Review – Fastball by A.M. Hargrove & Terri Laine

September 21, 2016September 22, 2016Leave a comment

Fastball Cover.png

Fastball by Terri E. Laine
karens-review

“Life is a baseball game. When you think a fastball is coming, you got to be ready to hit the curve.” ~Jaja Q

Sitting in the stands watching your favorite baseball team play is a high that dives off the diamond straight to you as the energy engulfs the air. The fans are engaged and intently watching the players with baseball greats in tight pants an added bonus. Adrenaline courses through your veins as you hope your team wins. You can’t help but feel alive. Fastball, the new baseball book from A.M. Hargrove and Terri Laine, made me feel alive and oh did I love this rush of a romance!

Fastball began with a blast of heat—a bang to my body—that had my body clenching and my heart racing after just three pages. I was captivated. I was claimed. I was caught. This Fastball swiftly shot me with a dual dose of desire and delight—emotions emerging like a ball knocked out of the park—where every ounce of me was engaged. I WAS ALL IN AND IT WAS AMAZING!!!

Beautiful Gina Ferraro is independent, a bada$$, a bit crass, rides a Harley, and doesn’t do relationships. She is a no-strings-kind-of-gal. When she needs a man, it’s a bang-and-bolt deal. Except one hot night she banged the panty-melting pitcher for the Carolina Cougars, Ryder Wilde, and then bolted. She doesn’t want to still want Ryder but she does.

“We had sex. It was good. I’m not interested in more.”

“You know what I think? I think you want me to f^@k you again because you can’t get enough. I think you’re afraid you might get addicted to my d#@k.”

This short and spicy story has already spellbound me. I could not help but devour every decadent word. The heat poured from these pages straight to me as I melted me into a pool of mush. I fell in insta-love with Ryder; his deliciously dirty mouth was icing on the cake.

“What? I can f^@k you, but I can’t kiss you?”

“Something like that.”

“Not in my world.”

Women throw themselves at Ryder like spiraling baseballs, fast and furiously. He has never wanted to get to know any of them beyond one steamy night. None of these women mattered…until the sassy and sexy Gina turned his life…his world…upside down.

“This will never work.”

“What do I have to do? Screw your brains out until you get it through your thick scull that we are going to do this?”

BOOM. I’m a goner. I’m in LOVE WITH RYDER. A quarter into the book and my insta-love has turned into mad love. Just like that, my steam turned into swoon as this hot man with a huge heart now made me sigh softly over his sweetness. THIS MAN IS PURE PERFECTION. Ryder is so perfect that Gina thinks he’s too perfect for her.

Ryder knows Gina feels that combustible chemistry surging through them. Gina is strong, witty, natural, beautiful and speaks her mind, and Ryder can’t let her go.

“What do you want from me?”

Gina’s painful past has scorned her, making her seek constant control. Guarding her heart from the pain is the only option for survival.

“I would gift you the stars just to see them twinkle in your eyes because you’re more than this, Gina. More than the sum of your experiences.”

I swooned. I cried happy tears and sad tears. This sexy baseball book bled into so much more.

A painful past pours down on Gina like a storm, haunting her head and threatening her future. A relationship may only be a dream as she only knows how to guard her heart; not open it to risk and risk it all.

“The only thing I doubt right now is that I might have let the best man who ever entered my life walk out my door.”

Fastball is a fire-hot and fresh romance full of feels. This sports sensation seduced me from the start with an amusing and addicting storyline, raw and real characters with whom I could not help but fall in insta-love, and a fastball of feels I never expected. I laughed, smiled, and cried both happy and sad tears as my emotions entangled into this tender tale. THIS LOVE STORY IS THE WHOLE PACKAGE.

I FELL IN LOVE WITH FASTBALL. What started as a fun and flirty romance filled with heat became one that hit my heart hard where my feels flowed all over the field. Fastball hit a home run in a story that belongs in the big leagues. I’m not ready for this game to be over.

“You have to hit the fastball to play in the big leagues.” ~Ted Williams

4.5 delicious and dazzling diamonds (because baseball)

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Our relationship starts off like a bad joke.

A gorgeous guy walks into a bar and says to me, “Do you want to F#ck?” and damn if I don’t say yes.

And that should have been it—the punch line.

We never should’ve seen each other again.

Only we do.

Turns out sex on a stick, Ryder Wilde, is more than an orgasm-giver. He’s a player. Not just any either. A Major League Baseball pitcher. And damn, I want to be his catcher.

Except he doesn’t want to play any games or follow my rules:
No relationships.
No falling in love.

Because he’s used to winning … and wants to claim me as his prize.

His mission is to own me, body and soul, no matter how much I push him away.

Powerless to stop him, I can only hope my heart isn’t another casualty of his fastball.

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2dbNb1l

Amazon CA: http://amzn.to/2cmj1Hi

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2djxtEC

Review – Wilder by Rebecca Yarros

September 19, 2016September 19, 2016Leave a comment

Wilder by Rebecca Yarros

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

”In the end we only regret the chances we didn’t take.” ~Unknown

Every day is a new beginning. A chance to love. A chance to live. A chance to dream. A chance to do! We live through our actions. We live through our memories. Sometimes we live through stories. I lived and loved through Wilder, a beautiful and broken love story by Rebecca Yarros, where I went on the emotional adventure of a lifetime—one of hope, heartbreak, and happiness.

I wanted to wait…taking my time to soak up every powerful and poignant word of Wilder. I wanted to rush…tearing through these pages like the adrenaline from this thrilling tale coursed through the story straight to me. After just a few pages, Wilder became my addiction. My ache. My adrenaline. MY ALL.

The story started out slow but a burn built that beckoned me right into the flames as my heart caught fire, a slow burn seeping into my soul, as Wilder bled into me. My emotions were amplified, a fusion of hope, heartbreak, and happiness swirling around in my head like a hurricane, waiting to hit where they would flood…all over this book…all over me.

These characters claimed me, captivated me, and catapulted me into their lives—this dare-devil adventure—where I wanted to free-fall off a cliff into the sea and float away with them and Wilder. This story sunk itself into me fast and furiously. The feels flowed through me in Wilder like waves, crashing over me and into me, highs and lows where I rose and fell like the tide. I lived and breathed this book as Wilder won me over quickly, extracting every emotion, stealing every piece of me.

Paxton ‘Pax’ Wilder is the world’s #1 dare devil, chasing that rush with death-defying stunts that would give Evil Knievel a heart attack. Dark-haired, blue-eyed, tall, muscular, and inked, Wilder with his looks, talent, and money, is every woman’s fantasy including MINE! Panty-melting hot with mad passion for life made me melt for this man!!!

“He wasn’t just hot, he was beautiful.”

In a last-ditch effort by his father to boost his grades before they impact his stunt show and team, The Renegades, Wilder enlists in a special study program run on a ship where he is assigned a tutor, the beautiful dark-haired and whiskey-eyed, Eleanor ‘Leah’ Baxter, who needs the money and the push out of her comfort zone to take an adventure and live a little.

When the cautious Leah meets the wild, Paxton, a current crashes through the air, circling them like a cloud of dust, an attraction too powerful to ignore. Fire meets ice. Paxton as a Renegade doing death-defying stunts is always on the top of this game. One meeting with Leah, and he’s almost thrown off track.

“Why did I suspect this slip of a woman was going to be my kryptonite?”

Leah doesn’t want to like the panty-melting hot playboy, but his dirty words bring out her inner wanton woman, whether she wants to admit that chemistry crashing through them or not.

“Look at you, up on my pipe.”

“Your pipe is distracting you from class.”

“It always does.”

Paxton is used to a bevy of beauties worshipping him, lining up to spend one night with the legendary Wilder. One night is all he gives. Leah has him rethinking his ‘one-and-done’ mantra. Leah has him forgetting who he was and focusing on who he is…the man he should be…the man who would deserve a kind, caring, and beautiful woman like Leah.

“I was going to have to work for Lea like I did every single stunt, with a plan and a ton of balls. Half-assed got you hurt. It was all-in or watch from the sidelines. I was all-in.”

Already I WAS ALL IN as this story quickly captured me. Leah vows to not mix business with pleasure. Remain Paxton’s tutor…even his friend…but nothing more. Though the force called Wilder may be one hurricane hitting her with a force she may not be able to fight.

“I knew why everyone got sucked in. He was magnetic, hypnotizing. It wasn’t just the body, the face or the tattoos. He made me feel anything was possible, like there was a whole shiny world waiting for me to step inside and explore. He was everything I wasn’t, but he made me feel like I could be.”

For once, Leah wants to throw caution to the wind and kiss this beautiful and bold man who is making her broken heart beat again.

“The man kissed like he rode—with a single-minded focus that made everything else in the world pale in comparison—and I could only go along for the ride.”

I felt that intense kiss surge from the story straight to me. Oh my wow! Leah has no choice to surrender to this passion that permeates between Paxton and her, pouring off the pages where I felt this passion too. The steam stirred with swoon as I could not stop SWOONING all over this story.

“I want you know that I have you on the same f**king edge you’ve had me dangling on for weeks now, desperate to know how you feel, taste, sound when you’re coming apart.”

I LOVE PAXTON SO MUCH. This man falls from cliffs and everything high, but his heart and body are racing for this woman who has shaken him up more than any scary stunt. Leah grounds Paxton while he sets her free from the walls she’s built to protect herself from a painful past.

“Everything about you scares the s**t out of me.”

“When are you going to understand that’s where life begins? Right at the edge of that fear.”

Leah and Paxton are each other’s air. Each other’s heart. Each other’s hope. Each other’s salvation. Leah is almost ready to take that leap, no longer caring if she falls for she knows that Paxton will catch her. Before Leah can leap and finally live, secrets are exposed. The painful past brings smoke, and they veer off course, possibly sending them into a collision before they’ve even begun the journey.

“This was the decimation of my f**king heart.”

My heart was cut in half as it lay bleeding in the aftermath with hope hanging by a thread for happiness. The feels flowed as did my tears—fast and furiously—as I hoped the race for love had a happy ending.

“I was nothing more than the means to his end.”

Electrifying and enthralling, Wilder is a tale of guts and glory that hit my heart hard, seizing my soul, where I could not help but explode in emotions. This spellbinding and spine-tingling story surged through me like lightning, fast and furiously, where its touch was felt everywhere. OH THE FEELS. My feels were free-falling through this story where I FELT EVERYTHING.

Wilder wielded itself into my heart, hijacking it…hijacking me. I was a prisoner to these passionate pages that pounded that passion straight through me. I was broken. I was breathless. I was branded. I became everything Wilder. Intoxicating and incredible, I could not help but become besotted with this book that blasted my emotions like a cannon, each explosive one making me fall harder and harder for Wilder. I FELL FAST. I FELL HARD. I FELL IN LOVE WITH EVERYTHING WILDER.

I don’t know why I waited so long to meet Rebecca Yarros’ words, but I was a fool to procrastinate. This author is one of my new favorites: those who write from the heart where their hearts are poured into those beautiful and brilliant words. Wilder is not simply a broken and beautiful romance; it’s a story about LIFE AND LIVING. It’s about taking that LEAP OF FAITH…LIVING FOR THE MOMENT…LIVING LIFE NOW. I quickly learned that EVERY WORD MATTERS that Rebecca Yarros writes. Meaningful. Mesmerizing. Magnificent.

Those devastatingly beautiful books that authors pen like paint to a canvas, so vivid and valuable…THOSE ARE THE ONES THAT STEAL MY SOUL AND OWN ME FOR LIFE. Rebecca Yarros is one of those wondrous writers of books that break you, bind you, and brandish themselves to you in a bath of beauty where you’ll remember them forever. Oh did Wilder steal a piece of my soul that may remain stuck in this story forever.

“The best part isn’t the end. It’s what happens in between.”

5 devastatingly beautiful stars

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He’s Paxton Wilder.

Twenty-two-year-old, tattooed, smoking-hot leader of the Renegades.

Five time X Games medalist.

The world is his playground—especially this year—and for the next nine months I’m stuck as his tutor on the Study at Sea program.

He’s too busy staging worldwide stunts for his documentary to get to class.

But if I can’t get him to take academics seriously, I’ll lose my scholarship…if I don’t lose my heart first.

Six unlikely friends on a nine-month cruise with the Study at Sea program will learn that chemistry is more than a subject and the best lessons aren’t taught in the classroom…but in the heart.

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2coOFXy

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2daVmhB

Nook: http://bit.ly/2cu1kIw

Review – Stroked Long by Meghan Quinn

September 18, 2016September 22, 20161 Comment

Stroked Long by Meghan Quinn

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“Show me the most damaged parts of your soul, and I will show you how it shines like gold.” ~Nikita Gill

You don’t look for love; it looks for you. Love often surfaces when you least expect it, throwing a curveball your way. It sneaks up on you and steals your heart and soul, where you can’t help but surrender to the serendipity of something spectacular you find when you weren’t even searching. Like love, books brandish you to them with a power you never predicted. Stroked Long by Meghan Quinn struck me hard to the heart with a force I did not see coming where my soul surrendered to the feels that flowed from this spellbinding story.

I dove into this pool of heat, humor, and heart, and barely came up for air as Stroked Long struck me hard, seducing my soul from the very first page. I was utterly immersed and intoxicated as this intense read rapidly captured and claimed every part of me. I expected a typical Meghan Quinn comedy—maybe with lighter laughs than Stroked—but still a comical masterpiece. Stroked Long was nothing like I expected; it was SO MUCH MORE.

It took only a few pages to realize that this Meghan Quinn book dared to be different. Dared to be serious. Dared to be heartbreaking. Dared to be hypnotizing. Damn if Stroked Long didn’t dare to destroy yet mend me. OH DID I FALL IN INSTA-LOVE AS STROKED LONG STROKED ME SO HARD.

Bodi Banks is an Olympic God in spandex: golden-sparked hair, blue eyes, a sensual six-pack, that perfect ‘V,’ and a tall and muscular body that melts panties. Bodi is a swimmer with a body made of sin and a soul that has been through hell.

“There’s a dispute between who’s hotter: Bodi or Reese King. Yes, Reese has the dark smoldering look going for him, but Bodi? There is something about his light brown hair, dark blue eyes, and damaged soul that calls out to me. There’s no contest where I’m concerned.”

Ruby Hearts, a beautiful blonde and brown-eyed with luscious curves, is the best friend of Bodi’s sister, Eva Banks. She is funny, fierce, flirty, frank, and so free…totally uncensored. I LOVE HER!!!

“So I gave myself a camel toe in front of one of the most decorated Olympic swimmers, that doesn’t mean you had to point it out to him.”

Ruby is a trip where I wanted to laugh at her and hug her hard at the same time! Tasked with working with Bodi for their newly-formed art foundation, Ruby is instantly captivated by her crush—her fantasy—who is now very real. Though Bodi, as Ruby soon discovers, appears like a beacon of force in the water as one sensational gold-medal swimmer, but is broken inside.

“I choose not to expose others to my demons and insecurities. Who would want that anyway?”

Bodi suffered a horrible tragedy as a child that impacts him every day. His days are performed with precision, planned out with regular routines. This beautiful and broken man has quickly captured my heart, shattering it to pieces as it broke for Bodi.

“I f**king hate everything about me.”

My heart that broke now bled, this man now shattering my soul. This Olympian is closed off to the world, only letting his family inside to see the real Bodi, though Ruby seems to be cracking the surface. Ruby Hearts with her huge heart tries to get Bodi to open up to her—let her inside—so she can share some of that pain that has held him captive to those dastardly demons for so long.

“Why does my heart hurt so much? There is something about Bodi that runs deep in my bones, that causes me to feel the pain he’s feeling, or the panic, or his awkwardness. It’s as if our bodies are spiritually connected.”

Ruby is the light to Bodi’s dark. The color and vibrancy to his grey and dull life. The outgoing to his reserved persona. The warmth to his cool demeanor. The calm to his storm. She is perfect for him if only he would let her inside those walls he’s plastered around himself.

Bodi grants Ruby one sensual, toe-curling kiss, perhaps the kiss ever.

“I have no ability to speak, not with Bodi gripping me so tenderly, mere moments away from caressing my lips with his. It’s too much. His presence is strong, commanding, dominant. Flat-out intoxicating…Light explodes around me, my stomach bottoms out, and my grip tightens on his shirt as he kisses me.”

That kiss?!? I felt the passion pouring off the pages straight to my soul. Oh did my soul soar to the stars and make me fall even harder for Bodi!

“I want to spend more time with her and that terrifies because more time means more exposure to the true monster I am.”

Ruby wants more than friends with Bodi, a chance to show him he could be with someone who cares about him. While Ruby sees and adores the real Bodi, she is determined to make Bodi see the light; make Bodi see her.

“I feel lucky then. Because I’m one of the few who gets to see the real you.”

I did not expect this book to be so broken. I did not expect this book to be so beautiful. I did not expect this book to blow my mind. I did not expect to swoon more than snort-laugh in this story. I did not expect for my soul to soar so high. I did not expect my emotions to explode. I did not expect for my heart to be hit so hard, struck by this story. Stroked Long exceeded my expectations, hijacked and hit my heart, and sent my soul soaring where I WAS BLOWN AWAY in Meghan Quinn’s BEST BOOK EVER!!!

Intoxicating and incredible, Stroked is a phenomenal page-turner that penetrated me from beginning to end. I smiled, sweated, shed tears, and swooned through Stroked Long. A roller coaster of a riveting romance filled with feels, anchored in angst and amusement, and laced with love, Stroked Long blew me out of the water! This devastatingly beautiful and brilliant book stole my soul and every other piece of me. I was Stroked Long and I loved every mesmerizing minute where ALL OF THE FEELS WERE FELT BY ALL OF ME. I can’t wait for the final Stroke.

5 soul-stroking stars

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From his dirty-blond hair and breathtaking smile, to the abs from heaven and the irresistible V in his waistline, everything about Bodi Olympic-gold-medalist Banks screams hot piece of @$$.

Yet there’s more.

Dark shadows lurk behind his soulful, serious eyes.

I’m enamored. He’s captured me.

How can running an art foundation with Bodi Banks turns into a slow-burning, epic romance, even though he tries to push me away at every chance? How can I stay away from a broken, routine-driven man whose soul cries to be forgiven for a crime only he believes he committed? Or is that a lie?

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2cQAEiQ

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2cdpvwA

Amazon CA: http://amzn.to/2bMRByM

iBooks: http://apple.co/2cdfGyN

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2cEIijR

Review – Get Inked by Helena Hunting

September 14, 2016September 15, 2016Leave a comment

Get Inked: A Pucked Series and Clipped Wings Crossover Novella by Helena Hunting

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“Laughter is the sound of the soul dancing.” ~Unknown

I love to laugh as laughter is life. Life is just better when you’re laughing. A gut-wrenching giggle fest feels good and is therapeutic. Some may even say laughing is the cheapest medicine you can buy.

When I need good laugh, the kind that makes me contemplate slapping on a Depends adult diaper due to the thorough laugh-to-bladder work-out, I’ll grab a Helena Hunting book. I’ll stalk these stories so hard that I could teach those wanna-be Hollywood stalkers outside celebrities’ homes a thing or 10. Once a story from Helena Hunting’s hot and hilarious Pucked series appears on my e-reader, I will drop off of the earth or go missing for hours. I may be physically present, but my mind is off on one great giggle fest and involuntary-thigh-clenching quest.

Helena Hunting decided to gift me or readers with a new naughty but oh-so-nice novella, Get Inked, which centers on a tattoo shop. Oh YES!!! Giddy like a first date, oh did it feel FAN-FREAKIN-TASTIC to be reunited with Violet, Alex, Randy/Balls, Lily, Darren, Charlotte, Lance, and even the Beaver and Super MC! Get Clipped was the best family reunion ever. It was so exciting to meet new family members too: Hayden, Tenley, and Chris from the Clipped Wing books I now need to devour.

The first line sent a spark of scorching heat to my body and lit me up in laughter.

“Randy’s on the couch stroking Wiener.”

I LOVED the peek into the love life of Lily and Randy, AKA Balls. Even after a year, their chemistry is still SMOKIN’ HOT.

“Sometimes Randy and I have plank-offs. Whoever wins gets oral. I’m up to six minutes now. I’m pretty sure I can hold this position at least that long. But it really depends on what’s at stake.”

When my favorite couple, Violet and Alex, came back to play, my BOOKGASM blasted with approval!!! Alex is so sweet and sexy, the perfect alpha and hero. Violet, my favorite humorous and heated heroine is so many things: beautiful, curvy, sexy, klutzy, cute, hilarious, and uncensored. My soul sister. Spirit animal.

“He liked it when I blinged out my beaver, maybe he’d be into blinged-out boobs, too.”

I’M DYING OF LAUGHTER LIKE A LOON!

Secondary characters, MC and Beaver, had to join this riveting and racy reunion too:

“You’ll rub Super MC all over my sexy, naked Beaver?”

“You read my mind.”

There is no other book series that makes me drunk girl laugh like Helena Hunting’s Pucked series and characters. Violet has nearly made me purchase some Depends from the serious snort-laughing I do every time she speaks through these hot and hilarious stories.

Lance, whose character I’m dying to meet, and Lily sum up the powerful Pucked series and this story perfectly:

“…I recognize that these guys have become my family…Sometimes it’s about the people who come into your life, and embed themselves in your heart until you can’t imagine you’d be without them.”

Get Inked felt like coming home, a giddy and great feeling. These Pucked characters are my family, and feel so raw and real. Alex, Violet, Miller, Sunny, Randy, Lily, and more have burrowed themselves in my heart where they will likely remain.

A hot and hilarious hybrid of Clipped Wings and Pucked, Get Inked satisfied my ache to laugh while sending my body into a blaze of burning bliss. The banter, bounce, and brilliance of this book wrapped itself around me so tightly where I was swept into this sinfully spellbinding saga. I CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF THE PUCKED SERIES.

Get Inked and the Pucked series are my laughing gas, my lust, and my love. I LOVED THIS TASTY TREAT AND I’M HUNGRY FOR MORE. Helena Hunting tickled my funny bone to where I was screaming for mercy. These Pucked stories make my soul sing, my gut giggle, and my heart happy. PURE PUCKING PERFECTION.

5 pucking perfect stars

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When the itch for new ink takes over, NHL star Randy Ballistic commissions his trusted tattoo artist to design a new sleeve, and the rest of the PUCKED boys decide it’s time to commemorate their love of hockey with a team tattoo.

But it can’t just be about the boys—the PUCKED girls want in on the action, too. Ink cherries will be popped, cupcakes will be consumed, and the hazards and enhancements of boob bling will be pondered.

Worlds collide when the hockey boys pay a visit to Inked Armor, the renowned Chicago tattoo studio where master artists Hayden Stryker and Chris Zelter ply their trade. Don’t miss the resulting action and insights in this Pucked series and Clipped Wings crossover novella.

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2d0CoY4

Nook: http://bit.ly/2cxUaka

iBooks: http://apple.co/2cYDgwD

Review – Confessed by Nicola Rendell

September 14, 2016Leave a comment

Confessed by Nicola Rendell is a captivating, consuming read that grabs you by the heart and doesn’t let go.

So before I go any further I must address a huge point. One I feel you need to know before you read.. You ready?

This book is F’ING HOT! So hot, you’re gonna need an ice bath. Literally, just sit in one while reading BELIEVE ME. Sheesh, some of the scenes in Confessed were ON FIY-AH! Honestly Vince and Lucy…. Hot mother effers!

Okay so, Confessed is Nicola’s second release and from this day forward I pledge to read every book this woman writes because her storytelling capability is on point. Words flow into thrilling sentences throughout this whole book. There was never a time where I felt a lull or wanted to leave the book. Confessed sunk it’s claws into me and held on. TIGHT.

Vince and Lucy are an amazing couple. Both hopelessly flawed. Both from opposite lifestyles. But both so similar.

I have to say I have a major woman crush on Lucy, this woman has balls! I loved her! She’s super strong and so funny it’s ridiculous. I want to be her friend, like RIGHT NOW.

Vince Russo, is rugged, raw, ruthless and dangerous to womankind. Seriously this man is DELICIOUS! Vince is one of those cocky alphas you just know you’re going to love. And I loved him HARD. Fell hook, line and sinker for the dude!

What I also loved about Confessed though is the epic storyline Nicola has penned here. The connection I felt as a reader to this book as a whole was so deep. The story hit me full force, ticking every box on the “great books checklist”. Confessed had connection, charisma, love, lust, breathtaking romance, intense HOT scenes, laugh out loud humour, gutting, heartbreaking moments just everything.

All in all Confessed is an insanely addicting read. Super hot and utterly breathtaking!

A brand new dirty, sexy, funny standalone romance…

Lucy Burchett is the heiress to a notoriously disastrous family, and she’s left home for good. But when she runs a big, black pickup off the road, totaling it, she finds herself stuck in the middle of nowhere with the driver. He’s got a body to die for and a hair-trigger temper. Vince Russo looks like a felon, but he’s also pretty funny. He’s on the lam from the cops… and a psychopathic, Russian mob boss who wants to put his balls on a barbeque. Literally.

After a night of ill-advised cocktails and bathroom-wrecking sex, Vince just can’t get Lucy off his mind. But he’s got plans to rob her. And Lucy’s life is about to get a little bit criminal too.

But can a bad boy and a good girl really escape from their troubles together? Can they trust each other at all?

In the steady march of disasters that follow them west, they fight and they laugh. They tease and they’re tender. They’re either oil and water, or chocolate and peanut butter.

Except, they can’t run from the real world forever. And there’s a hell of a surprise in store for both of them…

Amazon US: http://goo.gl/JnjEzH

Amazon UK: http://goo.gl/6bV9PY

Amazon CA: http://goo.gl/q5dFNX

Amazon AU: http://goo.gl/nXgLVL

iBooks: http://goo.gl/vJps8N

Kobo: http://goo.gl/dS1SMN

Review – Spiked Lemonade by Shari Ryan

September 13, 2016Leave a comment

This book was so much more than I expected. From the intense emotions of the beginning scenes to the moments I laughed so hard my stomach hurt, I just loved this book! Sasha, the sweet Southern Belle, and Jags, the down and dirty Navy Medic have a totally different kind of love and romance. Even as I sit to write this review, I remember some of their antics and cannot help it – I am laughing hysterically.

They met under some stressful situations and through their best friends Tango and Cali (their story is begins in TAG). Tango and Cali knew that Jags and Sasha could bring out the best in each other. Jags was lost and jagged from his time in combat overseas. Sasha is coming out of very bad relationship where her life was at risk. He’s foul and wants to f*ck. She’s so repressed she can’t even say the word f*ck. So what do you get when you combine surly with sass? I got an amazing story that once I started I could not put down.

I will admit that for a bit I wasn’t sure what story I was reading. If you had not read Cali and Tango’s story before, it would be easy to feel somewhat lost. Still the story was written in such a way that after a time it was simply Sasha and Jags’ story. Two people who really were quite lost and trying to discover who they are underneath the disguises that they wore. No way was Jags this manwhore that he professed to be and no way was Sasha this stuck up wanna be Southern housewife in training.

They both had demons to face and decisions to make so that they could be together. They have an all out amazing journey discovering who they are individually as well as being a couple. A bit of insta-love and really, I cannot said it enough about the belly aching laughs. Don’t read this in public. I got the worst looks for laughing! My favorite line and scene from the book? “Are you Irish?” And there I go laughing all over again.

This was my first read from Shari. What a great introduction. This is not your typical romance! It’s down and dirty, complex and complicated. It’s fun and frivilous. It has moments of serious contemplation and deals with a very important issue that needs more attention. It has just some of the hottest sex scenes. It was a total blast! Fantastic, Shari!

5 Jack and Lemonade Stars!

I traded in my Navy uniform and short hair for tats and a scruffy beard to become a man on the run. Moving from town to town, taking comfort in hot cars and fast women was the only way I could outrun the nightmares.

Then I met her…

Looking like a Southern Belle in a small Texas town, all layered in pretty dresses and perfume, I call her beautiful.
She calls me a perv.

This beauty won’t admit I have something she wants (wink, wink, nudge, nudge), or that I’m the one she’s looking for, but I love that she has something I never knew I needed.

I may be labeled as a jerk, but she’s going to fall in love with me, and I’m going to make her cuss and drink whisky instead of lemonade. Why? Because sometimes beauty comes with a dirty mouth and sometimes your lemonade needs to be spiked.

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2bAYmRr
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2bAYQae
Amazon CA: http://amzn.to/2c0QsAd
Amazon AU: http://amzn.to/2c6Scea

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2aBAOhx

Review – Hostile Workplace by A.M Madden

September 9, 2016September 9, 2016Leave a comment

When I started reading Hostile Workplace I thought I was going to get a hot and humorous enemies to lovers book that would make me laugh and swoon and burn up a bit. And I did at the start but what soon develops alongside while reading Hostile Workplace is a deep, heartbreaking story that tugs at every part of you. At times I was left gasping because my heart couldn’t take it. The way everything played out was magnificent. Honestly AM Madden seriously worked some major magic with this book.

Sam and Lydia’s relationship is heart breaking to say the least both spun tales of lies and betrayal, both left with six broken years that they haven’t recovered from. However despite all their time apart their connection was electric and the love/hate banter was off the charts.

This book has been super hard for me to review because it contains some major jaw dropping moments and some spectacular twists. I darent give those away because it really adds to the impact of this story. So I’ll stop here.

All in all Hostile work place is a hot, heartbreaking read. Perfect for people who love friends to lovers and second chance romances.

4.5 Sexy, second chance romance stars.

Sam Stanton knows these simple facts:
~ He is a great catch—successful, smart, gorgeous…but the wrong woman caught him.

~ He has the perfect girl who is madly in love with him.

~ He wasted six years of his life by playing it safe.

~ He is damn good at his job and intends to keep climbing the ladder.

~ He can’t get her off his mind or out of his heart—no matter how hard he tries.

But, what he doesn’t know is just as important:

~ Will he ever really move on and forget how badly she broke his heart?

~ Should he settle for a sure thing, even knowing it’s the wrong thing?

~ Can he give up his career for a chance at happiness?

~ Does he correct one mistake with another?

~ What would he do if she were to return?

Confused yet? Welcome to Sam Stanton’s life.

Hostile Workplace is LIVE !!!

Goodreads —> http://ow.ly/bJit302M6RI

AmazonUS: http://ow.ly/hXLt303O9rz

AmazonUK: http://ow.ly/qL2b303O9V3

AmazonCA: http://ow.ly/ivox303Oa6R

AmazonAU: http://ow.ly/mG65303Oa2I

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Kobo: http://ow.ly/lAcS303O9Fy

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Review – The Playbook by Kelly Elliott

September 9, 2016September 15, 2016Leave a comment

The Playbook by Kelly Elliott

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“Love is not something you go out and look for. Love finds you, and when it does, ready or not, it’ll be the best thing to ever happen to you.”

Love found me in the form of a sensational and swoon-filled sports story: The Playbook. Fast and furiously, The Playbook became my fix and my fascination. I was glued to this story with the intensity of watching my favorite team play football. The Playbook captivated me, caught me, and claimed me. I WAS ALL IN. The romance poured off the pages while the heat set them ablaze, both penetrating straight through me, The Playbook felt like a good old fashioned love story full of sweetness, swoon, and smolder, and oh did I fall in LOVE SO MUCH.

The Prologue wrapped itself around me tightly, sinking me into the story before it really started. That last line is love at first sight where I first swooned, one of so many swoons in this sweet and spellbinding story.

“Little did I know that one simple exchange would rock my entire world.”

Beautiful ESPN Analyst Aubrey ‘Bree’ Cain reports from the sidelines of college games but has dreamed about covering the NFL for years. Little did she know one hot coach, Brett Owens, would stir up her desire with one mere intense look from the sidelines one day.

“It was no ordinary smile. It was one that you read in romance books where your knees get weak and your stomach does that stupid flip thing.”

I fell in insta- lust with Coach ‘Clincher of the Thighs’ Owens early in the story and it just grew to full on love by the end. Dark messy hair, ice blue eyes, a tall and muscular body, and one dirty mouth makes for one panty-melting player. I LOVED BRETT, AND HIS DIRTY WORDS AND BIG HEART SO MUCH!

The ladies’ man, Brett, can’t fathom why one woman who has ignited him with just a smile has him turned inside out. One woman who now has to accompany him, the best coach in college football, for a month for a big sports article for ESPN.

“We were dealt the same card, now we had to play it.”

Bree may have one tough time not mixing business with pleasure as Brett’s dirty mouth gets her hot and bothered. Who could not succumb to those wanton-inducing words?

“I know another thing that is coming up – my cock. You look sexy as f**k. By the way, I love the ponytail. Gives me something to hold on to when I take you from behind.”

That elevator…gah! My body heated from head to toe from Brett’s words alone.

“…I’m attracted to you, Brett. And the way you make me feel when I’m around you is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before, and it has me shaken to the core.”

Bree tries her hardest to not mix business with pleasure. She must keep her head in the game and goal of the NFL. She can’t lose herself in Coach Panty-Melter no matter how dirty his mouth is and how much she wants it on hers. She can’t get played by the player.

Easier said than done. How could Bree not relent to Brett’s witty and wanton-inducing words?

“Smashing my lips to hers, it didn’t take long for her to open up to me…She tasted sweeter than honey…Instead of pulling back, I deepened the kiss while our tongues danced in perfect harmony.”

Their chemistry is electric like the buzz in the air during a sold-out football game; Bree and Brett’s passion pounded from the pages sraight to me.

Bree doesn’t want to like the cocky player who turns her on while they are working together, but she can’t help what her traitorous body feels.

Her brain also can’t help but process every dirty word and look that makes her want to pounce on Brett like a cat in heat. Temptation never looked so good.

“I did the one thing I said I wasn’t going to do again. Let Brett Owens in.”

As much as their attraction is off-the-charts hot, neither Brett nor Bree want complications; both want to stay focused on their jobs and protect their hearts so no one gets hurt. Will one woman be enough to change this player’s Playbook for good?

Oh my SWOON! My sexy thigh clenches turned into swoon-filled sighs. I SWOONED HARD, my soul soared high, and my heart was hit like a football over this unexpected story. The Playbook didn’t just smoke the story and me with heat; it hit my heart with a bigger impact than I imagined. One laced in lust where love threatened to seep through, a hijacking of my heart I did not see coming.

The Playbook played me in the best way!!! I did not think this story would soar right into my soul with the speed of a fast football. I did not think this football story about a player would play me in the best way. I did not think my heart would pound all over the pages fast and furiously. I did not think the feels would flow in the form of tears of happiness, swoon, and sorrow. I LOVED EVERY MINUTE of this sensational story and could not get enough.

Kelly Elliott dropped a tender and terrific touchdown of a romance with The Playbook – a spellbinding story that made me swoon and sweat. I swooned so hard that I’m crowning Kelly Elliott the new Queen of Swoon. This Southern gal fell head-over-heels in love with The Playbook in a Gone with the Wind Meets Sweet Alabama way. This is my new favorite story by Kelly Elliott and I need not just a book but a whole series like The Playbook because I’m not done swooning yet!

5 swoon-filled stars

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My life revolved around two things. Football and my cock. And not necessarily in that order.

Being the head football coach for a top university in Texas had its ups and its downs.

The ups? Endless women to f*ck.

The downs? The politics that came with the job.

From the moment Aubrey Cain walked into my office, she turned my world upside down. Being forced to have her follow me around for a month was going to be a pain in the ass. Especially since I couldn’t keep my eyes off of her.

The best I’d hoped to come out of this was a few nights with her in my bed. I never imagined she’d be the game changer.

Brett Owens was my assignment.

Head football coach for a top college, bad boy reputation, short temper, and handsome good looks should have scared me off. But I was tougher than that.

From the first words out of his obnoxious, dirty-talking mouth, I knew it was going to be a long month. It wasn’t five minutes after meeting him, he hit on me. If only I had known his blue eyes would haunt my dreams and awaken a desire inside of me I never knew existed.

This was business. There was no way I would be tempted by him no matter how good looking he was or how many things he whispered in my ear.

He was only supposed to be my assignment. Not the man who threatened to destroy both my heart and my career. I would follow along with his playbook for now. But who would end up winning was anyone’s guess.

The Playbook is a stand-alone novel.

GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30762503-the-playbook

Amazon – http://amzn.to/2cUrQdb

iBooks – https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-playbook/id1128611665?mt=11&at=11lQ8t

Barnes and Noble – http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/2940153367774

Kobo – https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/the-playbook-6

Review – Just Friends by Monica Murphy

September 8, 2016September 13, 2016Leave a comment

Just Friends by Monica Murphy

Karen's Review

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There is something that shines in a young adult (YA) romance. Maybe it’s the movement, the faster pace, the engagement of the story. Perhaps it’s the childhood innocence resonating through the story. It could be the trip down memory lane it takes to those teenage years, sparking good and trying times. The glue that usually cements YA stories—with tough topics, some sexy scenes, and lots of depth—together is hope. Who doesn’t need a little hope in their life?

While I’ve read many college romances in the past few years, I can’t recall the last time when I hit the ‘rewind button’ even further and read a high school romance: a full-on young adult story. With adrenaline surging through me, I was excited to be reunited with a true YA romance.

Just Friends came to life before my eyes as I fell into a deep coma of captivation, fully immersed and intoxicated, where I felt every word I read. I feel deep into this slightly dark and deceptive tale, so deep that Just Friends found my lost high school years. I felt my teenage years flash before my eyes. Those years when I was a rebel against my parents…against the world…where I knew everything and they knew nothing.

Fast and furiously, Just Friends became my fix…my fascination. I could not put this all-consuming story down. This alluring tale was my addiction, my angst, and my amazing escape. These characters wrapped me into their web of deceit and dangerous consequences from playing with ones’ hearts where I fell into their tumultuous triangle of messy love. Oh did I LOVE every messy minute!

“The problem with messing around with your best friend who happens to be a boy is that they form certain expectations. We’ve crossed the line. In his eyes, there’s no going back. He wants more. He wants it—me—all the time. I think I want that too, but I’m not sure.”

Once a girl messed around with a boy, one of her best friends. Then that boy best friend messed around the with other girl best friend. Their triangle of friendship became one of fraud. A new boy enters the mix, messing with two of the best friends in the triangle, making for one screwed up square of deception.

“When he looks at me like this, I can feel that crackling chemistry between us…I can’t wash away his touch. His words. His everything…And I shouldn’t. He doesn’t belong to me. He belongs to Em. I should be thinking about Dustin. Not Ryan.”

Olivia, Emily, and Dustin are best friends, best friends for life, or so they thought until things became difficult. One Summer, Olivia went away to stay with her dad. One Summer, everything yet nothing changed. One Summer, friendships were formed and friendships fell in one messy love triangle or more like square. High school that’s supposed to be care-free became complicated.

“He played us both. She’s a fool. But then again, so am I.”

I did not expect to love a YA story as much as a contemporary romance…but I did! I did not expect to become engrossed and entangled in story of high schoolers…but oh I was so tangled and twisted up in every part of this tale! I did not expect to fall in insta-love with Just Friends…but I FELL IN LOVE SO HARD with this spellbinding story! I did not expect Just Friends to be my new favorite Monica Murphy romance but it is now my favorite story by this amazing author!

Intoxicating and intense, Just Friends is a coming of age romance that bleeds angst, penetrating the heart and soul, where you’re thrust full throttle into this tender yet turbulent tale of first love. This story tormented me in the best way where I welcomed every ounce of angst! My pulse pounded. My heart beat out of my chest. My feelings flowed all over the pages. I WAS ALL IN…hook…line…sinker! I sunk so hard, fell so hard, and LOVE THIS STORY SO HARD! Just Friends is JUST AMAZING!!! I’m dying for the sequel like yesterday.

5 terrifically turbulent stars

View all my reviews

It’s the end of summer. Just before I start senior year with my two best friends in the whole world. Dustin and Emily are everything to me. We’ve been inseparable since middle school, and when we’re together, nothing can go wrong.

But things aren’t always what they seem. Em’s turned into a drunken mess who parties too much. Dustin and I have hooked up a few times—and now he’s ready to take our relationship to the next level. Yet I’m not sure I want things to change. I’m scared if I take it any further with Dustin, our friendship will be ruined forever. Then there’s Ryan. The new guy. He’s hot. He flirts way too much. And Em has totally set her sights on him.

So when my best friend betrays me in the worst possible way, guess who’s there to help me pick up the pieces of my broken heart? Ryan. But he’s so confusing. Annoying. Sweet. Sexy. I want to trust him, yet he makes it so hard. What I really want is for everything to go back to the way it was before.

Before I found out that best friends make the worst kind of enemies.

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2coyRni
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Review – Wide Open Spaces by Aurora Rose Reynolds

September 7, 2016Leave a comment

From the very beginning of Wide Open Spaces, I knew Zach and Shelby’s story would be one of the most moving, the most heartbreaking stories that ARR has written. It starts off at such a personal place – one that Aurora has documented over time for her readers. We struggled with her, laughed and cried with her and celebrated so joyfully when her dream of family came true. Her dedication to the people would made her dreams a reality show how special this story would be. This story is about finding the love of your life, losing it through unforeseeable circumstances, to finally getting a second chance to have it all.

Shelby lost her parents but found family with her grandparents. Zach came from a family barely surviving. When the two teenagers found each other, they found their missing half. He vowed to be the man that gave Shelby everything. She vowed to love him always with all her heart. But like some teenagers they became careless and had to make the decision together to give their child to a family t-hat could give the child all the things that at 15 years old they could not.

But the loss changes them. Hurt, angry and unable to forgive, Shel leaves home to try and start over. Zach waits for her and waits some more, slowly losing himself and making mistakes that he must make right. He moves on, marries, has two beautiful children and divorces. Shel marries, has another child and tries to have a good life. Only she divorces too and after the death of her beloved grandfather ends up next door to the man that still has her heart.

Though time has gone on and they have gone in opposite directions, some things don’t change between Shelby and Zach. Love is just as strong – stronger even. Chemistry and passion just as high – if not higher. There are still obstacles to over come, a settling of old pains. There are new obstacles now to face: angry exes, blended families, creating a new life. An epic new journey for these two that was amazing to watch.

This story is filled with swoony moments, angry encounters and soul searing romance. It was a beautiful, angsty second chance that stuck with me happily once those final words were read. So very highly recommend that tissues, a favorite beverage and a comfortable spot are close by when you dig into Wide Open Spaces.

Very well done, Aurora. Very well done!

5 Wide Open Stars!

That moment your life changes.
That moment that changes your life.
That moment you love someone more than you love yourself.
That was the moment we gave our son up for adoption and the moment I was left bare. A wide-open space that would forever be empty.
There are moments that define you as a person, moments that prove just how strong you are, moments you push yourself to keep going forward when all you really want to do is give up. It was in one of those moments when I reached out and found him waiting for me.

When Shelby Calder left home fifteen years ago, she never planned on returning to the Alaskan town she left behind. But after the death of her grandfather and a bitter divorce, she hopes going home will be a fresh start for her and her ten-year-old son.

Zach Watters has made a lot of mistakes in his life. But when he sees Shelby Calder, looking more beautiful than ever, standing outside her childhood home, he promises himself that letting her go won’t be a mistake he ever makes again.

Some things never change and love is one of them.