Daniel DiTomasso

A satisfying category romance from Entangled’s brand new Lovestruck imprint…

Former Marine MacArthur Patton has made a small fortune on top-secret government contracts and black-ops missions, but his new assignment involves something more dangerous—marriage.

Well, fake marriage anyway.

To keep weapons out of the hands of terrorists, Mac has to secure a fiancée. A sweet, demure, compliant fiancée to serve as his arm candy for a few weeks while he completes the covert arms deal in Mexico. His sister claims to know just the woman, and sends her best friend to play the role.

“Sweet” and “demure” aren’t in Kelli Landers’s repertoire. A badass veterinarian who neuters big dogs and bigger men on a regular basis, she can’t wait to bring Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Detached to his knees. Her longtime crush on the commitment-phobe makes her plan to seduce him even sweeter.

Love wasn’t part of the plan, but the deeper Mac and Kelli fall into their ruse, the more danger they attract, until more than just their hearts are on the line…

4.5 Laugh Out Loud Stars

You’ll be well compensated for your time if you’re willing to play the fiancee role for a few weeks. You just need to be compliant, soft-spoken, beautiful, sweet, demure, and drama-free.”
Kelli raised an eyebrow. “You’re aware you just gave a complete list of antonyms for my personality.”

If you’re looking for a sexy and fun read that will put a smile on your face from page one and have you laughing throughout the entire book, YOU. NEED. TO. READ. THIS.

Ever since I first met Mac and Kelli in Marine for Hire, I have been curious to get my hands on their story. All I knew is I hoped that it would be Kelli that got matched up with Mac because she was the perfectly OPPOSITE everything to Mac’s serious personality. I was also a little worried, since Kelli is extremely outspoken and very blunt that she would come across as brash in her own book. It is a very fine line between confident and outspoken and just brash. I shouldn’t have been worried in the least. Tawna Fenske not only wrote an awesome heroine, she blew it out of the water for me.

(Considering the whole thing read like the very best romantic comedy, I couldn’t get the mental picture of Kate out of my mind as I read this, so that’s what you get LOL)
When Mac needs a fiance for a cover for an operation he’s currently on, his loving sister is quick to volunteer her best friend. Payback is a bitch, huh Mac? Veterinarian Kelli has had a crush on Mac since she was just little, but she’s certainly not looking for a relationship. Her childhood has pretty much guaranteed that. Too bad Mac doesn’t even know she exists…yet.

I think Mac is vaguely aware you exists, but only as the pigtailed friend of his baby sister. He kinda hasn’t been around much since we were kids.
“Absence makes the crotch grow fonder.”

Some hot sex, though? Sign her right up. She has no qualms about seducing Mr. Hottie McFrowny.

I love that Ms. Fenske took a step away from the typical ‘hero falls for the younger sibling’s best friend’ trope. You know the one I’m talking about; the hero pines for the heroine but her being the younger sister’s best friend, she’s off limits. You definitely won’t find that here. Mac doesn’t remember Kelli enough from the past to even give it a second thought. And Kelli? Well Kelli makes her intentions for Mac very clear to her best friend.

Will Mac throw in a ride on a white stallion before we trot into the sunset to make beautiful babies and live happily ever after?”
“You’re allergic to horses, afraid of babies, and horrified by commitment.”
“Will I at least get to bang your brother?”

Oh Kelli, THAT you are certainly NOT. But I love you for it.

Super serious, eyes only for the mission Mac definitely didn’t see her coming

How much adoration are we talking about?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Adoration.” Kelli looked up at him and smiled. “Am I looking at you like I appreciate the fact that you pulled my chair out at dinner, or like you pulled my hair while doing me against the wall.”

But don’t worry, he’s very well equipped to handle all that is Kelli.

You’ll have to suspend your disbelief with some parts of the suspense and action in the story. I would have loved a little more from that end, but I loved the rest of the book so much that I barely batted an eyelash at it. Plus Tawna managed to throw a twist at the end that I didn’t see coming and that made it THAT much better.

Mac and Kelli’s budding romance is what truly stole the show for me

I was curious to know exactly what happened to him to make him so focused on protecting everyone around him, and it was truly heartbreaking when it was revealed. I really just couldn’t get enough of these two. And when they finally do get together? Whew. Hot hot hot.

So what happens when a woman terrified of abandonment falls for a man that’s hell bent on never staying with anyone? Guess you’ll have to read to find out. One thing I can promise you is that you’re going to love every minute of it 😉

***ARC courtesy of publisher in exchange for an honest review***

As the captain of a schooner catering to the elite on the Caribbean Seas, Sebastian Stark does his best to avoid any human encounters. Interacting with people isn’t his thing, and he prefers the company of a bottle of vodka, a shot glass, and maybe a whore. There’s no doubt he’s hiding from a checkered past, but he does well keeping everything to himself…

…until the night his schooner capsizes, and he’s stuck on a life raft with one of the passengers.

Raine’s young, she’s cute, and Bastian would probably be into her if he wasn’t suffering from alcohol withdrawal. As the days pass, DTs, starvation, and dehydration become the norm. Even the most closed person starts to open up when he thinks he’s going to die, but when she realizes their traumatic pasts are connected, it’s no longer the elements that have Bastian concerned.

He has no idea how he’s going to Survive Raine.

4.5 I guess I really do love the assholes after all Stars

I’m not…a nice guy, Raine.” I didn’t know how to make her understand that there wasn’t anything else to me despite what she wanted to believe. I was what I was- violent, crude, and utterly unlovable.”

First, if you haven’t yet read any books by this author, you need to get out from under the rock you’ve been living under and GET ON IT. Really. Shay Savage is the queen of male POV and this book just further proves it.

Meet Sebastian Stark:

Alcoholic

Chain smoker

Killer

And a grade A asshole

Intrigued, aren’t you?

Bastian is trying to put his past behind him, but the only way to drown out the voices of demons past is with alcohol and countless faceless women…even if he has to pay for them

He doesn’t want to know anyone, and he certainly doesn’t want anyone to know him. So he spends his days a the captain of a schooner that caters to the rich and elite, and his nights drinking himself into a oblivion

But then he wakes up to a storm, a sinking ship, and finds himself stuck on a lifeboat with one of the passengers who also happens to temp him in two different directions

Toss her overboard or stick my tongue down her throat? I couldn’t decide and it fucking ticked me off.

Now me being the huge fan of the assholes that I am, I fell head over heels for Bastian from the very firs page. But if you’re the sort that needs convincing, allow me to present exhibit A:

I told you before. I’m fucking tense”
“Well, is there something I can do to help with that? Or are you just going to yell at me all this time?
“Yeah, there is something you can do,” I said coldly, turning my glare at her. “Come here and blow me. That would probably ease a bit of my tension- especially if you swallow.”

or exhibit B

…my cock was in danger of busting right through the buttons of my shorts and maybe taking a little trip all on his own. I had the feeling he was already contacting “AAA” for a Triptik and probably trying to book a hotel in pussyland.

Stuck with a woman that equal parts soothes his damaged soul and reminds him of everything he can never be is a constant state for Bastian. Your heart will absolutely break for him. He may be a growly, vulgar asshole, but beneath all that is the heart of man that is just begging for love.

I didn’t want her to touch me even if my brain was screaming for it. She shouldn’t want to have her hands on me. I was fucking toxic- ask any woman who knew me.

Little by little Bastian begins to open up to Raine and divest more and more of his past. And holy shit, his past!

Raine, in her understated way slowly chips away at all his defenses and walls. And let me tell you, when this man finally allows himself to fall? Damn.

I felt everything as I let her take me- mind, body and soul. I did’t know if she wanted it or needed it like I did, but I gave it to her anyway.

But don’t worry, even when he falls and his possessive and sweet side comes out, he never quite loses that edge of vulgar asshole that I’ve come to love about him

Vulgar?” I mocked surprise, placing my hand over my chest. “You’re implying my speech might include vulgarities? You fucking take that shit back right now!”

Surviving Raine is told solely in Bastian’s POV and it’s a book that you’ll be unable to set down. Or at least I wasn’t. Shay Savage has this way to her writing that never fails to suck you into the story and keep you riveted until the last page. She also writes some of the best anti-heroes I’ve had the pleasure of reading about.

I can tell you I’m very glad I waited until book two was out to read this. The cliffhanger isn’t terrible, but it is there, and it’s obvious there’s a whole lot more to be found out. And I. Cannot. Freaking. WAIT!

She’s in for the fight of her life…with the man who only wants to be her lover.

Fighter Mia Anderson has faced the dark side of life and survived. But just getting by is no longer enough. To fund her new life with her baby sister, she’s determined to beat the reigning king of the male fighters in New York’s underground MMA circuit, Tray “Fox” Knox.

Tray refuses to fight a woman, until he learns Mia’s tougher than anyone he has ever known. He soon realizes he wants more from her than blows and blood, and he’s willing to hit below the belt to get it. He’ll fight her, but if he wins, she spends the night in his bed. All night long, his rules. No tapping out.

Mia agrees, certain that he’ll lose. What she doesn’t realize is that Tray loves to fight dirty…and that this match may end up being the most important one of their lives.

Warning: Please be advised this book contains content some may find triggering (past sexual trauma) and also contains graphic sex and language that may not be suitable for underage readers.

Pretty enough shell, empty insides. Now my shell wasn’t so pretty anymore, yet I still used it to accomplish what I needed to.

I’ve had this on my TBR forever, but have been putting off reading it due to mixed reviews. I finally decided to bite the bullet, and am kicking myself for not reading it sooner. I LOVED IT. I can see how this may not be for everyone, but I loved everything about it; the writing style, the story, the characters, EVERYTHING

Gritty. Emotional. A little dark. And entirely enthralling.
Shadowboxer takes the reader beneath the bustling city of New York,

into the dark corner of underground MMA fighting.

But here’s the kicker, both the hero AND the heroine are fighters.

Mia Anderson is used to doing whatever it takes to support herself and her younger sister. She lives in the shadow of her devastating past and uses the physical pain to drown out the memories. She fights and she’s not afraid of taking punches. But she wants out of the underground MMA circuit, and her ticket out is to fight the reigning champion of the male fighters, Tray “Fox” Knox.

I bruised faces and occasionally broke bones for a living, but I’d never left a woman feeling bad about herself. My dignified Long Island upbringing hadn’t left me even though I now lived in a walkup in Brooklyn.

While Mia was the girl from the wrong side of the tracks, Tray seemingly has it all…he just doesn’t want it. Going against the grain and everything his rich parents wanted for him, he turned to underground fighting to beat his demons. But he draws the line at fighting a woman. Mia is desperate, and as infuriating as the sexy fighter is, she’s determined to ignore the sexual chemistry that instantly ignites between them and convince him to change his mind.

Guys like you, you think you know everything. You’ve got the world by a string, and it only ever unwinds the way you want it to. That’s not how it is for the rest of us. We have to fight for what we want. We have to bleed.

Mia is a character that’s difficult to understand at first. The book is a bit of a slow build, but it really takes off after the 30% mark. The more you find out about her past, the clearer her actions and thoughts become. My heart absolutely broke for her and what she had to go through. As much as I wanted to hate her for her treatment of Tray at times, I just couldn’t help but feel for her. Sure some of her methods of survival weren’t exactly orthodox, but I thought that Cari Quinn did a phenomenal job of painting a picture of a truly broken woman with an extra tough shell.

As for Tray? I fell in love with him from the first few pages. He was this perfect combination of a dirty talking badass

and a man that falls for the last woman he would expect to capture his heart.

My lungs seized up and I couldn’t haul in enough oxygen. She surrounded me, drenching me in everything she was…that had somehow become all I wanted.

I was completely enraptured by this story. It wasn’t a light read, though I wouldn’t exactly call it dark. It was somewhere in the middle, but incredibly entertaining.

While Fox gives into his attraction and feelings for Mia, Mia fights her feelings as long as she can. Her past has always paved her future, and her past was not a light one.

I wore my scars on my body because the internal ones had scabbed over and gone numb. If all I was destined to feel was pain, at least it was mine. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. Stuff like this didn’t happen to girls like me.

I devoured this book from beginning to finish. Cari Quinn throws in some unexpected twists and turns, and all of it packed a hell of a punch. I couldn’t get enough. By the end of the book I was so invested in the couples relationship, I simply didn’t want it to end.

I am absolutely dying for the next book in this series. Mia’s sister and the baddest of the bad boys, Giovanni? I’m practically salivating for it.

If you enjoy MMA books that are different from anything you’ve read lately, emotional, gritty, and STEAMY AS FUCK, I can’t recommend this enough! I know I’m the odd one out within all the mixed reviews, but I really encourage readers to give this a shot. Who knows? You just may love it as much as I did!