ARC Review: Down on Her Knees by Christine Bell

Four lessons, no strings…

Detective Rafe Davenport has always made Courtney DeLollis uneasy. While her instincts whisper, Touch him, her mind says, Run. But since she learned that he’s dominant in the bedroom, she hasn’t been able to forget about it. She should be appalled—she knows all too well what happens when a man has too much control—but a deeper, darker part of her is fascinated…

And so is Rafe. The sexual tension between them is thick enough to touch, and damn, does he want to touch. So he suggests something that will benefit them both. Four scenes—because anything more is a relationship, and Rafe won’t go there ever again. Each scenario is designed to tease and torment. To show Courtney that with every submission comes the reward of scintillating pleasure. But once he has Courtney down on her knees, Rafe realizes that she might be the one woman capable of bringing him to his…

5 Spank me, cuff me, kinky stars
Tell me you’re in, Court. I dare you. 
What rock have I been living under that I’m only discovering this series and this author now? No really? I’m kicking my own ass at the moment for not finding it sooner. Of course I’d much rather have Rafe spank me for being such a naughty girl, but that’s what my fantastic imagination is for. What?
I happen to have a type. And the kinky dirty talkers do it for me every single time. 
I was a little hesitant to read this when I saw that Rafe has a kinky dominant side since my last couple of Brazen reads that had attempted to write this genre, failed quite badly in my eyes. I’m so happy that Christine Bell not only met my high hopes for this book, she blew them completely out of the water, all the while doing the BDSM genre right. I devoured this book! Set aside a few hours, because this is a book you’ll want to read in one sitting. Once you get the utter deliciousness that is Rafe, you will not want to put it down and never want it to end.
The last thing Courtney DeLollis is to lose herself in another man. She’s not looking for a relationship and she certainly doesn’t want anything to do with the super sexy Detective that she can’t seem to stop thinking about lately. Every since she found out his “preferences”, Courtney can’t seem to get Rafe off of her mind. They’re last conversation is not one she’d soon forget.
Rafe knows what he wants, and he’s not shy about making it know. He’s not looking for any entanglements and he’s certainly not looking for anything as complicated as a relationship. Not with his past. And even though Courtney is extremely vocal about wanting nothing to do with him, he senses her true nature. He wants her.

Maybe it was because his nature wouldn’t allow him to leave a gauntlet unretrieved on the ground between them. Maybe it was because he knew he had the key to unlocking something that had clearly bee trapped in her for so long. Hell, maybe it was because she was so fucking beautiful and the thought of her on her knees in front of him, begging for more of whatever he had to give, made his cock hard enough to cut glass. Whatever the case, he sure as hell couldn’t bring himself to walk away.

And ladies, let me tell you, when Rafe sets his mind on seduction….holy panty change batman! The man does not disappoint.

Courtney may not want to get wrapped up in another domineering man, but she knows her attraction to Rafe is just too strong to walk away from. So when he offers her a way to slake their lust without any entanglements, how can she say no? The proposition? 4 scenes. No more, no less. No feelings, no complications.

And oh my god! When the scenes start? Sweet baby jebus! This book had by far one of the hottest cop fantasies I have ever read. Seriously. Underwear change required scene. So hot it might melt you on the spot scene. I guess what I’m trying to say here is it was HOT AS FUCK!

Prepare yourself to meet your ultimate Brazen dirty talking Dom.

Rafe won my pervy little heart over from the very first chapter. I just couldn’t get enough of him. Courtney was a great heroine as well. I appreciated that Christine Bell wrote a heroine that was hurt in the past, but didn’t let it color her future for long. Rafe’s past also broke my heart. I completely understood his hesitancy in falling in love again. He fought it as long as he could, but when he finally fell? Oh lordy. Nothing hotter than a man that knows how to give a good grovel.
So if you enjoy dirty talking Dom heroes, sassy heroines that give as good as they get, hot as hell sex, a great story, and some kink in your books? This is a must read! Christine Bell is an auto buy author for me as of this book, and I can’t wait for more from her. I also plan to rectify my stupidity and going back to read the rest of the books in this series. If they were anywhere near as hot as this one, I have been really missing out.

Review: Rough Canvas by Joey W. Hill

 

When his father dies, Thomas is forced to abandon a burgeoning art career in New York. As difficult as it was to give up his lifelong dream, it’s nothing next to walking away from the man he loves.

Marcus taught him to embrace who he is, a sexual submissive who responds to the touch of only one Master.

But why would the sophisticated Marcus need some farm kid from the South?

Then Marcus shows up and offers him a way to continue his art career and help his family.

There’s only one hitch-he asks Thomas to spend a week with him in the Berkshires. Thomas knows he should refuse.

But he’s never been able to say no to his Master.

 
 
 
No matter what happens, I can tell you this. I will always love you. No matter what you feel you need to be, where you need to go, I’ll always know you’re mine. I understand that now.

How do you go about reviewing a book that touched you on such an emotional level, you’re still trying to work through it?

Captivating
Riveting
Emotional
Erotic
Beautiful

Hands down one of THE best MM Romances I have had the pleasure of reading to date

In a word…

INCREDIBLE

Having read a few books by Joey Hill in the past, I knew going into this to expect a book that was as intense as it was well written. What I truly was not expecting was the range of emotions that this story would bring out in me.

Joey took 2 characters and painted an emotionally gripping story that will keep you reading from beginning to end completely unable to set it down.

I fell in love with Marcus in Holding The Cards. I couldn’t get enough of him; the dry wit, the potent sexuality, everything about him…just GAH

Thomas was by far one of the most endearing characters I’ve read. The way that he came off both strong and vulnerable is no small feat for an author to show.

I’m in complete awe of this book. No amount of words from me will ever do it justice. I can sit here and regurgitate the plot for you, but I won’t. I can sit here and attempt to write a lengthy review that this book deserves, but I won’t. Because this is a book that you need to experience for yourself to even begin to come close to understand why I felt about it the way that I did.

When I’ve come inside you, lain on you, felt you tremble, felt that silence between us that has everything…you don’t think God is there? If there is a God, I’ve felt It then, and I know you have too.

I was a highlight slut through the whole book. There is not one chapter that I didn’t highlight in this book. Not.A.One.

I knew that when I finally got Marcus’s full past it would break my heart. And my GOD. It did and then some. I was an emotional, hysterically sobbing mess for a large part of the book (mainly the last 15%).

Sometimes when you lose everything, the last thing you want to do is remember. And telling is remembering.

This is no light read, and it’s certainly not for the faint of heart or those never having read BDSM before. What it is, is a poignant, emotional, brilliantly written love story between 2 people that that are broken in their own way but learn to heal one another. Just beautiful.

All I can tell you is read it, read it, READ it.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to deal with what will most likely be a book hangover from hell after finishing this. And I thank you

Blog Tour & Giveaway: Deeper by Robin York

In this New Adult debut by Robin York, a college student is attacked online and must restore her name—and stay clear of a guy who’s wrong for her, but feels so right.
 
When Caroline Piasecki’s ex-boyfriend posts their sex pictures on the Internet, it destroys her reputation as a nice college girl. Suddenly her once-promising future doesn’t look so bright. Caroline tries to make the pictures disappear, hoping time will bury her shame. Then a guy she barely knows rises to her defense and punches her ex to the ground.
 
West Leavitt is the last person Caroline needs in her life. Everyone knows he’s shady. Still, Caroline is drawn to his confidence and swagger—even after promising her dad she’ll keep her distance. On late, sleepless nights, Caroline starts wandering into the bakery where West works.
 
They hang out, they talk, they listen. Though Caroline and West tell each other they’re “just friends,” their feelings intensify until it becomes impossible to pretend. The more complicated her relationship with West gets, the harder Caroline has to struggle to discover what she wants for herself—and the easier it becomes to find the courage she needs to fight back against the people who would judge her.
 
When all seems lost, sometimes the only place to go is deeper.

Advance praise for DEEPER:
 
“The perfect new adult story . . . West will make you swoon!”New York Times bestselling author Monica Murphy
 
“Beautifully written and full of swoony tender moments, toe-curling chemistry, and delicious, twisty angst . . . Stop whatever you’re doing and read this book.”—Christina Lauren, author of the Beautiful Bastard series

Review

5 Deep Stars
I want you, and I don’t know how to stop wanting you. I want to get deep inside you, and then deeper, until I’m so deep I don’t even know what’s me anymore and what’s you.

I have been on a long and well deserved hiatus from the NA genre. While there’s been a handful of NA books that I had absolutely loved, recently most NA books I’ve read had been filled with overdone drama, unnecessary angst, and a giant headache at the end of it for me. But when I saw that Ruthie Knox plans on releasing a NA novel under the pen name of Robin York, I didn’t even bother reading the synopsis. I jumped on the chance to read this. And you know what?

Caroline Piasecki is a good girl. She has her life organized, planned…ordinary. Until the day that everything changes, when her plain and ordinary life gets shattered all with one click on the internet. She knew she shouldn’t have let her boyfriend take those intimate pictures, but she loved him, she trusted him. The last thing she expects when she breaks up with him is for those very pictures to appear on the internet.

How does a young woman in college with her entire life ahead of her deal with this incredible breach of trust and intimacy? She becomes a shell of herself. How can you even sleep when all you hear when you close your eyes are the vulgar words of all the strange men that have seen you at your most vulnerable?

West Leavitt is a bad boy. He’s not afraid to throw a punch, he deals weed, and his past and family are not exactly picture card perfect. But yet something draws these two broken people together. Although they each have every reason to stay away from each other, they find that they’re the only ones that bring comfort to one another. But what happens when something you want is not something you need or can have?

This book is slow paced, and it might be off putting to some. I for one devoured every word. I absolutely adored the writing style and the fact that it was written in dual POVs

You know when you pick up a book and start reading, and all of a sudden the words blur on the page and simply become a film that is continuously streaming through your mind? Well Deeper was that book for me.
I was sitting in pervy anticipation waiting, just waiting until that moment when West and Caroline will finally give into the sexual tension current that ran between them.

Robin York wrote a poignant, emotional, and incredible story about 2 broken characters. In 400 pages she took them through an emotional, yet entirely relatable journey. I loved watching Caroline grow stronger and stronger and finally come into her own at the very end. You can’t help but cheer for her. She’s just one of those characters that is perfectly imperfect.

West. Now what can I tell you about West? I fell head over heels in love with him in a manner of one chapter. my heart broke for him with every new details of his past being revealed. He was this perfect combination of vulnerable and strong.

As for the ending…
I’m not a fan of unnecessarily drawn out series. As a matter of fact I hate them. And at first I thought to myself 400 pages and no HEA? Yea

But then the more I read, the more I could tell that I simply couldn’t evision it ending any other way for now. It’s not a cliffy cliffy, per say. Let’s say that even for a cliffy avoider like me, I am not going crazy after reading it. What I am, is anticipating the next book like crazy. I can’t wait to see the conclusion for West and Caroline’s story (And dare I hope for Krishna and Bridget next?)

About the Author

Robin York grew up at a college, went to college, signed on for some more college, and then married a university professor. She still isn’t sure why it didn’t occur to her to write New Adult sooner. Writing as Ruthie Knox, she is a USA TODAY bestselling author of contemporary romance, including RITA-finalists About Last Night and Room at the Inn. She moonlights as a mother, makes killer salted caramels, and sorts out thorny plot problems while running, hiking, or riding her bike.
Author’s Social Links

Giveaway

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ARC Review: Fighting for Irish by Gina L. Maxwell

Kat MacGregor has forty-eight hours to make good on the debt her ex-boyfriend owes a crime boss. Unfortunately, the measly tips she makes waitressing are barely enough for her to live on, much less cover the twenty-thousand needed to keep her breathing. With time running out, Kat ‘s forced to accept help from the only man who’s ever made her feel fire rather than fear.

When he learns a friend’s sister is in trouble, former Boston MMA fighter Aiden “Irish” O’Brien heads to Louisiana to offer himself up as collateral to keep her safe. But to satisfy the debt, he has to do the one thing he swore he’d never do again: fight. With more than just money on the line, will Irish have what it takes to not only reclaim the man he once was, but become the man he needs to be for the woman he can’t live without?
Amazon I B&N I Kobo I iTunes
You with me, Kitten?
Whoa. Gina L. Maxwell just continues to prove one thing; the woman can write. I went into this expecting a typical Brazen read. You know what I’m talking about. It’s a whole lot of steamy, a little fluffy, entertaining read with some dirty talk thrown into the mix. Is that what I got with this book? Not even close. Don’t get me wrong, it was still steamy and entertaining with some delicious dirty talk thrown into the mix. But it was certainly not fluffy. Not even a little bit. This was an emotional and gritty book about two broken souls learning to move past the shadows of their pasts and helping each other heal.
If you’ve read the rest of the books in this series and are familiar with Gina’s writing, don’t be surprised when you find this much different then the rest of the books. I struggled a bit with my rating, since it was not exactly what I was expecting…and I wasn’t quite ready for the caliber of emotions and the heavy subject matter it covers. But truthfully, after giving it much thought, I simply couldn’t rate anything less than the 5 stars this book most definitely deserves.
While this book can be read as a standalone, I would highly recommend reading Rules of Entanglement before this; and not only because it was an amazing book. Kat is the younger sister of Vanessa, the heroine from RoE. There are some things mentioned that I think will have understand Kat more from the beginning.
Kat MacGreggor is on the run. When her ex-boyfriend lands in jail, Kat realize that his debt to a major crime boss has now become her own. It only takes one beating within an inch of her life to realize that they mean business. So she changes her name and tries to make a living in a different town as a waitress. But before long her trouble catches up with her, and she realizes that there just may not be an escape.
Aiden “Irish” O’Brien knows that he owes his friend Jax a big debt. So when he hears that Jax’s fiance has a sister that’s in trouble, he doesn’t take long to think before he leaves Boston for Tenesse in order to keep her safe. But Kat isn’t quite what he expected and he’s not prepared when being around her bring the demons from his past back up.
Kat has her own demons. And when the alluring “Irish” offers to help her with her problems, it’s almost too good to be true. There just has to be a catch. She doesn’t exactly have the best history when it comes to men.
Reading about everything that she’s been through was not an easy feat. It was devastating. Even though I had a pretty good idea based on hints from the previous book, as well as the few things that are hinted at in this one, I wasn’t prepared for the full disclosure of it. My heart broke for her.
But even with everything that’s she’s been through, she was a very strong and endearing heroine. She struggles with her past, but she’s trying not to let it taint her future.
Now Aiden. My darling Aiden. He just made the book for him.
It’s really no secret that I’m easy. Now don’t be judgy here, I don’t mean like that. What I mean is, I read motorcycle riding, tatted, and pierced and I WAS SOLD. I ask you, what else could a girl want? Now make him understanding, protective, sweet, and a dirty talker…and I am on cloud 9. Irish was pure tatted perfection. I think my heart just about melted every single time he called Kat kitten. And then when he would always ask her, “Are you with me, kitten?”
The first half of this book was an exercise in patience and a major case of blue ovaries. The sexual tension just kept mounting and mounting until it was almost unbearable. But don’t fret, because the wait is certainly worth it.
I adored the way that Irish was with Kat; the way he helps deal with her demons and fears was beautiful to read.
He was equal parts sweet and a little dirty. Just the way I like them. This book had everything; great MCs, action, suspense, steam, and a beautiful love story about two people learning to heal the wounds of their past together. I loved it.
The one thing I was afraid of was the revelation of Aiden’s secret. He harbors so much guilt from an event from his past that it effects every relationship he has, even the one with Kat. I can’t tell you how many books I’ve read that have all this build to this big dark secret, only to come to a very anti-climatic and simple revelations. I was very worried that this might be the case here. I’m so glad to say that it wasn’t. When the full event was disclosed I could definitely understand why Aiden felt the guilt that he did. It just made me fall for him even more.
The second half of the book was much quicker paced and filled with a lot of action. After the 80% mark I simply couldn’t set it down, I just had to know what happens.
And the ending? PERFECTION
 
If you enjoy steamy books with two broken but extremely endearing MCs, action, suspense, and a great romance to top it off, then this is a must read. A fantastic addition to the Fighting For Love series, and I for one can’t wait for the next book. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Xander, the sexy womanizing Brit.

Blog Tour & Giveaway: Beck by Harper Sloan

  

**Warning** This book is intended for a mature reading**

~DEE~

I’ve always been good at wearing masks. Not letting anyone see the real me. I’m content being the happy-go-lucky best friend. The strong willed boss. The independent woman who doesn’t need a man.

But the truth is I’m just as broken as the rest of you. I’m terrified that all it will take is one person to make all my carefully constructed walls crumble into fine dust. So I guard my heart with everything I have. Determined to never let anyone get close enough to hurt me again.

All is perfect until HE walks into my life. No… he doesn’t just walk. He struts his good-looking, sex-oozing self-right into my space and demands that I see HIM. Making me want what I know I can’t have.

So I did the only thing I know how to do.
I run.

But he just won’t let me go.

~BECK~

The second I see her, I know she will be mine. I see past the gorgeous smiles and heart-stopping laughter. I see HER. She doesn’t want me to know her secrets or the past that haunts her, but I make it my mission to find out.

To make her mine.

She can run all she wants, but it will never be far enough to stop me from coming after her.

She’s it for me and she knows it.

She’s just too scared to admit it.

**NO cliffhanger, HEA, inter-connected standalones**

5 Stars

Just because you let someone in doesn’t men you have to stop protecting yourself. It just means you have someone to share the job with.

It took me a while after finishing this book to write my review. Why, you ask? Because I truly wasn’t sure how to put into words what I just experienced without giving anything away. While I really enjoyed the first 2 books, it is quite obvious that Harper Sloan has truly come into her own with this one. This book is really in a class of it’s own.
I wasn’t sure if I’d enjoy this one considering I wasn’t exactly Dee’s biggest fan. Her constant back and forth with Beck was not appealing to me in the least. And I expected this book to be a whole lot of angst and emotional games from Dee and Beck. Well, my friends, I’m sure that Harper is sitting back and thinking

Because I am well and truly eating my words. This book was nothing what I expected. It was so so SO much more. Emotionally charged, gut wrenching, erotic, beautiful; those are just some of the words that come to mind.

I did not anticipate liking Dee. The first 30% of this book I was almost ready to reach through my kindle and throttle her. She had the perfect man that loved her, and what does she do? Push him away. Constantly. I was expecting a whole book filled with this, and I was ready to scream. But then everything took a dramatic turn. More and more details about Dee’s past would come to light and I found myself understanding her more and more, and dare I say even liking her.

Expecting a two dimensional and shallow character, Dee really caught me by surprise. Her scars run deep, and painful would be an understatement to describe my reaction in finding them out. I found myself tearing up at every turn. She turned out to be so much more. Harper Sloan managed to take a character and write her with such an incredibly emotional punch, it truly caught me off guard. I loved it.
Now as for Beck, I can’t even begin to describe all the ways that was the perfection of him. I adored him. I was not expecting him to be as amazing as he was. But boy, was he.

The man was total perfection. He was understanding, sweet, and deliciously possessive.

And don’t even get me started on his other appealing features.

He was a beast in the sack. I’m talking furniture breaking, clothes ripping, never ending orgasms BEAST. GAH! Perfection!
So there I am, devouring and enjoying the hell out of this book when BAM! The 86% mark happened.

Holy fucking shit! I was flabbergasted. I was ruined. Shocked. Gutted.

Without giving anything away, I will tell you this. That was the absolute LAST thing I was expecting. It caught me completely unawares. I have never cried so much during a book before. I was a slobbering emotional mess.
So, to say it all in a gif, this book

Unforgettable. Any book that brings out the range of emotions that this book brought out in me deserves nothing less of 5 incredible stars.
Fans of the Corps series will love this one. And even if you did not enjoy the first 2 books, this one is a must read. It is in a grade of its own. I’m still getting over it.

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

Buy Links

About The Author

Harper lives in small town Georgia just a short drive from her hometown of Peachtree City. She (and her 3 daughters) enjoy ruling the house they dubbed ‘Estrogen Ocean’, much to her husband’s chagrin. Harper has a borderline unhealthy obsession with books; you can almost ALWAYS find her with her ereader attached. As an ex-reviewer and blogger, Harper’s passion for reading runs deep. It wasn’t until ‘Axel’ decided to take up residence that she realized her true calling.

She started using writing as a way to unwind when the house went to sleep at night; and with a house full of crazy it was the perfect way to just relax. It didn’t take long before a head full of very demanding alphas would stop at nothing to have their story told.

Author’s Social Links
Instagram: @harper_sloan

Giveaway

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Review: Reaver by Larissa Ione

 

WARRIOR OF HEAVEN

Reaver is an angel with a past, a record, and a less-than-heavenly attitude. Powerful enough to fight alongside the fiercest battle angels-and crazy enough to risk his wings on a one-way mission to hell-he’s agreed to go where no angel has ever gone before…to steal the most seductive and dangerous prize of Satan himself.

ANGEL OF HELL

Harvester is one of the Fallen, a once-heroic angel who sacrificed her wings to work as an undercover agent in hell. But now her cover has been blown, and she’s been doomed to an eternity of agonizing torture. Even if Reaver can snatch her away from Satan’s lair, even if they can fight their way out of the underworld’s darkest depths, there is one thing Harvester can never escape-her newfound thirst for an angel’s blood…


Their relationship had been five thousand years in the making, and he wasn’t about to let it go, now or later.


Their relationship had been five thousand years in the making, and he wasn’t about to let it go, now or later.


He’d hated her for so long, desired her at the same time, and it was time to stop the game of Ping-Pong they were both playing with their emotions.

Oh.My.GOD!

Now that, my friends, is how you write a scorching hot PNR book.

I have been waiting for this book since we first met both Reaver and Harvester. Which each new LoD book I got more and more interested in their story. Then after the way the last book ended, I was pretty sure I would die if I didn’t get my greedy little hands on this book and soon. So let’s just say when this finally went live on Amazon
I was a tiny bit excited.

Although the LoD series wasn’t a favorite of mine by Ione, I still thoroughly enjoyed each book. I love getting more of the Sem brothers and the rest of the old and new amazing side characters that are always present in her books. But let me just say that this book blew the entire series out of the water. I LOVED IT.

The one thing that I truly love about Ione’s books is her side characters never take away from the main story, they merely make it that much better. And that is no small feat.

She is also the queen of building some of the most combustible sexual tension between the H/h.

I don’t think there was one thing about this book that I didn’t love. Non-stop action, incredible world building, scorching hot chemistry, so many twists and turns your head will spin, and a story that sucks you in from the first page are just a few of the things you can expect here.

I don’t want to give anything away, so that is all you’ll be getting from me. If you have not read the rest of the books in this series, I strongly recommend reading them before this one. While Larissa does a great job retelling their story through the series without being redundant, I think it will just not be the same without the other books.

My absolute favorite in the series.

Then there was the set up for the next book. Holeeee shit. Are you kidding me? Now to have to wait until late winter of 2014 for it? I think I just died inside. But damn! I can’t wait.

This is a book that is not to be missed. Fans of Larissa Ione will be reminded exactly why they are such big fans. And if you haven’t read this author yet, I suggest you get click happy.

Just awesome!

Review: Sweet Revenge by Rebecca Zanetti

The One Man She Can’t Have

Matt Dean was born to fight…and kill. A member of a secret black-ops military unit, he and his brothers were genetically engineered by the government to be the perfect soldiers with an expiration date. Now, with time running out, he’s gone rogue in a relentless quest for the one person who can save them. His mission leads him to Charmed, Idaho…and to a beautiful woman with eyes like emeralds and a body made for pleasure.

The One Woman He Can’t Resist

Laney Jacobs knows the mysterious, handsome stranger is trouble from the moment he walks into her bar, looking for a job. She’s spent years running from her own past—the last thing she needs is a romantic entanglement. But Matt’s strong arms offer her protection, and his gentle touch promises passion unlike anything she’s ever known. As lethal forces surround them, revealing explosive secrets about Matt’s past and putting everything—and everyone—he holds dear in danger, can he save them all before time runs out?

Review-DGR5 stars

The man was as wounded as a man could be and as temporary as a storm. He wasn’t a guy that stuck around.

Well hot damn! How am I only discovering the awesome that is this author now? What a thrill ride. I’m a huge fan of a good romantic suspense, and this book had it all; action, suspense, and enough steam to set your ovaries on fire. Not to mention a captivating and enthralling story. I may have done things a bit backwards and read this without reading book 1 first, but it did not diminish my enjoyment of it even a little bit. But I do now plan to go back and read the first book and I’m sitting on pins and needles in anticipation of the 3rd book.

Matt Dean is a man on the run, he’s also a man on a mission. After escaping the facility where he and his brothers were genetically engineered and raised to be the perfect soldiers and killers, his mission brings him to Charmed, Idaho. Knowing that his time is running out with a deadly chip that was surgically implanted in his spine, he’s determined to find the doctor responsible and save himself and his brothers.

Arriving in Charmed he lands a job at a local bar. But the one thing he doesn’t expect is his fiery attraction to the bar’s owner, Laney Jacobs. Laney is running from her own past demons and the last thing she needs is the distraction of her attraction to the sexy soldier. As secrets become unraveled, can Laney and Matt survive long enough to save each other?

If you like super sexy commando alpha men, you need to read this book. Lord but Matt made me swoon. From the very first I knew he would be a hero that I’d be lusting after, and boy but he did not disappoint.


You don’t want to hit me.”
“Why not?”
For the first time, he let his mask slip so she could see the predator the government created. “The second you make contact, I’ll have you on that bar, held tight, my cock pressed between your legs, my lips on yours until you beg for more. Even fully clothed, I may make you come- and I won’t care who’s watching.

I ask you, what woman in her right mind can resist sweet talk like that? Not this one, that’s for damn sure. And Laney was no exception.
I loved Laney’s character. She was strong, yet in a somewhat understated way. She fought for what she thought was right, and I really enjoyed the way she cared for Matt.

This book was such a thrill ride, filled with twists and turns that I never saw coming. Throw in a crazy serial killer into the mix, and you have the recipe for one amazing action filled ride.

The romance between Laney and Matt went from a slow burn to an inferno in no time flat.

The one thing I really enjoyed was the the romance never overshadowed the story, but yet it was the perfect icing on the cake. And let me tell you IT.WAS.HOT. Steaming. Scorching. Wowza! Rebecca Zanetti can write one hell of a love scene. This girl was certainly not left disappointed, but begging for more of the Dean brothers.

Matt was protective, sexy, broody, everything I love in a hero. Laney was a fantastic heroine as well. There was not one part I didn’t like. My only complaint is that it was over and I wanted more. And that teaser into Nathan’s book, I CANNOT WAIT! It looks to be the best one yet.

If you love action packed and super steamy romantic suspense, do not pass this book up. This is definitely going on my auto-buy series list.

Blog Tour & Giveaway: Otherwise Unharmed by Shay Savage

Title: Otherwise Unharmed (Evan Arden Trilogy #3)
Author: Shay Savage
Genre: Romance/ Crime
Expected Release Date: 12/5/13

Book Synopsis

After Evan Arden was imprisoned by the enemy for a year and a half, he returned from the desert as a military hero. He’d suffered some minor injuries during his captivity, was discharged from the Marines with a touch of shellshock, but was considered otherwise unharmed. Now he wonders how he ended up where he is—incarcerated in Chicago’s Metropolitan Correctional Center for using his sharpshooting expertise to take out the neighborhood park with a high-powered sniper rifle and multiple rounds of ammunition.

Lia Antonio, the woman he rescued from the desert heat the previous year, is the only person who can bring him out of his sleep-deprived psychosis and mounting PTSD. When she does, Evan knows he can’t just let her go again. He’s never considered leaving the business before—who retires from the mafia?—but he’s determined to get both Lia and himself out of harm’s way.

Evan faces overwhelming forces from multiple directions as a deal to get him out of jail turns more dangerous than he imagined. With a mob war on the horizon and the feds holding evidence over his head, Evan has no choice but to throw himself into the middle of another warzone.

In his efforts to make things right, Evan crosses the wrong man and finds himself on the business end of the crosshairs. With his acute perception and intelligence, he tries to stay a step ahead of his former co-workers, but this time, it isn’t just his own life on the line—he’s got to protect Lia from the man who once called him son.

Otherwise Occupied Trailer

Review

5 Mind Blowing Stars
She would keep me sane, and I would keep her safe

One thing that’s running through my mind right now

After I finished this book. I’m ruined. Seriously ruined and feeling a hell of a book hangover coming on. Shay Savage is an incredible story teller, able to write a broken and damaged anti-hero that you can’t help but fall completely in love with. It’s not every day you find an author that is able to write a book entirely in the male POV and do such an amazing job of it. After the way book 2 ended, I couldn’t wait to dive into this one. I devoured it. After the 60% mark, I read it in one sitting.

Otherwise Unharmed was a suspenseful and erotic thriller that will keep you at the edge of your seat with a major case of blue ovary syndrome thrown into the mix. Wow. Just wow.

This book picks up right where Otherwise Occupied left off, with Evan in prison after a manic episode.

How did I get here? I wasn’t stupid. I also wasn’t so far gone to not remember the basics of what happened. After serving my tour of duty as a Marine sniper in the Middle East coupled with eighteen months as a prisoner of war, being exiled to Arizona for screwing up a hit for my mob-boss, spending too much time thinking about the girl I met there, and killing my favorite hooker for betraying me, I’d finally lost it and started shooting up the neighborhood.

Still suffering from nightmares and flashbacks to his time as a POW, his insomnia is at an all time worst. But this time he has something he didn’t before, Lia, the woman that he’s been unable to put out of his thoughts since his short time in Arizona.

Evan knows that he will not be able to walk away from her this time, and will do anything to keep her safe. But what happens when you put a shell-shocked hitman between a rock and a hard place, putting his loyalty to the test?

Miss Savage definitely saved the best for last with this book.
I fell in lust/love with Evan in book 1. This one just solidified exactly why he’s one of my favorite anti-heroes I’ve read to date.

Fucking you just makes me want more though. I’m trying to see if I can make it to round six before I pass out.”
“I’m going to be sore,” she said.
“Does that mean you’ll feel it all day tomorrow—feel it constantly, no matter what you’re doing, and think about my cock inside you every minute you’re awake?”
Lia’s breath quickened, and she stared up at me for a moment before she swallowed hard and nodded her head. “Probably.”
“Good.” I wrapped my hand around my shaft and drilled into her.

Evan had two sides with Lia. There was the erotic ass-man side. Then there was also the incredibly sweet side.

We also got to see the side that he hides beneath the deadly hit man.

There’s so much shit in my head—shit I can’t unsee or undo. Sometimes it feels like there’s something inside of me just…tearing me up inside and waiting to bust its way out. I think maybe…maybe if I could get that out, then maybe the person I was is still underneath.”


I went from having my heart break for him, to feeling like it was going to beat out of my chest with all the twists and turns that took place.

Lia was a great heroine as well. She was the perfect light to Evan’s dark. She had just the right amount of backbone to stand up to him, but also just enough vulnerability to endear you to her.

This book was one amazing and erotic thrill ride. Every time I thought I wrapped my mind around what was going, something else would happen that left me completely speechless. Well, speechless in between bousts of screaming “no no no” at my kindle and wanting to cry. Then there was an event at the end that left me devastated.

As for the ending? It was the perfect way to end the trilogy. It was so fitting, that it just made me love this book even more. I couldn’t see it being written any other way.

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

About the Author

Shay Savage lives in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband, two children, and a variety of household pets. She is an accomplished public speaker, and holds the rank of Distinguished Toastmaster from Toastmasters International. When not writing, she enjoys science fiction movies, and loves soccer in any and all forms. During the fall, she coaches her daughter’s soccer team. Though she currently works in the technology field, her school background is in psychology, and she brings a lot of that knowledge into the characters within her stories.

Author’s Social Links
Website I Facebook I Goodreads I Twitter

Giveaway

Prize: 3 Ebook Sets of the Evan Arden series (4books) 
1 paperback of Otherwise Unharmed 
2 Ebook copies of Surviving Raine

a Rafflecopter giveaway

MaE Book Tours

Review: Isn’t She Lovely by Lauren Layne

The rules are clear—until they’re broken. Lauren Layne puts a New Adult spin on Pygmalion, also the inspiration for Pretty Woman, and gives the classic love story its edgiest twist yet.

“Who knew that pretending you’re not falling for someone would be so much more difficult than pretending that you are?”

Stephanie Kendrick gave up her whole summer to ace her NYU film school screenwriting course, so she’s pissed to be stuck with a preppy, spoiled frat boy as her writing partner. Then again, with her piercings, black-rimmed eyes, and Goth wardrobe, Stephanie isn’t exactly Ethan Price’s type, either. He’s probably got his eye on some leggy blonde with a trust fund… or does he?

As the summer scene kicks off in the Hamptons, Ethan is desperate to make his snobbish mother forget the pedigreed girl who broke his heart. While Stephanie’s a stretch as a decoy, the right makeover and a pastel cardigan just might do the trick. She may not love the idea of playing Ethan’s brainless Barbie girlfriend, but the free rent and luxurious digs make a tempting offer. So does the promise of a ready-made screenplay idea inspired by their charade.

But when Stephanie steps into Ethan’s privileged world, the “acting” begins to feel all too real. The kissing and touching that were intended to fool the Hamptons crowd wind up manipulating “them.” And Stephanie faces a question she’s too afraid to ask: Is Ethan falling for the real her or for the dolled-up princess he wants to see?

5 I found myself a new auto-buy author stars
Who knew that pretending you’re not falling for someone would be so much more difficult than pretending that you are?

That ridiculously happy person in the gif with the permanently goofy smile stuck on her face…that would be me the entire time I was reading this book. You’re probably sitting there thinking, it couldn’t have been that good, right? Well ye of little faith, it was.

Ok, well maybe not quite make me almost pee good. But it was adorable, funny, entertaining, and heart warming.
(See what I did with the gifs there? No?)

This was a fresh new take on Pygmalion, and I adored this book. I was hooked from the first few lines…


In real life? The meet-cute isn’t the least bit cute. It’s more like a meet-awkward. Sometimes even a meet-shoot-me-now.”

In this book you meet Stephanie; a withdrawn, snarky, goth clothes and dark makeup wearing twenty one year old college film student. Stephanie’s main goal right now is to ace her screenwriting class, and she doesn’t need any distractions. But then she literary bumps paths with the ridiculously good looking and preppy rich boy, Ethan. The sparks started flying right away. Nothing I love more than 2 characters that have hate at first sight with an underlying current of sexual tension.


“It’s just that I think you forgot to change out of your country club uniform.”
“Does the surly mood come with the goth outfit? Or do you have to buy it separately?”
“Could you please watch where you’re pointing your teeth? The glare from your caps is hurting my eyes.”


I was in snarky sarcasm heaven with these two.

Stuck working together for a class, can these two really tolerate each other long enough to survive their assignment?

When an opportunity presents itself that can help both Ethan and Stephanie, an ideal screenplay idea forms. Ethan is desperate to make his snobbish mother forget the pedigreed girl who broke his heart. Stephanie needs a place to stay. So why not pretend to be together for the sake of a mutually beneficial set up? And the icing on the cake? The fake relationship is the perfect idea for their screenplay.

But what happens when pretend slowly begins to develop into real feelings?

I loved the depth the author managed to give these characters considering the somewhat fluffy story they were in. Stephanie and Ethan both captured my heart and I couldn’t help myself but completely fall for both them.

This book was like all my favorite movies got together. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me swoon. It was, and forgive the cheesiness factor here, lovely.

If you enjoy the NA genre, you really cannot go wrong with this book. It will put a smile on your face and keep it there the entire time you’re reading it. You will fall in love with both of these characters and the story. I know I did.

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

Buy Links

Review: Sex.Love.Repeat. By Allesandra Torre

Sex. Love. Repeat. by Alessandra Torre

I love two men. I screw two men. I am in a relationship with them both, and they are both aware there is another. That is all they need to know, that is all I let them know. They don’t need to know a name; they don’t need to know anything, but that they are not alone in my heart.

They have accepted the situation. Stewart, because his life is too busy for the sort of obligations that are required in a relationship. Paul, because he loves me too much to tell me no. And because my sexual appetite is such that one man has trouble keeping up.

So we exist, two parallel relationships, each running their own course, with no need for intersection or conflict. It works for us, for them, and for me. I don’t expect it to be a long-term situation. I know there is an expiration date on the easy perfection of our lives.

I should have paid more attention, should have looked around and noticed the woman who watched it all. She sat in the background and waited, tried to figure me out. Saw my two relationships, the love between us, and the moment that it all fell apart.

She hates me.
I don’t even know she exists.
She loves them. I love them.
And they love me.

My Review

5 Unputdownable Stars
The heart is stubborn. It holds onto love despite what sense and emotion tells it. And it is often, in the battle of those three, the most brilliant of all.
So…this book…

Yea, I don’t even know how to do that without giving anything away. But I can tell you this. Think you know what you’re in for after reading that blurb? Well you’re wrong! Because it may be that, but it was also that much more.

I do NOT read love triangles. Like ever. Usually a book with love triangles sends me toward the nearest bottle of wine, wanting to rip my hair out and getting cold sweat flashbacks to Thoughtless. But then I read the blurb for this book, and I thought

Because I just had to read it. Think you’re getting a love triangle here? Well, you are…but you’re not. Confused? You should be! This book needs to be read without any preconceived notions. Do not read reviews or spoilers, it will absolutely ruin the experience.

Madison


She was a heroine you can’t help but like. In a long list of books with shy, mousy and virginal heroines, she was a refreshing breath of air. She was real. She was not shy about what she wanted, and made no excuses for herself. I knew from the very first chapter that she would be a heroine that I would absolutely love, and I was not wrong.
Paul
The easy-going surferboy. He is a character that you just can’t help but fall in love with. He was the lighter part of the equation.

Paul loves me with unconditional warmth, his affection public and obvious, his arms pulling me into him, his mouth littering my body with frequent kisses. 

Stewart

The rich workaholic. He was the enigmatic, slightly darker and intense one.

Stewart loves me with a tiger’s intensity, his need taking my breath away, his confidence in our relationship strong enough to not be bothered by the presence of another man. He stares into my soul as if he owns it, and shows his love with money, sex, and rare moments of time.

So what’s the story all about? I’m not going to tell you. This is a book that has to be experienced. And what an experience it is. You will be sucked in, captivated, and absolutely riveted by it. The writing is brilliant. It was intense, emotional, and erotic.
But be prepared to read it in one sitting, because you will be unable to put it down. The one thing I kept thinking through the book
I didn’t know which end was up. Who was I rooting for? What did I want to happen? Did I like what did happen? I don’t fucking know! There was just one twist after another. And then came everything after the 60% mark, and all I could think of then was
The story was NOTHING you would expect and EVERYTHING you would want in a book. Unputdownable.

Was I happy with the way it ended? I think so. It ended the way it should have, yet not in a way I suspected it would. It wasn’t wrapped up in a pretty little bow for you, but it was perfect for this story. I couldn’t imagine a different ending for this brilliant story.
A must read.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go compulsively one-click every other book this author has written. And I thank you

ARC courtesy of author in exchange for an honest review

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