CROWN OF LIES
Series: Crown of Lies Duet #1
Genre: Dark Romance
Author: Pepper Winters
Release Date: January 31, 2017
“I met the boy I wanted. But then he vanished and a new man claimed me instead. My father approved, my colleagues congratulated, and behind closed doors, I was bedded by a stranger.”
Noelle Charlston lived a fairy-tale life: a doting father, a powerful job, and a future blessed with financial security.
However, two meetings with two men changed her happy existence forever. First, she met the boy who made her heart sing. Second, she met the man who made her blood quiver.
Noelle’s freedom was no longer hers. It belonged to the man her father believed was the perfect match. The man who pulled his lies over everyone he touched.
Including her.Seduced and manipulated, Noelle lives two lives. The one everyone sees on the outside and the one no one sees on the inside. The lies he spins, the truth he hides, the mystery he webs—it’s all enough to slowly erode the woman she’d been and turn her into something else.
Until her past collides with her present.
And it’s her turn to lie.
To everyone…including herself.
Thieves can become saints. Saints can become thieves. Most of us deserve a second chance.
Without fail, this woman’s writing managed to blow me away once again. Lies wrapped in truth. Truths wrapped in thinly veiled threats. A mysterious draw wrapped in animal magnetism. This book completely owned me. It hypnotized. It enraptured. It was pure literary magic, weaving a story so spellbinding, it was impossible to put down.
It could be said that Noelle Charlston lives a charmed life. Growing up in luxury and set to inherit a retail empire, she wants for almost nothing…except a taste of normalcy. The youngest CEO in the history of the company, she may be rich, but she’s not a stranger to hard work. She barely leaves her office and her work is all she knows and all she does. Yearning for just a few hours of normal, she makes a decision that irrevocably changes the course of her life.
Now three years have passed since that fateful night that she’ll never forget. She’s a little older, a lot wiser, and even more disillusioned. Given up on love and finding a man that will want her for more than her money and empire, she’s lost herself in her work…until a man demands her attention in a way that’s impossible to ignore.
This man is pure animal magnetism wrapped in alluring confidence. He’s not used to hearing no and he won’t take it for an answer. The sparks fly between them; a mix of antagonism and undeniable chemistry. A hate lust so strong, it practically burns through the pages.
He wants to own her. She’s her own woman. He’s determined to break her. She knows no man ever will. He’s determined to mark her. She refuses to let him close enough. What takes place is a back and forth that’s so delicious, it was enrage you as much as it will captivate you.
The story is flawlessly written in Pepper’s signature fluid and lyrical style. It kept me glued to the pages from beginning to end, completely incapable of putting it down. I read this in one sitting while trying to savor every word because I didn’t want it to end.
This is book one in a duet, and I’m already vibrating to get my hands on the conclusion. If you’re a fan of this author, this book is not to be missed.
The conclusion, THRONE OF TRUTH, is releasing on February 28
RAW DEAL
Do you see that pathetic pile of emotional goo sitting there on the couch with her box of tissues and sniffling into her Ben & Jerry’s? Ignore her. She’s still trying to calm her tits after having her heart put through an emotional wringer that was this book. No really. She normally doesn’t cry through almost an entire book, and she definitely doesn’t refer to herself in the third person. So you know when all of this does happen, it’s definitely an unforgettable 5 star read. I’m talking have your tissues ready and prepare to have your hearts squeezed in a vice sort of read.
Mike is a man wrecked by guilt and sorrow. He’s had a hard life, but nothing has been harder than living with the knowledge that it was his hit that cost a man’s life. He knows that falling for the guy’s sister is wrong, but he can’t stay away from her.
Savannah is woman that struggles with her own guilt. She knows her family and her sister in law will never accept her relationship, but she also sees a side of Mike that she knows not many have. The sweet and caring side. The side that will move mountains for the people he loves. A man that will do everything and anything at the drop of a hat just to be there for her and to make her smile.
VICIOUS
It’s official. L.J. Shen is a witch. How else could the woman possibly crawl inside my mind and create a story that seriously felt custom written for me?
The Four HotHoles rule All Saints High. All the guys want to hang out with them and all the girls want to sleep with them. It doesn’t matter that women are more disposable to them than a pair of socks, they’ll gladly give up their dignity for a night…or a few hours in their bed. Vicious is the most brutal of the four. He’s a coldblooded asshole that practice bubbles over with barely surprised rage. And the target for the brunt of his anger is Emilia, his classmate and daughter of the hired help living at his father’s mansion.
Now if you’re an angst lover like me, you will gobble up everything about this book and be left begging for more. The sexual tension between Vicious and Emilia crackles with electricity. I loved that added burn of hate lust between them. The woman definitely gave him a run for his money and for all his thinly veiled insults that he throws her way, you can see just how much he craves her underneath it all.
L.J. Shen resides in sunny California with her husband, son, chubby cat and wild, wild dreams.
ON BROKEN WINGS
Do you know that feeling when you meet a secondary character in a series that steals your attention from the second he appears on the pages? That was Alex “Easy” Rogers for this girl. Now it’s no secret that I have a weak spot for the unrepentant manwhores, but there was also something much more to Easy. He was the goofball of the group, the easy going one always quick with the jokes and a smile, but you knew that beneath that is the heart of a man much more complex that he first appears. I’ve been slowly dying in my wait for his book since first meeting him in 
If you’re expecting your typical manwhore hero, think again. Alex is such a complex character. His jokes and smile a facade to the deep feelings he hides, but his love for his fallen friend and brother in arms is his worst kept secret. Alex has been in love with Dani Peterson since he first laid eyes on her… as the loving wife of his best friend. Dani has been an unreachable and unattainable dream for him, so he drowned himself in easy and forgettable women, but nothing erased his feelings.
On Broken Wings was a poignant and beautiful romance packed with emotion and meaning. It was full of swoons and steam. There was no clutter to take away from what Dani and Alex go through on their way to their HEA and I loved it. I loved every second of it. I loved every page of it. I. Just. Loved. It.
VICIOUS
THE PAWN
Avery has grown up with everything she could ever ask for. After a terrible scandal with her father’s company, she and her father are left with close to nothing. In order to do anything she can to save her house and care for her father, Avery goes to the one man who might give her a loan. Little does she know that she will meet the man who ruined her father and give her a proposal that she cannot refuse in order to save her house and her father’s life.
GABRIEL. That’s it. Just his name sends shivers down my body. Gabriel is mine. Seriously. Back up, ladies! I know Lana wants to claim him, but NOPE! I refuse. He is ALL MINE, whore! He is a Grade A – Ass….Hole. My kinda man. He treats Avery with nothing less than disdain. She is the daughter of the man that cheated him, and he is willing to put her through hell and humiliation to get his pleasure. I loved the glimpses of compassion in his character, but he inevitably shows his true colors and is true to his inner asshole.
SOMEONE LIKE YOU
If you’re anything like me, then you’ve been both eagerly anticipating and dreading Lincoln’s book. Anticipating it because you love those irreverent playboys, and dreading because you’re afraid that you’ve been building up your expectations in anticipation. Lincoln’s story was the one I’ve been waiting for since 
Daisy is Emma’s (from 
What you see is not at all what you get with him and soon the pieces begin to click together towards the heartrending secret that he keeps. My heart went through a ringer with him. It’s impossible not to fall for him, not to feel his pain, not to want to soothe and heal him. In between the easy friendship that Lincoln and Daisy instantly develop, there was such a deep emotion interspersed with a hidden craving. God. GOD but I loved these two together.
Someone Like You was an incredibly powerful, poignant and emotional romance. It was a story of second chances and healing. It was a stunning story of finding your strength again and moving on. It’s a story of courage and love. It was absolute perfection and reminded me all over again why I first fell in love with Lauren Layne’s writing. The woman can make you feel, laugh, and love all in 228 wonderful pages. If you’ve enjoyed the rest of the Stiletto and Oxford series and you’ve been anticipating Lincoln’s story as much as I have, this is a must read. But have a box of tissues ready, because you won’t come out of it unscathed. Be ready to shed some tears and swoon over the perfect imperfection that is Lincoln Mathis.
THE PAWN
This was easily my favorite by this author to date. Gripping. Captivating. Magnetic. Dark. Erotic. It was EVERYTHING I love about a dark romance. It’s not gratuitous violence and scenes thrown in for pure shock value. It’s a mind fuck. An incredibly written, twisty, and delicious mind fuck that I couldn’t put down from beginning to finish; with a heroine you’ll want to root for, and an anti-hero that you’ll want to hate only slightly more than you love him.
Growing up in privilege and money, Avery had an enchanted life. She idolized her father, she looked forward to her future and starting college, she had a doting boyfriend that she suspected only wanted her for his status, she had little worries aside from questioning her relationship…until it all crashed down on her…
If you’re a fan of this author, and you love a well written dark romance, this is one book that you do NOT want to miss. I may go crazy in my wait for the conclusion, but I don’t regret a moment of it because I have the best book high after finishing this. All of the stars!
MISCHIEF AND THE MASTERS
This series is by far one of my top favorite BDSM series out there. Cherise Sinclair has this knack for writing provocative mixed with emotional and gripping. Her romance is so far beyond simple eroticism and sex with BDSM. Her characters are multi-layered with so much depth that after 12 books in this phenomenal series, each time I pick up a new book it’s like coming home. These characters have become like friends to me. And even though you get a different couple in each book, you get to know each individual character well before. Enough so, that you yearn for the HEA and eager to get to the bottom of their secrets. This was exactly the case for me with Uzuri.
FANGIRL
Cath is starting college, wanting to be a writer. She is already huge in the fanfiction world, but she is excited about expanding her writing world. She faces many new relationships and situations, like new college students do. Of course, it doesn’t help that she has social anxiety and is a writing hermit. At one point, she literally has no idea where to find the dining hall and refuses to try to find it (Bwahahaha!). There is so much of ME in Cather!!! There were so many moments in this book when I just stopped and had to breathe because they writing would actually take my breath from me. I could feel myself in this book and in these characters.
Cath & Levi. I loved these two so much. Levi is Cath’s roommate’s ex-boyfriend, but he hangs out in Cath’s room a lot because he needs help from her roommate to study. He has issues with reading and comprehension, so he usually listens to the lectures. The bond between Cath & Levi will have every reader swooning to no end. Cath ends up reading to Levi, and the cuddling…….THE CUDDLING!!!!! Gah! The AWKWARD. The CHARM. The entire LAUNDRY BASKET SCENE.
This book brought out my fascination for writers. Many people have asked me why I don’t write books since I read so much. Honestly, I have never understood this question. In my head, they are completely different and not related. And my simple answer is that I would be a terrible writer. I have a horrible vocabulary. My brain operates too logically and not creatively enough. Some of my favorite writers have talked about how they have these people talking to them in their heads, and they have to get them out, so they bring them to life on the page. THIS is FASCINATING to me. And I just…..I want to live in their brains. This book is fanfiction brought to life. Fanfiction is this generation’s new way of writing and reading, and this author made it known in this book. I’ve never read fanfiction, but I’ve known about it ever since I became a true reader 8 years ago (I know, only 8 years?! I was wasting my reading on education. Pft!). The Harry Potter parallels killed me. I loved all of the references. I really believe this book is a piece of literature, and the Rainbow Rowell brought this literature to the surface of a young adult romance.
