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Review: In Your Corner by Sarah Castille

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In Your Corner (Redemption, #2)In Your Corner by Sarah Castille

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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

This review may contain spoilers for On The Ropes, book 1 in the Redemption series. You should be able to read In Your Corner as a standalone book.

ON THE ROPES was one of the first Mixed Martial Arts themed romances I read back in 2013, and it’s still one of the best. So I was excited to learn that there would be additional books featuring other characters in the world of Redemption. IN YOUR CORNER picks up two years after the events of ON THE ROPES, and tells the story of that couple we saw break up so painfully before: Jake and Amanda. Back then, anyone could see that although they were from different worlds, they still had not only an undeniable sexual chemistry, but also an emotional affinity as two people who had learned the hard way not to trust anyone but themselves for protection and safety, especially of the heart. So when Amanda pushed Jake away for good after he made a terrible snap judgment in a moment of weakness, we knew they weren’t quite done with each other. And now it’s two years later, and they’ve both grown and changed in ways that will prepare them to write the ending to that story at last.

When Amanda discovers that Jake is her new client at the stuffy corporate law firm where she’s been working herself to death in an attempt to make partner just to please her never-satisfied parents, the shock is almost too much to bear. She’d never known Jake was from a well-off family with a large and successful business. Now he needs a lawyer, and quickly, but he quickly makes it clear that he won’t allow it to be her. His seeming rejection of Amanda triggers a series of events that begins with her being forced to quit her job and ends with her broken and bleeding in a dark alley just down the street from Redemption. Jake and his fellow MMA fighters at Redemption try to rescue Amanda from the downward spiral that pushed her into that near-fatal alley. But will Amanda finally ask for the help she needs even when refusing it means losing Jake for good?

Jake had tried to forget Amanda after their painful breakup, but losing both her and his brother Peter was too much to bear. Being forced to take over the family business after Peter’s death has isolated Jake from everything else good in his life, especially the people at Redemption who were his true family after his parents had rejected him. But now that Amanda is back, Jake isn’t going to make the same mistake a second time. And when he’s done, he’ll have everything he always wanted before: the professional MMA career, the camaraderie of his Redemption family, and Amanda.

As much as I loved ON THE ROPES, I was even more blown away by IN YOUR CORNER. I think it’s because unlike Max (Torment) in the previous book, there’s no mystery about who Jake is or what really makes him tick. He’s a guy who came from wealth, but never found happiness until he discovered his love of MMA at Redemption and got his life turned in the right direction. There’s really no secret about who Amanda really is, either.. She’s spent her whole life striving for the wrong goals, all because her father wanted a son and both he and her mother were too busy with their own legal careers to spend much time making sure their only daughter was actually loved and cared for. It took the dramatic events put into play by Jake’s rejection of Amanda as his lawyer to force them both to give a chance at happiness together one more try, but it took all their good friends to keep pushing them back together every time one or the other started falling back into their old patterns of rejection and hurt feelings.

Usually a romance where the hero and heroine keep splitting up and coming back together would annoy me, but IN YOUR CORNER neatly avoids the usual traps which would otherwise doom the book to failure. As corny as it sounds, each time Jake and Amanda seem to be taking a step back, they really do end up taking two steps forward, and the small successes start adding up. By the time we reach the final black moment where it appears Amanda will lose everything she’s fought for, including Jake, all the lessons she’s learned the hard way start to kick in, and she is able to step back from the abyss this second time. Both Amanda and Jake realize that they need to love each other as they are, and accept that what they have together is exactly what they need. Along the way, we learn more about the various characters who populate the Redemption world, and the impending setups for future romances in the series. Redemption may be an MMA training center, but its name represents more than that for the people who have made it a success, and IN THE CORNER is show how true that is for both Jake and Amanda. It’s a moving and passionate look at a couple who learn to fight for what they want until they win, both in and out of the Redemption ring, and one of the best books I’ve read this year.

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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 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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Amazon US
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V

Barnes & Noble
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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Review: Bound To Be A Groom by Megan Mulry

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Bound to be a GroomBound to be a Groom by Megan Mulry
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.

Although I’m a big fan of Megan Mulry’s contemporary romances, this is my first time reading one of her historical romances, but if BOUND TO BE A GROOM is any indication, I’ll be adding them all to my To Be Read list. This book featured something I haven’t seen too often in erotic romance, and especially in historical erotic romance: a true MMFF polyamorous relationship. And to her credit, Megan Mulry made it work for me in this unusual context, although I’ll include the disclaimer that what I know about the year 1808 in Spain and England would fit on a grain of rice.

As our story begins, we meet Anna Redondo, the unacknowledged by-blow of her mother’s affair with a visiting English diplomat while still married to the Conde de Floridablanca. Anna has been locked away in a Spanish convent for most of her life, now newly released to attend her friend Isabella’s wedding. Then it’s off to a lifetime of servitude as a lady’s maid in the King of Spain’s court. Anna has other plans for her future, and they all involve Pia, her best friend in the convent and secret lover. Anna intends to become a noted courtesan to raise the money to keep herself and Pia together forever, but needs to learn the ways of men (and rid herself of her pesky virginity). So when a handsome man catches her eye in an all-too-knowing way, Anna presses her advantage, and changes her future forever.

Sebastian de Montizon didn’t expect to find his future bride at the wedding of his friend Javier de la Mina, but when a sweet little convent girl turned out to be the Domme of his dreams, how could Sebastian possibly resist? He’ll do anything to keep her happy, including sending for Pia to be an essential member of their new household. But when the three meet up in England with Lord Farleigh, a mysterious duke from Sebastian’s past, can their unconventional relationship expand by one more without ruining what they already have together?

The one word description that came to mind when I finished reading BOUND TO BE A GROOM was voluptuous. This book is all about sensual pleasure in a way not often found outside of erotica proper (as opposed to erotic romance, which this most definitely is). There isn’t too much worry about whether each additional member of this polyamorous relationship will be able to fit in properly, but there doesn’t really need to be, either. It helps that there are clearly two Dominants and two submissives in the mix, and that no lasting jealousy ever rears its head as they try out various pairings and positions. The only time I even briefly questioned its plausibility was when Farleigh’s mother was so understanding about his proclivities, but hey, she’s a mother who loves her son dearly, so why not? I’m not going to look too closely when the interactions between the two heroes and heroines are as interesting and well-written as these, with an elevated sexual excitement that (figuratively) steamed up my Kindle. Even the prerequisite baby epilogue (another detail that differentiates this from regular erotica) provided a lovely end to the story without losing its innate naughtiness to standard romance conventionality. I can only hope there will be more adventures to come in this unique series, as I’d love to read them all.

Favorite Quote:

“Anna…”

“Yes, darling? You like that, don’t you?” She tapped the crop a few times against her palm, testing its resistance.

“Yes,” he whispered.

“What a fine instrument you are.” He wasn’t sure if she was talking to the crop or to him.

Then she began.

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Review: Having Her by Jackie Ashenden

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Having Her (Lies We Tell, #2)Having Her by Jackie Ashenden

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was provided by the author for an honest review at The Romance Evangelist.

After experiencing one of my biggest book hangovers ever with Jackie Ashenden’s first book in the Lies We Tell series, TAKING HIM, I knew I would be in for it with HAVING HER, and boy howdy, was I ever right. In this second book, we get to see what happened after Kara, Ellie’s best friend, suddenly excused herself from the bar at the comic convention they were both attending in a scene from the previous book. We already know how things went down with Ellie and Hunter — now it’s Kara’s turn with Ellie’s super hot but totally disapproving brother, Vin. And as wonderful as TAKING HIM was, HAVING HER manages to be even better.

Kara may put up an aggressive front against the world at large, but it’s all just to protect herself from more heartbreak after her trust in love and family was shattered at the hands of her alcoholic mother. Since then, it’s been easier for Kara to put others off than to let them close enough to reject her first. But that’s made it difficult for her to accomplish her new self-imposed task of finally losing her virginity, despite her multiple attempts to pick up a strange man for just that purpose. Picking up guys was easy; it’s what to do with one once she had him that still had Kara stumped. At least she knew that Ellie’s brother Vin would always be there to rescue her, even when she didn’t want him to. Especially then. But when Vin insists on picking Kara up at the door of yet another random guy who’d expected more than she was prepared to offer, she realizes that the answer to her problem is right in front of her. Vin.

When Vin and Ellie’s mother became seriously mentally ill and their father did his disappearing act, it was up to Vin to keep his baby sister safe. Now, years later, protection mode is all that Vin seems to know how to do well. He’s also convinced himself that he’s just like his rotten father, that he could never truly love another person. Despite all this, Vin still finds himself drawn to Kara, even as everything she does grates on him. The crazy clothes, the ever-changing hair colors, the insistence on constantly placing herself in what he considers dangerous situations…it’s enough to make a man insane. So when Kara sets her sights on him as the man to relieve her of her virginity, he refuses outright, only agreeing after she goads him beyond his otherwise iron control. Vin makes it clear that this will be on his terms only, and love should not be expected or given. But Kara needs someone to take charge, and Vin is just the guy to do it. Things between them seem to be progressing nicely, until the day when an unexpected event changes the nature of their relationship forever. That’s when Vin and Kara must each face what damaged them in the past if they want to embrace the happiness they both deserve in the future.

When I say this HAVING HER was an emotional read for me, I mean it was all cheering, laughing, yelling, swooning, and crying in large amounts. Jackie Ashenden knows how to make you feel for her characters in a way that pulls at your heart without piling on the drama in outrageous ways or unbelievable amounts. Yes, Kara and Vin both had traumatic childhoods, and yes, it’s messed them up in ways that kept them both from being able to reach out to anyone else until now. But the emotional moments in HAVING HER come from the intimate scenes where their hearts and souls are exposed to each other, not from wallowing in overwhelming grief at what’s already past. This book is a true erotic romance, in that the intimate scenes between its hero and heroine are essential to the plot and character development in every way. It’s only through kinky sex that Kara and Vin can even begin to learn to communicate with each other, and it’s the result of their sexual relationship that forces them into deciding whether to commit to each other fully, or to walk away from their first, and possibly last, chance at true love. I was so drained by the time they reached their happy ending that all I could do was grab a box of tissues and cry it all out. In a good way, mind you. In a very good way. I don’t know if Jackie Ashenden has other books planned for this series, but I know I’ll be the first in line to read one. I may have recovered from this book by then.

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Review: Perfect Catch by Sierra Dean

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Perfect Catch (Boys of Summer, #2)Perfect Catch by Sierra Dean
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was provided by the author for an honest review at The Romance Evangelist.

Sometimes you read a sports romance where the romance is great but the sport isn’t represented accurately. Sometimes you read one where the sport is spot-on but the romance is lacking. And then sometimes, if you’re very, very lucky, you read a sports romance where everything is done perfectly. It can’t be a coincidence that during this first week of the new baseball season, I got lucky with PERFECT CATCH, the second book in Sierra Dean’s Boys of Summer series. (I also enjoyed the first book, PITCH PERFECT, but you don’t have to read that book for this one to make sense.)

PERFECT CATCH is the story of a woman who’s had to be everyone else’s rock and how she finally finds the one guy who will be that person for her in return. Alice Darling may have made a huge mistake years before in trusting a professional ballplayer with her heart and her body, but her beloved daughter Liv is worth every sacrifice, even if it means working two jobs and swearing off all baseball players for good. And as a part-time umpire for spring training and minor league games, the last thing Alice needs is to be accused of using her feminine wiles on the players to get ahead. What she never planned on was the likes of Alex Ross crossing her path. It’s easy for Alice to ignore all the guys when she’s hiding behind her umpire’s mask and gear. But it’s harder to pass up a good-looking guy in a broken-down Porsche, especially when you’re the only one who can help him change a flat tire.

Alex Ross thought this would be just another pre-season, just the usual six weeks in Florida needed to make sure his game was up to snuff before Opening Day. When his rental car got a flat, he didn’t expect a beautiful woman with dangerous curves to be his rescuer. But Alex knows he’d like to get to know her better, whatever it might take. Despite how close they quickly become, Alice is sure Alex will be out of her life for good when spring training ends. But he can’t get her out of his head or heart, and when that distraction leads him back to the minors to get back his pre-season form, nothing and nobody will be able to keep Alex from being the guy Alice really needs.

In the interest of full disclosure, you should know that Sierra Dean and I follow each other on Twitter. She’s a diehard Detroit Tigers fan and I’m a lifelong Kansas City Royals fan, but we would never hold that against each other. Thanks to her tweets, I know she would no more confuse the infield fly rule for a ground rule double than she’d assume that any reader new to baseball would be expected to know either one. And that’s what has made me a confident reader for her baseball-themed romance novels. Whether or not the romance ends up working for me, I’m always assured that every moment spent in or around the ballpark will ring true, without the added distraction of easily avoidable errors.

But make no mistake, the romance is just as spot on here as every little baseball-related detail. Alice has been let down by every person in her life except her young daughter: the brother who treats his depression with pills and booze, the mother who only sees someone who refused to diet down to nothing and trusted the wrong men, and that particular wrong man who left them behind on his way to the major leagues. Why shouldn’t Alex be the same? And yet, Alex is as different to the rest as day is to night. He refuses to let Alice paint him with the same brush as everyone else, but he also realizes that he has to go slowly if she’s going to be able to trust in him. Of course, they both make mistakes, but none are too terrible or insurmountable between two adults who love and want to be loved in return. And when Alex and Alice finally find their happy ending together with Liv, everything that happened before just makes it all the more satisfying. Not a moment is wasted in PERFECT CATCH; every scene is essential. And all through the story, Alex and Alice’s shared love of the game adds that special flavor that you can only get with a well-written sports romance. I can’t wait to read the next one in this series.

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Review: Teach Me A Lesson by Jasmine Haynes

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Teach Me a LessonTeach Me a Lesson by Jasmine Haynes

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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

I really loved Jasmine Haynes’s THE NAUGHTY CORNER, and the way she introduced us to Gray and Lola as they discovered a mutual kinky love after being inadvertently brought together by Lola’s bratty nephews. So I was happy to see that TEACH ME A LESSON follows directly from that story, although it could still easily be read as a stand-alone book. I enjoy seeing couples from an earlier book in the context of a new one, especially when they play a key role in the new couple’s romance. And with TEACH ME A LESSON, we also get another great erotic romance set in the deliciously naughty background of an ordinary suburban high school, where consenting adults secretly meet to privately engage in oh-so-inappropriate behavior.

While THE NAUGHTY CORNER featured a successful CEO moonlighting as a part-time high school football coach, our hero in TEACH ME A LESSON is the principal himself. Married and divorced twice, Lance Hutton has become resigned to the fact that he isn’t likely to find a permanent relationship with any woman. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t taken notice of the delectable Miss Moore. She’s only part-time at his school, which limits the moments he has to ogle her from afar. One fateful afternoon, Principal Hutton decides to stop by Miss Moore’s office just as she’s crawling on the floor for a misplaced apple. And that’s when everything changes.

Charlotte Moore doesn’t want to submit to any man ever again, not after the awful one who had her doubting every thought and decision. The only independent decision she was able to make in that relationship was finally choosing to leave it. Since then, Charlotte has focused solely on casual affairs with much younger men, ones that let her take charge so she never has to worry about losing her identity again. So she’s puzzled by her apparent attraction to someone like Principal Lance Hutton. Not only is he at least 10 years older than her, but he’s also clearly someone who likes to be in charge. Of *everything*. But when Principal Hutton’s surprise visit prompts Charlotte to slyly express interest in a certain naughty activity, they seize the moment without realizing just how life-changing that decision will be for them both.

I love Jasmine Haynes books because they are always the perfect blend of kinky sex, adult relationships, and true romance. TEACH ME A LESSON is yet another example of this winning formula. We have a hero and heroine who are older but wiser, never hesitating to express what they want and do not want, and willing to expand their sexual horizons for something that makes any previous couplings pale by comparison. More importantly, Jasmine Haynes also gives us a story that displays the true qualities of both characters, as they prove their innate worthiness through the actions they take to help the vulnerable teenagers in their care. We get to laugh and cry and cheer for the bad guys to lose and the good guys to win, and then discover that maybe the bad guys weren’t really all that bad after all. And throughout it all, there’s that magnetic attraction between Lance and Charlotte, and their mutual discovery of kinky sex that ties it all together so well.

As I’ve found with so many other Jasmine Haynes books, reading TEACH ME A LESSON was like coming home. It may not be everyone’s idea of home, to be sure, but it’s one that I’ll want to return to (and I’m hoping for many more visits in the future).

Ratings:

Overall: 5 stars
Sensuality level: 3.5 (BDSM-lite scenes including spanking and outdoor sex, discussions of cuckold fetish)

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Review: Lost in You by Sommer Marsden

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Lost In YouLost In You by Sommer Marsden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was provided by the author for an honest review at The Romance Evangelist.

Before I started reading LOST IN YOU, I already knew that Sommer Marsden could write great erotic romances. What this new book showed me was that she can do all that within the structure of a somewhat conventional “a couple from different worlds meet cute and fall in love” and make it even better.

Before our hero ever makes his appearance, LOST IN YOU provides a brief but illuminating sequence of events showing us exactly what our heroine, Clover Brite, is all about. She might have a name evocative of some cute Saturday-morning cartoon character, but this woman is all business when it comes to her job. Clover had to claw and scratch her way up from an impoverished life with her single mother, and she’s not taking one bit of her success for granted. Our heroine has high expectations for herself and others, and isn’t afraid to yell at anyone, even if it’s the oh-so-snooty glasswork expert she needs to check out the condition of the glass dome in her beloved Rotunda. Oh sure, it’s not really *her* Rotunda, but Clover has fond childhood memories of time spent in that building, and with the childhood she had, good memories are few and far between. So when the expert refuses to show up even after she’s gone and dismissed the whole construction crew just so he can work unobserved, it doesn’t occur to Clover that the guy has a very good reason to turn her down. Her single-mindedness over the job at hand has blinded her to the fact that there is an honest-to-God superstorm on the way and nobody would go outside in this weather voluntarily, let alone climb out on the roof of the Baltimore Rotunda.

The impending storm might have taken away the man who was supposed to handle this major task for Clover, but it also puts in her path the one man who will change her life forever: Dorian Martin, our hero. Dorian’s life up to this point has been pretty much the complete opposite of Clover’s. He grew up never wanting for anything money could buy, by people who didn’t seem to care much about him, while she had been rich in love instead of material things. As a wealthy and handsome single man, Dorian could have his pick of any beautiful woman in the world, but when he hears Clover yelling on her phone before she throws it across the room, he’s hooked. He may be her boss by virtue of owning the Rotunda building, but it soon becomes obvious to Clover that he wants to be more. The isolation of being stranded together will soon enable this unlikely pairing. But can what they’ve found in each other survive past the end of the storm?

What I loved the most about LOST IN YOU was its hero and heroine. They were completely adorable, and I mean that in the best possible sense. Clover was so good at her job and working with her crew, but in a realistic way – never as a Mary Sue. When she first laid eyes on Dorian, it knocked her so completely off balance that it almost felt like I was experiencing it myself. It’s not immediately apparent if this sudden attraction is mutual until the storm finally hits, and Dorian gets a full view of Clover’s soaked white blouse after their unsuccessful attempt to leave the building. But even then, is it really Dorian reacting that way, or is it just Clover projecting her own desires on an unaware man? In that moment, Clover’s self-doubt became mine, adding layers of enjoyment to my eventual discovery that Dorian was just as smitten. As they succumbed fully to their shared insta-lust, then struggled to maintain their connection after the storm ended, I got to experience all their doubts and fears and mistaken reactions until at long last, they fumbled their way to a beautiful HEA.

I will admit to being frustrated by Clover’s negative self-esteem which always seemed to rear its head at the worst possible moments, especially when she allowed Dorian’s evil not-really-his-girlfriend to take advantage of that self-doubt. But in retrospect, it did make sense for Clover to be second-guessing every moment of happiness at that point in the story. It also helped that Clover’s most unfortunate moment of doubt was later redeemed by one of the finest moments of a heroine groveling that I’ve had the privilege to read in quite some time. (I do so love a good grovel!)

It’s true that Dorian had his own moments of low self-esteem, manifested in the way he’d internalized all the disappointments he’d received at the hands of those who should have loved and supported him. But his love for Clover was as real as she kept trying to keep herself from believing, and the fact that he never truly gave up on her (even when it seemed that he’d given up on himself yet again) made his last-ditch efforts to get her back all the more touching and sweet.

The only real issue I had with LOST IN YOU was related to one of my personal pet peeves becoming a real distraction for me, thanks to Clover’s previous history. As you might imagine, Clover and Dorian have sex repeatedly and often, and each scene is incredibly erotic and emotional. But at no time do either of them ever use, or even mention, any sort of birth control. I understand that writers are not obliged to include such things, and normally, I would just sigh and move on. But because Clover’s own mother had been abandoned by a wealthy lover while still pregnant with Clover, all those scenes of unprotected sex between Clover and Dorian had me half-expecting a repeat of this type of pregnancy drama, and that was the last thing I wanted to interfere with this delightful and heartfelt romance.

Yet that’s just one tiny quibble in an otherwise charming story and it shouldn’t put anyone off reading LOST IN YOU. I quite enjoyed Clover and Dorian, and recommend their story for anyone who appreciates an erotic romance that’s hot and sweet and yes, adorable.

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Review: Night of Pleasure by Delilah Marvelle

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Night of Pleasure (School of Gallantry, #4)Night of Pleasure by Delilah Marvelle

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.

Delilah Marvelle’s School of Gallantry series has been sitting on my insanely large To Be Read list for quite some time now, but it took the opportunity of doing this review to finally get me to take the plunge with NIGHT OF PLEASURE. I knew that in each book, there would be a visit (or two) at some point to the aforementioned school, but that they all could be read as stand-alone stories. And based on how much I enjoyed this fourth book in the series, I know I’ll be going back to binge read them all very soon.

We first meet the hero and heroine of NIGHT OF PLEASURE on the same day they meet each other for the first time. That day turned out to be both the best and worst day of young Derek Holbrook’s life. It was the best because he met the woman destined to one day become his wife; it was the worst because only moments later, he lost his beloved father to a previously undisclosed illness. Derek had been taught by his father that it was always better to show a happy face to others, never revealing true emotion, but after that man breathed his last, Derek (now Viscount Banfield) could only sob in his new fiancée’s arms.

Clementine Grey spent the majority of her childhood attempting to parent her own father while trying to stay alive amidst all the political violence surrounding him as a man of worldwide influence and stature. Clementine’s confused memories about the angry conflicts between her parents before her mother’s death have spawned unhealthy notions about what a true marriage would be to any man, convincing her that she should never marry if it meant bringing a child into a similarly dysfunctional household. Still, Clementine wouldn’t have to confront that problem until years from now, when she’s old enough to marry Derek.

Suddenly it’s eight years later, and Derek is all but swooning at the prospect of finally having the lovely Clementine as his own. This marriage was arranged by their fathers to provide money for the Banfield estate and a reliable husband for Clementine, but Derek is certain Clementine is just as much in love with him as he is with her. When she finally arrives for the wedding, only to assert that she intends to leave him for another man she considers merely a friend, Derek is understandably distraught. When he realizes she will not be swayed, he then convinces her to give him just one night with her, a night where they can be intimate with each other in the way he had dreamed of all those years apart. But it’s only when the night is over that the true story between Derek and Clementine will begin in earnest.

Because NIGHT OF PLEASURE was my first book in the School of Gallantry series, I wasn’t sure when to expect that institution to become a part of the plot. But as I was pulled more deeply into Derek and Clementine’s tumultuous romance, I forgot all about the School and just let myself enjoy the beauty of Delilah Marvelle’s writing. Derek is a lot like an overeager puppy when it comes to his love for Clementine, and rightfully feels like he’s been kicked in the teeth when he’s hit with the reality of her decision to leave him. Never mind that the reasoning behind her goal is flawed, never mind that they really don’t know each other all that well to begin with, even after eight years of written correspondence. The fact remains that Derek has been patient for far too long, and refuses to be denied at the very moment that should be ending his lonely wait. Meanwhile, Clementine finally understands the consequences of her plan to abandon Derek at the altar, including just how much her fortune is needed to support all the people who depend on him for their living. Her growing guilt prods her into agreeing to Derek’s single request before her departure. That night Derek and Clementine spend together provides a starting point in the path to their ultimate reconciliation, but it takes the fortuitous appearance of the School of Gallantry to gently instruct them in exactly what they need to enjoy a truly happy life together.

What I enjoyed the most about NIGHT OF PLEASURE was how the path to true love between Derek and Clementine was never easy or predictable, but it was always deeply satisfying, from the mixed emotions of its opening, through its twists and turns, and ending with its passionate and touching conclusion. I’m pleased to add Delilah Marvelle to my must-read historical romance writer list and I’m looking forward to savoring each of the previous School of Gallantry books in anticipation of the next one to come.

Favorite Quote:

By God. The girl who had once wiped away his tears had come to wipe them away again when he least expected it. He wanted to grab her and kiss her and smother her with every emotion he’d ever held within.

Only they were in a church, and the violins had stopped and people were staring.

“God love you,” he rasped. “God love you for astounding me.”

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Review: Cup of Sugar by Karla Doyle

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Cup of SugarTitle: Cup of Sugar
Author: Karla Doyle
Genre: hot contemporary romance
Publisher: self-published
Format: ebook
Release Date: February 26, 2014

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

Publisher Summary:

Nia has one rule—don’t date neighbors. Simple, except the guy next door is single, handsome, and not inclined to close his blinds while naked. When her car dies, Conn takes “being neighborly” to a new level by offering a ride to her long-distance destination. Nia has resisted his looks and charm for months. Surely she can handle a few hours in his truck…

For months, Conn has blatantly put himself on display, hoping his pretty blonde neighbor would tire of secretly watching and come knock on his door for a cup of sugar-or more. No such luck—until an unusual opportunity arises. After a six-hour drive turns into a sweet-and-sexy weekend, Conn wants more than neighborly status with Nia. To get it, he must convince her to break the rule protecting her heart—by putting his on the line.

*hot contemporary romance with some explicit sexual content*

My Review:

Karla Doyle is rapidly becoming one of my go-to comfort read authors, and CUP OF SUGAR is yet another reason why. Although she doesn’t make light of the real concerns and problems that her characters might have on the way to their happy ending, she also doesn’t turn them into anything too overwrought or super-angsty just to get “all the feels” from readers. Her deft hand is what made CUP OF SUGAR such a great read for me. Its hero and heroine have both had to deal with broken relationships, and those experiences come into play during this story, but they also both learn from what went wrong before and use that knowledge to make better decisions the second time around without wallowing in too much fake drama.

Nia is the classic sweet-but-overly-cautious girl who’s been burned one too many times by the men she has come to recognize as her type; namely, the ones she fixates on simply by virtue of their close and continuous proximity. After her last breakup which essentially forced her to sell her house and move, Nia now has a new dating rule. No getting involved with neighbors, not even a little bit, not even if they are the nicest and hottest guys around. Especially not then.

Too bad for Conn that he’s living next to a seriously attractive woman who won’t date neighbors. Not that he realizes that right off, but after performing all kinds of outdoor chores for Nia without being asked, he’s resorted to strutting naked in front of the windows in his house that overlook hers, all to no avail. So when Nia has trouble starting her admittedly inadequate car on a night when a big snowstorm is approaching, he sees his opportunity to take his Nice Neighbor campaign to the next level. Conn is determined to get to know Nia better, and she’s most definitely attracted to him. But will they ever get past that pesky neighbor rule?

It was easy to understand why Nia had her rule about neighbors, but it was also great to see the moment in CUP OF SUGAR when she realized that her problem wasn’t dating neighbors. Her problem was dating jerks. But Conn isn’t like those other guys, and he spends the majority of the story showing Nia exactly why. It didn’t mean that he was perfect, only that he genuinely wanted to get to know Nia better and be that good guy she deserved after so many bad ones. There were a few misunderstandings between them along the way, some of them a bit more annoying than others (I hate when characters snoop and assume the absolutely wrong thing immediately, especially when the obvious answer is already in front of them) but none lasted long enough to be a major distraction. And the ending made all of the misunderstandings worthwhile, just for that lovely moment when both Nia and Conn are able to enjoy finally being together as a real couple with their whole future ahead of them. CUP OF SUGAR proves you can have a light-hearted romance without sacrificing “all the feels” and it’s why I will continue to read everything Karla Doyle writes. 4 stars