Bingeworthy Books

Category: Review

Review: Attraction by Penny Reid

This year, several of my favorite authors have thrown their hat in the New Adult genre ring. Upon hearing this, I always get nervous. Then I have to remind myself that I trust those authors and that I’ll be a big girl and try it out anyway. It’s not that I dislike the genre, in fact, I’ve read some really great NA books. But some of the worst and most annoying ones I’ve read have come from that genre. Over the top angst seems to be the dominating factor in many NA books and frankly, I tire of that easily.

Luckily, Attraction is not annoying in any way. In fact, it’s interesting, sexy and highly entertaining. Kaitlyn is highly intelligent, funny and honest. Martin is also highly intelligent and ridiculously wealthy, popular and he is ROWER. Hello! Their banter is hilarious and I thoroughly enjoyed their back and forth. Attraction is the KEY word because Martin and Kaitlyn are very much attracted to each other!! OMG, the sparks fly!!!

As much as I love Martin, Kaitlyn is a pretty amazing character. She is completely guileless and doesn’t play games. In fact, she does not want to be in the spotlight at all. She doesn’t realize how beautiful she is or if she does, she doesn’t draw attention to herself in that way. She finds it hard to believe that someone like Martin would be interested in her and she puts him through the wringer. She doesn’t trust him at all.

There is a cliffhanger. But don’t get your panties in a twist because Ms. Reid gives you part of the next book immediately. Personally, I’m ok with cliffhangers as long as I don’t have to wait too long.

I adore Penny Reid and her brand of humor and passion and I’m really looking forward to seeing how Kaitlyn and Martin’s relationship progresses.

Parties?” I may have curled my lip in a miniature sneer.

“Yeah, on the island, at some of the other houses, friends of mine. You know, the usual college scene stuff.”

Usual college scene… just a bunch of billionaires’ kids and their friends. It sounded delightful.

“Yeah, no thanks.” I pulled my eyes from his, inspected the rocks. “I don’t like parties. But don’t let that stop you from going.”

“Parker.”

I sighed, then met his gaze.

“I want you to come.”

“No thank you.”

He ground his teeth. “Kaitlyn, you promised you were going to give this a try.”

“I will…”

Once again he was giving me the severe stare down, likely because my weakly delivered I will didn’t even sound convincing to me.

Managing to swallow around the sudden thickness in my throat, I squared my shoulders so that I was facing him. “Here’s the thing, Sandeke. I am. I am going to give this a try. Despite my worries-”

“What worries?” He sounded exasperated.

I ignored his question, “Despite my worries and reservations, I’m going to give this the good college try. But I don’t even know how to dance. I can tango like a pro, but I don’t do the body wiggle weird thing. And isn’t that what the kids do these days at parties? Dance?”

He lifted an eyebrow at my excuse—obviously unimpressed—and with two fluid strokes moved to join me.

I stiffened, my eyes wide, and backed up a step at his advance. “What- what are you doing?”

“I’m going to teach you how to dance,” he said simply, already on me, reaching for my body.

I stiffened further, feeling unaccountably breathless as his big hands slipped around my waist and settled on my hips and lower back.

“But there- but we- but-”

“Shhh…” he said, pulling me closer. “Relax.”

“Create cold fusion,” I murmured in response, unable to relax and placing my hands nowhere, because placing them anywhere on Martin felt perilous to my wellbeing.

He glanced down at me, his eyebrows in a perplexed V. “What does cold fusion have to do with anything.”

“You tell me to relax, which is impossible. I tell you to create cold fusion, which is impossible.”

His answering smile was crooked. “You can’t relax?”

“No.”

“Why not.”

“You know why not.”

“Well, it might help if you touched me.”

“That will not help.”

“It might.”

“It won’t.”

“Touch me.”

I scowled at his chest, my hands still in the air at my sides. Stupid perfect chest.

“Parker, if we’re going to dance you have to touch me.” He sounded amused and his fingers flexed on my bare skin. I felt the roughened calluses of his palms just before he released my body to grab my hands. He brought them to his shoulders, pressed them there, then returned his own to my hips. I didn’t miss the fact that his hand-placement was now a bit more daring than it had been a moment ago, lower, closer to my bottom.

I swallowed thickly, glaring at my fingers where they touched his perfectly sculpted shoulder.

“Don’t you want to touch me?” he asked, his inflection daring, teasing, but also something else. Something hesitant and uncertain.

I lifted my eyes to his; they were guarded, his smile looked bracing, almost like a grimace, like he was preparing himself for bad news.

I sighed and I knew I sounded resigned and a little pitiful, “Yes…”

His gaze thawed as it dropped to my lips. “Then you should… because I want you to.”

Elements of Chemistry: ATTRACTION is the first part in a three-part series; it is 45k words, and it ends with a cliffhanger.
Part 1 (ATTRACTION) released April 9, 2015
Part 2 (HEAT) will be released April 30, 2015.
Part 3 (CAPTURE) will be released May 16, 2015.

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April 17, 2015
Review: Still the One by Jill Shalvis

I’m a Jill Shalvis fan. I had been in a bit of a retirement of sorts where Ms. Shalvis is concerned, after reading/inhaling the first 7 Lucky Harbor and the first 4 of the Animal Magnetism books, I took a break. (I still have to finish up the Lucky Harbor series.) The Animal Magnetism series draws me in because I’m an animal person and I worked in veterinary offices in college. My mother also worked in several offices as a child, so the fact that I am not a veterinarian is kind of odd. Whatever, I digress.

Still the One was on my TBR for a while and honestly, I had not planned to read and review it for the post. Luckily, I found the time to read book 5, Then Came You and I was able to read Still The One in time to come up with a review.

While I enjoyed Then Came You, I enjoyed Still The One more. I knew that Darcy was a bit of a basket case after meeting her in book 5 and that AJ would have his hands full. Luckily, being her former physical therapist, he knows exactly what he is getting into with her. I mean, they totally drive each other crazy in almost every way possible and it’s a lot of fun to read. Darcy has an immense amount of emotional baggage from her childhood and it directly impacts her self-esteem and her relationships. She basically feels like she is expendable and that she is not worthy of permanent relationships. Enter AJ who understands why she is the way she is and knows when to push her buttons and when to back off.

AJ and Darcy are extremely well matched, something that Ms. Shalvis excels at. I especially liked AJ, again something that Ms. Shalvis excels at, she writes incredible male characters that I always go a little gooey over.

Ms. Shalvis’s books always manage to make me laugh sigh and swoon and Then Came You was no exception. 🙂

Sunshine was too damn small, Darcy thought. Not only did everyone know everyone, but no one had ever learned to mind their own business. Darcy started to move back to her computer but AJ stepped in her way, ducking down a little to look into her eyes.

“Ice the leg,” he said, and without waiting for a response, headed toward Ronan.

Damn, the man had a way of moving, his body shifting with barely sheathed loose-limbed power and grace, and both Darcy and Zoe watched him go.

“He’s got such an edible butt,” Zoe whispered. “Do you think he knows it?”

“I don’t think he cares.” Besides, his being hot didn’t change the fact that he was a bigger problem for her than Johnny could even think about being. Johnny was just an asshole. AJ was . . . well, she wasn’t sure what. Dangerous as hell to her well-being, for starters.

“So why do you do it?” Zoe asked her.

Darcy tore her gaze away from AJ’s ass. “Do what?”

Zoe took her big sister status very seriously. But then again, in spite of the fact that there was only a few years between them, Zoe had always been more maternal toward Darcy than their actual mom ever had.

“Bait him,” Zoe said. “He’s great guy. He’s smart, hardworking, self-made . . .”

“Maybe you should date him.”

Zoe laughed. “We’re not suited.”

“Because?” Darcy asked.

“Well . . . he’s a bit alpha.”

Yeah. Just a bit.

“We’d butt heads,” Zoe said. “But I’ve always thought that maybe you two might . . .”

“A minute ago you were worried he might kill me.”

“Well, sleeping with him might go a long way toward making sure he wouldn’t.”

Darcy snorted. “Go away, Z.”

“In a minute. He did so much for you after your accident.”

This was absolutely true. Darcy had had five surgeries, and once she’d been okayed for physical therapy, AJ had taken over her care. He’d been a drill sergeant but he’d also saved her life. She knew it. He knew it.

And wasn’t that just the problem. She hated knowing that she hadn’t been able to save herself, that she’d needed help. “You’re right,” she agreed softly. “He’s done a lot for me.”

“I mean look at you, Darce. You’re walking.”

A miracle. Darcy got that. She was grateful for that, so very grateful he’d gotten her out of a wheelchair and onto her own feet again. Sure, she’d never win a track meet and she was always going to be somewhat unstable on her own two legs—especially the right one which still enjoyed buckling on her at the worst of times—but yeah. AJ would forever be a hero for what he’d done for her.

Which wasn’t to say she liked him.

In fact, during her PT she’d actually hated him. She’d dreamed nightly about strangling him, drowning him . . .

Very satisfying dreams, too.

And if there’d been a few others, some that had involved a different kind of altercation altogether between them, of the naked and sweaty variety, well, those were her little secret.

Across the large room, past all the exercise equipment to the mirrored wall, Ronan lay flat on his back now, working with a large rubber band around his ankles, doing strengthening exercises.

On his knees at his side, AJ guided him, and wrong as it might be, the sight of the two built guys working so hard together made her pulse race just a little bit.

During a quick beat of rest for Ronan, AJ glanced over the carved muscles of his shoulder to meet Darcy’s gaze.

She stopped breathing.

At her side, so did Zoe. “I just don’t get why you’re so hard on him,” her sister said.

“Actually, I think you’ve got that backward.” He was hard on her.

Very hard.

And she resented that. It was almost as if he expected her to soften her edges, to be something she wasn’t—like maybe one of those soft, sweet, bendy yoga instructors he was fond of dating. But though Darcy was working on herself, she was never going to be soft and sweet.

Or, thanks to her accident, bendy.

“Maybe you could just try a little bit harder to be more . . . friendly,” Zoe suggested.

Darcy didn’t have words for what she felt for AJ, but she was pretty sure “friendly” wasn’t going to make the list. And yet if AJ had been there for Darcy in a huge way, so had Zoe. Always. So Darcy blew out a breath and managed a smile for her sister. “Sure,” she said. “I’ll try.”

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April 11, 2015
Review: Silver Bastard by Joanna Wylde

Joanna Wylde is one of the most consistently well-written authors in the romance genre and I never have to worry about the quality of the book she writes. I trust her and I’ve been looking forward to the new Silver Valley series. While I enjoyed this book and I’m glad that I read it, it’s not my favorite book by Ms. Wylde.

Maybe it suffered a bit from worldbuilding? First book in a series-itis? I failed to connect to Puck and Becca and I’m really not sure why. Puck is not a touchy-feely guy, he isn’t going to go all gooey and soft because he is not built that way. He and Becca are thrown into each other’s lives quite savagely and their lives are never the same. To his credit, Puck gets Becca out of a terrible home life and if it weren’t for him, she would have probably ended up like her mother. (Which is not a good thing) After getting her out of there, Puck maintains his distance from Becca for years, although he is never far away and keeps an eye on her, making sure she is safe. The connection between Puck and Becca, despite how they met, is undeniable no matter how hard they fight it.

Silver Bastard is well written and I enjoyed getting to know the Silver Valley world. While I wasn’t crazy about Puck and Becca, I’m looking forward to more from this series.

Ignoring him, I settled back on my stool and surveyed the room. We sat in Becca’s section, and what I saw wasn’t making me happy. I knew she was a good waitress, but she’d just started here and it showed. Not only had she fucked up several orders, she didn’t quite seem to get the rhythm of the bar. That wasn’t my problem, though.

My problem was that despite these fuckups, nobody seemed to mind. I had a nasty suspicion this was due to her perky tits, friendly smile, and tight little ass that seriously just needed a bite taken right out of it.

She really, really needed to get a new job—every man in the place wanted her. Including me. Especially me. I hated them. All of them. I shifted uncomfortably, because just like every time I shared a room with her, my pants had gotten tight.

Torture. Becca was just so fucking fine on every level, and not just her looks. There was something about the way she carried herself . . . I couldn’t put my finger on it. Like she was dancing through life to some song nobody else could hear. Never met another woman like her—she wasn’t just sexy, she was a survivor and I admired that.

She’d grown up so much since the first time I’d met her. Bigger boobs, a nice fullness to her ass that was nowhere close to fat but would be perfect to hold tight while I fucked her. Her lips had plumped, too, and over the years she’d gained a sparkle in her eyes that turned her from pretty to 100 percent spectacular.

Not to mention how she’d tasted.

Nearly blew in my pants when I’d taken that mouth. Just the memory got me hard. Make that harder. Fucking basket case.

When I’d pulled up to find her sitting outside with Collins, a thousand murder scenarios ran through my mind. And yeah, I know I covered that already, but if anything ever deserved empha- sis, this was it. Collins needed to die. I didn’t care how nice he was. After that I’d throw Becca on the back of my bike and make a run for the hills . . .

Okay, so there were a few problems with the plan, the top one being she hated me. Or she should—I’d certainly given her cause. Boonie nudged me.

“Did I mention you’re pathetic? You want her, take her. Other- wise let it go because you’re an embarrassment to all men in general and to the Silver Bastards in particular.”

Rating- 3.75 stars

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April 10, 2015
Review: Salvation of Vengeance Review by Nancy Haviland

Nancy Haviland is a new author to me and I’m really glad that I gave this series a chance. When I signed up to read this book, I knew it was book 2 and I already had book 1 on my TBR. Luckily, I had time to read book 1 and I enjoyed it. I have to say that I enjoyed this book more than the first and only because I think there was a lot of world building going on in that one and there was a lot going on. Still- a very good book! (You do not have to have read book 1 to read book 2… I’m just picky about that kind of thing and I had the time to read both books.)

I really, really enjoyed Vengeance. Ms. Haviland does not skimp on the details and she fleshes out characters very well. She also fills you in on the main characters in book one, Eva and Gabriel and I always appreciate when an author continues to develop previous characters arcs.

Vincente is one big bad dude. He is an enforcer, an assassin and all around badass. For real. Nika is his one weakness and he really tries hard to resist her for as long as possible. When he met Nika she was married to a guy that is real piece of crap. Nika are Vincente are completely drawn to each other and V has a very hard time getting over his attraction for her. Their chemistry is immediate and completely undeniable. V tries to maintain his distance due to her being married even though he thinks Caleb is a giant asshole and little does he now how big of an asshole Caleb truly is.

As fabulous as Vincente is, Nika is my favorite character in this book. She has been through so very much and has endured more than anyone should have to and she truly deserves someone that can provide her protection and tenderness. Her “husband” is such a huge, gigantic piece of crap that it’s not even funny.

While she is drawn to Vincente in times of need, she is no shrinking violet and she is not afraid to do kind of stupid and ill-advised things for those that she cares about. She is an extremely courageous woman and I really liked her character.

I’m really looking forward to the rest of this series. I can’t say that I’m a huge fan of mafia romance but this one totally has my attention and devotion.

She pulled away from Vincente and did a ta-da motion with her arms that had all three of them—fucking Alesio looked a little too closely—peering down at the black tights and silky black shirt she wore, the neckline of which was so wide that it had slipped off one shoulder.

Her arms fell to her sides, and she seemed to lose her small burst of energy. “S’not as fun as I thought’d it’d be, though,” she grumped as she came to his side again. “Can’t do much. Not even play with someone like Vincente here, ’cause he doesn’t like me.”

He ground his molars to dust, while ignoring Alesio and Vito’s interested looks. He slipped his arm around her waist. “Come on, Red. Let’s get you home.”

She continued like he hadn’t spoken. “What’s your name?” she asked Vito.

“I’m Vito.”

She laughed, the sound musical and lovely. “Of course you are. And you?” she turned to G’s cousin. Vincente glared at him, the thread that was his control stretching.

“Alesio.”

Nika gasped, her widening eyes making her look like a guileless porn fantasy come to life. “You’re Gabriel’s Alesio? Oh, my God!” She launched herself at the handsome little shit, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him on the cheek—more like the corner of his very shocked mouth. “You helped save Eva! Thank you! You’re officially my new hero. Maybe we can get together one day and you can tell me what went down in that cabin. Eva won’t talk to me about it ’cause she’s afraid the bad stuff will tip me over this edge they seem to think I’m on . . .”

As she continued, babbling about how silly and adorable Eva’s protective instincts were, Vincente stared. At her. In another man’s arms. Her fingers absently playing with the hair at Alesio’s nape. Her body pressed against his. Her beautiful lips—which had now tasted Gabriel’s cousin!—mere inches from possibly doing so again. Her undivided attention on the handsome face that belonged to a guy closer to her own age than Vincente was.

This would eventually be his reality. Seeing her like this with someone else.

Alesio’s hands were up and out, in a pose of total surrender. His head jerkily shaking back and forth as though saying, “Wasn’t me. I didn’t do nothin’.”

The weakened thread holding Vincente’s control snapped with a dangerous twang, and without being conscious of it, his body took over. He reached out and clamped his fingers around Nika’s upper arm to pull her off the enemy—who was so lucky they were standing in the middle of a crowded club. He spun her around to face him, pulling her in until their noses were brushing against each other.

“Do not. Ever. Throw yourself into another man’s arms in front of me again. Do you understand me?” His voice sounded as if it had been dredged from the very pits of hell, his expression feeling like one he’d stolen from Lucifer himself.

And Nika, oblivious to the ominous cloud hanging like a pall around them, patted his cheek with her soft palm and smiled up at him. “Sure. Sure.” She turned back to the boys, or as much as she could because Vincente didn’t let her go. “It was nice to meet you guys. I guess I’ll see you again when I visit Eva. Ready?” she asked him.

Striving for calm, he slid his hand down to her hip and tucked her closer to his side. She came as easily as if they’d been doing this for years.

Yeah. Years—if he were to give in and take her as he was so tempted to do—that would wear on her. Steal her independence by nailing her to his side, giving her nothing but a front-row-center to an endless string of possibly violent, dangerous days she didn’t need or deserve. Maybe even get her killed in a wrong-time-wrong-place thing like the car bomb that had taken his mother’s life. All the while she would be shackled to a man with no heart or soul left to speak of.

That wasn’t what he wanted for Nika.

He curled his free hand into a tight fist and punched it into Vito’s thick chest and then flipped Alesio off, not wanting him to feel left out.

“Later, boys.”

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April 8, 2015
★ The Slayer by Kele Moon- 5 Star Review ★

I’m going to make this easy for you. This was probably the best book I’ve read so far in 2015. There- I said it. This book completely ate my brain! I’ve been a Kele Moon fan for what seems like forever and I LOVE the Battered Hearts series so much- it’s not even funny.

I remember reading the first book (Defying the Odds) in that series and someone on GR said (in a nutshell) “Oh you just wait, it gets better with the next book”. AND IT DID! To this day, Starcrossed is one of my all-time favorite books. I have a signed copy of it on my bookshelf that I stare at lovingly. 😉

So- about The Slayer. The main thing I loved about this book was that Ms. Moon completely took her time to tell Chuito and Alaine’s story. No corners were cut in telling their story and I was totally enveloped into their world and their story. I’ve always used Starcrossed as the bar for which all I measured all of Ms. Moon’s books. At some point in this one, I freaked out because it was THAT GOOD. You know that feeling you get when you realize that you’re reading a book that just blows you away and that you just cannot put it down? Yeah, that was me and this book.

Ms. Moon goes all the way back to the beginning of Chuito’s Alaine’s relationship/friendship and I really appreciated the dense history she provides for them. Chu and Alaine’s relationship is somewhat complicated by Chu- more than anything. Chu is punishing himself by being in Garnet and Alaine represents everything he feels he does not deserve. It’s obvious that Chu and Alaine love each other very much but Chu holds himself at arms length from Alaine. Until they cannot deny it anymore and then you have to wonder how in the world they will make it all work. How will they combine their two worlds? Chu, a former gangbanger/MMA fighter and Alaine a preacher’s daughter…

Alaine is a GREAT female MC. She broke away from her family and is living her life by her own rules. I loved her fortitude and her unrelenting belief in the goodness of Chuito. She is drawn to him immediately, she sees him as a man who needs care and and is worthy of love. They create a world of their own in their apartments and they grow from friends to so much more. As they bonded over eating together and hanging out. Not to mention THE DANCING. OMG, the dancing is as sexy as the sexytimes and let’s face it, Ms. Moon can set the page on fire.

Can we just talk about TINO and NOVA?!!! ( We meet Tino and Nova in Starcrossed)

Holy shit. I love these guys. LOVE. We get a massively huge bromance with Chu and Tino and I loved their relationship. We are also treated to learning a lot about Tino, his motivation, his role in the Moretti family etc.

Due the book going back a few years, we get appearances from the whole Garnet crew and we get some behind the scenes stuff from previous books that I enjoyed.

NOVA. While I’m on pins and needles about Tino’s book (coming next) I don’t think I can adequately express how bad I want Nova’s book. I can’t even quantify it. In fact, I don’t want to think about how long I have to wait for it.

OH!!! DO NOT MISS THE DICTIONARIES!!! These are narrated by Chu and Tino and are not to be missed.

So yeah. I loved it.

“It’s a new dance. I don’t know the steps.”

“No steps. You always need rules,” Chuito complained. “Just listen to the music. Close your eyes.”

“They’re closed. I’m listening.”

“Listen to the drums. That’s the part you listen to. Feel it.”

“I’m feeling it.”

“No. Feel it like a heartbeat. Like life. You want it to be a love song, hear the sex in it. Hold me like I hold you.” He jerked her tighter against him as he said it, forcing her breasts to crush against his chest and her dress to ride higher up on her thighs. “Like you need me.”

Alaine sucked in a hard breath and ran her hand up from his shoulder to his neck. The lust made her languid against her will, and when he moved this time, she followed because she didn’t have a choice.

“You’re not supposed to think when you dance. Supposed to just feel. To move the way I tell you to move.” He ran his hand up her back, pushing at the center of it until she arched into him, allowing her head to fall back and forcing her hips tightly against his. “Yeah, like that.

Better. I step hard. You step—”

“Soft,” she finished for him.

“That’s right. Follow my hand. Hard, soft, together we fit.” He loosened his hold on her waist, and she stepped back to the beat and then allowed him to pull her into his arms again. They did it a few times, the push and pull, stepping away from the heat and moving back together like they needed each other to keep breathing. Then he pulled her to the right and stepped to the left at the same time. When he used his hold on her waist to force her back, she stepped so that her feet were between his. He fit the two of them back together like a puzzle piece again, with his leg pressed so intimately between her thighs it was making her ache. She arched her hips on instinct, and he hummed in approval. “Bueno, asi mismo. Move them like

God made you to move them. That’s good, mami.”

Before now, they’d been dancing salsa, not this hybrid, more sensual form of moving that felt like a guilty pleasure. The beat was the same, the steps were sometimes the same, but this was so much more intimate. A tease. A candy-coated sin that wasn’t a sin because it was labeled dancing instead.

Alaine loved it.

She let herself be completely soft in his arms, moving where he wanted her to move, because it felt so damn good to let go of everything else and just be with Chuito. All she had to do was feel the drums throbbing and listen to the erotic, lulling sound of a man singing in Spanish about dancing with his woman.

All night.

They danced until the sun came up.

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April 3, 2015
Review: Holding Strong by Lori Foster

I’ve been trying to figure out how I was going to write this review since I finished this book. Lori Foster is a favorite author of mine and I’ve enjoyed the Ultimate series so far.

It’s not that I didn’t enjoy this book, I totally did. I think I just derived more enjoyment from the secondary plot and everybody’s else’s stuff going on around them. Stack and Vanity are circling each other and so are Armie and Rissy. Frankly, I, like many others, are just DYING for Armie and Rissy and the wait is almost torturous.

Back to Cherry and Denver. Cherry is a flirt who kind of has the hots for Denver and he has been watching and wanting her for awhile. He has avoided her because of her flirtatious nature. Finally, the tension between them can no longer be denied and they totally go for it. Enter some not so nice people from Cherry’s past and Denver is forced to step up to help protect her. Cherry isn’t so good at taking help. But Denver and his alpha man ways force her to finally accept some help.

I appreciated how the whole group of friends rallied around Cherry, offering her support and protection. It certainly took her some time to get used to that kind of friendship and to her relationship with Denver. That guy, is one INTENSE dude and he does not mess around at all. Holy moly.

Overall, I enjoyed Cherry and Denver’s book. I don’t think it will be my favorite in this series but I certainly enjoyed the ensemble story/aspect of this one. 🙂 I’m definitely looking forward to more in this series!

My rating on this one is somewhere between 3.75 to 4ish stars.

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March 31, 2015
Review: 1,001 Nights: Easy with You by Kristin Proby

I’ve read some of Ms. Proby’s books from the With Me in Seattle series and I’ve been meaning to read some more of her stuff. Lo and behold, Easy with You comes along and I thought it was a good chance to read something of hers without committing to a full-length novel.

I think that’s one reason why I like the 1,001 series, it gives you a chance to read something in (almost) one sitting. You have the opportunity to read an author or a genre that you may not normally read.

This was a quick and easy read chock full of great chemistry between the two MCs, Asher and Lila. Upon their first meeting, when Lila falls in Asher’s lap, the connection is immediate. They meet again, later at a bar and it’s on like Donkey Kong between them. In fact a bed may or may not be broken. LMAO.

Fast forward a bit and Asher and Lila meet up in New Orleans. Lila is a professor and Asher is a detective investigating a series of killings on campus. Once again, the connection between Asher and Lila cannot be denied.

I enjoyed the connection Asher and Lila shared, their chemistry was SMOKIN’ hot. I also liked that Ms. Proby explored the connection between Asher’s daughter and Lila. If Lila was going to be involved with Asher, she would have to get along with his daughter too!

The suspense/mystery thread of this plot was ok. I picked out the bad guy pretty quickly but I seem to have a knack for doing that anyway. 😉

Overall, this was a quick, super steamy and fun read by Ms. Proby.

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March 25, 2015
Review: Until You by Jeannie Moon

I’ve read everything Jeannie Moon has written to date and I’ve loved all of it.

Kate’s plate is full, she is a mother to a 17-year old girl and her ex-husband is a giant turd who manipulates everyone. Kate is all too aware of her ex’s manipulations because she was a victim of it for years. David is a 29-year old hockey player when he meets Kate and they hook up. Their chemistry and connection is immediate and neither one anticipates how their lives will intertwine.

I came into this book thinking that it would be solely about the love story between Kate and David, it’s not. There is a lot going on in this book. A lot. There are so many layers. Relationships between friends, family members and lovers. Kate has to deal with her feelings for David, her teenage daughter and her piece of crap ex- husband. This book is chock full of real -life complications.

Kate wonders about David and his age and whether or not her age would be an issue. Would he tire of her like her ex did and want a woman his own age at some point? Her ex- husband did a number on her self-esteem and understandably, she has some insecurities. I’ll admit that I had a very hard time with Kate’s decisions regarding David at times. But, then I began to understand how her ex’s treatment of her deeply impacted her feelings about herself and the decisions she makes. Kate’s ex-husband also manipulates their daughter in an attempt to turn her against Kate. I’m telling you, the ex is a piece of work. Laura, Kate’s daughter engages in a romance of her own that I was equally interested in. Laura and Jack were so sweet together.

I’m REALLY, REALLY (hint, hint, Jeannie Moon and Tule Publishing ) hoping we get another book with more from these characters. I think there is still so much to explore between Kate and David and her daughter and the guy she fell in love with. Complications abound for Kate’s daughter and the man/boy she fell so hard for and I’d love to read more about all four of them.

Until You is about more than just David and Kate’s romance, it’s a story about a family, it’s ups and downs and how it changes and recreates itself.

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March 21, 2015
Review: Chase Me by Tessa Bailey

Louis McNally the Second is officially on my list of Book Boyfriends. It’s true! I’ve always trusted Ms. Bailey’s writing abilities, even when she writes in genres that I’ve had less than stellar experiences with. But you know what? I learned something this week about the New Adult genre this week. While watching a Spreecast with Katee Robert and Tessa Bailey this week, she clarified a really great point about the New Adult genre – you can see the video clip- HERE. This conversation completely clarified how I felt about the genre and why I love and loathe NA.

First, let me say that this is not a crazy, angst- ridden self-involved new adult book. Thank God for that. Chase Me is so funny and so sexy and I loved all of the characters that Ms. Bailey introduced. Louis and Roxy have incredible chemistry from the moment Louis opens his door to Roxy standing there, dressed as rabbit, ready to deliver a singing telegram.

Roxy is a tough chick. I really like her, she busts her ass in order to follow her dream of being an actress and she doesn’t want to take favors from anyone. Enter Louis, who when we first meet him, he comes off as a manwhore. I mean, the singing telegram is from the chick he slept with the night before! But, he really is a good guy and that becomes clear not that long after he and Roxy meet. While he certainly shared one of Bailey’s trademark leading man traits- DOMINANT, he wasn’t overbearingly so. Quite frankly, he was downright endearing and he just stole my heart. Of course, the sexytimes between Louis and Roxy are ridiculously hot. Duh.

Oh and just wait until you meet his sisters! Crazy.

This is the first book in the Broke and Beautiful series and we are introduced to the rest of the B & B crew. Roxy’s roommates Abby and Honey, Louis’s friends, Russell, and Ben. Luckily, we don’t have to wait long for more of Ms. Bailey’s brand of funny and sexy new adult books, Need Me (Honey and Ben’s book) releases 4/21/15! Yaa!

Her sarcastic bubble burst over her head when the door swung open, revealing a guy. A hot-as-hell guy. A naked-except-for-unbuttoned-jeans guy. Being the shameless hussy she was, her gaze immediately dipped to his happy trail, although, on this guy, it really should have been called a rapture path. It started just beneath his belly button, which sat at the bottom of beautifully defined ab muscles.

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March 20, 2015
Review- The Risk by Skye Jordan

LOVE this book. LOVED.

I am not a winter sports girl.

I watch it on the Olympics more than anything. I grew up in Atlanta and we went to the beach and I knew one or two families that skiied. Fast forward to college, I went to school in the mountains of North Carolina and I went skiing once. I spent 90% of the time fearing for my life and while being pulled up off my ass by my sweet and patient college boyfriend. A few years ago, I went to Big Sky, Montana and once again, attempted to ski. I LOVED Montana, in fact, I love Colorado and Montana and I’d love to go out there again and watch other people ski and snowboard. My butt was made for sitting on a beach, not sliding down a mountain on it.

Another fun fact about me, I came very close to going to PT school. I ended up getting a degree in sport management and coaching. I spent a fair amount of time in the athletic training room, wrapping ankles and treating injured athletes. So, the rehab and physical therapy aspects of this book were fascinating to me.

Ms. Jordan deftly combined the rehabbing of an elite athlete (physically and mentally) with some super hot passion and romance. That’s one thing I really love about her, you always get a great plot and some seriously hot sexy times.

Julia has been burned professionally and personally and her trust, where men are concerned, is pretty much nil. Enter Noah, who is a well- known party hard snow- boarder. I wondered how in the world Ms. Jordan was going to bring these two together and in more ways than just in the biblical sense. There was plenty of that because Noah and Julia had chemistry in spades.

I think what I enjoyed was how the professional relationship was developed into a friendship and then blossomed into a form of trust between them. Developing that kind of trust was a big deal for both of them. Julia was in entrusted with every aspect of Noah’s care, his diet and his body. They even began socializing with the same people and she became friends with his friends. Julia needed friends, she needed people she could trust and she also needed someone that believed in her and her abilities.

I enjoyed every bit of this book and I cannot wait for more from this series!!

Julia couldn’t control the shaking—a combination of fear, rage, and raw adrenaline.

The driver stood outside the car, waiting to open the door for Noah, and she took the moment alone to breathe deep and focus her mind, the way she used to before a competition. It helped, but not nearly as much as she’d hoped. The tremors still rattled through her.

She couldn’t keep her mind drifting to the sick look in Phillips’s eyes when he had her pinned against that wall, and she was pissed, so damn pissed, she’d frozen when she should have slammed her knee into his balls. At the same time, his sheer size and strength made her second-guess her ability to ever make a dent in a man that big, let alone get away after she’d pissed him off.

Then she thought of Noah confronting him… Fear and fury battled in her heart. Her hands clenched; her muscles quivered with tension.

The door opened, and Noah slid in. His hair was falling out of its style, his face was flushed, his jaw tight. He turned toward her, his hands gripping her forearms. “Are you all right?”

“No, I’m not all right,” she blurted. “I’m pissed. I’m pissed as hell. We’ve gone through weeks of work to get your ankle stable. You go to the X Games in a week, Noah, a week. And you start a fight with Goliath? What in the hell is wrong with you?”

Just voicing the reality wound her tighter. But Noah hardly seemed ruffled as he pressed a button that lifted the privacy glass so the driver wouldn’t have to listen to them argue.

“This is your career, your livelihood, your life,” she said. “You could have reinjured yourself. You could have ruined all the work we’ve done. You could have seriously killed your career, for what? What were you thinking?”

He slouched against the seat at an angle, body loose, looking so goddamned sexy in that suit, his hair mussed, a confused expression carving that vertical line between his brows. “I was thinking that the fucker was abusing you. And I sure as hell wasn’t going to stand by and let him have his way until your head cleared enough to set him straight.”

“Just because I didn’t go in for the kill at the first sign of trouble doesn’t mean I wasn’t prepared to do it,” she lied. “I was fine, Noah.”

But she wasn’t fine, and they both knew it. She wasn’t even close to fine. The adrenaline was wearing off, her concern for his well-being fading now that she saw with her own two eyes that he was in one piece, free of pain, and the source of her shakes had transitioned from anger to fear. Fear of what would have happened if Noah hadn’t come into the hallway. Fear of who saw the exchange and what rumors that would bring. Fear of what sick game Phillips would play now.

“Dammit, Noah. All you did was piss him off even more. Now he’s going to think I’m not strong enough to stand up to him, which is only going to give him the green light to come after me with twice the vengeance. I should never have come to this stupid event. Fucking Drake. Every time I listen to him, my life goes into a tailspin.”

Her brain felt like a ball of strung-out Silly Putty, and her emotions bounced between anger and guilt and fear and shame…

Noah leaned toward her, sliding one arm behind her shoulders, the other beneath her knees, and drew her across the seat toward him.

“Stop it.” Julia pushed at his shoulder. “I don’t need a savior, dammit.” But all her squirming and struggling in the small space only succeeded in repositioning herself from sitting on his thighs to straddling his lap. “I’m fine.”

But his arms held her tight. “Maybe I’m not fine.” He slid his hands over her hips, up her sides, and cupped her face. His gaze was deep and dark and overflowing with emotions—anger, residual fear, lust. “Because seeing you with him scared the ever-loving shit out of me.”

He pulled her head down and fitted their lips together. Julia tried to pull back, but Noah slipped his hand behind her neck and held her there as he swept his tongue into her mouth. His other hand curved around her hips, tucking her tight against the hardening rod of heat behind his zipper.

His tongue swirled in hungry waves; lips suckled and sipped. Julia tasted lime and desperation and raw Noah. Heat gathered between her legs; pressure climbed. His arms were tight, his body warm, his mouth hungry. He was holding her, loving her, all without question or accusation. That combined with the adrenaline still pumping through her body set Julia on fire.

She leaned in, sinking her hands into his hair and scraping her nails along his scalp the way he loved. Then she pressed the front of her body to his, wrapped her arms around his neck, and tilted her head to take more of his mouth. Noah groaned in approval, tightened his arms, and lifted his hips, rubbing his stiff cock against her heat.

But it wasn’t enough. Her body raged with sensation, and she needed more. She pulled out of the kiss and went for his belt, button, and zipper. She needed him inside her, filling her. Needed his arms around her. Needed the safety he offered. The unconditional acceptance. Need, need, need. She needed so much—and it all came from one source: Noah.

Noah grabbed her wrists before she reached skin. “I’m not doing another one-off with you, Julia. I want more. Need more. I care about you, goddammit.”

Lust made her mind float and fizz. “This is all we have. You said yourself, we live four hours apart—”

“Give me the rest of your time here. One hundred percent together every minute of the time we have left.”

Why? She had to swallow hard to keep the word from coming out. Sure it was only another week or so, but after what he’d learned about her tonight, she didn’t understand why he’d want more than casual sex without strings.

But one of his hands moved beneath her dress where it rode up on her thighs, his fingers slipping beneath the band of her panties and sliding over her ass. His hands were warm and strong, and Julia sighed with the sensation, until his fingers darted directly to her heat and stroked her opening, making her groan with an urgent hunger. Everything inside her ached with the craving she’d suppressed for weeks, but now she needed his comfort, his trust, his belief. She needed to feel him inside her, filling that empty space that lived at the center of her chest, the one she’d ignored for too long.

Leaning away, she reached for his boxers again.

Noah caught her wrists and held them tight while his open, hungry gaze drilled into hers. “Mine,” he said. “For the time you’re here.”

The thought both thrilled and terrified her. Everything in her mind said no. But her body, her heart, her soul screamed yes. Her brain urged her to make him promise he’d be discreet, but he hadn’t questioned her about Phillips, and he deserved the same unconditional belief.

She nodded her answer.

Something flickered in his eyes, something dark and sexy. His hands released hers to grip her face firmly, his gaze lowering to her mouth. “Say it.”

She drew a shaky breath. “I’m yours.”

He exhaled in a whoosh, as if he’d been holding it back, and he kissed her hard, his hunger loose and raging.

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March 19, 2015