Review: An Armored Heart by RC Boldt

May 26, 2023 by · Leave a Comment

AN ARMORED HEART
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: RC Boldt
Release Date: May 23,  2023

RULE #1: Do NOT catch feelings for the man who doesn’t believe in love.

Four months. That’s how long I’ll need to pretend to be Steele Cunningham’s doting girlfriend.


I agreed to this insanity only to save my restaurant. He’s doing it because he needs someone outside his “social circle” to stick it to his meddling parents and clingy ex.


Ruthless and emotionless in both his personal life and his career, Steele’s ego rivals his net worth.


Operating on joy and positivity—and a healthy bit of feistiness—I challenge him at every step.


He’s a tin man—heartless and cold. Falling for him would be a colossal mistake, because there’s no chance he’ll ever love me.


He can’t.


After all, he’s the man with an armored heart.


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RC Boldt is a USA Today bestselling author currently living in part of the Costa Rican jungle with the love of her life and her mini-me.

If you’re in the mood for some killer mojitos or can’t recall the lyrics to a particular 80s song, she’s your girl.

Connect with RC Boldt 

Website: http://www.rcboldtbooks.com

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Review: Brutal Billionaire by Laurelin Paige

March 22, 2023 by · Leave a Comment

BRUTAL BILLIONAIRE
Series: Brutal Billionaires #1
Author: Laurelin Paige
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: March 22, 2023

He’ll get what he wants—even if I’m already taken.

Holt Sebastian is royalty in our world.

As CEO of the Sebastian News Corp, he’s the man with all the power. The man who decides if I’ll always just be a local television anchor or if I’ll be the rising star of my own show.

I make it my mission to be noticed. Make him see my potential. But soon, it’s clear he’s the one in charge.

His possessiveness is brutal.

His eyes own everything they touch. I feel his gaze on me when he’s in the room. The heat of them as they rake down my body, taking me in, marking me as his. He doesn’t just want me on the screen—he wants me in his bed.

And Holt Sebastian gets what he wants.

No one will stop him, no one will get in his way.

No one can protect me from his desire.

Not even the man who promised nothing would come between us and his ambition—my husband.

Laurelin Paige delivers a twist on Indecent Proposal in this billionaire workplace standalone romance featuring elements of fake relationship, marriage of convenience, enemies to lovers, and a new alphahole readers will love to hate.

AMAZON

I don’t know what pisses me off more—his amusement or his abs. Either way, the curse slips from my lips without thinking. “Fuck you.”
“I’d love that.” He winks. “But first, how about some wine?”

Well, wasn’t this just the yummiest start to what’s sure to be a fire series!

I love Laurelin’s brand of alpha holes, and Holt Sebastian had me in a chokehold the very second he appeared on the page.

There has to be something you care about.”
“I care about getting you off and making you feel morally uncomfortable about it when you do.”

Brystin is a local journalist who dreams of having her own show one day. She’s lived and breathed her work, but never expected herbage shot to be at a cost she wasn’t aware she was prepared to pay.

Holt has spent his entire life trying to prove his worth to his father. And he has spent his entire adult life trying to show him he can run a successful network. The second he lays eyes on Brystin, he wants her, but not just for a show. So he proposes an arrangement; her body for his network contract.

Never has my feminism left my body so quick then when this indecent proposal took place. And while Brystin is married, it’s a marriage in name only. So if you’re worried about the cheating element, it wasn’t much of one. Then again, I’m not a reader who minds affairs or cheating, so I suppose I’m the wrong pulse check for those of you who do. But I digress.

I loved Brystin. You would think that a woman who essentially sells herself to get what she wants wouldn’t be as strong willed and fiercely independent, but she was so much more. She made Holt work for it and by the final 20% I couldn’t be rooting for her any harder. I loved how she took her life in her hands and did what she knew had to be done and was right. This is a girl’s girl and I loved that about her.

Holt is your typical no entanglements sort of man. He goes for married women because he knows there’s little risk of hearts being involved. But he was sorely unprepared for the effect that Brystin would have. The chemistry between them was incendiary. They simply burned up the pages together. And that grovel at the end? *chefs kiss* Sheer perfection.

I devoured this book and already dying for my next fix in this series.

With millions of books sold worldwide, Laurelin Paige is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestselling Author. She is a sucker for a good romance and gets giddy anytime there’s kissing, much to the embarrassment of her three daughters. Her husband doesn’t seem to complain, however. 

When she isn’t reading or writing sexy stories, she’s probably singing, watching Killing Eve or Letterkenny, or dreaming of Michael Fassbender. She’s also a proud member of Mensa International though she doesn’t do anything with the organization except use it as material for her bio. 

She is represented by Rebecca Friedman.

Connect w/Laurelin:

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Review: Hush Hush by Lucia Franco

December 28, 2022 by · Leave a Comment

HUSH HUSH
Author: Lucia Franco
Genre: Forbidden, Age Gap Romance
Release Date: August 14, 2019

A new, seductive forbidden romance that caters to Manhattan’s elite…

I knew the rules:

Never reveal my true identity.
Play the game, give the illusion.
Don’t get close to the clients.

The dark and glamorous lifestyle of the rich and shameless open my eyes to a lavish world of sin and wealth, and a man I can’t have.

A man I desperately want—James Riviera.

We’re treading a fine line as we live the ultimate double life until we make a startling discovery that tests both our loyalties.

I only had to follow the rules, but rules are meant to be broken.

AMAZON

Outside, on the streets, you’re a woman with no filter who can hold herself up to anyone, which I fucking love, but in bed, I think you need someone to make you forget your name. I can do that. I want to be that man for you. Between the sheets, you should be saying, ‘Yes, please, more, harder’—my fucking name and nothing else.”

I read this book in a desperate attempt to take myself out of a weeks long book slump and boy did it deliver. It delivered on everything I needed and some things that I didn’t even knew I needed.

First, I can’t believe this is my first Lucia Franco book, and it sure as hell won’t be my last, because WOW.

If you follow my review, you know I love me a sex positive FMC. I love a woman who unapologetically owns what she loves and doesn’t shame it or try to find a name or excuse for it. And I absolutely loved Aubrey. With only her grammy left as living family, Aubrey struggles to make ends meet with several jobs to get her through school. She’s focused on school and graduation and has no time for men outside of an orgasm they can offer. She lives with her wealthy best friend, who lives a luxurious life style that she shares with her friend. But little does Aubrey know how she affords those things when she says she doesn’t want to touch the trust from her family.

An exclusive escort for the rich and entitled, in a secret club who only the elusive few 1% can afford offers a solution she never knew she would entertain. But the money is too good to say no to. But then she meets a client who makes her want more. And when she learns who the client really is, everything is turned on it’s head. But by then, she’s far too deep in.

I have to admit that as much as I loved Aubrey, I disliked her relationship with Daniel. While I get why she clung to him, and she really opens up about it in the end, I also disliked it. It was especially frustrating knowing how Daniel shared why his previous relationship fell apart with her and she still made the choices she did. To be honest, the cheating in this book didn’t bother me. I knew what I was going into, and I knew this book would be deeply rooted in the gray.

I loved the forbidden romance and age gap between Aubrey and James. I loved his dominance as much as I loved her hidden fragility. When I tell you I devoured this book, I mean I devoured this book in one sitting. I couldn’t stop reading. I was immediately immersed and obsessed. And while I didn’t love some of the choices these two made, I simply loved them too much to care.

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Review: The Frat Boy by Nikki Sloane

December 6, 2022 by · Leave a Comment

THE FRAT BOY
Genre: Erotic Romance
Series: Nashville Neighborhood #4
Author: Nikki Sloane
Release Date: December 6, 2022

Colin Novak is the big man on campus. Huge—if the rumors are to be believed. Nearly every girl at Davidson University has had a ride on him . . . everyone, except me.

Which is fine. This frat boy may be irritatingly hot, all carved muscle with a deceptively wholesome smile, but that’s irrelevant. He’s a Sig.

When I catch his fraternity cheating at the Greek Week tournament, he denies it—causing our rivalry between houses to escalate. Colin and I may have started the mud fight, but it grows into an all-out war, and ends with us expelled from our houses.

Now I’m homeless and it’s all his fault.

So, while answering an ad for a leading role at an adult film company wasn’t part of my career path, the work comes with a lot of perks. Steady salary. Accommodations close to campus. A safe place to explore my fantasies.

Except when I show up for my audition, my partner is none other than my new archenemy—Colin. And our sexual chemistry is explosive.

We hate how attracted we are to each other, and I despise that I want every scene to be with him. Because the longer we live together, the more I see he’s not who I thought he was.

This frat boy was so easy to hate . . . but what if he’s even easier to love?

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I’d come here tonight to try new things, new experiences, and he’d done that, all right. I just hadn’t expected him to fuck both my body and my mind so completely.

Sweet mother of ovaries. I think I had honest to god hot flashes reading this. This was by far, hands down, my favorite book in this series so far. And it was most certainly the hottest.

How this author can write pure filth and yet still have such amazing character and plot development is a skill unlike any other. I mean, she’s written pure porn, literally, and yet it was as swoon as it was filthy. My mind is just blown. BLOWN I tell you. Pun intended. But I digress.

Colin is Preston’s friend from The Doctor. Funny enough as much as I disliked Preston in that book, he’s seriously growing on me. But I digress again.

Madison and Colin are competing in greek games for their respective frat and sorority until it all goes very wrong and they both get kicked out. There is no love lost between these two for sure and most especially when the manwhoring frat boy is responsible for Madison losing her home at her sorority. Desperate times have her answering an ad and fulfilling her deepest fantasies at the same time. The last thing she expects is for her partner in the audition scene to be none other than Colin. Living together and ‘acting’ together isn’t what she wants, and neither is the insatiable chemistry between them.

Admittedly I thought this would be an MM when I originally read the blurb. Reading it back, I’m not sure why. Maybe wishful thinking? But what it was, was a super hot MF with MFM and MFF and MFFM scenes. Fiery hot I tell you.

I loved watching these two fall for each other. But what I loved more was finally, FINALLY seeing that HOA president Judy get her comeuppance. GAWD. I’ve been waiting four books for this and it was glorious. And that ending was pure perfection.

If you’re looking for a romance that’s utterly filthy but has plenty of heart and plot, look no further!

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

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

Connect with Nikki

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Review: Playing Hard To Get by Monica Murphy

December 1, 2022 by · Leave a Comment

PLAYING HARD TO GET
Author: Monica Murphy
Genre: New Adult Romance
Release Date: December 1, 2022

Knox Maguire is the king of our college campus.

Star offensive tight end on the football team.

He is the complete opposite of me in every way.

I’m quiet. He’s loud.

I’m shy. He’s definitely not.

Everyone loves him. No one knows me.

Fresh out of a breakup, I don’t really trust him, and why should I? Knox is the ultimate player. When I become his English tutor, I tell myself we need to keep things between us strictly business. Watching my mother deal with my ex-athlete father long, long ago taught me to stay far away from that type of man.

Yet Knox is impossible to resist. Next thing I know, we’re getting hot and heavy in the library—and that was never part of the plan. When Knox admits he can’t stop thinking about me, I have a realization.

I can’t stop thinking about him either.

Instead of keeping my distance, I pull him in closer. Until somehow, we’re spending all of our time together and I find myself falling for Knox. Hard.

Will this actually work between us? Or am I getting played?

AMAZON

You are my end goal, Jo Jo.”

My whole heart right now. It’s been a minute since I read a good college sports romance, and man did this deliver on all fronts.

I love when authors interconnect their characters throughout their books. And if you all loved Drew and Fable from One Week Girlfriend and recall Fable’s brother Owen in Four Years Later, prepare to meet his son Knox Maguire in this one. Knox is the football team’s tight end well on his way to the NFL. Knox has a packed schedule and a class in which he knows he’s going to struggle is the last thing he needs. He needs to focus, so what’s a man to do? Swear off women and go celibate of course. But you know what they say about no good dead…

Enter Joanna Sutton, the quiet studious girl who just got out of a three year relationship with a heartbreak she’s not yet over. She doesn’t like to be the center of attention and she doesn’t like jocks who draw all attention to them. So the ridiculously handsome Knox is the last man she should be spending time with. But when Knox hires her as his tutor following the most adorable meet cute at the book store she works in, sparks fly.

This was such a sweet romance, packed full of emotion and with a splash of steam. Knox is a reformed manwhore who is a total cinnamon role. And while that’s not usually my thing, it just worked for me here. The way he pursued Joanna and the easy camaraderie between them just did it for me. He’s not used to women turning him down, yet that’s what Jo seems to do at every turn. She’s not impressed with his rep and unwittingly forces him to chase her. I loved their banter and their instant chemistry and slow burn romance.

This was a one sitting read that I enjoyed from start to finish and I can’t wait for more in this series. Hopefully we get Knox’s sister’s book next. I do love me the brother’s best friend trope.

 

Monica Murphy is a New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling romance author. Her books have been translated in almost a dozen languages and have sold over two million copies worldwide. Both a traditionally published and independently published author, she writes young adult, new adult and contemporary romance.

A native Californian, she lives on fourteen acres in the middle of nowhere with her husband, son, their goofy dog, and three cats. When she’s not writing, she’s thinking about writing. Or reading. Or binge watching something.

 

Connect with Monica

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Review: Broken Queen by Natasha Knight

November 15, 2022 by · Leave a Comment

BROKEN QUEEN
Series: Ruined Kingdom Duet #2
Author: Natasha Knight
Genre: Dark Mafia/MFM Romance
Release Date: November 15, 2022

Betrayal. Destruction. Truth.

He says you can only rise up once you hit rock bottom.
Only be made whole once you’re fully broken.

I don’t know that there’s anything left to break.

Time is running out for me. Enemies are closing in at every turn.

But this time I won’t be alone.

One brother has vowed his protection. The other reaffirmed his hatred of me.

Yet they both want me.

But something dark is unraveling inside me.
An event too terrible clawing its way into my consciousness.

And even as things begin to change between us, it’s those memories that may undo us all.

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START WITH BOOK ONE
 
RUINED KINGDOM

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And as they wipe the tears that fall while they make love to me and I too them, I know that we belong to each other. The three of us, we have always belonged to each other.

There’s a reason Natasha Knight books are pure crack for me. It doesn’t matter how many times I read a different variation of a similar trope, I will never grow tired of it. The woman just delivers each and every single time and this book was no exception.

After that shocking cliffhanger in Ruined Kingdom, I was dying for the conclusion. I just knew that this would be the book that would defrost the icy heart that Bastian has and I was not wrong. These two brothers go from ruthless, revenge driven beasts to ruthless, revenge driven beasts who would burn the world down to protect their woman.

I think that Vittoria Russo is one of my favorite heroines from Natasha to date. There’s just something so fierce about her. This woman is the definition of fighter and when you peel back the layers on her past, you see how much of one she is. She doesn’t stop fighting no matter how much the odds are stacked against her. And seeing her inevitably fall for her two captors melted my cold black heart.

I devoured this book in one greedy sitting. Emotional, gritty, and full of dark passion, I couldn’t get enough.

 

Natasha Knight is the USA Today Bestselling author of Romantic Suspense and Dark Romance Novels. She has sold over a million books and is translated into six languages. She currently lives in The Netherlands with her husband and two daughters and when she’s not writing, she’s walking in the woods listening to a book, sitting in a corner reading or off exploring the world as often as she can get away.
 
 
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Review: Heist by Tate James

November 8, 2022 by · Leave a Comment

HEIST
Series: Valenshek Legacy #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Tate James
Release Date: November 8, 2022

Every four years, the criminal underworld engages in a game. The Game. The challenges range from the impossible to the deadly to the truly insane. Things that only a crazy person would tackle.

I’ve won the game 5 times. This time will be no different.

I’m at the top of my field now, the best of the world’s thieves. There’s nothing I can’t steal, and this time, the game is all about theft, subterfuge, and sleight of hand. Starting with a legendary painting of poppy flowers.

It’s a painting that disappeared into the blackmarket decades ago, but I know where to find it. The only person standing in my way is her.

Nothing will stop me winning the game, not even the sultry, quick witted brunette who lures me into her painting studio with the most irresistible bait.

I have no option to fail at The Game. It’s my legacy.

The Valenshek Legacy.

♥♥♥

HEIST is book ONE of THREE in the Valenshek Legacy series. This M/F romance is set in the Shadow Grove world but can be read independently of the other Shadow Grove books. Character cameos from other series are minor and inconsequential.

AMAZON

I wished she would trust me, and that was the most selfish thing I could possibly ask…because I had every intention of taking her trust and using it for my own gain.

I have clearly been living under a rock, because I only discovered Tate James books this year. I know! I know! I’m kicking myself, trust me. I started with her Madison Kate series and proceeded on an immediate binge of Tate’s backlist. And now here we are and desperately addicted to her words.

You think pretty highly of yourself, don’t you Tris?” His question was sharper than teasing, and it made me pull up short.
I whirled around to glare at the big, handsome prick.
“Yes, John. I do. It’s called confidence and self-respect. If that’s a problem for you, absolutely no one is making you continue this conversation. In fact, I’m actively trying to leave.”

One thing I absolutely love about Tate’s books are her sassy, witty, and sex positive heroines. They’re not blushing wallflowers and I can’t get enough of them. Tristian was no exception.

I loved everything about this heroine, including the way she made John work. She’s not interested in anything from men beyond scratching an itch. And lately, the men she meets can’t even do that right. So when the infuriating and handsome newcomer at her college turns out to be the new professor who she will be TA’ing for… Well, let’s just say sparks fly. The chemistry between these two is sizzling. And the banter! Oh dear lord the banter! I couldn’t get enough of it.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, John…but yours isn’t the only dick in town.” Her leg flexed, pushing me away far enough that she could hop off the desk. She picked up her bag and tucked the strap over her shoulder as my brain frantically processed what she’d said.
“Venus, you better not be saying that—”
“Sorry, Casanova, I can’t chat. I have a date.” Her wink fucking slayed me, and then she was sashaying out of the class with that short skirt swaying like a red flag in a bull pen.

John is mysterious, enigmatic, and practically oozes BDE (big d*ck energy for those not familiar). But John is also not who he makes himself seem and his cover at the school is his way on his mission to win the “game” that pits the most infamous thieves against each other. I loved peeling back the layers on this guy. I loved watching him fall for Tris as unwilling as it was. And he did fight it at every turn.

And then the cliffhanger hits you and holy mother. I should be used to these jaw droppers from Tate considering I binged 6 books of hers in a row. But I also wasn’t in a situation where I had to wait for the next book. And now that I do? I think I’m slowly dying inside until May 2023l

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Review: Never Look Back by A.L. Jackson

August 29, 2022 by · Leave a Comment

NEVER LOOK BACK
Series: Redemption Hills #3
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: A.L. Jackson
Release Date: August 29, 2022

From NYT and USA Today bestselling author A.L. Jackson comes an enemies-to-lovers, close-proximity, second-chance romance…

Logan Lawson won me in a bet.
The second I saw him sitting at the illegal card table, I knew I was in trouble.
Years ago, he sealed my fate and condemned me to a life I didn’t want to lead.
Yet he’s filled with untamed fury and thirsting for vengeance against the husband I hate.

Aster Costa is everything I never should have wanted.
The second she showed with her pompous, prick of a husband, I should have gotten up and walked.
But there’s no looking away from the woman who wrecked me.
Worse, I can’t stop myself from plotting to get her back.

I want nothing more than to be free of my husband.
I’m afraid Logan Lawson is the only one who can make that happen.
He might hate me for our past, but now it’s me on my knees begging for help.

Finding each other in the middle of it wasn’t supposed to be part of the bargain.
But once Logan touches me, I’m gone.
A torch is rekindled. A fire is lit.

Aster Costa has always been mine.
And this time, no matter the cost, I won’t give her back…

Read Amazon or Free with Kindle Unlimited | Listen to the Audio Narrated by Zachary Webber and Erin Mallon | Order a Signed Paperback or Hardback

You’re going to make me regret this, aren’t you?”
“It seems fair since I’ll be regretting you for the rest of my life.”

If there’s one thing that AL Jackson knows how to do, is to hit her readers right in the feels with the force of a Mac truck. And this book? Well, it didn’t just hit you in the feels. It ran them over. Then backed up and ran over them again for good measure. And this girl? I was so here for it!

I hate you. You’d do well not to forget it.” It sounded of pain. A rush of regret. Hurt that slayed. My arms curled tighter around his neck.
“I hate you, too.” I guessed we were both good at tellingeach other lies.

I love a second chance romance. There’s just something so utterly delicious about the angst of a second chance. And Aster and Logan’s journey to a hea was a special kind of emotional torture that I couldn’t get enough of.

I fell hard for the Lawson brothers the second I met them in Give Me a Reason. And I never thought I’d love an MC more than the uber intense Trent. But Logan definitely made a liar out of me. The youngest brother is a genius when it comes to numbers, and it makes him a dangerous man to sit across a card game from. Especially when the stakes are as high as what he plays for. When a man from his past walks to the table, he knows immediately what he wants. His wife. And what’s a girl to do when your husband bets you in a poker game and then loses? Take the chance to run and grasp to a better life that you didn’t dare dream of. Even if the man you dreamed of it with now wants nothing more to do with you.

I loved this emotional story so much. Logan hates Aster for what he thinks happened years ago. But nothing is at it seems, and the life that Aster had been forced to endure made my heart hurt reading about. Especially seeing Logan’s contempt to her. But that contempt didn’t take long to disappear in the midst of their explosive chemistry, no matter how much they fight it. Though I did wish they fought it a bit harder and longer. What can I say? Angst addict problems, right?

This is probably my favorite book in the series so far. It was packed with steam, emotion, secrets and betrayals. I love Jackson’s way of weaving just the right amount of suspense into her romance to keep you eagerly turning the pages. Her signature prose gave it a bit of the lighter tone at the end, and I didn’t mind because it needed that. I can’t wait for more in this series. Particularly her sister’s story because YES!

A.L. Jackson is the New York Times & USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary romance. She writes emotional, sexy, heart-filled stories about boys who usually like to be a little bit bad.

Her bestselling series include THE REGRET SERIES, CLOSER TO YOU, BLEEDING STARS, FIGHT FOR ME, CONFESSIONS OF THE HEART, FALLING STARS, and REDEMPTION HILLS novels. Get her latest enemies-to-lovers, second-chance romance, NEVER LOOK BACK, available now!

If she’s not writing, you can find her hanging out by the pool with her family, sipping cocktails with her friends, or of course with her nose buried in a book.

Be sure not to miss new releases and sales from A.L. Jackson – Sign up to receive her newsletter https://geni.us/ALJacksonBookClubB  or text “aljackson” to 33222 to receive short but sweet updates on all the important news.

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Review: Does It Hurt? by H.D. Carlton

July 22, 2022 by · Leave a Comment

DOES IT HURT?
Genre: Dark Romance
Author: H.D. Carlton
Release Date: July 22, 2022

Who am I?

I’ve forgotten the answer to that question long ago. Ever since I ran from that house, so desperate to escape, I left with only the clothes on my back and socks on my feet. After that day, I’ve only ever walked in stolen shoes.

Could I be a girl who is searching for the meaning of life in faceless men? They were all so forgettable. Until he came along. He took me under a waterfall and made me forget my name, and in return, I took his instead.

Enzo Vitale.

An enigmatic man that will only ever love the deep sea. Or rather the predators that inhabit it. Turns out, he’s not so different than the monsters he feeds. He lured me onto his boat like a fish in the ocean, seeking vengeance for my crime. Had I realized his intentions, and that a massive storm would leave us shipwrecked, I would’ve ran.

Now, I’m a girl who’s seeking refuge in a decrepit lighthouse with a man who loathes me almost as much as he craves me. He wants to hurt me, but the old caretaker of the abandoned island may have intentions far more sinister.

It’s no longer a question of who I am, but rather, will I survive?

AMAZON

“Does it hurt, baby?” he asks quietly. “Not being able to scream for me like you want to.”

The second HD Carlton teased with this book, I was eagerly stalking her for every little morsel of detail. So obviously the second it dropped on my kindle, I dropped everything to read it. And that page of trigger warnings at the beginning of the novel? Well, color me ALL OVER IT.

Oh God,” I cry, trying to keep my voice down but failing miserably.
“Can you see him, baby? Ask him for forgiveness.”
“Why?” I pant, another high-pitched moan nearly swallowing the word.
“Because you worship me now.”

If there’s one thing I’ve come to know about this author, it’s her ability to create some of the most vivid and memorable characters. And I’m not just talking main characters, I’m talking about all the secondary characters. I’m a reader that will forget names, plot, almost all details, yet her characters and stories stay with me. And this book was no different.

Sawyer is on the run, forced to steal identities to survive. If there’s one thing I love, it’s morally gray characters, and she definitely serves some morally grey character energy. This is a woman who has been forced to do things she never thought she would, including sleeping with men to steal their identities after. She’s riddled with remorse but unable to stop. Then she runs into an enigmatic stranger at a bar who’s as rude as he is unforgettably sexy. So what does she do when he gives her the best sex of her life? Leave like a thief in the night with his identity in hand. But this time is different, because he tracks her down with every intention of punishing her for her sins.

Enzo is a shark expert with his own dark secrets. When he realizes the woman he spent the night with stole his identity, he doesn’t call the cops. He wants to deal with her himself. So when he runs into her again, he’s determined to make her pay. And so he lures her to his boat…completely blind to the deadly brewing storm.

Barely surfing the shipwreck, they find themselves on an island with an abandoned light tower, and forced to endure each other to survive.

Now I may be slight desensitized, but I didn’t find this book as dark as the trigger warning made it seem. It has a dark vein for sure, but it felt more suspenseful and creepy. The darkly veiled mystery running parallel to the romance was also deliciously intriguing. Enzo was everything I love in my main characters; grumpy, enigmatic, possessive, and with a mean streak a mile long. Sawyer, admittedly, took me a bit longer to warm up to. She’s a survivor, but I did wish she’d stand up more to Enzo. But she felt like she had to atone, and her tears would wash her sins away. I did get frustrated by her in parts, but then she fully grew on me towards the end when the full scope of her past gets revealed. She’s an incredibly complex character, full of many layers, and while I didn’t love all of them, I did love her as a heroine.

I binge read this book, eager to unravel the dark mystery. This author can definitely write one hell of an enrapturing read, and this one owned me from beginning to finish.

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Review: Brainwashed by Nyla K

July 7, 2022 by · Leave a Comment

BRAINWASHED
Series: Alabaster Penitentiary #3
Genre: Dark, Erotic MM Romance
Author: Nyla K
Release Date: July 7, 2022

 

Monster.
That’s what they call me.
Lock your doors, hold your loved ones tight. The Carver is on the loose.
Except I’m not. I was caught.
The days of allowing my inner depravity to run wild are over. I’ve been sent to prison for good, something of a celebrity in this dark, dank hell-hole they call Alabaster Penitentiary.
The only thing I have left to offer the world is my story, and unfortunately for me, the Warden has the rest of my life to get it out of me.
Being poked and prodded, examined and tested on isn’t something I enjoy very much. Until they send him…
The new doctor is here to study me and my crimes. And I’m beginning to think we might not be as different as it seems. He craves knowledge the way I crave the blood of my victims. Despite his robotic nature, there’s just something about him… Something I want.
But I’ll have to be careful not to smother it to death.
After all… It’s kind of my thing.


** Brainwashed is a dark MM doctor-patient romance with content that may be disturbing/triggering to some readers. Our protagonist is a sociopath. Please proceed with caution. While this story follows a new couple, it is strongly recommended to read Volumes 1-2 first, to avoid spoilers. **

AMAZON 

Felix Darcey is exactly that. A dangerous animal behind bars. And I just can’t help wanting to step inside his cage.

It’s official, this series is total CRACK. CRACK. Crack I tells ya. It’s sick, depraved, dark, disturbing, toe curling, finger licking GOOD. I mean, it’s just…GAH. I’m obsessed more than Felix was with his psychiatrist.

You know what it looks like?” I ask, turning my face to his.
“What’s that?” He breathes with my mouth hovering over his.
“It looks like I own you, sick boy.” My lips brush his and he quivers. “You’re my monster.”

Now if you’re thinking of reading this as a standalone, don’t. Trust me. While each book stands on it’s own, it’s all a puzzle piece of one uniquely fucked up world, and you need to read it in order. You will learn to appreciate every nod and nuance in the previous books as you read the next one. And I love the amount of thought Nyla put in the plotting of this because it shines like a beacon. And this reader? Devoured it!

Felix Darcy is the infamous serial killer known as The Carver. Do I have to tell you what he does to earn that nickname or can you use your imagination? The second the man arrived in Alabaster Penitentiary, he’s been a unique mystery. He’s a brutal killer to some, and a thoughtful friend to others. The fact that we’re introduced to him through his friendship with Dascha in Distorted really helped set the foundation of this character. But nothing prepared me for the full force that was him as the main character.

Dr Love is the antithesis to his last name. He’s a psychiatrist whose luck with love is worse than his believe in it. He’s also very straight. Until a very sick little monster tilts his world on its axis.

This is so much more than a dark romance. This is a twisted tale full of complex layers, secrets, betrayals, and enigmas known as The Warden. This is like the Hansel and Gretel of dark romance. There are bread crumbs dropped everywhere, you just have to keep your eyes peeled to pick them up. And when you do? Oh man. Addictive.

I loved the romance was deliciously satisfying. I loved watching Dr Love fall for his patient, in spite of his dark rep. I loved seeing the softer side to Felix. And I loved getting more and more of the gaps I had from books one and two be filled in this one.

But in typical Nyla fashion, for each of the gaps that she fills, she leaves the reader with at least double the questions. I’m already salivating for the next book because GAH. I’m addicted. Completely addicted.

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