#DGRFave & Review: Playing With Fire by LJ Shen

September 15, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

PLAYING WITH FIRE
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: LJ Shen
Release Date: September 15, 2020

A broken boy on the path to destruction.
A scarred girl without direction.
A love story carved in secrets, inked with pain and sealed with a lie.

Grace Shaw and West St. Claire are arctic opposites.
She is the strange girl from the food truck.
He is the mysterious underground fighter who stormed into her sleepy Texan college town on his motorcycle one day, and has been wreaking havoc since.
She is invisible to the world.
He is the town’s beloved bad boy.
She is a reject.
He is trouble.
When West thrusts himself into Grace’s quiet life, she scrambles to figure out if he is her happily-ever-after or tragic ending.
But the harder she pushes him away, the more he pulls her out of her shell.
Grace doesn’t know much about anything beyond her town’s limits, but she does know this:
She is falling in love with the hottest guy in Sheridan U.
And when you play with fire—you ought to get burned.

 AMAZON

He was going to soar and burst like a supernova once he was out of this small Texas town, and I was going to remain the ashes he left behind—the stardust that slowly descended the earth in his wake.

You know what I love about LJ Shen? Her ability to create some of the most unique and memorable characters I’ve ever read. Starting with Sparrow, my first book of hers, to now, I can remember every minute detail of her books, and considering most days I can’t remember what I had for breakfast, that’s saying something.

But Playing With Fire? This one just hit different. It was unlike anything I’ve read from LJ Shen before. It was a fiery, passionate and emotional whirlwind of a story that owned me from beginning to finish.

This was going to be temporary. And painful. And worth it.

Grace Shaw is not your typical heroine and easily one of the most unique characters I’ve read in a very long while. She used to be the queen B, now turned recluse. Her world was turned upside down and nothing has been the same since. She’s plagued by memories of what used to be and the hard reality of her present.

West is the town’s golden bad boy. A sinner on a motorcycle and the epitome of everything that Grace should stay away from. Theirs is the unlikeliest of bonds and friendships that starts with sparks of attraction, burns with a fiery hate, and rises from the ashes like a phoenix of love. Lord, I’m getting poetic here. But y’all. I just don’t have a better way of describing their relationship to you. It’s opposites attract with plenty of banter turned to some of the most delicious sexual tension. It was everything. EVERYTHING. It was angsty. It was painful. It was spellbinding and absolutely magnificent. I died for these two. This tortured town recluse and the bad boy that slowly but surely brings her out of her shell.

The romance is a delicious slow burn that I couldn’t get enough of. The story was packed with feels, plot twists, and enough chemistry to set fire to the pages. Pun intended. It was a unique, captivating, and utterly unforgettable standalone from the queen of angst, and I can’t recommend it enough.

Leave a Comment · Filed Under: All Reviews, Contemporary Romance, DGR Favorites, New Adult · Tagged With: , ,

Spotlight, Exclusive Excerpt & Giveaway: On The Wings of War by Hailey Turner

September 7, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

On the Wings of War by
Author: Hailey Turner
Series: Soulbound V
Release Date: Print & ebook – September 2, 2020
Length: 109,151 words
Subgenre: LGBTQ Urban Fantasy

Remembering the dead will always give them life.

The coveted Morrígan’s staff is up for sale on the black market to the highest bidder, and SOA Special Agent Patrick Collins will do whatever it takes to ensure the Dominion Sect doesn’t get their hands on it. Returning the weapon to its rightful owner is another step on the long road toward clearing Patrick’s soul debt, but he won’t walk it alone. Jonothon de Vere won’t let him.

Obeying the gods means Patrick must travel to London. For Jono, it means facing a past he thought he’d left behind forever. His return to England isn’t welcome, and neither is their pack, but Jono and Patrick will face the antagonism together. Politics aside, their priority must be the mission, but the bone-chilling secret they uncover in the London god pack will have far-reaching repercussions no one can ignore.

A race against time takes Patrick and Jono from the streets of London to the bright lights of Paris, where hospitality is thin on the ground, the air is filled with whispered prayers for the missing, and the Morrígan’s staff will end up in the one place it should never have gone—a graveyard.

For beneath Paris lie the long-forgotten dead, and when they rise to walk again, the living can only hope to die.

On the Wings of War is a 109k word m/m urban fantasy with a gay romantic subplot and a HFN ending. It is a direct sequel to A Vigil in the Mourning. Reading the first book in the series would be helpful in enjoying this one.

About On the Wings of War by Hailey Turner: This is an exciting sequel that builds on the series plot and makes readers keep wanting more!

AMAZON | AUTHOR SITE

A loud knock on their hotel room door had Jono opening it after Patrick dropped his wards and indicated it was okay. Wade wrinkled his nose in greeting, then held up a stolen bottle of air freshener.“I came prepared,” Wade said, brandishing the bottle at him.

Jono rolled his eyes. “Don’t be rude to housekeeping. Put that back where you found it.”

“I need it more than they do right now.”

“You spray our room, I’m dumping all your snacks in the trash,” Patrick threatened as he finished knotting his tie.

Wade gasped loudly before narrowing his eyes. “You wouldn’t.”

Jono snagged the bottle of air freshener from him. “Where’s Sage?”

“We were gonna wait for you guys downstairs, but she sent me back up because there’s an asshole waiting for you.”

Jono tossed the bottle of air freshener into the hotel room, not caring where it landed. “Who?”

“That Bryson guy.”

Patrick swore and went to grab his suit jacket from the wardrobe. “What the fuck does he want now?”

“Uh, breakfast? Like me? Sage said our table is ready, and I’m hungry.”

Patrick looked fit to murder someone, but he didn’t raise his shields. Jono could still smell him—the underlying bitterness that was Patrick’s own scent, along with the scent of them together and the pack on its own. The mix was better than any cologne on the market as far as Jono was concerned.

“Let’s go,” Patrick ordered.

Jono let him leave first, enjoying the view of Patrick from behind. The suit was decently tailored and fit him well, and it wasn’t every day Jono got to see him clean up nice. Jono figured Nadine probably had a hand in it at some point since it was reasonably on trend.

He let the door close and latch behind him before hurrying after Patrick and Wade. They took the lift down, exiting into the lobby. Sage stood near one of the chaise lounges, dressed casually, with a tote bag on her shoulder. Bryson stood a meter away from her, hands at his sides, not showing throat but not looking like he wanted to fight.

They strode across the lobby, and Jono watched as Bryson turned his head to look at them, eyes hidden behind sunglasses. Beyond the hotel’s sliding glass front doors, it looked as if the sun from yesterday had been swallowed by clouds.

“Give me one good reason I shouldn’t knock your ass into the street?” Patrick demanded in a low voice once they got within arm’s reach, mindful of the front desk workers nearby.

“Because it would go against pass-through rights when I’m not here to fight,” Bryson drawled. He sniffed unsubtly, jaw twitching a little from whatever he was picking up from Patrick.

“Your attitude leaves much to be desired. How many of you have been ordered to spy on us?” Sage said.

Bryson’s mouth twisted a little before he shook his head. “I came by for a chat and to check up on you lot.”

“You mean you came to spy.”

Bryson shrugged expansively, the smile on his face brittle. “Are you surprised? You left an impression.”

“We could leave another one,” Patrick said, one hand in a fist.

 

Hailey Turner is big city girl who spoils her cats rotten and has a demanding day job that she loves, but not as much as she loves writing. She’s been writing since she was a young child and enjoys reading almost as much as creating a new story.

Connect with Hailey Turner:

Newsletter: You can keep up with Hailey’s future projects by joining her newsletter, where you can instantly download several free short stories: http://bit.ly/HaileyTurnerNews

Facebook Group | Instagram | Facebook Profile | Bookbub | Author Page | Pinterest | Goodreads | Website

Giveaway: to celebrate the release of On the Wings of War by Hailey Turner, we are giving away three e-books to kindle email addresses from Hailey Turner’s back catalogue. Open internationally, must be 18 to enter and win.

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Leave a Comment · Filed Under: Adult Urban Fantasy, Author Spotlight & interview, Excerpts, Giveaways · Tagged With: , , ,

Review: Not My Romeo by Ilsa Madden-Mills

September 5, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

NOT MY ROMEO
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: The Game Changers #1
Author: Ilsa Madden-Mills
Release Date: August 18, 2020

Wall Street Journal bestselling author Ilsa Madden-Mills delivers a smart and sexy contemporary romance about a smoking-hot professional football player and the small-town girl he can’t resist.

We start off with a lie on Valentine’s Day.

My blind date isn’t the studious guy I expected: he’s a drop-dead gorgeous player with sinful amber eyes. Somehow we end up at his penthouse. I blame the gin and tonic.

The next day I learn he’s Jack Hawke—bad-boy professional quarterback with a murky past. The NDA he has me sign should be a warning that he isn’t a regular person. Please. I sign it Juliet Capulet, so goodbye, famous football player with abs of steel, and good luck tracking down this small-town librarian.

But Jack keeps showing up in places I least expect him. Just when I’m sure he’s gone, he waltzes into my community theater and wins the part of Romeo to my Juliet. How’s a plain, mostly innocent girl like me supposed to resist a man like him?

Is Jack my real Romeo… or will this gorgeous football player only break my heart?

 AMAZON 

He’s going to crawl inside my heart. He’s going to break it into a million pieces.

Ummm….excuse me? How and why is this my first Ilsa Madden-Mills book? I am shooketh! SHOOKETH! I’m now immediately rectifying my mistake by purchasing the woman’s entire backlist. True story. But I digress.

I totally misjudged this book based on the blurb. I was expecting just another famous jock meets nobody heroine fluffy romance. But this was so much more than that. It was packed full of feels and laugh out loud moments. It was adorably quirky and layered with plenty of emotion.

It’s a case of mistaken identity when Elena meets Jack. Elena is searching for her blind date, and thinks Jack is the weatherman that she’s been set up with. Elena is also a little bumbling, a touch awkward, but full of sass and fire. She’s impossible not to love from the very first page.

Jack is the bad boy of football. With a reputation that precedes him, he’s used to being eviscerated by the media. He’s also extremely misunderstood and the readers learns this as layers begin to peel back on him. Jack prefers to lay low but when a quirky beauty rushes to his table and questions him like she knows him, he plays along. And when he realizes he’s not quite who she thinks he is, it’s too late to turn back. He’s already riveted by her.

What’s supposed to be just one steamy night turns into something much more when their worlds collide shortly after.

Now usually I’m not as invested in the romance when the characters sleep together so early in the story, but the author pulls this off flawlessly. She does it so well, in fact, that the following slow burn just about killed me. If these two didn’t come together soon, I thought my head would explode.

They dance around each other for weeks. When Jack lands in Elena’s small town by pure happenstance, he knows he has to go after his chance even though Elena is not thrilled to see him. I loved the way that Elena makes him work for it. She may be quirky and awkward at times, but the girl has sass for days.

I loved all of the secondary characters, Jack’s best friend especially. The chemistry between Jack and Elena was incendiary, but their inability to communicate about their feelings until the end drove me a little batty. But I also understood why each of them struggled with this, as they both had their trust issues. Jack especially, coming off of the ex that he had. But I also appreciated that there really wasn’t any female drama with that, except for the issues it caused his image and career.

Ultimately, this was a fun, sweet and steamy read that I enjoyed immensely and can’t wait for Elena’s sister to get her story next.

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Review: Gabriel Fallen by Nina West

September 3, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

GABRIEL FALLEN
Genre: Erotic Romance, Mafia
Series: Dirty Empire #2
Author: Nina West
Release Date: May 23, 2019

From internationally bestselling author K.A. Tucker, writing as Nina West, comes the dark and steamy Dirty Empire trilogy.

Mercy Wheeler and Gabriel Easton’s sordid tale continues in Gabriel Fallen as Mercy finds herself heading down a dangerous path.

Gabriel has made an art of dangling what I’m most desperate for in front of me, what he knows I can’t refuse, no matter the cost. In this case, that cost continues to be me.

He is still a scoundrel, but I’m starting to see something more.

And while our bargain is proving advantageous in ways I never anticipated, the risks that come with being associated with a man like him are becoming painfully clear.

But how much longer before this arrangement with Gabriel costs me everything I am?

This is the second book in the Dirty Empire series and should be read after Sweet Mercy.

 AMAZON 

I’m falling for this woman, and I’m falling hard.

This trilogy is the best sort of book crack. I can’t get enough of Gabriel and Mercy.

You know that saying about the bigger they are? Well nothing is more satisfying than watching the biggest bad boy fall hard for a woman, especially when that woman is a spitfire that gives as hard as she gets.

The dominoes continue to fall in Gabriel’s world in this second installment. More secrets are revealed about his family and they’re jaw dropping. Gabriel went into his affair with Mercy hoping to work her out of his system but he definitely got a lot more than he bargained with her. He finds himself falling for her, even if he doesn’t quite realize that’s what’s happening.

Mercy is one of my favorite heroines. The woman has all of the odds stacked against her and still she fights. She essentially sold her soul to the devil to help her father. She can’t possibly fall for Gabriel when he’s the antithesis to everything she should want, right? I gotta say I absolutely love the live wire dynamic between these two. Their chemistry is incendiary. But the progression of their relationship is absolutely magnetic. I can’t get enough of them.

I’m salivating for the conclusion. I needs it. If you’re looking for a sexy, fast paced trilogy, you need this one in your life. Gabriel is an antihero that needs to be experienced.

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Review: Sicko by Amo Jones

September 1, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

SICKO
Genre: Dark Romance
Author: Amo Jones
Release Date: September 1, 2020

He was my foster brother.

He swore to protect me.

He failed.

They all failed.

I’m an open box of passé photographs, snapped in chaste daylight, but filtered in sepia. I’m the past that he tried to forget, and he was the future I needed. When he left six years ago, I screamed for him every night. But then it all stopped. My screams were suddenly muffled by cruelty, and further coaxed by pain.

But he has come back. He’s not the cute big brother I had a furtive crush on, or the bad boy, rich brat that I hated to love.

He’s the ruthless vice president of Wolf Pack MC, and he doesn’t answer to Royce Kane anymore.

He answers to Sicko.

 AMAZON

Heaven won’t take me, and Hell won’t welcome my demons back. I’ll be left in purgatory again, only this time for real.

This was one of my most anticipated September releases. The second I read the blurb to this book, I’ve been salivating for it. And I think this may have been my favorite Amo Jones book I’ve read to date. The woman sure knows how to write a kickass heroine and an antihero that will make your ovaries quiver. And this story brought that in spades.

Jade is one of the most fierce heroines I’ve ever read from Amo and I couldn’t get enough. We first meet Jade as a 15 year old girl, reeling with her budding feelings for her foster brother. Though there’s no ice factor here. The author did a phenomenal job layering their foundation with just enough chemistry when we first meet them that shows that Royce’s overprotective brother routine is so much more. Royce has been Jade’s everything, ever since she landed with Kane family as an infant. He’s her protector, her confidant, and her dirtiest secret in her mind. But just as she begins to come to terms that her feelings for him are no longer that of an innocent young girl, he disappears. And leaves her in hell.

It’s been four years since Royce left and now everything is different. Jade has been stuck in a hell that no one knows about. And when her foster brother makes a sudden reappearance, it turns her world upside down one more time. Royce is no longer the wild boy she knew. He’s darker at the edges and the VP of an MC. He also seems to almost hate her.

The chemistry between these two was incendiary. I couldn’t get enough of them. They were volatile and erotic and it hurt so good. They almost get off on tormenting the other in their own different ways. But both harbor secrets that can destroy everything.

What made this book all the more intriguing to me, was the author’s warning in the beginning of this book being DARK. Like spare no details sort of dark. So of course I began to brace myself from the very first page. Now perhaps I’m a bit desensitized when it comes to my dark reads, but while this book certainly skated on the edges of dark, it never fully plummeted into that icy water for me. I spent the entire book waiting for the other shoe to drop, and while it did, it wasn’t as dark as I expected. Now what it does touch on is a very relevant subject. One I have mad respect for the author having touched on. However, I also expected this to be a little darker than it was or what it promised to be.

Now don’t get me wrong, a walk in the park it was not. It was gritty, depraved, and with plenty of dark edges. I suppose I just expected a bit more.

That aside, I practically inhaled this book. There were so many twists and turns, and I love it when a book can manage to take me by surprise so completely. There’s so much that’s unraveled, that I’m desperately hoping this will be a series, or that we’ll at least get Wicked’s story. Because GAH.

Sicko and Jade’s relationship was anything but traditional. It’s full of turbulence, pain, and secrets. It was utterly delicious. Jones brought her A game when it came to creating their brand of emotional punishment, because DAMN. It hurt so good.

There were a few pieces that felt unresolved for me in the end, but they were pretty minor and felt insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Ultimately, I devoured this book and couldn’t put it down for even a second. If dark, dirty, and deliciously erotic romance is your crack, welcome to your next addiction. Jade and Sicko’s story will grab you by the throat from the beginning and own your heart at the end.

Amo Jones is a USA Today & Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author, totally winging this author thing (she’s probably doing it all wrong). She likes cake, loves wine, and her religion is magic (Slytherin). She’s a profound work-a-holic, but when she’s not writing, you can find her chilling with her kids & Husband at the nearest beach, with a cocktail in her hand.

 

New Zealand is not a state of Australia and rugby is the best sport ever played.

Connect w/Amo:

Website | Facebook | Facebook Group | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon | Bookbub 

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Review: Show Stopper by BJ Harvey

August 31, 2020 by ·

SHOW STOPPER
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Chicago First Responders #1
Author: BJ Harvey
Release Date: August 31, 2020

The first time they meet it’s by chance.

The second is surely a coincidence.

The third…it’s either destiny or he’s a stalker.

Renee Hamilton has a thing against men in uniform. In her experience, they play hard, lie harder. Marco Rossi has a thing for feisty brunette women with a backbone and a smart mouth, especially one in particular who’s playing hard to get.

She’s fiercely independent and wants better for herself.
He loves helping people so much it’s literally his job.

Worst case scenario, they crash and burn.

Lucky for Renee, Marco has a hose, he knows how to use it, and he happens to love putting out all kinds of fires; real or otherwise.
***
USA Today Bestselling Author BJ Harvey brings you Showstopper – Book 1 in a new spin-off to the Cook Brothers rom com series featuring Chicago first responders fighting the good fight and also finding love at the same time. Set in the same world as the Bliss, Game, and Cook Brothers series before it.

 AMAZON 

I always said I wanted a show stopper. Something tells me, I may have just found one.

Who is this person that just melted in a swooning pile of goo over a sweet and angst-free romance? I have no idea who this bitch is. I don’t know her. I’m seriously questioning my entire existence right now and I am not ok, okay?! I. Am. Not. OK.

You guys. This book. *happy wiggle* It was just so stinking cute.

Now if you know me or follow my reviews, you know I don’t gravitate towards sweet romances. But sometimes a girl just needs a good hit of sweet and steamy. And when that happens, who better than BJ Harvey to serve it up. Because let me just tell you, fellow angst whores, once you meet Marco Rossi, you’ll be converters too.

Do you come to ladies’ night and try to use your big muscles and suave moves often? Or maybe you just say “I’m a firefighter; I’ve got a big hose and I know how to use it’ and wait for women to swoon and fall at your feet?”
My lips curve into an amused smirk. “Would it work on you? Because my next move is to take them to the firehouse and show them my big truck. Then, if they’re really good, I’ll let them slide down my long fireman’s pole.”

I want to clarify that while it was a light-hearted and easy read, it was not even a little cheesy. Which is always my fear when reading romance like this and why I gravitate to all of the angst. It was full of depth and wonderful characters and set the foundation for a fantastic series that I’m already craving my next hit of.

Renee is exactly the kind of heroine I love to read about it. She’s a take no prisoners professional. Independent to a fault and she don’t need no man, okay? She’s got some baggage from her previous relationship but she also doesn’t let it define her. She’s focused on her career and never sees Marco coming.

Marco is….*swoon*. GOD. This man was sheer perfection. He knows what he wants and he goes after it. He’s a gentleman. He’s a sweet talker that means what he says and says what he means and I couldn’t get enough of his woo. And ladies, his woo game is STRONG.

This was a cute, sweet and steamy read that I devoured in one sitting. It has just the right splash of conflict to keep things interesting and full of swoon and romance that will put a smile on your face and keep it there.

· Filed Under: All Reviews, Contemporary Romance · Tagged With: ,

Review: The Truest Thing by Samantha Young

August 26, 2020 by ·

The Truest Thing
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Hart’s Boardwalk #4
Author: Samantha Young
Release Date: August 18, 2020

Nine years ago, Emery Saunders moved to Hartwell to start her life over as a bookstore owner. Her inability to trust people made it hard for her to find a place in the small community until Jessica Lawson moved to town and befriended the shy beauty.
But there was one person in Hartwell who tried to befriend Emery long before Jessica arrived…

Jack Devlin has his secrets. One of them is that he fell hard for Emery the moment she appeared in Hartwell. Another is that his father blackmailed him into covering up a dark family tragedy. It forced Jack to sever his relationships to protect the people he cared about. Yet, staying away from Emery has not been easy throughout the years and he hasn’t always succeeded. When Jack’s mixed signals hurt Emery once again, she puts him out of her heart for good.
Until the Devlin family secret is finally revealed, freeing Jack from his father’s machinations. What Jack wants more than anything is to repair his relationships, starting with Emery.

However, Emery isn’t ready to forgive and Jack’s not ready to give up.
And when the town’s latest scandal ties Jack and Emery together, Jack is not above using their new reality to prove to Emery once and for all that their love is worthy of the legend of Hart’s Boardwalk.

 AMAZON 

She was pure temptation. He couldn’t have her. But, fuck, did he want her.

I adore all things Samantha Young and I’ve absolutely adored her Hart’s Boardwalk series. But while I did ultimately enjoy this one, it certainly wasn’t my favorite in the series.

Jack and Emery’s story is not an easy one. It spans years and is riddled with dark secrets, betrayal, and pain. Emery was a character I wasn’t sure that I’d love at first. She’s painfully shy, timid, and blushes with a stiff wind. But there’s just something about her that you can’t help but click with. She’s a very complex character with so many layers that get peeled back with each new chapter.

The second she sets foot in the small town and locks eyes with Jack, they have an indescribable connection. She’s a young girl with plenty of secrets who struggles to make connections but with more years that she spends in the charming small town, the more that changes. She makes friends. She forms strong connection with the town and the people. But her connection with Jack only gets more and more complicated.

Jack is a tortured characters with some dark secrets in his past and some debilitating demons in his present. And while I liked him at first, that connection began to wane as the story progressed. While I understood (somewhat) the reasons for some of the decisions he made, I also hated them. I hated them so much that I had a hard time moving past them and struggled with how Emery could. Even though Emery does make him work for it in the end, some of these betrayals were almost too much for me. Their constant back and forth, I want her but I can’t have her also became too much. It wore me out. There’s just so much drama on top of drama happening here, that the relationship issues with these two became too much for me.

I feel conflicted because while I did have issues, I also enjoyed it. I loved Emery, and even though Jack wasn’t perfect, he did have his incredible moments too. His feelings for Emery were so deep and there was so much emotion packed into this. I just could have done without some of the decisions with women he made. Le sigh.

While it wasn’t my favorite in the series, it was still an enjoyable read. I do adore this series and look forward to more.

· Filed Under: All Reviews, Contemporary Romance · Tagged With: ,

Review: Unholy Union by Natasha Knight

August 25, 2020 by · Leave a Comment

Unholy Union
Genre: Dark Romance, Mafia
Series: Unholy Union Duet #1
Author: Natasha Knight
Release Date: August 25,2020

Circumstance put Cristina on my path.

Fate bound her to me.

Cristina and I share a common past.

A single night that changed the course of our lives.

She asked me if I was a monster the night I met her.

I am.

She’s about to learn I’m her monster.

Because the countdown that began eight years ago has ended. Her time is up.

On the stroke of midnight, she’s mine.

Unholy Union contains the prologue Unholy: The Beginning

 AMAZON | B&N | KOBO | iBOOKS

COMING SOON

#2 Unholy Intent – Releasing September 15

AMAZON | NOOK | KOBO | iBOOKS

When you run, I will come after you. I will always come after you. You belong to me now, Cristina. For better or for worse.”

Oh.
My.
GOD.

I need the next book immediately!!!! My ovaries shall not survive it! I’m a sucker for a good anti-hero, and no one writes them quite like Natasha Knight. As a matter of fact, Damian Di Santo may be my favorite antihero I’ve read from her to date! This man was SHIVER inducing.

The pacing of this story was PERFECTION. It gives just enough chemistry to make the progression believable all the while maintaining the dangerous and dark notes of Damian and Christina’s relationship.

Christina is only a child when she first gets in Damian’s crosshairs. A bloody revenge, secrets and promises bring them back together years later on her eighteenth birthday. I loved that even thought Christina is so young and has the naiveté to go with it, she’s not a pushover. She’s a fighter. She’s not reckless but she’s also not a doormat. She’s an incredible balance of fierce and vulnerable. As for Damian? GAH. This man. I loved him. He’s lethal, cunning, and oozes danger and sexuality. Christina can’t accept that she was promised to Damian in a deal that cost her family everything. She’ll fight him with everything she is. But there’s so much more at play here. There’s dark secrets and dangerous plot twists lurking at every turn and I was so here for it.

I DEVOURED this book, y’all. Couldn’t stop reading for even a second. It was everything I love in a dark romance and I’m absolutely desperate for the conclusion!

USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance, Natasha Knight specializes in dark, tortured heroes. Happily-Ever-Afters are almost always guaranteed, but she likes to put her characters through hell to get them there. She’s evil like that.

 

Connect with Natasha:

Website: http://natasha-knight.com

Bookbub: http://bit.ly/29Cb7vD

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2kg2fRX

Facebook: http://bit.ly/29q3s4b

Facebook Group: http://bit.ly/2xvnZO5

Newsletter: http://natasha-knight.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/natashaknight13

 

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Review: Sweet Mercy by Nina West

August 22, 2020 by · 1 Comment

SWEET MERCY
Genre: Erotic Romance, Mafia
Series: Dirty Empire #1
Author: Nina West
Release Date: March 27, 2019

From internationally bestselling author K.A. Tucker, writing as Nina West, comes the dark and steamy Dirty Empire trilogy.

One visit to my father in prison—convicted for a murder he didn’t commit—and I’ve attracted the attention of the last man I’d ever want knowing that I exist.

Gabriel Easton.

Son of an infamous crime boss. Deplorable womanizer. Scoundrel to the core.

Worse, he has figured out how desperate I am to protect my father from brutality behind bars. He has the power to grant that protection, and he has offered it … for a price.

Me.

I am to become a “guest” in his mansion, to live with him until he tires of having me around.
I’ll do anything for my father, including agree to Gabriel’s cruel game. But I won’t comply with his every whim and wish.

Not when he taunts me with that ruthless spark in his cold blue eyes.

Not when he requires that I share his bedroom at night.

Unfortunately for me, I think my loathing for him is what he’s enjoying most.

That’s fine. By the time I’m through with him, he’ll be crying my name.

Mercy.

 AMAZON 

My name on this woman’s lips will be my downfall.

First of all, if we’re friends and you’ve read this book and didn’t scream at me that I need to read it immediately? Yeah. I’m reevaluating our friendship. You are no friend of mine. Because if you were and you read this, then you’d know that this was so much my catnip, I’d want to name both of my ovaries Gabriel.
This is book one in one of the most addictive trilogies I’ve read in a long time. And I’m not a reader that gravitates to trilogies? But having devoured this book in one sitting, I can already confirm that book two is giving me the same vibes.

Gabriel is the ultimate bad boy. The man is the son of an infamous gangster whose mere name makes grown men quake. He and his brother have lived a life of debauchery and no expense spared but don’t exactly what to be in their father’s shadow.

Gabriel is also used to getting any woman he wants to fall at his knees at the snap of a sexy finger.

Mercy has had her entire world turned upside down when her father gets sent to prison for the murder of a man that attacked her. She’s desperate to get him out and fight his unfair conviction. Especially since his life is in constant danger. Gabriel lays his sights on the beauty while visiting his own father and is determined to have her. But he doesn’t exactly make a convincing argument when he offers his protection in exchange for her dropping to her knees.

Now if you’re not a fan of alphaholes, you won’t like this. But if you’re like me and like them mean and extra cocky, prepare for ovary explosion, friends. Because Gabriel is all of the things. And I think what makes this as good as it was was watching his fall for Mercy. Mercy may be a good girl, but she takes no sh*t and isn’t afraid to put Gabriel in his place and makes him work for it. The sexual tension is UNREAL You can practically taste their chemistry.

I devoured and I mean DEVOURED this book. It was deliciously dirty and completely addictive.

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Review: The Pool Boy by Nikki Sloane

August 13, 2020 by ·

THE POOL BOY
Genre: Erotic Romance
Series: Nashville Neighborhood #2
Author: Nikki Sloane
Release Date: August 11, 2020


Nothing says happy birthday like catching your husband in a compromising position with his boss.

His male boss.

Why, hello, midlife crisis. I’m starting over, but this time I’m doing it right. Or at least I’m doing what I want.

Taking the day off from work to hang out poolside? Yup. Do I leave the swimsuit in my house? Sure.

Does my very hot, twenty-something pool boy happen to catch me naked? Oh, yeah, he does. And he likes what he sees… a lot.

My best friend keeps telling me to have a fling and get back out there. But I’m not so sure she meant for me to do it with her son.

 AMAZON | iBOOKS | NOOK | KOBO | GOOGLE PLAY

If he had a flavor, it was just like his music. Sinfully rich and hot.

Every now and then a girl just wants a fun and smutty romance with a dash of taboo/forbidden mixed in. And whenever I’m craving this, Nikki Sloane is my no-brainer go-to. The woman can write a steamy erotica like no other. But she’ll also infuse it with a fun story and plenty of feels to make it immensely satisfying.

Now I’m going to admit something to you and I’m prepared for the judgy looks I’ll get. *whispers* I have a double standard. *grins sheepishly* What? I own it. I know I do. Because while I love me a good age gap romance with an older man, I don’t particularly gravitate towards the reverse. I know, I know. It’s not a bias I have in life. But for some reason, I do have it in books. Which is ridiculous, now that I think about it, because some of my favorite age gaps have been with a younger guy. Huh. I’m having an epiphany here. But I digress. What I’m trying to say here, is it’s not my go to, but if Nikki writes it? I’m all over it.

I devoured Erika and Troy’s book. Beyond the age gap, there’s also a big dash of forbidden, because Troy just happens to be Erika’s best friend’s son.
Erika is a recent divorce still dealing with discovering her husband’s long term affair…with his male boss.
I know! The plot twists! Craziness. But I digress again.

Troy is Erika’s best friend’s son and also her pool boy. Troy has also been harboring a huge crush on his mom’s friend for years. When he stumbles upon Erika sunbathing at her pool topless, well, let’s just say his reaction is not easy to hide. And seeing her best friend’s son all grown up staring at her with some very adult lust in his eyes? Well let’s just say Erika has an epiphany of her own. Thus begins their incredibly hot but also forbidden affair. And I was SO HERE FOR IT.

This story was so much more than just hot sex. Even though it was hot. I mean, smoking hot. SCORCHING. But really, there was so much more to it. I loved the way that Erika fought for Troy’s dreams even when his own parents didn’t see them. Troy was absolutely delicious. He’s sweet and caring and he’s all in with Erika. He’s not a stereotypical 20 year old playboy. He knows what he wants and he doesn’t need years of playing the field to know that it’s Erika and he could care less about their twenty year age difference. I absolutely loved the two of them together.

This was such a fun, quick paced read that I devoured in one hot Sunday afternoon and finished with a smile on my face. It was the perfect steamy read to get my mind off of all the crazy happening in our world right now. I also immediately went and purchased book one in this series to read about the good Dr and his son’s ex girlfriend. Because Yum. If you’re looking for a super steamy but wonderfully developed and immensely satisfying erotic romance, this is definitely a must read.

USA Today bestselling author Nikki Sloane landed in graphic design after her careers as a waitress, a screenwriter, and a ballroom dance instructor fell through. For eight years she worked for a design firm in that extremely tall, black, and tiered building in Chicago that went through an unfortunate name change during her time there.

 

Now she lives in Kentucky, is married and has two sons. She is a three-time Romance Writers of America RITA© Finalist, a Passionate Plume winner, a two-time HOLT Medallion finalist, and couldn’t be any happier that people enjoy reading her sexy words.

Connect with Nikki

Amazon | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Bookbub | Goodreads | Joining her mailing list

· Filed Under: All Reviews, Erotic Rom · Tagged With: , ,
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