Tag Archives: 5 stars

My Best Reads of 2013

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This list originally appeared at Romancing Rakes for the Love of Romance

Top 10 2013 Releases:

Don’t Let Go – Skye Warren

 

Covet – Tracey Garvis-Graves

 

Unbound – Cara McKenna

 

Unforgiven – Anne Calhoun

 

The Mistress – Tiffany Reisz

 

The Cursed – Alyssa Day

 

Because We Belong – Beth Kery

 

Lady In Red – Maire Claremont

REVIEW

 

Whispers – Carolyn Jewel

 

Run to You – Charlotte Stein

 


Honorable Mentions:

Series:

 

Pierced Hearts – Cari Silverwood

 

 

Consequences – Aleatha Romig

   

 

Club Wicked – Ann Mayburn

   

 

Serials:

Just One Night – Kyra Davis

  

 

Not Until You (Loving on the Edge) – Roni Loren

       

 

The Haunted Heart: Winter – Josh Lanyon

Previous Releases: 

Turn It Up – Inez Kelley

The Fifth Favor – Shelby Reed

Heartless – Mary Balogh

Review: Don’t Let Go by Skye Warren

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Don't Let Go (Dark Erotica, #4)Don’t Let Go by Skye Warren

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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

There are many writers who specialize in the darkest of erotic novels, both with and without romantic elements, but there are very few who are truly talented in this often misunderstood subgenre. One of those writers is Skye Warren, who has displayed her incredible talent again in what I believe is her best book yet – Never Let Go. This is the fourth entry in her Dark Erotica series, but a reader new to her work should have no problem reading it as a stand-alone. It features a couple who not only appear to be mismatched from the start, but who ultimately put a whole new spin on the terms “hero” and “heroine” that would normally be used to describe them here.

Samantha Holmes never had a real childhood, thanks to her father. He tortured and killed other children for years, but left her alive long enough to be the one who turned him in. No human could emerge from such an experience without some sort of serious emotional damage, yet Samantha is determined not to let anyone suspect that she is anything but normal. As a rookie agent for the FBI, her goal is to put the bad guys in jail, but as a woman, most of what she gets to do involves more mundane tasks, like filing and fetching coffee. So when she is abruptly assigned to one of the Bureau’s most high-profile cases, partnering with a legendary senior agent, she doesn’t let herself question too closely why she, of all people, would be chosen.

On the surface, Ian Hennessy seems to be exactly as he appears, namely the no-nonsense agent who always gets the bad guy and will stop at nothing to get Carlos Laguardia, even if it means dumping his new lady partner before she even has a chance to contribute. Samantha is drawn to him sexually in spite of herself, knowing that although the attraction is mutual, the outcome can’t be anything but bad. Who in their right mind would want a monster like her…unless that person was one, too?

Anyone who was following me on Twitter when I was reading Don’t Let Go got to see my instant reaction in a series of tweets where I expressed just how much I enjoyed it:

When a review book unexpectedly rewards you with writing so
perfectly nuanced and understated that it makes you want to
weep with joy. #win

It’s so damn good, this book.

I now have a book hangover THIS BIG and it’s all @skye_warren ‘s fault.
Wow. #win

I still can’t wrap my head around how much this book got to me. Although I am a long-time fan of truly deeply dark erotica, I normally shy away from books that reference extreme violence, especially against women or children. I’m also nearly burned out on romances where the heroine has been broken/damaged/whatever and can only be “saved” by a hero who is often also broken/damaged/whatever by similar circumstances. But Don’t Let Go morphs both of those tropes into something unique and fascinating, both as a character study and as a genuine romance between a man and a woman who ultimately agree that they are perfectly matched for one another…and all that that implies. To tell you any more would be to ruin all its secrets. But in a year when I’ve been fortunate enough to have read so many 5 star books, you should know that Don’t Let Go has immediately vaulted to the top of my list for 2013, and it will be a difficult task to dislodge it from that spot.

Ratings:

Overall: 5
Sensuality level: 4.5 (multiple scenes of violent dubious consent, bondage, flogging and use of sex toys; threats of rape and sexual violence; discussion of child sex abuse and murder)

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Review: Because We Belong by Beth Kery

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Because We Belong (Because You Are Mine, #3)Because We Belong by Beth Kery

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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

This review contains spoilers for Because You Are Mine and When I’m With You, the first two stories in the series. You could try to read Because We Belong as a stand-alone book, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

After having to read the previous stories in this series as serial novels, it was a huge relief for me that Because We Belong was being released as a complete book from the start. The prologue takes place hours before the dramatic moment in When I’m With You when Ian found out that his mother had died and that he and his good friend had both been fathered by the same man who had raped their mothers and thousands of other women before his death. We then move forward six months to find that Ian has been missing that entire time, with only his personal assistant Lin knowing where he is or what he is doing. Francesca has moved back into the house she once shared with all her old roommates while trying to go on without Ian, angry and sad that he has refused to contact her even once. When Lucien returns to ask for Francesca’s help in managing a delicate financial crisis at Noble Enterprises, her decision sets off a chain of events that put her in danger from an unknown enemy and force her to confront the mania driving the man she doesn’t want to live without.

I loved Ian and Francesca so much in Because You Are Mine, and hated having to wait each week for the next entry in the story. When I’m With You was a good read in its own right, but because the focus was on Lucien and Elise, it was less compelling for me right up until that heart-slamming chapter when Lucien revealed his relationship to Ian just before Ian found out his mother had died, leaving that same night to see his family in England. I was shocked to find that Ian was still gone and not communicating with Francesca months after that night, and that got me even more hooked into Because We Belong, as I wondered what the hell was going on with Ian and what might happen next.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that I tore through Because We Belong as fast as I was able to read without skimming or missing a single word. All of Francesca’s feelings were front and center in this book and I felt what she did as it was happening. My relief was palpable when Ian finally made contact, yet I cheered her on as she made him see just how much he had hurt her by his absence, and never allowing him to succumb entirely to his obsession with his late father’s past.

In Because We Belong, the passion between Ian and Francesca is just as deep and true and undeniable as it ever was, and their intimate moments burn up the pages whenever they come together. The growing threat to Francesca’s life is intrinsic to the overall story but never overwhelms the romance between Ian and Francesca as they rediscover the love they both had feared they’d lost. Best of all, the end of the story sets up another book in the series, so we’ll be able to see more happy moments between Ian and Francesca now that they’ve defeated both the internal and external threats to their happiness. Because We Belong is a fantastic entry in the Because You Are Mine series and was worth every minute I had to wait before I got to read it.

Ratings:

Overall: 5
Sensuality level: 4 (BDSM elements including light bondage, anal sex and voyeurism, threats of sexual violence and discussion of rape)

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Review: The Fifth Favor by Shelby Reed

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The Fifth FavorThe Fifth Favor by Shelby Reed

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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

I had only recently discovered the books of Shelby Reed when I got the opportunity to review this reissued version of THE FIFTH FAVOR, originally released by Ellora’s Cave back in 2004. It tells the story of a woman who was looking for a big break to help boost her career as a reporter for a sleazy tabloid magazine but ended up finding the one man who could fill the emotional hole in her life. But when the man you love makes his living by sexually servicing other women, can the love you have for each other survive the fallout when he stands accused of murder?

Billie has just come out of a failed marriage where she had been starved for affection from her ex-husband who then proceeded to dump her for a woman more worthy of his love. All she has left is her career, and that isn’t going all that great, either. When her boss arranges an interview with one of the most sought-after male escorts at an exclusive brothel for women, Billie is only thinking about how this assignment will help her at work. But when she meets Adrian, it’s all she can do not to allow herself to fall into his arms like every other woman he’s serviced before her. To his credit, Adrian doesn’t see Billie as just another woman to be romanced, although he’s not quite sure what it is about her that he finds so irresistible. When Adrian becomes a suspect in the possible murder of Lucien, his best friend and fellow escort, both his and Billie’s lives are turned upside down and it’s not a sure thing whether they’ll still be with each other with so many obstacles in their path to lasting love.

In THE FIFTH FAVOR, Shelby Reed displays her considerable ability to show her characters’ range of emotions without becoming maudlin or mawkish. Adrian knows his secret life has been a lie, yet it takes the double-whammy of meeting Billie and the death of Lucien to shake him out of the destructive rut he’s been in for so many years. Billie’s self-esteem is hanging by a thread when the most beautiful man she’s ever met actually wants to be with her, but she can’t help thinking that it’s all just part of his polished persona as Adrian, and not the real man who truly loves her. The way they come together and slowly chip away the walls they’ve each been hiding behind is what makes THE FIFTH FAVOR such a remarkable read for me, and the steps they each make toward their ultimate happy ending had me crying several times all the way until the end of the book. It’s one of the best books I’ve read this year.

Ratings:

Overall: 5 stars
Sensuality level: 4

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Review: Unbound by Cara McKenna

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UnboundUnbound by Cara McKenna

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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

In a genre filled with dominant billionaire alpha heroes, Cara McKenna’s UNBOUND bucks the current trend with one of the most wonderfully developed beta heroes I’ve ever read and a fully realized heroine more than capable of giving him exactly what he needs, even at possible cost to her own future happiness.

Merry’s life has been turned upside down by the death of her beloved mother and her own dramatic weight loss. Not knowing what to do next, she decides that a solo hike through her mother’s home country of Scotland will be an excellent way to make a break between the old and the new, and perhaps come to some conclusions about her future. Everything is going great until Merry drinks the wrong sort of water and in her weakened state, literally stumbles across the cottage in the middle of nowhere where Rob is hiding from the world.

Rob has a whole list of very good reasons why he’s deliberately isolated himself from everything and everyone, and those reasons don’t go away just because a nosy and overly talkative young lass from America can’t leave him be. But Merry likes his looks and demeanor, and is determined to discover why such a soft spoken and good looking man would want to be a hermit. As their mutual curiosity soon grows into desire, it’s not certain whether Rob and Merry are prepared to handle the aftermath when all the secrets he’d hoped were buried forever begin to emerge.

I’m not sure how I can discuss how much I loved this book without sounding like the worst sort of fangirl. Cara McKenna is near the top of my auto-buy list and when I found out she was writing the story of a beta hero who was also a hermit, I knew this was a story I needed to read. One of the things I loved about UNBOUND was that although Merry’s extreme weight loss was part of the motivation for her trek through Scotland, it wasn’t a major focal point in the book, as so often happens with this type of character development. Compared to Rob, Merry is actually in a good place emotionally, which is how she’s able to recognize Rob’s melancholy and help him get past his sense of shame in confronting his deepest desires. It’s Rob who ultimately makes this a five star read for me, as Cara McKenna slowly uncovers why he needed to hide and how Merry helps him see that it’s time to embrace civilization — and love — once again. Their love story is both passionate and poignant, and the ending made me cry. UNBOUND is a perfect example of why Cara McKenna continues to be one of the best writers working in any genre today.

Ratings:

Overall: 5
Sensuality level: 4 (D/s role play including light bondage and verbal humiliation)

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Review: Lady in Red by Maire Claremont

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Lady in Red (Mad Passions, #2)Lady in Red by Maire Claremont

My rating: 5 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.

Maire Claremont is a new author for me, but when I saw the blurb of LADY IN RED, I couldn’t wait to get started reading it. I was immediately sucked in to the plight of Lady Mary Darrel, a woman starved and bedraggled, pleading for help at the doorstep of a London brothel as her last best hope for rescue. She was abused and misused at the hands of those doing the bidding of her monstrous father, the one who had locked her away in a madhouse after she’d witnessed his murder of her beloved mother. Her escape came at a great cost to herself and others, and now her incipient freedom might do likewise to those who will help her seek her vengeance.

When Edward Barrons sees Mary bathing upstairs in a whorehouse bedroom, he initially mistakes her for one of the working girls. After she sets him straight in a most direct fashion, it’s her spirit that calls to him as much as her only slightly diminished beauty. As Duke of Fairleigh, he has the power and social standing to protect her from her father, but only inasmuch as she will allow. As Mary begins to recover and prepares herself to take revenge on those who have harmed her, she and Edward start to bond in a way which could end in their mutual happiness if only they can confront their individual demons in time to see the light.

LADY IN RED was an intense read for me, one where I was so captivated by Mary and Edward and the terrible danger they were in that I was actually afraid to finish the book, deliberately putting it aside after reading a rare happy moment so I could finish it the next day. I especially enjoyed the presence of Edward’s cynical friend, Viscount Powers, who was just as damaged as Mary and Edward, yet was in a unique position to commiserate more fully with them individually than they were able to with each other. Once Mary is set on the path of revenge by Edward, the story hurtles along toward that dread goal, picking up speed along the way and sending me down a foreboding path of not knowing how it all could possibly end well for anyone. Reading THE RED LADY was a fantastic rollercoaster ride of emotions and I’m still experiencing a well-earned book hangover days later. I’ve already bought the first book in the Mad Passions series, THE DARK LADY, to read next, and I’m very pleased to see that Viscount Powers will be the hero of THE DARK AFFAIR. Maire Claremont is now one of my very favorite historical romance writers, and I have LADY IN RED to thank for that.

Favorite Quote:

“Why are you so afraid?” she whispered.
“I am afraid of nothing,” he snapped, bracing his palms on the mantel.
“Fear and I are intimate acquaintances, Edward. You are in its bed.”

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Audiobook Review: Covet by Tracey Garvis-Graves

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Covet

Title: Covet
Author: Tracey Garvis-Graves
Narrated by Kathleen McInerney, Scott Aiello
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
Release Date: 9/17/2013

A copy of this audiobook was provided to me by Audiobook Jukebox for an honest review.

COVET is the story of a woman trying to hang onto the life she has and a man who wishes he could have that life — and her — for his own. Claire Canton’s husband Chris was out of work for over a year, and for a man who defined himself by the ability to provide for his family, the results to him and their marriage were devastating. It was only when Claire insisted he get treatment for his depression and he finally found a new job that things started to turn around, however slowly. But when the new job takes Chris away from home for days on end, the loneliness threatens to overwhelm Claire completely.

Officer Daniel Rush once had a version of the life Claire is fighting to keep, complete with a woman who looked very much like her. When he pulls Claire over for a burned out taillight, it begins a chain of events leading to a dangerous friendship, one that could sever the last threads binding Claire to her husband and family forever.

When I read COVET earlier this year, it affected me so strongly that I started crying at about the halfway point and continued crying all the way to the end. The story is so perfectly described and beautifully written that I felt everything Claire was experiencing as though it was my own life. I wanted her to find the happiness she’d thought she’d once had, but I didn’t have a lot of sympathy for Chris and I was rooting for Daniel the whole way, as shocking as that may sound.

But the great thing about this audiobook presentation is that there are both male and female narrators, and Scott Aiello’s voicing of both Chris and Daniel’s points of view provided the extra nuance I needed to understand both men much better than I had before. I appreciated how he was able to clearly delineate between the two men so that I never had a problem knowing who was speaking, even when the chapters went directly from one to another in the story. As Claire, Kathleen McInerney provides the majority of the narration for COVET and does a wonderful job of conveying just how lonely and sad Claire has been in her marriage and how her relationship with Daniel was both the best and worst thing that could have happened to her. Ms. McInerney is also skilled at voicing the various female friends in Claire’s life, as well as the children, which can often sound forced with a less talented narrator.

The talents of both narrators in COVET not only made the story even more enjoyable for me, they gave me new insight to all three of the main characters and made the best book I’ve read this year even better. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Review: I Only Have Eyes for You by Bella Andre

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I Only Have Eyes for You (The Sullivans, #4)I Only Have Eyes for You by Bella Andre

My rating: 5 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 ONLY HAVE EYES FOR YOU is the fourth book in Bella Andre’s best-selling Sullivans series and the first with a Sullivan sister as the heroine of the story. The two youngest Sullivan siblings are twin sisters named Lori and Sophie, but their brothers usually refer to them as ‘Naughty’ and ‘Nice’. It’s difficult enough for Sophie Sullivan to establish an identity independent of her wild and unpredictable twin. But when Jake McCann, the man she’s been in love with all her life, continues to behave like another one of her six older and overprotective brothers, Sophie decides to finally make him see her as someone who is capable of being an adult woman worthy of his attention.

Jake McCann is the best friend of Sophie’s brother Zach and practically a member of the Sullivan family after hanging out at their home throughout his troubled childhood. He owed them all so much for looking after him when his own family had let him down, and so would never allow himself to consider making any moves on either Sullivan sister. Yet he can’t help but notice how beautiful Sophie has grown and how much he would like to be with her if she’d only been anyone else. She deserved better than a guy from the wrong side of the tracks who’d had plenty of sex but would never make a real commitment to any woman.

It’s during the wedding of Sophie’s brother Chase that Sophie makes her move, playing up her appearance so that she looks just as seductive and glamorous as her twin. What Sophie doesn’t know is that over the past several months, Jake has already become aware of her as a romantic interest, despite every instinct telling him it could never work out between them. So when Jake sees the new grown-up Sophie in the way she wanted, not even Sophie’s brothers can douse what ignites between them after the wedding is over. The repercussions of what happens on that night will ensure none of their lives will ever be the same.

I ONLY HAVE EYES FOR YOU was so heartfelt and dramatic that it actually had me worried Sophie and Jake might not find their way back to each other in time to enjoy their happy ending. Bella Andre helped me appreciate why they each behaved as they did, even though their actions were often frustrating, and it was gratifying to see them slowly work through all their issues to build a true relationship out of what had begun as a single night of passion.

I’m a big fan of all the Bella Andre Sullivan books, but this was the first one that really affected me more than any of the others. I ONLY HAVE EYES FOR YOU is a poignant love story that tore at my heart and made me cry, and I loved every minute of it.

Favorite Quote:

“I love you, Jake McCann. Always.” She felt the wonder, the magic, the beauty of knowing true love had been waiting for them all along. “Forever.”

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Review: Covet by Tracey Garvis-Graves

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Covet

This review originally appeared at Seductive Musings

Review: Covet by Tracey Garvis-Graves

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

I was a big fan of Tracey Garvis-Graves’ debut romance On The Island so when I saw she was writing a new book that wasn’t strictly romance, I wondered if it would be just as good a read. The first chapter of Covet was included as a bonus in Uncharted, the follow-up novella to On The Island, and from the moment I read the first page, I was hooked. But I could not have anticipated just how much of an emotional read Covet would be once I had the opportunity to read the whole book.

I’m not ashamed to admit it: Covet didn’t just make me cry, it made me weep so uncontrollably that my husband kept trying to comfort me as I continued to read. Even now, it’s been weeks since I finished reading it, and I’m still starting to get all welled up again. This doesn’t mean that Covet will or should affect anyone else like that, but I’m telling you so you know what you might expect if the story of Claire and the two men she loves gets to you in the same way.

Claire Canton had a marriage and family so picture perfect that even their closest friends were envious. But now she is clinging to that life by her fingernails as the weight of her loneliness drags her ever downward. Her husband, Chris, had his whole identity wrapped up in being the family provider and as long as he was working, they were happy. When the bad economy finally reached his company and he spent the next 18 months unemployed, it was only by Claire’s determination and love that they managed to keep the family together and solvent, while she begged and threatened Chris in an attempt to pull him out of his dark emotional hole. Antidepressants are finally starting to make a real difference, but Chris’ desperation to get another job in his field leads him to accept the worst possible solution – a job that keeps him away from Claire and their children for days and weeks at a time.

After Daniel pulls Claire over for a burned out taillight, neither of them are able to forget the seemingly innocuous encounter. Daniel is initially drawn to Claire because she looks so much like the ex-wife who left him after an unspeakable tragedy. Claire is attracted to Daniel not only because he is “ridiculously good looking” but also because he gives her more attention in that one traffic stop than she’s gotten from her husband in months. As they are thrown together more and more, the physical attraction deepens into something they don’t know how to handle, and that’s when Covet becomes the story of how love can be both the best and worst thing ever.

What happens to Claire and Daniel and Chris is not particularly unique, but the way Tracey Garvis-Graves presents it with the thoughts and emotions of each character provides the compelling sense of psychological tragedy as Claire comes to love both men and Daniel struggles between what he wants and what is right. The series of events that lead up to the final denouement are shocking but not out of place, given what we’ve been shown all along the way, and the ending made sense, even if it wasn’t what I might have wanted. But above all, I was and am Team Claire, and she’s why Covet affected me so strongly and why it’s now the number one candidate for the best book I’ve read this year.

Ratings:

Overall: 5
Sensuality level: 3

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Review: Uncommon Passion by Anne Calhoun

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Uncommon Passion (Uncommon, #2)

This review originally appeared at Seductive Musings

Review: Uncommon Passion by Anne Calhoun

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

I’ve read everything that Anne Calhoun has published for nearly a year now, and every time I’ve been rewarded with yet another wonderfully engaging and passionate romance. Her latest book, “Uncommon Passion,” features a pairing between two people who could not have seemed more different at first glance, but ultimately show they have more in common than anyone could have known.

Rachel Hill was born and raised in an isolated religious community (I think it’s fair to call it a cult) where women were taught to always defer to men and where she could only be alone in a room with her father or the group’s religious leader. After living her whole life under these restrictions, Rachel realized that her intelligence and innate veterinary talents with farm animals were worth more than what her father and religion dictated. The first brave act of her life was to take the money owed her for decades of back-breaking work and escape to the real world for an independent future. The second brave act of her life was to take the money she’d saved for vet school and bid it for a night with a man at the charity bachelor auction. Rachel isn’t looking for a date. She’s looking for a man who won’t have any problems going right to the bedroom for some quick and casual sex. After all, she doesn’t want a relationship, she just wants to not be a virgin.

Ben Harris is a troubled cop living only for the quick emotional fixes of danger and sex, both of which he gets in unhealthy quantities. He gets the danger fix from his job as a SWAT officer, taking so many unnecessary chances with his safety that his superiors threaten to remove him from the job. He gets his sex fix in his side job as the door bouncer at No Limits, the local dance club where people go to get drunk and get laid, usually in that order. Ben wasn’t even supposed to be on the bachelor list that night at the auction, but when he and Rachel make eye contact, she knows he’s the perfect choice for what she wants to buy with her hard earned money.

The “date” between Ben and Rachel goes pretty much as anticipated, with a quick dinner and an equally quick trip to Ben’s bedroom for some hard and fast sex. Rachel revels in the act that she knows she would never have experienced without leaving everything behind. Ben is relieved that she didn’t demand much of him and even left without having to be asked. But later when he realizes that she’d been a virgin, he somehow feels compelled to go back to her to ask for a do-over. It isn’t long before what started as a quick easy lay between strangers becomes an emotional journey between two lost souls afraid to see that what they have is so much more than sex.

The romance trope of a world-weary man providing sexual instruction to an innocent virgin is a common one, and one that I always enjoy. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen it with a woman who isn’t just an innocent to sex, but to adult life itself. Rachel is a truly remarkable heroine in that she has had to learn about so many things that most people take for granted. Her determination to experience everything an adult woman should have is what brings her to Ben’s bed and keeps her there when he insists on showing her everything she should know about pleasing herself and others in bed. Ben is over familiar with the adult world, to the point of seeming to have a death wish at times. Watching them become more attached to each other in spite of what they both insist they want is a wonderful experience and because this is an Anne Calhoun book, it is both beautifully written and incredibly moving. I loved every moment of “Uncommon Passion” and recommend Anne Calhoun as one of the finest romance writers working today.

Ratings:

Overall: 5
Sensuality level: 4

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