Early Review: Her Naughty Holiday by Tiffany Reisz

Her Naughty Holiday: Clover Greene and Erick Fields

(Men at Work #2)

Expected publication: October 18th 2016

Summary:

From Goodreads.com

A feast she wasn't expecting!

Clover Greene would sooner crawl into her oven than host family for Thanksgiving dinner. Yet another annual ritual of too much food, served with a side of criticism over "Clover's Bad Life Choices." This year, she needs to distract them all—with a handsome fake boyfriend. And she has the perfect guy in mind.

Contractor Erick Fields is the poster boy for sexy single dads, and Clover has been secretly crushing on him for ages. She certainly wasn't expecting Erick to agree to her insane charade…or to add lots of hot, wicked sex to the deal. If they can pull it off, the worst Thanksgiving ever might give them something to be really thankful for!

Review:

Her Naughty Holiday is the second book in Tiffany Reisz’s Men at Work series featuring sexy men that create beautiful things with their hands. Their hands tend to be talented at other things as well. *wink wink*, because it wouldn’t be a Reisz novel without some awesome sexy times. Like the first book in this series this one is also heartwarming with some good laughs involved.

I enjoyed both Erick and Clover; however, I did not love this book as much as the first. That being said I still thoroughly enjoyed it, but when you read the two back to back it’s hard to not compare. Clover runs a successful nursery but is getting ready to close up shop for the weekend. It’s right before Thanksgiving and she can’t bare to deal with her passive aggressive family alone. Thankfully, her awesome teenaged assistant has a single sexy father who is up for being used this holiday season. Erick and Clover have been eying each other and Ruthie has had enough and she takes it upon herself to hook them up for the holidays.

So now that they have determined that Erick is going to be her “Sven” for Thanksgiving, hey decide that its probably a good idea that they get to know each other better on a one on one basis without Ruthie. From here on their chemistry explodes! Its laughs, good sex and Clover worrying about her family and Erick doing his best to calm Clovers nerves. I really liked Erick and Clover together, I feel like they balanced each other well and made a good team. Im happy I got a copy of this book to read. Thanks NetGalley and Harlequin!

ARC copy provided through NetGalley for an honest review. No other compensation was provided.

This review can also be seen on Brazen Babe Reviews

Review: Club Wonderland by Christine d'Abo

Club Wonderland: Gael Hernandez and Alice White

(Friends and Benefits #2)

Summary:

From Goodreads.com

Alice White isn’t used to being ignored. So when the object of her lust does just that, she’s bound and determined to get his attention. Her pursuit leads her to Wonderland, the kind of club she’s only read about, and suddenly Alice is craving something she never knew she needed.

Gael Hernandez wants to be the youngest partner at his prestigious law firm, and not even a certain tempting legal assistant can distract him from his goal of financially helping his family. Until she shows up at his favorite club and surprises him with an interest in being restrained. But the BDSM lifestyle is no game to him, and he won’t take things further until Alice is schooled into submission.

After a taste, Alice wants more. She offers to be Gael’s sub for one weekend, with nothing forbidden and no boundaries. In a few short days, he gives her the strength to be the person she’s always wanted to be. Now Alice just needs to convince Gael that he can dominate in the bedroom, and submit to love.

Review:

Club Wonderland by Christine d'Abo is the second book in the Friends and Benefits Series, I read the first book and really enjoyed it so I was happy when this book came up to request. I have always enjoyed d’Abo. I have to say, I preferred the first book in this series to this one. The character development in the first book was better, we had a better understanding of the characters and it was more humorous. Not that this book was even remotely bad, I definitely enjoyed it. The character development in this book wasn’t as good. We did learn some about Alice and her difficult relationship with her mother and her desire to please people. It was fun watching her explore her sexuality as well. Gael comes to us knowing what he likes and how he likes it, there is no exploration for him here, for him his exploration is more emotional. He’s never really had any emotional attachments to his subs and never really wanted one. Right now he has a lot at stake and Alice could blow all of that out of the water but I liked how he went for it anyway after a whole bunch of heming and hawing lol. Gael, while I did really like him he’s a great intense Dom but he is not as developed as Alice. He remains a bit of a mystery. There was also a bit of issue with the timing in this book. The beginning was a bit slow and the ending a bit rushed. Story was fun and since it is fairly short it did move along pretty quickly.

Review: Misbehaving by Tiffany Reisz

Misbehaving: Beatriz and Ben

Summary:

From Goodreads.com

Wanted: Adventurous, open-minded man willing to try anything…

As a popular sex blogger, Beatriz gets paid to have orgasms. So being on deadline the week of her sister’s wedding isn’t as rough as it sounds. There’s just one hitch: Bea’s assignment is to write a review of a sex position manual, but she doesn’t have a plus one to play with.

The good news: Ben, the one who got away back in college, is also attending stag--and he's as temptingly gorgeous as ever.

The bad news: Ben turned down Bea’s offer of graduation night sex five years ago.

The best news: He’s not planning on making the same mistake twice.

Review:

Misbehaving by Tiffany is a funny, fun romp back into Reisz’s wonderful twisted imagination. Here we have Bea who freelance writes for a sex blog, last minute she is handed a sex position manual for review for while she is at her little sister’s wedding and *gasp* she doesn’t have anyone to test the positions with. Enter Ben, Ben and Bea had a non-sexual thing in college and the one time Bea approached him to make it sexual he turned her down and she’s never quite forgotten the rejection and Ben has never quite gotten over Bea but he wasn’t ready for her. Now years later both realize they are still attracted to each other and each is free to experience with a sex position manual. It’s supposed to be no strings attached but with each new position new feels are brought to the surface.

I’ve always enjoyed Tiffany Reisz’s sense of humor but I’ve forgotten how much. The antics of Ben and Bea will have you cracking up but it ends up being the brother in law and bell hop that end up quite the scene stealers with their hilarious quips. We are used to the darker side of humor with Reisz from the Original Sinners Series, but this is pure fun. Reisz does rom-com with just as much enthusiasm as she does the darker humor with OS. Bea and Ben take us on a fun filled sexual journey that starts with their bodies and ends with their hearts. I thrilled enjoyed this short Red Hot Cosmo read and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone looking for a steamy funny read.

Review copy provided through NetGalley for an honest review. No other compensation was provided.

Review: The Dom Around The Corner by Christine d'Abo

The Dom Around The Corner: Simon and Gavin

(Escape #1)

Summary:

Simon is jaded. His bookstore is failing, his personal life is nonexistent, and he’s tired of the local scene. He’s desperate for a change, and hopes to find it at Escape, the hot new BDSM club in town.

What he finds there is Gavin. One look at the sexy submissive is all he needs to know that his trip to Escape was the right decision. And their night of no-holds-barred kinky sex feels like only the beginning . . . until his promising new sub vanishes with the dawn.

Then Gavin walks through the door of Simon’s bookstore—for business, not pleasure. To both of their surprise, he’s the consultant Simon hired to help save the store. As they work together, Simon realizes that he might have another shot at happiness, if only he can convince Gavin that he’s worth sticking around for.

Publisher's note: This title is a heavily revised re-issue of a prior story, Commanding Acquisitions, originally released in 2010.

Review:

The Dom Around the Corner by Christine d’Abo is a re-release, it was originally published in 2010 and per d’Abos note in the book she felt like she has grown as a writer and found a new home for this publication. I’ve been reading d’Abo for a few years and almost always enjoy her stories. Some I like better than others but it’s rare that I don’t like one at all. This one is a M/M D/s tale and I am not new to either genre, but if you are new to these genre’s you might not want to start here because it is fairly explicit and details. You might want to ease into these sexy times.  It’s a pretty short book so there isn’t a ton of character building but you get a pretty good sense of whom these characters are. Simon is our Dom and he definitely likes his control so it’s killing him that his business is failing so he works night and day to the detriment of his social life. It takes some needling from his cousin to get him to go out and get his “escape”. I found Simon a bit wishy washy and half the time he didn’t see to know what he wanted. I like Gavin better as a character, he is fighting some serious shit so I understand why he acts the way he does. Overall, it was a quick enjoyable read. I’d give it a 3.5 rating.

Review copy was provided through NetGalley for an honest review, no other compensation was provided.

You can also view this review on Brazen Babe Reviews

Review: Drawn Together by Lauren Dane

Drawn Together: Raven Smith and Jonah Warner

(Brown Family #5)

Summary:

From Goodreads.com

Beauty is more than skin-deep…

Tattoo artist Raven Smith is blunt and hard, broken and jaded, dark and beautiful. While she doesn’t hide her painful past, she does keep a wall around her heart. She’s free sexually—but no one gets to the real Raven beneath the prickly exterior.

With a voice like smoke, Jonah Warner is a smooth-talking, highly successful attorney, with a body that should never be hidden by a suit. He’s the kind of man who never takes no for an answer and always gets what he wants. And what he wants is Raven. She’s a survivor, and he finds that incredibly alluring.

Jonah gets under her skin in a way Raven has never experienced. He makes her break all her rules—including her no-monogamy rule.

But when a figure from Raven’s past shows up at the tattoo parlor and drops a bomb into her life, their relationship will face the ultimate challenge…

Review:

Ok, it is official I am DNFing this book. Not so much because it is bad, but because I just dont care. I could not bring myself to care about either Jonah or Raven as a couple or as individuals. I got to about 70% of the way through the book and my little Kindle timer told me I still had over an hour and a half of reading time left and I just could not bring myself to spend over another hour reading about two characters I just didn't care about. Maybe I could have gotten over the lack of connection with the characters if there was a good plot, but really there wasn't much of one. There is a lot of blah blah blah talking, mostly about Ravens hard knock childhood and how Jonah needed to help her break out of it. There is a lot of talk about kids and probably the most significant relationship in this book is between Raven and a toddler her best friends kid. There was a lot of blah blah blah talk about how much she loved that kid and how she is such a great "auntie", not my favorite subject in my erotica. There is also a lot Raven's friends telling her about there is just so much more about her then a cold hearted bitch and she is such a wonderful person, blah blah blah. Usually Im a sucker for a emotionally scared character but there was nothing about Raven that could not bring me in to care. Even when she revealed a doozy of a hard knock that would usually have my heart breaking, nothing... Jonah is ok I guess, nothing special. He spends a lot of time thinking about Ravens bad childhood and how she is such a strong woman and how he wants to help, but we don't really get a good look into what makes him tick. In theory he should be a stand out character but he doesn't really stand out or shine. Since this is erotica I suppose I should talk about the steam factor in this book. Again, lack luster for me. It starts out promising but quickly tapers off to guess what?! A lot of talking about doing and not as much actual doing. So as it turns out Jonah is a Dom and somehow brings out Raven's until now non-existent sub qualities. Out of the bedroom Raven does not have a single sub trait she does not have a hard time making eye contact for any period of time, no eagerness to please, absolutely nothing that would signify a sub. I guess she is supposed to be like Nora from the Original Sinners series by Tiffany Reisz but she just does not have Nora's confidence, or swagger to pull it off. She is supposed to be bi and promiscuous and her bestie is married to men; however, when he thinks about her newly found sub tendencies she thinks of herself as a freak? Really because being Bi is so much less freaky?? Jonah is like a half assed Dom, I didn't buy it for a second. I just couldn't take him seriously as a Dom. I've read my share of BDSM and usually a Dom has a certain quality of them, a commanding presence that Jonah just did not have. The D/s portion of this book just read as an afterthought to me. Like the author randomly thought, oh this is erotica I better throw some sort of kink in there, let's just go with the old staple D/s.. easy peasy.. and the effect was EH.. Im sure lots of people will end up loving this book especially fans of this series, but for me it was just a boring miss...

*This book was provided thru NetGalley for an honest review. No other compensation was provided.

Early Review: Meat by Opal Carew

Meat: Rex Keene and Rebecca

Summary:

From Goodreads.com

Just one taste isn't enough…

I ran into Rex Keene—literally—when I was trying to catch my flight and his muscled, tattooed arms stopped my fall.

Then our flight gets canceled, and we're stranded in the same hotel room together...it ended up being the steamiest night of my life.

All I knew is that I had to see him again.

I just didn’t expect him to show up a week later in the restaurant I manage…as our new head chef.

But the generous, tender man I spent that night with is gone; instead he’s arrogant, demanding, and terrorizing the staff.

But he won’t give up until we’re together – and I’m not sure I can stay away.

Which man is real?

Who is Rex Keene?

Review:

***Spoiler Alert! Pretty much this entire review is one big fat spoiler, but I feel you should read the spoiler to know what you're getting into.***

This book is literally one of the worst books I have read in a very long time. I dont usually give out too many 1 star ratings especially if I managed to make it to the end of the book. In the case of this book I can't really find much in redeemable qualities well except two things.. 1. The cover.. It is glorious! It's why I requested this title. I was thinking we were going to have a super hot tattooed bearded chef on our hands. And 2. The way they met was cute. They literally ran into each other in the airport and ended up being on the same flight. As a traveler I wouldnt mind that happening to me.... And now thats about all the good I have to say about this book.

So whats wrong with this book you ask?! Im so glad you asked, I would be delighted to tell you why this book was a glorious fail...

1. Unprotected sex... In this day and age this is just irresponsible writing. You can't have two people meet and that same day/night they are having unprotected sex with no conversations of any kind. No birth control talks, no clean record talks... nothing. What if a teenager was to pick up this book or hell I'm a grown adult in my 30's and even though I know its just fiction it still has some serious yick factor.. It only takes a few more words to have him wrap it up..

2. His "glorious" cock... He has a ginormous cock. She says its as thick as her forearm, long and the head is as large as a large plum. He says his large cock has been a burden and has affected the way he has lived his life. The author tried to go into how its affected his life but it seemed to cut off mid-thought never to be brought up again.. Now all the ways his glorious cock is referred too.. Including "glorious" as Im sure you have picked up on by now. I read the term "cockhead" more times than I ever wanted to in my life. The last sex scene they kept referring to his junk as "meat" hey they had to get the title in there someway. How thick and juicy his meat is, and how she likes. it. GAG! If I didnt love meat so much I might have been tempted to turn vegetarian. It got referred to as a spear at one point and than there is the cumming. His seed was constantly "heating" her up. He must have some super hot cum. Id get that checked out if I was him, with all that unprotected sex he may have caught something. lol.. Then there was another line, it involved his cum acting like a fountain.. yes my friends.. a fountain. Every time these two had sex I wanted to gag and since it's like 60% of the book, that is not a good thing.

"His seed erupting inside her. A deep fountain, filling her with his liquid heat."

3. Dom... He's a Dom?? Is the author sure about that? Mostly his Dom tendencies seem to be handcuffs. Rebecca is more of a Dom than him.. She'd be all like.. "I've been a bad girl! I need to be punished" and then he would be all like "Oh yeah, and how do you think you should be punished?" and then she would proceed in punishing herself by sucking on his glorious cockhead spear. Im just wondering how she fit her mouth around a forearm sized cockhead and spear? That's got to be a tight fit. Hope she minds the teeth. Wonder if he came in her mouth if his hot seed would burn her mouth from the heat? Hmm something to think about. or not..

4. Insta-love... So they meet in an airport, bang that night with little to no conversation, well she did cry on him at dinner to be fair. So he sets the expectations that he wont see her for a week when they arrive in Minnesota. Fair enough, but he doesn't call her either so Im not counting this week towards their time together. So she's gets back to work and poof there he is, the new head chef. He fired a bunch of people while she was out and got nicknames T-Rex. Turns out they were stealing, he caught it ON CAMERA and she still doesn't believe him. So almost immediately they are fighting or really she's giving him the silent treatment. So three days later there is a meeting and she's still pissed off at him and calls him out in a meeting. Later that night, there is a snow storm and guess where she ends up?? Thats right, his room! Again, very little talking. So that very night she tells him she loves him! WTF! So what is that like 3 days (of which she was giving the silent treatment) and 2 nights of sex. The very next day, she gets mad at him again and storms off not to talk to him for the whole weekend. Monday rolls around she's still mad at him and wont talk to him. Tuesday is a big meeting and a secret is revealed and she's still mad at him but he drags her off to finally talk to her to see some reason and guess what.. They have sex again and finally have a convo that doesn't involve her storming off and then he proposes.. Yes my friends.. proposed marriage to this crazy person who is always mad, not talking to him or storming off. So that took what like a week? 8 days?? Its completely crazy and unbelievable. (hide spoiler)]

I think those are the major points on this book and why I disliked it. Personally if any of these things irritate you, save yourself two hours and skip this one. I wish I had. Sadly this is my first book by this author and I'm pretty sure it'll be my last. It left a bad taste in my mouth.

Review: Beyond Innocence by Kit Rocha

Beyond Innocence: Jared and Lili Fleming

(Beyond #6)

Summary:

From Goodreads.com

For years, Jared has existed on the fringes of both Eden society and Dallas O'Kane's Sector Four gang. He travels between these worlds, protected by his money and power--money he earned selling his body, and power that comes from knowing secrets. He's untouchable—until he starts a new life gathering intelligence for the O'Kanes.

Lili Fleming walked out of Sector Five with a gun, the bloodstained clothes on her back, and an icy determination to survive. She finds herself in a world where people live hard and love harder, and nothing's more terrifying than how much the O'Kanes wake her up, make her feel—especially Jared.

Emotion is a risk he can't afford, and a complication she doesn't need. But neither can resist the lust simmering between them, and the sparks that could either melt the ice around both their hearts…or get them killed. Because the only thing more dangerous than loving an O'Kane is loving a spy.

Review:

I've loved everything Kit Rocha has written and this is no exception. Jared and Lily were perfect together. They aren't my favorite couple but they do have some shining moments. Lily popped out of her drug addiction pretty easily, no withdrawals or anything which wasn't very realistic but whatevs it wasn't a central plot to the story except for the very beginning. Lily might be a little wide eyed but she is no innocent. She's seen, lived and heard things that most people will never be exposed to. She came to Sector Four with blood on her hands and pockets full of drugs. After months in an unfeeling daze she meets Jared, finds a sense of comfort with him and begins to awaken. He forces her eyes wide open and makes her look, really look not only at the O'Kanes but deep into herself and she finds there has been a lot lurking inside that she's finally ready to face, with Jared's help.

Jared has been on the fringes of O'Kane society for most of the series. Jared and Ace have had a lifelong friendship and are sometimes lovers. Ace has been trying to get Jared to join the O'Kanes for years. But Ace doesn’t know everything. Jared is good at two things: Sex and collecting secrets usually at the same time. Money is easy, money he’s got.. Now secrets, that's a currency that will never lose value. When he takes Lily under his wing he’s not expecting to feel anything for her, as his emotions got shut down a long time ago, but in opening her eyes, he opens his own….

**Review copy provided through the authors for an honest review. No other compensation was provided.

Review: Coming Back by Lauren Dane

Coming Back by Lauren Dane

(Ink & Chrome #3)

Summary;

From Goodreads.com

Arriving back in Seattle after five years, Jessilyn Franklin is done pretending she didn't want two men. She's done letting anything stop her from being with Adam and Mick, now back from the war and working at Twisted Steel, a custom hot rod and motorcycle shop. One night changes everything, but their relationship must strengthen to weather the storms they'll face as they make their way back to one another.

Review:

Ok, I am officially done, no more Lauren Dane books for me. They are just too hit and miss.. More misses than hits and I no longer want to attempt to weed through which will be the rare hit. It’s like she tries to take on too much in the way of kink and it doesn’t translate well. Here we have a threesome situation and a D/s situation (I think) all in one. I say pick one, if you can’t do one of them well then you certainly aren’t going to do two in one well. Just saying. It’s like kink #2 just gets thrown in there as an afterthought. I dont think I would mind so much if the plot was substantial enough to carry the story despite that, but sadly, this one wasn’t.  We basically just get dropped into the middle of a relationship with little back story and we are just supposed to buy into it. It just wasn’t working for me, I want to know what happened, why do they feel the way they do? We have questions, you would think they would get answered throughout the course of the book, they dont. So anyway I had some high hopes for this book, hoping we would be back to the level of the first book but I was left disappointed.. Again. I know a lot of people LOVED this book, but I was just not one of them.

**Review copy was provided for an honest review. No other compensation was provided.

Review: No Remedy by Christine d'Abo

No Remedy - Mace Simms, Alec Roiten and Byron

(Bounty #2)

Summary:

From Goodreads.com

For months, Mace Simms has been seeking an antidote for the poison killing her mentor. Her only hope is Alec Roiten, a brilliant scientist hiding on a backwater planet. Posing as a research assistant, Mace offers the elusive genius all the help she can, ignoring the explosive chemistry between them. Soon they’re close to a cure.

But then Alec’s former love Byron shows up, attempting to claim a bounty on Alec’s head, and all that careful research gets left behind when they’re forced to flee. And when Byron realizes the tip-off about Alec was a ruse by his rivals to lure him out into the open to kill him, the bounty hunt turns into a three-person scramble for survival.

Byron wants his old lover back, Alec is consumed by a haunting secret about the poison he’s desperate to defeat, and Mace is caught between them. But she’s beginning to think that’s exactly where she belongs as the three are drawn together in their race against death.

Review:

This book is steamy hot hot hot… It’s a M/F/M trio, and oooWeee they get creative.  When we start this story Mace and Alex are fighting their mutual attraction. They are working on a remedy for Faolans illness, they are getting close to a cure but Alex’s past has caught up with him in the form of bounty hunters. The first one that finds Alex is his old lover, Byron. Mace, Alex and Byron have to flee the planet together Mace and Alex need to continue to work on the cure. Alex has to make amends so he is working like the devil is on his tail.

Byron begins to feel useless as he has nothing to do while they work.  As he watches them work his past feels grow for Alex and he feels himself and starts to become attracted to Mace.  As they work Byron discovers that maybe he does have a use, Alex and Mace are overworked they need him to lose themselves and he’s just the man to do it.

Mace was always attracted to Alex but she knows that Alex and Byron have a past and she can tell that they have unresolved feelings for each other. She is honored that for this brief time she gets to belong to these two men but she knows it’s not permanent.

Alex is tormented by his past. He never meant for any of it to happen and now he is doing all he can to make amends but he knows it’ll never be enough. He’s come to care for Mace and it’s the least he can do to work with her to find a cure for her mentor. As he continues to work his unresolved feelings for Byron continue to grow as do his feeling for Mace. He’s not sure how he can do this without either of them.

Together these three come together to form a perfect trifecta. I really enjoyed their journey separately as well as together.  As mentioned this book is smokin hot, these three have some serious chemistry together. I quite enjoyed reading this book; I don’t think I liked it as much as the first. The first just had a bit more humor involved mostly due to Faolon’s devil may care attitude. Don’t worry we do get more of him in this book, I promise! This was a very solid and quick read and I much recommend it. 

No Quarter by Christine d'Abo

No Quarter - Gar Stitt and Captain Faolan Wolf

(Bounty #1)

Summary:

When bounty hunter Gar Stitt is given a simple locate-and-retrieve mission, he’s convinced it’s a waste of his skills. His success rate is legendary, after all, and Captain Faolan Wolf isn’t hard to find. He’s the most notorious pirate in the galaxy, and when he shows up planetside to take his pleasures, he’s far from subtle.

Faolan never expected a hot but tightly wound hunter to walk into his private party and try to apprehend him single-handedly. And when an unexpected betrayal forces them to work together, Faolan’s even more surprised to find himself drawn to Gar personally—especially since neither of them do personal.

Gar had intended to put Faolan in prison. Instead he finds his solitary existence shaken by his desire for the pirate. And when the bounty hunter becomes the hunted, he must put his faith in Faolan and his pirate crew, or run the risk of ending up dead.

Review:

I haven’t read a M/M book and a while and picked this one up as a rec from Sarah from www.feelingfictional.com . We both enjoy Christine D’Abo as a general rule and this one did not disappoint. I enjoyed it much more than I was expecting. Faolan was quite funny and loved messing up Gar’s perfectly ordered routine. Gar likes structure and Faolan is getting into his life and messing everything up. It’s taking Gar well out of his comfort zone but he can’t seem to stay away from Faolan. 

The sexual tension between these two is actually quite heated. In the beginning Gar is drugged by a sexual stimulant and of course Faolan is happy to offer up his services. They have approximately 3 days to enjoy each other’s company before they reach Faolan’s ship and they plan to make the most of it. When Gar is betrayed they team up and we embark on a crazy erotic trip across space.

It’s a fairly short read but a very enjoyable one. Faolan and Gar have sizzling chemistry and endearing feelings towards one another. But their relationship has a time limit as all is not what it seems with Faolan. Find out what he is hiding and read this book! 

Review: Better with You by Lexxie Couper

Better with You: Charlie Baynard and Dani De Vries

(Outback Skies #4)

Summary:

From Goodreads.com

"There's nothing hotter than a killer love story."

"Outback Skies," Book 4

Charlie Baynard is an average Outback cop. Protecting the people in his small town and flying through the Outback skies in his police chopper suits him just fine. But there’s a side to him that no one knows about. Like the fact he used to be one of the Australian government s best assets, and his name isn’t really Charlie.

A dangerous past conditioned Charlie to be afraid of nothing and no one. Except for the woman who knows "exactly" who he really is. His wife. And if the reports that she’s headed for Wallaby Ridge are true, he’s got two choices arrest her or kill her. Before she kills him.

Dani De Vries never questioned orders and was paid to do things that put her on a lot of most-wanted lists. Then Charlie entered her life and things shifted. Now Dani is on the run, hunted by dangerous people. But not as dangerous as the man she never meant to fall in love with her husband.

If only she can find him in time. And convince him not to put a bullet between her eyes.

"Warning: The hero and heroine in this romance are dangerous. And violent. And don’t pull any punches, in or out of bed. And they spend a lot of time in bed having a lot of sex. A "lot" of sex.""

Review:

Better with You by Lexxie Couper is the fourth book in the Outback Skies Series. I have read most of the books in this series and have really enjoyed them. They are usually really quick reads but pack quite the punch. In this case it is not my favorite of the series, my favorite was probably the last one but I really did enjoy this one.

There was an exciting mix of sexual tension, violence and sex. Dani and Charlie have a history part good, part bad and when Dani shows up again Charlie knows it can’t be good. And he is right, with Dani’s presence in the outback trouble soon follows but is it of Dani’s making or is it Charlies past catching up with him? Lucky for us we get to find out!

I’ve liked Charlie from previous books and that continues into this book. He’s a protector at heart no matter what he is doing. The outback might not be the most exciting place but he’s had plenty of excitement in his lifetime and the quiet is exactly what he needs. Dani has to prove to Charlie as well as the reader that she is genuine in her interest towards Charlie and not out to kill him. We have a short time to discover her true intentions. Duntaduhh….

**Review copy provided through NetGalley for an honest review. No other compensation provided.

It's Time!!! Beyond Ruin by Kit Rocha

Blurb for Beyond Ruin

The sectors will never be the same...

Adrian Maddox fled his royal life—and tragic past—in Sector One, choosing instead to join up with the O’Kanes. For years, he’s lived by one rule: love fast, love hard, and always be willing to walk away. He’s managed to guard his heart, keep it whole and untouched—until now.

They couldn’t be more different—Dylan, the brilliant, burned-out doctor from Eden who drowns his pain with drugs and self-destruction. Scarlet, the sensuous, sexy rocker from Three, a woman unafraid to embrace the world. And Jade, the whore turned spy from Sector Two, who battled addiction and came out stronger than anyone he’s ever met.

Separately, they make Mad long to open his heart, to tumble head-first into a sea of possibilities and wild love. Together, they make him burn, inside and out, with lust and unbearable, unimaginable pleasure.

Then one fateful moment shakes their world to its foundations—and leaves the sectors on the verge of all-out war with Eden. It’s the biggest fight the O’Kanes have ever faced, and Mad and his lovers are at the dead center of it. They could end up with everything they never knew they wanted—or lose it all. Including their lives.

Links

Beyond Ruin:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Ruin-7-Kit-Rocha-ebook/dp/B01BT7NGYO/

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/beyond-ruin-beyond-book-7/id1084245986?mt=11

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/ebook/beyond-ruin-beyond-book-7

ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-beyondruinbeyondbook7-1985114-340.html

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/beyond-ruin-kit-rocha/1123421599?ean=2940157997083

Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Kit_Rocha_Beyond_Ruin?id=OA-TCwAAQBAJ&hl=en

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18392421-beyond-ruin
On Kit's site: http://kitrocha.com/book/beyond-ruin/

Kit Rocha

Website: http://www.kitrocha.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thebrokencircle
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kitrocha

Review: Pretty When You Cry by Skye Warren

Pretty When You Cry: Ivan and Candace 

(Stripped #3)

Pretty When You Cry on Amazon

Summary:

From Goodreads.com

A new dark romance novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Wanderlust and Prisoner…

I came from a place of dirt floors and holy scriptures. They told me the world outside was full of sin, and the first night I escape, I find out it’s true. Ivan saves me, but he does more than that. He takes me. He makes me his own girl.

My conditioning runs too deep. Ivan sees what I am.

That’s the thing about showing a mouse to a cat. He wants to play. And it’s terrifying, even for me. Because the only thing darker than my past is his.

Review:

This was a mixed bag for me...

It is a dark erotic novel which I knew going in so that wasn't really an issue for me. The issues I had were Ivan was pretty underdeveloped as a character by the end of the book we knew very little about him. His back story constituted about a page out of the entire book. I wanted to know more about his childhood, how he took himself from the streets to being one of the most powerful men in the city. These are the things the reader is interested in, this is what makes us bond with the character. I can't say I bonded much with Ivan.

But that wasn't even my biggest issue with the book.. My biggest issue was the sexy times. Ivan has a Daddy complex, he wants to be called Daddy and he wants to treat Candace like a daughter which just creeps me the hell out. I had a father whom I called daddy pretty much all of my childhood so to even think about Daddy in any sort of intimate situation makes me want to gag a little or a lot. I get Ivan’s desire to take care of Candace, the reward and punishment and even the innocence (This isn't my first rodeo after all) but just the incorporation of Daddy into the mix... I just mentally go there.

So other than skipping over a lot of the sexy times, I actually liked the story. Candace's had a difficult past and now under Ivan's protection she is doing better but her past won’t stay in the past. Now she is being threatened and there is no way Ivan is going to let that continue. So we are taken down Candy's journey how she got to where she is today, how she has changed, how she hasn't, how she discovers she needs to change. It’s a good emotional journey that I enjoyed being taken down.

*Review copy was provided for a honest review, no other compensation was provided. 

Review: After Hours by Cara McKenna

After Hours: Erin Coffey and Kelly Robak

After Hours on Goodreads

After Hours on Amazon

Summary:

From Goodreads.com

A dangerous infatuation with a rough and ready man…

Erin Coffey has been a nurse for years, but nothing’s prepared her for the physical and emotional demands of her new position. Needing to move closer to her dysfunctional family, she takes a dangerous job at Larkhaven Psychiatric Hospital, where she quickly learns that she needs protection—and she meets the strong, over-confident coworker who’s more than willing to provide it.

Kelly Robak is the type of guy that Erin has sworn she’d never get involved with. She’s seen firsthand, via her mess of a sister, what chaos guys like him can bring into a woman’s life. But she finds herself drawn to him anyway, even when he shows up at her door, not eager to take no for an answer.

What Erin finds even more shocking than Kelly’s indecent proposal is how much she enjoys submitting to his every command. But he can’t play the tough guy indefinitely. If they want to have more than just an affair, both will have to open up and reveal what they truly need.

After Hours by Cara McKenna

Erin Coffey and Kelly Robak

Summary:

From Goodreads.com

A dangerous infatuation with a rough and ready man…

Erin Coffey has been a nurse for years, but nothing’s prepared her for the physical and emotional demands of her new position. Needing to move closer to her dysfunctional family, she takes a dangerous job at Larkhaven Psychiatric Hospital, where she quickly learns that she needs protection—and she meets the strong, over-confident coworker who’s more than willing to provide it.

Kelly Robak is the type of guy that Erin has sworn she’d never get involved with. She’s seen firsthand, via her mess of a sister, what chaos guys like him can bring into a woman’s life. But she finds herself drawn to him anyway, even when he shows up at her door, not eager to take no for an answer.

What Erin finds even more shocking than Kelly’s indecent proposal is how much she enjoys submitting to his every command. But he can’t play the tough guy indefinitely. If they want to have more than just an affair, both will have to open up and reveal what they truly need.

Review:

Why oh why did I not read this book sooner?! It’s been hanging out in my needs to be read and reviewed pile for about a month now and just kept getting pushed back. I’ve never read Cara McKenna before and wasn’t sure what to expect so put it off a little. I am seriously regretting that now! This book was so freak’n good! What I think I loved the most about this book is that the characters are just so REAL! They are just everyday people very easy to relate too. No one is a young, hot billionaire or a hiding out actor who just wants to be normal. Erin and Kelly have problems like everyone else, a shared rough around the edges childhood which they managed to turn out ok despite of. Their issues while not fun and have affected them they are not too heartbreaking. Kelly has control issues, in that he needs to have it and Erin has “mother” issues in that she needs to feel needed and hates to ask for help. The romance that develops actually occurs quite fast but it doesn’t feel like it, it feels like they have known each much longer than they actually do. And even then there are no declarations of undying love after one week of knowing each other which tends to happen a lot in romance and erotica romance. It just feels like everything unfolds naturally and realistically.

Kelly is a dominating personality, he is an orderly at the hospital but his job is more to keep order among the disorderly, kind of a like a psych ward bouncer. LOL! He is very upfront and transparent. He knows what he wants and will tell you what it is, and he wants Erin. He wants her in his bed, in his shower, on the couch and anywhere else he can think of obeying his every command. He has a gruff exterior and demeanor but every now and then he lets us glimpse the softy inside and it has the same effect on the reader as it does Erin, it makes you melt a little on the inside. I want a Kelly for my very own. A man that you can depend on one that will give you the hottest sex of your life controlling your very orgasms but outside of the sack he’s a partner someone that that will be there through thick and thin.

I enjoyed Erin as a character, she is totally believable. As she is trying to keep her cool at work and keep an emotional distance from Kelly you are failing right along with her. She knows she is in way over her head with him and like women everywhere that bite off more than they can chew she struggles to maintain the separation between her heart and her body, but Kelly just does not make it easy on her. Every time he offends her feminist sensibilities he does something to make up for it. How do you defend against that!? You just can’t! She fights the good fight, but really you know she’s going to lose, she knows she’s going to lose but the fun is in the battle and Kelly and Erin have a great battle of wills. Erin’s biggest problems throughout the book are her assumptions. She wants to stick Kelly into the same category as all the men her mom and sister date but he just won’t stay in that category. She also assumes his intentions towards her. She assumes it’s a one-time deal, but Kelly has other intentions of taking her to bed as often as she’ll let him. If she didn’t make so many assumptions she probably wouldn’t have had so much internal conflict, but where is the fun in that, if it’s too easy? She also has some weird feminist views, I mean I kind of consider myself somewhat of a feminist but I’m not sure what being a feminist has to do with pubic hair or a man putting his hand in your hair while in bed play, but whatev’s, minor details. Lol

From beginning to end I adored this book, I’ve already read it twice and didn’t want it to end the first time round. The sex is off the chain hot, seriously sexy as hell! DAMN! The story is realistic and you get a very good idea of what makes each of the characters tick. In just over 200 pages you know who Kelly and Erin are, some full length books you can’t say the same of. Cara McKenna is also a fantastic writer. This book is incredibly well written. I’ve read some books lately whereas the story is good, the actual execution of writing, is not as good. I felt the difference in the quality of writing from the very first page. If nothing else you can appreciate a well written book.

I highly recommend this book to any romance lover out there! Ms. McKenna just bagged herself a brand new fan with this one!

*This book was provided through NetGalley for an honest review. No other compensation was provided.

*This review can also be seen on Let's get Romantical 

Review: The Professional: Part 3 by Kresley Cole

The Professional: Part 3 - Aleksandr "The Siberian" Sevastyan and Natalie Porter 

(The Game Maker #1.3)

Summary:

From Goodreads.com

Are you ready to play?

Yet all is not as it seems. To remove Natalie from an enemy's reach, Sevastyan spirits her into hiding. From an opulent palace in Russia to the decadent playgrounds of the mega-wealthy in Paris, the two lovers will discover that even their darkest - and most forbidden - fantasies can come true…

Review:

The Professional Part Three by Kresley Cole is the third and final part (at least as far as I know) of Sevastyan and Natalie’s story. I don’t think this is the last we will see of this series as a couple of things are revealed in this installment that can mean possibly a couple of new match ups. At least that’s what I am hoping for anyway! Sevastyan’s mysterious connection and helper pops up in this book and he’s just as dark and broody as Sevastyan and I definitely wasn’t to see more of him, maybe a possible match up with Natalie’s feisty friend Jess?

In this book we leave off right where we left off in part two and holy ish this book is freak’n knock your socks off hot! Kresley Cole does not hold back in this installment. Sevastyan doesn’t ease Natalie into the BDSM lifestyle. Where we leave off K. Cole has us walking into an uber rich fantasy playground sex club in the heart of Paris. Sevastyan and Natalie have a private (or is it) room with all of the goodies. He tests her resolve and is surprised just how much she really wants him, he expects to scare her off (again) and yet again she surprises him with her desires. With Natalie strung up and bound Sevastyan takes her to the very heights only to drop her the next day. Natalie and Sevastyan while burn up the sheets at night, they have a very strained relationship by day. Natalie is determined to have all of Sevastyan and won’t give herself freely until she does. Sevastyan can’t give all of himself to Natalie with his past still effecting his present and future. Natalie does not give up; however, this girl has some moxy! She has no problem standing up to her man, regardless of how deadly he is. Throughout these three parts we get to watch the battle of wills, and my money has been on Natalie from the get go, I think her will is even stronger than Sevastyan’s and that is saying something. Sevastyan has done nothing but battle through life, through his childhood, through life on the streets, life in the mafia. Now, he has his greatest wish in front of him and he’s battling to keep her, but, he can see he’s losing the war with Natalie and its killing him. A little bit of a red head is bringing him to his knees and he doesn’t know what to do. He shows Natalie how much he cares the only way he knows how, with his body, but it’s not enough.

This installment is hotter than the first two which is saying a lot considering just how steamy the first two are. Natalie and Sevastyan don’t lack in the sexual chemistry department, but they struggle in the communication department. I loved Natalie and Sevastyan as characters both separate and together. I loved their stories and what brought them together. Cole never fails to pull me into the story and feel for the characters. My only issue with this installment is that the ending felt a bit rushed, the big reveal into Sevastyan’s past and the resulting actions came very late into this installment and was kind of like puff here it is and now all is fixed. I just think I expected a little bit more. I wasn’t disappointed by any means, but I felt like the reveal maybe should have happened a little bit sooner or more after the reveal. In any event I thoroughly enjoyed this installment and this book as a whole. For those who were waiting for all three installments to come out before you started reading, it is now safe to lose yourself in this highly erotic and wildly entertaining series. Enjoy! I know I did!

*This copy was provided to me through NetGalley for an honest review. No other compensation was provided.