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Saturday, April 8, 2017

Weekly Winners


Below is a list of all of the winners from last week.

Maureen
Between a Wolf and a Hard Place by Terry Spear

Latifa
Under Her Skin by Adriana Anders


All winners have been notified via email and are posted on the Rafflecopter form from that giveaway post. Thank you to everyone that stopped by and entered. =)

ARC Review: Immortal Unchained by Lynsay Sands


TWENTY-FIVE BOOKS!! I don’t think I have stuck with a series as long as I have this one. The Argeneau series is still going strong and still you’re able to read the book as a stand-alone. As enormous as this family is it is easy to lose track of whose who but in each book it is explained who the important people are each time from book to book it never feels redundant. (But then again I haven’t binge read these yet.) There is an overall story arc in the last couple of books, a mystery the Argeneau’s are trying to solve. This time they are closer than ever. Domitian knows the mad scientist that is behind the disappearances of the immortals and against Lucian’s wishes he accepts a job offer by the man. Unfortunately Lucian was right it was a trap and now Domitian is trapped on an island at the whim of the mad scientist and the experiment he’s being forced to endure. Well it is not really that much of a trial he is there with the one woman who is destined to be his life mate. 

Sarita knew one thing when she was growing up that she would be a police officer. The brutal death of her mother set her on a course of being a strong woman, physically and mentally. When she is contacted by her grandmother’s employer she rushes down to Venezuela and when she gets there she discovers that her grandmother’s employer lured her there as a trap for Domitian and now she trapped on a tiny island off the Venezuelan coast with the shocking knowledge that the world has vampire like immortals and she is a life mate, the one and only person who is a perfect match physically and mentally for Domitian. There is an unsettling reason behind this mad scientist experiment with Domitian and Sarita they don’t know why yet but they aren’t going to take it laying down. Sarita’s instinct as a police officer has her planning and plotting a way off the island, and Domitian protective instinct has him risking his life to protect his Sarita. 

Overall, this was a great addition to the Argeneau series. Love Domitian and Sarita. It’s a rollercoaster ride exciting and erotic. Domitian is so freakin’ sweet.       
**ARC provided by Publisher**

Purchase: | Amazon | Kindle | B&N | iTunes |


My Favorite Things Event with Robin Bielman


When not attached to her laptop, USA Today Bestselling Author Robin Bielman can almost always be found with her nose in a book. A California girl, the beach is her favorite place for fun and inspiration. Her fondness for swoon-worthy heroes who flirt and stumble upon the girl they can’t live without jumpstarts most of her story ideas.

She loves to frequent coffee shops, take hikes with her hubby, and play sock tug of war with her cute, but sometimes naughty, dog Harry. She dreams of traveling to faraway places and loves to connect with readers. To keep in touch sign up for her newsletter on her website at www.robinbielman.com

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ARC Review: Temptation by Rosemary Willhide


This is my first book by this author. She is a fairly new author and so I'm going to grade on somewhat of a curve. For a relatively new author, this was ok but there is certainly potential for better work in the future.

I liked the premise of the story. Jess is a reporter who wants to break into "serious" reporting. In order to do that, she needs to break a "serious" story. She gets it in her head to do a comparison between the BDSM depicted in romance novels and the real lifestyle. Enter Adam. Adam is like the King of Vegas. He owns a casino or two and also owns the newspaper that Jess works for. Oh, also, Adam likes to initiate brand new subs into the "lifestyle." He is the sub initiator. So when Adams friends and partners who run an upscale Vegas sex club with him spot a newbie, they hook her up with Adam. Jess gets the invite when she goes to an afternoon "munch"- like a BDSM lunch or whatever. She goes to meet up with Adam not realizing that is who she is meeting and that the guy is technically her boss. 

From this point on, I just had a hard time with the story line. It just wasn't....credible. I've read a lot of BDSM sex club books. In the spirit of full disclosure, I'll tell you I don't really know what is real and what isn't. I don't practice a BDSM lifestyle and I've never been to a sex club (besides like college dorms) so you can take my opinion with a grain of salt. All I know is of all the books I've read in this subgenre, this one just felt very unrealistic and forced. Adam didn't seem like any Dom I've read about and he didn't come across as the kind of Dom I want to see. As for Jess, I always have a problem with female characters who want to practice submission and then aren't submissive. I mean, you pretty much know what you're signing up for if you say you want to be a sub, you gotta sub. But Jess was one of those characters who struggled with her definitions. This was particularly weird to me because, hello, she was doing this all for a story. I would have thought she would have jumped into the lifestyle with 2 feet so that her story would be authentic but nope. I just didn't care for the individual style of Adam or Jess and so I didn't really like them together as a couple.

The author adds a mystery sub-plot to keep things interesting. That is a good plan but the execution wasn't all that great in this book. The "mystery" is pretty easy to figure out and so that makes it seem like a throw in. And then the ending of the book is really rushed. It's like the author hit her page limit and had to wrap things up really fast. Despite my issues with this specific book, I would not have read it to the end if the author did not have some skill. I absolutely think she is worth looking out for in the future.

**ARC provided by Give Me Books**

Purchase: | Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo |


Friday, April 7, 2017

ARC Review: Torn by Sky Corgan


I want you to listen to me very carefully because you should not be confused by my rating of this book. This book is one that I may never forget. The writing was excellent and the characters were riveting. But when I tell you this shit was like a 8 car pile up on the freeway with body parts littered about and people crying on the side of the road, believe me.

Holden is the absolute worst leading male character I have ever read in my entire life. I can't tell you how many times I screamed 'OMG what a asshole' while reading about Holden. If Holden has redeeming qualities, I couldn't tell. At all. Holden is spoiled, irrational, heartless, selfish...insert whatever other word you can think of that means giant baby monster and you're on the right track. Holden is not just mean, he is cruel. But he's not cruel like a sadist Dom. No. He's cruel like a diabolical school yard bully and that shit is completely unattractive. When Holden has an opportunity to improve, he does the exact opposite. And the worst part about Holden is that he takes absolutely no responsibility for his horrific behavior. There are several pages in this book just devoted to Holden explaining how he did the worst thing ever (which he did at least 3 or 4 times) but it was someone else's fault for making him do it. 

You know who is the second worst leading character I've ever read? Piper. How these two repugnant characters fit in one book was hard to even fathom. The only reason Piper comes in second to Holden is because there were very brief glimmers in this book where Piper was a human capable of love and empathy and not the selfish rancid bitch that she was during the majority of this book. When the book begins Piper has had to move back home to take care of her two step brothers because her Mother and Stepfather died. The boys are 11 and 15, so they're kids. And Piper is a fully grown adult but she hates the boys for shit from when they were babies. And by babies, I mean she is holding their infant and toddler years against them. As a result of that, she is awful to these children. She doesn't even feed them sometimes and she says, in her internal monologue, they can fend for themselves or she hopes the 15 year old will take care of the 11 year old. She leaves them alone all the time either on made up missions to get her out of the house or so she can go to the local BDSM club to bang strangers. I have no problem with the banging of strangers but leaving kids at home alone or letting them have other kids over unattended, just WHAT the hell?

And then these two independently awful characters hook up with one another and it's an absolute shit show. Two people this selfish should never be together. Of course, Holden treats Piper like something he stepped in and can't get off his shoe and Piper keeps coming back for more. And you know what? I absolutely did not care, both of these two deserved each other and deserved all the horrible things they did to one another. 

The only reason I kept reading this book when I was utterly disgusted was because I expected the author to somehow redeem these two miscreants.  I thought they were going to have some kind of epiphany and I was waiting to see how things would turn around. It doesn't ever happen. While there might be glimmers of hope for Piper, you never see a better Holden and we never get to see these characters be better together. The book does a time leap at the end and the author tells us that Holden and Piper get better and love each other but we just have to take the authors word for it because it never comes across.

I'm giving this book two stars for writing and for getting me to finish a book about two people that I sincerely hated. I would have been perfectly fine if these two butt holes had not wound up together. The only decent characters in this book are the family members of Piper and Holden who deserve far better than relatives like Piper and Holden.

**ARC provided by Give Me Books**

Purchase: | Amazon |


My Favorite Things Event with Jennifer Blackwood


Jennifer Blackwood is a USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance. She lives in Oregon with her husband, son, and poorly behaved black lab puppy. When not chasing after her toddler, you can find her binging on episodes of Gilmore Girls and Supernatural, and locking herself in her office to write.

Thursday, April 6, 2017

My Favorite Things Event with Samantha Young


Samantha Young is the New York Times,  USA Today  and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of adult contemporary romances, including the On Dublin Street series and Hero, as well as the New Adult duology Into the Deep and Out of the Shallows.  Every Little Thing, the second book in her new Hart’s Boardwalk series, will be published by Berkley in March 2017. Before turning to contemporary fiction, she wrote several young adult paranormal and fantasy series, including the amazon bestselling Tale of Lunarmorte trilogy. Samantha’s debut YA contemporary novel The Impossible Vastness of Us will be published by Harlequin TEEN in ebook & hardback June 2017

Samantha has been nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award 2012 for Best Author and Best Romance for On Dublin Street, Best Romance 2014 for Before Jamaica Lane, and Best Romance 2015 for Hero. On Dublin Street, a #1 bestseller in Germany, was the Bronze Award Winner in the LeserPreis German Readers Choice Awards for Best Romance 2013, Before Jamaica Lane the Gold Medal Winner for the LeserPreis German Readers Choice Awards for Best Romance 2014 and Echoes of Scotland Street the Bronze Medal Winner for the LeserPreis German Readers Choice Awards for Best Romance 2015.

Samantha is currently published in 30 countries and is a #1 international bestselling author.

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Wednesday, April 5, 2017

My Favorite Things Event with Samanthe Beck


USA Today bestselling author Samanthe Beck lives in Malibu, California, with her long-suffering husband, their turbo-son, and a furry ninja named Kitty.

When not dreaming up fun, fan-your-cheeks sexy ways to get her characters to happily-ever-after, she searches for the perfect cabernet to pair with Ambien.

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

ARC Review: Fighting Attraction by Sarah Castille


I really like Sarah Castille so I was looking forward to this book. The erotic content is good but I must admit, I didn't love the story.

This is the fourth book in the Redemption MMA series. It is my first time reading a book in the series but you don't need to read the other books. If you are looking for a place to start this series, you can start wherever you want. This is Penny and Jackson's (Renegade) story. Penny and Jacks have been friends via their mutual enjoyment of the Redemption gym where Jackson trains for quite a while. Jackson has recently gone pro and is now somewhat of a celebrity. Penny is a refugee from a life of misery at the hands of her father. As a way of dealing with her pain, Penny has developed some really questionable coping mechanisms. Penny is a sweet thing in sweaters and kitten heels on the outside. On the inside, she's a huge damn mess who is really a bunch of broken pieces.

Penny discovers that Jackson, the nice guy who everyone loves at the gym, is hiding his own dark side. Jackson is "Master Jack" for a famous sex club. Penny works for a law firm that represents a client that is trying to get the club shut down. When Penny visits the club to serve legal documents, the course of her life is drastically altered. Penny discovers there may be another way to deal with the demons she has been facing on her own. What Penny is not prepared for is that her masochism is related to sexual pleasure. When she discovers that about herself, it freaks her out. When she discovers it with Jacks, her relationship with him is strained as she tries to run away from her own self. On the other side of the equation, Jacks was raised as a Southern gentlemen. He is completely horrified by his desire to hurt women but it's there. Jacks has not fully accepted that what he wants his normal and he doesn't want to subject Penny to it no matter how much she might enjoy it.

Penny and Jacks are flip sides of the same coin. Neither one of them can accept the truth about their self so it causes them to push the other one away. My problem is how confused things became. Jacks is over the top in his intensity about Penny. When any other guy even glances her way, Jacks flies into a crazy rage. On the other hand, when he has an opportunity to declare to Penny that he wants her, he goes running in the opposite direction. As for Penny, she is just really emotionally unstable. The way Penny's past comes back to haunt her and she fixates on not being good enough was sad but also exhausting. Penny just really need a big gulp of self confidence. I did like Penny and Jacks together but I wish they could have gotten there with just slightly less angst.  I also didn't really care for the use of supporting characters in this book. I thought there was too much information about other characters and it got a bit distracting at times.

All in all, this was not my favorite book by this author. It delivers some really great sex scenes and some intense emotion but parts of it felt tedious.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

Purchase: | Amazon | Kindle | B&N | iTunes |


ARC Review: Hard Ball by Heather Stone


Hard Ball is my first book by Heather Stone, and it was an enjoyable read. This one was quick and sweet, and I think a lot of readers will enjoy this one. While I did like this one, there were a few issues here for me. But I am interested in reading more from Heather Stone after reading Hard Ball.

Cole is used to living the dream, getting to play the game he loves for a living and getting the girls that go along with that. But when he gets hurt, his best friend Mackenzie goes to stay with him to help him recover. Kenzie knows exactly how Cole is, though she has always been there for him no matter what. But now that they are around each other more, they suddenly start to see each other in a completely new way.

I liked these two a lot. I felt their connection was real and genuine, and ran deep. They also had great chemistry and were super sexy together. I liked that they were sweet as well, and I just really felt like these two fit well together. 

Being a novella though, this one was short and there wasn't a lot of angst or conflict here and I with there would have been a bit more depth to the story overall. I also thought that the pacing was a bit off at times, with things feeling rushed and a bit instant. I do think that Heather Stone is an author worth taking a chance on though, and I would read more from her in the future.

**ARC Provided by Give Me Books**

Purchase: | Amazon






My Favorite Things Event with Christina Lauren


Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of long-time writing partners Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, the bestselling authors of the Beautiful Bastard and Wild Seasons series, Sublime and The House. Dating You/Hating You will be released in June. 

Monday, April 3, 2017

ARC Review: Royally Bad by Nora Flite


I'm not sure what went wrong with this book but something definitely did not work. Sammy is a dress designer who gets sucked into some danger plot involving the "Badd" family. Sammy goes from making the wedding dress for the Badd Princess (or whatever), to coordinating a rehearsal dinner and being a maid of honor in the Badd family wedding. And oh, at some point between saving this entire wedding for a total stranger and her client, Sammy finds time to screw Kain Badd, one of the Badd princes. Oh, did I not make clear that somehow the Badd family is royalty? You want to know why I didn't make that clear? Because it is totally not clear in this book it's just kind of thrown in there.

That's another problem I have with this book, I didn't at all feel like I was a part of the story and I didn't have a good grasp of what was happening in the book. Like, I didn't really get what it was the Badd's did. I hated that the name of their enemy was "deep shots." No seriously, there was some rival gang that went by the name "deep shots." Deep shots sounds like something that belongs in a BDSM romance novel, not the name of a rival gang. And another thing, don't royal families have rival families or kingdoms or whatever. Why was there a rival gang? I seriously don't get it.

And while the mysterious world of the Badds was hard for me to understand or accept, what was worse was Kain and Sammy's....relationship. I'm not sure what to call it or how it came about. I know the two were attracted to one another but I have no idea how they got from their mutual attraction to the crazy obsessive feelings that had Kain causing problems with his family and threatening to kill people over Sammy. I just didn't feel any connection between Sammy and Kain. Nowhere in the whole book was the relationship between Sammy and Kain really developed in a way that made it make sense. As a result of that, I felt generally disconnected from everything that happened in the book. I didn't really care about Sammy and Kaine because I didn't really know them or their relationship. I also didn't understand how Sammy was taking care of her Mother while getting sucked into all the Badd family drama. 

I really tried to get into this book because I felt like I should like it. It had action. Kain was bossy and alpha. Sammy had a sense of humor and could stand up for herself. Usually if you put all those pieces together and throw in some hot sex, you've got my heart. The problem for me is that there was nothing that gelled all these pieces together in a way that made me like this book or even care about it. I just didn't find it to be very entertaining.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

Purchase: | Amazon | B&N |


ARC Review: The Best Man by Barbie Bohrman


The Best Man is the first book I have ever read from Barbie Bohrman, but I can't wait to read more from her! This book was really good and I genuinely enjoyed reading it from start to finish. This is the first book in her Allen Brothers series, and I am so looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Finding herself single after her longer overdue divorce, Veronica is content to spend her nights in watching home shows. But when her friend cancels a night out, she finds herself going out anyways and running into Trevor, the best man from her wedding. Trevor has always been one that shies away from commitment, preferring to keep his conquests to sex only. But when he sees Veronica he immediately knows that he wants to get to know her again even if that means being stuck as friends when he would love to get her in his bed. As they get to know one another their feelings start to grow, but the past could ruin their chances before they ever get started. 

I will admit that I was a bit worried when I started this book. We get multiple POVs here and I was concerned at first that I wouldn't be able to like Trevor because of how he was at the beginning of this story. Luckily though, we got to know him better and things quickly turned around. He was so much more than his first impression and I liked him a lot. He was great with Veronica and I loved how their relationship formed here. Veronica was easy to like and relate to, she was smart and sweet and great for Trevor. These two just fit well together and had a genuine connection beyond just the chemistry that was between them.

Overall, this was a great story and I enjoyed it a lot. This is definitely one that I would recommend, especially to those that enjoy contemporary romance. Barbie Bohrman was a new to me author before this book, but I am looking forward to reading more from her, especially reading more of this series.

**ARC Provided by Inkslinger PR**

Purchase: | Amazon | Kindle | B&N | iTunes |