Category: Book Review

Taking Her in Hand


Taking Her in Hand
by Marlee Wray







This is an author who is a little bit hit-or-miss for me.  Taking Her in Hand was definitely a huge hit, in fact there wasn’t really anything in it I could criticise. OK there is one thing – but it is very minor! The story starts about half-way through the blurb, we first meet Laci after the party that proves too much for the kink/BDSM/DD gated community she lives in.

I can predict some readers may have issues with Laci, what I see as dealing with loss, feeling alone and maybe just a bit of burying her head in the sand, others might interpret as childishness and even whiny behaviour. For me the author created a backstory for this character that totally explained the where and why of how Laci was. And she grows so much through this story, not just maturing but also getting stronger.

Eric could have come across as sleazy, but I was so drawn in by his passion for Laci. His desire not just for her but for her well-being sold me on him being a worth-my-time hero. Yes he didn’t always have the best words or actions to help Laci over her grief but that only made him feel a perfectly imperfect human. What I really liked was how the author allowed Laci to make decisions on her own. Too often in D/s books I find that the woman isn’t allowed a brain, the Dom is written as knowing what the heroine thinks/needs/knows better than she does. Oh my word does that bit of unreality annoy the heck out of me.

Now Laci’s slow progress to accepting her new feelings does lead to what some might consider OW drama, though it only touches the very edges. Kudos to the author for flipping overused cliches in how Eric felt and his actions over the situation. The slow progress doesn’t mean we don’t get plenty of heat and sexy times, some of which involves our couple (without intercourse) and some involves other couples in the community.

Whilst the setting is clearly kink/ Ds based, there isn’t a great deal of BDSM type play, though there is one very hot medical play scene towards the end. It has just enough for those who enjoy the kink but not so much that those unsure would be turned off.

This is a nice, steamy, NSFW kinky read.










Laci had just aged out of foster care and was jobless and sleeping on friends’ couches when she met Colin. He gave her the loving attention and firm-handed discipline she needed, and soon they were married and living happily in Haywood Hills, a community of likeminded people where a man spanking his wife when she is naughty is nothing out of the ordinary.

Then Colin died of a sudden, tragic illness, and Laci has been lost ever since. After a year of increasingly irresponsible behavior on her part, things finally come to a head. When Laci invites outsiders into Haywood Hills and her recklessness puts everyone at risk, she is given a choice. She can accept the guidance and correction she clearly requires or leave the community.

The man tasked with taking her in hand is Eric Renard, a close friend of Colin’s whom Laci has always considered too stern. When Laci reluctantly agrees to the community’s demands, she quickly finds herself over her handsome new guardian’s knee for a painful, embarrassing bare-bottom spanking in front of a room full of witnesses. Eric makes it clear that he will not put up with Laci’s sharp tongue and defiant attitude, and over the coming weeks his intimate, shameful punishments leave her with blushing cheeks and a burning backside on more than one occasion.

Eric’s bold dominance rekindles Laci’s passion in a way she thought nothing ever could, and part of her cannot help yearning for him to claim her properly, but is she truly ready to put aside the past and make a place in her heart for him?

Publisher’s Note: Taking Her in Hand includes spankings and sexual scenes. If such material offends you, please don’t buy this book.



Ratings
5 stars – This is a book I will not forget and would definitely read again.
4 stars – I really enjoyed this book, I might not read it again but I would definitely recommend it to others.
3 stars – This story was good but either forgettable or just very typical of its genre.
2 stars – Whilst the book was readable I either didn’t enjoy parts of the plot or just could not connect to the main characters.
1 star – This is a book I simply could not finish for reasons listed in the review.

Fighting For This

Fighting for This: The Last Resort Motel
by Gwyn McNamee







There is just something very special about Aurora and Max. Their story is compelling and perfect to snuggle up with on a dreary Sunday afternoon when you need a delightful pick-me-up read.

The story is very much set in the present, so whilst I knew who they were as people now (and what wonderful characters they are), I had very little idea of what had shaped their lives. However it’s a novella, so I can’t expect that type of depth when there is also a ‘suspense’ sub-plot.

I’m not normally a fan of insta-love, and technically this isn’t that, since the ‘L’ word isn’t bandied about. In fact Max is very clear on them focusing on the here and now, rather than the long term. But they do make some life altering plans and their mutual connection, passion and attraction was so incredibly well portrayed that I would have been fine HAD they declared they undying love for one another.

So in summary this is a great read, sexy, fun and with a hint of danger.











The desert’s secrets are beautiful…and deadly.


AURORA
Max Lawson doesn’t belong here.
The California surf boy has no business being up Spruce Mountain or anywhere near The Last Resort Motel.
There can only be one reason he’s hanging around—to search one of the old mines in hopes of striking it rich.
And as soon as he’s done, he’ll be gone fast enough to make my head spin.
But Max brings more than just a danger to my heart.

MAX
Aurora Clayton is the last thing I expect to find at The Last Resort Motel.
What in the world is a girl like this doing in the middle of nowhere, Nevada?
Search the land I inherited and get back to California—that’s the plan.
I never expected to find something here even more precious than silver.
But someone else is after what’s down that mine shaft.
And I’ll do everything in my power to protect what I’ve found, including Aurora.


***Fighting for This previously appeared in The Last Resort Motel shared world as Room One***











Amazon US – https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B083PWLP46/
Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B083PWLP46/
Amazon CA – https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B083PWLP46/
Amazon AU – https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B083PWLP46/


Ratings
5 stars – This is a book I will not forget and would definitely read again.
4 stars – I really enjoyed this book, I might not read it again but I would definitely recommend it to others.
3 stars – This story was good but either forgettable or just very typical of its genre.
2 stars – Whilst the book was readable I either didn’t enjoy parts of the plot or just could not connect to the main characters.
1 star – This is a book I simply could not finish for reasons listed in the review.

BIG SKY

BIG SKY by Kitty Thomas

This is a book that has been around for a little while, and when you read reviews you soon find out it’s a marmite book. It divides readers firmly into love it or hate it camps, which to me is a sign of great writing. A lot of the haters can’t accept the ending, many of them find the kink/darkness goes a step too far, others mentioned it was the ‘x‘ Kitty Thomas book they had read and hated. I do have to question why people continue to read an author they don’t ‘get’. Is it just so they can leave scathing reviews of a genre (dark capture fantasy) that they clearly disagree with?

I bought my copy a while ago, as part of a box set, The Capture Fantasy Collection. A Goodreads friend recommended it to me back in October last year. I had every intention of reading it then, but an over commitment to arc reading soon put paid to those plans! I’ve since stepped back from the majority of my arc teams, remaining on those where the authors only release a couple of books a year or where I love their work so much I need it asap.

One of those authors is Kitty Thomas, and it was reading The Escape Artist that triggered a need in me for more of her work. So I dug out the book that had languished untouched on my kindle for far too long, and jumped in.









Is this a romance? I’m not sure it is, and that ending…. my word I can’t remember the last time I felt that sad at how a story finished. Yet I loved the story, I devoured it in the same way Luke and the guys devour Ronnie’s milk. I gulped it down greedily and quite simply couldn’t get enough.

I’ll be honest, I read spoilers for this book and you know what? I’m glad I did. Forewarned is forearmed and all that jazz (and jizz). I knew this wasn’t going to be a ‘traditional’ happy ever after ending, and as I’ve already said it did feel sad. But it was that happy sad that only truly brilliant writing can elicit in you. Was Ronnie a victim of Stockholm Syndrome? Did it matter? At the end of the day, and the book, she might not have had everything her heart desired, but she was happier than she had ever been in her ‘before Luke’ life.


Was Luke crazy? I’m still on the fence with that one. Grief can make people do the strangest things. If Ronnie had hated the kink would he have pushed her the way he did? Who knows, that wasn’t the story that was written, and it’s fiction at the end of the day (even if it didn’t really feel that way when I was reading it.) There were times I wanted to hit the man, his actions were frequently indefensible, yet if Ronnie loved them were they truly wrong? And there we have just why I love this author’s writing. She takes such wrong storylines and weaves them into something that has you questioning your own morals and sanity.

I even questioned Ronnie’s sanity on several occasions, yet even as one half of my mind yelled at her to resist, to fight, to refuse, the other half pointed out that she was a girl with severely limited options.

To truly enjoy the story you do have to allow some flexibility on ‘reality’. Whilst I totally bought that looney Luke might take a vulnerable woman who reminded him of his dead wife, the complicity of the three ranch hands seemed to be pushing it slightly. But then they all had a ‘reward’ in keeping schtum, not forgetting that they had helped Luke keep other secrets that could get them all in trouble. So in the end I found that I could let it pass.

The book involves the sharing of Ronnie and hucow kink, if either of those is a hard limit for you then you will need to take a pass on this one. However Kitty Thomas knows how to write kink, even dark and depraved dub-con kink, in a smoking hot, can only read one-handed😉 manner, so if you’re on the fence get down and get kinky!

Oh and yes, I do recommend this one.







Veronica Cason lives in a small apartment with no clear view of the sky. It’s uncertain which might crush her first: her debt or the buildings squeezed in so tight that they surround her like ominous sentinels. She can’t breathe in the city. Her success is a lie, and her debt is coming to collect her — unless someone else gets there first.

When a stranger offers her a job at a ranch, it feels like salvation, but it could also mean her death if his motives aren’t pure. Which door has the tiger behind it? The claustrophobia of the city or ranch life under an open sky?







AMAZON US – https://www.amazon.com/Big-Sky-Kitty-Thomas-ebook/dp/B009KT2NUC/
AMAZON UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Big-Sky-Kitty-Thomas-ebook/dp/B009KT2NUC/
AMAZON CA – https://www.amazon.ca/Big-Sky-Kitty-Thomas-ebook/dp/B009KT2NUC/
AMAZON AU – https://www.amazon.com.au/d/ebook/Big-Sky-Kitty-Thomas-ebook/B009KT2NUC/

B&N – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/big-sky-kitty-thomas/1112623129?ean=9781938639050

iBOOKS – https://books.apple.com/us/book/big-sky/id1227840416

GOOGLEPLAY – https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Kitty_Thomas_Big_Sky?id=0AmMBAAAQBAJ

KOBO – https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/big-sky

SMASHWORDS – https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/241397

BOOK DEPOSITORY – https://www.bookdepository.com/Big-Sky-Kitty-Thomas/9781938639050


Ratings
5 stars – This is a book I will not forget and would definitely read again.
4 stars – I really enjoyed this book, I might not read it again but I would definitely recommend it to others.
3 stars – This story was good but either forgettable or just very typical of its genre.
2 stars – Whilst the book was readable I either didn’t enjoy parts of the plot or just could not connect to the main characters.
1 star – This is a book I simply could not finish for reasons listed in the review.

The Escape Artist by Kitty Thomas





The Escape Artist by Kitty Thomas


Publication date: January 14th 2020
Genres: Erotica, Romance


Synopsis:

Claire was held captive for 43 days by a man who did unspeakable things to her.

Three years after her escape, she gets her revenge. The only problem is, she’s got the wrong man.

God help her if he escapes.


Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49240279-the-escape-artist








I absolutely loved this book.


From the first line to the last, The Escape Artist held me captive, just as Claire and Ari were held captive by one another. Kitty Thomas has crafted yet another amazing masterpiece of a story, one where she takes all the elements of wrongness and twists them into something that is so very right. This story is by parts emotionally charged, depraved, incredibly hot, fantastically written and populated with great characters.

This was wrong in every way a thing could be wrong. But he hadn’t been able to leave her alone in a world she could no longer navigate, and he wasn’t nobel enough to pass up this opportunity or just keep her as his indefinite platonic house guest.


The relationship between Claire and Ari is consensual at the same time as it isn’t, with the author somehow skating a fine line between the two. Just as I decided it was one thing, the tables turned and it became the other. Even more amazingly, Ms Thomas manages to take a relationship based on everything wrong and turn it into something perfect.

Ari was a good man until life gave him an opportunity to be otherwise, and yet that wrongness was the perfect thing to save Claire. Despite how morally dubious his actions were I adored him, and it was always clear that Claire’s wellbeing was his top priority. Theirs may not have been the most conventional of relationships, erroneous in just about every way possible, but it was exactly the relationship both of them needed.

The author has taken the possibly overused “captive” trope and shaken it up, producing a story that feels fresh and new. This is one red hot NSFW read, pushing buttons and boundaries in the most delightful of manners. I totally loved every single thought, word and action in the book, I simply can’t sing its praises loudly enough. In fact it’s left me with a deep need to read more of her work.

He’d felt how badly she needed someone to take control of her, her shattered life, everything. Someone who wouldn’t truly hurt her. But she could never ask for such a thing. And she could never feel safe if it were offered. Because she didn’t know who to trust.



Purchase:
Amazon: https://books2read.com/u/bx8g6k?store=amazon
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-escape-artist-kitty-thomas/1133948925
iBooks: https://books.apple.com/ca/book/the-escape-artist/id1482334518?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo=4
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/the-escape-artist-29
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=rpazDwAAQBAJ


AUTHOR BIO:

KITTY THOMAS writes dark stories that play with power and have unconventional HEAs. She began publishing in early 2010 with her bestselling COMFORT FOOD and is considered one of the original authors of the dark romance subgenre.

To find out FIRST when a new book comes out, subscribe to Kitty’s New Release List:  KITTYTHOMAS.COM


Author links:
https://kittythomas.com/
https://twitter.com/kitty_thomas
https://bookandmainbites.com/KittyThomas
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2654606.Kitty_Thomas


a Rafflecopter giveaway https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js


(c) Copyright 2020, Kitty Thomas. All rights reserved. Excerpt used with permission.

TEASER SCENE 1:

Claire pushed the memories away, gripping the leather arm rests, willing her heartbeat and breathing to calm. That was him. She had him in a cell. That was the guy. He had a scar where she’d cut him. How could he lie to her with such a straight face when they both knew he had that scar and how he’d gotten it?

Because he’s a sociopath, Claire. He isn’t like normal people.

She couldn’t let herself forget that—what he was. She couldn’t let herself be tricked by the beautiful monster into setting him free and losing her own life. She got up and went to the kitchen, taking another bottle of beer from the fridge. This one she drank all the way down until a light pleasant buzz of calm skated across her skin. She took a long, steadying breath and grabbed the broom and dustbin.

When she returned to the cell, at least the arrogance had left his face. Maybe he was starting to understand his situation, that the tables had turned and he was now at her mercy. Let him lie about things, as long as she could wipe the smug smile off his face.

She silently swept up the shards of the beer bottle. The last thing she needed was for him to have a weapon. That had been his mistake with her after all.

“You can still let me go,” he said. His voice was so gentle and soothing. Calm and reasonable. 

He’d never spoken to her like that in the basement. Of course not, he’d had the power then. He has to placate you now.

Claire just laughed. “Right. I’m going to let you go so you can hurt me again. Am I supposed to believe you’re reformed? After me, you stopped torturing and killing women? You realized the error of your ways?”

“What’s your name?” he asked, changing tactics. “My name…”

“Shut UP! If you speak your name I’ll kill you. I swear to fuck I will. I NEVER want to hear your fucking name. EVER. Don’t you try to humanize yourself. You’re a fucking monster, and you know it!”

“I’m sorry,” he said quickly, holding his hands up in surrender.

No he wasn’t, he was placating her.

“What’s your name, then?” he said, trying again.

“You know my fucking name. You used to hiss it in my ear while you were…” she trailed off, unable to say the words. She turned away from him and took a deep breath, quickly wiping the tears that threatened to spill over. She was not going to cry in front of him anymore. She’d cried all the tears for him she would cry.

She had the power now. Not him. NOT him. But she was shaking. She could feel the light tremors in her arms. He must be able to see them. He was the one chained up, and he was going to break her again.

Never.

“It’s okay if you don’t have it in you to hurt me. I don’t think you’re that kind of person,” he said gently.

“Just shut the fuck up!” she screamed. “I should starve you, just like you starved me for the tiniest act of defiance.” She turned back to finish sweeping the stray shards into the dustpan.

“Look at me,” he said.

It was a fucking command. He thought he could order her around when he was the prisoner? But she turned and looked at him.

“I would never starve you. Ever,” he said, holding her gaze in his.

He’d already starved her, and they both knew it. These head games… she had to regroup her strategy or he was going to get inside her head and mess with it. If she lost her nerve… if he got free again, he’d kill her this time. She was already in too deep. She had to get her shit together and finish this. It was the only choice.





TEASER SCENE 3:

“I thought you’d never wake up,” she said. “I worried I gave you too much. Wouldn’t that be a tragedy?”

But they both knew she wasn’t worried. Though it did cause Ari to worry because while there had been moments when he thought she might not have it in her to kill him—even though she had to know the price of not following through—now there was the new concern. She might accidentally kill him. She could give him too much of whatever drug she was dosing him with. One of these times when she was feeding him or injecting him with whatever, he could just… never wake up.

It sent a cold wave of anger running through him that she played with his life this way. He wasn’t her enemy, but she seemed dead set on turning him into one.

“I know you can’t control your smart mouth, and I don’t want to talk about last night,” she said, explaining the tape.

He nodded and remained silent. He knew the pointlessness of trying to speak behind the tape. Ari was beginning to feel more helpless than he’d yet felt while under her control. He couldn’t even talk to her. Or try to reach her. And he wanted to. He had no idea what he’d say after last night, but he needed to talk to this girl.

The previous night he could have forgiven her for what she’d done to him. Those helpless agonized screams would be seared into his own nightmares for a good long time. But now? With the way she was looking at him and whatever she might be about to do to punish him for hearing? He wasn’t so sure.

Ari flinched when her fingertips skimmed over the scar on his chest again. What he wouldn’t give to know what she thought that scar meant.

Her gaze panned over his naked body, and she flinched. Oh shit. Yeah, he still couldn’t control his body’s reaction to her. Damaged or not, she was exactly his type. She was everything he’d wished Holly had been. That sweet and fragile look just did it for him. Except that despite her fragile exterior and how she hung to the edge of sanity by a thread, this girl could fuck his shit up beyond recovery. He knew that now. It was probably better she’d used the tape. He needed to buy himself enough time to figure out the drugging pattern. And after last night she was far too volatile to risk any of the million wrong things he could say right now.

Both times she’d drugged him, it had been in the beef stew. Probably covering up the taste of the drugs. So then the other foods shouldn’t be drugged. Though she wasn’t a stupid woman. She’d no doubt send him some decoy stew so he could never be one hundred percent sure which meals were drugged and which meals weren’t.

His eyes widened as a hard slap connected with his face. His gaze flew to hers. He thought she’d smacked him because he’d zoned out, but the next words out of her mouth proved otherwise.

“You sick piece of shit. You can have a hard on until the end of time but you will NEVER touch me again, do you understand?”

He nodded quickly. It wasn’t as though he could help his physical reaction to her. She was so goddamned gorgeous. There was no part of Ari that liked being dominated. It wasn’t her act of being in control that affected him. It was the tragic vulnerability that threatened to escape out from under her mask of calm, cold retribution.

The mask had already slipped when she’d whipped him and fallen into sobbing fits on the floor. Some absolutely insane part of him had wanted to comfort her in that moment. Both of them were playing games they were ill-equipped to handle.

He didn’t do well without the control. His smartass remarks were a way to deflect from the very real distress over not being the one with the power. He didn’t even like the minor defiance of a brat sub, let alone being in a position like this. They were in the wrong roles here. She should be on her knees at his feet, and he should be the one holding the whip.

She paced back and forth across the cell, watching him carefully. Finally she snapped her fingers in front of his face to get his attention—as if there was anything else in this room he could give his attention to. She was in too deep. They both knew it. She was breaking apart at the seams even as she broke his skin with her whip. He needed control of her. And he needed it soon. Before this went too far. 

In one swift movement, she ripped the tape off his mouth.

“Owww, motherfuck!” he growled.

“I changed my mind. We should talk,” she said. “Does it give you a thrill to know you can get into my head in my dreams? I bet you just love that I’m still fucking running from you even when I’ve got you helpless and at my mercy. Do you like that? Is that why you’re so hard?”

Ari sighed. “I’m not him. I’m not the man from your nightmares.”

Those calm words earned him another hard slap across the face.

“Stop. Fucking. Lying to me! We both know the truth. You have the scar. You look the same. You’re HIM!”

She began to pace back and forth, her eyes wild.

“I don’t know what you want me to say. You’re not going to believe it anyway so what’s the point?” Ari said. She might become even more erratic if she knew how he’d gotten the scar. And if he made up any other lie he was sure she’d read it on his face. It was both risky and pointless.

She gripped his throat and held him against the wall. Even chained he could probably buck her off him, but if she got injured with him confined like this it wouldn’t help anything. And despite how crazy he knew it was, he didn’t want to hurt her. He wanted to take her out of here and fix this.

He just had to figure out a way to escape her inescapable fortress cell. 

She squeezed harder against his throat. He would no doubt have a bruise if she didn’t just kill him. He wished he knew her name. He needed something to call her. How could you reach and reason with a person if you didn’t even know their name? He was sure she wouldn’t respond favorably to any of his standard pet names. Calling her Doll might get him castrated.

Finally she released him and went back to pacing.

“I think this is hurting you more than me,” Ari said, knowing even as he said it, that it was probably the wrong thing to say.

She laughed. It was a bitter sound that bounced eerily off the walls of the cell. “Right. So… me letting you go… that’s for my benefit. You are an evil fucking piece of work.”

He captured and held her gaze in his. “Yes. I think letting me go is for your benefit. It will destroy you if you take a life. You and I both know it. You don’t have it in you. You don’t have to do this. I won’t go to the police. I’m not going to hurt you. I know it might seem that way, but I’m not him. Do I act the same way?”

“You’re the one in the chains! Of course you don’t act the same way. You have to act reasonable. You have to trick me! You think I’m dumb enough to let you trick me into my own grave?”

Ari took a slow calming breath and tried again. “If I was the type of man who would have done unspeakable things to you, do you really believe I’d still be calm right now? Wouldn’t I be yelling and threatening you?”

“You DID threaten me, the first day!”

Ari shook his head. “That was before…”

“When you thought you’d been taken by a man? Am I supposed to be charmed by the patronizing sexism?”

“Tell me your name,” Ari tried again.

“Fuck you!”

“Is that the way it’s printed on your birth certificate?”

She pulled another piece of duct tape off the roll and slapped the tape over his mouth. “We’re done talking. You’re not getting inside my head. It’s bad enough you can still do it while I’m sleeping. You will never be in control while I’m conscious.”

Ari raised a brow. Wanna bet? 


X-CLAN SERIES BOOK #1

Andorra Sector: A Shifter Omegaverse Romance

(X-Clan Series Book 1) / Zombie Year 2099

by Lexi C. Foss 

5+ Stars


Oh my word Lexi C. Foss can sure write good books!

For some reason Andorra Sector felt much more akin to an omegaverse romance than it did a shifter-based paranormal one. And I loved that it did. In fact I found myself frequently comparing it to many of my favourite omegaverse stories and finding it held it’s own against them. It’s not as dark as either the Alpha’s Claim series or the Omega’s Destruction series, but it definitely had it’s moments. Particularly in emotional/psychological aspects.

The only criticism I have is that I would have liked a little more world building. What there is was great (as I’m used to with this author), but I just needed it to be a little more defined, a little more delineated. Now this is part of a multi-author series, so it might well be that she was constrained in how much the setting/world could be developed. What I did find was that I relied on my familiarity with shifters and omegaverse type dynamics – or my assumptions – to fill in some gaps.

Anders and Katriana are very much the focal point of this tale. We don’t get to see much other than them, mainly in their apartment, either together or alone, but that was fine because they are strong enough characters to carry this story. Indeed they are an amazing couple, filled with their raw and powerful chemistry, consumed by their clashing of wills and wants and hobbled by the whole slew of misunderstandings littering their path.

I was drawn into this book within the first few pages, subsumed by the powerful story unfolding before me, consumed by the emotions and passions portrayed so well. I made the mistake of thinking I could just read the first few chapters and then put it down. It was well gone midnight, and knowing that my alarm was set for just after 6am, when I had to admit that I needed some sleep, so finally put it down. Needless to say I picked it back up and finished the story at the earliest opportunity.

I hugely recommend this and can’t wait for the other stories planned for this world.












Katriana Cardona
 
My life ended the moment the X-Clan found me.
 
Bitten.
Turned.
And claimed by him.
 
My genetic markers label me as a rare Omega. But inside, I’m all female alpha. And I will not heel. Not even to the Alpha of Andorra Sector.
 
Ander Cain promises me protection.
A new world of pleasure and pain.
But he wants all of me in return.
Even if it means taking me by force.
 
I’ll be damned if I give up my inner fight. I spent the last twenty-one years battling the walking dead. These wolves won’t know what hit them when I’m through.
 
Ander Cain
 
My life began the moment I found her, my darling little mate. She’s the force of nature Andorra Sector needs to give us hope for a future. A reason to keep going and to protect our lands from the zombie infestation beyond.
 
Yet she refuses to play by our rules.
 
Born in a time where humans will do anything to survive, she’s not used to the pack hierarchy or the laws our kind abides by. Oh, but she’ll learn. And I’ll thoroughly enjoy being the one to train her.
 
Katriana Cardona can fight me all she wants, but in the end, she will be mine. Whether she submits or not.
 
Note: This is a standalone shifter romance with omegaverse and dystopian elements. There will be three main novels in the X-Clan series, all featuring different couples. Novellas may appear in between about side characters as well.




Amazon US – https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B081GB5R7Y/
Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B081GB5R7Y/
Amazon CA – https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B081GB5R7Y/
Amazon Au – https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B081GB5R7Y/

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48910179-andorra-sector
Bookbub – https://www.bookbub.com/books/andorra-sector-by-lexi-c-foss?bookstory=3958172




SIN & SPIRIT

SIN & SPIRIT
(Demigods of San Francisco #4)
by KF BREENE



Sometimes you just don’t know whether you want to hug an author or punch them!

Not only does K.F. Breene crow bar a humongous amount of plot, funnies, smexy time, action and adventure into this book, she also throws a huge side serving of heart break into it too. It’s one of those books that you shouldn’t start reading just before bedtime, because there is NO WAY you will be able to put it down after only reading a few chapters. No sir-ee, once started this book will sink it’s claws into you so deeply that you won’t want to put it back down until you have read and savoured every single word.

Kieran, Alexis, Daisy, Mordecai and all the other amazing characters that inhabit this world, both real and spirit based are all absolutely amazing. There are so many different people and each one has their own distinct and unique voice in the book. Some are likeable, others immensely loveable, whilst a handful are vile and despicable beings but they all have depth and personality by the bucket full.

I never know where the story will take me, I never even begin to suspect what surprised are in store and what curve balls will be thrown in my direction. I do know that I will love every moment of it, even when I hate what is happening, even when my emotions are being stomped on, because the writing is so fantastic and the story so amazing that I can’t help myself.

I can’t wait for Sin & Lightning, I’ve already got it on pre-order.


















The fourth book in the Amazon Charts Bestselling series by Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author, K.F. Breene.

Kieran has stepped up to take his place as the ruler of magical San Francisco. As his girlfriend I’m in the spotlight, and the Hades Demigods have taken notice. They want me on their team, and they don’t plan on asking nicely.

Kieran and I are both under fire. They will kill him to get to me, and they’ll take me by force if necessary. It is essential I learn more of my magic.

With no other options, I do what scares me the most – I summon the last Spirit Walker to help train me. Except, he’s a loose cannon with looser morals, and learning spirit is treacherous. I might evade the Demigods only to be lost in spirit forever.


Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48570608-sin-spirit

Amazon US – https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZG5RNWY/
Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07ZG5RNWY/
Amazon CA – https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07ZG5RNWY/
Amazon AU – https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B07ZG5RNWY/

Bookbub – https://www.bookbub.com/books/sin-spirit-demigods-of-san-francisco-book-4-by-k-f-breene

ALLURE

Allure
by Sansa Rayne, Stella Rising 






A very thought provoking story.

This is a new-to-me author, but I’m glad that I took a chance on reading Allure. The setting is somewhat middle ages, possibly in a dystopian Earth future or based on some other planet. I found it difficult to place in a sub-genre or trope, though it felt more fantasy than paranormal.

I enjoyed the story, finding the plot easy to follow and liking the main characters. Whilst the idea of the heroine (or hero) being an ‘outsider’ is not new the world the author created, along with the detail of the heroine’s resistance to allure and subsequent issues, made this feel quite an unusual read. The writing is good, the story entertaining and the relationship between Cassian and Inara ultimately being very believable.

It may have been me, but at the beginning the story did feel a little directionless. I appreciated that the author didn’t do a huge information dump to world build, but I did find myself waiting for something to happen. Personally I would have liked this time to have been spent building the connection between Inara and Cassian. I’m not a fan of insta-anything, so the fact that their physical relationship went from 0 to 60 in the blink of an eye felt a little jarring.

I quite liked that the book didn’t portray virginity as a feminine virtue BUT how this juxtaposed with women being very much the voiceless submissive in any relationship perhaps could have done with being elaborated on a little more. Some really innovative world building but it just needed developing/expanding on a little more to help me understand why sex was ok but then they had to be SO submissive.

There are some quite deep messages within this book around how we judge others and how it is easy to abuse power, and as a result abuse those who are weaker than us. Cassian and Inara are both very different to the norm, but it is easier for Cassian given the patriarchal nature of their society. I loved that he didn’t want to change Inara in any way but that he wanted to forge a partnership with her, you could genuinely sense his respect for Inara.



Inara has never felt the ethereal pleasure of a man’s allure, a manifestation of will that rewards submission. Casting aside the collar of her youth, she attends her long-awaited blossoming ceremony longing to partake in her overdue rite of womanhood. But when she experiences allure for the first time, the celebration spirals into a waking nightmare.


Sensing a need to end his string of flings and take a wife, Sir Cassian sets his sights on the kind and beautiful Inara. A knight reputed for his skills in combat as much as his charm, he will do whatever he must to ensure Inara picks him as her suitor. When she flees her blossoming, inexplicably terrified, he seizes the opportunity to help her – and claim her.
Unable to avoid the sinister effect allure has on her, Inara agrees to pose as Cassian’s new beau. At first hesitant to reveal the whole truth, she submits to his discipline, unleashing the bliss she’s always craved. However, divulging her dark discovery thrusts them into a conflict that will test their commitment to each other and their entire world.


When Inara learns there may be a way for her not to suffer from allure, Cassian vows to find the answer. Yet their search draws the attention of those intent on stifling the truth, no matter who they have to kill. Pursued by zealous assassins, Inara must choose: hide who she is to protect her love, or fight to expose the secret of allure…
For a dark romantic adventure you can’t put down, buy Allure today!


Publisher’s note: “Allure” is a dark, romantic thriller with erotic content, no cliffhangers, no cheating and a HEA. It contains material some may find disturbing. Reader discretion is advised.


US – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B083JKFHK6/
UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B083JKFHK6/
CA – https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B083JKFHK6/
AU – https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B083JKFHK6/

GOODREADS – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49469683-allure

BOOKBUB – https://www.bookbub.com/books/allure-a-dark-romance-by-sansa-rayne-and-stella-rising

SIREN

Siren (Sinister Fairy Tale Collection)
by Hazel Grace



Genre: Dark Fairy Tale Retelling
Release Date: January 7, 2020
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46259788-siren



I’m one of the most alluring creatures in the world.
Dangerous.
Beautiful.
Powerful.
A siren.
One of seven princesses of Lacuna.

But I wanted more than that, so much more than the trinkets I stowed in my caverns. I wanted my own piece of the world.
And I got it.
However with that wish came a price, and that price came with secrets.
Two of which should never have been able to set foot on where I reside.

The fate of my heart belongs to Lacuna, but whose heart belongs to me?




Buy Links: Kindle Unlimited
Universal: https://books2read.com/u/bM9gqV
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B081HXC2L8
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B081HXC2L8
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B081HXC2L8
Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B081HXC2L8


Playlist:  Direct link: https://spoti.fi/2SUnvO1

4 stars

A very slow, shaky start but with an amazing ending that made it all worth while.

The last 30% or so of this book was 5 stars all the way. Sadly the first 40% dragged sooooooooo much that, despite this being an arc read, if I hadn’t agreed to lead a Book of the Month discussion on it I would have DNF’d it. I am SO VERY GLAD that I stuck with the book because the second half was absolutely amazing. This was where we got ALL the steamy action, this is where the plot picked up pace, this is where all the twists turns and shocks occurred (one which was quite foreshadowed but another really was a surprise). I even ugly cried, shedding real tears as the author repeatedly ripped my heart apart.

A couple of short paragraphs would easily sum up the first 8 – 10 chapters. Nothing happens and it felt like wading through molasses. I can’t remember the last time a book dragged so much for me – probably because I’m quite ruthless and delete them from my kindle. I’d suggest the author seriously look for either some new beta readers or a new editor because they seriously let her down by not recognising the terrible pacing and lack of direction at the beginning of this book. You know, the time when you have to be hooking the reader in. I’m not sure if the intention was to character build or develop the connection between the MC’s but it didn’t quite work. Instead we had far too many internalised monologues/musings rather than actual conversations or action.

I’m aware this may seem petty but the word ‘allude’, in it’s various forms, was also not only overused (30 appearances) but repeatedly, incorrectly used as a way to describe speech. There were also another couple of inaccurate word uses, but I did read an arc so they may have been corrected.

eg “We have to go,” Isolde alludes suddenly.
“Then I won’t,” he alludes.
“That mean’s get out .” “I will,” he alludes slowly.

The book is written first person and from 3 alternating point of views, there is a sort-of, almost love triangle but not really. The main pov is the heroine, Davina’s, with chapters also from both Dagan’s and Tobias’ view points too. On reflection I do still feel this is a book I would recommend, albeit with warnings over needing to persevere at first. I quite like that the author left the possibility of a follow up book for a separate couple, as long as it didn’t have the same slow start I’d be up for reading it!



Also Available

Venom (Sinister Fairy Tales Collection) by Dee Garcia
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/32bmFOF
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/31fSncd
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2VC9ns0
iTunes: https://apple.co/32cLzh1

Cold Queen (Sinister Fairy Tales Collection) by K Webster
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/31XvTxm
Eden Books: http://bit.ly/2Wl4qUN
Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/2pHdlnt
Apple: https://apple.co/2pSa84x
Kobo: https://bit.ly/2niT07e

Sacrifice (Sinister Fairy Tales Collection) by Isabelle N. Blanco
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2CutWhg
Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/36LrPUt
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/34M619f
Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/2NApwMs

Insolent (Sinister Fairy Tales Collection) by Cynthia A. Rodriguez
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/37BUdc4
Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/2RuYCaT
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2rmDusW
Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/2PjmtrD

Madness (Sinister Fairy Tales Collection) by Kailee Reese Samuels
Amazon US: http://bit.ly/SamuelsMADNESS
Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/34pNija
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2RUPHjf
Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/35qCaDZ



Author Bio: (author photo in drive folder)
Hazel Grace is an avid music lover and hardcore Oakland Raiders fan from the mitten state of Michigan. Her writing goals are “what the f*ck” storylines while enjoying her readers private messaging her to cuss her out. 



Social Media Links: 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/hazelgraceauthor
Instagram: www.instagram.com/hazelgraceauthor
Twitter: www.twitter.com/hazelgracebooks
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/hazel-grace

Ratings
5 stars – This is a book I will not forget and would definitely read again.
4 stars – I really enjoyed this book, I might not read it again but I would definitely recommend it to others.
3 stars – This story was good but either forgettable or just very typical of its genre.
2 stars – Whilst the book was readable I either didn’t enjoy parts of the plot or just could not connect to the main characters.
1 star – This is a book I simply could not finish for reasons listed in the review.

MAKE ME BEG

Make Me Beg
(Riggs Brother’s #4)
by Julie Kriss




This is a book I read just over a year ago. Julie Kriss writes with such emotion that I soon find myself falling in love with her characters. The Riggs Brothers books are a series of interlinked stories but each can be read stand alone.



I’ve read so many character linked series where there has been a big build up to the story of the moody, loner, alpha male guy. Your heart has been stolen by brief glimpses of this guy in prior books, and you just know he is to die for. Then you get hold of the book and are left somewhere between disappointed and p***ed off. It lacks everything the other books had and leaves you cold.

WELL NOT THIS ONE!!!!!! Nope, Nopey No No, this one was absolutely swoonmazingly awesome. Oh my word how my heart melted for Dex, he was everything I wanted and so much more too. So vulnerable and sweet under all that bravado. Lauren is one lucky girl and was absolutely perfect for him. This was definitely well worth the wait. I loved it so much I couldn’t put it down and it became a one-sit reading.

This was a little insta-love, though the two main characters had been fascinated with each other in high school. However the connection and chemistry between this pair was so believable that I happily embraced a trope that doesn’t often work for me. Dex and Lauren did more than make love, their very souls came together and were bound for eternity.

We had previously only seen Dex through the eyes of others, but I always knew he had hidden depths. He was no where near the don’t give a damn alpha-hole that had been portrayed, though this was the image he deliberately projected for others. I loved how Lauren’s own pain and suffering allowed her to see the same pain and suffering that Dex hid so well from others. I loved how the pair of them instinctively understood and saw the truth of the other person.

Have I already said how Dex was so much more, so much deeper, so much more damaged, so much more complex and wonderful than I could have imagined. Lauren was just as wonderful. I truly, totally and utterly fell in love with this pair and they will always have a special place in my heart.

You need to read this book, and this series, now.








You wouldn’t believe Dex Riggs and I are from the same town. He’s the ultimate bad boy; I’m the one who goes by the book. He’s a sexy former cop with a shady past; I’m the girl who married her high school sweetheart.

But now my marriage is over, I’m burned out on my business, and worst of all, I never got the baby I wanted. And now I never will.

Unless Dex is willing to make a deal.

I get a baby; he gets… me. For a little while. Once I’m knocked up, we’ll go our separate ways. That’s the rule.

I’ve never broken a rule. Dex has broken all of them.

Which rule will we break first?





US – https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HXPTNR7/
UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07HXPTNR7/
CA – https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07HXPTNR7/
AU – https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B07HXPTNR7/

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42120577-make-me-beg


Ratings
5 stars – This is a book I will not forget and would definitely read again.
4 stars – I really enjoyed this book, I might not read it again but I would definitely recommend it to others.
3 stars – This story was good but either forgettable or just very typical of its genre.
2 stars – Whilst the book was readable I either didn’t enjoy parts of the plot or just could not connect to the main characters.
1 star – This is a book I simply could not finish for reasons listed in the review.

Exquisite Possession (The Machinery of Desire, #4)


Exquisite Possession 
(The Machinery of Desire, #4)
by Cari Silverwood


I’m featuring a ‘blast from the past’ review today. Cari Silverwood is, without a shadow of a doubt, my favourite author to read. I just adore her unusual mix of sarcastic humour, filthy depraved kink and incredible sci-fi.

It’s difficult to compare her work to another authors – she has such a unique voice. However the best I can do is say Douglas Adams but with dub-con, whips and bondage sex! There are also times when she is clearly channeling the spirit of the dearly missed Terry Pratchett.

There quite simply isn’t another author who can make me snigger at her subtle wit, get very hot under the collar (whilst also occasionally cringing in terror) at her kinky sex scenes and stand in awe of her superlative world building skills.








Fast paced, filthy, funny, frenzied and fabulous. An exciting, humorous and often thought provoking conclusion to this epic series.


I’m probably (OK definitely) going to take a while to get to the crux of this review, so I’m going to lay down now how much I LOVED this book, how gripping the story was, how fabulous the characters were, how hot the sex was and how sad I am that the series has ended. Whilst this can be read as JI and Fern’s stand alone story, reading the series will give you a better understanding of where all the other characters fit, along with how and why certain events happen.

I fuck therefore I am. He would rewrite Emery’s ideas on what made a self-aware AI.

JI/Osta, Exquisite Possession


Acquired Possession , book #1 of the Machinery of Desire series was my first ever Cari Silverwood read. (Actually that’s a slight fib, My Romance Curse was the first but since that was written on a whim and a dare I’m not counting it here.) I saw adverts for that book, downloaded a sample and immediately 1-clicked to purchase the book as soon as I got to the end of the sample. I haven’t looked back since – I’m still not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing 😉

“Girl,” he sucked in air. “This was my best idea. I hope you and Aunt M have a better one.”
Now to return to feeling lost and despairing.
It seemed late in life to take up biting his nails.

JI/Osta, Exquisite Possession


Each book in the series has brought something new to the story of Aerthe and it’s inhabitants. Each tale has opened our eyes to a new facet of what life is like for its people. They’ve also contained some downright filthy and perverted sex scenes, and boy are they wonderful to read. Now normally I’d be bleating on about the amazing world building skills of the author, but in Exquisite Possession she took things in a different direction. We had a story that looked inwards at what makes us human and what constitutes a good or a bad person, rather than focusing on the outwards.

Still learning how to human … Some days he seemed a cross between her perfect Dom and a teenager.

JI/Osta and Fern, Exquisite Possession



JI/Osta was a mechanoid, a sentient robot for want of a better description. He took over a ‘human’ body (or technically a Scav body) in Book 2 of the series. Fern is a human, dragged through time and space, otherwise known as a portal, to become a blood slave to the Mekkers. Only Fern stabbed the judge who ruled that they weren’t ‘sentient’ enough to have rights and ended up being ejected from their landship broken, battered, bruised and close to death. So it’s fair to say that both characters come with a fair bit of baggage.

The first part of this book focuses on JI and his battles with the fantasies he has about Fern. Fantasies that include pain, humiliation and domination. Fantasies that just perhaps Fern might have too.

With a thrill to top what already had grabbed his balls … he realized Fern could be his experiment. His little experiment on sex.
Little being more due to her size compared to his, not to what was possible. Because there was everything. Possibilities seemed endless. He, an ex-mech with control of a girl.

JI/Osta, Exquisite Possession



JI goes through a lot of soul searching, but it never felt too introspective or naval gazing. Usually because CS would always drop in some of her wonderful humour when things started getting a little too serious.

“I would never hurt you more than you want,”

JI/Osta, Exquisite Possession



This was much more of a love story than any of the other books, possibly with the exception of Blue and Sassik’s story. It still retained dark edges and some very extremely kinky play, some of which involved the surgical implantation of blunt spikes around a part of JI’s anatomy. However JI was always far too caring to ever truly be a bad man, and given Fern’s traumatic past he was the perfect hero for both her and us. That didn’t stop him from using the connection both he and Fern had with the mechlings to his own benefit.

“Is a part of you still Osta? The thinking part of you?”
“No. I’m not him at all. I told you that.”
He wanted to ask her if that would scare her more than she could bear but didn’t dare to. Because the answer might scare him.

JI/Osta and Fern, Exquisite Possession



The second part of the story is more ‘traditional’ sci-fi action, if being strung up naked on the nose cone of a war ship, your body pierced by countless wires, could ever be considered traditional. Like all truly great books, lots of strands and easter egg clues all wove together to bring a very satisfying ending to this amazing series. Did I also mention that there is a lot of very hot, kinky and lust filled sex?

Exquisite Possession
US – https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MDWKTYG/
UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07MDWKTYG/
CA – https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07MDWKTYG/
AU – https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B07MDWKTYG/

Box Set
US – https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WHY8M49/
UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07WHY8M49/
CA – https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07WHY8M49/
AU – https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B07WHY8M49/