#DGRFave & Review: Crow by A. Zavarelli

CROW
Series: Boston Underground #1
Genre: Dark Romance, Mafia
Author: A. Zavarelli
Release Date: February 8, 2016

An Irish mobster. A missing friend. Two loyalties, ripping me apart.

I had a plan.

Get in, get my information, and get out. Easy, right?

Turns out, infiltrating the Irish mafia isn’t exactly what I thought it would be. I just wanted a soldier. Someone I could flirt with to get me in the door.

That’s when Lachlan Crow noticed me. Problem was, he wasn’t a soldier. No, he was next in line for the throne of the Irish underworld. And he was determined to hate me from the outset. My sob story about needing a job? Yeah, he wasn’t buying that either.

Too bad for him, I won’t let anyone get in the way of my mission.

Who cares if we have some kind of crazy chemistry? He’s the worst kind of wrong- and I would never in a million years be with a guy like him.

Because they took her from me, and I’m going to make them pay.

AMAZON

You live for the syndicate, you die for the syndicate.

FREAKING. LOVED. Where has this series been all my life?! Or rather, where have I been living that I’m only discovering it now?!

This book was EVERYTHING I love. Gritty, dark mafia romance with a seriously kick ass heroine and an anti-hero that’s just as delicious as he is dangerous.

But let’s start with the heroine, shall we?

I’m the daughter of Jack Wilder. A third generation Irish-American with champion’s blood running through my veins. I was raised on the streets of Southie, and I’m not afraid of anyone. I’ll take on every single one of those motherfuckers and I’ll do it with a smile on my face.

Mackenzie “Mack” grew up hard. After losing her underground boxer father to a brutal murder by the Russian mafia, she was left with nothing but her best friend Talia. The girls became everything to each other, sisters in everything but blood. So when Talia goes missing, Mack is determined to find her. She doesn’t buy the story that she simply left with her boyfriend. And when the cops and FBI won’t listed to her, she’s determined to do it herself…by going undercover at the strip club owned by one of the most ruthless mobs in Southie. This is what lands her in the crosshairs of Lachlan Crow.

Jaysus, woman,” he sighs. “Ye clean up your fecking mouth before I do it for you. You want to work for me ye better start acting like a lady.”
“I am a goddamn lady.” I grin.

The chemistry between these two is immediate. And what begins is a delicious game of cat and mouse, though at times you’ll wonder who the true cat is. While Crow is a force to be reckoned with and is as lethal as he is sexy, Mack is a force of her own. This is one tough chick and I loved her sass and balls to the walls attitude.

But it’s not long before lines begin to get blurred and Mack’s game is no longer a game. What happens when the man you believe holds your life is in hands is also a man you begin to crave beyond reason?

The sound of his pleasure and depravity jump starts my heart and explodes into my bloodstream. I’ve never felt anything like it before. Whatever it is, it’s ricocheting through my body, possessing me like a demon. My hands draw him closer, and the next thing I know, I’m kissing him back. Hard.

The story is downright addicting. It’s full of twists and turns and with a depraved sort of grit that kept me glued to the pages. It was violent, unapologetic, and spared no detail. And this girl? SALIVATING.

I’m not sure how this series has flown under my radar for so long, but I’m rectifying that mistake as we speak by binging on the rest of these amazing stories!

Review: Three Is A War by @pamgodwinbooks

THREE IS A WAR
Series: Tangled Lies #3 (trilogy)
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Pam Godwin
Release Date: August 29, 2017

Three means war.
Three sides vying for forever.

Cole.
My first love.
The bad boy with the dangerous smile and passionate temper draws attention like a lit fuse on dynamite. But his dark molten eyes spark only for me.

Trace.
My second chance.
Over six feet of Norse god in a tailored suit, he calculates every move and seizes my hungry breaths with an iron fist.

Me.
The free-spirited dancer, torn between two men with no resolution in sight.
I tried leaving, staying, refusing, and surrendering.
What options do I have left?

I love two men, and I do the only thing I can. I fight.

The TANGLED LIES series must be read in order.
One is a Promise
Two is a Lie
Three is a War

AMAZON

I fell in love with two men and lost myself. I’ll stay in love with one and find myself again.

Oh. my. heart.
Oh. my. god.
Oh. mylanta.
I have no idea how I survived this book. Did I survive this book?

*looks back at the empty bottles of wine standing on night stand*

I think I’m still in recovery here.

*goes back to rocking in the corner*

I don’t read love triangles. Not usually. My cold black heart can’t handle it. But when Pam Godwin writes a love triangle, I put on my big girl panties, suck it up, and stock up on all of the wine.

You shatter me,” he breathes against my lips. I hum with contentment. “We can fall apart together.”

Two books. Three hearts. It’s all been leading up to this nail biting, heart wrenching, rip your hair out, stress inducing, and completely unputdownable conclusion. Dani is left with an impossible decision; a choice between two men that own her heart equally.

Her first love. The man that first stole her heart and never gave it back when he left, leaving her in shatters.

This is your world.” He spreads his arms wide. “I just live in it. You own my heart, my every thought. You have the power to take whatever you want when you want it.”

And her new love. The man that picked up the shattered pieces and gave her hope and made her see that love never dies, it just takes the right person to bring it back to life.

Since the moment I saw you…” Trace squeezes my fingers. “I haven’t gone a day without thinking about you. No matter how much it hurts or how long it takes, I know that a lifetime with you is worth fighting for.”

An impossible decision.
Two men willing to fight for the chance to own the entirety of her heart.
A woman torn.
A reader driven to drink and sob hysterically while experiencing all of it along with the characters.

I cannot describe to you the emotional wringer this book put me through. Pam Godwin crafted a sensual, deeply emotional, intense, and heart wrenching story that captivates from the beginning and owns you throughout.

I was a card-holding member of #TeamTorn throughout the trilogy. I wasn’t sure who I was rooting for or what I wanted. My feelings were so up and down and back and forth, that I completely felt for everything that Dani was going through. And even though I didn’t have a favorite that I was rooting for, it didn’t stop me from having my heart broken all the same.

This wasn’t a story, this was an experience. A deeply emotional, stress inducing, anxiety causing experience. I was an absolute wreck for the entire last third of the book. I sobbed uncontrollably and didn’t think I’d survive it. And this is coming from someone that rarely feels emotional in books. But man oh man, did this one gut me.

Am I happy with the choice? I don’t know.
Am I satisfied with the conclusion? I don’t know.
I seriously don’t know how or what I feel. But what I do know is that Pam Godwin wrote her sadistic little heart out with this book.
Will it satisfy every reader? No. Will you be happy with how it all turns out? Maybe. But one thing is for sure, you will understand the why’s of everything completely. Pam did a phenomenal job with weaving emotions together of not only her characters but also her readers. This book was easily her best work yet. It ruined me but I have no regrets.

Yes, I’m an emotional wreck after finishing it and I likely won’t read another love triangle for a long damn while. My thoughts are still a jumbled mess and I honestly can’t decide what I think of the ending. But this trilogy owned me thoroughly and completely and I’m so glad that I got to experience it.

And now that you got some semblance of a coherent review out of me…


THE TRILOGY


ONE IS A PROMISE

One promise.
One forever.

One look and I knew Cole was mine. My dark rebel in leather. My powerhouse of passion, devastating smiles, and impulsiveness.
When his job sends him overseas, he promises to return to me.
A promise that’s destroyed in the most irrevocable way.

Two years later, an arrogant suit invades my heartbroken loneliness.

Clean-cut and stern, Trace is everything Cole wasn’t.
At first, he’s a job that will rescue my dance company. But as he intrudes on my life, our hostile relationship evolves.
He knows I’m still in love with Cole, but his dedication is my undoing.

Then a catastrophic moment changes everything.

Promises resurface.
Lies entangle.
And an impossible choice shatters my world.

I love two men, and I can only have one.


TWO IS A LIE

Two lies.

Two men who don’t share.

I never stopped loving Cole. Not when he left me. Not when he disappeared for three years. Not when he crashed back into my life in a violent explosion of testosterone and fury.

His sudden reappearance questions everything I thought I knew, including how I came to love another man.

Trace is an intoxicating breeze of seduction over ice. My rock. My second chance at forever.

And he’s committed to annihilating the competition.

The battle that ensues wrenches me back and forth between them.

Fighting and fucking.

Resisting and submitting.

Together, they entangle me in a web of lies, rivalry, and desire that weaves as deeply as their devotion to me.

I love two men, and if I can only have one, I choose none.


THREE IS A WAR

Three means war.

Three sides vying for forever.

Cole.

My first love.

The bad boy with the dangerous smile and passionate temper draws attention like a lit fuse on dynamite. But his dark molten eyes spark only for me.

Trace.

My second chance.

Over six feet of Norse god in a tailored suit, he calculates every move and seizes my hungry breaths with an iron fist.

Me.

The free-spirited dancer, torn between two men with no resolution in sight.

I tried leaving, staying, refusing, and surrendering.

What options do I have left?  

I love two men, and I do the only thing I can. I fight


New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author, Pam Godwin, lives in the Midwest with her husband, their two children, and a foulmouthed parrot. When she ran away, she traveled fourteen countries across five continents, attended three universities, and married the vocalist of her favorite rock band.

Java, tobacco, and dark romance novels are her favorite indulgences, and might be considered more unhealthy than her aversion to sleeping, eating meat, and dolls with blinking eyes.

E-mail → pamgodwinauthor@gmail.com

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Other books by Pam Godwin


Deliver Series:

http://pamgodwin.com/book/deliver/

DELIVER | VANQUISH | DISCLAIM

 

Trilogy of Eve Series:

http://pamgodwin.com/book/trilogyofeve/

DEAD OF EVE (#1) | HEART OF EVE (#1.5) | BLOOD OF EVE (#2) | DAWN OF EVE (#3)

 

Stand-alones:

DARK NOTES

DIRTY TIES

BENEATH THE BURN

INCENTIVE

Lana & Jenn Review: Thrill Seeker by Taryn Quinn

THRILL SEEKER
Series: Sinful In Seattle #1
Genre: Erotic Romance
Author: Taryn Quinn
Release Date: August 15, 2017

He saved me…

I wasn’t paying attention that night after work. I was just in a hurry to get to my car.
But someone was watching.
A stranger waited in the shadows, and he tried to hurt me. But another man also came out of the darkness, ready to defend me.
I serve billionaire Max Chapel his dinner every evening.
He’s powerful. Mysterious. And just as dangerous, but in a much different way.

He destroyed me…

But is it destruction if I asked him, the man who’d saved me, to tear my clothes? To take me roughly while the fear and helplessness still raged inside my belly?

He made me whole again…

Not just physically, but emotionally. He unlocked a side of me I never knew existed. But he knows.
He practically owns this whole town.

Now he wants to own me.

Author’s note: If you like sweet love scenes, this isn’t the story for you. Max and Georgia learn they like dangerous games. And they want more of them.

Author’s note part deux: Thrill Seeker is a 19K novella that ends on a cliffhanger, and there are two more parts to come of this story.

AMAZON
LANA’S REVIEW

I wanted her laid out and bare. I wanted to grip her hair as I took her from behind. I wanted to leave bite marks on that glorious ass that swung with each brisk step across the courtyard to my favorite table. I wanted to lick her from clit to ass and own it all.
Oh no, my wants were not the hero kind.

Sweet.
Baby.
Jesus.

This book should come with an additional warning: Do NOT read in public. For the love of ovaries! For just 19k words, this quickie novella packed a heck of a punch. Wowza!

Sassy restaurant hostess meets millionaire playboy and sparks don’t just fly, they explode. Yes, this is short, but it’s surprisingly satisfying and serves to whet the appetite for more deliciousness to come. And considering the sexy games these two allude to? I’m not sure I’ll survive the next two books.

As for that cliffhanger? Let’s just say the authors were getting a 12 AM death threat though messenger when I finished. But it’s nothing they didn’t expect. These two sadists know full well what they were doing when they teased the readers with what’s to come. And having a pretty good idea of what it is (it just happens to be a HUGE fave of mine), I’m pretty sure I’d part with an ovary to get my hands on book two IMMEDIATELY!

And authors, if you’re reading this review, if I don’t have book two in my grabby little hands in the next 3 months…

Just kidding!
*whispers*
I’m not kidding.


JENN’S REVIEW

Marshmallows.

Chocolate bars.

Graham Crackers.

Yep, I’m about to roast it up because this book was FIRE and I want S’MORE!!!!

 smores GIF
Too cheesy???
Georgia has been eyeing Max for a while. She is the hostess of a restaurant that Max frequents, and they continue to dance around each other. They don’t know that they want each other…..BAD. When something happens to bring them together, they cannot resist each other. Things, clothes, body parts…..GET…HOT….FAST. And they like it rough, y’all….*giggles like a giddy school girl.
 tv dancing jimmy fallon tv show tonight show GIFI gorged myself on this book, and I’m not ashamed. I loved every second of this shortie. Of course it wasn’t long enough, but I would go back and reread it already.

I’m sad to say that I had no idea there was a cliffy and I have to wait for the next one, but that did not affect my view of this book because it’s THAT good.

As for you, Taryn Quinn….

 the sandlot sandlot killing me smalls GIF

Review & Excerpt: Beneath The Truth by Meghan March

BENEATH THE TRUTH
Series: Beneath #7
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Suspense
Author: Meghan March
Release Date: August 8, 2017

From USA Today bestselling author Meghan March comes the final sexy standalone set in the Beneath world of New Orleans.

I used to believe there were lines in life you don’t cross.

Don’t lie. Don’t cheat. Don’t steal.

Until I learned people don’t always practice what they preach.

I turned in my badge and gun and walked away from everything.

Then I got the call no one wants, and I’m back in New Orleans.

What I don’t expect is for her to be here too.

Another line you don’t cross?

Don’t touch your best friend’s little sister.

She’s always been off-limits.

Too bad I don’t follow the rules anymore.

 Amazon | iBooks | BN | Kobo

Wham. My heart slammed against my ribs as it sped up about twenty beats per minute.The heat and delicious woodsy citrus scent radiating from his body did good things to me. Things that made me want to do very bad things to him. I wasn’t a seventeen-year-old virgin anymore. I knew my way around a man, but I had to admit, the hipsters in Cali had nothing on a homegrown Louisiana man like Rhett.

When he spoke, he leaned in so close that I could feel his breath on my ear. “You missed that shot on purpose.”

My gaze jumped from the sexy five o’clock shadow shading his jaw to his piercing green eyes.

“Wha-what are you talking about?” I smacked myself mentally when my old stammer kicked in. Of course he would cause it.

“That shot. You missed on purpose. I saw you adjust at the last minute. Why?”

I swallowed the saliva pooling in my mouth and decided to take the safest exit from this situation. Lying.

“Cue slipped.”

His eyes narrowed on me. “You’re lying and you’re terrible at it, just like you’ve always been.” He reached up and pressed his thumb to my left eyebrow. “You get a twitch right here.”

Oh my God. Rhett Hennessy is touching me. And what’s more . . . he knows my tell. He noticed me!

The fifteen-year-old inside me did a terrible cartwheel at the realization. Okay, more of a round-off. With a tumble in the grass to finish. Whatever.

But outwardly, I was trapped in that green gaze until he decided to let me go—or until I came to my senses.

I cleared my throat and sidestepped him. “Whatever you say, hotshot. I need another drink.”

Focusing on putting one four-inch heel in front of the other without biting it, I escaped to the table and reached for the whiskey glass I’d left behind, interrupting my brother and the waitress. They both stared at me as I chugged the contents.

I’d always wondered what it would feel like to have Rhett’s attention, and now I knew. In a word, it was . . . unnerving.

“How’s the game going?” my brother asked.

“Fine.” Keeping my answer short meant he couldn’t tell that I was lying. Heath wasn’t nearly as observant as Rhett.

“You winning?”

Thanking the Lord that Heath obviously hadn’t been watching, I shrugged. “I guess.”

He glanced toward Rhett and then back to me. “The sister I know and love doesn’t lose at pool. Ever. Even to Rhett Hennessy.”

I lowered the glass to the table and straightened my shoulders. “Like they say, things change.”

He nodded slowly. “That may be true about most things, Flounder. But you’re a pool shark and we both know it.”

Before I could respond, Heath’s attention jumped back to the waitress. I took another ten seconds to gather myself, also known as drinking offensively in my mind, before I crossed the floor to face off against my former obsession.

“You all right, Red?” Rhett asked.

“Don’t call me that. And I’ve never been better.”

His gaze dipped to my feet and dragged up my body. “I can agree with that statement.”

Whoa. Who is this guy with the innuendo? A glance at his empty whiskey glass told me he was drinking heavily as well. Was this the booze talking? Or was Rhett Hennessy not just noticing me, but noticing me?

Either way, I had to play it cool. Or at least pretend to play it cool, since it seemed I might fall short.

“Your turn, hotshot. Better not miss, because I’ll clear the table next time,” I said, but my cocky attitude backfired.

Rhett didn’t miss. He sank his balls and then the eight, ending the game almost as quickly as it started. He returned his cue to the rack and turned to face me, all traces of the earlier heat banked, his expression shuttered.

“Game over.”

What the hell just happened?

There were lines you didn’t cross in life, and your best friend’s little sister was one of them. 

Sweet mother of grit but Meghan March know how to end a series with a bang. She not only lit the match and set things on fire, but threw gasoline on top for good measure to ensure the burn was even more sizzling.

This is the series that first introduced me to March and started my obsession, so this book was extra bittersweet for me. While I’ve been dying for Hennesy’s book since Beneath These Lies, I also never wanted it to end. Alas, all good things come to an end and there’s no better way to end this series than with ex-detective Hennessy. Now while you can absolutely enjoy this as a standalone, you’d also appreciate it a whole lot more if you at least read Beneath These Lies first. There’s a lot that happens in these books and while the author gives plenty of background to ensure new readers won’t be lost, you have a different appreciation for the characters having read the previous books.

Just when I decided I was well and truly over Rhett Hennessy, he sucked me back in with a single look.

Hennesy is back in New Orleans looking for answers after the suspicious death of his father who was under investigation for being dirty. Determined to clear his dead brother’s name and to finally unearth the truth, Hennesy is forced into the underbelly of a brutal cartel. His best friend’s little sister is a complication he doesn’t see coming.

Ariel has had a crush on her brother’s best friend since she was a little girl. But she’s not the little girl she used to be. These days she’s a genius CEO of a successful IT company and she’s over her school girl crush, or at least she thinks she is until she lays eyes on Hennesy. While there was always an undercurrent of heat, she doesn’t expect for the incendiary connection she feels with the man he is today. March is the queen of alpha males, and if there’s one thing that they all do well is go after their woman. Once Hennesy decides that ignoring the connection between Ariel and him is no longer an option, he goes after her with guns blazing. Ariel is no wilting wallflower and I loved her sass and inner monologue. She was a bit of a badass in her own right that was the perfect match for Hennesy.

This book had a much different vibe than the rest of the series for me. While I enjoyed the romance, I felt like it came secondary to the incredibly addicting and suspenseful story. This was quite possibly the grittiest book that Meghan has written to day, and I devoured each page with bated breath and on the edge of my seat. This was a powerhouse of a conclusion.

While I’m sad to see this series come to an end, Meghan introduced a secondary character here that I’m already salivating over. This man is the alpha to beat all alphas. We merely get a peek and the man sizzles with his presence. I cannot freaking wait for Ruthless King. Cannot wait, I tells ya.


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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Review: Wicked S.O.B. by Zara Cox

WICKED S.O.B.
Series: Dark Desires #2.5
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance
Author: Zara Cox
Release Date: August 8, 2017 

For so long, I lived for revenge. Now I live for her.

Ask anyone and they’ll tell you that Quinn Blackwood is not someone you mess with. I see. I want. I take. And you better not get in my way. That’s how I built my billion-dollar empire. That’s how I made my enemies pay. That’s how I won the one good, pure thing in my life, Elyse “Lucky” Gilbert. But after what I’ve done, my luck may have run out.

There is a fine line between love and obsession.

I’m not a fool. I didn’t think coming back to Quinn would be easy. That we would fall into a happy future and the darkness inside him would just disappear. Still, after everything we’ve been through, I couldn’t leave him to fight his demons alone. I’ve tried to convince myself nothing else matters as long as we’re together. But if I give him what he needs, will there be anything left of me?

AMAZON | iBOOKS

In a world of unlikely possibilities, Quinn and I ending up together was one in a million.

Considering just how much I loved Beautiful Liar, I was practically giddy to get another hit of Q & Lucky. I’m not typically a reader that enjoys follow-up novellas. Why mess with a good thing when the couple already got their HEA? But in the case here, I craved more of this couple. Their relationship was tumultuous, filled with lies and deceit. There was bound to be fallout even if things did fall into place for them at the end.

This novella was the perfect taste of this couple that I was craving. We find Quinn dealing with the fallout from seeing his plan through and finding revenge against his father. Having prepared himself to not make it past his 30th birthday, it’s an adjustment for him to deal with his new reality. He traded in one obsession for another. Where before revenge fueled him, now it’s his obsession in his love for Elyse.

Fucking was a means to pass the time before I met Elyse. Now fucking Elyse has become as necessary to me as breathing.

Quinn and Elyse are just as incendiary together as ever. They practically burn up the pages. There’s also an added suspense plot that’s added to spice things up. Admittedly I thought it would go in a totally different direction than it did with what I now assume was a red herring the author threw out. While it served to drive the plot forward, I was slightly underwhelmed with the revelation.

But that barely registered on my radar in comparison to how much I was enjoying this book. And enjoy it I did. Wicked SOB was utterly delicious, sinfully erotic, and a page turned from cover to cover. If you haven’t discovered this author yet, you’re seriously missing out.


 

 THE SERIES

BEAUTIFUL LIAR | BLACK SHEEP | WICKED S.O.B. | ARROGANT BASTARD

 

Release Blitz, Review & Giveaway: BLACK SHEEP by Zara Cox.

BLACK SHEEP
Series: Dark Desires #2
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance
Author: Zara Cox
Release Date: August 8, 2017 (Paperback)

**Now Available in Print for the First Time!**

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

AMAZON | AUDIBLEiBOOKS | B-A-M | GOOGLE PLAY | INDIEBOUND | KOBO | B&N

I trust no one. But like I do with Quinn Blackwood, the Black Widow and I share a special bond. Not one I would swear life or death on by a long shot. But there’s an…understanding. She’s the only one who’s been allowed into my special room, the only one who knows the ingredients of my sweet poison. The only one who’s seen what this room does to me. The longest I’ve been able to withstand is five hours.Her concern is warranted.

I see her swallow before she reaches into her pocket. The small remote is directly linked to the chains. She sets the time but hesitates before pressing the requisite button.

Boldly she steps up to me, and she slides her hands through the hair at my nape. I jerk away but cannot escape her touch because of the cuffs. She stops, staring down at me with narrowed eyes.

I’m on the edge. Hell, who the fuck am I kidding? I was born on the edge. But tonight I’m a whisper away from annihilation and we both know it.

“Are you sure about this?”

“Fuck no. Hell yes.”

She opens her mouth.

“No,” I preempt her.

“I don’t have to stay here with you, but I can be outside.”

“No. Press the button. Don’t make me repeat myself.”

“Axel…”

I close my eyes and shudder as my fists ball. I want to hear my name, but I don’t want the voice to be The Black Widow’s. There’s only one voice I want to hear right now. One face I want to see. Cleo’s.

“Do it and leave. Now.”

“I will, but at least let me come back and check on you—”

“Say another word and I’ll fire you.”

Her eyes harden to ice chips. “Fuck you. Have your six hours if you want. But I’m coming back in three hours to check on you. Fire me then if you want.”

With a defiant flick of her wrist, she sets the timer down between my feet, within touching distance.
The moment her back is turned, I kick the remote. It bounces against the last step and skids sideways halfway across the room. She hesitates, her back stiff, but she doesn’t turn back around. In silence, she leaves.

The moment the door shuts, twenty projectors on the dark gray walls flicker to life. Large, small, and in-between, they take up every inch of the circular wall. If space allowed I would have had more screens put in, but I work with what I have.

Each one is set on a half-hour loop at full volume with a different video. With barely an inch between them, they could be one jumbled-up picture but I know each screen like I know the length of my cock.
I take a deep breath as the first reel plays on the middle screen. The chair moves, the wheels beneath the floor spinning it slowly around.

Fading sunlight dapples over a lake before the camera swings to the figure in the tiny white bikini fleeing a large wave.

The wave catches her, splashes up to mid-thigh. She shrieks. “Omigod, you’re such a liar. The water is collllldd—What are you doing?”

“What does it look like?”

She approaches. Her hands come up to block the lens. “Stop filming me. I look fat.”
A different set of hands reaches out to grasp hers, gently nudging hers aside. “You don’t look fat, Cleo. You’re perfect.”

Feminine hands curl around a masculine one. Together they slowly lower until long-lashed, deep blue knowing eyes stare into the camera. “You’re only saying that because you’re in love with me.” Sultry words whispered from between kiss-swollen lips.

“Yes, I’m saying that because I’m in love with you.” Gruff, hopelessly young, newly broken voice, thick with seething emotion. “I’m also saying it because I have fucking eyes in my fucking head.”

A naughty, goes-straight-to-an-eager-cock giggle. “You’re so bad swearing all the time. Daddy says he’ll paddle my behind if he catches me swearing.”

A wobble of the camera before it steadies. “If he lays a fucking hand on you, I’ll tear his fucking head off.” A voice no longer gruff, hard with rigid purpose. Harsh breathing. “I mean it, Cleo. I see so much as a scratch on you, someone will fucking die.”

A gasp. “You can’t say things like that!”

“I can. I fucking am. Because you belong to me. I don’t care who created you. You are mine. No one else is fucking allowed to touch you. No one is allowed to take you away from me, do you hear me?”
A bite of her lip as her nostrils flutter in a shaky inhale. “You’re scaring me.”

Deep, harsh breath. “Am I? Really? Tell the truth. Are you scared, Cleo?” Camera poised with intent, recording every flutter of her lashes.

A pause. A firming of plump lips. Then a shake of the head. Thick, vibrant locks frame her stunning face.

“Say it. I want to hear you say how it makes you feel when I say this to you.”

“It…it excites me.”

“That I claim you as mine?”

A shy nod.

“What else excites you?”

A flick of her gaze between the lens and the face behind it. “Come on. I can’t say it on camera.” She reaches out.

The camera angles away from her but remains on her. Focused. Rabid. “Tell me.” The voice that will one day command hell itself.

“It excites me when you say that you’ll do…all of that for me.”

“All of what?”

“That you’ll…tear his head off.”

“I fucking will.” A solemn promise. A brief pause. “You think I’m a sick psycho?”

“I think you’re…you’re…”

“What?”

“I think you’re effing amazing.”

“Effing?”

Pink color stains her cheeks. “Don’t tease me.”

“I won’t if you say the word. The actual word, Cleo.”

“I won’t.”

“Right. Then I’m not as amazing as you want me to think, am I?”

Blue eyes, opened wide. “You are.”

“Then say it. You’re not going to burn for it. It’s just a word.”

“I hate you when you’re like this.”

“You don’t hate me, but fine. Don’t say it.”

The camera swings out to the lake, to the setting sun that’s almost swallowed up by the orange water.

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.

Her eyes tell me she hates me. Her body beckons me with the promise of transcendental lust.

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.

Whatever twisted roles fate may have chosen to star us in, the savage power of our mutual feelings for each other will never diminish.

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.

Once upon a time, when my addled state didn’t know better, I stupidly believed the phenomenon of our gazes connecting had the power to stop the world from spinning. That view has altered significantly.

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.

You may have condemned my decayed soul and closed your heart to me, but in some respects, nothing has changed. Your body will always sing the perfect tune for me.”

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.

She never needed a gentle knight in shining armor. So I become her marauder.

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!

I want to roar with rage. I want to fuck until I explode into a million pieces. This is what she does to me. What she’s always done.

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)

I may be Quinn Blackwood, occasional user of prescribed meds to keep the demons in check, who moonlights as Q, porn star to an exclusive few who pay millions for my work. And I may be an unhinged asshole with serious daddy issues. But no one said I wasn’t a giver.

PURCHASE | READ MY REVIEW

BEAUTIFUL LIAR | BLACK SHEEP | WICKED S.O.B. | ARROGANT BASTARD

Zara Cox has been writing for almost twenty-five years but it wasn’t until nine years ago that she decided to share her love of writing sexy, gritty stories with anyone outside her close family (the over 18s anyway!).

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Goodreads

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Jenn’s Review: Pound of Flesh by Jessa Kane

POUND OF FLESH
Genre: Erotic Romance
Author: Jessa Kane
Release Date: December 8, 2016

Beast saw Beauty. And the hunt was on.

A beast has just kicked down my front door.

He’s massive, scarred, just out of prison and refuses to budge.

Unless I go with him.

He’s made it clear what he wants—my untouched body beneath his giant, damaged one.

If I run, he’ll hunt me down and take it.

But when he slips and shows me his desperation…

I’m no longer sure whether I want to run to him or away from him.

 

AMAZON

Two words….JESSA…..KANE. I want this entire book. Give me 400 pages I loved it so much because 59 pages wasn’t enough! It’s like Jessa Kane asked me what all my of fantasies are and then wrote this book just for me!

Why did I love this book? ALL THE REASONS.

1. Big, Burly, Man.

What else could I ever ask for? He’s big, and mean, and he wants what he wants. He’s been in prison for years, thinking about getting out and getting to HER.
2. Ex-Con.

Yes, please. There is something about a criminal that gets my blood flowing. Two examples come to mind: Lady Luck by Kristen Ashley (Duh!) and Prisoner by Skye Warren & Annika Martin.
He is just so RAW. And unleashed. And he likes it dirty.

3. Dirty Talk.

It’s my #1, y’all! And oh man. This book has the best dirty talk.

4. “Daddy.”

I openly and unashamedly admit that I am a fan of the “Daddy” talk. Disclaimer: If you’re not a fan, then this book isn’t for you. From the readers I’ve talked to, it’s either you love it or hate it….AND I LOVE IT!!! It isn’t the central theme of this book, but it is said several times.

Will I read this book a million times?! You bet I will!

Review: Shattered King by Sherilee Gray

SHATTERED KING
Series: Lawless Kings #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Sherilee Gray
Release Date: June 27, 2017

What if the man you love hated you more with every breath he took?

He’s out to get revenge for a crime he didn’t commit…

Hunter King just got out of prison. Incarcerated for three years though an innocent man, his rage against the people who put him there knows no bounds. First up on his list for vengeance: the woman who betrayed him years ago. The woman he loved fiercely, the one bright light in his otherwise hard, ruthless life. She has information he needs. And he’s going to kidnap her, hold her hostage, in order to get it. But one look into Lulu’s eyes unleashes the true beast within. Hunter’s never hated anyone this deeply, or wanted any woman this badly.

Lulu had no choice: Either help send Hunter to prison, or see him destroyed. She couldn’t do that to the man she loved. Couldn’t do it to the father of her child. But Hunter was locked away before he had a chance to learn about his son—and a hard layer of despair has formed around his heart that she’s desperate to crack. And if Hunter is to give himself and Lulu a second chance at love, he needs to find a way past his darkest demons.

AMAZON

I’d always known he’d come for me. It was only a matter of time, and I’d known there sure as hell wouldn’t be a happy reunion.

First of all, don’t let my rating fool you, because I enjoyed this book. Quite a bit. And while there were a few things that happened that ultimately brought my rating down, I’m hooked on this series and have discovered a new to me author that I’m eager for more books from.

My prince certainly didn’t want to kiss me awake, rescuing me from three years of nightmares—no, he wanted to smother me in my sleep.

I love an angsty second chance romance, and Shattered King was one hell of a start to what looks to be a sexy and exciting series. I was immediately sucked into the story and spent the first half of the book glued to the pages.

A man sentenced to three years in prison for a crime he didn’t come in.
The woman that he loved beyond reason that he believes is responsible.
And a vendetta that continues to boil his blood to make those responsible for what happened to him pay.

Now out of prison, Hunter is working with his brother but his goal hasn’t changed. First on his list, the woman that betrayed him. Short after, her stepfather. He needs answers and he’s not above kidnapping Lulu, and holding her prisoner until she tells him exactly why she lied to him. But not all is as it seems. Lulu is holding some devastating secrets. Secrets that can change everything, but risk everything, including their lives.

I was riveted for the first half of the story. The animosity between Lulu and Hunter was palpable. She never stopped loving him, and he wants to stop wanting her. The years apart and the secrets and lies did nothing to diminish the chemistry between them. Admittedly, as much as I loved Hunter’s intensity, I also disliked how easy Lulu gave into him. At the same time, her love for him has never gone away and while the man today may hate her, she’s still devastatingly in love with him, so I also got it. As much as I wanted to judge her for her weaknesses, I understood why she did what she did.

As for Hunter? The man hit every single one of my alpha buttons. The man was pure sex on a stick.

You’re mine, Lulu. You’re not just inked on my skin, you’re under it, you’re twisted so deep inside me there’s no escaping it. I need to know you get that. Do you, baby?”

The second half is where the story began to fizzle a bit for me. While the sex was hot, it began to feel a bit more like filler. The story began to drag a bit and my interest began to wane. And while there is a lot that happens in the second half, I felt like most of it wasn’t really necessary to drive the plot forward.

The author did a great job introducing all of the secondary characters and setting up the next book. I’m already itching to get my grabby little hands on that spicy little number. I can tell you that I’m totally hooked on this series and can’t wait for more. This book may not have been a 5 star read for me, but it was a very solid 3.5 one. If angsty second chance romance is your catnip, I can’t recommend this one enough.

 

Review: Crosshairs by Kate Stewart

CROSSHAIRS
Series: Predator & Prey #2
Genre: Erotic Romance, Suspense
Author: Kate Stewart
Release Date: June 30, 2017

Safe.

It’s a liar’s word. No one is ever truly safe.

Daniello still haunted me—in my bed, in my dreams, in a ridiculous notion of a future we would never have.

I was drawn to darkness, and he was the abyss.

My love for him made me flesh and bone—vulnerable.

I was finally a woman with something to lose and would do anything to keep it.
But when my past caught up with my present, it became clear that safe would forever remain an illusion.

Laz was coming for us, his looming darkness a threat to the life I carefully designed.

Armed with hope, and ready for battle, I never imagined the casualties of the war that came to me.

And then I lost all control.

****This is the conclusion to the Predator and Prey Duet.

Duet reading order
Camouflage
Crosshairs

***If you are not a fan of cursing, erotic and extremely explicit sex, immoral behavior, violence, dysfunction or sexual scenarios that may make you feel uncomfortable this is not the book for you. FILTHY. EROTIC. SUSPENSE.

AMAZON

This Cinderella had no prince waiting, but she didn’t need one and never would. No, this Cinderella had run with the rats, fucked a prince or two, and decided that self-worth was superior to being second to a man’s ego.

Now it’s been a hot minute since I first read Camouflage but it didn’t take me long to be sucked right back into the world of Predator and Prey. Kate Stewart brings a fiery, suspenseful, and heart pounding conclusion to a story that owned me from the very beginning. It’s impossible not to become completely wrapped up in her words and her characters. She truly has a gift for creating some of the most vivid, unapologetically broken and unorthodox characters. And let me tell you, it doesn’t get more unorthodox than Taylor and Daniello.

She was no whore; she was untouchable. A self-made picture of perseverance that drew breath and exhaled fire.
A phoenix.
My phoenix.

It’s rare that I read about a heroine that truly owns her sexuality and Taylor was the epitome of power and sex. This is a woman that didn’t just fight to the top; she almost sold her soul for it. She makes no bones about who she is. She doesn’t feel bad for herself. She knows who she is and she owns it. While her heart was broken by life and lovers past, no one has truly made it beat quite as much as a man that’s even more untouchable to her today as he was before. A threat to everything she holds dear; his secrets may just cost her everything.

He was a threat to all I had built. A fatal blow to the reputation I had carefully crafted. He would tear my castle apart and ruin my kingdom if I let him. Because I loved him. Someone had to love the fucking villain.

Everything truly comes to a head here. I swear I could feel my pulse pounding through my fingers with every page I turned. It was impossible to put down. I was starving for more details of Daniello. Who is he? What does he do? This man is cloaked in danger and oozes sex from his every pore. He’s utterly magnetic and I couldn’t get enough of him.

We clung to each other as he tore me apart piece by piece and fed me for his absence. My body repeatedly shuddered as he commanded it. At his mercy, an ocean of feeling swept between us as he silenced my doubts with every soothing touch of his hands.

As desperate as I was for more information about Daniello, I was just as desperate for more of Taylor’s past. The mysterious Ray, the ultimate devastating destruction of her childhood love, her sister and the danger that follows them into the present. All of it completely sucked me in, leaving me desperately turning the pages well into the night.

Years of living like a savage had forced me to a place where very little light existed, but Taylor’s light forced her way under my skin and into my veins.

This was one of the most satisfying conclusions to a duet I’ve read in a long damn while. It was worth every second of the wait. It was, in a word, perfection. It was gritty and sexy, heart stopping, and unputdownable.

If you’re looking for a romance that’s different, with enigmatic characters that are so vivid you feel like they practically jump off the pages, and a story that’s full of twists and turns, then look no further. Because you just found your next addiction!


DON’T MISS BOOK 1 IN THE DUET

CAMOUFLAGE
READ MY REVIEW | PURCHASE

Review: Luca by Sarah Castille

LUCA
Series: Ruin & Revenge #2
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Sarah Castille
Release Date: June 27, 2017

Luca Rizzoli was nearly destroyed by a brutal betrayal that cost him his family. Now a ruthless crime boss in the city of sin, he lets nothing touch his frozen heart–until a smoldering encounter with a beautiful stranger ignites his passion. One night isn’t enough for a man who takes what he wants, but his mysterious temptress has slipped away.

For two years police detective Gabrielle Fawkes has lived for revenge. But a night of indulgence with a sexy stranger changes everything. Powerful, charming, and deliciously dangerous Luca, has his own private reasons for offering to help her pursue the drug lord who killed her husband. There’s a lot Luca isn’t telling her and the more she finds out the less she wants to know.

When Gabrielle becomes the target of the drug lord she has vowed to hunt down, she must do the unimaginable: place her life in a mobster’s hands. To save her, Luca must break his Mafia ties–or risk losing Gabrielle forever.

 

AMAZON | iBOOKS

There was something wild beneath the surface that his suit couldn’t hide. He had the cocky arrogance of a man who broke the rules with impunity. A man who feared nothing. A very, very dangerous man.

I was instantly sucked into the world of Ruin & Revenge when I read Nico. I was hooked, line and sinker, on these mafia bad boys. The author spares no details with he grittiness of her stories. These are not your fluffy mafia guys that you know are bad but never see their bad sides. Oh no. You see it, feel it, and downright taste it in these books. As the senior capo for the Toscani crime family, Luca may take his fashion seriously with his three piece suits, but he’s certainly not afraid to get his hands dirty. When he takes a bullet for his boss, Nico, a visit to the hospital changes everything for the man that never thought he’d find himself in love.

Revenge was all that sustained her now, and she didn’t know what would happen when revenge was gone.

Ever since her husband’s brutal murder at the hands of a vicious cartel boss, revenge is all Gabrielle knows. For two years, she’s done everything to land on the force that’s hunting down the man until it all goes terribly wrong and she ends up on the wrong side of a bullet. A chance meeting with a smooth talking stranger in a hospital is all it should have been, but Gaby finds herself drawn to him and when she seeks him out sparks fly.

Luca doesn’t know much about the blonde beauty aside from his fierce desire for her that seems to grow with each new encounter. They’re on opposite sides of the law. Their relationship is forbidden and may cost both of them everything and in the end, it just might.

You sure this is what you want, mio angelo? ’Cause I like it dirty. So dirty you’ll never get back to heaven.”

This was an entreating read, though I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first book. Luca was sexy as sin, but at times the way that he was with Gabrielle was a bit…erm…fluffy for my tastes.

What does that mean?” He leaned down and kissed her, his lips warm and soft. “Roughly translated, it means you are my angel. Heaven is in your eyes. I am dazzled by you.”

I suppose their connection just felt so quick to me that I struggled to really connect to them throughout the entire book. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy these two together, because they certainly burn up the pages together. I just had a hard time connecting the brutal mafia capo to the sweet talking lover during super dirty sexy times.

I did enjoy Garbrielle and her take charge attitude. She was a great fit for Luca and I loved the way she fought for him even when the odds were stacked against them.

My other minor quibble is I saw the twist at the end coming pretty early on. Granted, it wasn’t exactly how I thought it would play out. But it was pretty darn close to fizzle some of the enjoyment of the ultimate revelation at the end there.

All in all, I did enjoy this story and I love the way we continue getting bits and pieces of future characters, because man oh man am I craving me some Frankie now. The man is ice cold and I can’t wait to meet the woman that will thaw his heart.

If you’re looking for a sexy and gritty mafia romance, definitely look no further. While it wasn’t a 5 star read for me, it was a damn enjoyable 3.5 and I’d definitely recommend it for readers that like anti-heroes with a whole lot of grit to them


THE SERIES

NICO
MY REVIEW | AMAZON

LUCA
AMAZON

ROCCO (Releasing January 2, 2018)
AMAZON

Copyright © 2015 · Dirty Girl Romance

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