Day / May 18, 2011

by mvbookreviewer

Requested Review: Coercion by Lux Zakari

Format: E-bookcoercion
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Erotica
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Lyrical Press Inc.
Hero: Michael Vartanian
Heroine: Valerie Mercer
Sensuality: 4.5
Date of Publication: August 2, 2010
Started On: May 18, 2011
Finished On: May 18, 2011

I didn’t know what to expect when I delved into Coercion by Lux Zakari but I have got to say that it certainly held my undivided attention throughout which had me going from the start to finish in one sitting, just taking a timeout for toilet breaks in between. I was utterly riveted and fascinated with everything that was going on and for the world of me I couldn’t have dragged myself away from the story that unfolded.

I have a hard time defining Coercion as a romance because simply put, this is not a romance novel. But, Coercion is a story that combines the power of love, the ability of mind numbing lust to obliterate everything else and the lengths to which humans would go to possess the ones that they love.

Valerie Mercer is an only child and an introverted and insecure one at that who in her aim to change her life for the better sheds 25 pounds and emerges with a new look just in time for the start of the new semester. Though guys who have never noticed her before seems to be doing the total opposite, the only guy that Valerie wants to be noticed by is the one and only Michael Vartanian, the proverbial bad-boy of Kenton.

Michael is the only son of a Reverend, whose mother just one day upped and left and never returned. Michael doesn’t seem to care about anything in his life apart from being with his on and off girl friend Kim Breza (Breeze) and getting his kicks from indulging in the forbidden.

When circumstances at first drives Michael to seek Valerie, she is more than willing to be driven out of her senses right up against her mother’s car. And though Michael has no intention of returning any of what Valerie so obviously feels for him, time and time again Michael seeks her out, and makes use of her only to discard her once the deed is done. There is nothing on Earth that Valerie wouldn’t do to keep Michael by her side, to earn his love and approval, even if it means going against each and every belief that she has upheld till now.

In the end, there is no happily ever after for either of them, but nevertheless it was a fitting end to the volatile stream of emotions that this novel seems to be able to invoke in abundance, leaving a bittersweet tang in the air, which had me wistfully wishing for a novel that would portray the new Michael that would emerge from what follows the conclusion of this story.

Coercion is a novel that delivers well in the angst department, drawing me in until I was as helplessly ensnared in the story as Valerie seems to be with Michael. Michael is a hero not many readers would be willing to take. But I applaud Lux Zakari for having the guts to come out and write such a hero and send out a huge thank you to Lyrical Press for publishing this novel as it is. Because whilst happily ever afters and rosy kisses at the end are all well and good, Coercion is a novel that rings true to real life in so many ways which makes this book all that much better.

Whilst Michael makes you want to sit back in horrified fascination it is Valerie that you want to shake up well and good to make her see that it is Valerie that gives Michael the ability to screw up her life in more ways than one. In the end, Coercion does leave one with the valuable lesson that in order to be loved for who you are, you need to love yourself for who you are – all that more.

I loved this utterly fascinating piece of work and would recommend this highly to readers who want something a LOT more different than the usual romance novels that your erotica generally delivers. This ones made of much more and if you are a reader like myself this one would leave you definitely wanting more of Michael, no matter how unlikely it may seem. And that is a testament to Lux Zakari’s ability to spin a well rounded tale which certainly lands her in my list of authors to look out for in the future.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard | Kobo | Lyrical Press

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Anything You Want by Erin Nicholas

Format: E-bookanythingyouwant
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Samhain Publishing Ltd.
Hero: Marc Sterling
Heroine: Sabrina Rose Cassidy
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: March 15, 2011
Started On: May 17, 2011
Finished On: May 18, 2011

Anything You Want by Erin Nicholas is exactly what the doctor ordered for my restless craving to read something evocative and different. A huge shout out of thanks to Cari Quinn, one of the most fabulous authors out there who was wonderful enough to recommend this to me when I was feeling down in the dumps, wondering what to read to get myself out of this funk which I have found myself in lately.

Sabrina Rose Cassidy is down on her luck, stranded in a strange town, with no money and no means of getting herself back home to Justice after 4 whole years of being away, trying to find that elusive something that would fulfill her and curb the restlessness that has always been a part of her. Now pregnant, Sabrina wants to do the right thing, make the right decisions for the first time in her life, even if it means going back and facing all those whom she left behind when she left to pursue her dreams.

When Marc Sterling receives a call meant for his best friend Luke Hamilton, the last thing he expects is to hear the voice of Sabrina, the woman who broke his best friend’s heart and left town right after rejecting his marriage proposal. Not wanting  to subject Luke to Sabrina’s brand of charm is what has Marc hopping into a car and travelling 6 hours to reach the woman who makes his hackles rise just by existing. But what Marc doesn’t expect to happen is for Sabrina to stir his senses up and give him the fastest hard-on in history and to see the unexpected flare of desire burn in Sabrina’s eyes right back at him.

For two people who has a history of being unable to tolerate each other’s presence, the forced intimacy Marc and Sabrina are subjected to has both of them re-evaluating how they see each other, each finding qualities in the other that draws them in like a  moth to flame. Back home in Justice, Luke does the expected which has Marc reeling in sheer frustration amongst other things, knowing that he possibly cannot want to possess the woman whom his brother is set on marrying.

Anything You Want is a contemporary romance that has got everything going for it. In-depth character development that had me falling in love with each and every single character that came up in the story, wonderful dialogs that had me smiling, and of course the sexual innuendos that fly between Sabrina and Marc which just ups the sizzling heat factor in the book makes this a story of the cannot-put-down-for-the-life-of-me kind.

Marc is a wonderful hero, who starts out resenting Sabrina and her dependent nature on Luke which Marc knows is of the destructive kind, but later finds himself hopelessly ensnared by the different facets of the woman Sabrina really turns out to be. Sabrina is a heroine who starts out looking as a self-centered woman who knows just how to keep Luke dangling after her, but her character as it unfolds is so much more complex, layer after layer which Marc unfurls to find the passionate woman inside.

Sabrina is a woman who is faced with a tough choice. On one side is the man who offers her the security that she craves, the choice she knows that she should make in order to give her baby everything he or she deserves. On the other side is the man who makes her insides go weak just by walking into the room, whose way of calling her “Seattle” has her wanting to jump his bones each and every single time. He is the man who understands her, who wants to set her free so that she can do what it is that she loves doing, and never ever have to wonder “What if?”.

I don’t think I can do an adequate job of outlining just how much I loved everything about this story from its heartwarming characters and setting to the very well done sex scenes of the toe-curling variety that I just reveled in. Now I can’t help but want to find out whether Luke and the very unusual Kat gets their story, which I am hoping fervently that it does come out because it is so obvious that they are meant to be together.

Very highly recommended for fans of contemporary romances featuring a hot-as-sin hero and a heroine who finds where she belongs – in the arms of the man she least expects to find the cure for her restless wandering.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard | Kobo | Samhain

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