Love and Music (Small Town Secrets Book 3) by Jade C. Jamison
I’m not crying, you’re crying. Sorry, excuse me whilst I compose myself.
I love a sexy hero with a soft side, I love an everyday heroine and I’m a huge sucker for second-chance romance. All that, added to great writing, meant that I thoroughly enjoyed Love and Music. A few chapters from Tyler’s pov would have pushed this from 4.5 stars to the full 5, though I can understand that the one person perspective left us as unsure and anxiously hopeful as Megan.
What really stood out for me was just how emotional this story felt. I could feel my heartstrings being tugged on pretty much from the first page. There were times when I felt anxious, parts that made me smile , moments when it wasn’t just the summer weather raising the temperature and pieces that sliced my heart into ribbons. The majority of the book is set over a really short period of time, and yet I found myself utterly convinced by the genuineness of their feelings for one another. Circumstances didn’t give them opportunity to totally talk, in the way that both wanted, but it did offer untold opportunities to reconnect in so many other ways.
For me this was a beautiful story of reawakening, both of the heart and soul. An opportunity to correct past mistakes and to love in a forever way.
Years later, he still takes her breath away. Does that mean he’s the one? Time has not changed the way Megan feels about her ex Tyler Green, now a famous rock star. It’s pathetic, and that’s why she absolutely will not—WILL NOT—attend her ten-year high school reunion. But her bestie convinces her that there’s no way a guy like Tyler would ever attend their reunion anyway. He’s got better things to do with his time. Megan feels like a complete idiot when he shows, but she feels even more foolish when she confirms she’s still head-over-heels in love with him. It’s doomed to fail: their worlds are now completely different, urban rocker and country mouse. But how will she ever be able to let him go again?
Curl up by the fire with a glass of wine or a mug of hot chocolate and settle into Winchester, Colorado—where the nights are cold…but steamy!
Take one Princess, literally and in all senses of the word, a man who has been to hell and back, also literally-ish, add in a fluffy creature of dubious origins, a quest to save True Love, otherwise known as Xander, and some delicious kinkiness. Stir it all well, add a great story line, cook with the heat from the sexy scenes and – voila! – you have, THE PRINCESS TIED.
“He liked that worse word far too much.”
Where do I start with this? Based loosely on The Princess Bride, this is a kinky, dub-con, thigh slapping, funny adventure of the swashbuckling kind. If Monty Python, Errol Flynn and EL James produced a menage love child, it would be this. (I know MP isn’t a person but per-lease, you get the idea! 😉) In case you’re wondering, I really likedthis book, which is why it got 4 stars here, but it will be 5 stars on Amazon. I’m pedantic like that.
Po shook her head and said nothing more. This adventure was feeling less organized by the hour. She liked her facts in rows and columns. She liked them organized in folders. With notes.
Floof Machines, magical doors(can you guess them all?), giant dwarfs and mechanised men join in the fun to produce a wonderful, adventurous, questing tale. The characters are somewhat stylized, deliberately so since this is a pastiche of a pastiche of the swashbuckling films of the 20’s and 30’s. These characters are also interesting, unusual, well crafted and genuine and despite being OTT they felt believable and loveable.
Making things happen, like fires, was a new thing. Many things were new, including naked men and sex.
This wouldn’t be a Cari Silverwood book if there wasn’t some dirty, filthy smut smut. And what incredibly hot and saucy sauce it is! Dabbling in the waters of dub-con, but mainly because Po is far too proper to admit to her unusual desires, there are lots of delightfully erotic scenes to indulge our baser desires. Sorry, I meant to say to indulge Prince Drakes deviant sexual preferences. Those scenes did absolutely nothing for me, no they did not. They didn’t induce hot flushes and a need to find privacy for a little one on one time. Who shouted Liar, liar, pants on fire? Humph, ok maybe those scenes are somewhat hot.
He walked on air with lust rampant in his veins. He took a small, careful bite of her neck then released it. She tasted of sex to him – future sex.
Whilst most of the book is written from Princess Po and John’s points of view, we do get just enough from Xander to both make him ‘real’ and to add interest to the tale. The adventure is epic, crazy and, at times, weird and I loved it all. The plot canters along, with your hands tied behind your back, oops sorry that’s Po I’m thinking of. The plot moves at a good pace, with surprises, twists and easter eggs thrown in to keep your interest. I know I’ve already mentioned the activities in Prince Drakes tent, but they’re so hot they totally deserve a second intimation. Talking of intimate, despite certain events that occur during the course of the story, the ending didn’t feel awkward, forced or contrived. In fact I was very pleasantly surprised by how smoothly everything came together (#punalert).
She was sure he had an erection. Not being an expert, she had to file it under maybe.
If you’ve made it this far (TL;DR) this is a great story that I highly recommend.
Her tutors aimed to educate her in a wide range of subject, so she could rule with wisdom. Most of which, like algebra, she thought she would never use. Clocks had been quite fun, in comparison to math, autopsies, and string theory.
“Falling in love with Xander, the has-been noble I lined up to marry, is sadly wrong.” Princess Pollianna the First, smartest royal ever. Wrong is about to get wronger. Square-jawed, handsome Xander gets kidnapped and his brother, John, returns from Hell. The fire in this guy’s eyes says he’s not to be messed with. With Princess Po tied and roped over his horse, and a hand firmly clasped on her ample ass, John sets out to rescue his beloved bro, while not looking at aforesaid cute ass…or doing anything bad to it. As he travels the roads, a ragtag band falls in around him. True Love will light their way, except John doesn’t believe in True Love. “As wholesome as a threesome up against a thorn-entangled wall.”
Features Fighting, Dwarf Giants, a Killer Bunny, Storytellers, True Love, Angsty Tortured Anti-heroes, Snooty Princesses, Rope, Monsters, and sundry Mayhem. And quite a lot of Steam. Inspired by The Princess Bride. Written with naughty words.
3.5 Stars I originally read this somewhere between 3 and 4 years ago, so I’d forgotten that it’s pretty short (27 pages), but since it was a freebie I’m not complaining.
This can easily be read just as an erotic short story but if, like me, you become addicted to Jenny and Mark’s story it continues through 5 more books (8 if you count the Velvet series). One thing that stands out is that the author certainly has a way with words, despite the initial scenario requiring somewhat of a suspension of disbelief, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this boundary pushing, slightly (very?) dub-con, erotic romance.
Whilst I can imagine this type of school existing for the willing, enrolling unwilling participants and ‘selling them on’ would open them to a whole host of criminal charges, should that person ever get to contact the police. That said, this is fun erotic fiction and so, in the interests of enjoyment, I’m happy to let that little fact slide.
Despite Jenny being a selfish, spoilt individual, I kind of felt sorry for her. Particularly as it struck me that poor parenting might have been at least partly to blame. This is too light a read to worry about such deep topics (at the moment anyway). The heat level is quite very high, though the content of this book is fairly tame. I do seem to remember it getting kinkier and kinkier as the series progressed and I’m certainly going to be ‘Learning the Ropes’ next 😉!
4 Stars – because it’s brilliant but still only 37 pages This is another titillating, naughty and down right deliciously depraved snippet of Jenny’s ongoing introduction to the life of a pony girl. Books 1 – 3 are all short stories, they would combine together to make a story somewhere between novella and novel in length. Each is a vignette, a scene of Jenny’s torment and slide into the strange world of the Albrecht Stables. She isn’t there willingly, so the entire thing is very dub-con/non-con but at the same time it isn’t overly dark. Jenny is unwilling but also very much enjoys the punishments she is subjected to. There is nothing that would cause a threat to her life, nor cause severe, permanent or lasting damage to her body.
Whilst Jenny will suffer pain, humiliation and indignities galore, she is ‘only’ subjected to BDSM style activities. I say style because we all (should) know that the tenets of BDSM are based around SSC (Safe, Sane and Consensual), RACK (Risk Aware Consensual Kink) and/or PRICK (Personal Responsibility, Informed, Consensual Kink). Jenny has NOT given any consent so this immediately goes against everything BDSM holds dear. However it IS a work of fiction and not purporting to be an instructional guide, indeed the author has a very clear disclaimer regarding that very fact, so for me this is a non-issue.
I am loving this naughty story and am now moving on to ‘Hot to Trot‘ for a little more boundary pushing fun.
4 Stars for 55 pages of filthy fun Humiliation upon humiliation is heaped upon our poor heroine. Despite her being a rather petulant, spoilt and selfish individual, I do feel some sympathy for her. This is something the author does quite well. She makes her characters just imperfect enough, just the wrong side of right, so that whilst you like them, you don’t feel too much empathy or sorrow for their terrible plight! She enjoys a lot of that plight and a multitude of orgasms does sound enjoyable. However forced orgasm torture probably isn’t called torture because it’s so much fun.
We get more and more intrigue thrown in, and if I ever met Jenny’s dad I think I would castrate him with a blunt table knife before stabbing him in the eye with a rusty spoon. There are other players afoot in this game, and lots of backstabbing, not to mention tongue-stabbing – though that’s a very different activity all together.
I’m impressed with how well Jenny’s holding everything together. I’m sure I would have descended into a quivering mess of forlorn sobs or become a raving lunatic after being subjected to the same treatment. After all this is very much non-con, though very gentle non-con as there is no rape, violence or physical abuse. Being forced to train as a pony-girl does probably count as mental and emotional abuse though – even if she does enjoy some of it. Or maybe she’s just so incredibly used to getting her own way that poor Jenny’s brain can’t comprehend fully the truth of her situation. Either way it makes for a darn good, kinkily depraved, read.
I now own all 9 the books in this series, but overloading on arc commitments for the past two years means I’m very behind on finishing them. So the re-read is two-fold, firstly to remind myself of events so I can understand the books I haven’t read, second is that I read them in my pre-review on goodreads days, and not having a review on here bugs the heck out of me. This is the last and longest of the ‘short’ parts of the story, there are 3 additional full length books in Pony Tales plus the three Velvet Collar books (which in many ways can be read as a stand alone trilogy).
4.5 Stars for the one where Jenny is used, abused and given a new name. Where Pony Tales 1 -3 introduced us to Albrecht stables and the erotic delights that await Jenny there, this book gives us a more rounded story. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, loved the heat factor, adored the intrigue and can not wait to find out what happens next. Not only do we have lots of delightful pony-girl training to look forward to, but there is a clearly emerging storyas well. One that is clearly about more than just simple erotica. But just as Jenny was teased to the edge of orgasm (repeatedly), so are we teased, by the author, with little hints and clues and snippets of information.
This book is significantly longer than the previous three (120 pages), allowing us to learn more about Mark as well as providing us with plenty of depraved, kinky torture of the hapless Jennifer. We understand that there is more to this story than just forced pony play, with the author introducing some finely crafted elements of suspense. We aren’t seeing the whole picture yet – where would the fun be in that? But we certainly know a lot more than Jenny does. Or should that now be P? Thus far we have gotten to know Jenny quite intimately, on all levels 😉, every pun intended! In Named and Shamed the personality of other main players is also built on, turning them from caricatures/outlines into recognisable, distinct characters.
There were so many times I wanted to slap Mark. His arrogant head is so far up his own behind and he is so busy thinking with his not so little head, that he is missing big clues. Particularly the one that points out how annoyed Jenny gets when he treats her like she is less than human. Which is a paradox because the objectification also turns her on. Unlike Mark, she never loses her intelligence, wisely knowing which battles to fight and making the best of a bad situation by finding pleasure where she can, whilst biding her time until she can somehow escape.
4.5 Stars I loved this much longer installment of the Pony Tales series. We got more gloriously kinky pony play, more dub-con deliciousness (which Jennifer enjoys immensely) along with lots more clues and hints as to what is in play behind the scenes. There was more of Mark in his ‘real’ life and some scenes of him at play with his submissives.
I will say that we still aren’t at a ‘romance’ point in the story, though there is a definite connection between Mark and Jennifer. There are scenes that some might interpret as cheating, or on the borders of it, but as there is no actual relationship/commitment between them, I don’t view it as such.
Jennifer learns some shocking truths in this book, enough almost to break her resolve. She also suffers the consequences of her naive/foolish trainer choice. Added to all that, she is subject to 48 hours of the most cruel sexual torture, humiliated beyond belief, set impossible to achieve tasks, barely fed and watered, driven to exhaustion and abused by a sadist. Despite all that she finds herself enjoying much of it and using the rest of it to keep herself angry and sane.
The writing is good, with some nice little touches of humour. The plot moves along well and this is an excellent read for when you want to indulge in a scorching hot, NSFW, filthily depraved story but also want a decent plot with it, rather than just crudeness. I’m off to read the final book now!
5 Starsand saving the best until last(?) How can a book be both wrong, funny and super sexy all at the same time? I’m not sure but Christina Mandarahas certainly achieved that with The Ties That Bind. She has also produced an amazing story, full of suspense, peril, snark and heat.
Over the last few books we got to know Jenny, in this book I felt we really got to grips with knowing Mark, and I really liked what I saw. Unlike the previous five books, in this one we spend barely any time at Albrecht stables, though there was still lots of delightful kinky and perverse fun to be enjoyed, involving carousel horses and fish tanks.
There are dark elements to the story, though it doesn’t ‘feel’ dark, in part due to Jennifer’s mental attitude and fortitude throughout the books. The vast majority of the kinky sexual torment that she is subjected to would be considered at best dubious consent, and sometimes non-consensual. It is softened by the fact that Jenny thoroughly enjoys most of what she is subjected to, and further tempered by both a message from the author in the foreword and the fact that so very much of this story is fairy tale like in it’s stretching of the possible.
I found myself totally absorbed in the story, spellbound by the excellent writing, drawn in by great characters (both good and bad), mesmerised by the twisted eroticism and entranced by the chemistry between Jenny and Mark. Theirs is not a conventional relationship, in fact it is still debatable if it could be called a relationship at all. It is, however, a compelling and all encompassing connection.
With each book read my enjoyment of this series has continued to increase. I really enjoyed the first few books but I am now totally invested in this pair and can’t wait to see how their future plays out in the Velvet Lies series. Just so long as Michael Redcliffe, and a few others, get their comeuppance!
Wow did I seriously underestimate how much I would enjoy this book!
I’ve followed this author for a while on Facebook mainly because she’s from Wales, which is one of my favourite holiday destinations in the UK. But until yesterday I hadn’t actually gotten around to reading any of her work. There are so many authors churning out bland “BDSM romances”, as part of the FSoG bandwagon, that I no longer hold expect too much when I pick up a kinky book. So colour me both surprised and immensely pleased when this one grabbed my throat, pushed me against the wall and fired up my nerve endings with its wonderful mix of great story and hot sex.
Personally I could have stood another hot kink scene BUT that would have only happened by artificially forcing one into the story. Because this is a second-chance, we don’t actually get to see all that much of our H and h alone together. However I fully bought into their emotions and connection, the author did a fantastic job of showing us, rather than telling.
The book starts with a couple of events from ten or eleven years ago. Despite barely having met the characters, Daisy’s heartbreak really tore me up, I was devastated for her and wanted to hit Joel, not to mention Eric. What I really liked, when we finally know the full story of that night, was that Desi wasn’t considered equally to blame. Yes she made a hugely rash decisions, but an understandable one based on her age, experience in life and utter devastation. However Joel ignoring a friend’s rude behaviour, was tantamount to his condoning it, especially when his loyalties should have been with Daisy/Desi.
His actions in the ‘present’ were not always much better, but somehow the author kept me from disliking him. I still wanted to shake him, but at least I didn’t want to shoot him! What really impressed me was the huge personal growth that Desi underwent. Her mature acceptance of situations and how she moved on in a better way this time. Joel’s epiphany seemed a lot quicker, though not as easily gained. He did have Jake, Connor and Logan to frequently point out his idiocy too. Whilst some might argue that Joel didn’t grovel enough, didn’t do enough to earn Desi back, my take was that she loved him, had always loved him, why would she turn down what she had always wanted? That doesn’t make her weak, in my book, it makes her mature, willing to forgive past mistakes and not willing to cut her nose of to spite her face.
“Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty…”
Theodore Roosevelt
This story certainly echoed old Teddy’s thoughts above. It was a long, hard struggle to reach that HEA, but not once did it feel contrived, repetitive or unnecessary. I was caught up from the first few lines of this book and didn’t want to put it down until I’d got to the end. Without a shadow of a doubt I will be reading the rest of this series.
As a bubbly art student, Daisy Kidde embarked on a passionate relationship that ended in tears. Eleven years later, she has reinvented herself as the aloof finance director, Desirae Harper, but the past threatens to catch up with her and turn her quiet, reserved world upside down when her company is threatened with a takeover bid and the dominant Joel Blackwood walks back into her life. Can she resist him or will the old Daisy return, threatening her new, quiet life?
Happy sigh… reading this is a fantastic way to spend a few hours.
Alternately funny, moving and sexy, Mr Billions shows that Cassie-Ann L. Miller is back with a bang (every pun intended!). Oh my word this just gave me all the feels, ALL THE FEELS PEOPLE! A hot mess heroine with a dysfunctional family and an a-hole hero with his heart in the right place but his morals all skewed. There are fireworks from their first meeting and enough heat between them to power a small town.
You just know this pair are absolutely perfect for one another, but they are not going to have an easy path to their HEA. But boy, oh boy, was I rooting for them to get there. I still wanted to smack Cannon quite a lot of the time, as did Lexi, but he just showed enough of the decent guy inside him to keep us both on the hook.
Reading Mister Billions felt like coming home, it was safe, warm and immensely satisfying.
Bossy. Infuriating. Sexy as sin…I can’t stand the man. And he’s waiting for me at the altar. I’m up to my eyeballs in unpaid rent. So is half this town. Cannon Kingston is the devilish, arrogant billionaire with the power to save us all. But he wants something in return… My hand in marriage. The terms of our twisted contract are simple. A month or two of dirty, dirty matrimony and he’ll drop the eviction threats. No biggie. I’ve got this… Until he switches up the rules on me halfway through the deal. First comes the bed-breaking orgasms. Then come the late nights, spilling secrets in the dark. Now, he’s after my heart. But this is strictly business. Falling in love is a big, fat no-no. I’m not looking for a fairy tale ending. I’m just trying to save myself and my town. Cannon Kingston is a man who always gets what he wants. And now, I’m at the top of his wishlist. I’m no spineless damsel, though. I can bring this king to his knees. …Unless he steals my heart for ransom first.
Mister Billions is a steamy, laugh-out-loud, marriage of convenience small town romance featuring a billionaire with a sinful body, a cocky grin and a serious attitude problem. A full-length (80 000-word) standalone. No cliffhanger. HEA guaranteed.
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.
Despite being left with sooo many questions I massively recommend this duet.
This young-adult, zombie apocalypse, save-the-world story entranced me. Liv and her crew continue to battle their way to Rockford to find her brother Lucas. Along the way they meet new people, face new challenges and fight many battles of survival. The pace, the adventure and the energy kept me reading late into the night.
There was a formatting issue with my version of the book, so I will check to see if there is an update available, however it didn’t spoil my enjoyment of what is a great story. You need to read book #1, Killshot, to understand the story, and we are left with unanswered questions at the end of the book. Nothing huge that prevents you enjoying what is a great story, more of an atmospheric film style ending. I guess the author hoped to write more in this world, but perhaps life, sales or muse hasn’t allowed that yet. Fingers crossed for more of Liv, Zander and their friends in the future.
It’s been three days since Solar Storm Icarus silenced the world…three days since the GRS virus wiped out most of humanity and started changing the few who remained. Liv and the others made it through the initial wave, but they’ve lost a lot along the way and the journey to Salvation is far from over. A rogue military organization has taken hold of the area and they possess a weapon that could change everything. When Liv finds out her brother and the other refugees are being held captive at Camp Seco, she will risk everything to get him back. As the group embarks upon a dangerous rescue mission, a rival band of survivors threatens their safety and a new storm gathers overhead. The virus has spread and the infected are being drawn together. What’s worse, the beast that lurks inside of Liv is growing stronger and more difficult to control. But Liv has a promise to keep–and her little brother is running out of time. Will Liv be able to harness her strength to save her brother and the hundreds of other innocents beyond the walls of Camp Seco, or will she let the monster out and put them all at risk?
Ari is everything I should hate but instead I totally adore him.
Lily White has once again created a masterpiece of a story, involving two very dysfunctional individuals and on very messed up situation. I want to say it was like watching a car crash but that results in devastation and destruction, whereas Ari and Adeline collided together in a way that resulted in something amazing. It was a long and at times painful process, their journey fraught with misery and heartache, but through it all was a connection and passion that most can only aspire to.
Ari isn’t just playing a game, I realize. He designed the board, carved the pieces and painted the dots on the dice. It wasn’t good enough to linger in my world without my knowing it, he had to drag me kicking and screaming into his.
The writing held me spellbound and even though the plot foreshadows and indeed at times clearly spells where it will go, what will happen, the story still never felt predictable. This is just so unique, so different, so…. so Lily. There were so many times I wondered how this would end, wondered how I WANTED it to end, wondered if expecting a HEA was too much and whether it needed one.
Buckle up for one rollercoaster, bone shaker of a ride. One that will spin the world on it’s axis and leave you both shaken AND stirred. A ride that will take you up to such heights, just for the sole purpose of dropping you so far and so fast that your heart will be in your throat and you will worry both for your very survival and sanity. In The Danger You Know Lily White has created a story, a world that will stay with you. Characters come and characters go, but Ari and Adeline will remain for a long time. One of those unicorn stories that doesn’t fade with the passage of time but instead wedges itself into your heart, mind and soul.
It’s never the dangers that lurk in the shadows you have to worry about, it’s the ones you know. The people who can turn your world upside down without any effort at all. The terrifying monsters that sneak up when you least expect it to steal your heart and drive you insane.
When I began reading the book, I did think it might only be a 4 star “really liked” book. However Ari refused to have any of that nonsense and quickly informed me that it was 5 stars or he was leaving and wouldn’t be looking back. So firmly put in my place I enjoyed the rest of what is a twisted, tormented and tremendous story, one where it was also lovely to catch a glimpse of Rebecca and Aiden out in the ‘real world’.
I’ve not even talked about Lincoln yet. If ever there was a character who needed their own book he is one – don’t let me down Lily! I fell in love with him almost as much as I did Ari, he really was amazing in his own right. At one point I was kinda rooting for a menage, but I think his relationship with Adeline was perfect. He made such a great foil to Ari but also allowed us to see another side to him too.
This is an absolute must read book, both for Lily White fans and for those who like a good, twisted read. It’s not very dark in sexual terms, but it doesn’t need to be, not with such a heartless hero and messed up situation.
Blurb:
You’ll judge me. Hate me and tell me I’m wrong. Refuse to see how my darkness is what she needs.
While I don’t particularly care about your feelings in the matter, and while I pursue her despite the wedding bells that rang for another, only I can see how she is drowning beneath mediocrity.
How many times must I remind her?
It can’t matter that I am the person who ruined her life. The man who killed her father. The constant shadow that watches her sleep. The lover who prefers dirty alleyways to freshly laundered sheets
She’s mine. Always has been.
I’m the worst thing for her, yet I’m the only salvation she knows. He had his chance to make her happy. He failed. He didn’t see how she was dying inside because he couldn’t know her. Not like I know her. I am her stalker. Her protector. And the only man that can bring her back to life.
Giveaway:$15 Amazon Gift Card (goes live 4/22 at midnight)
Excerpt:
“Who are you?”
“Does it matter?” I cock a brow, challenging her to care.
She laughs, and it’s like music, free and unencumbered.
“No, I guess it doesn’t.”
We stare at each other for several quiet seconds, the beat of my breath matching hers. Her eyes are glassy and unfocused, her face so serene that I feel relaxed because of it.
“You’re pretty,” she says on an exhalation of breath.
Pretty?
Flowers are pretty. The sky is pretty. Women are pretty.
I am none of those things.
“You’re drunk, and I’m not pretty.”
Adeline pushes up to kneel in her seat and leans over the center console, her palm cupping my cheek as tender as a lover.
“Yes, you are. But you’re flawed. I can see all the mistakes. You’re gorgeous because of those flaws.”
My eyes widen, heart hammering. She needs to go. This is too much. Too close. How the fuck does she know that?
It’s the tragic artist in her. She looks for the cracks and fissures, the imperfections in anything she sees.
Her sloppy grin widens, pearly white teeth glimmering beneath.
“It’s okay. I’m flawed, too. Would you like to see?”
What a stupid question. I don’t need to see. I already know all her flaws. I could write a fucking book about them.
Adeline doesn’t wait for an answer before climbing over the center console to straddle my lap. And while I should open my door to jump away, I find myself sucking in a breath, my body going far too still.
She leans forward to press her mouth to my ear.
“I don’t even know your name, and all I want to do is kiss you right now. How fucked up is that?”
Extremely. It is just one of the things about her that drives me crazy. Don’t get me wrong; I love that about her. But I also hate it.
“We shouldn’t do that,” I answer.
“I like doing things I shouldn’t.”
Yes, yes she does. She really is a little monster.
Author Bio:
Lily White is a romance writer who likes to dabble on the taboo side of eroticism. She is most known for her Masters Series, Target This, Wishing Well, and Asylum. In addition to dark romance Lily writes contemporary romance, taboo romance, and psychological thrillers. Lily enjoys stretching her writing muscles by continuing to challenge herself with each book she publishes.
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 Russo Collection is a set of interlinked stories, all with high heat levels, great characters and captivating plots. Several of the stories contain some violent scenes and there are also elements of dubious consent in some of the books. I can barely slide a cigarette paper between these books to choose my favourite, each has it’s own amazing heroine and redeemable bad boy, each is so full of emotional, so packed with feels that you will be transported into another world. However I do think the duet, Redemption and Absolution just pip the others to the post.
These are the type of stories that, once started, you simply can’t put down until you have read every word and reached the HEA. There is plenty of suspense, angst, anger, danger and scorching hot steam along the way. Heat is probably the lightest story out of the 6, with less violence and no dub-con elements. This has been rewritten and greatly improved on since it’s original release and the stories just seem to get better, and darker, from there.
Although there are 6 books there are 5 separate stories, all of which are fantastically written and an absolute pleasure to read. I cannot recommend this series/box set enough, both to those who love mafia romances, those who love darker reads and those who enjoy an excellent contemporary romance.
I’m a monster. Violence, pain, and power is my life. Nothing soft, nothing pure. My work as a mafia enforcer demands it. In my world, everything soft and pure dies.
She’s innocent. I have no business dirtying her with my touch.
But I can’t stay away.
Discover the entire collection of six, dark mafia romances and hot troubled bad boys featuring Heat, Ruin, Shame, Redemption, Absolution, and Capo.
I read this, and the second book, when they first came out, and despite buying book 3 a hectic arc schedule meant I never got around to reading it. This is my year for reading books I already own so I’m going to read that third book, but leaving it two years and more than a few hundred books later meant I needed to do a re-read of this and Crave to Capture. My original plan was to skim read, just flip through and remind myself of some key points that I’d forgotten. Ha! That idea soon dissipated into the ether because within minutes I found myself totally engrossed. So much so that I didn’t put it back down until I’d read the whole thing.
Cailyn is a my sort of heroine, feisty, strong, determined and clever. Drocco – well the jury is still out for him. He was arrogant, conceited, assuming and overbearing. His initial treatment of Cailyn, when he discovered her true dynamic, was horrific. He used some extremes of torture to try and break her down and, as with most M/f omegaverse stories, there was a considerable element of dubious consent. Many would argue that it veered into non-consent, and whilst that becomes an argument of semantics, the book definitely contains a few scenes that might trigger some.
Whilst Drocco did earn back some of my respect and affection when he made an effort to learn more about Cailyn, to try and understand what he had done wrong (duh, big stupid alpha male that he was) and to rectify some of his actions/decisions, his motives for that were still questionable. How much was because he wanted Cailyn to be happy and how much was his obsessive desire to ‘own’ an omega mate? The fact that they could be soul mates only added another layer of complication to the whole situation.
I really enjoyed how this omegaverse incorporated an element of magic, though I’ve loved the fantasy genre since my teens, when I’d read Anne McCaffrey, David Eddings and Katherine Kerr. The world building was good, the author created an interesting setting for her story and managed to develop our understanding of it without a huge information dump, but also in a way that never left us adrift in this new world.
I’m jumping into book 2 today, and find myself still only too happy to recommend this to those who enjoy darker Mf omegaverse.
My second read of this book, in preparation for finally reading book #3 and completing it. And I’m wondering how I ever left this incomplete. I’d forgotten just how amazing this series is, the writing has me gripped from start to finish, I’ve read the two books in less than 24 hours and will be starting the third book as soon as I’ve finished writing this review.
Drocco, Drocco, Drocco. What am I going to do with you? You travel half way around the world to recover your fated mate and then treat her like crap. Oh you foolish, foolish alpha. So many times I wanted to throat punch him. But then we get those scenes in the cottage where he goes all out to win Cailyn’s heart. Oh and his anguish and heartache when he thinks he has failed – that certainly had me tearing up.
It could have been easy to dislike Cailyn, after all she stubbornly held onto her dislike for an alpha that was clearly bending over backwards to show her his feelings. But this woman has been fed misinformation and half-truths since she was an infant. Discovering those lies opens her eyes to a whole new world of possibilities and I can’t wait to find out what happens next!
I am totally in love with this couple, they are such star-crossed lovers. Although Drocco manipulates the Talent to induce a Haze, and technically what results could be judged as dubious in consent, I still enjoyed every single moment. The writing is fantastic and the pace and complexity of the plot held me spellbound. I’m off to read book 3 now.
I know King Malloron is the hero of books 4 – 6. I’m wondering how Ms Ellis will convince me of that because I really, really dislike him at the moment.
An outstanding conclusion to this epic and wonderful story.
I only have one regret, and that is how quickly I powered through this third book. I’m sort of wishing I’d forced myself to take me time, savour every word and stretch out the experience as long as possible. But I just needed to find out what happened next far too much to do that. Zoey Ellishas created a wonderful cast of characters and an amazing world for them to live in. The Myth of Omega series is a must read for anyone who enjoys omegaverse stories.
The lies, secrets and manipulations of the Mothers was astounding. What had started off with the best of intentions, a way to protect some of the most very vulnerable of females, had been warped by the bitter memories of an old woman. The last two books have very much been about Drocco’s growth, this time it was Cailyn’s turn, and boy did she have some making up to do to.
Great writing held me spellbound, had me on the edge of my seat with my emotions ricocheting all over the place! Oh my word do Cailyn and Drocco have to fight for their HEA, though thankfully it wasn’t against each other this time. I could feel every emotion, every hope and desire, every triumph and tragedy that beset the pair.
This books in this series have just gotten better and better. Looks like I’m going to be finding out more about King Malloron – even if he does seem like a complete arse.
I read The Last Dominant in January of 2019 and it was my first introduction to the brilliance that is Eris Adderly. I still need to catch up on some of her back list, but then isn’t that entirely the story of a book addicts life? To many books, too little time.
Amazing world-building, an engaging plot, a dominant male and some hot, kinky sex.
Well if that isn’t enough to make you want to read the book, what’s wrong with you? To many dark sci-fi romances forget the whole sci-fi part of the story, they are virtually no different to a contemporary romance. This didn’t suffer from that failing. We had some really good world building and a love across the divide theme.
Quillian and Rushkah should be mortal enemies, their planets have been at war almost forever it seems. However they have more in common than would first appear, including some fairly rare DNA from which the title of the book originates.
I absolutely loved Rushkah and Quillian, neither was perfect and both battled their feelings for the other. The chemistry they shared was palpable and this is one steamy and kinky read. Quillian discovers a hitherto unknown dominant side and whilst Rushkah’s head rebels at the idea, her body, soul and heart have very different ideas.
The story is written third person from both POV’s, so I found it easy to connect to and understand both characters. The plot held my interest and moved with good pace. It had enough detail and thought put into it to satisfy the part of me that has read sci-fi and fantasy for over 30 or so years.
If I was to criticise anything it would be that some parts of the story could have done with a little more fleshing out. The book didn’t lack detail but this was one occasion where I think a few more scenes, or longer scenes would have actually added to the book. However that is very much a case of what I personally would have liked, this is still an excellent story and one I really do recommend.
“I can have whatever I want. I own you.”
Qillian Wehr is the last of his kind. A bloodline of unspeakable power. To the Imbrian government, he is a weapon. A last resort in their age-old war with Rhyolus. His leaders want insurance. They want an heir. They need a genetic match. And now, they’ve found her.
Exotic. Stunning. Lethal. Rushkah Ekhayl would murder Qillian in his sleep if she got the chance. She’s Rhyolusian. She is his enemy.
The Last Dominant is a scorching enemies-to-lovers romance where a taste of treason unlocks desires of submission and control. For mature readers only.
Publisher’s Note: This steamy sci-fi thriller contains elements of power exchange.
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.
