Review: Taking Shots by Toni Aleo

Title: Taking Shots
Series: Assassins #1
Author: Toni Aleo

Elli Fisher has never thought she was good enough, let it be her job, her weight, her love life, nothing. That is until she meets Shea Adler. After doing a promotional shoot for the NHL team, the Assassins, she meets the hunky hockey player who shoots a puck, shattering her world.
Shea Adler was tired of the life he was living outside of the rink. The girls, the money blowing, the drinking, everything had to stop and it all did when he met Eleanor Fisher. He had never met anyone like her. She was feisty, witty, shy, and simply gorgeous. When he laid eyes on her, it was as if he was taking the hardest hit of his life into the boards, and he had to have her. Elli is a little skeptical of Shea, but he knows that they were meant to be together, and he needed her in his life.
Can Elli throw her insecurities out the window and love Shea with everything inside of her, or will she let a past relationship, and her family ruin any chance of her being happy.

Review: How to Seduce a Vampire (Without Really Trying) by Kerrelyn Sparks

Title: How to Seduce a Vampire (Without Really Trying)  

Series: Love at Stake #15
Author: Kerrelyn Sparks

Publication: 29th April 2014

From New York Times bestselling author Kerrelyn Sparks comes the next adventure in the Love at Stake series, featuring a Master vampire and his love affair with a woman of many secrets . . .

Vampire Zoltan Czakvar is on the hunt for the truth about his father's death. He's been searching for a very long time—since 1241, in fact. And he is not about to give up, even when he's attacked by a woman with striking blue eyes and a hell of a right hook!

Neona is also on the hunt. She's looking for a mate, and she thinks muscled Zoltan will work just fine. After all, men are good for only one thing. Soon, though, she realizes there's more to this handsome vampire than just sexual prowess. But she's keeping a secret from Zoltan, something so big that it will rock the vampire world.

Can their newfound love survive . . . even if their passion means the destruction of her world?

I received this ARC from Avon through Edelweiss in exchange for a honest review.

Mini Review: Jealous And Freakn' by Eve Langlais

Title: Jealous And Freakn'
Series: Freakn' Shifters, #2
Author: Eve Langlais

Francine’s loved Mitchell, a wolf like herself, since she first set eyes on him back when they were just kids. However, Mitchell’s never seen her as more than another annoying sister. Determined to make him realize she’s all grown up, she enlists the aide of Alejandro, a gorgeous cat shifter. She never counted on wanting them both.

Alejandro knows Francine is special from the first moment he meets the fiery plump wolf, which is why he suggests she use him to make Mitchell jealous. A great plan, especially if it means getting to kiss those luscious lips. One taste though, and he’s addicted, but how does he make her see past the man she loves to realize she’s also meant to be his mate.

For a long time now Mitchell’s been running from Francine, certain she’s mistaken that their destiny’s lie together. However, the little girl he remembers is all grown up, and when he sees her in the arms of another, a need to claim her overrides all his common sense. But, he’s waited too long and fate has decided that he’s going to have to share. Can he bend enough to accept Francine and another man, or will his jealousy keep him freakn’?

ARC Review: Beyond Jealousy by Kit Rocha

Title: Beyond Jealousy 
Series: Beyond #4
Author: Kit Rocha

Clicking on it sends you to Goodreads

She’s been looking for the perfect man. She found two.

When Rachel Riley sacrificed a life in Eden to protect the O’Kanes, she earned her place in the powerful Sector Four gang. But the former crime princess is tired of being everyone’s sweet little sister . It’s time for her to get wild, to embrace her fantasies as only an O’Kane can—with a delicious exiled soldier and the gang’s wickedly sinful tattoo artist.

A saint... 

Lorenzo Cruz is a warrior, taught by his commanding officers in Eden that involvement equals distraction. Emotion is a liability, and desire a sin. In Sector Four, he finds decadence, shameless sex—and his own dark urges. No battle strategy prepared him for how Rachel makes his heart race…or the way his rival for her affections sets his blood on fire.

...and a sinner. 

Ace Santana has a dirty reputation and a mind to match, especially where his new lovers are concerned. He’s eager to help Cruz embrace his dominant side, and to explore the lines between pleasure and pain with Rachel. But corrupting them quickly becomes an obsession, a need he can’t deny—and a love he never imagined.

Three hearts on the line means a hundred ways their ménage a trois could go wrong. After all, even O’Kanes do forever two-by-two. One of them could be the missing piece that makes them all whole…or a temporary diversion destined for a broken heart.

Review: Beauty and the Billionaire by Jessica Clare

Title: Beauty and the Billionaire
Series: Billionaire Boys Club #2 
Author: Jessica Clare 

Real-estate tycoon Hunter Buchanan has a dark past that’s left him scarred and living as a recluse on his family’s palatial estate. Hunter is ready to give up on love—until he spots an enigmatic red-haired beauty and comes up with an elaborate scheme to meet her.

Gretchen Petty is in need of a paycheck—and a change. So when a job opportunity in an upstate New York mansion pops up she accepts. And while she can overlook the oddities of her new job, she can’t ignore her new boss’s delectable body—or his barely leashed temper.

Hunter’s afraid his plan might be unraveling before it’s truly begun, but Gretchen is about to show him that life can be full of surprises…

Review: Stranded with a Billionaire by Jessica Clare

Title: Stranded with a Billionaire

Series: Billionaire Boys Club #1

Author: Jessica Clare

The Billionaire Boys Club is a secret society of six men who have vowed success – at any cost. Not all of them are old money, but all of them are incredibly wealthy. They’re just not always as successful when it comes to love…

Billionaire Logan Hawkings needs a vacation. 

He’s had a rough time after the death of his father and the betrayal of his fiancée. But with a visit to a recent business acquisition—a private island resort in the Bahamas—he has a chance to mend his broken heart.

When a hurricane blows in, a misplaced passport and a stalled elevator bring Logan together with an unusual woman named Bronte. She’s unlike anyone he’s ever met—down to earth, incredibly sensual, and even quotes Plato.

She also has no clue that he’s rich…

Bronte Dawson, a waitress from the Midwest, is stranded with the hotel’s domineering yet sexy manager Logan. What’s the harm in a little fling when it’s just the two of them, alone in paradise? But after several steamy island nights in Logan’s arms, Bronte’s ready to give her heart—and her body—to the man in charge.

But she soon discovers there’s more to Logan than he’s told her…a billion times more. Now, Bronte’s caught in a whirlwind affair with one of the world’s most powerful men. But can their love endure their differences or will it all just blow over?

Review: Beauty and the Beast by Shoshanna Evers

Title: Beauty and the Beast
Author: Shoshanna Evers
Published: 14th February 2014

Blurb

From bestselling erotica author Shoshanna Evers comes an erotic re-imagining of the classic fairytale, Beauty and the Beast.

With her father’s freedom at stake, Belle agrees to be the fearsome Beast’s prisoner in his enchanted castle. Held as his willing captive, Belle must submit to the Beast’s most primal desires to survive.

The Beast can’t let his little Beauty go free, not while there’s still hope that she might be the one to end his decade-long curse…and with true love’s kiss, return him to the Prince he once was.

Their story is one that begins with imprisonment—he in his monstrous body, she in a dungeon—but without this predicament, Beauty would never have met the Beast.

So we shall begin with what occurred on that fateful night when everything changed: when a lover was betrayed, a man deformed, and a castle shrouded in an enchantment…

Review:The Raider by Monica McCarty

Title: The Raider  

Series: Highland Guard #8

Author: Monica McCarty

Publishing date: 25th February 2014

After consolidating his gains against the enemy English, King Robert the Bruce of Scotland sends his best soldiers to fortify the lawless borders. These legendary warriors of the Highland Guard let nothing come before king and country - except the calling of their heart. 
Of all Bruce’s elite warriors, Robert “Raider” Boyd is the most formidable. A true patriot whose bare hands are a deadly weapon, Robbie is the fierce enforcer of the Guard, and his hatred of the English has been honed to a razor-sharp edge. But vengeance proves bittersweet when his enemy’s beautiful sister falls into his hands and he finds himself fighting temptation - a battle he badly wants to lose.
Lady Rosalin Clifford barely recognizes the rebel prisoner she saved from execution six years ago. Though her girlish ideals for fairness have matured into a passion for justice, Rosalin believes she betrayed her brother when she helped this dangerous man escape. Now her traitorous act has come back to haunt her. But she can’t deny the longing this tormented warrior ignites in her, or deny the passion that turns sworn enemies into lovers. Is the gentle love of a true English Rose enough to free Scotland’s most brutal warrior from a path of vengeance - before it’s too late?

Mini-Review: Beauty from Pain by Georgia Cates

Title: Beauty from Pain  

Series: Beauty #1
Author: Georgia Cates

Published: January 2013

They agreed on three months...but their love knew no boundaries.

Jack McLachlan is a winemaking magnate and easily one of Australia’s most eligible bachelors. His success and wealth make him no stranger to the complications of romantic relationships and that’s why he goes to extreme measures to avoid the hassle. He prefers simplicity in the form of a beautiful female companion with no strings attached. He arranges relationships like business deals and they’re always the same. No long term relationships. No real names.

It’s his game and his rules. He’s content to play as usual, but when Laurelyn Prescott enters his life, his strategy must change because this player is like none he's ever encountered. His world is turned on its head after he begins a three month affair with the beautiful American musician. Nothing goes according to plan and as he breaks more and more of his own rules for her, she’s exceptionally close to becoming something he never thought possible. His ultimate game changer.

Not recommended for younger readers due to sexual content and language

Review: Once in a Lifetime by Jill Shalvis

Title: Once in a Lifetime

Series: Lucky Harbor #9 

Author: Jill Shalvis

After a wrenching loss, Ben McDaniel tried to escape his grief by working in dangerous, war-torn places like Africa and the Middle East. Now he's back in his hometown and face-to-face with Aubrey Wellington, the hot-as-hell woman who is trouble with a capital T. Family and friends insist she's not the one to ease his pain, but Aubrey sparks an intense desire that gives Ben hope for the future.

Determined to right the wrongs of her past, Aubrey is working hard to make amends. But by far, the toughest challenge to her plan is sexy, brooding Ben - even though he has absolutely no idea what she's done . . .

Can this unlikely couple defy the odds and win over the little town of Lucky Harbor?

Review: Beyond Temptation by Kit Rocha(part of "Marked" anthology)

Title: Beyond Temptation

Series: Beyond #3.5

Author: Kit Rocha

Kit Rocha returns to Sector Four in BEYOND TEMPTATION. A promise to a dying friend backfires when Noah Lennox finds that the girl he was supposed to rescue is all grown up--and wearing O'Kane ink. He wants to protect her from the secrets of their past, but she wants him. And an O'Kane woman always gets what she wants.

Buy Links: All Romance Ebooks, iTunes, Smashwords, Google Play

Review: Wild Card by Lora Leigh

Title: Wild Card  

Series: Elite Ops #1
Author: Lora Leigh

Published: September 2008

Click on the cover to go to the Goodreads page

It was supposed to be simple. All Navy SEAL Nathan Malone had to do was rescue three young girls from a Colombia drug cartel, then allow himself to be captured just long enough to draw out a government spy. That was before his mission went disastrously wrong…and before his wife, Bella, was told that Nathan was never coming home.

Bella’s mourned her husband’s death for three long years. But she has no idea he’s still alive. Forced to assume a new identity, the man Nathan was is now dead. If he can get back to his wife, can he keep the secret of who he really is…even as desire threatens to consume them? And as danger threatens to tear Bella from Nathan’s arms once more?

Review: Crux by Moira Rogers

Title: Crux

Series: Southern Arcana #1
Author: Moira Rogers

Published: 2009

Jackson Holt makes a decent living as a private investigator in New Orleans, home of one of the largest underground supernatural populations in the United States. He and his partners have never met a case they couldn't crack...until a local bar owner asks him to do a little digging on her newest hire.

New Orleans is the fourth destination in as many months for Mackenzie Brooks, a woman on the run from a deranged stalker. After all, any man who shows up on her doorstep claiming to be her destined lover has more than a few screws loose. But crazy doesn't explain why he always finds her no matter how far she runs.

When her well-meaning boss puts a PI on her case, Mackenzie comes face to face with the incredible truth: magic is real, and whatever spell has kept her hidden and separate from the paranormal world is rapidly deteriorating.

With time running out, she has no choice but to trust Jackson as he struggles to uncover the truth of her past-and her destiny. 

This book contains devious schemes, epic battles, forbidden love between a shapeshifter and a spellcaster, nosy secondary characters, furniture-endangering sex and a woman fighting to choose her own destiny.

Review: Dark Wolf by Christine Feehan

Title: Dark Wolf  
Series: Dark #25
Author: Christine Feehan

Published: 7th January 2014

In Dark Lycan, Christine Feehan journeyed into the heart of the Carpathians, and into the souls of two lifemates stirred by the flush of passion and the threat of annihilation. In Dark Wolf, the breathtaking story continues as the bonds of family are imperiled, and the fate of two lovers lies hidden in the seductive shadows between life and death.

Skyler Daratrazanoff always recognized the miracle that was Dimitri Tirunul, a man beyond any dream that had ever engaged her nights. But she was human. Vulnerable. He was Carpathian. Nearly immortal. She was nineteen. He was an ancient. Yet she held half his soul, the light to his darkness. Without her, he would not survive. Caught between the two warring species, Dimitri has spent centuries hunting the undead to keep his people free, and humans safe. He had survived honorably when others had chosen to give up their souls. But now, marked for extermination by the Lycans, Dimitri found himself alone, and fearing for his life. But salvation was coming…

No Lycan would ever suspect someone like Skyler to dare mount a secret rescue operation. A teenage girl. A human of untested abilities. But she had something no one else had. She was predestined for Dimitri—as he was for her. And there was nothing stronger for Skyler than her desire to see her life-dream come true. Whatever the risk.

Review: The School for Brides by Cheryl Ann Smith

Title: The School for Brides

Series: School for Brides #1 
Author: Cheryl Ann Smith

Published: 5th April 2011

Cheryl Ann Smith debuts a sensual new series starring a beautiful spinster who rescues ladies of the night from lonely fates. But then the tables are turned as night brings a surprise she never imagined—and a proposition she can't refuse...

Miss Eva Black spent her life concealing her mother's past as a courtesan. Now a spinster, her beauty hidden away under a dour disguise, Eva spends her days schooling courtesans to be suitable wives. But one vengeful duke does not appreciate Eva stealing his mistress and transforming her into a lady. His vengeance won't be satisfied until he seduces Eva into becoming what she detests most: a courtesan.

Nicholas, the Duke of Stanfield, is furious with this woman who frees courtesans from bondage. His revenge? Upend Eva's world by buying her debts and striking a scandalous bargain: She must serve as his mistress' replacement. But he doesn't expect her to be a woman of such beauty and secrets—or to have a past that not only endangers Eva herself, but everyone whose life she has so intimately touched.

 

This was the 2^nd book where drama-llama had an important role, they were even one after the other. When reading historicals there is the expectation of suspending disbelief, but with this book… let’s just say that my suspending wasn’t enough.

After reading the title you start asking yourself what this could be about: young debutants maybe? Well, it couldn’t be more beside the truth. The story is about a spinster daughter of one of the most renowned courtesans teaching them about how to become respectable ladies so they can marry, she even presents them with suitors. She is a match-maker who gives deportment lessons(I know, right?). One of the ladies was the mistress of our hero, and he, feeling cheated, comes looking for her. You can’t imagine his surprise when he finds out what happened. He is a duke who doesn’t know the meaning of the word no so he blackmails our virginal heroine into taking the place of now-married ex-mistress.

The book could have been a great romantic comedy, unfortunately there were some overdone parts. Eva, our heroine, protest too much and then from one minute to the next becomes a whole new person. The scene that portraits this the best is where she(she even had multiple clothing layers and chemises) goes to his townhouse and insults him and tries to be as obnoxious as possible to make him change his mind; the moment when he kisses her(yes, in the middle of arguing) she becomes a new person, she almost strips herself and throws herself into his bed(she doesn’t, but there wasn’t much more till that).

Besides the undecided heroine, we have the asshole hero. Everyone knows I like an asshole that changes, or not, but I like the type who puts the heroine first and listens to her, not the type that’s charming with everyone else and is a heel to the heroine and wants her only for sex. Our Nicholas was in the 2^nd category. Case in point: there was a part where Eva came to him for help and he couldn’t even bother to pay attention to her, he just imagined fucking her on every available surface!

The writing was good, I liked how the author set the scenes and her character descriptions, I just didn’t like the main characters :D The secondary ones were better…  I would have rated it higher if there wasn’t such a big lack of communication. Everyone had a hidden motive in this book! I felt most of those were there just to add more drama.    

In the end it was ok, but not one book that I will ever re-read.

Rating:

Review: Wanted by J. Kenner

Title: Wanted 
Author: J. Kenner
Series: Most Wanted #1
Publish date: 7th January 2014

For fans of Fifty Shades of Grey, Bared to You, and Release Me comes an all-new erotic series of three enigmatic and powerful men, and the striking women who can bring them to their knees.

He is everything I crave, all I desperately want—and he is everything I can’t have.

Evan Black embodies my every fantasy. He is brilliant, fierce, and devastatingly handsome. But he is also headstrong, dangerous, and burdened with secrets.

My family warned me to stay away, that I could never handle Evan’s dark dealings or scarred past. Maybe I should have listened. Maybe I should have run. But our desire is undeniable, and some temptations you just can’t fight.

And from the moment we touch—the passion between us consuming us both—I know that I will never be the same.

Wanted is an erotic romance intended for mature audiences.