BLACK SHEEP
Series: Dark Desires #2
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance
Author: Zara Cox
Release Date: March 14, 2017
In a family of cold-hearted black sheep,
I, Axel Rutherford, am the blackest.My father has hated me since the day I was born. The feeling was mutual. In the shady underworld that was my legacy, Cleo McCarthy became my light. She was beautiful, passionate, and my whole world. So naturally my father had to destroy us. First he sent me away. Next he claimed Cleo as his own. But now I’ve returned, and nothing will stop me from taking back everything that is rightfully mine.
He was the love of my life – when my life was still my own.
We were young enough to believe we would last forever, Axel and I. But neither of us realized how cruel life – and our families – could be. Now I’m trapped in a gilded cage: desired by Axel, who must never know the full truth, and controlled by his father, who would sooner see me dead than free. And I wouldn’t even care, except that it’s no longer only my life at stake
In a family of cold-hearted black sheep, I, Axel Rutherford, am the blackest. Abundantly despised by my three brothers, actively hated by my father. She was the golden princess. Put on earth to test every single one of my hardened edges. And I happily burned away every last one for her.
If I said that I was an insta-fan of this author after I finished I, Porn Star, this book solidified it. Damn. Just damn. Zara Cox knows how to weave one complex and erotic tale that’s equally spine tingling and toe curling. It’s addicting and twisty and downright intense.
If you like a good second chance romance with a healthy dose of hate lust mixed in to blur the edges, all wrapped in a story with dark undertones and enough twists and suspense to keep you glued to the pages from start to finish, you’ve found your next read.
Being born to a cruel and abusive father intent on hardening his sons enough to help run his mafia empire has hardened Axel. He’s the black sheep of the family, the son that wants nothing of his father; not his name and not his infamy in the dark underbelly of organized crime. He dreams of escaping the life with the only person that makes his heart beat and gives him hope. But that hope gets ripped away from him with a jarring betrayal that now years later still continues to haunt him. Losing everything and the one person he always thought he could trust is enough to change a man and change the course of his life forever. Now Axel lives and breathes vengeance. His father will pay, and if the woman that’s now back in his life after costing him everything is the pawn that he’ll have to use in this brutal game, so be it.
As a young girl, Cleo loved Axel with everything she was worth. He was her everything…until he wasn’t. Forced back into his orbit by an arrangement in which she’s nothing but a puppet on a string of a cruel master that dangles the one thing she wants in exchange for her cooperation isn’t what she wants, but she’ll do it. Even if it forces her to own up that while she hates the man he is now and doesn’t see a remainder of the boy she once loved in him, the carnal effect his mere presence has on her hasn’t changed even a little.
Black Sheep delivers on another twisty story full of betrayal and revenge. Zara Cox is truly a master of her craft and I’m absolutely captivated by her writing style and the characters she creates. I couldn’t put this book down for even a second. I walked the edge between hating and loving Axel. But between all the secrets and twists that kept unearthing, my mind was too busy spinning to focus on any singular emotion.
Axel was perfection. He was a dirty talking, angsty, domineering and deliciously sexy perfection. My heart broke for him and what he’d been through. I was on the edge of my seat waiting for all the secrets to finally get revealed so the puzzle pieces can click together. And let me just tell you, when they did? Mind. Blowing. Yet another addicting installment in what’s now become a favorite series of mine. I absolutely can’t wait for more!
Each book in the Dark Desires series is a standalone in an interconnecting world. So if you’ve read the first book, you’ll appreciate Quinn’s cameo in this one 🙂
DON’T MISS THE FIST BOOK IN THIS SIZZLING SERIES!
BEAUTIFUL LIAR (Previously published as I, Porn Star)
Did you know that I cannot stand surprise pregnancies? Well, it just doesn’t matter because I will love anything Penny Reid and/or L.H. Cosway writes. I had no idea going into this book that it was a surprise pregnancy, but it didn’t matter and I didn’t stutter when reading it because it was so good.
Bryan is a player…..and not a little bit. The beginning of the book is a hot sex mess. He is a party-whore, and doesn’t even remember her name afterward. Talk about Douche-of-the-Century! I mean, how is he ever going to redeem himself?! Well, the book quickly fast-forwards five years later, and he is a changed man, but it’s believable. After going to AA, he is beginning to find out who he is without all the drinking. And that man is an adorable 30-year old grumpy old man who likes to stay in, wearing pajamas, drinking tea and reading books. Ugh. I just couldn’t resist him. And she couldn’t either.
Enter to win the Rafflecopter Giveaway!
Meet Penny Reid:
L.H. Cosway has a BA in English Literature and Greek and Roman Civilisation, and an MA in Postcolonial Literature. She lives in Dublin city. Her inspiration to write comes from music. Her favorite things in life include writing stories, vintage clothing, dark cabaret music, food, musical comedy, and of course, books.
BEAUTIFUL LIAR (Previously published as I, Porn Star)
HOLY. SHIT.
Q is a man of wealth and power. He’s a man skirting the fine edge of revenge and depravity and he makes no excuses or apologies. Every single move is calculated to achieve his end goal. His revenge. To right a wrong of years past, to punish those responsible, even if he doesn’t survive to bask in the glory of the fallout. It’s not time to make his most calculated move yet. Everything he’s been doing has been leading up to this…his grand plan. And the key to it is a woman with haunted eyes and a closet full of skeletons who may be hiding more baggage then even him. Lucky.
A voice cleverly disguised by state of the art technology and a face hidden behind a steel mask is all she sees of Q. The rest is a veil of blindfolds, mind games, and sex so mind-blowing that she struggles to hold on to the fact that none of it is real…and it doesn’t take long for the lines to begin to blur… for both of them.
This story is so much more than a romance. It’s a story of survival and revenge. It’s a sizzling romance wrapped around a captivating mystery. It’s a splash of dark and suspense. And while the book is long, the pacing was perfect.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to immediately dive into book 2!
EVERY LITTLE THING
Bailey is the owner of the inn on the boardwalk. She is the glue that helps keep the town running. I love this small town where everyone knows everyone (even though I would hate to live somewhere like this in real life. Lol). I love the side characters and group of girls (it’s very similar to a Kristen Ashley posse. Love).
Vaughn pushes her away for good reason. He knows he is a player and his heart has been broken in the past. He eventually finds his way back, and I love that Bailey is so strong that she doesn’t let him stay away for long. They can’t stay away from each other. The boardwalk brings them back together. I love this whole magical, legendary story of this boardwalk that I can get lost in.
WHAT I NEED
Alabama Summer happens to be one of my favorite J Daniels series. These characters have become like family to me. Well…the women anyway. I have an unhealthy desire to molest every single hero in this series, and I suppose that’s not very “family” like….right? Uhem. Anyways. Moving on.
The second half of this book totally won me over. I was putty in this author’s hands. PUTTY. Everything that seemed to have stuck out at me previously no longer mattered. All that mattered was CJ and Riley. Their banter, their sweet, and their dirty. EVERYTHING. Riley grew on me more and more as she grew as a character. She matured, she knew what she had in CJ and she never doubted it. Sure she had her insecurity with her brother finding out about their relationship, but I could also understand her fear. Irrational as it may have seemed at times.
I loved seeing all my previous favorites make a cameo here. And we also get introduced to a new character that I’m already salivating like a mad woman for.
J. Daniels is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Sweet Addiction series, the Alabama Summer series, and the Dirty Deeds series.
Throne of Truth
Talk about your gripping conclusions. WOW. I did NOT see this book coming at all. Full of twists and revelations that will leave your head reeling, Throne of Truth was the much anticipated conclusion that definitely lived up to the promise of the first book! This duet was Pepper Winters at her finest and exactly why she’s an auto-buy for me when it comes to dark romance. The woman can write one twisty and emotional tale that’s as gritty as it is sexy.
Starting immediately where 
My only quibble is I wished that the conclusion was a little more fleshed out. I’d have loved to see the chain of events rather then reading the wrap up. But that aside, I enjoyed it thoroughly.
THE WING MAN
I have a confession to make; having first fallen in love with Natasha Anders’s signature brand of angst and delicious alphahole heroes back when I read 
SWEET VICTORY
It’s hard to believe that it’s been four years since I first read the book that began my love affair with all things Gina L Maxwell, 
Yeah. What’s better than a ripped MMA fighter? Give him a British accent. I mean….*drools*. I know, I know, I’m easy. But I can’t help myself. I loved the man.
Melanie Harlow never disappoints. With a perfect blend of angst and humor, If You Were Mine hit all the right spots for me. A delicious blend of swoony and sexy, it was everything I’ve come to expect from this super talented author.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. And when you’re facing the dreaded singles table at a wedding and no hope of getting a date the real way, you find yourself scouring the inter webs for a fake one. Hotties4Hire seemed like a good idea to Claire after a desperate internet search and a glass of wine. But with the clarity of morning, she finds herself confirmed for a date with a man promising to be her “platonic” date and it’s too late to back out now.
Melanie Harlow likes her martinis dry, her heels high, and her history with the naughty bits left in. When she’s not writing or reading, she gets her kicks from TV series like VEEP, Game of Thrones, House of Cards, and Homeland. She occasionally runs three miles, but only so she can have more gin and steak.
WAIT FOR IT
There’s so much depth to both of these characters and their story is one of many layers that at first shouldn’t make sense, but yet, they do. It’s a story that may not click with every reader, but it definitely did with this one.
