Audio Blitz & Review: The Learning Hours by Sara Ney

November 3, 2017 by · Leave a Comment

THE LEARNING HOURS 
Series: HOW TO DATE A DOUCHEBAG #3
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Sara Ney
Release Date: September 26, 2017

He’s not a douchebag; but that doesn’t stop his friends from turning him into one.

MY FRIENDS WANT ME TO GET LAID.

So much so that they plastered my ugly mug all over campus, in bold printed letters:

Are you the lucky lady who’s going to break our roommate’s cherry?
Him: socially awkward man with average-sized penis looking for willing sexual partner. You: must have a pulse. He will reciprakate with oral. Text him at: 555-254-5551

The morons can’t even spell. And the texts I’ve been receiving are what wet dreams are made of. But I’m not like these douchebags, no matter how hard they try to turn me into one.

THIS ISN’T THE KIND OF ATTENTION I WANT.

One text stands out from hundreds. One number I can’t bring myself to block. She seems different. Hotter, even in black and white.

However, after seeing her in person, I know she’s not the girl for me. But my friends won’t let up–they just don’t get it. Douchebags or not, there’s one thing they’ll never understand: GIRLS DON’T WANT ME.

Especially her.

 AMAZON | AUDIO | iBOOKS | B&N | KOBO


He’s seated at a table in the far corner when I spot him from the door. He’s not hard to miss—not with his purple t-shirt in a sea of black and yellow, and wavy mussed hair.

He’s slouching, hunched over his table.

Defeated. Tired.

My stomach rolls with nerves, nerves that have me rooted to the spot in the doorway, watching him.
Just watching.

For the entire four minutes I stand here, he sits immobile, studying his laptop, eyes moving along the screen, completely transfixed by whatever he’s reading.

Learning.

“Just go over there,” I whisper to myself, blowing out a puff of pent-up air.

I put one foot in front of the other and begin toward him, spine ramrod straight, steeling myself, prepared for another argument.

Twenty feet.

Fifteen.

Eight.

Two.

“Hi.”

No reply.

“Do you mind if I sit here?” I lay my hand on the back of the wooden chair across from him, intending to pull it out.

He stiffens but doesn’t lift his head. “Yes I mind.”

“Would you mind if I sat at the table next to you?” I’m pushing his buttons, looking for a reaction, but he only spares me a brief glance.

Shrugs. “Free country.”

I bite my lip to hide a smile, glad he didn’t tell me to take a hike…

I’m quickly learning that Rhett Rabideaux isn’t most guys”

This is quite possibly the happiest my ears have ever been. Because this audio? This audio book was EVERYTHING.

Now this particular picky reader doesn’t typically like audio books. Either the pacing annoys me or the narrators do. There’s too much monotone, too much overacting, and all the more nitpicking on my end. But this book? This was the icing on the already perfect cake. As much as I adored reading this book, listening to it made me fall in love with it even more.

Rhett Rabideaux may not be prince charming but he’s something else entirely: he’s real. He is who he is, and makes no apologies. He’s polite and sincere.”

Josh Goodman’s delicious voice in my ear narrating the part of Rhett was pure perfection. And here I thought it will never get better than Rhett.

I’m a huge fan of NA romance, but the good kind are getting harder and harder to find. This is the book that tops all NA books I’ve ever read to date. This story was incredible. It was sweet, and touching, and so different that I simply couldn’t help but swoon super hard over it.

Muffy Newtown is now easily one of my favorite female narrators. She did this heroine so much justice. It was like listening to a movie while having the scene roll through your mind’s eye. I simply don’t have enough good things to say about it. This was, hands down, my favorite audio book to date.

And this book was, hands down, my favorite NA romance to date. I love a book that mixes things up and isn’t afraid to go out of the typical cookie cutter formula, and that’s exactly what Sara Ney did here.

This was the happiest 10 hours of my giddy ears’ life. Truly.

Sara Ney is the USA Today Bestselling Author of the How to Date a Douchebag series, and is best known for her sexy, laugh-out-loud New Adult romances. Among her favorite vices, she includes: iced latte’s, historical architecture and well-placed sarcasm. She lives colorfully, collects vintage books, art, loves flea markets, and fancies herself British.

She lives with her husband, children, and her ridiculously large dog.

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

Review & Excerpt: Drive by Kate Stewart

October 24, 2017 by ·

DRIVE
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Kate Stewart
Release Date: October 17, 2017

Music . . . the heart’s greatest librarian.

The average song is three and a half minutes long; those three and a half minutes could lead to a slow blink, a glimpse of the past, or catapult the soul into heart-shattering nostalgia.

At the height of my career, I had the life I wanted, the life I’d always envisioned. I’d found my tempo, my rhythm. Then I received a phone call that left me off key.

You see, my favorite songs had a way of playing simultaneously. I was in love with one man’s beats and another’s lyrics. But when it came to the soundtrack of a life, how could anyone choose a favorite song? So, to erase any doubt, I ditched my first-class ticket and decided to take a drive, fixed on the rearview.

Two days.

One playlist.

And the long road home to the man who was waiting for me.

AMAZON EBOOK | AMAZON PAPERBACK

Breathe. Breathe. This is in the bag, Stella. You can do this, so do it.
I clicked on the camera and quickly glanced at my notes.One minute.


Electricity shot through my veins and seeped through every pore, reminding me that this was it.

Thirty seconds.

I took a sip of water and set it beside my laptop as I waited.

Ten seconds.

A flicker of doubt processed for mere seconds before I wiped it away.

Five.

I expelled a stressed breath, clicked Go Live, and addressed the camera.

“Womanizer, bully, genius, recluse, and the world’s greatest MC. Even with all those labels, Phillip Preston, also known as Titan, is still a bit of an enigma. Despite the universe he’s constructed with storytelling lyrics, he’s always left it up to us to decipher his truth from his fiction. He burst onto the music scene fifteen years ago, an underdog in the belly of rap, with chaotic and desperate rhymes that resonated and pushed him into an unexpected level of stardom. With one hundred and eighty million records sold, he still holds his title as heavyweight and remains a household staple for his die-hard fans, collecting an army of new followers over the past two decades. I must admit, I was a bit intimidated when I sat down with him this past weekend in his Chicago fortress. I, like millions of others, am a huge fan of his genius. The simplicity of our surroundings in his home studio was shocking, to say the least. The feeling was a bit clinical and there were no platinum records on his walls, no personal photos, and there was no hint of the history he’d made as the world’s most notorious rap star. He sat in a leather chair next to his soundboard, water bottle in hand, and spoke about his love of rap, while subtly redirecting questions about his personal life—though we know he recently broke up with his long-time girlfriend, Jordan Wilson.”

My eyes nearly watered as I watched the live view box tick to a hundred thousand. I had a hundred thousand people watching my podcast in a matter of minutes. I took a deep breath.

“But it seemed my reputation had preceded me because when I sat down with the rap mogul, Phillip appeared ready for the firing squad. We dueled well as I asked the hard questions—the questions of a fan. Questions I know so many of his loyal listeners want answers to, and I think you’ll be surprised to hear his answers. So, without further ado, take a look at my exclusive with the man behind the myths. Feel free to form your own opinions, but above all, remember it’s the music that matters most.”

I linked my pre-recorded interview and watched the ticks explode as soon as his face hit the screen.

That was the moment my career peaked.

With pride, I watched my interview with the white whale, the Moby Dick of the music industry. Gorgeous, brilliant, and highly elusive, Phillip Preston was the hardest artist to get personal with in an interview. And I was the woman he reached out to, to break his silence about his road to success, his parents, his ex-wife, and finally—after some careful eggshell coaxing—he spoke about his recent relationship. He had delivered to me, on a silver platter, highly personal details about his life where so many other journalists had failed, and it was nothing short of miraculous.

It was my greatest accomplishment as a music journalist. I was flying, soaring as my phone began to blow up with message after message. I hadn’t told a soul, not a single person about my exclusive. I was high on adrenaline when the notifications began to ping on my phone. A hundred, two hundred messages, and then I saw the viewer ticks had jumped drastically to half a million. Half a million! I laughed out nervously and checked Phillip’s social media. He had just posted my podcast link to our interview. My jaw dropped. He had over eighty million followers on one forum alone.

And the viewer counts just kept rising. I had done it. I gasped when the ticks went past a million.

A million people were watching my podcast.

A million people were watching my podcast!

“AHHHHHH!” I screamed to no one as I looked around the vacant room. I raised both hands in the air when the ticks rolled past two million. “Oh my GOD!” I shot up from the desk, my eyes full of incredulous water.

I’d never had more than a million views. Ever. And those took months to accrue. It was the greatest career high of my life. I looked back down at my phone, anxious to talk to someone, anyone. Lexi’s middle finger popped up on the screen, and I couldn’t resist answering her call.

“AHHHHHHHH!” I screamed into the phone..

“Stella?”

“Yes! Is it good? You think I asked the right questions? I edited for like nine hours.”

“What?”

“What do you mean, what? Titan’s interview.”

“You interviewed Titan?”

A small amount of my excitement dispersed. “Yours was the wrong call to answer.”

“You fucking interviewed Titan?”

“Yes. I wanted to surprise everyone.”

“And you didn’t bring me?”

“Sorry. I’ll feel guilty later.”

“Yeah.” Her voice dropped. I heard a toilet flush. “Yeah, Stella, that’s so cool.” Another toilet flushed.

“Where are you?”

“I’m in the bathroom at the Marquee.”

“Okay. Well, I’m buzzing right now, woman. Like, literally, my phone is exploding. Five million hits, Lexi. Five million!”

“I’m so happy for you, Stella.”

I frowned. “Yeah, with that amazing monotone, I can tell.”

“I’m so sorry.” And then her voice broke. My best friend doesn’t cry. Ever.

“Oh, shit. What’s up?”

“I’ll call you back, okay? I don’t want to ruin this.”

“You aren’t ruining anything. You couldn’t ruin this. I promise. I’ll be high for days. So, tell me. Why are you in the bathroom?”

“I’m on a blind date. He took me to a wedding.”

“Okay. You need an excuse? That’s not like you. You’re ballsy. Just give him your usual, it’s not me, it’s you.” I chuckled because she’d used it in front of me on a bass player with a cowlick and halitosis.

“Stella.”

I knew that tone. That tone was the bearer of bad fucking news.

“What? Say it.”

“It’s his wedding.”

I eyed the clock while I zipped my suitcase. I had an hour and a half before my flight. I was cutting it close. “Whose wedding?”

“Stella.”

“I know my name. Damn, who—” Realization struck and my heart met the floor. I stayed mute while she rambled on nervously.

“What are the odds? What are the goddamn odds? I don’t know what to do. Do you want me to leave? There’s no handbook for this. Did you even want to know this? That he’s married? I can’t believe I just watched him get married! Who in the hell ends up at their best friend’s ex-boyfriend’s wedding? I couldn’t not tell you.” She sniffed as the toilets repeatedly flushed around her.

“Stella, please say something.”

I pressed the sting back. “I’m alright, of course. I’m fine. Why are you crying?”

“I don’t know.” She sniffed. “Ben called me last night, and things are just so fucked up, and today this shit happens, and I know you’re happy. I know you are. But . . . I mean, this is—”

I put my hand up as if she could see it. “Don’t tell me anything else, okay? I’m good.” I looked at my reflection in the mirror from the bed into the adjacent bathroom. Nothing had changed. I wasn’t leaking. I was fine. “I’m okay. I’m glad you told me. I have to leave for the airport now, or I’ll miss my flight.” A slew of questions was on the tip of my tongue. Did he look happy? Was she beautiful? And more questions I hated myself for that Lexi would never be able to answer. Still, my head and heart refused to keep those questions bottled.

Was she prettier than me? Did he look at her the same way? Did he propose to her with half his heart? Did he think of me when he did it? Was any part of him thinking of me now? Was I in his dreams the way he drifted through mine sometimes?

All my thoughts were selfish. All of them. And of all the thoughts I could have had that day, self-loathing was not the one I expected to nudge its way front and center. I forced myself to speak.

“Stay.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes, of course. I’m fine.”

“This freaky shit always happens. Always with you.”

“I know.”

“It’s like karma or God or someone hates you. It’s so fucked.”

I laughed ironically, though inside my heart was pounding.

Silence passed over the line as we both waited for some sort of solution that wasn’t coming.

“Stella, God, I’m so sorry.”

“About what? Stop. You know I would have told you if the situation were reversed. I should go. Love you.”

“Love y—” I hung up the phone before she could finish, frozen in the middle of the hotel room.


He was my song, my soul, my everything, and his love had propelled me forward into the woman I wanted to be. And that woman would burn out with the man who was made to keep her warm.

Wow. WOW. Seriously, wow. This book. This was quite possibly one of the most unique, memorable, and captivating romances I’ve read in a long while. I have no idea how to even go about reviewing this book because I feel like you really need to go into it completely blind to get the full effect, but I’ll do my best.

I used to think I was cursed for having fallen in love with two men. But, in hindsight, I realized what a gift it was. They were my lovers, my teachers, my best friends, and I would love them both until I took my last breath.

There are a few authors I would break my no love triangles rule for, and Kate Stewart happens to be one. Though, I feel it’s fair to say, this is unlike any other love triangle I’ve ever read. It almost didn’t feel like one because as you read the story, you feel in your heart who Stella belongs with. I’m not sure how it’s possible that you feel her love for the other man as well, but you do. No one is a consolation prize. This was such a powerful and emotional story of love, growing up, and chasing your dreams to that one minute past desperation.

The story is cleverly told in alternating past to present, though the majority takes place in the past. It’s interactive with each chapter tied to a song you can play. This made the story that much better.

Young Stella moves to Dallas to chase her dreams as an entertainment journalist. Moving in with her older sister, she experiences life from the bottom up. She works the dead end jobs to make ends meet, she barely has two dimes to rub together, but that never stops her. She’s passionate in all things, including chasing her dreams. Along the way she meets two men that irrevocably change her life. Each owning a different piece of her heart equally, though one does it in an overwhelming way. She experiences the rock and roll culture from both sides of the stage. And you experience it right along with her.

It took three seconds to close the distance between us, two seconds to lock together like we’d been doing it our entire lives, and that last second . . . that last second when his lips devoured mine was the second I lost a piece of myself I could never get back. 

Stella was such a captivating heroine. Her emotions just roll off of her. She’s this combination of strength and fear, love and indecision. You see her grow from a naive girl that knows what she wants to a strong woman that goes after it. You see her fall in love and have her heart shattered. You feel it right along with her.

This isn’t a book you read, it’s a book you experience. It’ll frustrate you, it will anger you, it will make you laugh, cry, and swoon. I have experienced such a myriad of emotions, I was almost exhausted when I got to the end.

You exhaust me. You make me tired, Stella, so fucking tired. I want you and I want to do it right, but I’m so annoyed right now. All I want to do is make you wet and fuck you until it hurts.”

I’ll admit, it took a bit to fully get into it. Kate Stewart really takes her time to set the scene with this story, and it was a touch slow going at first. But after the 40% mark, it was completely unputdownable.

If you’re a fan of unique, angsty, and captivating romances, this is a book that’s an absolute must read. It will be a story that I won’t forget any time soon and I’ll recommend blindly to ANYONE.

I couldn’t say anything. I was too far gone. Doused in gasoline with no match in sight, the aching, the longing, and the burning all there.

Kate Stewart lives in Charleston, S.C. with her husband, Nick, and her naughty beagle, Sadie. A native of Dallas, Kate moved to Charleston three weeks after her first visit, dropping her career of 8 years, and declaring it her creative muse. Kate pens messy, sexy, angst-filled contemporary romance as well as romantic comedy and erotic suspense because it’s what she loves as a reader. A lover of all things ’80s and ’90s, especially John Hughes films and rap, she dabbles a little in photography, can knit a simple stitch scarf for necessity only and does a horrible job of playing the ukulele. Aside from running a mile without collapsing, traveling is the only other must on her bucket list. On occasion, she does very well at vodka.

Contact Kate- Email-authorkatestewart@gmail.com

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

Review: Ruthless King by Meghan March

October 19, 2017 by · 3 Comments

RUTHLESS KING
Series: Mount Trilogy #1
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance
Author: Meghan March
Release Date: October 17, 2017

Get ready for the darker and dirtier side of New Orleans with a brand new alpha romance from USA Today bestselling author Meghan March.

New Orleans belongs to me.

You don’t know my name, but I control everything you see—and all the things you don’t.

My reach knows no bounds, and my demands are always met.

I didn’t need to loan money to a failing family distillery, but it amuses me to have them in my debt.

To have her in my debt.

She doesn’t know she caught my attention.

She should’ve been more careful.

I’m going to own her. Consume her. Maybe even keep her.

It’s time to collect what I’m owed.

Keira Kilgore, you’re now the property of Lachlan Mount.

*Ruthless King is book one of the Mount Trilogy*

AMAZON | PAPERBACK | iBOOKS | B&N | KOBO

When was the last time you were fucked by a real man? Someone who knows what you need. Someone who’ll take control from you and give you what you’ve been dying for.

Um, may we just have a moment of silence for my ovaries? Because they fought the good fight, but those suckers completely combusted in the mere presence of Lachlan Mount. I’m talking total ovary obliteration here, people, and mine were steel plated for goodness sake!
HOLY. FREAKING. SHIT.
I LOVED this! This brought back all the originals feels that I had with the beginning of the Beneath series but EVEN BETTER.

Meghan’s Beneath series was easily my favorite of hers. It was a bittersweet moment reading the last book in that series. But then she went and introduced an anti-hero to beat all anti-heroes set in the same world and I. Was. Hooked.

Mount is the king of the New Orleans underground. Equally feared and respected, nothing happens without his knowledge or order. When Mount wants something, he gets it, and no one stands in his way.

Keira is still reeling from the unexpected death of her cheating husband and barely keeping her head afloat running her beloved family whiskey business. When the boogeyman shows up at her door and tells her that she owes him a five hundred thousand dollar debt, she’s shocked. When he tells her that he’ll take her in exchange for the money her husband apparently loaned from Mount, she’s livid. But a debt is a debt, and you don’t say no to the most feared man in NOLA. And the fact that the fan enrages her as much as he brings out all her primal urges? Definitely inconvenient.

I own your orgasms. I decide when you come. Not you. Learn it. Live it. Because you’re going to fucking love it by the time I’m done with you.”

I devoured this book. Absolutely devoured it. Hanging on every word and erotic interlude. Mount has such an enigmatic and utterly sexual presence to him, that you don’t just read about him, you feel it. March knows how to write one delicious alpha, but she seriously outdid herself with this one. He’s cold, ruthless, dominant, and the sexiest anti-hero I’ve read.

I loved that Keira is the only one that has the balls to stand up to him. This is no cowering wallflower. This is a woman that gives as good as she gets. And let me tell you, she gets it HARD. Uhem. She’s smart, head strong, and not afraid to tell the domineering man where to stuff it. OK, seriously, I need to stop handing myself sexual innuendos here. I’m dying. But seriously though, I am HOOKED. Line and sinker. I’m desperately salivating for the next book in this series. If you’re a fan of sizzling romance with an anti-hero that’s to die for and a story that’s as captivating as the romance, this is a trilogy you need in your life!

She may have marked me tonight, but I marked her first. Keira Kilgore needs another lesson in what it means to be owned by Lachlan Mount.


Meghan March has been known to wear camo face paint and tromp around in woods wearing mud-covered boots, all while sporting a perfect manicure. She’s also impulsive, easily entertained, and absolutely unapologetic about the fact that she loves to read and write smut. Her past lives include slinging auto parts, selling lingerie, making custom jewelry, and practicing corporate law. Writing books about dirty talking alpha males and the strong, sassy women who bring them to their knees is by far the most fabulous job she’s ever had. She loves hearing from her readers at meghanmarchbooks@gmail.com.

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3 Comments · Filed Under: All Reviews, DGR Favorites, Erotic Rom · Tagged With: , ,

Jennifer’s Review: From The Ruins by @JanineBosco

October 6, 2017 by · Leave a Comment

FROM THE RUINS
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Erotic, MC, Romantic Suspense
Author: Janine Infante Bosco
Release Date: September 26, 2017

“Pipe”
In every man’s life there comes a day of reckoning. It’s the day darkness is exposed and sinners are punished for their trespasses.
A day when loyalty is destroyed and a man is left in ruins.
When he walks away from his club and loses his religion.
Whoever said from the ruins they will rise again never walked a mile in my shoes or the pair of red ones I was left holding.

“Layla”
He’s bitter, cold and angry.
He’s seen his share of heartache.
Lived through tragedy and despair.
He’s my neighbor.
The man I know should stay away from.
The man who will destroy what’s left of me if I get too close.
He’s Lee Jameson, and I’m Layla Milano.
This is our story.
The story of two people left in ruins forced to rise again.

AMAZON

Janine’s books have my heart by the balls….if my heart had balls…you know what mean.


So, me and Janine were talking the other day over a glass of wine. Well, Janine wasn’t there, but my kindle was…same thing. And Janine was like, “Hey, girl! I’m gonna make you cry your eyes out!” and I was like, “Girl, nah uh!” and then she was like, “Cry, Bitch!” and I was like, “Leave me, alone, Janine!”…and then I’m already crying by 10%. I am NOT a girl who likes to read sad books. I wouldn’t call her books sad. I would call them REAL. She always includes some type of real issue, and it doesn’t matter what “issue” she is including in the story, she always pulls and pulls until my heart breaks from her words alone.

Pipe is struck with tragedy several books ago, in the worst way. He already didn’t have a shiny life before, but he was given a glimpse of happy before another tragedy. He’s known way too much loss for one person. He escapes and leaves the only family he’s ever know. Who can blame him? He lost everything. He is a broken man who has no idea how to deal.Layla. She is a single mother of three. These kids. Love ‘em. I’m super picky about kids in books, and these kids had so much character and were essential in pulling Pipe from the ruins. Layla is also just trying to get through each day. She has been through a not-so-great marriage which ended in divorce. Bitter against all men, she is not ready for Pipe….at all.

Pipe and Layla are neighbors who hate each other (love this trope!). Neither of them are in a good place. They are just trying to stumble through life. Layla has a few more smiles left, so she isn’t afraid to give those smiles out to those who deserve them, and Pipe starts to crave her smiles. When Pipe rescues her and the kids from a couple of household disasters, the ice begins to thaw between Pipe & Layla. They eventually find solace in each other in the form of hot, crazy sex (yes, please!), forgetting their issues for even a brief amount of time.The only way to describe how Janine’s books make me feel is by sharing this memory. One of my favorite memories that will stay with me forever…I was on the back of my Dad’s Harley. We were riding in the dark on the way home from an outside concert at a winery, and we were listening to one of our favorite songs. At the time, we thought my dad had cancer. Little did we know a couple weeks later, we would find out that by a miracle, he did not have cancer. Anywho, the wind was in my hair. The rumble of the motorcycle beneath me. The stars above me. This memory is SO MUCH. And THAT feeling is Janine’s books.

Janine is THAT author. That author that you don’t know is AMAZING. That author who will make you FEEL. Will make you LIVE through her characters. Will make you CRY. Will make you LAUGH. And you will regret not reading Janine’s books. Don’t regret it. Read her books.

Thank you, Janine, for sharing a part of yourself in this book. I will never grow tired of your words. One day, I will hug you (maybe for an awkward amount of time) and thank you personally.

 

Janine Infante Bosco lives in New York City, she has always loved reading and writing. When she was thirteen, she began to write her own stories and her passion for writing took off as the years went on. At eighteen, she even wrote a full screenplay with dreams of one day becoming a member of the Screen Actors Guild.

Janine writes emotionally charged novels with an emphasis on family bonds, strong-willed female characters, and alpha male men who will do anything for the women they love. She loves to interact with fans and fellow avid romance readers like herself.

She is proud of her success as an author and the friendships she’s made in the book community but her greatest accomplishment to date would be her two sons Joseph and Paul.

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#DGRFave & Review: Reaper by A. Zavarelli

September 10, 2017 by ·

REAPER
Series: Boston Underground #2
Genre: Dark Romance, Mafia
Author: A. Zavarelli
Release Date: May 19, 2016

Sasha.

He’s dark and mysterious. Quiet and lethal.
An Irish mobster.
Pure sin wrapped up in a beautiful package.
But there’s also something off about him.
He doesn’t feel anything. He shows no emotions.
Sometimes I question his humanity.
He hasn’t spoken to me in two years. Not a single word.
But we share a secret, he and I.
And if it ever comes out, I have no doubt in my mind…
He won’t have a problem killing me too.

Ronan.
I’ve slain for her. I’ll do it again.
When it comes to Sasha, there isn’t a line I won’t cross.
I watch her. She doesn’t know it.
She thinks I hate her. Sometimes, I think I might too.
But I’m always there, lurking in the shadows.
Craving her. Trying to keep the beast within at bay.
I’ll keep her safe. I’ll slaughter anyone who tries to hurt her.
The only thing I can’t do… is protect her from myself.

****This is a full-length standalone novel full of hot Irish guys with accents. Dark mafia themes throughout. HEA included.****

AMAZON

I’ve never believed in fairytales. There is no white knight in my story. Only me. And I’m not the girl who gets the prince. I’m the girl he bangs because he can.

Holy.
Hell.

I do believe I just read one of the most tortured anti-heroes ever. And let me tell you, I’ve read A LOT of dark romance. I’ve read the violent, broody, alphahole bad boys, but all of them pale in comparison to Ronan Fitzpatrick

I’ve been called a sociopath. A monster. But I don’t fancy myself one. I’m simply a man doing a job that needs to be done. If it wasn’t me doing it, someone else would be. The men that I kill, they’ve all had it coming. They knew what they were getting themselves into. They’ve either done Niall wrong or threatened the syndicate in some way. And threats have to be eliminated, just like vermin. One of the few moral codes I still abide by. I will protect my brethren at all costs.

Cross the MacKenna syndicate, and you’ll find yourself in front of The Reaper. He’s the man that handles all of the delicate and painful jobs. When someone needs eliminating, they find themselves in Ronan’s basement, their screams forever becoming a part of the cement walls. A brutal upbringing that knew only pain, Ronan doesn’t function like any other man. He’s numb. Unfeeling. He only feels rage and breathes punishment. There’s only one person that ever stirred a different reaction in him, but she’s forever off limits to a man like him.

Damaged souls have their own beauty. A dark, terrifying beauty. The same type of beauty I recognize in Ronan. 

Sasha hasn’t had an easy life herself. Taking care of her ailing mother and protecting her younger sister put her in the crosshairs of a man that changed her life irreparably. Forced into a life she never wanted and doing whatever she can to survive, she’s tired. All she wants is to leave, move to a different place where no one knows her or her past. There’s just one problem with that; Ronan is not about to let her go.

He nudges my legs apart and pushes his palm between my legs like he owns that part of me. Who am I to argue? He does fucking own me. He’s polluted my mind so that I can only ever think of him. Only ever want him.

Their relationship is a turbulent one. Both of these characters are so completely messed up, it’s a wonder how they go through the motions at times. But yet together, they made a messed up sort of sense. They offered each other a calmness that they never found on their own. They were like violent waves on a rocky coast.

I’ve seen him kill. I’ve tasted his rage too. Tasted it so fiercely that some of it spilled over onto me, tainting me with the mark of the animal that lives inside of him. I crave that animal. I crave everything about this man with his perfect suits and his complete lack of human emotions. Maybe, just maybe, I envy him too. What it must be like not to feel anything. Anything at all.

This was such a dark, captivating story. I was glued to the pages, completely enraptured. My heart hurt for everything that Sasha went through and I wanted her to feel just a little of happiness. It made a dark sort of sense that she would find it in the arms of a ruthless killer that’s a borderline psychopath.

Ronan was just…GAH. This man. His training ensured that he feels almost nothing. No empathy. No sympathy. Most human emotions are far beyond his realm of understanding. But you see more and more of his humanity peak out with each minute he spends with Sasha.

Nobody else gets to see you like that,” he declares. “Ye’re claimed.” His words douse me in gasoline. His eyes light the match. And when he grinds himself against me, all that’s left to do is burn for him. 

I loved this gritty and sexy dark mafia romance. The story was completely unputdownable and the characters vivid and unforgettable.

THE SERIES

CROW | REAPER | GHOST | SAINT

· Filed Under: All Reviews, Dark, DGR Favorites · Tagged With: , , , ,

Author Interview & DGRFave Review: Disorderly Conduct by @mstessabailey

August 29, 2017 by · Leave a Comment

DISORDERLY CONDUCT
Series: The Academy #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Tessa Bailey
Release Date: August 29, 2017

You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone…

Police academy cadet Charlie Burns can’t believe his luck when the gorgeous blonde he meets in a bar murmurs those magic words: “Nothing serious, ’kay?” Mind-blowing, no-strings sex with Ever Carmichael—it’s the holy grail of hookups for a guy who’s too busy following in his law enforcement family’s footsteps to think about getting serious. Charlie’s all about casual…that is, until Ever calls it quits and his world tilts on its axis.

Ever knows that when you control the relationship game, you can’t get played. But for the first time, she wants more than short-term satisfaction. Step one: end her fling with commitment-phobic Charlie. Step two: sacrifice herself to the ruthless NYC dating scene. Yet everywhere she turns, there’s Charlie, being his ridiculously charming self. No online match or blind date compares to the criminally hot cop-in-training, but they’re over. Aren’t they?

If love is a four-letter-word, why does the idea of Ever seeing someone else tie Charlie up in knots?  Now he’s desperate to win her back…and a little date sabotage never hurt anyone, right?

AMAZON | iBOOKS

If you follow my blog, you already know what a HUGE Tessa Bailey fan I am. And the fact that I’m salivating for every single one of her releases is pretty damn hard to miss. Well I was downright flailing with excited glee when I saw she’ll have more of her dirty talk hot cops for us with her brand new Academy series and I fell head over ovaries with this series immediately after finishing Disorderly Conduct. I’m so excited to have the queen of dirty talk today with an interview with DGR and I’m even more excited for you all to discover this AMAZING new series!

DGR: For those that haven’t read Disorderly Conduct and seen your acknowledgment, can you tell us about your inspiration for The Academy series?

TB: Yes! I would love to! I’ve never had a story idea come to me in dream format before, but I woke up one morning with a fresh memory that literally made my chest ache. A man on his way to a lover’s apartment, so obviously in love with her (but in complete denial) and no idea she’s about to break it off to go look for something “real.” I was in the middle of another project, but immediately set it aside to write the first chapter of DISORDERLY CONDUCT.

DGR: Disorderly Conduct had equally the cutest and sexiest meet cute ever! Did you picture it before you even wrote the book?

TB: Thank you! I love it, too! Charlie and Ever made magic in that rainy day pub. Originally, the book didn’t include the meet-cute! It started with Charlie walking to Ever’s apartment (like in my dream), but my editor correctly decided people would want to see that first meeting. And thus, the Mistress Test was formed, with a little help of my vast Titanic movie knowledge!

DGR: I LOVED Ever Carmichael. For all her quirks and issues, she’s such a solid person who owns their sexuality and makes no excuses for it. What’s your favorite thing about Ever?

TB: I think I loved her compassion most of all. Even when Charlie was being an absolute idiot, she saw through to his inner turmoil and wanted to be his friend, as well as his lover. But I can’t help but include her snappy sense of humor as a close second. I mean, she did threaten to shoot lasers out of her eyeballs at Charlie.

DGR: Charlie Burns. GAH. The man makes my ovaries burn. Ha! See what I did there? But I digress. I loved his playfulness in the story. He’s also such a lost boy at times, which was so endearing. What’s your favorite thing about Charlie?

TB: Exactly that. I love nothing more than writing a cluelessly endearing hero. There’s just something about a man who is confused and knocked over sideways by his own feelings. “Wait…she loves me? I…love her? Oh, God. I LOVE HER SO MUCH”. What makes us want to excuse Charlie’s lack of clarity is the fact that he’s also super protective and capable. Sigh.

DGR: What was your favorite scene to write for this book?

TB: There is a scene when Charlie arrives to help Ever cater a party. They haven’t really spent any time together as “friends”—and when he shows up and sees her in her element (spinning circles around the kitchen), he realizes how much he doesn’t know about her. How dynamic she is. And the seeds are planted in his mind that he screwed up big time by letting her go.

DGR: Now you know I have to ask this, because you ARE at Dirty Girl Romance after all, but sweet jesus, woman! How do you keep coming up with hotter and hotter sex scenes and the most sizzling dirty talk? Share your dirty secret. It’s tumblr, isn’t it? Oh wait…that’s my dirty secret…

TB: HA! Well, thank you very much! I’m not sure where the inspiration comes from, but I like to give every couple their unique flavor. Whenever Charlie got his hands on Ever, he kind of just became an animal and Ever fed off of it, that male desperation fulfilling something inside her. When you have a good foundation for what turns your characters on, you can make the booty original every time.

DGR: What are you most excited about with this new series?

TB: This series feels like coming full circle. I started my writing career with NYC cops and now I’m back—and it really just felt like coming home. I know this type of man and they’re SO fun for me to write! Law enforcement heroes are my kryptonite and I’m most excited to be back in my happy place. Not to mention getting to share it with everyone who loved my original cops!

DGR: If you had a dream cast for Charlie and Ever, who would they be?

TB: Well. I watch a lot of Disney Channel because I have a six year old. And there’s an actress named Dove Cameron who is in a few shows. She’s funny and sexy and relatable. I totally envision her as Ever. As for Charlie, there’s an actor named Sean Faris that is mega adorable and plays a cop on television. He would be my ideal Charlie.

DGR: What do you want readers to know about the Academy series?

TB: I want readers to know they’ll have a lot of fun and probably sweat beneath their clothes during the sex scenes. The characters are deep, but the angst doesn’t overshadow the fun.

DGR: Can you give us a little taste of what we can expect from Disorderly Contact with a favorite scene from the book?

Ever Carmichael is salvation.I’m not just saying that because she calls me big man when we’re fucking.

I’m already unbuttoning my uniform shirt, even though I haven’t even reached her building’s lobby yet. My cock is so stiff, I think I might black the fuck out before I get it inside her. Here’s the thing, though. Ever will understand. She’ll take one look at the tented fly of my standard issue, police academy pants and let her slinky, bad girl panties drop.

This woman. You just can’t fathom the magic she wields.

I don’t want anything serious, ’kay?

She said those words to me the rainy afternoon we met. At which point angels filled the bar and started singing. I’ve had women tell me before they didn’t want entanglements or relationships, too. My long line of law-enforcement ancestry, however, has honed my ability to differentiate between truth and fiction. And Ever is the first woman who actually meant those words. Nothing. Serious.

I’m right across the street from her building now—a four-story tenement on the Lower East Side. She works nights running her start-up catering company and sleeps late, so at noon on my lunch break, she’ll still be soft from bed. Freshly showered. I’m going to fuck her lights out, I swear to Christ. As soon as I walk in the door.

In the month since we met, the urgency to be inside Ever has only skyrocketed. The need to get my hands on her smooth skin, my tongue inside her bare pussy. You don’t understand—I’m a fiend for this woman.

And guess what? That’s perfectly fine, because I can have Ever any time I need her. Now, hear me out before calling me an arrogant prick—although I admit to being one on occasion. Ever can have me, too, when she needs me. This arrangement works both ways. After a Maroon 5 concert two weeks ago, she showed up at my apartment around midnight, high on Adam Levine—or whatever he’s called—and we didn’t even make it inside. I hiked up her tiny, leather skirt and gave it to her right there in the hallway. We weren’t quiet about it, either, not that I heard the neighbors complaining.

My point being, this arrangement I’ve made with Ever is what most men don’t dare dream about or even deserve at age twenty-three. For my species, it’s usually a choice between empty hookups or committed relationships, complete with updating your Facebook, Twitter and Instagram bios, but only after deleting from all of the above any photographic evidence that you ever used your dick. Don’t get me wrong. I’m all about commitment. Right now, though, my entire reserve of commitment juice is being poured into becoming a cop. A lieutenant, specifically, just like my older brother, Greer. And eventually a bureau chief like my father, his father before him . . . and back about four generations.

This thing with Ever? It’s neither empty, nor committed. It’s a fucking unicorn. It has made me a believer in life on other planets, Bigfoot and even the Jets winning the Super Bowl again someday. Apart from the Levine Incident, we haven’t spent any time at my place, because Jack or Danika are usually home. Not to mention, I covet this little slice of heaven I’ve carved out, and I worry my roommates will make some crack to Ever about wedding bells—which is never happening—and blow the whole perfect situation to hell. Plus . . . they don’t need to know a damn thing about Ever. She’s mine. I’m hers. We’re ours.

Unofficially, of course.

The deeper I fall into friendship with Charlie, the deeper I sink into the point of no return.

The queen of dirty talk strikes gold with her newest series! A sexy and humorous romp, Disorderly Conduct was an entertaining read from start to finish. It was the perfect blend of humor and Tessa’s signature steam. It was smart and sassy and oh so cute! I had a goofy smile on my face the entire time. It was utterly delicious with a sexy meet cute and a ridiculously swoony grovel at the end. This book was exactly why I love romance!

…this arrangement I’ve made with Ever is what most men don’t dare dream about or even deserve at age twenty-three.

A sexy meet cute leads to the unicorns of all relationships for Charlie and Ever; a mutually agreed upon and satisfying friends with benefits (heavy on the benefits). Coming from a long line of cops, Charlie has focused everything on getting through the Police Academy. It’s all he’s ever wanted for himself; to make his bureau chief father and lieutenant brother proud. Relationships have never been on his radar. He has no time for them. But when he spots a stunning blonde at a bar giving him the eye, he can’t stay away. And when she murmurs every man’s dream words, “nothing serious,” in his ear? He’s a goner.

If I texted him right now, he would meet me. He would give me the Adam Levine sex and ask me no questions, tell me no lies.

Ever comes from a long line of mistresses. Her mother is a serial dater of married men. A relationship is just as much of a pipe dream to her as a reliable and trustworthy man; they don’t exist in her life. Charlie was only supposed to scratch an itch for one month. Sex and nothing else. But then everything changes for Ever and she realizes that she no longer wants the bare minimum. She wants the pipe dream. She wants love. Only problem? Charlie is determined to make her see the error of her ways, even if he has to sabotage her every attempt at seriously dating after she gives him the boot.

I’m becoming her friend in the hopes of knocking every other dude out of the running and graduating to friend with benefits. So I can slide in there real smooth. Like a snake.

I cannot tell you how much I adored Charlie and Ever. Their “relationship” was romantic comedy gold. Charlie is hopelessly lost. He doesn’t want Ever to date but he doesn’t realize that his yearning for her is something beyond just needing their friends with benefits status back. Ever is determined to move on but her feelings for Charlie are a messy distraction. Watching their back and forth was as entertaining as it was frustrating and I loved every second of it.

And did I mention the dirty talk? Because oh my god the dirty talk!!!

I will get between those legs if I have to kill, steal or sacrifice to get there. And you’ll be a sweating, moaning, crying tangle of sex in the sheets by the time it’s over. I know you don’t doubt me, because I’ve done it. I’ve done it.”

Man but I missed Tessa’s hot cops. I haven’t been this enamored with a series since her Line of Duty boys. And with the secondary characters introduced here, I’m already salivating for more.

But as for Ever and Charlie? Loved. Them. Yes, they both made some frustrating decisions and choices that had me wanting to slap them. But considering their age, I found my anger didn’t last. I just loved watching them mess up too much. It was adorable and endearing and frustrating and GAH. Did I mention I loved it?

I love first person POV and being in both Charlie and Ever’s heads was a true treat. Especially Charlie. He reminded me a little bit of Drew from Tangled. His inner monologue was just so much fun. Even if the poor guy was completely clueless at times.

I’m hooked, line and sinker, on this series and I can’t wait for more. If you were a fan of Tessa’s Line of Duty series, this one is simply not to be missed. It was everything I’ve come to love from her and made me giggle and swoon all at once.

Her hands are still locked together on top of her head, making her look like a prisoner. My prisoner. Except, I’m hers. This whole time I thought our lack of commitment was setting me free, but in truth, she’d thrown away the key to my freedom the minute she opened her mouth. She didn’t mean it, my Ever, but I’m imprisoned forever, just the same.

Tessa Bailey is originally from Carlsbad, California. The day after high school graduation, she packed her yearbook, ripped jeans and laptop, driving cross-country to New York City in under four days.

Her most valuable life experiences were learned thereafter while waitressing at K-Dees, a Manhattan pub owned by her uncle. Inside those four walls, she met her husband, best friend and discovered the magic of classic rock, managing to put herself through Kingsborough Community College and the English program at Pace University at the same time. Several stunted attempts to enter the work force as a journalist followed, but romance writing continued to demand her attention.

She now lives in Long Island, New York with her husband of eight years and four-year-old daughter. Although she is severely sleep-deprived, she is incredibly happy to be living her dream of writing about people falling in love.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

 

Leave a Comment · Filed Under: Author Spotlight & interview, Contemporary Romance, DGR Favorites, Dirty Talkers · Tagged With: , , , , ,

Geri & Lana’s Review: Royally Endowed by @EmmaChse

August 17, 2017 by · Leave a Comment

ROYALLY ENDOWED
Series: The Royally Series Book 3
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Emma Chase
Release Date: August 14, 2017

Logan St. James is a smoldering, sexy beast. Sure, he can be a little broody at times—but Ellie Hammond’s willing to overlook that. Because, have you seen him??

Sexy. As. Hell.

And Ellie’s perky enough for both of them.

For years, she’s had a crush on the intense, protective royal security guard—but she doesn’t think he ever saw her, not really.

To Logan, Ellie was just part of the job—a relative of the royal family he’d sworn to protect. Now, at 22 years old and fresh out of college, she’s determined to put aside her X-rated dreams of pat-downs and pillow talk, and find a real life happily ever after.

The Queen of Wessco encourages Ellie to follow in her sister’s footsteps and settle down with a prince of her own. Or a duke, a marquis…a viscount would also do nicely.

But in the pursuit of a fairy tale ending, Ellie learns that the sweetest crushes can be the hardest to let go.

***

Logan St. James grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, in a family on the wrong side of the law. But these days, he covers his tattoos and scars with a respectable suit. He’s handsome, loyal, brave, skilled with his hands and…other body parts.

Any woman would be proud to bring him home to her family.

But there’s only one woman he wants.

For years he’s watched over her, protected her, held her hair back when she was sick, taught her how to throw a punch, and spot a liar.

He dreams of her. Would lay down his life for her.

But beautiful Ellie Hammond’s off-limits.

Everybody knows the bodyguard rules: Never lose focus, never let them out of your sight, and never, ever fall in love.

AMAZON | iBOOKS | B&N 

Ellie

But then the mood shifts, as if the air becomes thicker, weighted, more . . . sultry.

Because slowly, Logan sinks down to one knee in front of me—looking in my eyes the whole time. In this position, I could touch his shoulders, comb my fingers through his thick, dark hair. He’s the perfect height for me to bend down and kiss his mouth—the perfect height for him to kiss me back . . . in a lot of places.

My breath hitches. And I wonder he feels it too.

There’s a sound of tearing Velcro, and Logan takes something off his ankle—a holster, with a small silver knife, about three inches long.

“Keep this on you all the time,” he says seriously. “Just in case. If you wear a skirt, the strap will fit around your thigh.”

And I almost laugh. Most girls get a ring from a guy on his knees. I get a murder weapon. But still, it makes me feel safe . . . watched over. Like I’m something precious that deserves to be protected.

I take the knife from him, testing the surprisingly solid, heavy weight of it in my hand. I press my index finger to the tip.

Logan grabs my wrist tightly. “Careful. It’s sharp.”

There’s a small, painless nick, a tiny bead of blood, so I put my finger in my mouth, sucking.

And Logan’s watching me again.

Watching my mouth.

His chest seems to rise just a little faster, and his throat ripples when he swallows. He bends his head, curves his strong back, and then I feel his hands on my ankle, securing the strap. His touch is warm and self-assured. It’s the way he always moves—confident and experienced. Logan knows his body and he knows how to use it, in every way possible.

I almost moan. The sound is in the back of my throat, but I keep it trapped. I never knew the ankle was an erogenous zone, but it sure as hell is now. A hot pulse of pleasure streaks from Logan’s fingers on my bare skin, up my thigh, between my legs.

And I throb there, growing swollen and heavy as he keeps his hands on me.

Can he tell? Does he know? He’s so aware of everything, always so attuned, I wonder if he can sense my arousal . . . feel it in the air that clings between us.

LANA’S REVIEW

Hey Logan?”
“Yeah?”
“One of these days . . . I’m going to save you back.”

Oh.
My.
Swoons.

I can barely form a coherent thought right now. I’m a melty pile of swoony goo at the hands of Emma Chase. The woman is incapable of writing a book that I devour in one sitting with a goofy grin on my face for the entire time. As much as I adored Royally Matched, I think this book totally topped it. I don’t have the words to describe all the ways I loved it. And oh my god, you guys, how I loved it!!!

Somebody once told me a slow-burning fire is the hottest—and it must be true. Because Logan and I are a fucking inferno.

If you love an incredibly written slow burn romance with a hero that’s simply to die for and a heroine you’ll want for your best friend, this book will be going straight to your top favorites shelf. GUARANTEED. It wasn’t just swoony, it was EPICALLY swoony. Logan owns my heart AND my ovaries. I don’t ever want them back. EVER.

I don’t know if I’ll be any fucking good at love. I’m not quite sure how it’s done. But, for her, I’ll learn. And I’ll do my damnedest to get it right.

You may remember Ellie Hammond as Olivia Hammond’s baby sister in Royally Screwed. Ellie has always been a bit of a free spirit. Sassy, a little quirky, optimistic and a bit naive in her youth, her brother in law feels like she needs someone to protect her when they’re not around. And the only man he trusts for the job is royal guard, Logan St. James.

They first meet when Ellie is a senior in high school. The chemistry is there, but it’s on a low simmer. Then over the years as Logan sees Ellie grow into a beautiful woman, that low simmer begins to turn into a sizzling inferno that proves almost impossible to resist.

I love a good slow burn romance, and this was easily one of my favorites. I love the playful nature that first forms between Ellie and Logan. I love the way he tries to deny his feelings for her while still falling in love with her. I love the way that Ellie goes after what she wants and I loved the way that Logan finally gives in. These two were some of the most endearing characters I’ve read in a while and I just couldn’t get enough of them.

This book had everything you’d expect from the incredible talent that is Emma Chase; humor, witty dialogue, fantastic characters, and a romance that’s so swoony, it may leave you in a pile of melty goo! This series is just perfection. It’s my indulgence when I need a light and easy romance that will give me the warm and fuzzies and leave me with a smile on my face. Suffice it to say that I. LOVED. IT.

GERI’S REVIEW

Life changes us, with its twists and turns, in ways we don’t always see coming. It changes what we want, what we dream, lays blessings in our hands better than anything we could’ve imagined.”

Emma Chase did it again. Royally Endowed is wickedly sexy, funny with loads of heartfelt moments and characters that you can’t help but root for.

Logan St. James is the dutiful royal bodyguard tasked to guard Princess Olivia Hammond’s baby sister, Ellie. Since her sister married into the royal family, Ellie’s life changed. Part of that change is the stable of bodyguards following her every move and keeping her safe. And provide Ellie with some eye candy along the way.

Logan is the hot, heroic, silent type and unsurprisingly, Ellie developed a crush on him from the get go. As Ellie grew older, that crush developed into something more. But Logan has always been a loyal and dutiful bodyguard. He wouldn’t jeopardize his job or his relationship with the royal family. So even though he started to see Ellie as someone other than the princess’ younger sister, he can’t be with her the way Ellie wanted to. Or so he thought.

Royally Endowed is probably the most romantic of all the books in this series. And that’s because Logan is just something else. He might not be a prince but man oh man, he gave Nicholas and Henry a run for their money. And for me, he’s my favorite hero in this series. Don’t get me wrong. I love Nicholas and Henry but there’s just something about Logan that puts him above the rest.

His loyalty and dedication to his job, not to mention the way he handled Ellie’s crush on him was endearing. I never felt like he took advantage of her especially since she’s way younger than him and basically still in high school when the story started.

Ellie is just as endearing. She’s a free-spirit and even though people see her as nothing but an airhead, she’s more than that. She displays a maturity that’s unexpected considering how young she is. She’s loves her family and is loyal to a fault. I love how she loves Logan in her own way, at a distance at first and then up close.

For the first time since I met him, my hero looks lost, my guardian angel has a broken wing. And I want to mend him, save him the way he’s always saved me. I want to love him until he feels found.

Their relationship was never easy because of the difference of their status. Ellie is the sister of the princess of Wessco, while Logan is just the lowly bodyguard. But their differences is superficial. At the heart of it, Logan and Ellie have more in common than anyone else. I really enjoyed the way their relationship unfolded.

And Logan…*swoon He made this book for me. He had so much too lose with pursuing Ellie but once he decided that she’s it for him, he’s there 100%. And I loved him for it.

You see the good in people, Ellie. You trust. That’s a good way to be, a brave way. I’ll watch more closely from now on; I’ll make sure this never happens again. You just be who you are. Leave the rest to me.”

Emma Chase has another winner in her hands. If you’re a fan of her writing, then this book is a must read. And if you’re looking to be swept away by romance, yes, this book is for you.

 

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Emma Chase is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the hot and hilarious Tangled series and The Legal Briefs series. Emma lives in New Jersey with her husband, two children and two naughty (but really cute) dogs. She has a long-standing love/hate relationship with caffeine.

WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | NEWSLETTER | TWITTER | GOODREADS | READER FAN GROUP

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#DGRFave & Review: The Brightest Sunset by Aly Martinez

July 24, 2017 by · Leave a Comment

THE BRIGHTEST SUNSET
Series: The Darkest Sunrise Duet
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Aly Martinez
Release Date: July 27, 2017

Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never harm me.
Bullshit.
Words destroyed me.
“I’m sorry. She didn’t make it.”
“Daddy, he can’t breathe!”
“There’s nothing more we can do for your son.”
Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never harm me.
Lies.
Those syllables and letters became my executioner. I told myself that, if I didn’t acknowledge the pain and the fear, they would have no power over me. But, as the years passed, the hate and the anger left behind began to control me.
Two words—that was all it took to plunge my life into darkness.
“He’s gone.”
In the end, it was four soft, silky words that gave me hope of another sunrise.
“Hi. I’m Charlotte Mills.”

AMAZON

he’s shown me that there doesn’t have to be light for something to be beautiful. Love can grow in the darkness

How do you even begin to review a book that touched you on such a visceral level that you don’t think you’ll ever forget it? How do you put those feelings into words that can even begin to do a book the justice it so deserves? How do you attempt to relay everything that this book was without giving anything away? You don’t. Because it’s impossible.

The sun still hung bright in the sky, but midnight fell all the same. And, in that moment, I feared I’d never escape it again. The darkness was going to be my executioner. It was going to crush me, suffocate me, and then devour me.

The Brightest Sunset concludes The Darkest Sunrise duet and man did it go out with a bang. Prepare for a story that will keep you up well into the night and I hope you have plenty of tissues handy because Aly Martinez will not just tug at your heart strings, she’ll rip them to shreds like the sadist that she surely is.

I won’t tell you what happens, because if you haven’t read the first book, my review will be one giant spoiler. But what I can tell you is that Porter Reese stole my heart and I never want it back. Here was a hero that had none of the typical frills. He wasn’t an overbearing alpha. He wasn’t intense or demanding. He was just an amazing man. A man that loves fiercely. A man that will make any sacrifice for the ones he loves. A man that isn’t afraid to feel and show those feelings. A man that’s an alpha but not in the obvious way.

If you were on the fence with Charlotte in book one, you won’t be in this one. You really get to see the soft beneath the cold front exterior. You get to see a woman that finally finds her voice and the way to use it. A woman that finally discovers what love means and how to fight for it. A woman that’s every bit deserving of an incredible man like Porter.

Aly puts this couple through hell and back. I was in hell right along with them. I have never had so much anxiety reading a book. I bit my nails to shreds. I sobbed my way through the entire last third. I was a sobbing, sniveling pile of goo and I loved every devastating second of it.

The Brightest Sunset was a stunning, emotional, unforgettable story of second chances and love beyond all odds. It was phenomenal. It was beautiful. It was everything.

He’d made the darkness a beautiful place filled with understanding and acceptance.

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Blog Tour & Jenn’s Review: Wicked Intentions by @JTGeissinger

July 18, 2017 by · Leave a Comment

WICKED INTENTIONS
Series: Wicked Games #3
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: JT Geissinger
Release Date: July 11, 2017

In the Caribbean for his best friend’s wedding, ex special-ops officer and security expert Ryan McLean meets a beautiful woman in the hotel bar. Their connection is immediate and intense, and they spend a passionate night together with pleasure as their only goal.

But when Ryan wakes the following morning to discover the beautiful woman has vanished, along with millions worth of jewels from the safe of the Saudi prince staying in the suite next door, he realizes their meeting wasn’t accidental and becomes determined to find her.

A notorious thief known to authorities only as the Dragonfly, Mariana Lora has one final job to complete before she’s free from the oath that bound her to a life of crime, but the sexy-as-hell Marine she spent one explosive tropical night with is hot on her heels at every turn. She has to outwit him to stay out of jail, but fighting their magnetic attraction soon becomes a game neither one of them can resist.

When Mariana’s last job goes dangerously wrong and she needs Ryan’s help to survive, he has to decide if their game of cat and mouse is only a game, or if he can trust this beautiful thief with something no woman has ever stolen: his heart.

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If I could give only ONE BOOK RECOMMENDATION this whole year, it would be THIS BOOK. Holy Book Perfection. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, JT Geissinger is a genius. You know those authors that are underestimated and not nearly enough people know about them or read their books? That’s JT Geissinger.

I read Wicked Sexy last year and was blown away. After reading Wicked Intentions, my brain and heart and body are bursting!! These books are the whole package (pun intended). What I love about this book? EVERYTHING. It seriously has everything you ever want in a perfect book. The feels. The humor. The sex. The dirty talk. The amazing story. The words. The dark. The light. All wrapped up in one perfectly packaged book.
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I discovered love was nothing like a fairy tale. It was more like a bad poem written in indecipherable meter by a drunken poet who couldn’t keep a job, so he lived with his mother his whole life while writing the most outrageous roadblocks and outcomes, based on nothing but the whims of his own inebriated brain. It had an awkward beginning, a wildly improbable middle, and an awful, painful end. And nothing rhymed.
Love was the worst.
Inconveniently, it was also the best.

à la Mode St. » fashionMariana. BAD. ASS. HEROINE. It’s impossible for JT to write a weak heroine. Mariana is a genius thief. The best. She has a sordid past and was raised to become the best thief the world has ever known. Riddled with secrets, she steals in order to keep herself safe. She meets Ryan when she is on a mission, and she has to seduce him, but the tables turn and he ends up seducing her instead, and THE CHASE IS ON!!!
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“Wrap your legs around my back,” I say, panting too, “and tell me how much you hate me while I make you come.”
Her thighs become a vise around my waist. Her eyes burn. “I do hate you.”
I flex my hips, and her lashes flutter. She whispers, “I do.”

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Ryan. BEST. HERO. EVER. JT writes the best heroes!! I loved Ryan’s natural humor and laid-back personality. But at the same time, he is a genius. I love all the geniuses!!! Ryan is irresistible. I am just grinning and giggling thinking about him. He is part of a top-notch security firm that is very well-connected. Mariana continues to underestimate him in the book, but Ryan doesn’t give up on her. His confidence. His swagger. His humor. Gah!
He melted my mind
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He comes like he does everything else, one thousand percent committed. Crying out until he’s hoarse, praising me, making me feel beautiful, like fairy tales could be true and happily every afters might be an actual possibility. When it’s over and he’s spent, lying motionless and panting, his chest slick with sweat, I sit back on my heels and just look at him. I drink him in with my eyes, memorizing every golden line of his body.

Because in some dark part of my heart, no matter how much I want to believe in them, I know that fairy tales aren’t true.

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Ryan chases Mariana in this book, and this chase is delicious. Mariana cannot resist him every time he catches her (who could?!). It’s a game of trust issues. The beginning of this book is perfect. The middle is perfect. The end is perfect.

Are you annoyed yet about how much I love this book?

My work here is done.

 Want to read the other standalones in the Wicked Games series? Find out more about WICKED BEAUTIFUL and WICKED SEXY below!

About WICKED BEAUTIFUL

WickedBeautiful.Ebook.v4.Amazon

Life coach and best-selling author Victoria Price has it all: a successful career, fabulous friends, a fantastic penthouse in Manhattan. What she doesn’t have—and doesn’t want—is a husband. Fifteen years ago her high school flame broke her heart so badly she swore she’d never love again. Now she makes millions teaching other women how to be just like her: a ruthless bitch.

Drop-dead sexy restauranteur and infamous playboy Parker Maxwell has only three rules for the women he dates: no questions about his past, no expectations for the future, and no spending the night. When he meets Victoria, however, he’s willing to break his own rules if it means sating the explosive desire she arouses in him. What he doesn’t know is that the alluring Victoria Price used to be the mousy Isabel Diaz, the girl he deflowered and dumped long ago.

Presented with a perfect opportunity for revenge, Victoria decides the game is on. But when her connection with Parker proves more than just skin deep, she has to make a choice: continue with her plan for payback, or risk her career, her reputation, and her heart by taking a second chance on love?

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About WICKED SEXY
WickedEbook.v3.Amazon

A badass ex-Special Ops officer and a smartass hacker fight a dangerous enemy…and a blistering attraction to each other.

Connor Hughes is an ex-special ops officer, CEO of Metrix Security, and bonafide badass. His private security firm is renowned for its effectiveness. He’s renowned for his lethal precision and iron self-control. But when the former Marine meets a gorgeous young hacker with a mouth as smart as her brain, his control unravels in ways he never could have predicted.

Tabitha West is a genius MIT dropout with a bad attitude, an obsession with Hello Kitty and piercings in unmentionable places. Tabby amuses herself by outwitting the most secure technology systems on the planet. Known in hacker circles as Polaroid due to her photographic memory, she’s as secretive as she is accustomed to working alone. So when Connor decides she’s the only one who can help him catch a cyber criminal intent on taking down one of his clients, she tells him exactly where he can stick it.

But when the cyber criminal turns out to be the Hannibal Lecter of computer crime—and a dark presence from Tabby’s past—Tabby and Connor are drawn into a dangerous game of cat and mouse. They quickly find themselves fighting not only their common enemy, but also an explosive desire that threatens to consume them.

When the stakes are this high and the game this deadly, will falling in love be the most dangerous move of all?

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A former headhunter, J.T. Geissinger is the author of more than a dozen novels in contemporary romance, paranormal romance, and romantic suspense.

She is the recipient of the Prism Award for Best First Book, the Golden Quill Award for Best Paranormal/Urban Fantasy, and is a two-time finalist for the RITA® Award from the Romance Writers of America®. Her work has also finaled in the Booksellers’ Best, National Readers’ Choice, and Daphne du Maurier Awards.

Join her Facebook reader’s group, Geissinger’s Gang, to take part in weekly Wine Wednesday live chats and giveaways, find out more information about works in progress, have access to exclusive excerpts and contests, and get advance reader copies of her upcoming releases.

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Geri’s Review & Excerpt: Silver Silence by @NaliniSingh

June 13, 2017 by · Leave a Comment

SILVER SILENCE
Series: Psy-Changeling Trinity #1
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Author: Nalini Singh
Release Date: June 13, 2017

New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh introduces a bold new chapter in her extraordinary paranormal romance saga with the Psy-Changeling Trinity series. Wild passion will encounter the darkest of betrayal…

Control. Precision. Family. These are the principles that drive Silver Mercant. At a time when the fledgling Trinity Accord seeks to unite a divided world, with Silver playing a crucial role as director of a worldwide emergency response network, wildness and chaos are the last things she needs in her life.

But that’s exactly what Valentin Nikolaev, alpha of the StoneWater Bears, brings with him.

Valentin has never met a more fascinating woman. Though Silver is ruled by Silence—her mind clear of all emotion—Valentin senses a whisper of fire around her. That’s what keeps him climbing apartment buildings to be near her.

But when a shadow assassin almost succeeds in poisoning Silver, the stakes become deadly serious…and Silver finds herself in the heart of a powerful bear clan.

Her would-be assassin has no idea what their poison has unleashed…

AMAZON

I’ve got strong hands, and I promise to be a gentleman unless you ask me to tear off your clothes and kiss every delectable inch of you.”

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Oh my gah, Valentin. *melts into a puddle of goo*

This Changeling alpha bear stole my heart from the get go and he almost ALMOST replaced Hawke as my favorite Nalini Singh hero ever! No small feat coz duh, Hawke is Hawke but oh man, Valentin is right up there.

Silver Silence is the first book out of the second chapter of Nalini Singh’s sprawling Psy-Changeling series called Psy-Changeling Trinity. Silence has fallen and a new peace accord has been signed by the three groups: the Human Alliance, the Psy’s and the Changelings. But a new group threatens to unravel the fragile bonds of peace that the Trinity has forged. Just when you thought this series couldn’t get any better, it does. It really does.

Silver didn’t know how to love, but she knew how to hold on to her people.

Silver Mercant rose from being Kaleb Krychek’s top aide to become the head of the Em-Net, the worldwide emergency response network. Silence has fallen but despite this Silver still chooses to live under it. She has a good reason to and her reason isn’t clear to other characters in the book as well as the readers until it was revealed. The Mercants is one of the most powerful Psy family in the world, and the most secretive. So when an attempt was made on Silver’s life, the Mercants did what they had to do their way.

Fortunately for Silver, Valentin Nikolaev, alpha of the StoneWater Bears offered his home and his protection while her family tried to get to the bottom of who wanted Silver killed. 

The StoneWater Bears are a strong predator changeling group out of Moscow who went through a very traumatic rift which threatens to tear them part. And Valentin being the Alpha has his hands full with keeping his family safe and strong as they navigate the new changes brought about by the Trinity Accord. But Silver has always fascinated Valentin. The man and his bear recognized their mate in Silver and despite her Silence, Valentin goes above and beyond in trying to win her trust and her heart. And we know what happens when you put a determined alpha bear together with a reluctant Silent Psy in one place, right?

This was my favorite part of the book for me. Yes, this book does have multiple POVs. It has intrigued and a dash of suspense. But the romance…the ROMANCE was top-notch swoonworthy.

Explain what’s happening.”  

 “We’re happening.”

Valentin, like most changeling Alpha, is determined. Gah! His devotion and patience as the pursues Silver “sneaky like a cat” was everything. He was funny as hell and he respects Silver and treats her as his equal. He totally won me over and Silver didn’t stand a chance. He was one determined bear.

I loved how Ms. Singh took time to develop not just their romance but each of their character arcs. Silver went from being Silent to the kind of person that was perfect fit for Valentin, who has always worn his heart on his sleeve when it comes to Silver. I loved how the StoneWater Bears Denhome was explored in the book. The vivid imagery of their cave as well as the relationships between Valentin and his sisters, as well as his lieutenants added an interesting layer to the story and to the romance.

A few familiar characters from the first chapter of the Psy-Changeling series made some appearances but not all. Lots of names were dropped though which made me so happy because yes, I knew these characters. Their presence were felt but not too much that it became distracting. This book is definitely all about these new characters, specifically, the StoneWater bears and the BlackEdge wolves, which I am already in love with.

I’ll be beary good,” he promised, his face lit from within.

She had the sense of playing with a wild thing. “Now you’re just beyond bearing.”

Silver Silence did not disappoint. It’s tautly written with fascinating characters and an intricate plot that holds your interest from beginning until the end.  There were a lot of plot threads that were left open and I for one, am intrigued.  I’m definitely looking forward to more Psy-Changeling Trinity.

Laughing at the cubs’ antics, Valentin jogged down the slight incline and waded into what had to be ice-cold water after kicking off his boots and socks. He splashed the cubs, laughed when they splashed him back. Running so they could chase him, he turned abruptly and chased them back, to their unhidden joy.
Silver took a seat on the grass. When the female bear looked her way, she inclined her head in a silent greeting. The bear did the same, then they both watched an alpha bear play with two energetic cubs, his hands holding rough care for their small bodies.
By the time Valentin made his way back to her, he was drenched and his eyes weren’t human in any way. When he spoke, his already deep voice was so low it felt like thunder against her skin. “Couldn’t resist,” he said, pushing back his wet hair with one big hand. “If you weren’t in recovery and if I wasn’t in terror of Nova’s wrath, I’d have invited you. The small monsters wanted to play with you.”
Silver didn’t get to her feet. “Can we stay here a little longer?” It was patent that Valentin had an extremely high tolerance for the cold, but he might want to dry off.
“Sure,” he said, and, moving away several feet, shook off the wet.
Fine droplets settled on the skin of her cheek, but she didn’t flinch at the unintentional tactile contact. She also controlled her urge to reach up and touch the water where it lay against her skin. There was no reason to do that, and Silver was alive because she only did things that were rational.
Settling beside her, Valentin waved at the cubs as their guardian led their tired forms toward a path in the trees that was at the same level as the stream. “Gentler climb,” Valentin told her.
“They seem too exhausted to make it to Denhome.”
“It’s all an act—they’re hoping for a ride on their aunt’s back.” His tone held the same fond affection she’d heard when he spoke of Dima. “It’d take more than a few minutes’ play in the water to wipe out those two.”
The cubs had played with Valentin for almost a half hour. “They’re hyperactive?”
“They’re baby bears.”
Silver watched as those baby bears turned toward her and rose up on their back paws, as if in challenge. A stern sound from their caretaker, and they dropped down and scrambled to catch up with her. Their bodies disappeared into the trees as dusk began to turn from orange to shadowy gray.
Beside her, Valentin sprawled out, bracing himself on his elbows. His drenched T-shirt clung to the ridged muscles of his abdomen, pulled tight across his pectoral muscles, shaped itself over his shoulders. His jeans weren’t much better, outlining the raw muscle of his thighs.
Valentin Nikolaev was a man of violent physical strength even in human form. Yet he clearly had iron control over it; when he’d played with the children, they’d displayed zero fear of their alpha.
“You thought about where you’re going to live when you escape the bears who’ve kidnapped you?”
When she raised an eyebrow at him, he grinned. “Fringe netter with his own Internet channel sent out a breaking report last night. Pasha—who obviously needs more work duties—made up a fake account and posted a comment swearing to have seen you being pulled into a black van by six burly bears in bear form.”
“You don’t seem too concerned.” Amber eyes and deep voice, he remained very much a bear in human form.
“Well, according to this ‘eyewitness,’ the getaway driver was in bear form, too. Must’ve been tough for him to steer with one paw since he was drinking a beer at the same time.”
“Bears,” Silver said, making Valentin throw his head back and laugh that huge laugh that wrapped around her.
“I’ve got strong hands, and I promise to be a gentleman unless you ask me to tear off your clothes and kiss every delectable inch of you.”

NEW YORK TIMES AND USA Today bestselling author of the Psy-Changeling and Guild Hunter series Nalini Singh usually writes about hot shapeshifters and dangerous angels. This time around, she decided to write about a hot and wickedly tempting rock star. If you’re seeing a theme here, you’re not wrong.

Nalini lives and works in beautiful New Zealand, and is passionate about writing. If you’d like to explore her other books, you can find lots of excerpts on her website. Slave to Sensation is the first book in the Psy-Changeling series, while Angels’ Blood is the first book in the Guild Hunter series. Once Rock Addiction is out, swing by the site to check out the special behind-the-scenes page, complete with photos of many of the locations used in the book.

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