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.

Review: The Professional: Part 2 by Kresley Cole

The Professional: Part 2 - Aleksandr "The Siberian" Sevastyan and Natalie Porter

(The Game Maker #1.2)

Summary:

From Goodreads.com

He makes the rules...

Mafiya enforcer Aleksandr "The Siberian" Sevastyan’s loyalty to his boss is unwavering, until he meets the boss’s long-lost daughter, a curvy, tantalizing redhead who haunts his mind and heats his blood like no other. Ordered to protect her, Sevastyan will do anything to possess her as well—on his own wicked terms.

Rules are made to be broken...

PhD student Natalie Porter had barely recovered from her first sight of the breathtakingly gorgeous Sevastyan before the professional hit man whisks her away to Russia, thrusting her into a world of extreme wealth and wanton pleasures. With every day she spends under his protection, she falls deeper under his masterful spell.

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 Two by Kresley Cole is a hot and steamy three part series and when I say it is hot and steamy, it is HOT and STEAMY!! Part two picks up right where part one left off, in the steam room/house. Sevastyan is bent on seduction, no matter the consequences. Sevastyan is a man that NEEDS control and his sex life is no exception. In Part One he tried to scare Natalie off with his predilection towards control but instead she went up in flames. When we are in the steam room he is using everything in his arsenal to get Natalie to agree to his terms and his arsenal is quite impressive. Only problem now, is Natalie, now that she knows the consequences of taking up with Sevastyan she’s not quite as willing to give up her “skin tag”. What I like about Natalie is she stands up to Sevastyan, he is a force of nature but she can hold her own. She is demanding in her own right. She knows she is young and her life has been turned upside down and she knows she is in no state to make any more life altering decisions. So when Sevastyan tries to force her hand, she stands up for what she wants. Then everything changes… again… Now she’s on the run with Sevastyan. And their desire for one another only escalates, but something has changed. Sevastyan still worships her body but something has changed, he still takes control but now he treats her as a fragile doll. Sevastyan is just a broody, gorgeous, and dangerous as he was in the first book. I think you may get a little more addicted to Sevastyan as this series goes on. He has a shitty ass childhood but he pulled himself out of the gutter and is now a powerful man with deep dark desires and all of it is centered on Natalie now. Natalie has had a pretty ideal upbringing but everything seems like it keeps getting yanked out from under her. Even now with Sevastyan she can’t seem to keep her feet about her, she wants to know everything about him, but he keeps pulling back. But Natalie is a bit of a spitfire and she keeps at him, determined to batter down the walls he has erected around him. She is a demanding lil bit of a thing, she knows what she wants and she is not backing down. This book is all about a battle of wills; Natalie is determined to win… everything. When the book ends it’s at such a good part I literally threw my Kindle across the bed and yelled damn it! This book is even hotter than the first and Natalie is about to win the battle maybe not the war…yet.. but the battle when it just ends… ends!!… I need the third book, like now! Kresley Cole, why are you torturing us like this! I just realized it’s like a Sevastyan technique taking us to the edge only to back off! Damnit! Ms. Cole, you are a Mistress of writing, anything you want to write, I will read!

*ARC provided through NetGalley for an honest review no other compensation was provided.

Review: The Professional: Part 1 by Kresley Cole

The Professional: Part 1 - Aleksandr "The Siberian" Sevastyan and Natalie Porter

(The Game Maker #1.1)

Summary:

From Goodreads.com

He makes the rules . . .

Mafiya enforcer Aleksandr "The Siberian" Sevastyan’s loyalty to his boss is unwavering, until he meets the boss’s long-lost daughter, a curvy, tantalizing redhead who haunts his mind and heats his blood like no other. Ordered to protect her, Sevastyan will do anything to possess her as well—on his own wicked terms.

Rules are made to be broken . . .

PhD student Natalie Porter had barely recovered from her first sight of the breathtakingly gorgeous Sevastyan before the professional hit man whisks her away to Russia, thrusting her into a world of extreme wealth and wanton pleasures. With every day she spends under his protection, she falls deeper under his masterful spell.

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 One by Kresley Cole was different than I expected. I’m not even sure what I expected but when I first heard of this series by my favorite author all I really remember is mafia hitman and former prize fighter (I never read the blurb beyond the original announcement) and I have to admit I was kinda… ehhhh we will have to see on this one, plus I wasn’t too thrilled it’s in installments. I am so mad at myself for even doubting Kresley Cole! I promise it will never happen again! I’m still not happy this series is in installments but that is because of course its cut off at a particularly good part and damnit I want to know what happens next and in typical fashion I don’t want to wait!

So I expected to not really to be too thrilled with the hitman part of this book, but I have to admit K. Cole did a really good job with Sevastyan. He’s all dark, brooding, loyal, mysterious and of course loves his control! He is extremely loyal to his boss who is more like a father and in extension to Natalie, but his attraction to Natalie while not forbidden holds some serious consequences. He is not one to act on impulse, but Natalie is a temptation he may not be able to deny, to hell with the consequences. Natalie was also a nice surprise; here we have another virgin alert… However, she is no blushing innocent. She has a great sense of humor (enter trademark K.C. humor here) an arsenal of “toys”, watches porn, drinks like the 20 something she is and her moral compass can be a bit flexible. She decides she wants Sevastyan and goes after him like a vet rather than the technical virgin she is. While she might not have “gone all the way” that never really stopped her from doing research. She was just waiting to feel an all-encompassing passion, which she has finally found with her father’s right hand man. She kind of reminds me of Sabine from the IAD series but not as brash.

When Natalie is swept from her boring existence in Nebraska into her father’s world in Russia she sees the shades of gray. I really expected Natalie to be much more appalled by her new fathers “business” but she really took it all in stride. I really think Cole did the right thing in setting this in another country. So basically all American Mafia preconceived notions get to be thrown out the window without any guilt. Well played Cole, well played… Natalie’s father turns out to be really enjoyable and likeable. Who knew!?

Since this is erotica, I feel like I would be remiss if I don’t even mention the steam factor in this book which is off the chain. The force of the pull between Sevastyan and Natalie is all consuming and as the reader you can definitely feel it. On the outside these two seem like complete opposites, the soft, sweet kind hearted virgin versus the hard, edgy, dangerous, experienced man. Both are seething in their attraction to each other, each feel an all-consuming need to be physical. Though Natalie has no problem going after Sevastyan, she doesn’t realize the consequences like Sevastyan does. She’s new to the feelings of lust and desire that Sevastyan brings about in her; she doesn’t particularly care what getting sexually involved with Sevastyan would mean for both her and him in this new found world she is in. She just knows she has never felt this way before and she wants to hand in her V-card and she wants to hand it to Sevastyan and is definitely not shy about trying to make that happen. Sevastyan understands what getting into a sexual relationship would mean, so he does his best to avoid the temptation that is Natalie, but it doesn’t go so well. First he attempts to scare her off with his sexuality, but that just backfired and ended up being one of the most intense moments he ever experienced. His dominance was supposed to scare her, but she just ended up loving it! It wasn’t supposed to be this way…

**review copy provided through NetGalley for an honest review, no other compensation was provided. This review also was originally on my wordpress blog but I lost it when I stopped paying for it, so if it looks familiar you might have seen it there. 

Review: The Master by Kresley Cole

The Master: Maksimilian Sevastyan and Catarina Marín

(The Game Maker #2)

Summary:

From Goodreads.com

Everyone fears the Master...

Rich, irresistible politician/Mafya boss Maksimilian Sevastyan prefers tall, obedient blondes to fulfill his... complicated desires. That is, until the icy Russian encounters a disobedient brunette whose exquisite little body threatens his legendary restraint.

Except her.

Catarina Marín was a well-off young wife until her world fell apart. Now she’s hiding out, forced to start working as an escort in Miami. Her very first client is beyond gorgeous, but when he tells her what he plans to do to her, Cat almost walks out of the door.

If pleasure is a game, play to win.

After their mind-blowing encounter burns out of control, the lovers crave more. If they escape the deadly threats surrounding them, can Maksim overcome his past—to offer Cat his future? Only then will she tempt him with what he really wants: her, all tied up with a bow.

Review: 

I don’t know what took me so long to read this book... I mean I love Kresley Cole, I'd marry her and have her kids except I’m not a lesbian and I have no desire to have kids, plus she's already married so that plan was doomed before it began. So why did I wait? Hell if I know but I was only a couple of chapters in before I realized my mistake. Because I loved this book! It ensnared me from the beginning.  Politician/Mafia billionaire falls in love with escort... It's almost Pretty Woman and who doesn't love that movie?! Iconic! Anyway, Maks is a whole lot scarier then Richard Gear and Cat is sassy like Julia Roberts, tho not a red head... a mouthy Latina instead. 

Cat agrees to this one night, this one guy because she needs cash and needs it fast, she can almost feel Edward her murderous husband breathing down her neck and she needs to split town and fast.  Maks ordered a tall blonde eastern European sub, what he gets is a fiery Latina with an ass to die for and a snarky sense of humor... Even worse... She demands her own pleasure. Imagine!

The interaction between these two is highly amusing. Cat basically ignores all of Maks wishes and he is dumbfounded... That has never happened to him before. He doesn't know what to do with her, so He does the only thing he can think of and f*%$@k's her brains out. It's a new form of addiction for both of them. After their 2nd encounter Maks ensures she isn't going to leave him until he is done with her... Cat takes exception to that and her little plots to aggravate him begin and I found it humorous. She's not one to let these circumstances change her personality. Maks takes it all in stride although he doesn't give anything away you wonder if he's not enjoying it just a little bit. When these two are not engaging in a battle of wills they are having off the charts sexy times! I'm surprised their sheets didn’t spontaneously combust from their passion!  When the book starts you think you are going to get another Natalie and Aleks kink but it quickly changes... Not saying there isn't any kink but it's a lot tamer than the Professional but no less hot. Overall, from beginning to end I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I don’t think it exceeded the Professional for me... but it wasn't close behind!

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