Book Reviews: 3.5 stars

Review: Rookie Move by Sarina Bowen

September 6, 2016 by Lana · Leave a Comment

ROOKIE MOVE
Series: Brooklyn Bruisers #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Sarina Bowen
Release Date: September 6, 2016

The first novel in a sexy new series featuring the hockey players of the Brooklyn Bruisers and the women who win their hearts—from the USA Today bestselling author of the Ivy Years series.

In high school they were the perfect couple—until the day Georgia left Leo in the cold…

Hockey player Leo Trevi has spent the last six years trying to do two things: get over the girl who broke his heart, and succeed in the NHL. But on the first day he’s called up to the newly franchised Brooklyn Bruisers, Leo gets checked on both sides, first by the team’s coach—who has a long simmering grudge, and then by the Bruisers’ sexy, icy publicist—his former girlfriend Georgia Worthington.

Saying goodbye to Leo was one of the hardest things Georgia ever had to do—and saying hello again isn’t much easier. Georgia is determined to keep their relationship strictly professional, but when a press conference microphone catches Leo declaring his feelings for her, things get really personal, really fast….

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You and I don’t have one-night stands. We have forever night stands.”

If you love second chance romance with a hero that’s so sweet and devoted it will make even the most cynical heart swoon, then you’ve just found your next read! It seems the romance genre is well saturated with a good share of alpha-holes lately, and I have to say that Leo Trevi was a breath of fresh air. Don’t get me wrong, alpha-holes happen to be my crack of choice. But every now and then it’s also great to get a genuinely nice guy that fell hard once for the love of his life and never fell out of it.

Georgia and Leo were high school sweethearts, until the Georgia broke Leo’s heart at the end of their senior year and they haven’t seen each other since. Now Georgia is trying to live her dream as the publicist for the NHL and gets the surprise of a lifetime when the new player to the team her father is now coaching is none other than the boy she’s never forgotten or gotten over.

He inhaled, and the familiar fruity smell of her shampoo misted his already hazy mind. Slowly, she lifted her chin, her nose tracing a line up his cheek. Then their lips found each other’s effortlessly, like magnets realigning.

Their reunion was not angst filled but it was certainly full of tension and emotion. It’s hard not to fall for Leo the very second he appears on the pages. The man is swoon with a capital S. Seriously. He doesn’t hide from his feelings or try to punish Georgia. He’s so incredibly pure with the depth of his emotion, that it practically jumps off the pages at you.

There’s plenty of tension from outside forces like the team coach and Georgia’s father and his mystery loathing and hate for Leo, Leo being the rookie to the team and trying to prove himself, and of course trying to deal with the event that led to the ultimate breaking point of their relationship.

As much as I love a good second chance romance, I have to admit that I did find myself a little bored in the first half. Leo was swoony and sweet, but alas I love my men with a little more edge to them, so while I was full, I wasn’t quite satisfied if that makes sense. The second half more than made up for the first and the story read a whole lot quicker. I was antsy to finally get the full reason about why the coach has it out for Leo and the progression of Leo and Georgia’s relationship really picked up while making me curious about the slew of other characters that were introduced like Silas, O’Doul, Becca, and Nate. I’m already salivating for their books….O’Doul especially.

So while this was a little tame for my tastes and so sweet it almost made my teeth ache at times, it also made perfect sense for this story. I could’t see it play out any other way. I loved the ending and while I wasn’t reading this with my usual devour pace, it was still a light and easy romance that I enjoyed quite a bit. It’s definitely the start of what looks to be a fantastic new series and I can’t wait for more.

Are super sweet heroes my thing? Not really. *ducks head in shame* But Leo made a believer out of me just this once.

BROOKLYN BRUISERS SERIES

: Rookie Move (Brooklyn Bruisers #1)

: Hard Hitter (Brooklyn Bruisers #2)

ROOKIE MOVE (Brooklyn Bruisers #1)
GOODREADS | AMAZON

HARD HITTER (Brooklyn Bruisers #2) <– available January 3, 2017
GOODREADS | AMAZON

PIPE DREAMS (Brooklyn Bruisers #3) <– available May 2, 2017
GOODREADS | AMAZON

Leave a Comment · Filed Under: All Reviews, Contemporary Romance, Sports · Tagged With: Book Reviews: 3.5 stars, hockey players, Sarina Bowen, Second-chance-romance

Blog Tour & Review: Bad Judgment by Meghan March

August 29, 2016 by Lana · Leave a Comment

Bad Judgment
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Meghan March
Release Day: August 22, 2016

He’s so arrogant.

She’s so self-righteous.

I can’t stand him.

I want her.

He’s a distraction I don’t need.

She’ll say yes eventually because I’m not giving up.

Justine Porter is stuck between a rock and a stripper pole. She lost her law school scholarship, which means she has two choices to keep her life on track: strip for her tuition or tutor the most distractingly sexy guy in her class—the one she’s been turning down for two years straight. It should be an easy choice, but tutoring Ryker Grant could derail her plans to graduate with honors faster than two-for-one night at the Déjà Vu. Then again, topless has never really been her color.

She could take the easy road, just this once . . . but the deal has enough loopholes to trip anyone up.

Who knew they taught bad judgment in law school?

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“I’ve got some things I need to say to you, and you’re going to let me.”Her brown eyes snap up to mine, surprise clear in them. “Why should I?”

“Because you’re nothing if not curious, and you want to know what I have to say.”

She steps backward, and I let my fingertips trail across her skin before they drop away. Justine adjusts the straps of her backpack on her shoulders and tucks Chewbacca into a side pocket.

“You know you want to hear the rare sound of me apologizing, don’t you?”

Justine purses her lips, and all I can think about is the dreams I had all weekend of her staring down at me from a stage while she danced and stripped. My own private show. I’m not going to admit how many times I jacked off to the mental picture. I need the real thing, and I won’t have another shot if she won’t even give me a chance to talk to her.

I don’t know what changes her mind, but she relaxes her posture and relents. “Fine. You’ve got five minutes. This better be good.”

It’s not much, but I’ll take it. I lead the way out of the classroom, slipping out the side door I used to make my unobtrusive entrance. Or at least, it was unobtrusive until I decided to share my strike-out history with the entire class at Professor Turner’s invitation.

Glancing behind me, I’m marginally surprised to see Justine actually following. I head for the third-floor doors to the library, where the private rooms are. This conversation isn’t for public consumption.

The first private room on the right is empty, so I push the door open. Justine trails me inside, and I shrug off my backpack and drop it on one of the four chairs.

She closes the door behind her and leans against it, her arms crossed over her chest. I’m guessing she wouldn’t stand that way if she realized how it draws attention to her chest. I force my eyes back to her face. I’m not about to fuck this up.

“Wow, you must really plan on groveling if you need privacy,” she says, an eyebrow raised in challenge.

“Maybe I just wanted to get you alone.”

She rolls her eyes. “And I’m already getting bored.”

“You love to bust my balls, don’t you?”

“I don’t really like to think about your balls, if you want to know the truth.”

I try on my charming smile, the one that has dropped panties for years. “I’m calling bullshit on that. You’ve thought about me at least once.”

She pushes off the door and turns halfway to reach for the handle. “And if that’s all you wanted to say, then I think we’re done here.”

“Wait.”

I’m shocked when she listens.

Justine rubs her hands over her face, her every move revealing her frustration. “You ask me out for two years, practically blackmail me into a kiss, then you blow me off completely, and now you’re all up in my business again. What the hell do you want from me?”

Her confusion punches me in the gut, making me wish I could tell her why I wasn’t there the morning I promised to help her move. It wasn’t for any reason she thinks.

I stride toward her, pressing one palm against the door beside her head. “I’m not blowing you off, and I haven’t stopped thinking about that night.”

“Then why—”

I can’t give her the explanation she wants, so I try something different.

Lowering my head, I catch the next words out of her mouth on my lips. They’re just as soft as I remember, and I drop my other hand to her hip, drawing her against me. Her fingers curl into the fabric of my T-shirt, almost reluctantly, but she’s not pushing me away.

I take her mouth, my tongue diving between her lips to taste her again—finally, but the pulsing of my dick against the zipper of my jeans forces me to back off. If I don’t, I’ll be laying her out on the table behind us, and that’s not what this is about. At least, not all of what this is about.

With her face flushed and her hair messy from my fingers, Justine shutters her expression. She’s rebuilding her walls brick by brick.

That’s not going to work for me.

“What’s it going to take, Justine?” I remember asking her the same question at the bar.

Her dark eyes fill with confusion. “What’s what going to take?” The words come out defensively.

“With you. To get a second chance. I fucked up once, but doesn’t everyone deserve another shot?”

That’s not how this works. We come. We study. We leave.”
“If we’re doing this my way, you’d definitely be coming.”

This book may be titled Bad Judgment, but reading certainly was no error on my part. No sir. Meghan March never fails to disappoint with introducing readers to yet another hero that’s sure to melt panties within a 50 mile radius. Guaranteed. Ryker Grant was dirty talking, possessive deliciousness and I couldn’t get enough of him. Nothing beats a man on a mission and a woman that’s determined to resist him at every turn.

I want it all, Justine. Including the chance to show you how fucking amazing life can be when you let a few distractions in.

Justine has been avoiding the temptation of Ryker for over 2 years now. She’s doing good, dammit. That is until she’s stuck between a rock and a broke place. When her scholarship is snatched from her quicker than she can say “objection”, she has two choices; strip to finish her final year of law school, or tutor the man that tempts her beyond reason yet she knows is so very wrong for her. So what’s a girl to do?

I want her addicted to me. It’s only fair, because I’ll never get enough of her.

Yeah. She never stood a chance.

Bad Judgement was a slow burn sizzle. It delivered on what I’ve been missing in Meghan’s books lately; that tension and sizzle of a couple that doesn’t give into their lust but lets it burn between them until it explodes. It was utterly delicious! Ryder is a bad boy and definitely one that didn’t deny himself the pleasures of women, but once he sets his eyes on Justine, she’s all he wants…and he won’t stop until he gets her.

Justine was a pretty endearing character. Usually when the woman is pushing the man away as much as Justine did here, I begin to get annoyed. But it surprisingly really worked for me here. Their chemistry together was fantastic and when they finally get together? Yowza! Incendiary.

So why not a higher rating? Welp, the ending. There was just way too much happening at the end. There’s his stuff, her stuff, their stuff, a lot of stuff basically. Quite honestly it just felt unnecessary. And the fact that all of it hits you right at the final 15% just felt OTT for me. It would have been good with one or even 2 issues, but having all 3 combined just didn’t do much for me, unfortunately.

Was it my favorite book by this author? Not quite. But I have no doubt that she has plenty more planned in that devious little pervy mind of hers and I can’t wait to read it. Meghan is still an auto-buy author for me and will continue to be. I love her alphas and the woman can write one hell of a hot sex scene. Did I still enjoy this? Abso-freaking-lutely! Would I recommend it? Without a doubt!

Don’t make me beg.”
A darkly satisfied smile tugs at his lips. “Oh, you’re going to beg.”

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.

Leave a Comment · Filed Under: All Reviews, Contemporary Romance, Excerpts · Tagged With: Book Reviews: 3.5 stars, Meghan March

Jennifer’s Review: A Brit On The Side by Brenda St. John Brown

August 23, 2016 by Lana · Leave a Comment

A BRIT ON THE SIDE
Series: Calder Castle #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Brenda St. John Brown
Release Date: August 15, 2016

Bea’s English escape plan:
• Work in a real British castle
• Quality time with bestie
• Figure out what spotted dick really is
~~• Fall for bestie’s older brother. Hard.~~

Bea Gillespie would rather do anything than teach summer school math two classrooms down from her ex-fiancé. So when her best friend, Scarlett, invites her to England for the summer to work in her family’s castle-turned-hotel, she jumps at the chance.

Now Bea’s an ocean away from her problems at home, but she’s got a bigger one. A British one. Scarlett’s older brother, Jasper, is at Castle Calder for the summer, too. And he’s as sexy and smart as Bea remembers. Two years ago Jasper came stateside, and he and Bea shared a hot weekend. But that’s all it was — a weekend. One she purposely didn’t tell Scarlett about.

It didn’t feel like much of a secret until now. As Bea falls for Jasper, what started off as a fling begins feeling more and more like the kind of thing you’d gush about to your best friend. If you hadn’t been lying to her all along.

AMAZON | iBOOKS

I was a moon to your star. Wherever you were, I was painfully aware of your orbit. Painfully being the key word.

This is such an easygoing book, and it swept me away. If you are looking for a book to escape into, this is it. It was relaxing to read this book. I just wanted to sit in a corner window with some English Breakfast tea and disappear into this book. This book is “ace.” *giggles

My Jasper:

My Bea:

Jasper, Jasper, Jasper. I loved him! Jasper is…intense. Jasper is Bea’s best friend’s brother. I would have loved to be inside his head to get his point of view. He was little hot and cold, and I loved the contradiction of him. After Bea and Jasper have a sexual tryst one weekend, they don’t keep in touch, so Bea moves on and gets engaged. After the engagement falls through, she decides to move to England to work through the summer and get her head out of her ass. I loved all of the people in this story, such interesting main and supporting characters.

Bea is still finding herself. She is still confused about her feelings for her ex-fiance. She is confused about her feelings for Jasper. She is confused about her weight. And I felt a bit confused during her whole confusion, but maybe that was the point? I actually struggled casting her because it was difficult putting a picture to her character. I kinda wish she was a little more sassy and threw that sass back into Jasper’s face sometimes. Maybe she was meant to be a little awkward. If so, I got that.

If it’s possible to die of awkward, I’m going to keel over right here, in a borrowed flannel shirt with chocolate on my lips.

There is some angst, but not too much. On personal preference, I usually don’t enjoy the angst, so I gravitated more toward the light bickering and flirty side of Jasper of Bea, and there was enough of that to keep my attention zeroed in on these two.

This was my first book by Breanda St. John Brown, and I think she is an excellent story teller with a side of spicy hotness. Her writing reminds me of Samantha Young, but still has her own unique quality to it. If you are a fan of Samantha Young, you will love this book.

Leave a Comment · Filed Under: All Reviews, Contemporary Romance · Tagged With: Book Reviews: 3.5 stars, Jennifer Reviews

Blog Tour, Review & Giveaway: Midnight Soul by Kristen Ashley

August 14, 2016 by Lana · Leave a Comment

MIDNIGHT SOUL
Series: Fantasyland #5
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Author: Kristen Ashley
Release Date: August 15, 2016

Against his will, Noctorno Hawthorne, an undercover vice cop, finds himself embroiled in magic, mayhem and parallel universes. Too late, he meets an amazing woman only to find she’s destined for his identical twin in another world.

And things aren’t going real great there.

Noc is recruited to help save that world.

What he doesn’t know is his destined love resides there.

Franka Drakkar wears a mask. A mask she never takes off to protect herself in a world of malice, intrigue and danger.

When Franka meets Noc and he discovers her secrets, convinced she carries a midnight soul, having shielded herself from forming bonds with anyone, she struggles with accepting his tenderness and care.

When Noc meets Franka, over wine and whiskey, her mask slips and Noc knows it’s her—only her—and he has to find a way to get her to come home with him.

And then make her want to stay.

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~Franka~

That day had been one I wished to quickly forget.

Indeed, the months since those witches took my Antoine had been time I wished I had the power to erase from my memory.

I had power.

I did not have that kind of power.

These thoughts on my mind, I moved down the hallway of the Winter Palace, seeking my room where I planned to pull the cord, ring a servant and request several bottles of Fleuridian wine.

Wine might not make me forget, but I’d found of late that it served well to dull the pain.

I turned the corner, my eyes to my slippers, but my senses made me lift my gaze to the passageway.

At what I saw, I halted and grew still, then slowly and quietly retraced my steps and ducked behind the corner, peering back around.

Oh my.

The Prince Noctorno of the other world was in the doorway to a bedchamber.

Although, he was not actually a prince. Not in this universe. Apparently they had very few princes in that other world. A world that existed on a parallel plane where all beings had twins to my own world.

This I thought was rather mad (everything about it, obviously), but with few princes, that meant there were few kings, so who ruled?

He reported that he was instead a member of the city guard, an occupation he referred to as being “a cop.” A rather surprising statement considering all that was him.

He was no member of a guard.

He was a prince.

And he called himself Noc, for some unknown reason, as Noctorno was a fine name, a strong name, a regal name (this last was true as his counterpart in this world was a prince).

And right now he had has back to me.

He was wearing a pair of trousers the like that couldn’t be found in my world. They were made of a rough, sturdy, faded-blue material. He also had a shirt that was not the fashion in this world. It was attractive and made of an equally attractive plaid. And it was a shirt that fit his broad shoulders magnificently.

His thick, black hair was untidy (this also attractive).

And I could see his light-blue eyes but only in my imagination as he had his back to me.

They were not eyes you were likely to forget. With his dark hair and skin browned in the sun, those eyes were deliciously striking.

There was a day, though now that day seemed lifetimes ago, when a sight such as Noctorno Hawthorne of another world (or indeed this one) would have caused me to have a much different reaction, not only to him, but to my plans for the imminent future.

That was before Antoine.

That was before I met the man who introduced me to, well…me.

But there was a reason I carried a midnight soul, for the evil contained in both my parents set their souls to cinders years ago. It was not a wonder I’d inherited the blackness.

What a bittersweet book this was for me to read. Midnight Soul marks the conclusion of one of my favorite Kristen Ashley series. After all, it’s the series that brought me The Golden Dynasty, only my top favorite KA book of ALL time.

This is not a series I recommend reading out of order. You need the entire backstory and it’s one that develops with each story arc and later carries over into the next. Yes, there’s a new couple in each book, but it just wouldn’t be the same experience to read them as standalones.

I have to admit I was nervous reading a book with Franka as the heroine. Considering the woman has sharpened her claws on plenty of previous heroines, I had to wonder how KA could redeem someone like her. While she wasn’t quite a villain, she wasn’t exactly a nice person and she certainly wasn’t someone you’d root for in the previous books either. After the culmination of events at the end of Broken Dove, I also wondered where the story had left to go. The ultimate baddies had been beat. Everything was right in the world and most questions answered.

If you’re expecting a book much like the rest of the Fantasyland series, don’t. This was as different as it gets and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I certainly enjoyed the flip side of the switch here. I don’t want to give you too many details and ruin it for you, but let’s just say I appreciated the slight reversal Kristen took with the last book in the series. It was most fitting.

I loved the mix of the heroine being the one from the ‘other’ world and the hero being the modern one as well. It was different and refreshing. Plus, let’s be real, I loved me some Noc. There’s also a secondary romance that happens on a mix of in and off the pages here that I would have absolutely loved more page time for. I was hoping to get more of them towards the end, but alas they were mostly just loosely mentioned.

So why not a higher rating? Well, I just didn’t get the oomph here that I’ve come to rely on this series. There’s not much in the way of things happenings. After the resolution in the first 20%, the rest reads like the typical second half of a KA book. The relationship development, the hero and heroine getting to know each other. It was a lot of pages of their day to day lives, and while it wasn’t quite boring, it wasn’t exciting either. I kept waiting for the typical conflict at the end, but there wasn’t much in that respect either. To me, it read like one long epilogue. There wasn’t much conflict past the revelation in the first 20% and that may work for some or not.

I loved the way the author redeemed Franka and made her into a heroine to root for pretty much right away. You get the true heart of her and you understand they why’s of what she did in the past. No, this wasn’t the action packed thrill ride that some of the other books in the series were, but it was by no means a bad thing…just different. The epilogue at the end is nothing short of what I’ve come to expect from Kristen and definitely managed to bring a tear to my eye. So while this may not have been my favorite book in the series, it was still a fitting ending to what had come to be one of my favorite series and one I strongly recommend to any lovers of fantasy romance.

And Don’t Miss the First Books in the Fantasyland Series!

WILDEST DREAMS | THE GOLDEN DYNASTY | FANTASTICAL | BROKEN DOVE

Kristen Ashley was born in Gary, Indiana, USA and nearly killed her mother and herself making it into the world, seeing as she had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck (already attempting to accessorise and she hadn’t taken her first breath!). Her mother said they took Kristen away, put her Mom back in her room, her mother looked out the window, and Gary was on fire (Dr. King had been assassinated four days before). Kristen’s Mom remembered thinking it was the end of the world. Quite the dramatic beginning.

Nothing’s changed.

Kristen grew up in Brownsburg, Indiana and has lived in Denver, Colorado and the West Country of England. Thus, she’s blessed to have friends and family around the globe. Her family was (is) loopy (to say the least) but loopy is good when you want to write. They all lived together on a very small farm in a small farm town in the heartland. She grew up with Glenn Miller, The Everly Brothers, REO Speedwagon and Whitesnake (and the wardrobes that matched).

Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music, clothes and love was a good way to grow up.

And as she keeps growing, it keeps getting better.

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Leave a Comment · Filed Under: All Reviews, Blog Tours, Excerpts, Giveaways · Tagged With: Book Reviews: 3.5 stars, Kristen Ashley

Review: Dare To Stay by Jen McLaughlin

August 10, 2016 by Lana · Leave a Comment

DARE TO STAY
Series: Sons of Steel Row #2
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Author: Jen McLaughlin
Release Date: August 2, 2016

Fans of Katie Ashley, Joanna Wylde, Kristen Ashley, Sophie Jackson and Katee Robert will be thrilled by this dark, steamy series, from the New York Times bestselling author of the Out of Line novels, where one gang of criminals knows just how being bad can be so good…

Bruised and bloodied on Boston’s mean streets, Chris O’Brien is reeling from the loss of his childhood best friend. But after barely escaping a hit placed on his head, Chris is desperate to live. A safe haven comes to mind – the home of the perfect girl from his childhood, Molly Lachlan. Before he has fully considered what it would mean to involve her in his mess, he finds himself on her doorstep.

When Molly agrees to let Chris inside her home, she realizes she’s also letting him into her life. Danger and desperation are coming off him like steam, and yet she can’t bring herself to turn him away. His bad boy charm always had a hold on her, but now there’s a soulfulness and sorrow in him that she’s never seen before. And despite the heart-stopping risk of helping him, she hopes against all reason that he’ll stay…

The stakes are dangerously high…and the passion is seriously intense. Follow the exploits of the Sons of Steel Row in Dare To Run and Dare To Stay.

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My life didn’t need to be all murder, guns, and meaningless sex. It could’ve been more- if I’d been born into another family. Another life. But I hadn’t been.

When I saw that Chris would be the hero in the second installment of The Sons Of Steel Row series, I’ll admit to having doubts. After all the events at the end of Dare to Run, I wasn’t sure how the author would redeem him enough to make me feel for the man. After all, Chris not only betrayed his best friend, he tried to kill him and the woman he loved in order to go after a power position within The Sons. How do you come back from something like that? Will the author be able to justify his decision? Make it believable? Make the reader connect with an anti-hero like that? Well I’m happy to report that the answer to all of those is a resounding YES.

He was more monster than human. All men like him were. Deep down, beneath his acts of neighborhood friendliness and that devastatingly handsome smile…He was a killer.

Dare To Stay picks up immediately where book 1 left off, with Chris bleeding in the alley, waiting for certain death. If you haven’t read Dare To Run yet, don’t worry, you can easily jump into this book first and the author gives plenty of background to ensure you won’t be lost for even a minute.

Molly Lachlan lost her beloved father to the violence of street crime and gangs. Chris and her grow up next door to each other in the same nice neighborhood, but their upbringing couldn’t be more different. Now Chris is a deadly killer and she’s a kindergarten teacher and they may as well live worlds apart. But when Molly finds a wounded Chris, all she can think of is fixing the broken man.

While I liked this book a whole lot better than the first, there were still a few things that kept it from being a solid 4 star read for me.

I had an issue with Molly’s personality at times. After all she’s been through and the way she lost her father, her connection to Chris never quite clicked for me. He should be everything she wants to stay away from, yet she’s willing to put her life on the line from the very beginning for him. I understood their history goes back many years, but I just didn’t feel that connection between them right away. She was just too self sacrificing at times.

Chris’s never ending back and forth of ‘I want her’ but ‘I’m not good for her’ started to grate on me too. I understand that he’s not a good man, but I just didn’t need it repeated at every turn. Or at least it felt that way at times.

I knew, even after all the blood, dirt, and sweat washed away, I would still be dirty. I’d never be clean.

The story itself was gritty and sexy. There was just enough to make me connect to the characters and keep reading curious to know what happens next, yet not quite enough to make it feel like an unputdownable read.

The romance was great and I definitely liked Molly and Chris a whole lot more than Lucas and Heidi. Heidi also had a lot more self preservation than Heidi did, which was a huge issue for me in the first book. I really liked Chris and her together, and there were definitely plenty of sizzle added into the mix.

I kissed her like I was a dying man and she was my last chance at salvation. And she was.

I had a hard time with the believability factor of the ending, but I can understand that Chris couldn’t have the same options as Lucas did. What I do know for sure, is the set up for the third book sounds utterly amazing. And I can’t wait to finally get my hands on Scotty’s book.

SONS OF STEEL ROW SERIES

DARE TO RUN (book 1)
MY REVIEW | AMAZON

DARE TO LIE (releasing February 7, 2017)
PRE-ORDER

Leave a Comment · Filed Under: All Reviews, Romantic Suspense · Tagged With: antihero, Book Reviews: 3.5 stars

Review: Bound To The Bounty Hunter by Hayson Manning

August 4, 2016 by Lana · Leave a Comment

BOUND TO THE BOUNTY HUNTER
Series: Bound #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Hayson Manning
Release Date: July 18, 2016

Harlan Franco, Colorado’s busiest bounty hunter, and security expert, lives by his rules: be in control, be detached, and never touch the asset. These rules are tested when the asset he’s being paid to secretly guard is none other than his rival, sexy, unpredictable, pain in the butt, Sophie Callaghan––a woman determined to stay away from him. If she finds out he’s in her life on an assignment, he’ll never get the info he needs. But those lips, those curves, that attitude, he bets he’ll have her for one night where she’ll play by his rules.

He didn’t expect his heart to have an opinion.

Freedom loving private investigator Sophie Callaghan is on a mission. The daughter of a con-artist is not going to be used by a man again. What she doesn’t need is hot, broody and controlling Harlan barging into her life and digging into her past. Her brain may say no, but her body craves this bad boy. After a night where both live their darkest desires, Sophie must fight their explosive chemistry because one wrong move could destroy her. She bets he has to stay far, far away.

As the stakes ramp up and secrets explode around them, both are determined to win the bet.

But there can only ever be one winner.

AMAZON | iBOOKS

Number one rule of being on a guard and intel job:
Be detached.
Rule number two:
Be professional at all times.
Rule number three:
Don’t fuck the asset.

Well hot damn! Looks like I got myself a brand new series to stalk! Bound To The Bounty Hunter had a little bit of everything; broody and tortured hero, kick-ass sassy heroine, a little suspense and a whole lot of sexy!

I first fell in love with Hayson’s writing when I read Winning the Boss’s Heart a few years ago. I simply adored that book and I kept waiting (pretty impatiently) for this amazingly talented author to write another book. When I saw she’s coming out with this series, I was sold. When I saw the cover for it? I was drooling. But that’s neither here nor there.

So why is Sophie Callaghan sitting in a dark lit club watching a stranger have kinky sex with two blondes while thinking how to properly bug his table? She has a damn good reason. The daughter of a con man that left her with a lot of debts and even more guilt, Sophie is determined to write all of her father’s wrongs. But first she needs to figure out why the name of an infamous criminal was in the notebook her father left behind. The last person she needs to run into while on her stakeout is the ridiculously sexy bounty hunter that enrages her almost as much as he turns her on. Their brief history doesn’t help matter any either…

Harlan Franco is a successful bounty hunter. But what Sophie doesn’t know, is she’s his newest assignment. Sparks fly when these two go head to head!

I have to say I was super intrigued by the mystery and suspense at play here. I loved the chemistry between Harlan and Sophie and I loved all of the fun secondary characters that were introduced…especially the men Harlan works with (yum!)

Sophie is a tough chick, even if at times she’s too stubborn for her own good. At least she can back it up with her skills and take care of herself when she runs from Harlan determined to solve her own problems. Harlan is a broody, domineering, dirty talker. So basically exactly as I prefer my heroes.

This was a lot different from the other books I’ve read by Hayson. It’s a whole lot sexier and a little bit edgier. She’s definitely heading into some unchartered waters with this series and I can’t wait where it all leads. Admittedly, I got the sense that the author was a bit out of comfort zone while writing some of the sex scenes because they didn’t have a flow to them. Some of the encounters weren’t exactly awkward, but they felt rushed and almost stunted at times.

That being said, I still enjoyed the book immensely. And with the preview at the end of the mysterious character that will be getting his book next? NEED IT. While it may not have been the perfect 5 star read I was hoping for, it was a wholly satisfying one. It was exactly enough to hook me on the series and guarantee that I’ll be reading all the future books to come. I have a feeling once this author really comes into her own with this series, it’ll just get better and better! And I for one, can’t wait!

Leave a Comment · Filed Under: All Reviews, Contemporary Romance · Tagged With: Book Reviews: 3.5 stars, Hayson Manning

Review: Retribution by Natasha Knight

August 3, 2016 by Lana · Leave a Comment

RETRIBUTION
Genre: Dark, Romantic Suspense
Author: Natasha Knight
Release Date: January 8, 2016

Adam

Payback’s a bitch — or it would be for Elle.

Fifteen years ago, my sister was kidnapped. For months, she’d endured hell. Somehow, she’d survived it. Someway, she’d escaped her captors. But it hadn’t mattered. In fact, it had been like losing her twice, because six weeks after she came home, she was dead, and the man responsible was alive and well, oblivious to her fate, ignorant to what he had coming.

Fifteen years I’d been waiting for this moment, all that time, planning, preparing, readying to put things into motion. To finally make the SOB pay for what he’d done.

Killing him was too easy. Too quick. No. There was a much better way to exact revenge.

Take what he loved best.

Break it.

Break her.

I just didn’t realize that in the process of destroying the girl, I’d destroy myself.

Elle

“I only want your pain.”

I hadn’t understood what those words meant, not really. Not until he made me understand.

I noticed Adam the very first day he moved into my building. He was a badass on a bike in a thousand-dollar suit. When he looked at me, it was with a hunger just this side of obscene.

Our meetings were strange, accidental. Too coincidental. There was something about Adam. Something I couldn’t put my finger on.

Something I couldn’t resist.

He told me I didn’t know him. He warned me to run as far from him as I could. He was moody. Dark. I’d found it romantic. I didn’t know, and I wouldn’t realize until it was too late that he’d meant for me to heed his warnings. That some part of him had hoped I would run, that I would escape him.

For too many years, vengeance had fueled him. It had taught him hate. The object of that hate? My father. And me? I was the means to my father’s end. Adam would destroy my father by destroying me.

I accused him of being a monster, of being no different than those who took his sister, but even in the harshest moments, all I could see in his eyes was pain. And like a fool, all I wanted was to touch that darkness.

To make it light.

Retribution is a full-length, complete Dark Romantic Suspense novel. No Cliffhanger. Intended for mature readers. Contains BDSM content.

AMAZON

I had one plan, one goddamned thing to do. Break the girl. That was all.

Retribution marks my second book by this author and it definitely confirmed what I knew after the first; I’ll definitely be reading all her future books. The woman can write one hell of a tortured, brooding, anti-hero alpha. This was a dark and twisty tale of revenge and pain and second chances. It was gritty, violent, and erotic as hell!

I’d seen the darkness in his eyes before today, but it had been a suggestion, a hint.
Tonight, it had taken command of him. Tonight, he’d given himself over to it.

Adam Smith is a man with one goal on his mind for the past 15 years; revenge. All he wants is retribution against the man who was responsible for his sister’s kidnapping, torture and eventual death. And what best way to make the man pay than to take something dearest to him and break her just like he broke his sister. His target? Elle Vega

The man had kidnapped me, kept me prisoner, tortured me, and yet, I felt cold without him. Empty, alone, and cold.

The story gripped me from the very beginning. Adam was exactly the sort of alpha I love to read about; intense with a touch of depravity. Elle was a touch naive for my tastes but oddly enough it didn’t grate on me like it usually would in any other book. I found it hard to wrap my mind around exactly how naive she was considering her father and what she grew up around, but again, it wasn’t enough to ruin the story for me.

What do you want?”
“What do I want?
I want your pain.”

The writing was engaging and the story was fast paced, yet somewhere around the 25% mark, it began to lose some of the intensity for me. Adam starts off so strong, but soon enough becomes almost wishy washy in his drive for vengeance. He wants to make her pay, yet his conscience gets the best of him. I suppose I just didn’t feel as much connection to his character to truly understand the why’s of it.

Hate had taken over every cell of my body, every ounce of my being. It fueled me.

The other thing that kept it from being a solid 4 star for me was Elle. While her naivety wasn’t enough to bother me, I did have a hard time understanding her easy acquiescence to Adam. Considering everything the man does to her, I found it hard to wrap my mind around how easily she gives into the sexual chemistry between them. She barely puts up a fight and while there are hints of a strong woman somewhere in there, it just wasn’t enough for me to truly ever connect with her.

That being said, around the 60% mark it really started to pick up for me and I couldn’t put it down until the end. There were some twists thrown in that added to the appeal of the story and I really enjoyed the epilogue. I wished the intensity was more than it was and I hoped that I’d connect to the characters more, but I still enjoyed it thoroughly.

If you’re looking for a sexy and gritty revenge plot with a dash of depravity, definitely give this book a shot. I’m looking forward to whatever this author has in store next.

Leave a Comment · Filed Under: All Reviews, Dark · Tagged With: Book Reviews: 3.5 stars, dark, Natasha Knight

Blog Tour, Review & Giveaway: No Pants Required by Kim Karr

July 14, 2016 by Lana ·

No Pants Required
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Kim Karr
Release Date: July 11, 2016

I, Makayla Alexander, am on a mission to reinvent myself. So when a super hot guy boards the plane and flashes his rock hard abs, I pay attention. When he sits next to me and offers me his nuts, I can’t resist. But when I choke on them and he tells me I need to work on my gag reflex, I realize I might be in over my head.

Before I know it we’re in the lavatory and attempting to join the Mile High Club. Let me just say this…anyone who tells you it’s easy to get it on at 37,000 feet isn’t telling you the truth. After the flight attendant busts us for getting frisky in the air, the only thing that can ease my total and complete mortification is the simple fact that I am never going to see him again.

Hours later, I can’t help but wonder if fate will ever allow me to become a new version of myself.

Because Fate, she’s a fickle bitch.

Case in point…my seatmate is my new next-door neighbor.

Even with the whole fate thing we have going on, we are so not meant to be together. He’s all cool and sexy in that make love not war kind of way. Guys like him are dangerous. With that bring-you-to-your-knees body, that handsome-as-hell face, and that dirty, dirty mouth, I guarantee one glance from him wets every girl’s bikini bottoms.

And then there’s me…the quirky girl looking to find herself in California. All I want to do is learn to let loose. Say words like peace and groovy. Bury my toes in the sand. Who knows, maybe even have sex on the beach.

Unable to get him out of my head, I entertain the thought of being more than just friends. I know the idea is absurd. And yet, I go with it. You see Camden Waters gets me. Really gets me. Like no other guy has before.

On this 7-mile stretch of paradise, I decide to keep things simple and just have fun…that is until fate decides to screw with me, again.

Can two people hell-bent on finding themselves realize the search should have ended the day they met? Find out in No Pants Required—a sexy, funny, romantic stand-alone, that will have you hurrying to grab your bathing suit and rushing to the beach to check out every lifeguard on duty.

AMAZON | KOBO | B&N

You don’t love someone and set him free to see if he comes back to you. You hold on tight and never let go.”

If you’re looking for a perfect beach read to spend an afternoon with, look no further than this book! No Pants Required was full of quirky humor and heavy steam. It’s a light, feel-good sort of romance that will leave you with a smile on your face.. and at times uncomfortably aroused. Because let’s be honest here, people, Camden Walters is one deliciously sinful dirty talker and if you’re not uncomfortably aroused through parts of this book, I’d say there may be something broken with your downstairs regions. Uhem.

I read this practically in one sitting because it reads very quickly. The chemistry between the two MCs is instant and only burns hotter with each page. I loved Makayla’s quirkiness. When she sets out to put a check mark on her “to-do” list, she doesn’t expect that the stranger she set out to check off her mile high club membership will be none other than her brand new neighbor.

Camden “Cam” Walters left behind the hustle and bustle of New York City to spend his days as a life guard. But there’s so much more to his character too. I absolutely loved the two of them together. They’re the perfect balance to each other and I loved watching Makayla really come into her own become less stiff. Both Cam and Makayla had their share of hurts from a previous relationship that rolled into their present, but somehow they seemed to bring out the best in each other.

The story is light on the angst and heavy on the steam. At times I almost thought it was too much steam, but then I’d slap myself and remind myself there can’t be too much steam when it comes to anything Cam Walters.

There were a few parts of the story that I had wished were more developed; especially Cam and his father. I also got a little restless in the last 30% of the book because it felt a bit stretched out at times. As always with any book I’ve read by Kim Karr, I loved all the secondary characters. I’d love to get a book for Maggie and Brooklyn. I really clicked with them in the story and devoured any tidbits about them.

Aside from a very few minor quibbles, I enjoyed this thoroughly. It was exactly what I was in the mood for this Saturday afternoon and it hit the spot just right. I definitely wouldn’t say no to more books like this from Kim! A great, feel-good, steamy beach read!

Reader * Writer * Coffeelover * Romantic

Kim is a daydreamer. So much so that if daydreaming could be a hobby it would be her favorite. It’s how her stories are born and how they take root. An imagination that runs wild is something to be thankful for, and she is very thankful. 🙂

She grew up in New York and now lives in Florida with her husband and four kids. She’s always had a love for reading books and writing. Being an English major in college, she wanted to teach at the college level but that was not to be. She went on to receive an MBA and became a project manager until quitting to raise her family. Kim currently works part-time with her husband and with the rest of her time embraces one of her biggest passions–writing.

Kim wears a lot of hats! Writer, book-lover, wife, soccer-mom, taxi driver, and the all around go-to person of her family. However, she always finds time to read.

She likes to believe in soul mates, kindred spirits, true friends, and Happily-Ever-Afters. She loves to drink champagne, listen to music, and hopes to always stay young at heart.

Amazon | Facebook | Twitter | Website

Kim Karr is giving away a $10 Amazon Gift Card in celebration of No Pants Required’s release!

· Filed Under: All Reviews, Blog Tours, Contemporary Romance, Giveaways · Tagged With: Book Reviews: 3.5 stars, humorous

Review: All The Rage by TM Frazier

July 14, 2016 by Lana · Leave a Comment

ALL THE RAGE
Genre: Dark Romance
Author: T.M. Frazier
Release Date: June 7, 2016

They call me Rage.
My real name is like a shadow, always close behind, but never quite able to catch up.
I fly under the radar because no one ever suspects I’m capable of the kind of brutal violence I commit each and every day.
You see, I’m a girl. I’m nineteen.
And I’m a killer.
This life is all I know. It’s all I want to know. It keeps the s**t buried that I need kept buried. It allows me to live without thinking too much.
Without dwelling on the past.
Until him.
It all changes when an ordinary boy becomes my next target.
And my first love.
I have to choose.
The only life I’ve ever known has to die, or he does.
Either way, I’ll be the one pulling the trigger…

All the Rage is a STANDALONE.

AMAZON

I’d never seen anything like the girl in my arms. Beautiful. Strong. Fierce and fiery. A force greater than any storm and twice as destructive.

Well hot damn! I need more anti-heroines in my life because Rage? Rage was freaking kick-ass! If you’ve read any of my reviews then you already know I’m usually a total heroine hater. If they’re weak, sniveling doormats, it’s a recipe for disaster for me. But not Rage. Nope! This woman was killer. Pun intended.

Sometimes the anger came on like an attack and sometimes it simmered under the surface until it exploded.

I was super curious to see how the author would handle Rage falling in love considering she’s describe as essentially a borderline sociopath. As hard as it was for me to shut off my logical brain, I took the character for what she way…a whole lot of gray area. Is she a sociopath that has no feeling of empathy? A cold blooded killer that gets her rocks off on death and destruction? Someone that has barely restrained rage that she can only control by giving in and feeding? Heck if I know. Basically she’s something in the middle, and that’s where I left it.

She didn’t know it yet, but Rage was about to become mine. In every way.

Rage gets sent on a bit of a babysitting mission to keep an eye on Nolan Archer. She knows nothing more about him other than he’s seemingly normal and is a person of interest to a man that basically mentored her how to channel her rage. But what happens when the seemingly normal Nolan is hiding secrets of his very own?
All The Rage starts off somewhat slow but then quickly picks up steam right around the 70% mark and boy do things escalate quickly from there.

…we didn’t just kiss, we tore each other apart. It wasn’t just passion. It was a fucking war. An all out fight for a piece of one another.

In typical T.M. fashion, the author crafts a twisted and gritty tale that packs a whole lot of surprises that you never see coming. Nolan is certainly not at all what he seems to be and I loved it when he lets that inner bad boy out. The man can dirty talk the panties off of anyone within a 50 mi radius.

So why not rate higher? A few reasons. One, no matter how much I tried to shut off my disbelief it was still hard to wrap my mind around how someone like Rage could actually feel love. Considering the woman can barely feel empathy or any emotion of any kind, it was difficult to believe that she’d fall for Nolan. Yes, he was exactly the sort of man she needed and he understood her and accepted her for what she was, but still, my logical brain wouldn’t shut off. This was really a minor thing though. What ultimately caused me to lower my rating was one particular scene at the end. I won’t spoiler it for you, but I will say that I didn’t find it necessary at all for it to go THERE. Not for the plot and not for the characters. It only served to take away a little bit of Rage’s bad-ass for me. I felt like it could have gone an entirely different direction all together and it just left me with a weird taste in my mouth. I suppose it may have set up the plot for a future book, but again, for my personal tastes I didn’t feel it needed to go there. Not like that.

All things considered, I did still really enjoy the story. T.M. is one of my go-to authors for dark romance because the woman can write one hell of a twisty and gritty tale and I love her for it. If a sexy dark romance with a kick-ass heroine and a bad-ass hero is what you’re in the mood for, you can’t go wrong with this one. And if you read Bear’s book, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the parallel running story line.

I’m going to fuck the anger out of you.”

Leave a Comment · Filed Under: All Reviews, Dark · Tagged With: Book Reviews: 3.5 stars, dark, TM Frazier

Jennifer’s Review: ★Devil In Disguise★ by Cynthia Eden

July 1, 2016 by Lana · Leave a Comment

DEVIL IN DISGUISE
Series: Bad Things #1
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Author: Cynthia Eden
Release Date: June 28, 2016

Don’t make the devil angry…

Luke Thorne loves having one hell of a good time. As the ruler of every dark creature to walk the earth, he certainly has more than a bit of a bad side. He lives for danger and isn’t the type to lose his heart—mostly because he doesn’t have one. Then she walks into his life.

Mina James is seduction in the flesh, a perfect temptation that the devil himself couldn’t pass up. Too late, Luke realizes he’s let a real siren into his life, a woman who is bent on using his dark powers to free herself from hidden enemies. Since Luke isn’t the type of man to be used, he should walk away from her, but…something about Mina draws him close.

Soon he’s realizing that she isn’t who she appears to be. Not dark and cold, but burning red hot. Mina is a woman fighting for her life—and the Lord of the Dark suddenly finds himself in an unlikely role…hero. Luke isn’t going to let her enemies destroy Mina. He will fight heaven and hell to keep her. But in the end, the secrets they both carry may just rip apart a love that should never have been…

There are Bad Things in the world…very, very bad. Are you ready for them?

AMAZON | iBOOKS

This book is the perfect mix of fantasy and paranormal. I really enjoyed it from beginning to end.

”Are you the devil?”
“Only if hell’s on earth.”

My Luke:

Are you tempted? Lol. I didn’t mean for this pic to be so…revealing…but his…face…was just perfect to me. LMAO!
Luke is the devil, the darkness. He encounters Mina when she tries to manipulate him and seeks him out in a time of weakness. After he discovers her true motive, he is still determined to keep her. I loved that Luke’s character wasn’t too serious. He was laid-back, yet powerful, with a sense of humor.

Luke caught Mina’s chin in his left hand and turned her face toward him. “Guess what, sweetheart?”
“What?” The one word came out worried, fearful.
He grinned. “I’m keeping you.”

My Mina:
Mina can manipulate people with the sound of her voice. She uses this ability but doesn’t like using it. She initially comes across as a strong, sultry woman, but she is vulnerable and hurting at the same time. She doesn’t like her ability because her enemy has exploited her ability for their gain. She is running from someone who wants to hurt her, so she seeks out the devil himself to try to steal an item that will take away her power so that her ability cannot be used for evil any longer.

”Tell me what you want most in the world, right now. Tell me…and I’ll give it to you.”
Disbelief rocked her. “Why?”
“Because I can still see the tears on your cheeks. Because they still hurt me.” Each word was growled. “Because I did this to you.”

I really liked this story, a mix of fantasy and paranormal. I even liked the supporting characters, Julian and Rayce, who were Luke’s security and also shifters. There are some hints of Julian’s past and Rayce’s past that I hope Cynthia will continue and write both of their books.

The only down side to this book is I want to know more! I found myself reading with all kinds of questions and I hope that Cynthia continues to write more and develop this fantasy/paranormal world in more depth.

Leave a Comment · Filed Under: All Reviews, PNR · Tagged With: Book Reviews: 3.5 stars, Jennifer Reviews

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