Review – Wednesday by Kendall Ryan

May 27, 2016May 27, 2016Leave a comment

Wednesday is a sweet, smoldering, and spellbinding story of second chance love that hits your heart like a hurricane—hard and unexpected—where you’re flowing in feels. Body blazing. Heart hurting. Soul searing. Your body melts but the heart does too…maybe more. Kendall Ryan has written a story that smells like sex and sin, but its core is so much more. Wednesday is a sweet surprise, one that’s a breathtakingly beautiful story of love against the odds.

When I first saw the scorching cover and read the synopsis for Wednesday, I could not wait to dive into this erotic adventure. So steamy that panties would be tossed immediately because they would not be necessary due to too many changes required.

Then I saw Wednesday’s warning:

“Proceed at your own risk.”

Warnings are automatic must-reads, and I want to read Wednesday ten times more. This warning made me contemplate seeking the hubby for a little read-along, a deliciously dirty date where I may even blush.

Despite the super sexy cover, synopsis, and heated warning, I was WRONG. Off-the-charts incorrect. My romance radar: EPIC FAIL. Wednesday is so utterly unexpected. Oh, and that warning of a risk? It’s not merely a risk about high-octane-super-steamy-sexy sex. The big risk is to your heart, as it will bend and perhaps break.

The pleasantly unpredictable Wednesday tore into me like a Saturday, full of life and love, and I LOVED IT! This story is full of sweetness born from a love so pure and one stemmed from childhood. The kind of special, once-in-a-lifetime love that lasts for an eternity. Wednesday touched me like a sweet and sappy Nicholas Sparks story but with lots of steam.

Chloe and Shaw were childhood best friends and secret crushes who grew apart.

“I taught him to climb trees and catch lizards, and he taught me how to kiss.”

When Shaw loses his wife in a tragedy, he seeks out his best friend to ease the pain. Though instead of wanting her friendship, it’s her body he wants to use as a vessel to forget. Dull the ache. Feel good for a little while.

“Chloe was the golden-haired little girl I’d taught to fish…the first girl I kissed…my best friend since I was a little kid—and now she was my f**k toy.”

Beautiful, blue-eyed and blonde-haired, Chloe, will do anything for her best friend, despite the distance between them for the past few years where they grew apart. Even if the ‘anything’ is giving her body to a man, her best friend, who needs her physically to snuff out his emotional pain.

“I wanted him to heal. I wanted him to be okay. And for those few hours every week, if he could lose himself in me, I was only too happy to oblige.”

For Shaw, those Wednesday sex sessions with Chloe are everything, even if just a temporary fix.

“She was so tempting, so sweet, and [dang] if I could resist her. She quieted the cloudy discontent that swirled in my brain. It wasn’t a question of desire. It was a need.”

For Chloe, these hot Wednesday romps mean someone is showering her with attention for once.

“For those few hours, I mattered to someone.”

Chloe’s best friend and crush wants HER. Needs her. However, like air to breathe, the physical intimacy is vital to her too.

“He was my drug. Bold. Intoxicating. Addictive.”

They are bound to each other by friendship and physical desire that is hovering close to more.

These words…I’m swooning…HARD.

“I need you, Chloe.”

“So have me,” I whispered to him.

The more Chloe gives Shaw her body, the less she feels she is healing him and the more she is losing herself. Hurting both of them. Playing with fire where she is starting to get burned.

“Our flings had crossed into a gray area that where instead of feeling like I was helping him heal, it felt like he was merely using me.”

Shaw thinks he is damaged goods. Only good for the physical connection. Emotionally broken. A bad choice for Chloe who deserves better than the monster he thinks he has become.

“I wondered if she saw me for what I really was—the villain in our twisted story.”

The lines are blurred between protecting the heart versus throwing caution to the wind. The dark past and guilt keep looming like a thunder clouds and tornadoes of torture. Chloe must protect herself from getting hurt as she falls harder for the best friend and lover she will never call hers.

“It wasn’t healthy to get my hopes up about something that could never be. He was my friend. And he was still grieving. And in twenty-plus years of knowing each other, he’d never expressed any romantic feelings for me.”

What a sensational surprise! Wednesday is sweetness and sorrow wrapped in a sexy package tied together with hope. Kendall Ryan’s spur-of-the-moment story may be little in size but is big in emotion. Wednesday is heart, hope, and healing. Wednesday is the life and love of Saturday. Wednesday is what you must meet for it is simply brilliant, beautiful and breathtaking, a story that is not what you expect but so much more. You’ll leave this tale that twists itself around your heart wanting more too.

5 breathtakingly beautiful stars

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Hard core fucking.

It’s not what I really want, but it’s all he has to offer. He’s filled with turmoil and heartache and regrets, but for two hours every Wednesday all he feels is me. How much I desire him, how desperate he makes me, how much I’d like things to be different between us. Real.

He used to be my best friend back before he got married. And now? Now, he’s a young widower. It’d be wrong on so many levels to expect something more from him. So I give him what he needs. Dark delicious fucking. But I know I can’t keep this up. I’ve already given him my body, my soul. I want him to have my heart. It might drive him away forever, but that’s a risk I’m forced to take.

Wednesday is an angsty romp told from dual points of view. If you’re in the mood for something quick and dirty, you’ve found it. Proceed at your own risk.

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Review – Charged by Jay Crownover

May 23, 2016May 26, 2016Leave a comment

Karen's Review
Charged by Jay Crownover

Charged is a powerful and pulse-pounding page turner that hits the heart like a hurricane—fast, feverishly, and full of life. This tale takes you hostage, a deep immersion where fiction bleeds into reality. Charged…this story…this experience…is so raw it feels real. All-consuming. Angst-ridden. Achingly addictive.

Before I even started Charged I knew that if it stayed true to Jay Crownover’s style, it would be a rough rollercoaster of a ride to a happy ending. The best kind of romance: a messy story of hard fought love with characters who are flawed but fierce and fabulous. A tale of trial and tribulation where the players have black hearts on the outside but hearts of gold buried underneath the surface, which is uncovered, piece-by-powerful piece.

I want to devour Charged. I want to savor it, Avett and Quaid. I want to rush. I want to take my time. Charged stormed its way into my heart and soul. A bolt of lightning, striking me hard. Feelings flowing. Pulse pounding. Soul spinning. From the very first page; I was all in. Happy tears. Nostalgic tears. Weary tears. Sad tears. So many tears. So many emotions that cut through me like a knife.

Just two pages into the Introduction and Jay is speaking to me, loud and clear. I didn’t have to dive deeply to uncover the emotions that quickly bubbled up to the surface. Those words…I felt them deep down inside, so profound that they sent me on a trip down memory lane. I saw myself as that teen who had a few dates with trouble, taking risks that reeked of danger.

“So go out there and screw up. Have experiences so that you have stories to tell, and do it without apology.”

Mistakes sometimes make the best memories. Like Jay Crownover. Like me. Like so many of us, Avett Walker and Quaid Jackson have a story to tell and it’s a disaster but oh so devastatingly beautiful.

Avett Walker, the burly and big-hearted Brite’s little girl, has always dangled with danger, attracted to it like a magnet, pulling her in and dragging her down. Trouble finds her, and the innocent-looking pretty young lady with the cotton candy-colored hair has a rap sheet a mile long. Jail serves as a much-needed wake-up call to try to dig herself out of danger that has been her partner in crime for so many years.

“I had needed rescuing for a very long time.”

I want to hug Avett and give her the ‘mom talk’ about self-sabotage and learning from her past mistakes. I want to hug Brite for being an amazing father who has stood by his baby girl through thick and thin. Unconditional love is the most beautiful gift a parent can give a child.

Quaid Jackson is the beautiful, blond, and blue-eyed attorney who wears expensive suits like they were built for him. Cut-throat in the courtroom, he defends criminals—many of whom are from innocent. Quaid is so skilled and sharp that he makes even the monsters look like Mother Theresa in the end. He is running from a painful past that has plagued him for years.

“I was trying to screw wasted years, wasted money, and a broken heart out of my system.”

Her hope rests on the regal-looking but ruthless Quaid, the skillful attorney who can save Avett from prison due to one terrible mistake.

“The man was a predator, a civilized beast in a designer suit.”

I love that under Quaid’s beautiful wrapper may be a hidden beast, perhaps some bad ass under there too, and someone not as calm and collected as he appears.

Quaid is Avett’s only chance of digging herself out of this dirty mess she created. Avett is not used to following anyone’s advice, yet alone the direction of the sexiest and most sophisticated man she’s ever seen. She can’t help but want to ignite the fire in this bold and beautiful beast. Poke the lion and see if he growls.

“Getting him to react to me had become a personal challenge, and I was well aware I was pulling on a big, golden lion’s tail.”

This golden lion is chasing his tail as Avett is making his head spin. With Quaid’s new client being the small and sinfully sexy spitfire, personalities clash while sparks ignite. The gorgeous no-nonsense attorney and the colorful and reckless young beauty. Polished meets punk. Cautious meets impulsive. Desire meets desire.

Quaid is having trouble keeping his foreign feelings towards Avett on lock-down.

“I shouldn’t be noticing her curves. It was my job to help her, to keep her out of jail. With this client I wanted to touch my mouth to hers and see if she tasted as wild and rebellious as she seemed.”

Fireworks flare as Quaid tries to focus on remaining professional though it’s hard when Quaid wants to take and mark the woman who is slowly breaking down the wall around his heart, brick by brick, leaving him open and vulnerable. He must remember that a relationship between client and attorney is forbidden. If only fate would get the message as it keeps trying to intervene.

Forbidden love is one of the biggest messes, and I love a story with many loose ends. A book that is as bad as it is good.

“This little slip of a woman could demolish me, waste me, annihilate me, and if I allowed her to do it, I knew that it would feel better than anything in a very long time.”

Lines blur, boundaries break, and chemistry burns brighter. For Avett, Quaid is heat, heart, and hope wrapped up in one beautiful and bold package.

“I knew kissing Quaid Jackson was going to lead to all kinds of sorry and sorrow. I knew it as much as I knew I didn’t care and that I was going to kiss him and chase this bad idea until it crashed and burned, like they always did.”

Quaid and Avett are visual opposites but inner kindred spirits. Both are plagued by painful pasts holding them prisoner where they may be the only ones who can free each other. After all, like knows like, and inside, Quaid and Avett are one.

The pink-haired hurricane stormed into Quaid’s life and whirled around his emotions. However, with Quaid’s high-profile job on the line and Avett’s past constantly crawling up to the surface, the damage may not be worth the risk. It may be time to cash out before the game gets dicey.

“I don’t know what you thought was happening here, but it was just a job. You are a client, like any other client I represent, Avett. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Avett has always dangled with danger, but who knew her biggest danger could be her heart left in the ashes and possibly burned.

“I was pretty sure when Quaid Jackson was done with me, there would be nothing on earth that could feel as bad or be as painful.”

My soul is spinning as I just finished Charged, and I’m sorry that the story is over. Charged is a bumpy but brilliant and beautiful ride, a ride I did not want to end with twists and turns where tears of sappiness collide with tears of sorrow. You can’t help but love Jay Crownover’s badass boys and gals with big ass hearts. The unlikely and unexpected characters paired together make for a messy but so devastatingly beautiful and brilliant book. Hypnotizing. Heroic. Heartfelt.

Charged stormed it way into my heart and soul, sparking an emotional charge with words that tore at every piece of me, daring my emotions to tangle in this web of wonder. Its messages melted my mind, causing me to step inside my head and heart: Learn from your past mistakes. By finding and forgiving yourself as you learn from the past and let it heal you, only then will your present and future be brighter.

There are a few amazing authors that I can count on my hands whose powerful and poignant words paint a vivid picture, immersing me full throttle where my heart and soul feel everything. I know before even reading that their stories will tear me up, transporting me so deep that I don’t ever want to leave. Their beautiful books are those that remain with me forever. Jay Crownover is one of these heart-hitting authors.

Jay Crownover is a master of the pen, wielding words like swords that pierce straight to the heart. They hit me hard, gutting me every time. There are not enough stars for Jay Crownover’s words. If you haven’t met her raw and real work, JUST DO IT. Like a queen with the Midas touch, anything Jaw Crownover creates is pure gold. Crownover Crack.

5 ‘but worth more’ sensational and soul-spinning stars

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From the New York Times bestselling author of the Marked Men books comes the second installment in the Saints of Denver series featuring a bad girl and a by the book attorney who could be her salvation…or her ruin.

Avett Walker and Quaid Jackson’s worlds have no reason to collide. Ever. Quaid is a high powered criminal attorney as slick as he is handsome. Avett is a pink-haired troublemaker with a bad attitude and a history of picking the wrong men.

When Avett lands in a sea of hot water because of one terrible mistake, the only person who can get her out of it is the insanely sexy lawyer. The last thing on earth she wants to do is rely on the no-nonsense attorney who thinks of her as nothing more than a nuisance. He literally has her fate in his hands. Yet there is something about him that makes her want to convince him to loosen his tie and have a little fun…with her.

Quaid never takes on clients like the impulsive young woman with a Technicolor dye job. She could stand to learn a hard lesson or two, but something about her guileless hazel eyes intrigues him. Still, he’s determined to keep their relationship strictly business. But doing so is becoming more impossible with each day he spends with her.

As they work side-by-side, they’ll have to figure out a way to get along and keep their hands off each other—because the chemistry between them is beyond charged.

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Dual Review: Fallacy & Irrefutable by Kimberly Bracco

May 20, 2016May 20, 2016Leave a comment

Heartbreakingly beautiful, sizzling hot, angsty–Irrefutable is all of these things and oh, so much more! This story had my emotions all out of whack at moments and then I’d feel all happy, swoony, or hot and bothered the next. Irrefutable is the conclusion of Alex and Quinn’s story. I was dying to get my hands on this ever since I finished reading Fallacy which left me breathless and begging for more with that cliffy!

This book picks up right where Fallacy left off. Quinn is planning a wedding. A wedding to a man who she isn’t in love with.

Alex is distraught. He can’t bare to see Quinn with another man’s ring on her finger.

Quinn has a difficult decision to make. Does she marry Jordan and be miserable? Or does she say no and ruin her career?

The connection is still so blatantly, obviously there between them.

“Just touching her, in the simplest of ways, starts a fire deep within my soul. A fire that only burns for her. A fire that hasn’t been lit in a very long time.”

This book pulls at your heart strings. These characters go through so much turmoil and heartbreak. Alex’s never wavering support of Quinn, regardless of her marrying someone else, is completely endearing. He’s there for her no matter what.

Quinn is stubborn as hell. With her being messed up from her childhood, she still refuses to acknowledge how much Alex loves her.

In Irrefutable you see Quinn and Alex grow by leaps and bounds. Not only personally, for themselves, but also in their relationship.

They learn to build a trust that is unbreakable. An unbreakable bond. They learn to give in to certain things, but never give up.

“After all the pain and struggle, I finally feel whole. The bond between us is irrefutable.”

I truly loved being in Alex and Quinn’s world. Their snarky banter had me laughing with (sometimes at) them. It felt like they had become friends of mine in real life. I’ll miss them for sure. I’ll have to pick them back up one day just to visit them.

Bracco did a phenomenal job, not only with Irrefutable, but also with Fallacy. She brought the characters to life with her beautiful and unique writing. I can’t wait to see what she has to offer up to the world next!

5 Heartbreakingly Beautiful Stars!!!

Quinn Taylor had a plan, and it didn’t include Alex Conway.

With Quinn’s decisions no longer her own, and her life spinning out of control; she’s not sure about anything she once believed in. But, Alex has found something to believe in – Quinn. He knows what life is like without her and it’s a life he no longer wants to live.

Just when it seems things can’t get any worse, chaos ensues leaving them both out of time and out of options. Should Alex try for Quinn’s love without a guarantee in sight? Will Quinn be able to marry one man, to save herself, while knowing it will destroy the one man who truly loves her? Their lives are about to be flipped upside down – one way or another.

Will they have the strength to work against life’s obstacles and find true happiness together? Can Alex get Quinn to see she’s about to make a huge mistake? Can he show her a side of love that’s irrefutable?

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▶️Amazon AU: http://goo.gl/Ob1Yl4

Heart-pounding, steamy, angst, edge-of-your seat!…this is how I felt while reading Fallacy. This book had me so wound up flipping page after page wanting to see what happens next! Bracco delivered an phenomenal book that left me begging for more!

Quinn knows what she wants. She’s a beautiful, strong, independent woman who’s dead set on making CEO of her company and pushing her father out the door. She doesn’t have time for relationships. She prowls for men at night to satisfy her sexual cravings. One Hello. One Night. One Romp. One Goodbye. That’s all these poor men ever get from the career focused Quinn.

Alex is your typical man whore. He’s sexy beyond belief. He’s smart and he’s successful in his career. He’s not looking for a relationship. He fills his bed with meaningless sex and women who’s names they’re lucky if he remembers!

When Quinn and Alex’s worlds collide, they were both looking for the same thing. What they always look for. A one time romp in the sack with a hot sexy body. What neither realized at the time, was that one time together, would ruin each other for anybody else.

Alex is determined to win Quinn over. He wants her and no one else.

Quinn has a past. A past that has made her afraid. Afraid of relationships….afraid of commitment….afraid of trusting men.

Alex is kind and caring. He’s patient with Quinn because he knows something is holding her back. He doesn’t know what it is. Quinn gradually starts trusting Alex more and more. He can read her emotions like an open book. He always knows just what to say or what to do to keep her calm. Everything between them is going great…..until her greatest fear and her father rears their ugly heads and she breaks things off with him.

Alex tries talking to her. Tries to figure out what made her scared enough to run from him. She avoids him at all costs though. Seeing no other choice, Alex takes a job he was offered in Arizona.

Determined to keep on the track she’s been on for her career, Quinn goes back to her previous ways of “hit it and quit it”. No emotions. No second hook-ups. No man will get in her way of taking of her fathers company. She was finally on the right track.

Or so she thought.

2 years pass and Alex is returning to his home state. To his friends……to Quinn. Maybe? Hopefully? When he returns, he finds something he never imagined. Quinn is engaged to someone else. She’s changed. She’s not the same girl he left. He doesn’t recognize her and neither do their friends. She’s become the one thing she’s always hated. A cliché.

Will Alex find a way to change her mind? Will he be able to win her back?

Or will Quinn marry someone else and not give him a second thought?

Holy Wow! This book ended with a cliffhanger that had me spinning! Fallacy was hypnotic! It captivated me from page one until the very end! I’m now ecstatic that I don’t have to wait for Irrefutable to be released! I don’t think I could handle the turmoil going through Quinn and Alex that I was left with!

5 Hypnotic Stars!!!!!

It was only supposed to be one night. One night of hot, no-strings-attached sex.

But what happens when one night turns into two years? Two of the best years of their lives… until it wasn’t.

Quinn Taylor doesn’t believe in happily-ever-afters. Her heart hardened by the past. Despite Quinn’s inability to trust, Alex Conway knows there’s something worth fighting for.

Alex makes Quinn question everything she’s ever believed to be true about men. She doesn’t want to let him in but there’s no denying he’s under her skin.

Just when Alex thinks he’s broken down her walls, Quinn runs, breaking his heart, and he has no idea why.

After two long years without closure, Alex has finally had enough of wondering what went wrong. He’s determined to win Quinn back. The only problem… she’s engaged to someone else.

Can Alex figure out how to win back the love of his life before she breaks both their hearts irrevocably? Will Quinn realize that everything she’s ever believed is all a fallacy?

***While this series can be read without reading The Uninhibited Series, it is a spin-off that contains spoilers for the first series. It is suggested you read Inhibitions, Unrestricted and Freed first.***

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Review: The Officer’s Promise by K. Langston

May 19, 2016Leave a comment

BrothersInBlue BrothersInBlue3

Review Graphic BrothersInBlue8

Heartbreaking, joyful, angsty, funny….The Officers Promise takes you on a whirlwind ride of emotions through this novella. This was a phenomenally perfect beginning to The Brother’s In Blue series! K. Langston has blown me away with characters that I couldn’t get enough of!

Ryker is a sinfully sexy NY Police Officer. He lives a simple life of a single man and fighting crime. It’s in his blood. He wants to settle down, but he wants to do it with “the one”. He doesn’t want to settle for something that won’t last. What he really wants? His childhood love who was taken to live with her Grandmother after a tragic accident.

MaryAnn is a beautiful woman. She’s married to a man with money. Only problem? It’s not the life she wants. She’s living in a prison. A cage. She stays out of fear. What will he do next? She longs for the simpler carefree days of her childhood and her best friends who she hasn’t seen in years.

When Ryker and MaryAnn meet, they know nothing can come of it. She’s married and he’s not the kind of guy to disrupt a relationship…..until he notices the bruises. He can’t walk away. It’s his duty to serve and protect and he’ll do anything to protect her. Sparks begin to fly between these two characters and it’s beautiful! Ryker and MaryAnn will make you cry, make you laugh….and Ryker’s sexy and sweet self will make you swoon all over the place!

This story is not only amazing, but it comes with a very important, real life information. The Officer’s Promise is real, it’s raw and I loved every heartbreakingly beautiful minute of it. I am in desperate need of the other Brother’s In Blue Series ASAP! K. Langston stole my breath away with The Officers Promise!

5 Phenomenal Blue Stars!!!

SIX BROTHERS

EACH HOLDING A DIFFERENT BADGE OF THE LAW

EACH SWORN TO SERVE AND PROTECT

prom-ise: assure someone that one will definitely do, give, or arrange something; undertake or declare that something will happen.

NYPD Officer Ryker Cunningham comes from a family of men committed to upholding every letter of the law. But when he crosses paths with MaryAnn Glover, a troubled woman who not only tempts his heart but also his self-control, his need to protect her overrides everything he’s ever believed in. With a promise to keep her safe at any cost, Ryker shows MaryAnn what it means to live without fear…and love without regret.

PLEASE NOTE: This is a novella, consisting of approximately 38,000 words. The Officer’s Promise is not only Ryker and MaryAnn’s story but an introduction to the Brothers in Blue series as well. The remaining five books of the series will be full-length novels. Each book will feature one of the six Cunningham brothers. I recommend you read them in order as the characters will have appearances in each of the stories.

The Officer’s Promise is written from dual POV, with an HEA and no cheating.

The Officer’s Promise Excerpts

Excerpt: #1

My hands moved to her ass, dipping beneath the little black dress that had driven me half-crazy tonight, my fingers digging into the soft skin to lift her up as I fed from her hungry mouth. Short, ragged breaths were the only sounds filling the hallway, and I was certain they fled in time with my thrumming heart.

Her hands snuck beneath my shirt, wrestling for purchase. Her touch was a sword, slicing me wide open for her to reach inside and take what was left of me.

She could have it.

It was all useless without her anyway.

“Ryker, please.”

The longing in her voice had my hands moving to her face, angling her head so I could find a deeper connection. A growl vibrated in my chest as I lifted her and carried her to the hotel room door. Once inside, I stood her up next to the bed, swaying slightly, almost drunk on her taste, her presence.

Her fucking need.

My control was fading, erased by my own desire for her.

“I want you so bad, baby,” I whispered between her lips. “Can you feel it?”

“Yes.”

My hands moved to the back of her dress, drawing down the zipper slowly. “Tell me what you feel.”

“Hands.”

My tongue tasting the skin of her neck, I asked, “Where?”

“Everywhere.”

Her dress fluttered to the floor. “What else?”

“Lips,” she answered breathlessly.

I pressed them to her bare shoulder. “Where?”

With the tilt of her head, her mouth stole mine, fingers burrowing into the back of my head as she tugged me closer, completely taking over. Each scrape of her nails raking across my skin and every moan that escaped her mouth was one step closer to my demise.

Jesus, I could come just from this fucking kiss.

She slowed her breathing and the kiss, easing her hold on my neck, relinquishing control back to me.

“What else do you feel, baby?” I asked in a deep voice that made her eyes flutter closed as I pressed myself against her.

I could taste it on her lips, but I was dying to hear her say it. In the span of three breaths, she finally opened her eyes once more and answered.

“You.”

BrothersInBlue0

Excerpt #2

She didn’t come in the following week.

Or the next.

I found myself constantly worried about her. It was driving me crazy, and I needed to know she was okay. Today was my day off, but I went to the West Side Deli for lunch anyway. I’d been here every single day since, hoping like hell she’d show up.

I’d almost given up for the day, after sitting here for the last four hours, when she finally walked in. Rain pelted the sidewalk outside but she was wearing those damn sunglasses again.

Anger simmered in my blood as I slid from the booth, halting her before she could even place her order.

She kept her chin tucked to her chest, eyes trained on the floor as she tried to sidestep me.

“Whoa, MaryAnn, are you all right?”

Her gaze lifted to mine, and I could see the dark shadow beneath the tinted shades. “I’m fine.”

“Are you? Because you don’t look fine. Come sit with me for a minute. Let’s talk.”

“I can’t, I’m in a hurry.”

“Listen, I just want to be your friend. Remember when we were friends and we could talk and trust each other?”

Her lip trembled. “Please, I just need to get my order and get home. If I’m gone too long he’ll—”

She snapped her mouth closed, realizing her mistake.

“He’ll what?”

“Nothing, never mind.” She shoved me aside and made her way to the counter to place her order. Once she had her cup in hand, I met her over by the fountain.

“Listen, I appreciate your concern, but like I told you before, I’m fine,” she tossed out, refusing to look in my direction.

She continued to shift her face away from me, and I was growing more and more irritated by the second. “I don’t believe you.”

“Excuse me?”

“I said I don’t believe you. I think you’re far from fine. I think you’re in danger and need help.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’m not stupid, MaryAnn. I’m a fucking cop for Christ’s sake.”

She recoiled, and I instantly regretted the anger in my tone. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Then why are you wearing sunglasses when it’s raining outside?”

“My contacts were giving me problems this morning and—”

I reached up, gently pulling them down her nose, revealing her eyes, the right one damn near swollen shut.

“Jesus,” I gritted. She quickly shoved them back in place, spinning away from me. “Who did that to you?”

“No one.”

“MaryAnn—”

“God, why are you doing this? Why can’t you mind your own business and leave me the hell alone?”

I stepped in front of her, gently cupping her elbow. “I just want to help you.”

“I don’t need your help.”

“Your husband did that, didn’t he? And the bruise I saw a couple of weeks ago, he did that, too.”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Then call me a liar.”

Silence hung heavy between us.

“Why stay? Why not leave him?” I asked, desperate to know why someone as strong and beautiful as her would put up with a piece of shit like that.

“Because I’m more afraid to leave than stay.”

“Ticket number 298!”

She jerked from my grasp, snatched her order off the counter, and stormed out without a second glance.

BrothersInBlue6

Amazon US: https://amzn.com/B01FW093IM

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01FW093IM

Amazon CA: http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01FW093IM

Review – All The Waters Of The Earth by Leslie McAdam

May 18, 2016Leave a comment

All The Waters Of The Earth is a sensational piece of art. Reading this book was like watching an artist at work.

We begin with the blank canvas. We are slowly brought into the story with Lucy, soft brush strokes begin to outline her story and bring us into her world. Lucy is incredibly sexy and super Sassy, but has those cracks we all have from past heartache. I felt her immediately. Understanding the person behind the romance writer.

The artist continues, pulling you in deeper, now splashes of colour are added as we meet our hero, Jake. A complex, hot man who likes to wear suits for stupid amounts of hours. He’s intriguing. The romance lover in all of us knows he has a past and immediately we can feel the attraction he has in Lucy from the first kiss alone. And the tingles Lucy feels are felt in us.
The artist is back, pulling back our focus onto the deep, sultry lines that now fill the picture, the tension between Lucy and Jake sizzles, the long sweeping brush strokes grab your attention and hold it, strongly.

Mixed with long, deep lines we get some intense bursts of colour, sharp, short lines that catch the breath and speed up the heart. Seriously the hotness that oozes from Lucy and Jake is off the charts.

Gradually, a picture begins to take shape, a story forms the writer of beautiful romance suddenly becomes the heroine with her own hero. This story is sexy, it’s sweet. It has humour and sadness. My heart fluttered for these two and hurt for Lucy.

Throughout it all my attention is held, hard and soft brush strokes, light and dark, pull together to leave us with a stunning masterpiece.

5 intense, artistic stars.

Romance novelist Lucy Figueroa lives a life of the imagination. While her stories are filled with fictional alpha male heroes, her real life is filled with nothing but Mr. Wrongs. As a sassy, strong, single mom, she doesn’t need anyone… except maybe a new book idea. And to forgive herself for the mistakes of the past.

Lucy’s sexy new neighbor, Jake Slausen, looks like one of her characters come to life. While he fits the heartthrob part, he doesn’t act it, too distracted by his cell phone and his job for any relationship. Damaged by his childhood, he’s ignored his true calling and goes through his days on autopilot…until he meets Lucy.

First drawn together by chemistry, then by a fierce need to protect each other even from themselves, will Jake and Lucy learn to accept their pasts or will they convince themselves that happily ever afters only exist in romance novels?

http://amzn.to/1YqosqU

Review – Assured by Kaylee Ryan

May 6, 2016Leave a comment

Holy Moly, this book is sensational!

Assured is the astounding next book in the Soul Serenade Series featuring the super swoony, oh so freaking hot Cole Hampton… I never thought I’d say this but he’s wayyy better than Kacen!

I have no idea where to start my review for Assured. From the first page I was in total bookworm bliss, knowing I was going to fall in love with another Kaylee creation. Each and every time Kaylee releases a new book, her writing gets stronger, her story lines get more addicting, her characters get more captivating. And Assured has all that and more. I have literally devoured this book and all that is Cole.

It has taken just under 3 hours for me to inhale every single word, every single spark of tension and every single tingle from an undeniably strong connection, between me and the characters and the characters themselves.

Assured, sizzles and pops, all the way though. While reading I got butterflies, that got bigger and bigger the further in I got. Cole & Stacy are perfect! So hot, so sweet, so EVERYTHING.

From the initial push and pull of searing hot tension to the swoony, blissful, heartwarming love that develops, this book takes you on the ride of your life. Add in the other Soul Serenade band members and a creepy bad guy and Assured will have you glued to the edge of your seat!

I am 100% in love with this book, in love with Cole. He’s topped my Kaylee Ryan creation list! This story has captivated me and totally blown me away. And it will you too.

I assure you.

5 Sensational Stars

I’ve always been the guy who plays the field. I like variety and my career ensures that I can have my pick of women.

Until her…

I’ve always been the girl who wants more. I want the white picket fence, the two point five kids and the dog. That’s what all little girls grow up dreaming about.

Until him…

Why is it that she’s all I can see? I no longer want the variety instead all I want is her. I won’t stop until she believes that she’s mine.

I assure you……

Available on KU

http://amzn.to/1TLNejX

Review – Mister O by Lauren Blakely

May 4, 2016May 4, 2016Leave a comment

Sweet, sexy, and spellbinding, Mister O is a forbidden friends-to-lovers romance that casts a spell like a magic love potion, warming all of the right places. Simply orgasmic. Cupid has a hold of Mister O, with arrows aimed straight to the heart, tugging the feels that flutter everywhere. Hook. Line. Sinker.

Holy hot! With barely a taste of Mister O, the prologue had me panting, contemplating if Mister O would pay me an emergency visit. The heat, oh did it soar off the pages right to my body, sending it to such a scorching level that I contemplated a cold shower break.

How could you not love a man who knows how to deliver the big O?

“Giving a woman a sheet-grabbing, toe-curling, mind-blowing orgasm is pretty much the Best Thing Ever.”

Oh yes indeed it is. An orgasm is frosting on the sex cake, and oh is it delicious. Dirty. Decadent. Divine.

“Getting her off is the name of the game, and if you can’t get that job done, you should get the hell out of the bedroom.”

Men, yes…YOU! I think it’s time you joined the romance revolution as a new audience since some of these books, like Mister O here, are bedroom king bibles. Lessons of lovemaking. Your O-source of information for the ladies. Post this prologue as your PSA…everywhere.

Speaking of men, the star of this show is Nick Hammer, AKA, Mister O. Tall, inked, muscular and does the delicious nerdy hot thing with glasses. Tats and glasses = heavenly hot. Did I say hot enough? Nick is a celebrity cartoonist of Mister O, definitely not a show for the littles as there is nothing little about Mr. O or his show sporting the same name. A superhero that delivers Os to damsels in sexual distress. Genius. Oh Naughty Nick.

Nick ‘Hammer me please’ is Spencer Holiday’s best friend. Remember Spencer and his big…ahem…rock? Ahhh…big rock and big O…what a dynamic duo.

Harper Holiday, Spencer’s little sister, has always caught Nick’s eye. Red hair. Blue eyes. Curvy body. Sarcastic mouth. Though Harper is like that pretty signed book on a book lover’s shelf. Something or someone you look at and ogle, but don’t touch. Off limits.

“I don’t plan on acting on any of the fantasies I’ve had about Harper, even if the bent-over-the-kitchen counter one is particularly potent lately…I smack the 99.99 percent of my brain that just thought that. Because Harper is my best friend’s sister.”

Sarcasm is Harper’s barrier to a lonely heart. Isolated from the dating world as busy magician who spends more time teaching children magic tricks at parties, Harper needs some tricks of her own to interact with men.

“You’ll be my tutor and give me lessons in dating? You’re good at this. You know women. You can read men. You understand all the things I find completely confounding.”

What better teacher than someone with whom she is already comfortable? Someone who is panty-melting hot and delivers chemistry like the man magnet mailman. Someone who knows how to deliver Os to the ladies before the P comes to play. Her brother’s best friend and expert O Man: Nick Hammer. Though Mister O would rather teach her some tricks of his own behind the sheets.

“I want to yank that lush body against mine, let her feel how much she turns me on, and find out if I do the same thing to her.”

One week of lessons of love with her brother’s best friend. How to flirt, sext, and seduce. How to kiss, undress, and more. This teacher doesn’t need to teach his student about chemistry as that is palpable, permeating throughout the air and spiking with barely a touch. Harper will learn to seduce and Nick may finally get a taste of the forbidden fruit that has tempted him for so long as he prays that his recent fantasy comes to life.

“One of my favorites, one of my fallbacks, one of my simplest and yet hottest fantasies—her legs wrapped tight around my head as I taste her on my lips. As I send her soaring with my tongue.”

The pages on my kindle are steaming and so am I…it’s Hammer time indeed.

When student and teacher with off-the-charts chemistry collide or more like combust, it’s a frenzy of fireworks. It seems like the perfect plan. Harper learns how to be a sexual siren while Nick can sample his crush with no commitment.

“Our lips graze…I brush my lips across hers, a barely-there caress that’s full of promise, a hint of what it could become if it were real.”

While Harper definitely earns an A in her seduction lessons, her graduating goal is more long-term. Harper wants it all. Lust. Love. Sex. Smiles. She wants her Prince Charming. Her happily ever after.

“I want to look in someone’s eyes and feel like he knows me, gets me, understands me. I want him to see my quirks and accept them, not try to change them.”

Foreign feelings invade Nick for the first time, with the physical chemistry burning its way inside where emotions reside.

“I burn for her. Everywhere. My hands, my chest, my skin. I want this girl so much.”

The lessons of lust start to lean towards love. The act seems real. Feels real. Is real. Giving orgasms may be Nick’s hobby, but he may want to give his heart away for the first time too. However, he is not sure if Harper is in the game for him or to use her new magnetic man powers on someone else.

“I need to know whether this is all in my mind, or if this crackling electricity between us truly is as two-way as I want it to be…or if I’m just the warm-up act to the date she really wants.”

Mister O lit me up with laughter, heating me from head to toe, as it touched my heart along the way. Mister O brings the A game. This brilliant book is pure pleasure, a playful and mesmerizing masterpiece that pulls at the panties and touches all the feels. I still want a longer lesson with my Mister O, as one time was not enough.

Just call me Mister O. Because YOUR pleasure is my super power.

Making a woman feel ‘oh-god-that’s-good’ is the name of the game, and if a man can’t get the job done, he should get the hell out of the bedroom. I’m talking toe-curling, mind-blowing, sheet-grabbing ecstasy. Like I provide every time.

I suppose that makes me a superhero of pleasure, and my mission is to always deliver.

But then I’m thrown for a loop when a certain woman asks me to teach her everything about how to win a man. The only problem? She’s my best friend’s sister, but she’s far too tempting to resist–especially when I learn that sweet, sexy Harper has a dirty mind too and wants to put it to good use. What could possibly go wrong as I give the woman I’ve secretly wanted some no-strings-attached lessons in seduction?

No one will know, even if we send a few dirty sexts. Okay, a few hundred. Or if the zipper on her dress gets stuck. Not on that! Or if she gives me those f*&k-me-eyes on the train in front of her whole family.

The trouble is the more nights I spend with her in bed, the more days I want to spend with her out of bed. And for the first time ever, I’m not only thinking about how to make a woman cry out in pleasure –I’m thinking about how to keep her in my arms for a long time to come.

Looks like the real Adventures of Mister Orgasm have only just begun….

**MISTER O is a standalone romantic comedy and it follows supporting characters first introduced in BIG ROCK**

Amazon Kindle: http://amzn.to/1O75cZI

Amazon Paperback: http://amzn.to/1WTvVO0

iBooks: http://tinyurl.com/MisterOrgasm

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1oXCxRi

B&N: http://bit.ly/1Y1PCEI

Google Play: https://goo.gl/4Ygf2m

Review – The Heart by Kate Stewart

April 29, 2016Leave a comment

“You knocked the wind out of me”

The Heart by Kate Stewart is the sensationally stunning, sweet and oh so sexy new release in the Reluctant Romantics series.

I’ve very quickly fallen in love with Kate and her books. Kate’s stories evoke so much emotion. Each and every word is filled with tender love and passion that is wholly addicting. And once again Kate has produced a story that grabbed me by the heart and soul and has well and truly knocked me off my feet.
Rose, the hopeless romantic with the broken heart was first introduced to us in The Fall. She intrigued me, and after reading The Mind I loved her. Her heartache became my heartache, and I longed for her to find the romantic person she once was. If you’ve read The Mind, I’m sure you too have been left with a shattered heart, desperately seeking a happy ending. So imagine my joy when The Heart landed on my kindle. Knowing I was about to dive into one hell of an emotional roller coaster I got myself comfy and began.

From the start I was enchanted. Words played out before my eyes dancing a beautiful rhythm of sweet, slow burning angst. Feelings took hold of me and threatened to never let go. And I didn’t want them to. I lost myself in Rose and Jack.
From their first meeting sparks of electricity buzzed through me. My heart kickstarted and slowly but surely began to pull itself back together. I lived these characters. I breathed with them, for them – felt every pull, every spark, every heated, raw moment.

“You make it hard to breathe, Rose Whittaker.”

No, Jack Sawyer, YOU make it hard to breathe. This delicious, dirty yet sweet, sexy man literally ran away with my heart. From the get go, not only did he fix Rose. He fixed ME. I adored Grant. He was perfection, and I’ll admit I worried I’d find it hard to move on. But woah, baby! One look into Jack Sawyer, and I was gone. Literally DONE FOR. He was EVERYTHING and MORE. He has the words, the looks, the deliciously sinful moves. EVERYTHING.
The chemistry written between Jack and Rose is electric. It lit up every single part of me, pickling my skin, igniting my senses and leaving me in a burning ball of feels.

The Heart has emotionally strung me out. I’ve laughed. I’ve cried. I’ve swooned so hard. I’ve burnt up hotter than a kettle. I’ve been fixed, broken then blissfully fixed again. I’ve loved. Unconditionally. Jack and Rose are IT for me. There were no clichés. Their story is as real and as raw as it gets. Kate exceeded all expectations, literally blowing them out the water producing something so stunningly epic, I now sit here drowning in complete blissful happiness.

“Did you feel that?”

Hell yes, I did!!

5+ sensational stars.

The Heart ❤️

Book 2 (Jack and Rose)

The Reluctant Romantics Series
Jack
For the last ten years, I’ve roamed the globe, captivated by the world around me. I’ve seen the seven wonders and admired sunsets from every continent. I’d lived and loved and that was enough for me. It would have to be.
I was content, satisfied with my collection of experiences . . . until a phone call led me down a road less traveled.
If I’d known my fascination would pique and be forever quenched only a few hundred miles from where my curiosity had been born, I may have never set sail.
Rose
Stripped of the future I’d planned with the love of my life, my family and my career were now all that mattered. I’d lived and loved and that was enough. It would have to be.
I struggled to move forward, to discard the part of me that held out hope for my obliterated heart. But I was bred a romantic, so it was easier said than done.
The chances of being struck by lightning are 1 in 960,000.
The odds of being struck twice are 1 in 9 million.
I risked those odds every minute, often cursing the dark sky, praying for static and a rumble of thunder, but it never came.
No, that second bolt hit me on a clear day.

The Reluctant Romantics
The Fall
The Mind
The Heart

Compliments to the series
Room 212
Never Me

Add to goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28094314-the-heart

Live May 30th.

Review: Come Undone by Jessica Hawkins

April 27, 2016Leave a comment

Come Undone is a rollercoaster of a ride filled with so much emotion. From loving and sweet, to humorous joy. From angsty to deep turmoil. Jessica Hawkins took me on a ride that I won’t soon forget and can’t wait to continue.

Liv is a young married woman, working for Chicago Metropolitan Magazine. She came from a broken home and chooses to live life on the “safe” side. Chooses to “settle”…..except with her job. Her dad has always drilled into her mind…

“Say yes to everything. Never pass up an opportunity.”

Her focus has always been her career. Her marriage. Never straying from her husband. Not wanting to end up like her parent. Scared of living life because of her past. Liv feels invisible amongst crowds.

“It was an unfortunate ability of min, feeling spectacularly alone in a crowd, even when surrounded by friends and family.”

David is a sexy as all get out, very well established architect. Completely engrossed in his job, he has no time for relationships. He lives for his job.

…..until he locks eyes with Liv from across the theater.

The sparks, the connection, it’s instant. You can feel it between the two of them.

“Something about the lean in his posture was intimate and easy, yet the space between us was physically hot. Fire under my skin. I reminded myself to breathe.”

Come Undone had me all over the place. There were times that I loathed her husband for the way he acted, but there were times when he could be sweet. I’m on the fence with him. Bill (that’s his name) couldn’t even bother to try to get them off after sex. It was sad and heartbreaking to me really. Who wants a man who only cares about his own sexual satisfaction?

“Bill had comfort in the fact that it wasn’t just him. I’d been with other men before him, mostly in college, but despite my efforts, had yet to find my slice of Nirvana. I couldn’t find comfort in that, though. To me, it was my eternal flaw and as a wife, my greatest inadequacy.”

If I’m honest, I’m completely 100% rooting for David to get the girl! He’s every girls fantasy! Tall, dark, handsome, sweet, caring, sincere, attentive…..I could go on and on. He’s the guy every girl dreams of!

When he and Liv are in any sort of proximity to each other the sexual tension is so tight you’d think it would snap at any second. Both are strong willed and hold off as long as they can, but when the two finally come together……oh man do the sparks fly! The chemistry between these two and the sex (FINALLY) between the two is out of this world hot and steamy!

“Nothing rivaled hearing my name on his lips. I yearned for the burn of his face on mine. I wanted this, I couldn’t deny, but I also knew that it was irreversible.”

This book had me on the edge of my seat at times. The anxiety that Liv carried around with her, was utterly heartbreaking for me. It truly did seem as if no one actually “saw” her. I could say so much more about this book, but I don’t want to ruin it for anyone. I will tell you that you will fall in love with some of the characters in this book! I know I did! So, read it! You won’t regret it, as long as you don’t mind cheating in your books!

Come Undone was a phenomenal beginning to the Cityscapes Trilogy. It had it all! It was enthralling, angsty, and downright sexy! I can’t wait to dive in to the second book! Bravo Hawkins, for blowing me away once again! Hawkins truly has a unique gift for beautiful story telling that I can’t get enough of!

5 Steamy and Angsty Stars!!!

Olivia Germaine has already found love. Devoted wife, loyal friend, determined career woman–she’s created the life she always envisioned. But when Olivia locks eyes with a handsome stranger across a crowded room, he peers a little too closely and sees emotions she thought she’d buried long ago.

David Dylan, alleged playboy and eternal bachelor, challenges Olivia to confront the life she’s built and to make decisions that could either lead to happiness… or regret.

Will Olivia be able to draw the line between lust and love? And can David respect that line?

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1UcLKRX

Review: B-Sides and Rarities by K Webster

April 27, 2016April 27, 2016Leave a comment

This book isn’t for the faint of heart. We were warned from the first page and Webster wasn’t lying!

WoW! When I first learned about this book, I was excited, nervous, and anxious all at once! I love K Webster’s writing! This book should be no different….and it wasn’t. B-Sides and Rarities is exactly what it is supposed to be. It’s a glimpse inside of the authors mind. From sweet to dark. From sad to happy. This book is a compilation of 12 different, UNFINISHED stories. It’s a taste of K Webster’s madness in a different form!
Webster gives you a taste of one story, pulls you in, and then “POOF!” It’s over before it really begins. Webster leaves you wondering and wanting more of each story. Oh but what a surprise she gave us at the end! If you’ve read the War & Peace duet, you know the next story coming is Gabe’s! Webster gives us all a taste of his story and let me just say! I am a little more “Team Gabe” for reading it!

B-Sides and Rarities was a deliciously, torturous dip in the chaotic mind of K Webster! Every story had me wanting to sink my teeth in. I cringed EVERY.SINGLE. TIME. I turned the page, hoping it wasn’t the end of the story. I’m hoping and praying that K Webster will one day finish these stories that I can’t seem to get out of my head. Wondering…..what happened next?!?! Maybe my prayers will be answered, but I guess only time will tell!

Kudos to you Webster, for taking a chance and taking your fans for a walk on the wild side! I have loved everything I’ve ever read of yours, and I can’t wait until the next release! Now, finish these stories please, I beg of you!

5 Maddening Stars!!! Peeking into the head of a writer is like opening the door to a room filled with lunatics, villains, and demons—all running amuck while screaming at exactly the same time. In other words, complete chaos. Most days, authors are able to quieten those voices in their head and focus on the ones who yell the loudest. They are able to clutch onto the hand of the most important character and pull them from the fray.

But what happens when they’re all screaming much too loudly? What happens when they all speak at once and they pull the author into the depths of their fiery hell?

Writer’s block, that’s what.

Have you ever wondered why an author jumped into a different story while in the middle of a series you’ve been following or why they are taking too long to release or why they’ve gone genre hopping?

Well, I’ll tell you why.

They’re in hell.

The hell of their own mind.

In most cases, the writer will open new documents and tell portions of these character’s stories if only to shut them up for a while. Other times, it’s because the author simply needs to feel useful or productive when their work in progress has come to a screeching halt. Regardless of the reason, you can ask just about any writer in this world and they’ll show you right to a folder on their desktop or a notebook of many scribblings of unfinished stories.

This is our therapy. Our coping mechanism.

And most days, as a reader, you’re only welcome into the world of our stunning, finished works of art we’ve spent months and months agonizing over. The beautiful final product of our blood, sweet, tears, and insanity. Nobody ever lets you in to see what wasn’t ever meant for the world. The imperfect. The incomplete. The utter madness.

Nobody would ever share that with the world, right?

Well, they’d have to be a little crazy.

They’d have to be me.

***

WARNING: This is a collection of incomplete stories. Some end abruptly, almost as quickly as they started. Others let you sink your teeth in just a bit before pushing you away. A couple will leave you pulling at your hair and cursing for more. In this collection, it’s all about beginnings…there are no climaxes or epic endings. It’s madness I tell you! Enter at your own risk.

Amazon: http://amzn.to/21d8MZV

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1NMnq2C 

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/1XSIg63