dark – Page 7

New Release & Review: The Knight by Skye Warren

January 31, 2017 by Lana · Leave a Comment

THE KNIGHT
Series: Endgame #2
Genre: Dark Romance
Author: Skye Warren
Release Date: January 31, 2017

The power of pleasure…

Gabriel Miller took everything from me. My family. My innocence. My home. The only thing I have left is the determination to get back what’s mine.
He thinks he’s beaten me. He thinks he’s won. What he doesn’t realize is that every pawn has the chance to become a queen.

And the game has only just begun.

THE KNIGHT is book two in the Endgame series from New York Times bestselling author Skye Warren about revenge and seduction in the game of love.

AMAZON | iBOOKS | B&N | KOBO

My voice is low. “What do you want?”
“Everything.” “I’ve already given you that.”
“Not even close.” He stalks around me, circling like a predator. “I want you bent over and broken. I want you bleeding at my feet, little virgin.”

*shivers*
What IS it about this man that just gives me tingles each and every time he opens his mouth? The intensity of him is almost unbearable, yet like a moth to a flame, he draws you in…

The story continues immediate where The Pawn left off. If you haven’t read that yet, this is a continuation and not meant to be read as a standalone. I’ll try to keep it as spoiler free as possible but some mild spoilers from The Pawn may slip in. So if you haven’t read that yet, be warned, you may want to stop reading this review.

And you’re the object of my depravity, the target of every dark wish, the canvas I want to paint. I won’t be satisfied until I’ve marked every inch of you, inside and out.”

*shivers*

Gabriel may have let Avery go after their night together, but his hold on her is far from broken. Penniless and all on her own, Avery is trying to make ends meet while taking care of her ailing father. This is a woman that doesn’t just lie down and take it, she’s a fighter, and I seriously loved that about her. Her desire for a man that she should hate is confusing but undeniable. Gabriel wants her for the 30 days they agreed to, and he’s not about to let her out of the arrangement so easy.

I always want him. In my dreams, in the dark. A secret desire I’m afraid to admit to myself.

Gabriel continues to be an enigma for a good portion of the book. The man is utterly unforgettable. I read book 1 weeks before and I couldn’t stop thinking about him. There’s just something about his presence that’s so completely captivating, he owns the pages.

I want you in every way and place and time. I want you so fucking bad I wish I could stop, because it goddamn hurts.”

We finally do get to see the vulnerable part of the impenetrable man that was hinted at in book one, and I can’t wait to see the final chess pieces fall. There’s a mystery that weaves around the romance that’s just as fascinating as Gabriel. The Knight is packed full of twists and turns I never saw coming and it’s a book that kept me riveted to the pages from beginning to end.

I love a dark romance that doesn’t turn to shock value and gratuitous violence to keep the readers glued to the pages, and Skye Warren truly blew it out of the park with this series. I just finished it and I already can’t wait for more. I’m hoping book 3 will bring us the conclusion to this story, because well, let’s be real, it’s a surprise my ADD has lasted this long. Trilogies are usually not my thing, but I’m gobbling this one up and eagerly anticipating the conclusion.

His features are severe, a sentinel by the door, keeping watch over me. My knight in dark armor.

Start the series today!

thepawn-1600x2400

BUY NOW: on sale for just $.99!!!
❧ Amazon: http://amzn.to/2fF2vn6
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❧ Kobo: http://bit.ly/2edcF1s

“Sinfully sexy and darkly beautiful, The Pawn will play games with your heart and leave you craving more!” – Laura Kaye, New York Times bestselling author

The price of survival…

Gabriel Miller swept into my life like a storm. He tore down my father with cold retribution, leaving him penniless in a hospital bed. I quit my private all-girl’s college to take care of the only family I have left.
There’s one way to save our house, one thing I have left of value.
My virginity.

A forbidden auction…

Gabriel appears at every turn. He seems to take pleasure in watching me fall. Other times he’s the only kindness in a brutal underworld.
Except he’s playing a deeper game than I know. Every move brings us together, every secret rips us apart. And when the final piece is played, only one of us can be left standing.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
THE PAWN is a full-length contemporary novel from New York Times bestselling author Skye Warren about revenge and seduction in the game of love. It’s the first book in the brand new ENDGAME series.

Skye Warren is the New York Times bestselling author of contemporary romance such as the Chicago Underground series. Her books have been featured in Jezebel, Buzzfeed, USA Today Happily Ever After, Glamour, and Elle Magazine. She makes her home in Texas with her loving family, two sweet dogs, and one evil cat.

Contact Skye:

Leave a Comment · Filed Under: All Reviews, Dark · Tagged With: Book Reviews: 4 stars, dark, Skye Warren

Blog Tour, Review & Giveaway: Take Me With You by @ninagjones

October 20, 2016 by Lana · Leave a Comment

TAKE ME WITH YOU
Genre: Dark Romance
Author: Nina G. Jones
Release Date: October 17, 2016
Hosted by: Book Enthusiast Promotions

I watch.
I study.
I prowl.
I hunt.

I always go in with a plan. A set of rules for myself. I don’t take unnecessary risks. That’s how I’ve been able to evade capture all these years.

But there’s something about this girl that is different than the others. When I finally meet her, the rules become a blur. And I break the most important one of all—I take her with me.

——-

It’s just my imagination—that feeling of being watched. That those icy eyes— a vivid turquoise with a distinct golden fleck—aren’t watching me.

It’s just stress. I am the person everyone relies on. Maybe that’s why I haven’t been feeling so content with my life lately. Why I dream those eyes belong to someone who can tear me away from all of my responsibilities.

But these are just shameful fantasies, never meant to breach reality.

Then one night, the dream comes true, only it’s a horrific nightmare.

Now, I only have one task: survival.

AMAZON | iBOOKS

“Who are you?” I cry. “The Night,” he rasps.

What.
The.
Fuck.
Did.
I.
Just.
Read.

This book was all sorts of fucked up. ALL SORTS OF FUCKED UP, I TELLS YA! I need to be committed, my head examined, my sanity questioned… because I liked it. Never has something so wrong felt so…actually no. It just felt wrong. So very wrong.

Nina G. Jones was not afraid to go there. To the deepest, darkest depths of depravity. She didn’t just push comfort lines here, the woman ran over them with a damn mac truck. Then she backed that shit up and ran it the hell over 3 more times to make sure it stuck. To make sure that you question your sanity with every page. To make sure that you’re convinced that clearly something must be wrong with you for enjoying it. For questioning your damn sanity because you can’t put it down and yet it feels so wrong. SO VERY WRONG. Bah! Just bah!

Girls like her don’t want the beast. They want the idea of one. They want to be safe and still revel in the thrill. But there’s no safety with a monster. Because monsters consume. They take your body, your soul, and your innocence.

Imagine watching an episode of Criminal Minds and actually finding yourself falling for the perpetrator. There’s no gray area with this anti-hero. Fuck no. This man is as deep in the black as it gets. There’s no redemption in sight. He’s not a man that will tug at your heart strings. You’ll actually WANT to hate him. But here’s the thing? His character is written so freaking well, that you’ll actually understand him, and that, my friends, is where the mindfuck begins.

He’s all rippled muscles, and sweat, and filth. Eyes that reveal no soul or depth, clear as a demon’s.

Here’s what I’ll tell you about the book: NOTHING

And if you need to know something, then this book is not for you. It needs to be experienced and to do that, you need to be fully unprepared for what you’re getting yourself into.

I have news for you, Vesp. When you’re fucked up like me—like that—heaven and hell aren’t very different.”

Take Me With You is dark, twisted and immoral. It’s violent, crude and dirty. The characters are so far outside typical comfort zones and the norm, they may as well be in a different dimension. It was also phenomenally written, completely unputdownable, and utterly unforgettable.

I want him to fill me with his poison again. He likes the taste of my sadness and I like when he injects me with his venom. He is my danger, my greatest threat. When he’s on my side, I know that I am safe.

If you want a book that will take you out of your comfort zone, this is it. If you want a book with an anti-hero that will redeem himself at the end and it’s all twu wuv and rainbows at the end, this book is certainly not for you, my delicate friend.

He’s right there, still in front of me, forcing me to look into those eyes. Eyes that have stolen everything.

I’m still questioning my sanity for enjoying it as much as I did. I also need a mental health break full of bunnies and unicorns shitting rainbows after it. I tip my hat to you, Nina G. Jones, you’re a true evil genius. You’re not afraid to cross boundaries and go where most would shudder to. This was dark and twisted brilliance…in a filthy, completely fucked up way that is.

Nina G. Jones is the author of seven full-length novels of various romance and erotica sub-genres. Her latest novel, Take Me With You, releases on October 17th.

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Leave a Comment · Filed Under: All Reviews, Blog Tours, Dark, Giveaways · Tagged With: dark, Nina G Jones

Review: Retribution by Natasha Knight

August 3, 2016 by Lana · Leave a Comment

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

Adam

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

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

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

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

Take what he loved best.

Break it.

Break her.

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

Elle

“I only want your pain.”

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

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

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

Something I couldn’t resist.

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

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

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

To make it light.

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

AMAZON

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Review: Blood To Dust by L.J. Shen

July 17, 2016 by Lana ·

BLOOD TO DUST
Genre: Dark Romance
Author: L.J. Shen
Release Date: July 17, 2016

His name is Beat, and I should hate him.

Bound, blindfolded and bruised, I’m tied in his basement, waiting for the men who stripped me from clothes and humanity to collect his debt to them. Me.

His name is Nate and I should hate him, but I don’t.

I’m not supposed to know his real name, even worse, I’m not supposed to care. He is nothing to me but means to an end. The plan is simple: break free, collect the pieces of my broken soul, kill the bastards and run away.

His name is Nathaniel Thomas Vela, and I’ve never seen his face, though I hear that it’s beautiful.

Behind the rugged and handsome exterior, there’s a quiet murderer, a killer who thinks guns are for pussies and ends people with his bare hands.

His name doesn’t matter, neither does his face, but what does matter is my heart. And right now, sadly, it’s his.

Blood to Dust is a standalone, full-length novel. It contains graphic violence and adult situations some may find offensive.

AMAZON

I look like the perfect victim. Scared. Beautiful. Innocent…Though, I’m anything but the latter.

Well slap my ass and call me Sally, what in the ever hell did I just read?
This.
Book.
Was.
Brilliant!

OK. OK. Allow me to get my thoughts together here
*deep breath*
*another deep breath*

Holy hell, people!

I already knew after reading Sparrow that L.J. Shen was a talented author, but after reading this book? She blew everything I thought I knew away! The woman is a genius. Everything, from the characters, the writing style, the chapter formation, the story, all of it I can describe in two words; brilliantly intense.

I’m picky with my dark romance. Some of it has become entirely formulaic for me; bad guy meets somewhat naive girl, some mundane detail, plot twist for shock value, and BAM! HEA! This book? This book was nothing like that. Not even close. It was unpredictable, violent, brutal, dark and twisted. You won’t have a book hangover after, you’ll have PTSD and you’ll love every depraved moment of it!

She’s hurt and broken in her own, fancy-ass country club way. And I’m hurt and broken in my own, broke-ass ghetto way.

Any other woman that finds herself bloodied, tied and locked in a dark basement waiting on certain death at the hands of men intent on collecting their debt from her, may be shaken. But not Prescott. Every minute in her captivity is another minute for her to plot and scheme and plan her escape. Because she will escape. Even if she has to use her unwilling captor to do it…

She’s going to ruin me…and I’m going to let her.

Beat is a nameless, faceless man in a mask. He’s a man that owes a debt himself. He’s the man with a price on his head and his own survival as his main concern. A prissy little princess tied up in his basement for some unknown debt of her own shouldn’t concern him. Yet there’s something about her that calls to his primal side and tempts his inner beast…

She’s aiming straight for my fucking heart, this chick. Shot after shot in the dark.
And sooner or later, I know, even in the pitch black, she’s going to hit her target.”

The story packs a hell of a one two punch. It’s deliciously dirty and anxiety inducing gritty. The characters are incredibly well developed, multi-layered, and impossible not to like. Prescott was one kick-ass chick. She’s a survivor and she never stops fighting. She maintains an almost morbid sense of humor even during the most dire of times which gives her this incredibly endearing quality.

As for Nate Vela aka “Beat”? Oh man. Man oh man. I loved him! I loved his inner struggle in protecting himself or doing the right thing. I loved his inner struggle in his attraction to Prescott. There was so much depth to him that you can’t help but connect with right away.

The chemistry between the two of them was deliciously depraved. This is no cookie cutter romance. Nate Vela is one vile, dirty, dirty man and I loved him for it. Both of them are survivors in their own right, and together they’re a force to be reckoned with. It was perfectly balanced with two incredibly strong characters and for this reader it was perfection! There’s nothing better for me than a heroine that can save herself, and Prescott was no damsel in distress.

There were parts of it that I spent laughing. There were parts of it I spent with a knot in my stomach and hands shaking. It was unlike anything I’ve read and I loved every twisted part of it!

I love her like a slave, I kneel in front of her like a subject, I crawl back to her at night like a drunk and I worship her like a believer. She’s my truth, my lie, my storm and my peace.

There was one particular detail at the end that confused me a little because I don’t remember it being explained. It could have been something I overlooked, but after re-reading the part several times, I’m still not sure. I’m not expecting everything wrapped in a pretty little bow, but given the detail was a pivotal one that set the plot in motion, I suppose I just wanted slightly more explanation on it. But that’s just one minor quibble in what was a truly amazing book, so I really can’t bother myself to complain about it much. If you’re looking for a dark read with strong characters and an unpredictable plot, READ THIS BOOK.

· Filed Under: All Reviews, Dark, DGR Favorites · Tagged With: Book Reviews: 4.5 stars, dark, LJ Shen

Review: All The Rage by TM Frazier

July 14, 2016 by Lana · Leave a Comment

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

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

All the Rage is a STANDALONE.

AMAZON

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jennifer’s Review: ★Hold You Against Me★ by @skye_warren

June 13, 2016 by Lana · Leave a Comment

HOLD YOU AGAINST ME
Series: Stripped #4
Genre: Dark Romance
Author: Skye Warren
Release Date: May 31, 2016

Once upon a time the daughter of a mafia king fell in love with a foot soldier.

This fairy tale didn’t have a happy ending.

My sister and I barely managed to escape alive, and we’ve lived in relative hiding ever since. I’m safe now, but I can never forget the boy who gave his life to save mine.

Except there’s a chance that he’s still alive. And he’s fighting a war.

Even knowing the risks, I have to find him. I have to find some way to protect him, the way he protected me. But he isn’t the boy I left behind. He’s a violent man. A criminal. And he’s been waiting for me—the final pawn in a dark game of survival and love.

AMAZON | iBOOKS

Fairy tales aren’t for the girls who have a choice. They’re for the girls shoved into corners, trapped in darkness, bent over desks. Places where hope is an act of bravery. Where believing in love is an act of rebellion. Fairy tales are for girls who dream of happy endings, knowing they might not live to see tomorrow.

I loved the conclusion to this beautiful story. Tough Love, the prequel to this series is where we first meet Giovanni and Clara. It was also my first Skye Warren book, and I have not looked back! Skye includes the entire Tough Love prequel in this book.

My Gio:

It takes a monster to take down a monster.

My Clara:

He dragged me back into my worst nightmare and somehow made me want it.

The story begins in the prequel. Clara is a mafia princess who feels trapped in gilded cage. Her father is not a good man and means to make her marry a horrible man. Clara meets Giovanni, a foot soldier, when she is 15 and he is 17. She is able to escape her father’s evil clutches with the help of Giovanni. Hold You Against Me continues the story 3 years later, when Clara believes Gio to be killed for helping her escape.

Those are not his scars. They’re mine. He took them for me.

This is NOT your typical fairy tale. Skye Warren tends to write on the darker side, which is why I love her so much. She warned her readers that this book is on the lighter side of her darkness, but I still enjoyed it so much! She always makes me FEEL something in every single one of her books, and this one did not disappoint. Skye’s writing is sensual, beautiful, and smart. Her heroines seem real, trapped, trying to break free of some sort of struggle.

If you love mafia romance, this book/series is for you! I have a soft spot for mafia men. The danger, the tattoos, the darkness, the power, the broodiness, just do it for me!

I love Skye Warren to the moon and back.

I would read her grocery lists.

*Can be read as a standalone, but I recommend starting from the beginning because this series is worth it! Hold You Against Me is the 4th book in the series, but any of these books can be read by themselves.*

Stripped Series

Tough Love (#0.5) – Included in Hold You Against Me
Love Way You Lie (#1) – Love the Way You Lie
Heartbreak (#1.5) – Heartbreak
Better When It Hurts (#2) – Better When It Hurts
Even Better (#2.5) – Even Better
Pretty When You Cry (#3) – Pretty When You Cry
Caught For Christmas (#3.5) – Caught for Christmas

Leave a Comment · Filed Under: All Reviews, Dark, Erotic Rom · Tagged With: Book Reviews: 4.5 stars, dark, Jennifer Reviews

DGR Top Fave & Review: ★Backfire★ by @KeriLake

June 9, 2016 by Lana · Leave a Comment

BACKFIRE
Series: Vigilantes #2
Genre: Dark, Contemporary Romance
Author: Keri Lake
Release Date: June 9, 2016

This book is a standalone set in the same world as Ricochet.

No matter how unbreakable he may seem, every man has a weakness.

A year ago, my home became a bloodstained crime scene. That night marked the beginning of my hell—the same night I was tortured by my enemies and tossed into an underground prison to die.

They failed. I survived.

Now that I’m free, only one motive burns in my soul: revenge.

Lucky for me, they think Jase Hawkins is dead. Maybe I am. I’ve got nothing but a cold, merciless rage, and Black Betty, the sharp steel blade that never leaves my side.

Then she drifts into my life.

Lucia wants answers—so much so, she’s willing to fall into the darkness where my enemies lie in wait, to kill her for what she knows.

Or to take her for the depraved fantasies her body alone can rouse in a man’s mind.

Me? I want her for the fire in her touch that feeds my addiction, forces me to feel what has become numb, but my appetite for bloodshed runs deeper than flesh.

For my own sanity, I’ve vowed to stay away from her. Because she’s my only weakness, an obsession that leaves me craving more—one that could make even the most steadfast plan backfire.

AMAZON | iBOOKS

Shit thing about life is, when you throw an immovable object into the path of a bullet, it doesn’t follow any laws or principles.
It backfires.

It’s official; I have PTKD (Post Traumatic Keri Disorder). The woman has ruined me. This book? I hope you all have your big girl panties on, because a walk through the meadows with unicorns it. Is. Not.

Backfire is dark, gritty, and unapologetic. You’ll be reading it with your heart in your throat and your stomach twisted up in knots. It’s violent, a touch depraved, darkly erotic, action packed and absolutely, positively unputdownable. The story is filled with so many unpredictable twists and turns that it will make your head spin! It’s brilliantly written and I will even go so far as to say this was darker than Ricochet and that’s saying something, trust me.

He was dark and threatening, sexual and magnetic all rolled into one three dimensional package of fuck me.

Jase has spent the last year of his life in hell. Now he’s free and the only thing burning inside him is revenge. It’s what he eats, breathes, and lives. The chain of events that began on that one bloody night a year ago that cost him him his family all lead back to one man; Tesarik. Only problem is? He’s so powerful he’s practically untouchable. So when the mystery man standing before him promises him the vengeance he seeks for the price of a favor, he knows that he may fight it but he’ll agree. The favor will take him deep into the bowels of the worst sort of human depravity. Into a something only known as The Seventh Circle; a group of men that get off on pain and death.

And his first stop? Finding the mystery woman with the camera that may be the reason why he was thrown into the crosshairs of Tesarik in the first place. But Lucy is not at all what Jase thinks though. A photo journalist that saw something she shouldn’t have seen, she’s on the run for her life, and the only man that can help her may be the most dangerous of them all…

I’ll be the bastard you need me to be, Lucy. Whatever darkness you crave, I’ll give that to you.”

What begins is a story filled with heart-stopping moments, eroticism in a way only Keri Lake can write, and enough grit and darkness to leave you crying for your mama.

My life was a turbulent storm and she sat in the center of it, in the calm, making me forget the chaos that swirled all around me. I needed that calm, to own it, if only for one night.

If you’ve read any book by this author, then you already know she’s not afraid to go to the very pits of darkness. She’ll take the readers deep into the bowels of the worst of humanity. Her writing is raw, gritty, and absolutely unapologetic.

You’ll live and breathe Jase and Lucy’s story. It’s a page turning, heart in your throat, painful to read but never wanting it to end anyway sort of book. Jase is the epitome of the perfect anti hero.
He’s not a good man, but he skates that fine edge between the good and bad. He’s a man that was forced to do some bad things for some very good reasons and you’ll love him for it. Guaranteed.
If nothing else but for his dirty mouth alone.

Set aside a whole night, because this is one book you’ll read in one heart-pounding sitting. Trust me on that.

You’re in my blood, infecting every dark part of my soul, Lucy. Nothing else matters to me.

The characters are incredibly multi-layered and the story has depth. It’s not your run of the mill dark romance.

For my brother, I was willing to go to war. For you, mia Luce, I’m willing to wage it.

Long story short? I loved the absolute fuck out of this book and I cannot wait for all of you to meet Jase and Lucy!

If you haven’t read Ricochet yet, I highly recommend it. But while Backfire is set in the same world as Ricochet, you don’t have to read Ricochet first in order to enjoy this one.

WATCH THE TRAILER HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhbke…

DON’T MISS THE BOOK THAT STARTED IT ALL

RICOCHET (Vigilantes #1)
READ MY 5 STAR REVIEW HERE

The only sure way to destroy a man is to take what he cannot live without.

Three years ago, I had everything.

A beautiful wife.
A son.
A reason for living.

Until a ruthless task force, assembled under Mayor Michael Culling, with a brutal strategy to make the streets of Detroit ‘safe’, ripped away everything I loved in a deadly hunt called The Culling.

They tried to kill me, too. I wish they had. Now I’m cursed by the memories of that night, and the words I whispered to my dying wife.

A promise—to avenge the wrong and set it right.

I’m no longer Nick Ryder. I’m a masked vigilante. Faceless. Loveless. Fearless. A man with nothing left to lose—one who’s seen the dark and violent truth behind the city’s flawless veneer.

Michael Culling doesn’t know who I am. Or what I want. All he knows is that I’ve kidnapped his beautiful wife.

An eye for an eye—isn’t that how the saying goes? And Aubree Culling is the perfect pawn to destroy him.

If she doesn’t destroy me first.

AMAZON

Leave a Comment · Filed Under: All Reviews, Dark, DGR Favorites, Dirty Talkers · Tagged With: Book Reviews: 5 stars, dark, DGR Fave, Keri Lake, with an edge

New Release & Review: ★Reap★ by Tillie Cole

November 9, 2015 by Lana · Leave a Comment

Reap
Series: Scarred Souls #2
Genre: Dark Romance
Author: Tillie Cole
Release Date: November 10, 2015

Raised as a prototype for the Georgian Bratva’s obedience drug, 221 fails to think, act, or live for himself; he’s his master’s perfectly-crafted killing puppet. Standing at six-foot-six, weighing two-hundred-and-fifty pounds, and unrivaled in to-the-death combat, 221 successfully secures business for the Georgian Mafiya Boss of NYC, who rules the dark world of the criminal underground. Until his enemies capture him.

Talia Tolstaia dreams to break from the heavy clutches of Bratva life. She dreams of another life–away from the stifling leash of her Russian Bratva Boss father and from the brutality of her work at The Dungeon, her criminal family’s underground death-match enterprise. But when she stumbles upon her family’s captive who is more monster than man, she starts to see the man underneath. A powerful, beautiful, damaged man whose heart calls to hers. But sacrifices must be made–blood for blood…life for life…souls for scarred souls…

Amazon / iBooks

Our desperate gazes met.
He took a deep breath.
Then he whispered, “You are…for me?”

God. That one line. Who would have thought that my heart could melt and break at the same time from just 4 little words? But when 221; killing machine, savage with no memories of his previous life and raised to be a cold blooded killer, utters those four words to Talia….I was absolutely done for.

Reap is book 2 in Tillie Cole’s Scarred Souls series, and while you may read it as a standalone since it focuses on a different main couple and their HEA, I highly recommend you start with book 1. Because while Reap tells the story of Zaal and Talia, it also gives the readers a continuation of Luka through his POV. It builds up on what has begun in Raze and it would connect you to the story that much more having previously read that.

And in that moment I knew- I was losing my heart to the object of my family’s deepest hatred.

I have to admit that I was in the minority of not enjoying Raze as much as I’d hoped for so I went into Reap with no expectations and enjoyed it so much more! Most of what bothered me in the first book was not an issue here. The writing was much better; it flowed and the repetitiveness that bothered me in Raze was no where to be found.

I swallowed at the sight of him. I fought for breath at his savageness; his brutal, primitive presence, and I lost all sensibilities.

221 was raised as a prototype for the Georgian mafia’s obedience drug. He’s a stone cold killer with a bloodlust that only death can appease. He fails to thing, act, or live for himself. He lives for his master’s commands and doesn’t remember life before or beyond that.

Luka Tolstoi is continuing to deal with the demons of his past. But the thing that haunts him the most is the death of his only friend, at his own hands. When he figures out the connection between 221 and 362, he knows he will stop at nothing until he frees him from his sadistic captors. Having accomplished his task, he brings him to recover at his family’s estate where Talia is currently taking a break from the Bratva’s stifling leash.

He looked every inch the unpolished savage I’d believed him to be.

When Talia discovers 221’s true identity, she knows that he’s not only forbidden. He’s something else entirely. There’s a history there that he’s not aware of and she knows all too well. But that doesn’t stop her from being intrigued by the savage. During his recovery from the drug that stole his thoughts and memories, she cares for him….but something else begins to develop between them.
Reap is not quite as dark as it’s predecessor was. While still leaning on the side of gritty, it wasn’t as brutal. It was definitely a whole lot more emotional, however. I think this is in part due to the fact that I had a true connection to Talia and Zaal together. Talia isn’t exactly my favorite heroine, but she was much more memorable than Kisa. I loved how she cared for Zaal and the way she fought for him.

Zaal Kostava, you’ve stolen my forbidden heart.”

Reap was absolutely gut wrenching for me. What truly made it as emotional as it was was the connection between Zaal and Luka. There was a particular part at the end between them that actually brought a tear to my cold black heart. It was devastating to read about.

The story flowed smoothly and it was captivating from the very start. My picky self did get stuck on the incorrect translations once again, but luckily the story and the romance was enough for me to turn a (mostly) blind eye to it.

We’d bared our pasts, we’d fought our fates. And at the end, left over was only the purest form of love. Of need. Of US.

There was a tease at the end that has me practically salivating for the next book. So while I got off to a rocky start with Raze, I’m definitely now a fan of the series and can’t wait to see what’s in store next.

Don’t miss book 1 in the Scarred Souls series!

Leave a Comment · Filed Under: All Reviews, Dark · Tagged With: Book Reviews: 4 stars, dark

#NewRelease & #Giveaway: ★Ricochet★ by Keri Lake

July 9, 2015 by Lana · 1 Comment

Title: Ricochet

Author: Keri Lake

Genre: Dark Romance

Release Date: July 9, 2015

The only sure way to destroy a man is to take what he cannot live without.

Three years ago, I had everything.

A beautiful wife.

A son.

A reason for living.

Until a ruthless task force, assembled under Mayor Michael Culling, with a brutal strategy to make the streets of Detroit ‘safe’, ripped away everything I loved in a deadly hunt called The Culling.

They tried to kill me, too. I wish they had. Now I’m cursed by the memories of that night, and the words I whispered to my dying wife.

A promise—to avenge the wrong and set it right.

I’m no longer Nick Ryder. I’m a masked vigilante. Faceless. Loveless. Fearless. A man with nothing left to lose—one who’s seen the dark and violent truth behind the city’s flawless veneer.

Michael Culling doesn’t know who I am. Or what I want. All he knows is that I’ve kidnapped his beautiful wife.

An eye for an eye—isn’t that how the saying goes? And Aubree Culling is the perfect pawn to destroy him.

If she doesn’t destroy me first.

With my right hand, I pinned her flailing fist, then released her throat and seized the other. She stilled, flat against the wall, with my body pressed into hers.

“You had everything to do with it.” I pushed harder, my muscles steeled. “He didn’t just wrong me, he annihilated me. And there you were, stroking his cock, smiling beside him all the while.”

“All you saw was a smile, then. You should’ve looked deeper. So what? I’m your revenge? Your ticket to hurting him?” She sneered. “Guess what? He doesn’t give a shit about me. He never did. So, go ahead, Nick. Kill me.” She lifted her head away from the wall, only inches from my face. “Snap my fucking throat, if that’s what you plan to do. You’d be doing him and me a favor.”

Her body pulsed with tension, the tremble beating against me, through me, inside of me. Anger. Hate.

So much hate.

With one quick twist of my hands, I could’ve snapped her neck, been done with the whole plan and exited my miserable fucking existence on the wings of a bullet to my skull.

Instead, I slammed my lips against hers. Loving the struggle of her body trying to push me away. Hating the fact that her lips tasted like sweet salvation, beckoning me to whatever web of deception she’d been weaving since I’d taken her. Her delicious smell pervaded my senses—water on the flames burning inside of me, steaming up my mind.

Three years.

The last time I’d devoured a woman’s lips was three years ago, and that had been out of love. Kissing Aubree was something else entirely. Not gentle or tender. I kissed her violently, with all the fury locked inside of me, our frantic breaths clashing with one another.

Her moan vibrated inside my skull, as her hands clenched to fists, trying to break free from my grasp.

She opened her mouth wider, dragged my lip between her teeth, and bit me.

Aggression surged through my body and rattled the cage of something dark inside of me.

I wanted more. More pain. More rage. I wanted to tear into her while cursing her name. Purge myself of the hate until it was spent.

I broke the kiss, breaths heaving, as I glared down at her. “What do you know about Brightmoor?” I rasped.

“I don’t know anything about Brightmoor,” she gritted out.

Lies. “Yeah? Then, why did you have the fucking blueprints tucked in your purse? Devil’s Night plans safe and sound, beside your goddamn lipstick and compact.”

Her chest rose and fell as I kept her captive against the wall, her stare deadpan. “I didn’t—”

“Don’t lie to me.” I pressed harder, lips to her ear. “I fucking hate liars,” I whispered, inciting a shudder in her that brought a smile to my face. “Why did you have the chip?”

“I stole it.”

“You stole it.” I wanted to laugh at the stupidity of such a thought, but my voice lacked any ounce of humor or inflection. “I don’t think you did, Pistol Lips. I think he gave it to you. His little pet.”

“I fucking hate you.” Venom laced her words as she stared back at me, those golden eyes blazing with vehemence.

I licked my lips and glanced down at her pert breasts, and smiled. Squeezing her captured wrists with one hand, I reached up under her dress, only grazing the patch of lace that kept my finger from being inside of her, knowing everything she was too stubborn to admit.

Her lids turned heavy, as drunken eyes riveted on my lips.

“Tell me how much you hate me.”

“Don’t,” she warned, and I caught the scrape of her tongue across her teeth.

Grabbing a handful of hair, I tugged her head back until her neck stretched taut, and like a creature of night, I wanted to bite down into that supple flesh and rip her throat out. Dragging my tongue along her shoulder, I made my way to the base of her neck and bit her collarbone. She let out a gasp and I released her wrists. Lust blazed through my veins, when her fingers tangled in my hair and her leg curled around my hip, drawing me against her.

“You know what, Aubree? I fucking hate you, too, but goddamn … you taste so good.”

Hell was having her skin against mine and craving her so badly I wanted to crawl out of my own body…

Keri Lake is a married mother of two living in Michigan. By day, she tries to make use of the degrees she’s earned in science. By night, she writes dark contemporary and paranormal romance. Though novels tend to be her focus, she also writes short stories and flash fiction on the many occasions when distraction sucks her in to the Land of Shiny Things.

She loves hearing from readers …

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***SIGNED PAPERBACK COPY OF RICOCHET to the first 10 readers who submit a review
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The first 50 submissions will receive an email containing a password for a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card!

NOTE: You MUST submit the link to your review in this form to be eligible. Winners will NOT be drawn from the various sites (they will be chosen based on this form): REVIEW SUBMISSION FORM

1 Comment · Filed Under: Giveaways · Tagged With: dark, erotic, Keri Lake, suspense, with an edge

Release Week Blitz, Review & #Giveaway: ☆Vanquish☆ by Pam Godwin

August 27, 2014 by Lana · Leave a Comment

Warning: Graphic sex and violence. Age 18+ only

It is recommended to read after Deliver, but it can be read as a stand-alone.

Her life is like a prison cell.
A self-made, to-hell-with-the-free-world existence that locks from the inside.
Stop judging. Her agoraphobia doesn’t define her. It simply keeps her safe.

He belongs in a prison cell.
The 6×8, make-me-your-bitch variety that locks from the outside.
But he’s free. To hunt. To take. To break.
And he just found a sexy new toy.

Capturing her is the easy part. Her fucked-up mind, however, makes him question everything he does next.

But he’s a determined bastard. If all goes his way, this will hurt like hell.

He stalked toward her, mirroring the tilt of her head, knees and shoulders loose, and his gaze holding her prisoner. A breath away, he paused, soaking in the subtleties of her tipped-up chin, parting lips, and glossy but resolute eyes.

With the next breath, he launched, hands on her jaw, fingers spread around the back of her head.

His elbows dropped, shoulders raised, and he yanked her to him, lifting her on tiptoes, guiding her mouth, taking it. His grip twisted through her hair as he drew in her upper lip and shoved her against the fridge, following her with the weight of his body.

The kiss went fucking wild, their lips mashing in a frantic battle. His tongue plunged her mouth, attacking, thrusting in and out, possessing her movements, owning her. Breath for breath, lick after lick, he ate at her mouth, tasting, devouring.

He dropped his hands to her breasts, squeezing ruthlessly as he rolled his cock against her cunt.

His tongue tingled, his skin burned, and his head swam. God, she was a drug, and he was so fucking high.

She gripped his biceps, bit at his lips, and threw her arms over his shoulders, her fingers scratching the fuck out his back. He shuddered, loving it, but he was in control.

Reaching back, he grabbed her wrists and slammed them above her head. Their bodies ground together, his forearms pressing hers to the fridge, their tongues dancing and clashing. Chest-to-chest, hips fused together, he flexed his ass, dry humping her like a horny teenager.

Jesus, fuck, he didn’t care. He wanted her.

He leaned back to study her face and found strong smoldering eyes, sharp breaths, and swollen wet lips. Whatever she saw in his expression made her mouth chase his and her fingers curl around his hands. They kissed endlessly, fueling the fire and pushing his control long past the point of discomfort before pulling back and starting all over again.

When he broke the kiss with a hand on her jaw, they panted as one, mouths open and so close their bottom lips brushed. She peered at him through lowered lashes, and he stared back in awe. What trembled between them wasn’t an if? Or even a how hard? Those were foregone. The question they shared was simple.

Ready?

He was a cold-hearted fuck with an appetite for blood, come, and tears. And he had the perfect girl to feed it.

Can you take a cold, sadistic, and practically nonredeemable hero and not only feel for him but completely fall for him by the end of the book?
YES

Can you take a heroine that’s so fucked up and insecure but make her come across as fierce and give her an inner core of strength that manages to shine through even during her darkest hours?
YES

Can you take a relationship that by all intents and purposes begins as something that should be a horror story but make you understand it, feel it, and completely turn it around into something brighter by the end of the story?
FUCK.YES.

For those of you that are curious if you can read this book if you haven’t read Deliver
YES

That’s exactly what I did. As much as I adore Pam Godwin’s writing, I knew based on some details I’d gleaned from the first book that it just wasn’t my cuppa, so I decided to pass on it. But when I ~~saw the cover~~ read the blurb for this book? I knew this was not a book I’d be passing up in a million years. See I have this thing for the anti-heroes and the assholes. As in, the more fucked up they are, the more I love them. Messed up? Maybe. But fuck me if Van didn’t fit my requirement to the T.

He was a kidnapper, a rapist, and she ached to be repulsed by him, just to prove she was sane, but she could’t. And she wasn’t. His scarred beauty radiated seduction and danger, a deadly combination.

Now most people would probably spend the first half of this book conflicted. You’ll want to hate Van for what he does, or maybe you WILL hate Van for everything he does. Me? I gobbled it up like the starved little pervert that I am.

From the very beginning the author gives you little tidbits of insight of who Van really is; his childhood, his past, his scars…both internal and external. As a matter of fact she gives you just enough to make you almost feel for him in the first half. I was afraid that his almost obsession with Liv would make it so that Amber would feel more like his consolation prize. But luckily that’s not at all how it was. As a matter of fact, I though the author pulled this off flawlessly.

Vanquish begins immediately where Deliver took off; Van being shot by Liv but surviving. But just because Liv has a new life now, doesn’t mean that Van has let her go. Stalking is what he does best, so that’s what he does. He lurks in the shadows, watching her house and her new life with her new boyfriend all while plotting on how to get close to her to get what he wants; information. In his stalking under the shadows of what he thinks is an abandoned house, he inadvertently stumbles onto the owner and who he decides will be his new victim, Amber.

Now Amber was a character I was afraid I would hate at first. How would I sum her up? Fucked the fuck up. That probably does it. Yep.

She’s agoraphobic, OCD, with an eating disorder and self esteem issues to boot. Bitch got issues is what I’m trying to tell you here. But beneath all her problems, she had this understated strength and an almost fierceness to her. Sounds strange doesn’t it? But it’s very true. And as the story progresses, more and more of her personality shines through and you simply can’t help but like her. Van was definitely not immune either

My mother named me Van Quiso. You’ll refer to me as Master.

The first half of this book is no light read. Van is one sadistic and cruel fuck, and that certainly doesn’t go away the second he lays eyes on Amber. While you may get small peeks into the damaged soul of a boy that lurks beneath the scary and cold exterior, he doesn’t exactly endear you with his actions toward Amber.

But that’s also the thing that I liked. Pam Godwin managed to take one fucked up hero and make his transition into someone more endearing and softer in a believable way. It didn’t happen in the blink of an eye, and I appreciated that because that would have completely killed the book for me. His road to redemption was a slow and painful one. Considering his background, history and parentage, I couldn’t envision this any other way.

His journey to redemption was slow, but believable and oh so satisfying when it came. The author truly makes you understand the damaged child beneath the cruel man. As much as you want to hate him for his actions, you can’t help but also feel for him at the same time. At least I know I did.

Fuck him, but he wanted to be her security, her anchor, her fucking everything. Not as her captor but as her lover.

I absolutely loved the epilogue. What a perfect way to end the book. If you’re a fan of dark romance, this is not to be missed.

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author, Pam Godwin, lives in the Midwest with her husband, their two children, and a foulmouthed parrot. When she ran away, she traveled fourteen countries across five continents, attended three universities, and married the vocalist of her favorite rock band.

Java, tobacco, and dark romance novels are her favorite indulgences, and might be considered more unhealthy than her aversion to sleeping, eating meat, and dolls with blinking eyes.

Facebook | Twitter | Website | Amazon | Goodreads

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Leave a Comment · Filed Under: All Reviews, Dark, Dirty Talkers, Erotic Rom · Tagged With: antihero, Book Reviews: 4.5 stars, dark, Deliver, Pam Godwin

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