“Every once in a while, in the middle of our ordinary lives, love gives us a fairy tale.”

I’ve loved fairy tales since I was a little girl—from Cinderella to Beauty in the Beast to modern romances that feel like fairy tales. Fairy tales are just…SIGH…magical and mesmerizing. These magical stories transport me to a wonderful fantasy world that sometimes feels very raw and real. Royal Scandal by Marquita Valentine is a feel-good, friends-to-lovers fairy tale of a romance dipped in suspense that will make your heart dance!

Royal Scandal enraptured and ensnared me from the start, this slow burn of a book with more sweetness than steam became my obsession. This fairy tale twisted itself around all of me. It did not let go; I did not let go. Royal Scandal with its sweet and spicy story along with a fusion of Southern sass and charming Brit demeanor was the magical mixture for a moving romance.

Crown Prince Colin Sinclair is tall, green-eyed, dark-haired, and handsome with a caring personality, delicious body and dirty-talking mouth. He puts his family first even over his love life. Until he stumbled upon the beautiful, red-haired and blue-eyed, Della Hughes, the caretaker and housekeeper of his new American estate of which he and his family fled from his British country under exile.

At just seventeen when he fled his country to America, Colin felt a connection to the fifteen year-old Della, a spark when she challenged him immediately.

“I feel as if I’ve found a kindred soul in her.”

Colin and Della became fast friends, though fighting the chemistry that loomed between them for ten long years. Ten years until Colin’s exile may be lifted if he claims a bride. To Colin, that would be heaven to finally get his hands on forbidden territory, jump out of that friend zone into more.

“Della. My best friend. The woman of my dreams. Forever off-limits…until now.”

Colin has to convince Della to become his bride, to possibly toss friendship aside for more. Maybe Della wants Colin as much as he does her.

“My head is inundated with her image, of all the ways I want to have her. The hundreds of ways I want to kiss every inch of her body. Make her mine in every way possible.”

Oh was Colin Mr. Prince Charm-the-Panties off of me. Della is one lucky lady! I want to suddenly be the Cinderella to this perfect prince.

“We’re friends and friends don’t sleep together.”

Della will do anything for her best friend, Colin, including marrying him but in name only. Though their platonic plans become a challenge when the combustible chemistry surrounds them like the air they breathe.

“I don’t think I need to show you how hard I am for you…unless you don’t believe me and need to investigate for yourself.”

“I believe you.”

“Too bad because I would look forward to your inspection.”

Colin is royally endowed and his package may be as irresistible as his passion and charm for Della.

“He wants me and I want him, and there’s nothing to stop either of us.”

Della falls into the rabbit hole, completely smitten by the oh-so-persuasive Prince. The passion between that has built for ten years is about to burst, friendship caught on fire ready to blaze into an inferno. Feelings of more than friendship are forming, but Della is holding back, afraid that her happily-ever-after is not in the cards.

“Colin, don’t you get it? Stuff like this doesn’t happen in the real world. Happily ever afters for a maid and a prince—seriously? That’s Disney magic.”

Colin is hiding a secret or more that could be scandalous. Couple that with Della who doesn’t believe in happily-ever-afters or fairy tales and this prince may have a tough time convincing his bride-in-name to become his forever princess.

“Are you saying you want this to be real?”

“It’s already real. I want this to be forever.”

Royal Scandal is a Cinderella tale where Prince Charming is as sweet as pie and his princess is all sass. This friends-to-lovers love story sank itself into me, sprinkling fairy dust over the pages, where I was covered in a delicious concoction of sweetness and smolder. This magical fairy tale melted me from head to toe.

I had love in my heart and stars in my eyes while devouring Royal Scandal. A dash of romance, a splash of suspense, and a heap of heart make this modern-day Cinderella story a must-read! So royally good!

★★★★ royally good stars

View all my reviews

Fairy tales do come true—and so do tabloid scandals! Bestselling author Marquita Valentine kicks off a juicy contemporary romance series with a novel about a prince whose best-laid plans go deliciously awry when he marries the maid next door.

Forced to flee to the United States with his siblings after their parents’ assassination, Crown Prince Colin Sinclair takes it upon himself to become the caretaker of his family while hiding out near Charlotte, North Carolina. But after a decade in hiding, the secret’s out and Parliament demands that Colin wed a princess of their choosing. Unwilling to play their game, Colin decides to marry an American instead, and he has the perfect candidate in mind.

As a home-service professional, Della Hughes doesn’t believe in storybook endings. But when her best friend and secret crush reveals that he’s a flesh-and-blood prince, she doesn’t know what to think. Still, she’ll do anything for Colin, including becoming his wife—in name only, of course. But when their plans to stay purely platonic go by the wayside, their fake honeymoon turns all too real. After a week of white-hot nights, Della can

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Marquita Valentine is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of the Holland Springs and Boys of the South series.

Since first taking the plunge in July of 2012 to self publish, Marquita Valentine has appeared on the Top 100 Bestselling Ebooks Lists on iBooks, Amazon Kindle, and Barnes&Noble. She’s been called “one of the best new voices in romance” (Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews) and her books have been accused of being “a sexy, fun, and slightly addicting contemporary read” (The Book Queen).

When she’s not writing sexy heroes who adore their sassy heroines, she enjoys shopping, reading, and spending time with her family and friends. Married to her high school sweetheart, Marquita lives in a seriously small town in the south with her husband, two kids, and a dog.

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Review – The Room Mate by Kendall Ryan

January 24, 2017January 25, 20171 Comment

The Room Mate by Kendall Ryan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“Meeting you was fate. Becoming your friend was a choice, but falling in love with you was beyond my control.”~Unknown

Books are like love. We get lost in them. We feel them. We experience them. We are under their spell. Kendall Ryan’s latest rom-com, The Room Mate, cast me under its spell where I had no choice but to succumb to this SINFULLY SEXY and SWOON-FILLED STORY.

Second-chance romances or ones where lovers were childhood friends are my love…my heart…my soul…my weakness; The Room Mate was my KRYPTONITE. This kryptonite was one I could not consume fast enough. I ate up this captivating and combustible story like chocolate cake. Oh was The Room Mate rich in EVERYTHING DELICIOUS!

I fell in INSTA-LOVE with The Room Mate, a friends-to-lovers romance with a potent potion of humor, heat, and heart. It didn’t take long for my body to blaze in burning heat as I alternated lighting up with lust and laughter like fire. The Room Mate was a forceful flame, the fire that ignited and intoxicated every part of me. This inferno, The Room Mate, smoldered from sex to soul. I was caught and claimed. I was smitten and seduced. I WAS ALL IN.

Cannon Roth…JUST WOW!!! That name alone?!? HOLY HOT!!! Add the hot name Cannon to the doctor profession and Doctor Roth is just as amazing! OH YES!!! This Cannon is sex-on-a-stick smoldering with his dark ‘bed head’ hair, piercing green eyes, an over 6’3” tall and muscular ‘Roman Statue’ body, deliciously dirty mouth, and sweetness in spades. Hot Cannon name + doctor + perfect looks + perfect personality = PURE PERFECTION! I LOVED THIS CANNON-BALL WHO IS MINE…MINE…MINE…MINE!!!

A difficult living situation has Cannon needing a place to say so when his sister suggests her best friend, Paige, who also happens to be Cannon’s childhood crush, he jumps on the opportunity and maybe it will end with him jumping her. From longtime friends to room-mates, Cannon is challenged to stay in the friend zone with the gorgeous, blonde, blue-eyed, and curvy Paige, his long-time friend, sister’s best friend, girl of his teenage fantasies, and now woman of his dreams.

“Are you here to lend a hand, princess?” “You can touch it if you want?”

The mouth on this Adonis of a man is a cannon indeed, so deliciously dirty and decadent. Cannon is the fire to Paige’s ice, and, for once, this cool and collected gal wouldn’t mind being reckless…getting burned. Burn is what I did…with every penetrating and passionate page.

“I wanted to sin. Wanted to push myself beyond the safe little bubble I lived inside day in and day out.”

After a string of psycho gals who fall in love after Cannon’s cannon fires into them, this gorgeous guy is convinced that he is the magic machine that make all women fall in love with the Cannon-ball. Paige doesn’t buy the spin he’s selling, but knows the anaconda he’s rockin’ is the real deal. She challenges Cannon to test out his tempting theory on her plus a few bites and blazes to the lady bits won’t hurt either.

“So you really believe that after sleeping with you one time, women fall in love with you?”

GAME. ON. Cannon is ready to fulfill his teenage fantasy who has suddenly come to life. Cannon was my fantasy come to life.

“His hot mouth fused over mine, kissing me deeply. He tasted of whiskey and desire.”

Oh how Cannon and Paige’s friendship is full of sparks that are ready to ignite into a firestorm. Their chemistry sizzled and was even more powerful since it’s mixed with friendship…spice and nice. Passion poured from pages to me, as I BURNED FOR THIS BOOK!

“When I f**k you with my tongue, there will be no holding back from either of us.”

The doctor is in…indeed! I smoldered, those involuntary thigh clenches in full swing! Dr. McDreamy delivers the goods…one big package that he works like a pro to deliver the big O. The Room Mate turned me into a minx!

“I’ve wanted you for ten years, Paige.”

Oh how this game was on fire! Sparks sprinkled with swoon and oh did I SWOON from Cannon’s sweet words!!!

“I love you, princess. Always have. Always will.”

I melted into a pool of goo all over the pages. Paige can’t let Cannon get closer because she can’t be responsible for ruining the doctor-in-training’s residency…his career…his life.

“He was the realest, best, brightest thing in my world, and I hated that we would never be more.”

Paige won’t be the one to hold the dreamy doctor-in-residency back from his dream though what she doesn’t realize is that she is Cannon’s dream.

“You want to know what I want, princess?”

“I want you like this, every day for the rest of my life.”

Oh did Dr. McDreamy’s words of sweetness and swoon shot stars in my eyes and butterflies in my belly. This man is the ultimate hero and one of my all-time favorites to blaze books. I left this story on a high, as words of smolder and swoon shot through me like a cannon, a high I did not want to leave.

The Room Mate by Kendall Ryan is FRIENDSHIP CAUGHT ON FIRE, a spellbinding story that burns from body to soul. Oh did I blaze and burn while my heart pounded with every page! This story not only melts with molten heat and drips with honey-coated sweetness, The Room Mate radiates with love and life! The Room Mate is a thigh-clenching, body-burning, and passion-penetrating romance but SO MUCH MORE. It’s a story about LIFE AND LIVING. It’s about taking that LEAP OF FAITH and LIVING FOR THE MOMENT. Oh did I live for this mesmerizing moment!

“Sometimes there are no second chances. It’s now or never.”

Kendall Ryan has written a love story that is LITERARY PERFECTION. The Room Mate is my new FAVORITE Kendall Ryan rom-com! The Room Mate is creative and captivating writing at its finest: fresh, fun, flirty, feel-worthy, and fabulous. I LOVED this tantalizing and tender tale so much! This second-chance, childhood friends-to-lovers romance was EVERYTHING! The Room Mate is a gem that shines bright, and I’m not done basking in the glow of this sparkly story full of sweetness and spice just yet.

4.5 heart-melting stars

View all my reviews

The last time I saw my best friend’s younger brother, he was a geek wearing braces. But when Cannon shows up to crash in my spare room, I get a swift reality check.

Now twenty-four, he’s broad shouldered and masculine, and so sinfully sexy, I want to climb him like the jungle gyms we used to enjoy. At six-foot-something with lean muscles hiding under his T-shirt, a deep sexy voice, and full lips that pull into a smirk when he studies me, he’s pure temptation.

Fresh out of a messy breakup, he doesn’t want any entanglements. But I can resist, right?

I’m holding strong until the third night of our new arrangement when we get drunk and he confesses his biggest secret of all: he’s cursed when it comes to sex. Apparently he’s a god in bed, and women instantly fall in love with him.

I’m calling bullshit. In fact, I’m going to prove him wrong, and if I rack up a few much-needed orgasms in the process, all the better.

There’s no way I’m going to fall in love with Cannon. But once we start…I realize betting against him may have been the biggest mistake of my life.

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A New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of more than a dozen titles, Kendall Ryan has sold over 1.5 million books and her books have been translated into several languages in countries around the world. She’s a traditionally published author with Simon & Schuster and Harper Collins UK, as well as an independently published author. Since she first began self-publishing in 2012, she’s appeared at #1 on Barnes & Noble and iBooks charts around the world. Her books have also appeared on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists more than three dozen times. Ryan has been featured in such publications as USA Today, Newsweek, and InTouch Magazine.

Bookalicious Babes Blog Exclusive Cover Reveal – Thirty Days by BT Urruela

January 24, 2017January 24, 2017Leave a comment

Bookalicious Babes Blog is proud to present the EXCLUSIVE SURPRISE COVER REVEAL of BT Urruela’s upcoming release THIRTY DAYS!

Release Date: February 28, 2017 Cover Design by: Cassy Roop / Pink Ink Designs

Gavin is a struggling writer with a complicated past, who’s reeling from the loss of the only woman he’s ever loved. More than a year after the breakup, he’s still suffering major heartbreak and a serious case of writer’s block. In an attempt to help him out of his funk, Gavin’s best friend and fellow writer, Bobby, sets up an account for him on the new dating app SwipeDate.

After a few unsuccessful dates, Bobby challenges him to thirty more dates in thirty days. If Gavin can complete the challenge, Bobby will give him a check for twenty-five thousand dollars.

Does Gavin have what it takes to complete the challenge? Or will the trials and tribulations of modern dating prove to be too much?

Find out in Thirty Days.

Add to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33974608-30-days

BT URRUELA was an infantryman in the US Army from August 2004 until February 2011. At the end of a year long tour to Baghdad, Iraq, his vehicle was hit by two roadside bombs, which took his right leg below the knee and the life of his commander. He was awarded a Purple Heart for his wounds, an Army Commendation Medal, and Combat Infantryman’s Badge. He medically retired from the Army in 2011 and moved to Tampa, FL where he currently works as a Director and Brand Ambassador for VETSports, a veteran community sports nonprofit he co-founded in 2012. He also conducts motivational speeches, works as a cover and fitness model and he’s a personal performance trainer.

He co-wrote the novel ‘A Lover’s Lament’ with author KL Grayson in 2015. He released his first solo novel, ‘Into the Nothing’ in June 2016, ‘Wicked Little Words’ with author Stevie J. Cole in October 2016, ‘Alphas & Fairytales: A New Year’s Eve Anthology’ and ‘Into the Blood’ in December 2016. He lives in Tampa with his dogs, Kiko and Scout, and is writing full-time. (Author photo by Christopher John / CJC Photography

FOLLOW BT:

Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/BT-Urruela/e/B0192O9DRK/

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Review & Excerpt Tour- Real Good Love by Meghan March

January 23, 2017January 23, 2017Leave a comment

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
This is by far my favorite Meghan March book yet. I think it’s also the hottest. The love and lust that Banner and Logan have is off the charts. There is never a dull moment. The heat level is off the charts and Banner is a hoot. She had me laughing non stop. Logan, omg. That man is 100% pure alpha male and I’d love to chain him to my bed. My advice is to read this duet ASAP!!!

From USA Today bestselling author Meghan March comes a sexy new duet with a hero you won’t want to miss.
I’ve had my fair share of bad boys, but nothing prepared me for what it was like to be with a real good man.

Logan Brantley changed everything.

Somewhere along the way, what started as a fling became the best part of my life.

He makes me want all the things I’ve never had, like forever and happily ever after, but nothing worth having comes easily.

Everyone is betting on us to fail, but I’m ready to fight for this real good love.
Real Good Love is the conclusion of the Real Duet and should be read following Real Good Man.

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Review – It Started with a Kiss by Melanie Moreland

January 23, 20171 Comment

It Started with a Kiss by Melanie Moreland

All it took was a Kiss. Just one kiss. Melanie Moreland’s next release, It Started with a Kiss is a fast paced, sweet and sexy romance.

Melanie’s writing is incredibly strong, her ability to pull a reader into a story is fantastic. Her words flow freely and keep me happily captivated throughout her books.

It Started with a kiss, literally starts with a Kiss. What transpires from that one kiss is incredibly fast moving. Daniel and Avery moved quicker than a burning fire, and just as hot.
For me, at times, I found it a struggle to fully connect to their relationship and them individually, while I understood the Insta-love aspect I’d still have liked to feel it. As the book progressed and Daniel and Avery’s relationship was expanded I felt it a little more but I’d have liked more of those “get to know you moments”.

Without a doubt, Daniel was ridiculously hot and his penchant for nailing Avery to a wall, literally, had my insides burning. His dirty yet sweet mouth, definitely gave me tingles.

Overall at its core, It Started with a Kiss is a beautiful, captivating love story. If you love insta-love stories this story will be PERFECT for you.

It started with a kiss.
Then it became so much more.
Love at first sight.
Avery Connor doesn’t believe in it.
But what about love at first kiss?
A favor for a friend. Kiss a stranger and walk away.
But what if that favor, and that stranger, prove to be the turning point of her life?
What if that kiss leads to something more?
Dr. Daniel Stewart is certain it will.
He is determined to make her see him. To feel what he feels.
To have the effects of that kiss last forever.
A story about taking a chance, opening your heart to the moment, and falling in love.

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Review – Finding Mr. Wrong by A.M. Madden & Joanne Schwehm

January 23, 2017February 21, 2017Leave a comment

Finding Mr. Wrong by A.M. Madden & Joanne Schwehm

OHHHH MYYYYY GOSH! Hands Down that was one reading experience I WILL NOT forget in a hurry. Because that’s exactly what I got, an experience of EPIC proportions where I fell in lust, then blinding, soul crushing love. Everything about Jude and Brea was just WOW. I mean at 33% I would have happily gave this book ALL THE STARS. By 44% I never wanted it to end. And that wasn’t even half way. What AM and Joanne have done with this book is literally beyond any of my expectations.

From the fun introduction of the characters to each other, to the unique way the relationship starts to build, to the sinfully hot connection both characters have, I am well and truly HEAD OVER HEELS IN LOVE.

Finding Mr Wrong was in fact oh so RIGHT. This book did more than set a spark, it blazed an inferno deep inside that burrowed itself in and held me captive. My heart and soul are ridiculously happy.

I’ve been a fan of AM Madden’s books for a long time now, her hero’s all hold special places within me and HOT DAYUM the woman knows how to write the PERFECT alpha male. But when teamed with Joanne that alpha male becomes OUTSTANDING. SUPREME. EVERYTHING AND MORE.

Much to my own disapproval, it pains me to admit that I’ve not read anything from Joanne before but my gosh I will be doing now. The flow of the writing through the book was pristine and precise. It was solidified by a flawless execution that just cannot be knocked. These two are wizards of the writing world but put together they are gods. I want more. No, NEED MORE!

Without a doubt, Finding Mr Wrong is a stunning, piece of art. From beginning, to middle, to end there was not one bit I could critique. Not one bit I would change. It’s practically perfect in every way. I laughed, I swooned, I fell so deep in love, I got emotional, I got hot, I got it all and was left in a total state of bookworm bliss. At 33% I said this book got ALL THE STARS and it does, a million times over. This is, without doubt a top read of February and a top read of 2017!

Here’s a tip: never trust a jackass in preppy clothing.

The phrase “trust me” should have been my first clue to hightail it out the door, but hindsight is always 20/20.
So there I was, on a stage with two other men, being asked ridiculous questions by a woman I couldn’t see, but whose voice made my pants tighten—and not around my ankles.

Before I knew what was happening, I’d signed up for six weeks in paradise, isolated on an island for forty-two days with a complete stranger. And when I finally laid eyes on the sexy brunette who belonged to that voice, a part of me thought this wouldn’t be so bad.

I’ve always been a levelheaded guy. I am a successful, smart, and shrewd business man. But that was when I was listening to the head above my shoulders. Once the blood traveled south, I always ran into trouble.
She called me Mr. Wrong, and that was fine with me.
Lesson learned: lust always trumps logic.

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Review – Intertwined by Sasha Brummer

January 23, 2017February 21, 2017Leave a comment

Intertwined by Sasha Brummer

CAPTIVATING..
That’s the word I’d use to describe what this book has been to me. I wanted to devour this book whole. Feast on the goodness I knew it would possess but when I got going I found that this would be a book I’d need to savour and take my time with. This was a book that I could not rush, would not rush, because this book was so damn breathtaking. From page one this book consumed my thoughts, pulled at the deepest parts of me and wrapped itself around my heart.
What book am I talking about? Intertwined by the amazingly talented, beautiful Sasha Brümmer.

Intertwined sparked a fire deep inside me. A soul-deep, burning flame of love and desire, lust and devastating beauty. Liam and Isla were two of the most beautiful, battered souls I’ve read. So perfect for each other. Breathtaking and intense. Their relationship battered me, latched itself onto me and blissfully dragged me along with them.

People who know me know that I feed off angst and friends to lovers romances.. Intertwined is now, undoubtedly, one of my favourites. Everything about this book spoke to me. It made me FEEL. I laughed, I swooned, I got VERY hot under the collar and I cried. I cried so hard. At times Intertwined was hard to stomach, hard to process, it stole my breath and broke my heart but through it all ran an UNDENIABLE connection. A connection that melted the pages. A connection that blossomed and burnt hotter than the biggest fire.

That connection is what built an exceptional romance between two best friends, one that brought true meaning to second chances, not only at love but LIFE. Sasha bought together two souls that were seemingly doomed and breathed life into them and me as the reader.

Those two souls have embedded themselves so deep in me, I honestly cannot fathom how I’ll ever get them out. I don’t want to get them out.

Liam-fucking-Jensen has my heart, my soul, my breath, my blood. He can have it all. Every damn thing. Forever. This alpha asshole well and truly ruined me. BIG TIME. His cocky arrogance and deep protective nature made me crazy.
Matched perfectly to Liam was Isla who despite everything she endured was incredibly strong, uplifting and just a pleasure to get to know. She is a kick ass heroine and I adore her. Sasha wrote her in such an impeccable way.

Anyone who reads this book, that has a male best friend or has had one previously will just get the connection between Liam and Isla, you’ll understand how deep they do actually blend into one another and you’ll appreciate every single truthful word Sasha has penned in Intertwined.

This whole novel is deep, intense, raw and downright devastating in parts but it’s also so damn stunning. I have no idea how Sasha penned these characters and made them so strong but she did and I wouldn’t change a single thing.

In its entirety, Intertwined is PHENOMENAL. And it sucks that I don’t have enough stars to truly rate this book all it’s actually worth.

Amplified emotional highs have been my downfall. I’ve lost parts of myself to the dark corners of my heart because of the damage others have inflicted.

Whiskey might be able to ease the burn of one’s soul, but this time it might not be enough to survive. Instead of letting me wither in the cracks of my desiccated soul, he pushes me to appreciate the scars, instead of avoiding the bruises.

I’ve had more than my share of sanctioned hell, and I am through living in a limbo between who I should be and who I am. I won’t allow myself to become a casualty of my own mind again.

I am no longer carrying the obscurities of my life around with me when he chooses to stand and fight beside me.

With him, I finally see what it means to be living.

This novel contains mature themes, strong language, violent circumstances, and sexual situations. It is intended for adult readers.

Amazon US ~

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Haven’t had the chance to read Blended yet?

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Review – Taking Care of the Target by Cindi Madsen

January 23, 2017January 23, 2017Leave a comment

Taking Care of the Target by Cindi Madsen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you are not willing to risk it all, then you don’t want it bad enough.

Every time I meet a new-to-me or new author’s book, it’s a high, a dive into unknown territory. Trying something new is a risk but reward, a challenge and adventure. The utter pleasure I get when I meet a new or new-to-me author’s words is BOOKWORM BLISS! That rush during that initial read is off-the-charts incredible! I met my first book by Cindi Madsen and it was a doubly-delicious high: new-to-me author plus romance thriller. Taking Care of the Target is a pulse-pounding, heart-hitting, rush of a romance that dangles you on the edge, and leaves you aching for more.

Taking Care of the Target began as a slow burn that built into a raging inferno of excitement where I could not turn the pages fast enough. Energy flowing through me like electricity where I could not help but be engaged. The powerful and perilous plot combined with lots of dialogue needed for a third-person point-of-view story along compelling characters kept me highly tuned and trembling with excitement.

This mafia romance gripped me hard, holding me in its clutches, where I was captivated until the end. Mind racing. Bated breathing. Heart beating out of my chest. Pulse pounding with each page. Taking Care of the Target was the adrenaline that made me feel ALIVE. I chased this high from start to finish; I WAS ALL IN!

Beautiful Cassie Dalton with her blonde hair, green eyes, fair skin, pink glasses, and curves in the right places rocks the girl next door-hot librarian look well. A waitress and student, this sweet gal has had the life of hell with a painful past. Starting over in a new city with no friends is never easy. Starting over in a new city where she possibly works for the mafia is not easy at all, especially when one of the members is so hot it makes her combustible. Starting over is even harder when Cassie witnesses a hit she shouldn’t have, then is hit by a car, and is suddenly a wanted woman with the mafia…a rough start to a new life indeed.

Tall, dark, and handsome with muscles and ink, Vince DaMarco, runs a restaurant though owned by his mob boss uncle. Vince doesn’t want any part of the family business and tries to walk the straight and narrow, focusing on the restaurant, instead of the behind-the-scenes criminal activity. Now his uncle wants to initiate him into his mob family with taking a hit on the beautiful waitress who he can’t help but like and want.

“Of all people, why did it have to be Cassie?”

Cassie doesn’t remember the handsome stranger who is suddenly in her life, the man who was a part of the mob but still a good guy. Vince doesn’t want to take a hit on the sweet girl who has been the star of his hot librarian fantasies a few times, and can’t help but like what he sees…inside and out.

“I can be very persistent. I play dirty, too.”

Vince is all male and his dirty words made me smolder from head to toe. I LOVED this amazing alpha from the start! He may be the adventure that Cassie needs but first she will have to break through the barriers of his heart.

“Hopefully he’ll eventually realize he can let me all the way in.”

Lines are crossed and neither expected an inferno of an attraction to be so blinding.

“I’ve always tried to keep people as a distance, but you broke through, and now I’m a mess.”

Cassie may be the first person to see the real man with a kind heart, the man who is holding her heart, underneath the tough guy exterior.

“Just so you know, Vince DaMarco, I see you. The real you. Even if you don’t.”

Vince is used to control in all things. Never has a woman made him want to lose control until Cassie. Vince wants to protect Cassie though he is supposed to end her.

“I wanted to protect you, but I also just…wanted you.”

Cassie is falling for Vince, the gorgeous man who protects her with his life. She sees the heart of gold beating in her knight-in-shining armor.

“Like it or not, you’re a good guy, Vince DaMarco.”

What started as a mere and mutual crush now is a hit to the heart, but with a mafia hit out on Cassie that Vince is supposed to deliver or else risk his life and hers, life is a hot mess and someone is going to go down in the end. How can you kill the one with whom you are falling hard?

“I wish I could forget about everything else and start over with you.”

Taking Care of the Target is a moving mafia romance that is achingly addictive, deliciously dangerous and sugary sweet. A fusion of hope, heartbreak, and happiness swirled around in my head like a hurricane, waiting to hit where they would flood…all over this book…all over me. Taking Care of the Target was a beginning-to-end high, and I loved every toe-curling minute!

This forbidden and furious rush of a romance electrified and entranced me. Taking Care of the Target danced with danger and hypnotized with heart. Go target this romance now!

★★★★ electrifying stars

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Vince DaMarco always liked Cassie, the shy waitress who works at the restaurant that serves as a front for his mob boss uncle. Unfortunately, she witnesses a back alley hit, and while fleeing, she’s struck by a truck. Now she’s at the top of the hit list. Desperate to stop anyone who’d draw out Cassie’s death, Vince volunteers to take care of it.

Cassie Dalton has no recollection of her accident, but she’s told she’s lucky to be alive. A few years are missing from her memory, and the unsettling feeling that something isn’t right—along with the creepy sensation that she’s being watched—won’t go away.

Vince shows up right when Cassie needs him most. In a world of confusion, the rugged stranger is the one thing that makes sense. But little does she know, she’s found refuge in the arms of the very man who’s been sent to kill her.

Amazon ~ http://amzn.to/2j4SjpH

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iBooks ~ http://apple.co/2iksTHE

USA Today Bestselling author Cindi Madsen sits at her computer every chance she gets, plotting, revising, and falling in love with her characters. Sometimes it makes her a crazy person. Without it, she’d be even crazier. She has way too many shoes but can always find a reason to buy a new pretty pair, especially if they’re sparkly, colorful, or super tall. She loves music, dancing, and wishes summer lasted all year long. She lives in Colorado (where summer is most definitely NOT all year long) with her husband and three children.

Visit her at www.cindimadsen.com, where you can sign up for her newsletter and learn about upcoming releases.

Cindi is the author of YA books All the Broken Pieces, Cipher, Rift, Resolution, and Demons of the Sun, and adult romances Falling for Her Fiancé, Act Like You Love Me, Resisting the Hero, Cinderella Screwed Me Over and Ready to Wed.

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Review – Stay by A.L. Jackson

January 23, 2017January 25, 2017Leave a comment

Stay by A.L. Jackson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“You see the beauty in the old. The beauty in the bad. The beauty that’s hidden in all things. It’s always here, we just have to look hard enough for it.”

You don’t have to look hard to see the beauty that bleeds into A.L. Jackson’s words, so wondrous and so WOW. Every word that this author writes is full of feels. Every word is mesmerizing and meaningful. Every word means everything. Every word IS EVERYTHING. Stay is the newest roller coaster of a rock star romance from A.L. Jackson’s Bleeding Stars series that is pure beauty in words that break, bind, and make your heart bleed.

Knowing the power and pull of this series and the way it extracts every feel from me, I devoured Stay slowly. I had to inhale this story in small doses to give my heart time to slow its beating, my body time to slow its breathing, and my brain time to process all of the feelings floating around in my head. I did not want to put Stay down, yet I had to process the firestorm of feels flowing and calm my emotions from this story’s sensory storm.

The Prologue pulled at me immediately, barreling down on my heart and soul with the power of a fierce fire, one where I knew I would get burned. This firestorm of feels was a fight I would not win…did not want to win. The fire of Stay lit me up with life, one where every breath matched every breathtakingly beautiful word. Light to light. Dark to dark. Beauty to beauty. Feel to feel. I knew from the Prologue that I would feel every bit, every blaze, every burn, and every bright light from Ash and Willow’s story. Stay would slay me everywhere, and that it did.

The first sentence and first paragraph of the Prologue hit me with the force of a thousand winds. Tears welded in my eyes just from that verbiage as I knew there would be many more to follow…all kinds of tears for all kinds of emotions evoked from Stay.

“We rarely know when our lives are about to change. When the direction we have been traveling to will shift. When the stagnant comfort we’ve cut out for ourselves will take a sharp turn south, or when everything we know will come to an abrupt, excruciating end.”

Ash Evans, the wild man and guitarist for Sunder, has a huge heart, humor, charisma, and is the life of the party. Tall, muscular, inked, dark blond-haired, bearded, and ocean-blue eyes, Ash is pure heat and easy on the eyes. Inside, though, Ash is battling demons that won’t die.

His wounds are so deeply embedded, making him bleed for the past that has held him prisoner for so long. Ash’s huge heart is a gaping wound, one that he believes he caused. He’s leading a life where he feels unworthy and that tore me to shreds.

“He was some kind of glorious avenger with a wicked smile and a wayward tongue.”

Beautiful, mahogany-haired, brown-eyed, and long-legged Willow Langston is hanging onto life by a thread. Everyone she’s loved has left. Willow’s heart is decimated; she has nothing left to give.

Just one chapter in and my heart broke…bleeding all over the pages. STAY…I wanted to stay steadily reading but had to catch my breath as my lungs breathed in every wondrous and wielding word. The words quickly became flames that lit me up. I searched for that light in the darkness, the darkness that tried to hijack my head and heart. I WAS ON FIRE…I WAS ALIVE.

Willow has nothing left to give…

Until Ash Evans crosses her path in what feels like fate.

“A stranger who’d touched me without saying a word.”

Until she finds Ash broken and burned.

“The man was so dangerous and alive. Compelling. Magnetic. A bright, bright flame.”

Until she saves him.

“She’d saved me. She’d bound herself to me in a way I was sure neither of us could quite understand.”

Ash owes Willow a debt for life….his life. Though Willow doesn’t want a thing…except the one thing Ash won’t give: his heart.

“I didn’t have any place left inside myself to get ripped up and torn to pieces. And somehow I knew this man would tear me to shreds.”

Only a few chapters in and I broke as I bled for both the hero and the heroine. Two broken souls who should be one. STAY…I had to catch my tears I wanted to stay inside, willing them not to fall. Tears that teased the dam of waterworks waiting to burst from the words that clutched my soul, extracting every emotion. Beckoning me. Binding me. Becoming me.

A connection, so big as if it beckoned from above, blazed between Willow and Ash. An aura of fire, fueled by fate, danced around them. Lighting them up. Lifting them out of the darkness…lifting me out of the darkness…if only for a little while.

“Do you feel that? Everything simmering around us? Threatening to boil over. A flame just waitin’ for a match.”

Oh how I felt this blaze of Stay burn me too. This passion penetrated from the pages to me.

“Tell me you want me. Tell me you feel this, too.”

STAY…I wanted to stay in this moment…soak up these powerful and poignant words…soak up this sun cast over this couple. Willow and Ash’s connection and chemistry was combustible, a force of fate. I could not help but smile a grin filled with hope as I was sucked into a wave of passion, one of soulmates, one of love powerful as those flames that ignite between them. I felt every burn…every blaze…every beautiful and brilliant word…I FELT IT ALL.

“On a breathy sigh, my lips parted. His hot tongue slanted against mine. Flames. I felt them everywhere. Burning me up from the inside…He would wreck me. I knew it.”

Their chemistry and emotions are explosive—as were mine—so hot and heartfelt that I felt the flames from Ash and Willow melt me.

“Tonight belongs to you. I’m going to touch you until you’re dancing somewhere with the stars and then I’m going to catch you when you come back down. Then, I’m going to send you flying again.”

Oh Ash! His words smoldered yet made me swoon so very hard! I LOVED THIS MAN of many layers but with a heart of gold that penetrated those layers the hardest…penetrating my heart too.

My heart was hit so hard, it spun right into my soul. This broken boy and this broken girl…they broke me. Again and again. My tears tore through this story, leading the way as I absorbed each feel-worthy word into my heart…my soul.

“You’re killing me, darlin’.”

“And you’re saving me.”

STAY…I wanted to freeze those feels that flowed through me, so beautiful and bittersweet. Permanent tears etched into my eyes. I sighed. Stay filled my lungs as I breathed in every breathtakingly beautiful word. These words filtered into my very core. STAY…I had to stop and catch my heart that this story so forcefully claimed.

Ash is Willow’s angel. Willow saved him but he’s saving her too. She is the calm to Ash’s chaos. Ash and Willow are saviors who are slaying the other’s demons…slaying each other’s souls…slaying my soul.

“You deserve so much better than what’s waiting here.”

STAY…I wanted Ash to stay. This bigger than life of a man with an even bigger heart, Ash, doesn’t think he’s worthy of love after a painful past for which he thinks he’s responsible. Oh did Ash’s words about being unworthy GUT ME…UNGLUE ME. I was destroyed…devastated…dying for Ash to stay.

“What if I want you to stay?”

STAY…I wanted this couple to stay together. I wanted to stay in this story, sinking so deeply where my soul could continue to soar, where I could continue to break in the most beautiful way. This book…oh did IT BREAK ME. Stay…is sorrow…soul…swoon…sensations…SO MUCH OF EVERYTHING! This book owned every piece of me. Stay?!? It’s already in my top books for 2017…perhaps my very favorite for this year.

Stay was the fire that burned me…making my heart bleed…and then nursing that wound. I felt as if I were walking on that fire, each word blazing with poignancy, passion, and promise. A destined and devastatingly beautiful love story, Stay hit my heart hard and fast—flames scorching my soul—while my emotions bled like water from a storm.

Tears of emotions flooded me, trickling down like raindrops…fire to water…feel to feel. I FELT every word like a kiss that penetrated every piece of me: body, heart, and soul. This firestorm of feels wouldn’t stop; I didn’t want it to end…ever.

I LOVED Stay. I lived Stay. I breathed Stay. I was bound to Stay. I became Stay. Stay slayed me. Stay sang to my soul. Stay is what I want to do, wrap myself in this magic a little longer…perhaps forever.

★★★★★ ‘but worth 10’ soul-slaying stars

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From NYT & USA Today Bestselling Author A.L. Jackson comes the next sexy, gripping Bleeding Stars Stand-Alone Novel…

I’m Ash Evans.
The life of the party.
Hot. Rich. Charismatic.
A tattooed rock star with the world at my feet.
I burn through women faster than the strike of a match.

I’ve embraced my lifestyle and live it to the fullest.
Until the day my lifestyle caught up to me.

Willow Langston found me at my lowest.
Literally.
Facedown in a puddle of my own blood.

I owe her my life and I have three months to repay that debt.
What I never should have done was touch her. Kiss her. Take her to my bed.

Love wasn’t supposed to be a part of the equation.
I gave up that nasty complication a long damned time ago.
Now I want her more than my next breath.
But she doesn’t know what I know.

Do I leave to protect her? Or can I face my demons and ask her to Stay?

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A.L. Jackson is the New York Times bestselling author of Take This Regret and Lost to You, as well as other contemporary romance titles, including Pulled, When We Collide, If Forever Comes, Come to Me Quietly, and Come to Me Softly.

She first found a love for writing during her days as a young mother and college student. She filled the journals she carried with short stories and poems used as an emotional outlet for the difficulties and joys she found in day-to-day life.

Years later, she shared a short story she’d been working on with her two closest friends and, with their encouragement, this story became her first full length novel. A.L. now spends her days writing in Southern Arizona where she lives with her husband and three children.

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Review – Casanova by Emma Hart

January 18, 2017January 18, 2017Leave a comment

Casanova by Emma Hart

EMMA HART.

See that name. Memorise it. Read her books. Learn her words. LOVE her words. Because I guarantee that you will, LOVE EVERYTHING about this woman and her books.

I started Casanova with one thing in mind. DON’T FALL FOR THE ASSHOLE. I’m typically this person in real life so I thought okay, be strong. Try and reject a Hart Hero. (Trust me that ain’t no easy feat).

Let me tell you I got to 15% and I knew I was slipping.

By 24% I was almost there.

By 52% I had FAILED and LOVED this guy immensely.

The way Emma writes her Hero’s is with carnal, raw, perfection. Honestly, I cannot find a negative thing to say about him. His cocky, dirty, sinful, arrogance gave me tingles. His swoony, delicious goodness gave me butterflies. He ultimately became my FAVOURITE HART HERO. I COULD NOT get enough.

As always, Emma wrote one amazing heroine. Without a doubt, there is no one better than Emma Hart, that writes a female character so strongly. All of Emma’s heroines are sexy, sassy, classy and know how to bring men to their knees. Lani has now become my favourite Hart heroine. She was so much fun. I loved her.

What you get with Casanova though is so much more. Emma has seriously nailed the best friends to enemies to lovers trope with this one. She’s meshed love and hate together so fluidly that you cannot help but FEEL as the power of the words flows through your whole body.
Strip back the ridiculously HOT cover, strip back the asshole, strip back the sassy brunette and what you get is a freaking amazing love story. Lani and Brett alone MAKE this book. Everything else, the secondary characters, which were fantastic, the crazy relatives, that were hilarious, are all just a big bonus.

What I didn’t expect was to be so utterly consumed by everything Lani and Brett. They made me so emotional, that beautiful, breathtaking, angsty kind of emotional though. They made me HOT, like fan me down right now kinda hot. They made me laugh out loud. They pissed me off. And cry, dude, I cried. This book has it all, I kid you not, it HAS IT ALL.

Casanova captivates, it consumes, it catapults itself into the heart, mind, body and soul and cements itself there.
It’s my favourite Hart book to date. No amount of stars will ever cover this. EVER.