Monthly Archives: January 2015
The Chronicles of Moxie by Z. B. Heller
Moxie Summers is a curvy, twenty-six year-old teacher who has not had the best track record with relationships. In a drunken stupor at a bar, she meets Miles who turns out to be her sparing equal, until she vomits all over his shoes. Just when she thinks things couldn’t get worse, her dream man turns out to be the single father of the newest student in her class.
While fighting an attraction for Miles, Moxie’s conniving stepmother tries to advise Moxie she needs to get in shape if she’s ever going to catch the man of her dreams. To make matters worse a Girl Scout plans Moxie’s demise, a surprise party makes everyone blush, and then there was the skunk…
Can Moxie overcome all the Girl Scout cookies, food poisoning and a showdown at Costco to get to Miles?
Due to the hot, steamy scenes and Moxie’s filthy mouth this book is intended for 18+
Moxie is like many women, constantly aware of her size and always feeling self conscious even though she puts forth a strong exterior. She does her best not to let anyone know her insecurities and uses humor as a way of deflection.
Miles is a widower with a young child. He is resilient and ready to love again. He oozes sex appeal not only in his looks, but in his flirtations.
What can I say, all in all it is a great little story. I got annoyed with all the different ways she references the male goodies, but overall her cocky wit was funny. I wish more men were like Miles and could hang with a woman like this instead of going for those shallow twits. I hope the next book has a little less of the two of them second guessing each other so they can get to some real love and romance, maybe even a little more kink.
4 fangs.
Biography
Nightfall by T K Lawyer
Tamara’s spicy scent, thrills, seduces, and weakens him like no other. She is his and he wants her. Unfortunately, she is done with men. Tamara has been burned too many times in the past, and she’s not looking for a relationship…ever. But when she finds a stray dog on her doorstep, she decides she wants a relationship with a male, after all—that of pet and pet owner.
Josh is not a dog, and he has no interest in staying her pet. He has one burning desire—Tamara—in his bed, nightly and permanently. He will stop at nothing to convince Tamara they are better together, and that he needs her, forever.
Their paths are intertwined and their future is inevitable, but will Tamara allow Josh to love, cherish, and protect her? Or will she say goodbye to the amazing, dedicated man, whose loyalty and sweet promises could shatter her walls completely, and consume her with desire?
Reader Advisory: This book contains intense, romantic loving, and moments of explosive cravings between an adorable, part sweet/part devilish half-wolf, and his delectable, feisty human mate.
This could have been a gem, but for me, I found myself frustrated with Tamara to the point where I actually wished Josh could just walk away. That is rare for me given I’m a romantic at heart and always want an HEA for the main characters.
After a series of relationships that ended badly, Tamara has sworn off getting serious with another man for the foreseeable future. When she first met Josh, she realized he was exactly the kind of guy that she could find herself falling for and because she didn’t want to risk getting hurt again, turned him down flat when he asked her out. A year later, she still thought of him, but never expected him to enter back into her life, and in the most unexpected way. For Josh, not being around Tamara was unacceptable. Although she didn’t want to date him, she was his mate and he needed to convince her that he would always love and be there for her. His solution? Disguised as what she assumed is a dog, he worms his way into her life and love. However, Josh isn’t a dog. He is part wolf and part human, and if that means he has to pretend to be her pet to get close to her, that is exactly what he would do. And when the time is right, he would reveal his true self in the hopes that she would be open and accepting of who he really is and that he cares for her and would do anything to protect her.
What I loved about the story is his unfailing commitment to her. She was his mate and there wasn’t anyone else who could fulfill that need he had for her. Things weren’t easy though. I liked how he slowly made his presence known to her as Nightfall. There were a few times when his reaction to her leaving him seemed extreme, but compared to her actions, I actually felt more sympathy for him at the end. And even though I understood her concerns with trusting he would not hurt her, I struggled with her adamant refusal to give him a chance to show her he was not like all of the other men in her past. That unlike them, his genetic make up pretty much dictated that he would never choose someone else over her. He was pretty much a sure thing, but left and right she just made things so difficult for him. When she got jealous, he had to soothe her, but she didn’t think twice about her behavior with her friend Reuben. I just couldn’t relate to her attitude. And when I struggle to connect to a character, that pretty much lowers my rating for a book. She eventually explains her reason behind her reticence to get involved, but I still couldn’t understand why she still dismissed his desire for a future with her. And the ending baffled me. I’m not quite sure how the “bonding” is supposed to work. A little more description into the workings of how the bond is established would be nice.
If you’re a fan of paranormal romance books, shifters in particular, you may enjoy this one. I’d love to hear from anyone who has a different take on Tamara.
3.5 fangs.
About the Author
Guardians of the Realms by Setta Jay
Happy Release Day to Setta Jay for Piercing Ecstasy!
*Erotic Paranormal Romance*
After a hellish month of searching, Immortal warrior Jax and his brethren, the Guardians of the Realms, are nowhere near finding the sleeping God who was stolen by their enemy. As if that isn’t problem enough, after millennia, other Guardians are dropping like flies to the mating frenzy. Jax never dreamed he could be next. After all, he’s too flawed, his sexual appetite too insatiable to ever be completely fulfilled by one being. Could a lone female even handle his needs let alone quench his never ending desire?
Ileana lives a solitary life in the shadows, a ghost thirsting for vengeance. A warrior Ailouros, half cat, whose sheer existence has been kept secret by a special ability no one can know exists, she is closed off and trusts no one. After thousands of years spent in near isolation while hunting her prey, she has finally found a clue leading to the location of her enemy. Revenge is at hand.
When a fantastically hot Guardian unknowingly puts himself in the middle of a deadly intrigue, nearly ruining her careful plans, Ileana is forced to make a choice. Her one chance at finding vengeance will hinge on hurling them both into piercing ecstasy.
Warning: This book is intended for an adult audience. There are dirty talking Guardians with bad language, some violence, and explicit scenes hot enough to give you cat scratch fever.
About the Author:
The sad truth is that I’m not nearly as entertaining as fiction. *Wink* I am a thirty-seven year old stay at home writer, thanks to my incredibly supportive husband. We’ve been together for thirteen years and I still love waking up next to that sexy man. We lost our furry child recently, so we are childless at the moment. Our whole world revolved around her. Needless to say, I love animals, especially dogs. Okay, maybe not all animals, I’m not a super big fan of monkeys. Any animal that throws their feces kind of eeks me out. I may, or may not, have a problem with candy. I love any research that leads to Neiman Marcus’ online shoe department. Spreadsheets give me way more happiness than they should. I love to read, the dirtier the better. It all started with the naughty historical romances by Judith McNaught that I devoured as a teenager. I love reading about hot, sexy alpha males and heroines that are smart enough to live.
The Demon Wars by Lauren Peyton
Demonically Yours (The Demon Wars Book 1)
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1FI6Xgv
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21840879-demonically-yours?from_search=true
BLURB
He was built for sin…
I fell for a dark stranger, a painfully beautiful one. With his impressive physique and exotic accent, I couldn’t keep him out of my dreams. But when those dreams turned to nightmares I started looking for answers. I’d asked the questions before, but I’d always been kept in the dark. Who Am I? Why Am I Different?
I demand the truth, I have to know what my part in this war is before it’s too late… And why the vision of this dark stranger captivates me…
It was a dream. It was all just a dream. A very screwed up, emotionally damaging, horrible dream. Ava’s breath caught in her throat. Her dark hair hung in waves below her shoulders. Somehow she had flung herself up into a sitting position. Her breathing was labored as if she had really just been running for her life. She could feel the hysteria bubbling from her gut. The dream had been vivid. She looked down at her knee, remembering that she had fallen in the damn nightmare, and saw that it was bruised, but she dismissed the injury. She worked at a bar, and she always had unexplainable cuts and bruises.Slowly, she climbed out of the queen-size bed she loved. It was warm, and a pillow top, but no matter the comfort level it could not keep her nightmares at bay. They were getting to be more and more frequent. Ava opened the nightstand beside her bed, took out the leather bound journal and matching pen then started towards the kitchen. She needed tea.When she turned the light on, the soft hum in the background drew her attention. She hated dead silence. Silence reminded her of the nightmares. She filled the antique kettle her uncle valued. He had told her many stories over tea. He loved to talk about her mother, his youngest sister. She was the most vibrant of them all. She had big plans in life, but had died much too young. That is why Ava intended on living her mother’s dreams for her, but her uncle did not think it was the best idea and constantly tried to dissuade her from the idea. She began to write in her journal. Her pen flew over the paper as she wrote out every detail of her nightmare. She wanted to remember this one along with many others. It seemed as if they were happening frequently.
Demonically Bound (The Demon Wars Book 2)
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1wF51N3
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24295354-demonically-bound
BLURB
When I was released from Hell it was conditional. My daughter, Ava, sold herself to earn my freedom from the shackles that contained me for so long. Before my wrists could even heal I was summoned by the elders of the lust demon faction and ordered to find a demon who was going to prove vital in the pending demon war. I was to do whatever was necessary to get the information she had. Did I have the strength to torture and kill the demon if necessary after my own imprisonment? The question raged in my mind until I saw the demon…
Avaraz was awakened by a playful blow to his stomach and laugh.
“Get up, we need to get you in shape.” Caine was too eager to get Avaraz back into training.
“What about sleep?”
“You like to sleep as much as Ava, we need to train. Your mark has been announced.”
“Call it an inherited trait for her.” Avaraz rolled over and away from the crimson-eyed demon annoying him.“Let’s go. “ Caine put hands on two spots on the bed and used his upper body strength to flip the mattress and send Avaraz to the floor.
“I swear you act like a ten year old at his first sleep-over Caine. Will you ever grow up?”
“Come, now.”
Caine walked out of the room. Avaraz was half tempted to roll back over and pull blankets over his head, but Caine would return soon and if he wasn’t up there would be some sort of juvenile shenanigans. He regretted asking his daughter’s mate to help him train for the mission. He was awake much too early.
“Why aren’t you off celebrating your mating?” Avaraz hollered to Caine.
“Already did this morning…twice.”
“I did not need to hear that.”
Avaraz’s eyes popped open so his imagination wouldn’t conjure an image of his closest friend and daughter having sex. That would be quite disturbing. He shuddered at even having a possibility of seeing it more than what he saw already. Avaraz got up off the floor and pulled on a pair of shorts that rested low on his hips. He was skinnier than he was before his time on the wall, it would take time for him to rebuild to where he once was.
His hands reached for a plain white tank top, he exited his room to find Caine eating something in the kitchen. Avaraz swore that demon could eat them out of house and home. Caine always had something in his mouth.
“Thank you for the lovely wakeup call.” Avaraz’s voice dripped with sarcasm.
“My pleasure.” Caine spoke with his mouth full. “Where are we going for training?”
“Same place I took Ava. It’s out of the way and no one goes there.” Avaraz looked into Caine’s mind and found the location he had in mind and nodded. “I will follow you.”
Caine stood and shimmered out of the penthouse, Avaraz took a breath and followed behind. He arrived at the warehouse seconds later and Caine was already inside. He could hear the other demon fooling around with mats and barbells for training. Avaraz entered slowly, he still longed for the tender, warm embrace of his bed.
The final mat was finally dropped into place. Caine turned toward Avaraz.
“What do you want to start with? Physical or mental?” Caine asked.
“Mental.” Avaraz answered swiftly. “Offensive or defensive?”
“I’ll start with defense.”
“I won’t take it easy on you, my friend.” “I hope you won’t.” “I’ll beam an image of your daughter and I having sex into your mind. You better keep your shield up or it’ll be all you see, how she gets the thickness delivered every night.” Caine chuckled.
“Sadist. Before you ask, your ass looks fat when you’re nude.” Avaraz had already seen more than he would ever want to see.
“Get to work.”
Caine immediately set in with his attempts to penetrate the shields that Avaraz had in place. The first image came through and almost knocked Avaraz down, his daughter on her knees in front of Caine. No. Avaraz pushed Caine out with a powerful yell.
“Do better.” Caine demanded.
Again the shields were prodded in his mind. It was an internal battle. Neither male moved, but sweat blossomed on their skin, both exerting extreme force to win the battle of wills. Suddenly Caine tried to break one of the shields Avaraz was building quickly His strength and ability were returning to him surprisingly fast. Perhaps the elders had a hand in it he thought.
“Good, my friend.” Caine’s voice echoed.
“What else do you have?” He taunted.
AUTHOR BIO
Lauren Peyton is a Tacoma native who was able to grow up in the beautiful Puget Sound. She loves to write. Lauren’s favorite genres include romance, thrillers, suspense, and dark fantasy. She is currently continuing to work on her follow up projects and new series that are promised to tease and hook you from start to finish.
CONNECT WITH LAUREN
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorLaurenPeyton
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/TheLaurenPeyton
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7278178.Lauren_Peyton
Website: http://www.laurenpeyton.com/
Published by Beau Coup Publishing
Love’s Tempting by Maryann Jordan *Review
**DUE TO SCENES OF AN EXPLICIT SEXUAL NATURE AND LANGUAGE SOME MAY CONSIDER CRUDE, 18+ ONLY****
Detective Matt Dixon had a scarred face earned in the line of duty and a scarred heart when his cheating fiance’ left him. Quiet and surly, he was determined to not let love in again. Until he met her…Lily Swanson. The first woman in a year that did not focus on his scar. Tempted to know her, he thought he had lost his chance when she disappeared into the night.
When he and his partner are called to investigate a murder, he finds her again.
Lily doesn’t mind Matt’s scar. She’s hiding scars of her own and is determined to keep the handsome detective at arm’s length. A software engineer working in a medical company, she stumbles across what her murdered partner had discovered… and this time, she may be the next victim.
Will Lily be able to solve the clues to keep the murderer from striking again?
Can Matt save her before the murderer claims her as their next victim?
Can two scarred people be tempted to let love in?
Matt is a scarred (literally) detective who is highly dominant and has built a wall around his heart. He has fought through a fallen love, drug problem and self esteem issues.
Lily is a broken girl who has had to fight for her independence when the decks have been stacked against her. She has a poor relationship with her family and has had to rely on herself since she was 16.
The suspense in this story is great, a good cop story is always suspenseful. I liked the mystery in this book, trying to figure out who was behind the crime. I was torn about the love story however. I liked the devotion between the characters and the love shown, but the controlling nature of Matt frustrated me. It just seemed he was pushy and arrogant and it did not work to put him in my favor. Had he been less of a control freak, I likely would have given this one a 5.
Connelly’s Horde by D.M. Earl
Welcome to Desmond Connelly’s Horde or better known as his extended family at Wheels & Hogs Garage. For years these survivors have been dealing with what life throws them while trying to move forward from the atrocities in their lives. Some have secrets not shared while others are working through problems that are continually present in their lives.
Follow Des as he introduces you to each one of his crew at Wheels & Hogs in this short Novella. Start to understand how a group of strangers become not only friends but family over the years. Get a snapshot of why when life pushes you down, in this garage, you push back until you are on your feet again
I am truly looking forward to more Des after reading this book. The characters have great background provided in this short novella but you are also given a glimpse into a future that you want more of. Cliffhanger, but in a great way! I am excited to see how this group of people heal through all the trauma’s they have had and come out the other end!
Inhibitions by Kimberly Bracco *giveaway
My bad luck first started six months ago, when I discovered my boyfriend, Jason, had been cheating on me. I suppose if you asked my mother though, she’d say my bad luck had started two and half years ago, when I started dating Jason. My parents never liked him.
“He just rubs me the wrong way, Ashley,” my mother had always said. “He’s not the guy for you.” She’d claimed that it wasn’t one thing in particular but that something about Jason as a whole just didn’t sit right with her. Either way, she was right. I guess mother’s intuition really is accurate… But I’ve never told her the real reasons we broke up or how much debt he put me in before we did. Let’s just say I don’t want to see the look on her face if she found out the truth about Jason. She’d say that since she’d been right about my choice in him, maybe I should consider another career before it turned out she was right about that as well.
Jason and I had shared an apartment in Jersey City. That is until I’d found him having an afternoon romp in our sheets with someone who certainly wasn’t me one Thursday when he should have been working, and I kicked him out.
I’d come home early that day to grab a few outfit choices to bring with me to my best friend Quinn’s. We were heading to the city that night so I could check out a hit club for the weekend edition of the paper. I’d known that something was off the minute I walked through the door. A pair of women’s shoes lay on the living room floor. They were not mine. I didn’t own electric blue stilettoes.
Then I heard them.
Playing House by Donna Brown *Giveaway
They had talked about David staying in the house – spare room, of course – until he could find something more permanent but in the end he couldn’t bear it. The things you stopped noticing after fifteen years – sometimes, conversely, the very things that had helped you fall in love in the first place – were suddenly amplified. The way she always hummed when she made coffee in the morning, whatever her mood. The scent of her moisturiser. The way she chewed her pencil end, even though she admitted it was a habit that drove her crazy when others did it.
You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone…
Or almost gone. Being reminded every day of what he was about to lose would have been too much to bear. Not that he would call the current circumstances particularly bearable.
Instead, he had rented a small studio flat a ten minute walk away. He could easily have afforded something bigger and he certainly could have afforded something less sparsely furnished but he didn’t want a new home right now. He just wanted somewhere to retreat and lick his wounds.
Privately he admitted to himself that the feeling of temporariness helped perpetuate the charade: perhaps it wasn’t all quite over. He knew he was kidding himself. He was not the kind of man to give up without a fight and he believed he had fought hard for Emma. She just didn’t want him any more.
As he reached the building and entered the lobby, he wondered if he should just let her go now. The painting? She could have it. Who needed a reminder of all the things they’d never have again? She had transformed his life over the last fifteen years. A canvas, however stunning, was a poor substitute.
In his ‘kitchenette’ – one counter, a sink and a toaster and kettle – he poured a glass of whisky, took a mouthful and then shook his head and emptied the rest of the glass down the sink. He was drinking too much. It wasn’t habitual but it could easily become so. Whisky – even damn good whisky – was even less of a substitute for Emma than a Masters’ seascape.
He would call her in the morning, he decided. She could have the painting. Forget the auction. Forget the road trip.
If you love someone set them free…
She wouldn’t come back to him, he suddenly knew that. And perhaps it would indeed mean she never had been his, but oddly he was cheered by this thought. Nobody could own someone as free as Emma. She was born to soar. He had always believed they could soar together and the realisation that he had been wrong crushed his heart in a vice of pain. She had given him so much in the last fifteen years, made so many sacrifices. This would be his final opportunity to give Emma something she really wanted: her freedom. After everything he had put her through, it would be the very least he could offer.
Promise Me by Hilary Wynne *giveaway
We’re walking to our table in the back when I feel a strong arm reach around my waist and pull me back a little. I know it’s Julian by the way he smells and the feel of his chest against my back. My pulse quickens. I try to turn around, but he holds me tightly against him and whispers in my ear.
“I’m not sure I approve of this dress in my restaurant. I just watched a few men choke on their food when you walked by. Not to mention you’ve made several ladies very unhappy. It doesn’t leave much to the imagination, mi amor. Es un poquito corto, no?”
I can feel the heat from his body against my back. I can also feel him harden. I grab his hand and spin around so I’m facing him. I put my lips to his ear and whisper back. “I guess it wouldn’t be a good idea to tell you I’m not wearing any panties, would it?”
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Dark Seduction by Alexa Marxx
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