Tag Archives: 4 stars

Review: Bared (Club Sin #2) by Stacey Kennedy

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Bared (Club Sin, #2)Bared by Stacey Kennedy

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for an honest review at Romancing Rakes for the Love of Romance.

Cora and Aiden meet every weekend at Club Sin, the exclusive membership-only BDSM dungeon, so that they can both leave behind their troubles and lose themselves in a mutually beneficial Dominant/submissive relationship. The play between them is deep and satisfying, but it can never be more than play, or so Cora firmly believes. After all, Aiden had once loved and lost Lily, the only woman he could ever love, and no other submissive would ever be able to take her place. But the past two years of suppressing her true desire for more with Aiden has finally taken its toll on Cora, and when her love for him can no longer be denied, the fallout could either bring them closer in the way she’s always hoped for, or tear them apart for good.

When I started reading Bared, I was genuinely skeptical that it could be a satisfying read when the entire plot revolved around the heroine’s unrequited love for the apparently oblivious hero. But as I discovered more about both her past and his, and how their D/s interplay reflected their growing emotional bond, it became not only plausible, but inevitable that what Cora felt for Aiden would eventually become too much for her to bear alone. Her fears about his ability to commit to her are well-founded, and the way he behaves as her secret misery becomes all too apparent is heartbreaking. It ultimately takes the intervention of their Club Sin friends and loved ones to help Cora and Aiden get to the happy ending they can only find in each other, and it is just as perfect as they both deserve after so many years of denial. I loved every moment of Bared and can’t wait until my next visit to Club Sin.

Favorite Quote:

She wished he’d marked her because she belonged only to him. That he declared to the members that he was her Dom. That she was his woman. The world seemed to slow down when she looked into his cold gaze.

She wanted forever. He wanted tonight.

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Review: Make Me Yours Evermore by Cari Silverwood

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Make Me Yours Evermore (Pierced Hearts, #3)Make Me Yours Evermore by Cari Silverwood

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was purchased by me for my own enjoyment. The complete version of this review appears at Night Owl Reviews.

I had a lot more difficulty reading Make Me Yours Evermore than I did with the previous two books in the Pierced Hearts series. I think part of it was not having Klaus there as the reliable center for what took place, even as it went far beyond anything what he had done. Chris is Klaus’s friend and acolyte in all things BDSM, but that didn’t mean I trusted him to do the right thing as I had with Klaus. And Andreas may have fancied himself as Kat’s savior, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t right there with Chris in taking away all of her options that didn’t fit in with the plan. Yet even as I kept putting the book down and picking it up again, I also kept telling myself that Cari Silverwood knew what she was doing and that everything would work out as best as it could under the provided circumstances. My trust in her was rewarded with an ending that convinced me Kat’s future with Chris and Andreas would be a good one, as well as a palpable sense of relief that it hadn’t all gone horribly wrong.

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Review: An Indecent Proposition by Stephanie Julian

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An Indecent PropositionAn Indecent Proposition by Stephanie Julian

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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

AN INDECENT PROPOSITION starts out as the story of how a young woman at the end of her financial rope agrees to sex with a stranger for an outrageous amount of money. Julianne’s father left both her and her mother in a deep financial hole on his permanent way out of town after her mother’s bout with breast cancer. Five hundred thousand dollars is too much for Julianne to turn down, even if it means a night of sex with a stranger. What she didn’t count on was losing her heart to not just one, but two men who were worth so much more to her than the cash she desperately needed.

Keegan and Erik have been inseparable since they met in college and soon after formed their own wildly profitable bio-metrics company, but not in the way most people thought. They prefer to share a woman sexually, and had done so successfully until Erik was nearly killed in a lab explosion. The years of reconstructive surgeries and painful rehabilitation have done little to restore Erik’s confidence in his appearance, and his withdrawal from the world weighs heavily on Keegan. But when Erik spots Julianne working as a catering server at their company event, he knew he had to have her. And Keegan will do everything he can to make sure that happens, even if it means walking away from both of them for good.

AN INDECENT PROPOSITION was originally published as a five part e-serial, and that was how I originally read it, waiting impatiently for weeks between releases. The passionate romance and scorching sex scenes kept me reading, even as the individual cliffhangers made me crazy wanting to know what happened next. But I wondered if the read would be just as satisfying when glued together as one complete story.

The good news is that yes, AN INDECENT PROPOSITION does work well without the forced reading delay between each of its five segments. Some serials have a real issue with maintaining continuity, one that isn’t obvious until repackaged as a full length book, but this never happened here. The sections flow naturally into each other, even though the originally defined separations are still used (i.e. five sections labeled as “Chapter One”), and the transitions hold up with the closer proximity.

Best of all, the relationship between Erik, Julianne and Keegan still packs the emotional punch that kept me reading for months. It never veers into overkill, even with the compressed timeline and often problematic “insta-lust” trope transforming a bizarre business transaction into a 3 way affair that may or may not become a lasting 3 way relationship. I’m glad I had the opportunity to read AN INDECENT PROPOSITION in both incarnations, and I’m looking forward to a follow-up book featuring Erik’s sister Katrina.

Ratings:
Overall: 4 stars
Sensuality level: 4 (MFM menage, light BDSM, voyeur play, semi-public sex)

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Review: How to Run with a Naked Werewolf by Molly Harper

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How to Run with a Naked Werewolf (Naked Werewolf, #3)How to Run with a Naked Werewolf by Molly Harper

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for an honest review at SMI Book Club.

Molly Harper and her Naked Werewolf series were new to me as a reader, but I was able to dive right in and enjoy the mostly light-hearted tale of how Dr. Anna Moder saved a stranger who was bleeding and prone in the middle of the road and in the process, reclaimed her identity and found true love.

Thanks to her previous association with the Crescent Valley werewolves, Anna recognized what Caleb was almost immediately, but as the oddball loner who’d stayed away from the pack for years, he wasn’t exactly what Anna would consider a good bet for a safe future. Her previous taste in men was what had gotten her in this mess in the first place, so she couldn’t let her growing desire for him cloud her judgment on his character, could she?

As for Caleb, we only see him through Anna’s eyes, but what we see is nothing but good. He makes no apologies for his line of work, but sticks to what others might call a skewed version of honor in his business arrangements. And Anna could never quibble with how well he protects her, even when she makes it extra difficult by refusing to stay put when she should. Together they make an interesting pair and it was fun to see them get closer as they spent weeks together on the road.

Although I hadn’t read the previous books, there was just enough exposition included in How To Run With A Naked Werewolf that I was able to follow along without feeling too overwhelmed by back-story. Both Anna and Caleb, the person she saved in a moment of reckless altruism, believe they are keeping major secrets from each other, not realizing that what they believe to be hidden is actually already known by the other. Caleb had very good reasons for staying aloof from his pack and I loved how he was able to break out of his emotional isolation as his feelings for Anna grew stronger. Although humor is a major component of this story, the threat that keeps Anna on the run is scary and real, and I appreciated how that kept things from getting too deliberately wacky. Ultimately, it was watching Caleb and Anna fall in love and find a more settled life together that made How To Run With A Naked Werewolf a thoroughly enjoyable read.

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Review: The Sinners Club by Kate Pearce

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The Sinners Club (The Sinners Club, #1)The Sinners Club by Kate Pearce

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for an honest review at Romancing Rakes for the Love of Romance.

I have a great fondness for Kate Pearce’s House of Pleasure series, since they were some of the earliest and best books I read back when I was first exploring the erotic romance genre. So when I saw she had a new series with a first book starring Jack Lennox from Simply Scandalous, I knew I had to read it as soon as possible. And if this first book is any indication, the Sinners Club books are going to be just as good.

After a troubled life where he never had any true home to call his own, Jack Lennox has come into a surprising inheritance from his no-good father, complete with royal title and stately manor. But before Jack can legally claim his place as the new Earl of Storr, he needs to find out what’s been going on at Pinchbeck Hall since the last holder of that title was laid to rest. Wary of what might await there, Jack decides to masquerade as his own personal secretary, wagering that such a man would have a better chance of being accepted by those who might not be as welcoming to the new lord of the manor. What Jack discovers is even more than what he’d bargained for, in the form of a supposed brother and sister, the latter of whom claims to be the pregnant widow of the previous earl.

Jack finds himself drawn to both Simon and Mary Picoult despite his better judgment and their genuine threat to his birthright. What follows in The Sinners Club is an passionate story of desperate lives and no-win scenarios, ultimately leading to a series of choices that could result in Jack either gaining his first chance at a real home and settled life, or losing it all for the love of a woman who has already sacrificed more than anyone ever should.

Everything that made Kate Pearce’s House of Pleasure books such an enjoyable read for me is here in The Sinners Club: a carefully plotted story with bold and memorable characters who aren’t afraid to take charge of their own destinies, especially with regard to their wide-ranging sexual proclivities. Jack may be the next Earl of Storr but he’s got more in common with Simon and Mary than the members of his own extended family, and his growing relationship with the alleged siblings is what drives the plot for the majority of the book. As their personal histories of these three characters unfold, we see how a need for security can drive someone to do just about anything to keep it, even if it means denying true love in the process. That shared need is what makes the romance between Jack and Mary so special, as they both face the decision to give up their own security to help each other as the one person whose well-being was worth any price. The Sinners Club is an outstanding start to Kate Pearce’s new series of the same name and I look forward to reading each and every book to follow.

Favorite Quote:
He’d never felt so secure and yet so vulnerable before in his life. What if she didn’t like him after all? After tangling with the Lennox family once, didn’t she deserve better? But then how was he supposed to live without her?

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Review: In Love Again by Megan Mulry

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In Love Again (Unruly Royals, #3)In Love Again by Megan Mulry

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was provided by the author for an honest review at Romancing Rakes for the Love of Romance.

Lady Claire Heyworth is starting her life over after twenty years of loveless marriage to a man her family considered more worthy of her than the one she thought she loved. Now the faithless husband has gone missing after making off with the bulk of her inheritance and Claire has to learn to exist as something other than a privileged, albeit unhappy, Marchioness. With the support of her brothers and their wives, she moves to New York and lands a job that immediately throws her into the path of Benjamin Hayek, the man she’d reluctantly left behind so many years ago.

Ben never forgot that magical summer when he’d loved a quiet English lass who had up and left him without so much as a goodbye. When Claire unexpectedly appears on his doorstep, Ben’s immediate reaction is to scowl, growl, and slam the door in her face. But the attraction from so long ago is still there between them. Now that they’re both older and wiser, Ben and Claire must decide if they want to take up where they left off, or walk away and leave the past alone.

I hadn’t read the previous books in Megan Mulry’s Unruly Royals series (although I own them both – blame my giant To Be Read list!) but I had no problem reading In Love Again as a stand-alone. It was a joy to see Claire emerge from the persona forced on her by her mother and society, and become a fully actualized adult who made her own decisions. Ben is just the sort of fellow that Claire has always needed in her life – one who loves unconditionally and supports her completely without undermining her fragile and recently hard-won self-esteem. I was especially gratified that with so many opportunities along the way, there was never a Big Misunderstanding between the hero and heroine other than the original one which had parted them twenty years before.

In Love Again also features a delightful cast of characters from both families, and shows how the wrongs done to Claire by her detestable husband are righted in a somewhat implausible but easy to forgive series of events. It’s a lovely romance between a hero and heroine who have paid their dues, learned from their mistakes and earned their happiness together. (Now I need to go back and read the other two books in the series!)

Favorite Quote:
His kiss made her feel…everything. She felt the cold air against her cheeks, the hot press of his lips against hers, the tender, inquisitive touch of his fingers as they found their way beneath her blouse and trailed across her belly just above the waist of her jeans. Claire felt an electric snap, like a transformer blowing.

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Review: Chasing Kings by Sierra Dean

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Chasing KingsChasing Kings by Sierra Dean

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was provided by the author for an honest review at Romancing Rakes for the Love of Romance.

How does a somewhat sheltered bookseller from Oregon end up in a decadent Vegas hotel suite with the most famous man in porn? The setup for how Samantha Hart meets Ethan Silver goes way beyond “meet cute” into an unlikely alliance that ultimately turns into an emotional connection. In the process, both Samantha and Ethan face some hard truths about themselves, including the fact that they might actually have a future together.

The adult film industry might be sleazy and unattractive, but Ethan is neither. He’s handsome and sweet and funny and pretty much a dream date for anyone not otherwise turned off by his profession. Samantha is completely unlike any of the women he works with on a daily basis, and that difference is what initially makes her so attractive to him. But Ethan’s ties to the porn world aren’t easily set aside, and when his attempt to help a fellow co-star puts him in the sights of a deadly criminal, Samantha is the only one who he can turn to for help.

There were so many things I loved about Chasing Kings. I loved how Ethan was shown as more than just a porn star without glossing over the reality of how the adult movie industry can ruin people’s lives. I loved that Samantha didn’t immediately judge Ethan for the choices he’d made in his life, and how she was willing to help him out above and beyond what he’d expected, despite the possible repercussions in her own life. But the best part of Chasing Kings was how Sierra Dean was able to keep the compressed timeframe of the story from overwhelming the growing romance between its hero and heroine. She also ensured that all the usual shortcuts and stereotypes that might have been expected to happen didn’t, keeping me guessing in a good way all the way up to the lovely Happy For Now ending. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Chasing Kings and hope for more stories like this from Sierra Dean in the future.

Favorite Quote:
As good as Ethan was at everything else, it was his kisses that were going to ruin her. He kissed like old romance heroes. Like Rhett Butler sweeping Scarlett O’Hara off her feet, or Heathcliff condemning Cathy to never love another.

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Review: Operation Saving Daniel by Nina Croft

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Title: Operation Saving Daniel
Author: Nina Croft
Genre: contemporary paranormal romance
Publisher: Entangled Covet
Format: ebook
Release Date: 11/25/2013

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

Publisher Summary:

At eighteen, Melissa seduced her best friend Julia’s brother only to run away shortly after. While Daniel was her fairytale prince, Lissa didn’t believe in happy ever afters.

Ten years and a near death experience later, Lissa is ready for a husband and family. But a cry for help from Julia puts that dream on hold. Daniel is acting weird and he’s about to marry his long term girlfriend—AKA The Evil One. Someone needs to save him.

Daniel has never stopped loving Lissa. Ten years ago when he gave her a little freedom, he always intended that one day they would be together. Right up until the moment he was bitten by a werewolf. Now, Daniel has to hide what he is. He won’t risk anyone else, especially the woman he loves.

But Lissa is back. Their attraction is stronger than ever and Lissa is nothing if not tenacious.

My Review:

I haven’t sought out many paranormal romance novels in the past few years, mostly due to the glut of sparkly vampire books written for the same readers who made the Twilight series such a big success. But I’ve been trying to expand my reading comfort zone to include more paranormal books, and have been rewarded with some wonderful reads. I’m pleased to say that Nina Croft’s Operation Saving Daniel is one of those rewarding stories, and one I wholeheartedly recommend.

Lissa has always loved Daniel, but as the brother of her best friend Julia, he was strictly off limits. It’s only when she’s about to leave for a job overseas that Lissa dares to take what she’s denied herself for so long. Her memory of the night she presented herself to Daniel for unwrapping is one she holds tight during the decade they spend apart, but it doesn’t stop her from believing that she could never settle down and truly love Daniel or anyone else. It takes a life changing experience for Lissa to reconsider marriage. But it takes a plea from Julia for Lissa to reconsider Daniel.

Daniel had never realized that Lissa had been crushing on him ever since they were kids, so he was thrown for a loop when she appeared at his door for a night of unforgettable passion, only to find himself alone the next morning. He thought she just needed some time to think things through, yet as years passed without a word between them, he was never able to make the next move to bring her back. When Lissa finally returns to Daniel, it’s his own recent life changing experience that could make their reunion dangerous for both of them and Daniel’s entire family. But this new Daniel has a heightened desire for Lissa more powerful than the supernatural threat they will soon face together.

What I especially loved about this book was how it started out seeming like one kind of romance and then suddenly transformed into something I did not expect in a way I found surprising and enjoyable. Lissa’s feelings for Daniel have always been superseded by her determination not to commit herself emotionally to another person, but Julia’s plea to save Daniel from his beastly girlfriend arrives exactly the right time in Lissa’s life for her to take action. The initial scenes where Lissa and Daniel reconnect after a decade apart are exactly what we might expect to read, and they set up the assumptions for what should follow. Those assumptions are blown away when we find out what happened to Daniel while Lissa was away, and how The Evil One is a more apt description of Daniel’s current companion than anyone might have ever imagined. It’s a startling change of direction that helps feed the sense of foreboding and concern that everything might not turn out okay, and it kept me riveted all the way to the end of the story.

But none of the thrills and excitement would work half as well if we didn’t believe in the romance between its hero and heroine. Their romance is what anchors Operation Saving Daniel, keeping the the story from devolving into just another story about nice people in danger from occult forces intent on destruction. Daniel and Lissa been separated by geographic and emotional distance, denying their true feelings and letting external forces keep them apart, until they finally accept the force of their attraction and do everything they can to defeat their enemies and save their loved ones and themselves. Operation Saving Daniel has both laughs and thrills to spare, but it’s the love between Daniel and Lissa that made it a book to be savored. And now I need to go find more Nina Croft books to read! 4 stars

Review: Ripe for Seduction by Isobel Carr

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Ripe for Seduction (The League of Second Sons, #3)Ripe for Seduction by Isobel Carr

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for an honest review at Romancing Rakes for the Love of Romance.

Rating:
~4 hearts: I loved it!

Review:

Isobel Carr’s Ripe for Seduction is the third book in her League of Second Sons series, but it was easy to read as a stand-alone. It’s a light-hearted story of how a pretend engagement built on less than honorable intentions somehow manages to bloom into a real love between a notorious rake and a ruined woman of the ton.

While out carousing one night with his fellow secret society members, Roland Devere has too much to drink and agrees to yet another ill-chosen bet. He wakes the next morning to discover he has wagered a pound that he will be the first to bed a well-known lady who has returned to London months after the death of her bigamist husband. What he doesn’t count on is the lady having a secret plan of her own to thwart similar untoward propositions from anyone else during the upcoming season.

Lady Olivia Carlow didn’t know her late husband was already married when they had wed, but now that he’s dead, she’s the only one left to suffer the blame from London society. When Devere’s insulting proposition arrives via a drunkenly scrawled note sent to her father’s house, she seizes her advantage and blackmails Devere into agreeing to a false engagement. With Devere by her side as her purported fiance, Olivia intends to keep all the other less than honorable suitors from forcing their attentions and spreading lies about her even if she should turn them aside. Then when the season is over, she can break with him publicly and retire permanently to the family’s country estate at Holinshed. But as she and Devere spend more time in each other’s company, what started as pretend becomes the real thing, and the consequences of their actions have long-reaching implications for more than just themselves.

The fake marriage trope is one of my favorites and it’s used beautifully here in Ripe For Seduction. Olivia is in London under duress, preferring to stay forever buried in the country instead of in town fending off the disgusting private propositions from the men and frosty public snubs from the women. Roland would never have been so incredibly rude to her when sober, but he’s clearly not unhappy at the fate she’s forced on him in return for keeping his drunken overtures a secret. Their growing attraction was fun to watch, as was the concurrent secondary plot of how Olivia’s not-so-old widowed father became attached to Devere’s somewhat older widowed sister. There were a few villains here and there, and another side plot related to the activity of the Second Sons folding neatly into the inevitable Big Misunderstanding between Roland and Olivia near the end of the story. I found the relative lack of angst and drama to be quite refreshing, preferring the extensive details of how Olivia and her father both found happiness with the unlikeliest of partners. And after the Big Misunderstanding is cleared up and true love wins out for all, the epilogue provided the perfect ending to a lovely read.

I thoroughly enjoyed Ripe for Seduction and I’m looking forward to reading the other books in the League of Second Sons series.

Favorite Quote:

“Livy” — he cupped her face and lowered his head until he was staring directly into her eyes — “let me make myself perfectly clear. I love you. There’s no other reason I’d propose in earnest. Not to get you in my bed, not to enrich myself with your dowry, not to pave the way for my sister and your father. And if you don’t believe me, I’ll just have to work at it until you do.”

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Review: The Gate by K.T. Grant

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The Gate (Dark Path Series #1)The Gate by K.T. Grant

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was provided by the author for an honest review.

K.T. Grant is a new author to me, although I’m familiar with her alter ego @KatieBabs on Twitter and have shared conversations with her before about other people’s books and book blogging in general. When I found out she had written her own BDSM Billionaire erotic romance, I had to read it for myself to see how she would handle this still popular but increasingly overdone trope. I’m happy to say that The Gate is one of the better examples of the genre and although it also has the prerequisite cliffhanger, it’s one that worked well within the context of the story.

Erika Walsh is the classic sheltered woman who has spent her whole life in the shadow of her outgoing magnate father, preferring to stay at home instead of chancing a panic attack in public. She has a modest career of her own, writing successful children’s novels, and is seemingly content with her quiet single life. The one wish she allows herself is that someday she might be swept off her feet by Christopher Milton, the man who will one day take over her father’s publishing house. He’s never really said he’s interested in her, but they did share a few passionate kisses in private once and Erika hopes that perhaps one day he’ll make the next move.

M.L. Crawford is a media magnate in his own right, and a direct competitor of Erika’s father. If the stories Christopher tells are to be believed, Crawford is looking to steal Walsh Publications away, and is a man who cannot be trusted. But the sins of M.L Crawford aren’t of any interest to Erika, as she’s never met the man in person. That’s because much like Erika herself, Crawford prefers to stay in the shadows, allowing others to be the public face of his company.

It was only under duress that Erika agreed to attend the public gala where her father was being presented with a major award, and when he insists on bringing her up on stage with him, she’s sure she’ll have one of her panic attacks. What she doesn’t know is that the darkly handsome man at the bar who spotted her on that stage will change her life the moment she lets him pay for her drink. His name is Max.

The best thing about The Gate for me was the relationship between Max and Erika, which is as it should be with a romance novel. Max needed her sweetness and sheltered innocence just as much as Erika needed his confidence and determination. Together they helped each other grow in the direction that had been lacking in each of their lives apart. It wasn’t just Max rescuing Erika from a half-lived life and the potential of a terrible marriage with Christopher, who was far from the white knight Erika had imagined. Erika rescued Max from an equally half-lived existence, one where he never permitted himself to experience true love after the tragic loss of so many other people he’d loved and cared for. By the time The Gate ends, they are both better people and better for each other, but they aren’t quite where they need to be – hence the “To Be Continued” ending.

There was a secondary plot in The Gate involving Max’s close friend Catherine that often threatened to take center stage away from Max and Erika, and kept me from loving the book more than I did. Catherine’s past is thoroughly entwined with Max’s in a way that can’t be explained without spoiling the story, and I understand why she needed to be a part of his story. Yet I couldn’t help thinking that the way her Master (a man we never actually saw) was portrayed made him sound like an abusive stalker, and I kept wondering why she didn’t just cut ties with him once and for all. I hope that Catherine is able to find the answer to her ongoing dilemma in the next book, but that the focus will remain on Erika and Max, which is where it should be.

The Gate is a great read with a hero and heroine worth caring about, and an ongoing story that I want to stay with through the final book. It’s refreshing to see that K.T. Grant has indeed taken the BDSM Billionaire erotic romance trope and made it her own. The next book in the Dark Path series is one I can’t wait to read.

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