Monthly Archives: May 2014

Review: On The Way Home by Skye Warren

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On the Way HomeOn the Way Home by Skye Warren

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was provided to me by the author for an honest review at Seductive Musings.

On the surface, the premise of Skye Warren’s ON THE WAY HOME seems simple. Clint is a soldier returning from a recent tour in Afghanistan, where he’s witnessed the worst of humanity, thanks to the undercover operation he was supporting there. Now all he wants to do is get back to a normal life, although he’s not quite sure if it’s still there for him. Della is the flight attendant on his plane home who has been warned she can only save her captive sister if Clint is handed over as compensation. Fate practically delivers him into her hands without much effort on her part. But how can she give this handsome stranger to someone she knows will kill him? And what will happen if she changes her mind?

There have been so many dark and angsty New Adult romances released in the past few years that I’ve just about sworn off them for good. But the beauty of reading is that there’s always at least one writer out there who can make me love something I’ve vowed to hate forever. And apparently for dark and angsty New Adult romance, that writer is Skye Warren. Della’s tragic history is never played for sympathy or cheap sentiment, only as a necessary backdrop to why she would even consider turning Clint over to a known murderer. Clint is shown as the more sympathetic character whose weariness has caused him to let down his emotional guard, however briefly, and his temporary weakness may well be a fatal misstep. But when Della decides to reach out just once to take what she sees within him, it’s the shock of their unusually compatible souls recognizing each other that forces the reader to cheer for them both to prevail. The road to their happy ending takes a series of twists and turns that might seem improbable in a less skilled writer’s hands, but it all makes sense by the end, and that feeling of rightness makes the journey there worthwhile and completely satisfying. Their road to love was dark, but not too dark, and it was beautiful to see Della and Clint both find security and happiness in each other. ON THE WAY HOME is yet another extraordinary story from Skye Warren and I loved every moment of it.

Ratings:

Overall: 5
Sensuality level: 3.5

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Review: Best Erotic Romance 2014, ed. Kristina Wright

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Best Erotic Romance 2014Best Erotic Romance 2014 by Kristina Wright

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for an honest review at Night Owl Reviews. The full text of the review can be found there.

One of the things Cleis Press does best is their yearly anthologies of short erotic stories, usually pegged to a specific theme or conceit. So with Best Erotic Romance 2014, I knew there would be some wonderful sexy times between couples who truly love each other, and that’s exactly what I found.

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Review: Twisted – Bondage With An Edge Anthology, ed. Alison Tyler

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Twisted: Bondage With an EdgeTwisted: Bondage With an Edge by Alison Tyler

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for an honest review at Night Owl Reviews. The full text of the review can be found there.

Although I enjoyed reading the whole book, there were a few selections that I would definitely consider as favorites. They were the stories where I was immediately engaged without having any idea what would happen next, and pleased by where the story ended up: “Foundation Stone” by Jax Baynard, “Rope Drought” by Teresa Noelle Roberts, and “Broken” by Alison Tyler. These three stories explored a variation on the bondage theme that I found unique without being over the top, and each made me wish that they had more pages. Not because I found what was there to be incomplete, but so I could stay in the worlds they’d created for just a bit longer.

If you’re a fan of short erotic fiction, and bondage is one of your reading kinks, you can’t go wrong with Twisted. It’s a perfect example of what makes the Cleis Press erotic anthologies so reliably good.

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Review: Kept – An Erotic Anthology

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KeptKept by Sorcha Black
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was provided by one of the authors for an honest review at Night Owl Reviews. You can find the entire review posted there.

Overall, Kept was an entertaining read, and all of the stories were memorable. I’d recommend it to anyone who prefers their PNR/SF romance with a capture fantasy twist.
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Intimidator (Preyfinders #2) by Cari Silverwood

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Intimidator (Preyfinders, #2)Intimidator by Cari Silverwood
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

3.5 stars

A copy of this book was provided by the author for an honest review at Night Owl Reviews

Although I enjoyed the Precious Sacrifice novella, I was less taken with this sequel. I enjoyed the premise of how a Preyfinder acquires his target, and the backstory of how Willow and Ally came to be near-recluses in their grandmother’s house in the middle of a neighborhood they both should have left behind years before. But the level of violence was quite a bit higher in Intimidator than it was in the previous story, most likely due to the comparably greater length, and I don’t have a particularly strong stomach for such things. The scenes with the alien enemy’s “nerve chewers” were especially distasteful for me, and I actually forced myself to skim through them, as much as I hated missing out on likely important plot points, especially near the end of the book. But if you have a greater tolerance for this type of thing, then it shouldn’t affect your appreciation of Intimidator. It will be interesting to see where this series goes next. I wonder how long the inevitable story between Talia and Brask will be teased out, or if they’ll finally get their own story in the next book.

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Review: Naughty Bits Part II: The Training Session by Joey W. Hill

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Naughty Bits Part II: The Training SessionNaughty Bits Part II: The Training Session by Joey W. Hill
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for an honest review at SeductiveMusings.blogspot.com.

Wow. After I finished reading Part 1, I knew when Logan and Madison’s first real scene together was going to be amazing, but THE TRAINING SESSION blew me away. I think it helped Madison to have Troy there as a buffer while she got used to seeing Logan in his true element as a confident and unforgiving Dominant. The first quarter of Part 2 is this training session where Troy learns how to control his reaction to what he receives from both Logan and Madison, although by the end it wasn’t clear where Troy’s training stopped and Madison’s started. When the scene is over, Madison realizes she can’t go back to the person she was before. Not just in terms of her sexual nature, but in the way she approaches life as a whole.

As Madison lets go of all her old rules and expectations, she begins to relax more within herself, starting to feel more liberated even as she grows closer to Logan. This freedom to embrace her true nature without fear immediately improves her interactions with customers who come into the Naughty Bits shop. Not only does her new approach result in better sales, but more importantly, she can now sell customers what they really need, even when they don’t know what that is when they first walk in. Madison’s new open attitude also gives her the courage to walk right into Logan’s hardware store next door to request a second date. Logan assures her there will be no sex, but by the end of their first evening alone, there will be no question about what is yet to come. For the only rule Madison has now is what her sister said in her last letter: Trust Logan.

Every expectation I had for this next installment was more than fulfilled, as I loved seeing Madison finally take the necessary steps to liberate herself from all the bad memories and inhibitions that had held her back her whole life. Not only does she learn to stop fearing what she feels, but in the process, she learns to be the person that her shop customers need to guide them toward their own emotional and sexual liberation. Each scene between Madison and Logan showed exactly how he is slowly leading her to trust both herself and him to always take care of her completely. As for me, I will continue to trust Joey W. Hill that each future installment of NAUGHTY BITS will be just as compelling as the previous ones.

Ratings:

Overall: 5 stars
Sensuality level: 4.5 (multiple BDSM scenes with 2 and 3 people, including oral sex and anal play)

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Release Week Review: Dare To Resist by Laura Kaye

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Dare to Resist (Wedding Dare, #0.5)Dare to Resist by Laura Kaye

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher for an honest review.

DARE TO RESIST is Laura Kaye’s engaging prequel to Entangled Brazen’s upcoming Wedding Dare series. It features the couple whose wedding will be the focal point of the new series and how a sequence of improbable events propels those two people into finally confronting their long-smoldering feelings for each other.

Both Kady and Colton are in the same line of work to provide security services to the US military, albeit with varying degrees of success. Kady has to constantly prove herself to everyone around her, including her own management, just because some people can’t comprehend that a woman can be as good at this stuff as a man. Colton may have the double advantage of being male and the head of his own company, but he knows Kady can more than match him on presentation and execution. So when they are both competing for the same contract, along with a third man whom neither of them respects, the battle is fierce and the outcome could be anyone’s guess. When severe inclement weather strands the three in a marginally acceptable motel on the edge of the desert, it soon becomes obvious that the last thing on either Kady or Colton’s mind is the big military contract which brought them there. For our hero and heroine have a sexual history from which neither has quite recovered, and their undeniable chemistry still continues to conflict with their mistaken assumptions about one another. But when their impromptu sleeping arrangement provides Colton with an unique opportunity to discover Kady’s true desires, at long last they are both freed to admit their feelings for each other and discover their true compatibility in both business and love.

What I loved the most about DARE TO RESIST was how Laura Kaye was able to convey so much essential backstory in a category-length romance. We get a real sense of the inner conflict within our hero and heroine, and how their individual assumptions about their shared past have kept them in an avoidance pattern that required something as dramatic as their weather-induced housing crisis to force its end. The events that ultimately lead to Colton and Kady’s HEA could have seemed like one deus ex machina too many in the hands of a less talented writer, but Laura Kaye was able to sell each one of them to me in turn without much resistance. I especially enjoyed the reason why Colton ended up sharing a single room with Kady instead of double bunking with the other man marooned with them, although some might find it a little too TMI. It’s Kaye’s ability to provide such moments of light humor intertwined with deep emotions and scorching sex scenes that made DARE TO RESIST such an delightful read for me, and it’s successfully set the stage for what looks like another fun Entangled Brazen book series to come.

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Release Day: Dare To Resist by Laura Kaye

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We are thrilled to tell you that Laura Kaye’s DARE TO RESIST is now available!! DARE TO RESIST is being published by Entangled Publishing, and only $.99 right now!!

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DARE TO RESIST is the prequel novella to the sexy wedding event of the year! The Wedding Dare Series brings together five New York Times bestselling authors, one sizzling story of how the bride and groom fell in love, and four super sexy tales of bridesmaids who hope to get lucky in lust—or maybe even love—at their friend’s wedding. Here’s the story that starts it all!

DARE TO RESIST Synopsis:

Dare to Resist

By New York Times Bestselling Author Laura Kaye

May 12, 2014

Trapped and tempted, this battle of wills rages all night long…

Kady Dresco and Colton Brooks click on a level that defies logic. There are only two problems. One, he’s her older brother’s irritating best friend, and two, they’re bidding on the same military security services contract.

When the competition heats up, Colton is torn between wanting to strangle Kady (and her annoying brilliance) and kissing her into submission. Which is a bad idea for a million reasons, because Kady’s submission is exactly what he craves. Being trapped in a tiny motel room with the object of his darkest fantasies will require every ounce of his restraint.

Kady doesn’t want his restraint, but Colton knows better. She deserves love, marriage, and a white picket fence—three things Colton can’t give her. But her proximity and the memory of their steamy near-miss three years ago slowly destroys his resolve. And he’s not sure how much longer he can keep his hands off…or his heart closed.

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About the Wedding Dare Series:

When four bridesmaids dare one another to find lust—or maybe even love—at the destination wedding event of the year, the groomsmen don’t stand a chance. But little do the women know, the men are onto their game, and sparks will fly alongside the bouquet.

Four bridesmaids. Four groomsmen.

Four New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling authors. Long-carried torches, sizzling new attractions, and forbidden conquests will ensure a wedding never to be forgotten.

Tessa Bailey, Baiting the Maid of Honor

Diane Alberts, Falling for the Groomsmen

Katee Robert, Seducing the Bridesmaid

Samanthe Beck, Best Man with Benefits

Coming June 9!

All Wedding Dare Series Books on GoodReads

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Laura Kaye Bio:

Laura is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over a dozen books in contemporary and paranormal romance and romantic suspense. Growing up, Laura’s large extended family believed in the supernatural, and family lore involving angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses cemented in Laura a life-long fascination with storytelling and all things paranormal. She lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.

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Excerpt Tour: The Rancher Takes A Wife by Leslea Tash

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Title: The Rancher Takes a Wife
Series: Montana Brides #1
Author: Leslea Tash
Publication Date: May 2, 2014

Chastity Lilly is no flapper. In 1920s New York, she’s determined to find a career as a teacher so she can support her family upstate. But one thing leads to another, and the company she keeps in the big city leads her down a very different path than the one she sought.

When she helps a handsome rancher in town looking for his own errant sister, can she turn her act around? Will she take his offer of a teaching position in Wedlock, Montana and make a brand new start? And if she does, can she–and the rancher–leave the past behind to forge a new future together?

Not if the rancher’s sister has her way.

This is a sweet historical Western romance. There are no PG-13 or R-rated scenes.

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Excerpt:

“I’ve embarrassed you again,” he said quietly. He stopped and turned to face me. “Please forgive me. In Montana I’m used to dodging cow piles, but since I’ve met you I seem to have a gift for stepping right in ‘em!”

I laughed. “You’re funny, Mr. Ward. Please stop asking my forgiveness. I’m afraid we’ll be forever locked in a battle of who can be the most polite!”

It was his turn to laugh. His wide smile and perfect teeth went a long ways toward smoothing things over.

“I’ve got an idea,” I said. “Let’s go to the police station together. We can inquire about my friend and about your sister there.”

He nodded. “Excellent idea. I’ve visited as many stations as I could since I got to town, but there’s one on Broadway I’ve yet to see. Shall we?”

The traffic on Broadway was thick, but faster moving than Wall Street. After a few blocks, Mr. Ward gestured to a police station on the opposite side of the street.

“It’s just this way,” he said, and then he did the unthinkable, stepping out into the street without looking.

I pulled him back onto the sidewalk so hard, he lost his balance and toppled on top of me.

“So sorry!” he said as he fell, but it was too late. In a moment, I was out of breath, Mr. Ward’s chest atop mine, our bodies entangled as he wrapped his arms around me, trying to break my fall.

Although Henry had begged me until I submitted to some kissing, I’d never felt my flesh come alive with heat and desire like it did for the handsome cowboy atop me now. I knew I should have been mortified, but all I could do was stare up into his eyes, praying he would kiss me. Praying he wouldn’t feel the heat that seemed to radiate from my secret places at the thought of his lips on mine.

He looked equally stunned, and he seemed to be struggling both to right himself, as well as to stay atop me.

“Get a room!” a man huffed, stepping around us on the crowded pavement.

It was scandalous, indeed, but Mr. Ward and I both erupted into laughter. Sometimes you must laugh to keep from crying, I’d come to learn.

But the laughter wouldn’t last long. As Mr. Ward helped me to my feet, something in a nearby alley caught his eye.

Not something. Someone.

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Leslea Tash is a journalist-turned-novelist, an avid bird nerd and the happily married mom of four. She has been a professional writer for many years. This is her first romance novel.

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Release Week Blog Tour and Review: The Last Good Knight by Tiffany Reisz

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The Last Good Knight by Tiffany Reisz
An Original Sinners novella told in five parts

LGK 1 coverScars and Stripes by Tiffany Reisz

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It’s lust at first sight when Mistress Nora encounters a sexy newcomer to The 8th Circle. She’s happy for the distraction, since she left her lover, Søren, but her session with Lance is cut short when her boss, Kingsley Edge, reveals they’re all in danger….

 

 

LGK 2 coverSore Spots by Tiffany Reisz

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

With a potential stalker on the loose, Kingsley hires Lance as Nora’s bodyguard, but stipulates no sex while he’s on duty. Frustrated by the ex-SEAL’s noble chivalry, Nora is driven to seek release with the one man she’s trying to forget….

 

 

LGK 3 cover
The Games Destiny Plays by Tiffany Reisz

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Shocked to see Nora’s bruises, Lance is furious that she put herself in danger and demands to know where she got them. As Nora confesses her true nature, she’s equally shocked to learn that Lance has some secrets of his own, drawing them together despite Kingsley’s orders….

 

LGK 4 coverFit to Be Tied by Tiffany Reisz

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

With her feelings for Lance warring with her recent encounter with Søren, Nora returns to Lance’s bed and finds herself toying with the idea of…toying with him on a permanent basis. But after she gets a glimpse into his personal angst, Nora realizes she has the power to rescue this white knight….

 

LGK 5 cover
The Last Good Night by Tiffany Reisz

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Now that the perpetrator has been apprehended, Nora sadly acknowledges she doesn’t need a bodyguard anymore. She adores Lance and wants to keep him but is faced with a dilemma—if she uses her connections to help Lance, she’ll have to give him up forever…

 

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Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V

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Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V

Author Bio & Contact Links:

Tiffany Reisz lives with her boyfriend (a reformed book reviewer) and two cats (one good, one evil). She graduated with a B.A. in English from Centre College in Danville, Kentucky and is making both her parents and her professors proud by writing BDSM erotica under her real name. She has five piercings, one tattoo, and has been arrested twice.

When not under arrest, Tiffany enjoys Latin Dance, Latin Men, and Latin Verbs. She dropped out of a conservative southern seminary in order to pursue her dream of becoming a smut peddler. Johnny Depp’s aunt was her fourth grade teacher. Her first full-length novel THE SIREN was inspired by a desire to tie up actor Jason Isaacs (on paper). She hopes someday life will imitate art (in bed).

If she couldn’t write, she would die.

Twitter: @TiffanyReisz https://twitter.com/tiffanyreisz
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/littleredridingcrop
Website: http://www.tiffanyreisz.com/

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My Review:

It’s no secret around these parts that I am a huge fangirl for Tiffany Reisz’s Original Sinners. (Team Søren, in case you were wondering.) So despite my equally well advertised weariness with romance serials, I knew I had to get my grabby hands on her new five part Original Sinners serial, THE LAST GOOD KNIGHT. It tells a brief but memorable story of how Nora found some momentary solace in her 30th year on earth (and 2nd year separated from her first and only love) with a type of hero not seen too often in erotic romance: an alpha male submissive.

Lance is an ex-Navy SEAL who just got a job working security for the one and only Kingsley Edge in the infamous 8th Circle BDSM club where Nora is now the top earning Dominatrix. But for Nora, Lance isn’t a job – he’s a treat, and one she’s deserved for quite some time. They share the beginning of what promises to be an amazing sexual encounter, when the one person who could enter Nora’s inner sanctum uninvited arrives to whisk everyone away to the safety of Kingsley’s townhouse. Another Dominatrix has been nearly beaten to death at a rival BDSM club, and the fear is that her attacker looking for others to harm in much the same way. Of course, Nora refuses to abandon her clients, so the next best compromise is for her to accept her own personal bodyguard until the culprit is found. And because Nora can never catch a break in such things, the bodyguard Kingsley’s picked for her is Lance, with a strict “no sex” rule in place for the duration.

During its five part story arc, THE LAST GOOD KNIGHT provides a fascinating peek into Nora’s life at a time not long after she left Søren but before the events of THE SIREN. It’s obvious that Søren is still the only man for her, but that doesn’t mean she’s not going to take advantage of her time with Lance, a man who would never permit himself to behave in any way other than with honor, even to the detriment of his own happiness. Along the way, we meet a few members of Nora’s eclectic clientele, and see how having a bodyguard can be a real advantage for her, especially when a new client gets himself placed on the No-Play list for gross disrespect and generally bad behavior. And as Nora and Lance form an emotional connection in lieu of a sexual one, we discover just how much Lance has sacrificed to protect the person most beloved to him. Once the danger to Nora is neutralized by one of my favorite Original Sinners, Griffin Fiske, she and Lance can finally have the many-splendored night they’d been prevented from sharing earlier. Their physical joining is just as spectacular as both they and we had anticipated, with a deeper level of intimacy that only strengthens their newly formed bond. But the true heart of THE LAST GOOD KNIGHT lies in the grave wrong done to Lance by his ex-wife and a society that refused to accept him for what he was, culminating in Nora’s deliberate violation of Kingsley’s number one rule in the name of justice, even at the cost of her own new-found joy.

I will always be Team Søren, but Lance gives him a run for his money in THE LAST GOOD KNIGHT. Lance may be submissive, but he is every inch an alpha male, and as the title reveals, a conscientious man who will always put those entrusted in his care first, no matter what the cost. He’s also funny and sweet and so amazingly hot that any woman would be lucky to have him in her life in whatever capacity she could manage. And anyone who thought Nora unable to truly commit to a man other than Søren will have their assumptions tested when seeing her with Lance in their most intimate scenes. For THE LAST GOOD KNIGHT makes it clear that one day Nora will be able to collar her own exclusive submissive without compromising her love for Søren, even if the two of them appear to be irrevocably separated. Lance may have not been fated to be that lucky man, but one day her destined submissive will appear, and THE LAST GOOD KNIGHT shows us that Nora will be ready when he does. It’s essential reading for lovers of the Original Sinners, and thanks to Harlequin MIRA releasing it all in a single week, you won’t have to wait too long to get your complete fix. 5 stars for all 5 parts.

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