every time I thought I wrapped my mind around what was going, something else would happen that left me completely speechless. Well, speechless in between bousts of screaming “no no no” at my kindle and wanting to cry. Then there was an event at the end that left me devastated.

As for the ending? It was the perfect way to end the trilogy. It was so fitting, that it just made me love this book even more. I couldn’t see it being written any other way.

About the Author

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Bad boy Neil Harrison may have sexy body and an even sexier smile, but there’s no way in hell architect Carson Kelly is falling for the elusive bachelor. For starters, he’s her boss, and getting intimately involved with the infuriating alpha male could be a career-killer. And secondly, he’s battling personal demons in one of the most dangerous ways possible: illegal street racing. After a friend’s tragic death years ago, Carson swore she’d never get involved in that life again.

Neil knows Carson’s keeping secrets and he’s determined to uncover all of them…even if he has to seduce them out of her. But as their antagonistic work relationship ignites a passionate affair, Carson must decide if protecting Neil from his need for speed is the perfect outlet for her own restless desire, or if they’re on a one-way path to destruction.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

DGR: Hi Gina, welcome to Dirty Girl Romance. I’m so excited to have you here 🙂

Gina: So happy to be here! Thanks for having me 🙂

DGR: Can you start by telling readers a little bit about yourself?

Gina: I am a cupcake-loving Canadian who also loves German Shepherds and happily ever afters. I’ve wanted to be a writer forever and I still find it hard to believe that I’m actually living the dream.
DGR: Recipe for Attraction was my first Madewood Brothers book, and definitely won’t be my last. I really need to go back and meet bad boy chef, Jack. What inspired the Madewood Brothers series?

Gina: The series was inspired by a real life hot chef sighting. A friend of mine was at a food event and one of the booths was for a catering company that was owned by two, very attractive, very tattooed chefs. My imagination immediately ran wild and so the brothers came to be.

DGR: So what is your writing process like? How do your steamy novels come to life? Is there a writer’s cave and lots of coffee involved?

Gina: There is always lots of coffee, good music, and my laptop. I have an office at home that I use as my cave but lately I’ve found the lazy boy in the den mighty comfy!

I try and write whenever I can, wherever I can. Since I do have a day job, I need to make the most of my time and sometimes that means writing the sexy times on a bus with someone beside me. Sometimes….it’s uncomfortable 🙂

DGR: Now one Starbucks addict to another, what’s your favorite drink? I’m a vanilla latte girl myself 😉 

Gina: Me too! Me too! I’m a grande, vanilla, extra-hot, no foam latte kind of girl 🙂

DGR: Could you introduce the hero and heroine of Recipe for Attraction for us?

Neil Harrison is the oldest Madewood brother and foster son of the late socialite Vivian Madewood. Neil battles feelings of unworthiness and is haunted by his past. To prove his worth he’s building the biggest culinary venture the family has ever taken on—the Madewood Farm. But Neil has found an outlet for keeping his demons at bay…..illegal street racing.

Enter Carson Kelly, his architect and former street racetress, who’s hoping her work on the Madewood Farm will finally garner the approval of her father and secure her the lead designer position at his firm. Carson has her own secrets and will do anything to keep Neil from the track. Even if it means she ends up in his bed. Not that it’s such a hardship 🙂

Their love/hate relationship fuels their sexual attraction and it’s only a matter of time before they realize they are meant for each other.
DGR: If Recipe for Attraction was made into a movie, who would be your dream cast?

I picture Neil as Garrett Hedlund and Carson Kelly as Kate Beckinsale.

DGR: I have to say, one of my favorite things about Recipe for Attraction was that Carson was a biker chick. What inspired you to write such a kick-ass heroine (By the way, I loved how she wasn’t shy about voicing what she wanted in bed.)

I love Carson too! She’s definitely my favorite heroine that I’ve written so far. I needed to write a heroine that could challenge Neil’s overwhelming alpha nature but I also needed to give her something in common—street racing—since Neil isn’t one to lower his guard to just anyone.
DGR: Can you give us three reasons why people should read Recipe for Attraction?

Gina:
1. Fast bikes

2. Hot sex

3. True love

DGR: Now Twitter style, can you describe your book in 140 characters or less?

Gina: After a stolen kiss at an illegal street race, Carson and Neil go full speed ahead… in and out of bed.

DGR: What is your favorite part of a romance novel to read or write?

Gina: Definitely the happily ever after. I always look forward to the contented sigh at the end of the book.

DGR: So what’s next? Any hints about which brother we can expect to read next?

Gina: The next book, Recipe for Seduction, is Finn’s book. And you’ve already met his heroine, Veronica Whitfield – long-time friend and Jack and Sterling’s wedding planner.

Thanks again for having me!! And thank you readers for visiting!! Make sure you enter my blog tour grand prize — a Rafflecopter giveaway for a $50 Amazon gift card.

Find Gina here

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

 Review

It wasn’t about the money. He had more than enough to last three lifetimes. It was the rush. The danger. The feeling of letting go of everything and everyone, even if for a brief moment.

She still didn’t have a clear answer as to why he raced last night but she recognized all too well the darkness that emanated from his eyes. She knew firsthand how easy it was to let the darkness take over, to let the speed of the road engulf you, suck you in until you’re so deep it’s impossible to climb back out.

One of my favorite parts about this book was Carson’s character. She was such a kick-ass heroine. I loved that she was a rider herself. It’s not very often you read about a female riding a motorcycle.

You can think I’m privileged, a daddy’s girl or whatever other colorful stereotypes you can think of, but we have a lot more in common that you think.
I know what it’s like to have that darkness manifest itself on the track.”

I also really liked that she wasn’t shy about saying what she wanted in the bedroom. Not every day you read about a dirty talking heroine.

I’m demanding,” he said, his lips hovering over hers.
“I know.”
His hips brushed her stomach. “I’m insatiable.”
“I have no doubt.”
He dropped his gloves onto the ledge then raised his hand and secured a strand of her soft hair behind her ear. “I think I could use some distracting right now.”
She blinked and looked up. “I think I could use some fun right now.”
“Then I think for the very first time we agree on something.”

**ARC courtesy of publisher in exchange for an honest review**

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Sex. Love. Repeat. by Alessandra Torre

I love two men. I screw two men. I am in a relationship with them both, and they are both aware there is another. That is all they need to know, that is all I let them know. They don’t need to know a name; they don’t need to know anything, but that they are not alone in my heart.

They have accepted the situation. Stewart, because his life is too busy for the sort of obligations that are required in a relationship. Paul, because he loves me too much to tell me no. And because my sexual appetite is such that one man has trouble keeping up.

So we exist, two parallel relationships, each running their own course, with no need for intersection or conflict. It works for us, for them, and for me. I don’t expect it to be a long-term situation. I know there is an expiration date on the easy perfection of our lives.

I should have paid more attention, should have looked around and noticed the woman who watched it all. She sat in the background and waited, tried to figure me out. Saw my two relationships, the love between us, and the moment that it all fell apart.

My Review

Yea, I don’t even know how to do that without giving anything away. But I can tell you this. Think you know what you’re in for after reading that blurb? Well you’re wrong! Because it may be that, but it was also that much more.

I do NOT read love triangles. Like ever. Usually a book with love triangles sends me toward the nearest bottle of wine, wanting to rip my hair out and getting cold sweat flashbacks to Thoughtless. But then I read the blurb for this book, and I thought

Because I just had to read it. Think you’re getting a love triangle here? Well, you are…but you’re not. Confused? You should be! This book needs to be read without any preconceived notions. Do not read reviews or spoilers, it will absolutely ruin the experience.

Madison

The easy-going surferboy. He is a character that you just can’t help but fall in love with. He was the lighter part of the equation.

Paul loves me with unconditional warmth, his affection public and obvious, his arms pulling me into him, his mouth littering my body with frequent kisses. 

Stewart

Stewart loves me with a tiger’s intensity, his need taking my breath away, his confidence in our relationship strong enough to not be bothered by the presence of another man. He stares into my soul as if he owns it, and shows his love with money, sex, and rare moments of time.

ARC courtesy of author in exchange for an honest review

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Even though when the clouds have cleared and the dust has settled, both of them are almost obliterated… they’ve learned a priceless lesson.

I know that whenever I pick up a book by Courtney Cole I am in for one dark and angsty emotional roller coaster ride. Book 2 in the series, If You Leave continues to be one of my favorite books this year. That being said, I was hesitant to pick this one since I wanted to throttle Jacey in that book. I’m not even exaggerating. I hated her. I was pretty sure that there would need to be a miracle for me to develop any semblance of like toward her. So why was I still anticipating this book? Because I couldn’t wait to see what kind of magic Courtney had in store to endear us to Jacey as the heroine.

So did I like it? Did Courtney Cole manage to do the impossible and actually get me to like Jacey? 

For those that have read this series before, you know exactly what you are in for. Though I felt that Dom was possibly the darkest and most intense of the previous two books.

For those that have never read this series, Beautifully Broken is a light, easy, and fluffy read with perfect heroes and sweet heroines…

HA!

Had you going there for a second though, didn’t I?

No, there is nothing light, fluffy, or easy about this book. This is a story about 2 flawed people that start of on a rocky relationship that will either put them back together again or shatter them once and for all. 

To say that Dominic was fucked up would probably be one hell of an understatement. You know the second you meet him that this is a man that is hiding some very dark demons beneath his sexy as sin exterior.

Dom learned early in life that the only thing that’s guaranteed in life is betrayal and pain. So he doesn’t let anyone in. He wears a facade that’s so well constructed even he has trouble recalling who he once was. 

My problem is that I’m stuck in limbo… I don’t want to remember and I don’t want to forget. If I remember, it hurts like hell. But if I forget, it might happen again.

He hides beneath meaningless hookups, nameless women, his work, and alcohol. I
n short? He’s a jaded asshole. But can you really blame the guy? He’s a famous actor that women pretty much throw themselves at.

Jacey struggles with demons of her own. After a stupid lack in judgement causes a devastating outcome she is determined to turn her life around and be a better, more responsible person. But then she crosses paths with Dominic fucking Kinkaide. She can’t help but feel attracted to the sexy movie star.

But before long the undeniable attraction between them leads to something much more. But can Jacey break through the impenetrable emotional armor that Dom hides behind, without getting broken in the process?

He’s dangerous to me. Because even though this is supposed to be fun, temporary, and lighthearted, I can feel myself getting pulled in. I feel myself getting getting attached and I can’t do that. That wasn’t supposed to be part of this.

But Dom knows that the secrets he has he will never be able to get over. They’ve broken him, and they can only hurt anyone that gets close enough to even attempt to reach them.

Jacey, I’m not good. I’m the opposite of good. Have you ever wondered if people are monsters inside, down where no one can see? Because I don’t have to wonder. I know that I am.

There was the intricate back and forth dance of ‘I want you’ but ‘I can’t’, followed by ‘I want you’ but ‘I shouldn’t’. Which after a little while left me feeling a little bit like

What are you afraid of, Dominic? Really? What are you afraid of?”
“Everything.”

I thought that I was heading toward a 3.5 star read in the first half of the book. But then BAM! At 75 percent all hell starts to break loose and I was glued to my kindle wanting to find out what happens. I was an emotional and ugly crying mess. Of all the things I thought that Dominic was living with, I didn’t see that one coming. But then as if that wasn’t enough, Courtney Cole went and threw in a mother of all twists…

The last 25% brought the book up to a 4.5 star book for me. It was THAT good.

Dominic and Jacey relationship was filled with many bumps. It was emotional, it was devastating, it was also steamy as hell.

I was a little taken aback by a certain event in the epilogue, though. I’m not sure why, but it just seemed a little out of place in this series for me. I can’t say it was either bad or good, just weird…I guess?

If you like angtsy, steamy, and emotional NA romance books, definitely give this series a shot. Although each book can be read as a standalone, I would recommend reading the entire series in order.

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Darcy Nicole Sheridan, is 22 years-old, beautiful, single, spirited, sexy and  – spoiled. She knows that about herself. Raised by wealthy (and doting) parents as an only child, Darcy pretty much coasts through life until her heart was inexplicably broken by her boyfriend, Darin.

To ease the pain, Darcy flies to Belize over the holidays fully intending to wallow in self-pity and distance herself from her ex. Her pity party is short-lived however, after observing a very handsome, very intriguing man on the beach. Darcy becomes the focus of the smokin’ hot, wealthy and somewhat mysterious ‘E.J.’

Soon she finds herself entangled with an alpha like no other…  Her world is rocked by a series of events that will forever change the course of her life, showing her what love is all about; and forcing her to come to terms with hidden sexual pleasures only one man could fulfill…

Main Characters

Name: Easton (Jamison) Matthews
Aka: Easy E
Age: 33 years
Nationality: ½ British & ½ American (Mother is British/Father is American)
Profession: Mogul; Founder & CEO of Baronton Holdings
Hair color: Dark brown/black
Eye color: Gray
Other: British blue-blood (Baron);  Older half brother to Taz Matthews (Love Plus One);  Piercings

HEROINE

Name: Darcy (Nicole) Sheridan
Aka: Darce
Age: 22 years
Nationality: American
Profession: Recent College graduate; BA in International Marketing
Hair color: Medium brown (naturally wavy)
Eye color: Blue
Other: Best friend with Lindsey (Love Plus One);  Only child of wealthy parents;  Piercings

When I heard that Andrea was planning a 3rd G-man book; I was extatic. When I found out the hero is going to be a super sexy Brit; I was even more excited. But then Andrea went and put the cherry on my already perfect Alpha cake. Know what it was? Hmm? Do you? Let’s just say Easton came with certain….uhem….decorative perks. I have one thing to say to you, Easton

There is nothing I love more than broody, jaded, slightly assholish, manwhoring heroes.
What? I happen to have a type. And Easton happened to be that to a T

Oh Easton, how right you are.

Darcy is 22 years-old, beautiful, single, spirited, sexy and – spoiled. Emphasis on the spoiled. LOL! But she knows this about it and doesn’t make excuses for it. I have to admit, although at times her personality did irritate me, she redeemed herself at the end. She matured more and more as the book progressed, and I enjoyed her turnaround by the end of the book.

Easton

*dreamy sigh*
What can I tell you about Easton? He was so beautifully broken. I have to say that reading about the things that he went through, broke my heart. He is a hero that you will love to hate at first, but then will for for him ass over heals. Trust me. He had this dark intensity to him that I absolutely loved.

Darcy gave as good as she got. She was feisty and smart mouthed. But I did feel like she gave in to Easton too easily at times. I guess I just wanted to see him work for it a little more. He definitely deserved it at times. Not that I’m complaining about their…ummm…particular method of working things out

Although Night Moves can be easily read as a standalone, I’d highly recommend reading the rest of the series. There is an even that takes place at the end, that’s a continuation of a story from book 1 and 2. Though if you haven’t read it, the author gives a perfect amount of background so that you wouldn’t be confused or miss anything.

**ARC courtesy of author in exchange for an honest review**

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About the Author

Andrea Smith is an Ohio native, currently residing in southern Ohio.  Ms. Smith is the mother of two grown sons; grandmother of four.  The ‘Baby Series’ trilogy is Ms. Smith’s first self-published work.  Having previously been employed as an executive for a global corporation, Ms. Smith decided to leave the corporate world and pursue her life-long dream of writing fiction.

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