Category / Charming Hero

by mvbookreviewer

ARC Review: The Next Best Thing by Kristan Higgins

Format: E-bookthenextbestthing
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Ethan Mirabelli
Heroine: Lucy Lang
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: August 27, 2013
Started On: August 26, 2013
Finished On: August 28, 2013

The Next Best Thing by Kristan Higgins, though I got it off of Netgalley as an ARC is not an altogether a new publication. This book was first published in 2010 and has been on my to-be-read pile for quite sometime now. And though I didn’t figure this fact out until I was about to begin reading this, it just made me wonder a little why Harlequin hadn’t listed this as a republication.

The Next Best Thing is a book that bears all the hallmarks of Kristan Higgins. There is humor of course, weird and laugh out loud variety of family antics to go around, a hero and heroine who for all intents and purpose spend most of the book apart and yet find their happily ever after towards the end and a dog or a cat to complement the picture. However, there is a slight difference when it comes to The Next Best Thing because the protagonists, i.e. Ethan and Lucy have been sleeping with each other even before the story begins.

The synopsis that goes with the story is a bit misleading to say the least, perhaps not to give the story away? Lucy is a widow, and  going on 5 plus years in her current status quo. The thought of moving on and finding someone else to share her life with stresses her to the point that the panic attacks that she has held at bay for sometime comes calling again, but the children that she wants to fill her life with urges her to seek a husband who would be an emotional risk-free investment on her part.

Having brought to an end her mostly weekend trysts with Ethan that has been going on for two years, Lucy tries to find that someone who meets all her criterion, all of them falling short of the mark for one reason or the other. Lucy doesn’t want the complication of even thinking of Ethan as a viable choice to share the rest of her life with, but time and yet again, it is Ethan that she misses like a proverbial ache in her heart, his companionship that she seeks when she has something worthy of sharing, and the combustive chemistry that they had shared that makes her want to rip her clothes off and get down and dirty with him every time she sees him.

Underneath the veneer of laugh-out-loud humor, The Next Best Thing is a story that waged an emotional warfare inside of me. I hated Lucy for what she continuously put Ethan through, all the while wondering how she could have been so clueless. But I guess given the circumstances and the pedestal upon which she had placed her dead husband, it was hard to see past that and see Ethan, the man who had always stood with her and beside her, unwavering in his support for her, no matter what. There was  this part of me that absolutely sympathized and empathized with what Lucy goes through. I have survived tragedy of the panic-inducing variety and I know what its like to battle with it every single day afterwards. And change, is definitely a trigger and that is exactly what Lucy is subjected to when she sets out to get out of the “rut” into which her life had fallen into after the death of her husband.

Ethan is a character to absolutely die for. Ethan and his emotions never making it to the forefront is one of the reasons why I tend to steer clear of books told in first person from just one character’s point of view. I would have dearly loved to see things from Ethan’s point of view, the heartache and desolateness that is part of him that was evident to see even when his point of view wasn’t part of the story. Simply put, I loved Ethan and everything to do with him, his unwavering courage in standing by and letting the woman he has loved ever since he set eyes on her find her way on her own terms telling in itself. A lesser man would have walked away to restore the pieces of his heart but Ethan sees it all through even if it must have broken him from inside out. The fact that he has always been considered “the next best thing”, even by his parents was heartbreaking to see. And Lucy not seeing it for so long just made my hands clench and unclench every single time such an incidence came up in the story.

Perhaps, I might not put Lucy into the category of heroines that I hated by the end of the story, but she certainly is someone who was difficult to fall in love with because of her blind devotion to the memory of a man who was less than perfect but made otherwise by those who had adored him to the point that the rest had just paled in comparison and faded into the background. I had a pebble the size of Mount Everest in my throat by the time I finished reading this in the wee hours of the morning. But every emotion wrangling bit towards the end was so worth it! So very worth it. And the epilogue tucked in at the end certainly went a long long way into soothing my ruffled feathers where Ethan is concerned.

Recommended for fans of Kristan Higgins, those who love romances with a large dose of humor and books that invoke a shitload of emotion from you!

Final Verdict: Worth every bit of emotion it wrenches out of you! Ethan is a must have on your bookshelf.

Favorite Quotes

His arms tighten around me, and the hangers rattle again as we knock against them, and now his lips are on my neck, the gentle scrape of his beard contrasting with the warm silkiness of his mouth. My knees soften in an almost painful rush. Then his mouth finds mine again, and the kiss is not so gentle this time…desperate, hungry, hot and forbidden and utterly welcome.

My hands move to his chest, and his skin is hot, practi- cally burning me through the cotton, and I can feel the hard thudding of his heart. Without thinking, I tug his shirt and slip my hands underneath.
“Lucy,” he mutters against my mouth. “Honey, wait.” But I just kiss him again and slide my hands against the smooth skin of his back, his ribs, and pull him closer, wanting him against me. He shifts so we’re closer, his mouth hot and hard. Waiting is forgotten.

Then he leans in closer so that our foreheads touch. “You sure, honey?” he asks
“Yes,” I whisper, and his mouth is on mine. His hand slides under my T-shirt and cups my breast, and my breath catches. He tastes so good, feels like heaven and I can’t believe I’ve waited so long for this. His mouth moves to my neck, a hot jolt shudders through me, and I sink into the bed, the sun hot on my skin, and give my- self away.
And I realize that despite my intentions, I’ve fallen in love after all.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Harlequin | Kobo | Diesel

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by mvbookreviewer

ARC Review: Personal Assets by Kelsey Browning

Format: E-bookpersonalassets
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Texas Nights, #1
Publisher: Carina Press
Hero: Cameron Kyle Wright
Heroine: Alice Ann Shelby
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: August 26, 2013
Started On: August 20, 2013
Finished On: August 26, 2013

Turned out being bad with Allie was so damned good.

Cameron Kyle Wright returns to his hometown of Shelbyville in Texas with a sense of homecoming, to start his own business, make a name for himself and perhaps find a woman to settle down with and start a family. But he is barely home before he runs into the all too delectable Alice Ann Shelby, the cossetted daughter of the most prestigious family in town.

Allie knows trouble of the good kind when she sees it. And the six foot of grumpy ruggedness that Cameron presents calls out to all her girly bits to stand up and take notice and perhaps have a go at him while they are at it. With a PHD in hand, Allie is the owner of a body image and sexuality counseling service in town aka a sex therapist, a business that is frowned upon by her father who had never in reality approved of anything she has done with her life.

When Allie proposes to Cameron a deal that includes all inclusive hot and mind-blowing sex whose by-product would be intense orgasms that would leave both of them begging for more, Cameron is hesitant to get down and dirty with a woman like Allie. For someone who wants and craves respect from his townsfolk, Cameron finds out that getting his dose of mind obliterating sex with Allie just might be worth all the hassle that she brings to the other aspects of his life as well.

With humor that begs one to laugh out loud; and I guarantee you that you wouldn’t be able to hold your laughter in even if you tried, Personal Assets by Kelsey Browning is a contemporary romance for those who love humor interlaced with every aspect of their romances. There’s plenty of heat to go around, with a cast of characters that holds their own and are appealing protagonists for the books that are certainly to follow in the Texas Nights series.

Cameron’s character is not one easily discernible when you first start out with the story. His character is revealed bit by bit and mostly towards the end of the story. Cameron is a giver at any cost, which is evident both in his actions in and out of bed. The way he totally and utterly focuses on pleasuring Allie is something to be savored, the way he wants to protects her even out of a misguided sense of responsibility one that is endearing and exasperating at the same time.

Allie has her work cut out for her when at first Cameron tries and resists her advances to take things slow. However, Allie on a mission is hell on wheels for any heterosexual male’s libido and that is how she wins him over together with other aspects of her character that comes out when she is with Cameron. The one thing she doesn’t factor into their supposedly meaningless trysts is the fact that her heart might become involved, that Cameron might be the one to get past the barriers and finally lay siege on her heart.

Recommended for those who love romances from authors like Jill Shalvis and Kristan Higgins. With heat of the panty melting variety, Personal Assets makes for a scorchingly great debut of the Texas Nights series.

Final Verdict: Humor, heat and heart makes for an unbeatable read!

Favorite Quotes

As he rolled to his side to rest his shaking arms, Cameron tried to ignore the way his heart was also pulsing, but not just from physical effort.
She’d asked for sex, plain and simple.
Whether she knew it or not, they’d already blown right past simple.

She kissed the base of his throat, and his chest rumbled against her breasts. He two-stepped them right off the dance floor and into a dark hallway. He gripped her hips in rough hands and lifted her, her thin bodice rubbing his chest, aligning their lips. He backed her against the wall and, within a single heartbeat, the kiss became a symphony of tangled tongues and mingled breaths. His arms tightened around her so she could barely inhale. They’d said barely a word, but their bodies were in deep communication.

Suddenly, he gripped her hips tighter and thrust into a sitting position so his face was even with her breasts. She wrapped her legs around his hips, leveraging him even deeper. He gave her a look that could’ve peeled the paint off one of his cars, burning and wild. Then his mouth was on her breast, surrounding, sucking, taking all of her inside his mouth.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Carina

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by mvbookreviewer

ARC Review: First Temptation by Joan Swan

Format: E-bookfirsttemptation
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novella
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Series: Covert Affairs, #1.5
Publisher: Self-Published
Hero: Taft Walker
Heroine: Zoe Brooks
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: August 19, 2013
Started On: August 16, 2013
Finished On: August 17, 2013

Supervisory Border Control Agent Zoe Brooks gets tangled up with Agent Taft Walker from the Counterterrorism unit of the Department of Homeland Security in a joint quest to bring down Mexican drug smugglers of the El Diablo cartel.

From the moment Taft and Zoe meet, sparks fly, regardless of the fact whether they both want it or not. Going undercover as the owners of a sex toy shop might be pushing Zoe’s comfort zone a bit more than she would like, and given the fact that her emotions are all over the place of recent, Zoe knows that she would have to up her game just that much more if she is going to prove her worth as a fresh undercover agent.

The lust that spirals forth, scorching and undeniable is one thing that both Taft and Zoe never factors into the equation in working together. Taft is sexy, confident and phobic of any sort of commitment beyond that of a night of pleasure but Zoe seems to push all his buttons in the right way that seems to make him panic and soothe him all at the same time.

While Zoe and Taft try to find their footing amidst the passion that refuses to be denied between them, the web of danger that surrounds them continues to thicken, with Zoe being the centerfold of all that danger. Though Taft would like nothing better than to protect her from harms way, how he reacts to the danger and the need to protect Zoe could mean the end of whatever it is that is between Zoe and himself before it is even given a chance to flourish.

This is my very first Joan Swan and I would have to say I liked her unabashed style of writing and the sex scenes that definitely stirred more than just Taft and Zoe. Taft and Zoe definitely cannot be blamed for having lackluster sex; they are practically all over each other and tends to find themselves in the most interesting spots to get it on!

Though everyone advices never to judge a book by its cover, I know most of us are guilty of just that and I requested for a galley of this because the cover hinted at the deliciousness that was bound to come. I am certainly glad that this novella gave me a bit of an insight into what Joan Swan can do and has definitely whetted my appetite enough to pick up more of her books to read.

Recommended for fans of romantic suspense with singeing passion that rocks you to your toes!

Final Verdict: Hot & wild; First Temptation certainly makes for a combustive prelude to the Covert Affairs series!

Favorite Quotes

She stretched, sliding her body along his slowly, feeling every swell and groove and plane before she pressed her lips to his. His mouth remained firm, chaste. His eyes remained open, but a clear new awareness burned hot.
She tugged on his neck, pulling their mouths flush, and licked his bottom lip. His hands fisted in the waistband of her slacks.
She gazed into those blazing golden eyes and pulled back just enough to whisper, “Are you on board, Walker, or not?”
He growled. Opened his mouth. Closed his eyes. And really kissed her.

Zoe used her arms to rock her body into his touch. “Taft…”
He bit her ear, then whispered, “I’m going to make you come, but we’re not done. Not even close. I’m only giving you relief. And prepping you for the next one. And the one after that. I’m going to keep going until you come so hard you scream.”
Zoe whimpered. She opened her eyes, unable to believe the sound had come from her own throat. Then Taft pressed two of those thick, practiced fingers inside her, and Zoe couldn’t focus on anything but the way he filled her.

Purchase Links: Amazon

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Bound by Marriage by Nalini Singh

Format: E-bookboundbymarriage
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Silhouette Desire
Hero: Gabriel Dumont
Heroine: Jess Randall
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: October 1, 2005
Started On: August 7, 2013
Finished On: August 9, 2013

I have been so engrossed with reading the Psy-Changeling series by Nalini Singh that I have never even wondered whether Nalini has strayed into writing any other genres in the world of romance. So while I was doing some random searching on the Internet, imagine my surprise when this little number came up, and that too with the uber interesting marriage of convenience trope that can really make for superb reads!

Bound by Marriage takes place in New Zealand and is told from both the hero and heroine’s point of views in the third person. While wealthy rancher Gabriel Dumont and Jess Randall enter into a marriage of convenience knowing fully well what they both are getting into, neither of them factors in the searing passion that lights up the sheets between them and of course plays havoc with the general order of things or how they both perceive their joint lives would turn out to be.

Jess never thought that her heart would be capable of loving anyone else, much less a man like Gabriel who is so withdrawn that he opens up to her only when they are in bed together, him drawing out responses from her that she would never have thought possible. But even then the times that Gabriel does let her see that tender side of his, although it is very rarely with the situations that continue to develop and put further strains on their already fragile bond, Jess finds herself inexorably drawn towards the man she calls as her husband.

I seriously thought that I would have a hard time liking Gabriel by the time the book was half way through. Yes, he is that stubborn and set in his ways that if it weren’t for his emotions that are as much in turmoil as that of Jess’s I wouldn’t have thought that he felt anything for the woman he had married. But lo and behold, I should have trusted Nalini a bit more and waited for the bombshell when it hit and yes, I was blown away with the compassion and love that filled my heart for the little boy Gabriel had been when he had lost vital pieces of his heart in a way that they would never be regained.

For some readers, Jess might seem to be putting up with much more than they would have liked. But I think Gabriel needed someone just as equally stubborn as him, willing to give until those impenetrable shields of his that he wears around himself like an armor were all but shattered around him. I loved the ending, the glimpse into the man Gabriel later turns into, not completely tamed, no never that, but a man who is at least a little bit at peace with his past and smiling in the arms of the woman who loves him like there is no tomorrow.

Final Verdict: Sensual & heart wrenching; Silhouette Desire at its best!

Favorite Quotes

Gabriel’s hand was rough against her skin, the hand of a man who worked the land. But on her neck, his lips were almost velvet soft—a seductive contrast. She lost her breath as he closed his teeth over a pulse point, then released with exquisite deliberation, scraping those same strong teeth along the sensitive flesh.

“I’m damn glad you’re a rider, Jess,” he almost growled as he filled her, going so deep that she could feel his heartbeat in her body.
Not aware enough to understand what he was referring to, she squeezed intimate muscles around him in a reaction as old as time itself. Throwing back his head, he tightened his hold on her and began to move. His rhythm was fast, his strokes deep. She screamed and screamed as he pushed her over the edge in a tempest of hot breaths and powerful thrusts.
And when she fell, it was as a marked woman. Gabriel Dumont’s woman.

And then she heard the zipper being lowered.
Even that warning wasn’t enough. She screamed as he pushed into her. Hard. Fast. Deep. Her body accepted him, welcomed his driving thrusts, but he was merciless in the intensity of what he asked of her, pushing her so far that she lost all traces of civilization and surrendered to her most primal heart.

“So I did,” he murmured, reclaiming her lips even as his hand pushed aside the gusset of her panties to thrust two fingers deep into a body more than primed by the slow seduction. Pleasure erupted inside her almost instantaneously. Pulling away from the ravaging fury of his mouth, she threw back her head and rode his fingers, feeling herself clench and unclench with vicious strength.

Gabe’s arm came around her waist and his teeth scraped lightly over the sensitive skin of her neck. “Now, Jess. Now!”
She fractured under the command, everything female in her glorying in the wildness of that harsh masculine voice. At the last second, their eyes met in the mirror and Jess knew they’d crossed a line. The question was, what lay on the other side?

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Harlequin | Kobo

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Blaze of Memory by Nalini Singh

Format: E-bookblazeofmemory.jpg
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Psy-Changeling, #7
Publisher: Berkley
Hero: Devraj Santos
Heroine: Ekaterina Haas (Katya Haas)
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: November 3, 2009
Started On: August 5, 2013
Finished On: August 7, 2013

Nothing is stronger than the will of the human heart.

How anyone could have NOT LOVED the 7th book in the Psy-Changeling series is beyond me. I have seen well above 4 star average rating for almost every book or should I say all the books that I have read to date in this series on Goodreads. But Blaze of Memory has a 3.97 stars average rating which made me wonder whether Nalini had fallen short of the mark when she aimed to bring the story of Devraj Santos and Katya Haas to her fans. But in the end, it just went to show that relying completely on ratings to lead your way can sometimes backfire on you as I loved every single inch of this book and then some and wanted a little bit more being the greedy and voracious fan of the series that I am!

Devraj Santos (Dev) is the director of the Shine Foundation that seeks out the Forgotten, the generation of the first defectors from PsyNet when the protocol of Silence had first been put into place. The Shine Foundation seeks out kids who have “gifts” that they do not know how they ended up with, continually at danger if the Council were ever to find out their existence and move to eradicate them for the fear of loss of control as the most lethal race in the world. However recent events seem to have put cracks in the picture perfect world of the emotionless Psy as presented to the rest of the world and it is a continuing thread in all the books how the PsyNet seems to be slowly disintegrating and turning onto itself which makes for interesting reading in itself.

When Dev finds an utterly broken woman left on his doorstep for him to find, a female Psy who doesn’t remember who she is and how she got there though Dev knows that she might end up being the worst kind of threat to him and his foundation, he cannot help the protective instincts that surges forth with every single minute he spends in her company.

Katya Haas is a woman who has been violated in the worst manner possible and left to fulfill her destiny or die a slow and painful death which would strip her of even the little bit of tattered dignity that she has left. The one thing that Katya realizes from the onset is that the flawless Psy conditioning that should make her immune to the delicious appeal that Dev is on her senses has been effectively broken down and that she is no match for the chain of emotions that kickstarts deep inside of her when Dev is around.

Though trust is an element that is missing between Dev and Katya, the need that each rouses in the other is one that neither can turn their backs on. And as Katya tries to unravel the literally kicking time-bomb she is, Dev finds his heart, body and soul totally enamored by the enemy who could be his utter and complete destruction as the Psy Councilor playing puppet master to Katya wants.

Blaze of Memory proved to be nothing short of a fantastic read, the only thing I missed being the epilogue that Ms. Singh always tucks in at the end of each novel. But the Petrokov Family Archives which was presented throughout the story in the form of letters served to be an interesting facet into seeing how the Silence Protocol came about from someone who had witnessed it firsthand. And there was this bit towards the end of the story where Katya beseeches Dev to go visit his father which proved to be quite the emotion wrangling scene.

Dev might not be a shapeshifter, but he has his own set of skills that makes him just as lethal. Dev is just as finely honed as any sentinel in the DarkRiver or lieutenant in the SnowDancer pack of Changelings. His intensity and hardness both being features required of him with the job he had undertaken as the Director of a foundation that needs to make decisions that impacts the lives of so many people under his care. His salvation from letting the coldness totally rule over his emotions comes in the form of Katya, a woman he thinks to be broken in every fundamental way possible but surprises and amazes him with the strength she displays given the room to flourish.

Katya is the sort of heroine that any reader would fall in love with. Nalini has an innate talent in creating heroines who are tough, strong and yet with a core of femininity and vulnerability inside of them that makes them human and that much appealing. I felt for Katya with every single cell in my being, her immense strength in defying a master of mental combat one that had me enthralled and in awe by the time I was done.

The scenes of passion between Katya and Dev are scorching hot; Nalini certainly knows how to ratchet up the heat-o-meter when it comes to sizzling scenes of heated love making between her characters. The last couple of chapters are so intense that I felt like chewing my nails out in agitation and the tangle of hot emotions that coursed through me to see Dev and Katya nearly lose the precious and beautiful love that they had found with each other. If you are hesitating on picking up this wonderful wonderful book because of the slightly lower ratings when compared with the other books in the series, don’t. Blaze of Memory is just as spectacular and just as lethal on the senses.

Final Verdict: Like an inferno that rages out of control, Blaze of Memory is just as vivid and beautiful in its wildness. Definitely recommended!

Favorite Quotes

Heat.
Touch.
Life, electric in its fury…a kiss that demanded her participation.
Shuddering in surrender, she drowned in the scent of him. Wild and exotic. Dark and male.
A man who’d snarled at her, caged her… fed her.
“Dev.” Spoken against his lips, she was so loath to break contact.
His mouth took hers again before she could say anything more, his teeth sinking into her lower lip.

“I don’t understand,” she murmured, lifting her fingertips to touch kiss-swollen lips, “how my race could’ve ever given up such exquisite sensation.”
His cock pushed against the zipper of his pants, the metal threatening to turn him into a eunuch. “Katya.”
As a warning, it had no effect. Dropping her hand from her lips, she clenched it over her navel, as if soothing some inward ache. “I feel so … hungry, so hot, as if my skin is about to burst.”
He shuddered, voice lost.

Hands on her hips. Warm. A little rough. Perfect. She sucked in a breath, and when he lifted her, it was instinct to wrap her legs around his waist. He moved her until she—“Dev!” she screamed into his mouth as his still-covered cock pushed into her softness, parting her with possessive heat, the thin cotton of her panties no barrier.
His thumb smoothed over the crease of her thigh, inciting her to move impatiently . . . but that only rubbed her clitoris against him, further tightening the fist that was her body.

She couldn’t stop the strangely fluid movements of her body—part of her knew what to do, how to do it. “More,” she ordered, nipping at his ear.
“You’re too tight.”
“More.”
Groaning, he slid a second finger inside her and pumped once.
Twice. Pleasure and pain, a stretching ecstasy. Her arousal peaked, hovered there, waiting, waiting… His thumb brushed her clitoris.
Everything exploded.

“Katya,” he said against her ear, trying to draw breath, to not lose himself completely.
Her fingers thrust into his hair. “You feel so good.”
The simple statement, made in that erotically husky voice, stole what small fragments of control he’d had left. Putting one hand on her hip, he pinned her in place as he began to stroke in and out in a hard, steady rhythm that had her clawing at him.

He lifted her with a display of strength that stole her breath. “Legs around my waist.” It was a clipped order.
She obeyed immediately. He rewarded her by sliding into her in a single hard thrust. Her scream echoed off the walls as pleasure short-circuited her body. His hands gripped her bottom, holding her tightly in place as he moved in and out. She clawed at his shoulders, feeling herself hanging on the precipice.
“God damn it!” Dev’s body went taut against her and she knew he’d lost every bit of his steely control.
That was all it took.
Electricity rocked through her, as wild and as hot as the man who held her pinned to the wall in helpless surrender.

She tried to pull away, but only because it amplified the sensations. Dev knew. He used his body to hold her in place, even as his lips insisted she return every kiss, every little bite, every breath.
She gave him all she had.
And still he asked for more.
Melting, she ran the back of one foot over his calf, urging him closer. Her reward was the release of her hands, as his own slid down her back, pulling her up. Instinct had her putting her legs around him in a shockingly intimate embrace, the hottest part of her pressed to the hardest part of him.

“Katya, baby, stop.” It was a groan. “I can’t hold on if you do that.”
She raised her lips to his again, infusing her kiss with every ounce of passion in her. Shuddering, Dev gripped her hard on one hip. “I sure hope you’re ready, sweetheart.”
“Yes, yes!” Crying out as her body stretched around the hard thrust of his entry, she wrapped both legs around his waist. And then she let him lead.
He took her on a ride that eclipsed anything they’d ever before done. Wild, untamed, and vividly physical, they danced. The last thing Katya remembered was seeing Dev’s eyes shimmer gold.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iBooks | Diesel

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by mvbookreviewer

ARC Review: Picture Perfect Wedding by Fiona Lowe

Format: E-bookpictureperfectwedding.jpg
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Wedding Fever, #2
Publisher: Carina Press
Hero: Luke Anderson
Heroine: Erin Davis
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: August 12, 2013
Started On: August 4, 2013
Finished On: August 5, 2013

30 year old Luke Anderson is a dairyman, the owner of Lakeview Farm, a farm that has been in his family for generations. Though Luke has gone through the whole of his life preparing for the takeover of the business from his father, something akin to discontentment has settled deep in his gut and he is unsure of the hows and whys of it and how to shake it off.

Erin Davis is a photographer of high-end brides, someone who has a plan to take her from Point A to Point B. Not one to take unnecessary risks, Erin needs the award which will be hers if everything goes according to plan, the publicity the award is going to bring on which she is basing the future of the rest of her self-made career on. Standing in her way of achieving the picture perfect wedding is one delicious hunk of a farmer who gets her inner wanton self doing cartwheels and somersaults in her attempt to make him sit up and take notice.

When Erin turns up at Lakeview Farm, the one thought that rushes through Luke’s mind before turning to mush in the face of that sizzling attraction that flares to life between them is the fact that he has no time in his life for high maintenance city girls. Luke might want to turn his back on Erin and her beautiful green eyes that calls out to him on levels that he doesn’t even begin to understand, but he finds that the strange fascination that he has for Erin is hard to say no to. For Erin, Luke is the one temptation that she cannot resist, even when their summer affair heats up just more than her sheets at night.

Picture Perfect Wedding is the second book in the Wedding Fever series set in the small town of Whitetail, Wisconsin. I loved this instalment in the series from the characters to the fun antics that had me snorting and laughing out loud and also the secondary romance that unfolded between the town widower Nicole and the hot new fire chief Tony.

Luke and Eric are a delicious couple, both with their own misgivings about their future and their own battles to fight. Luke is a man who is undecided on what he wants to do to the farm, and it certainly doesn’t help matters when it brings problems raining down on his close-knit family and has his retired father breathing down his neck.

Erin falls in love with every aspect of the charming life that she sees happen every day in Whitetail. With a steady income burgeoning her bank balance for the first time in a long while, Erin finds herself to be in her element, all the while working towards photographing the perfect wedding which would change the course of her life. But beneath all that enthusiasm lies a heart that is scared beyond anything at the thought of tying herself down, opening her heart to pain and heartache that is certain to follow in the wake of every relationship.

I loved both Luke and Erin, Lukes stoicism something that truly made his character one thats fascinating. Put into the mix his family and two dogs plus the various well meaning members of the community, well you have a hell of a lot on your hands to juggle and its wonderful the way Fiona knows just what to do to keep the story flowing smoothly. I loved the sexual battle of wills that took place between Luke and Erin and of course I didn’t even expect Nicole to come out and show a side of herself that I wouldn’t have ever thought her capable of. The secondary romance that took place perfectly complemented and was in line with the primary story that was unfolding and though I would have loved to learn more about Tony, I found myself pretty much satisfied with the level of detail Fiona went into when it came to their romance.

If there is anything Fiona Lowe does exceptionally well, it is contemporary romances set in small towns and she writes them with so much heart that it is impossible not to lose yourself in the magic of it all.

Recommended for fans of the series and fans of small town romances.

Final Verdict: Picture Perfect Wedding comes to you with lots of sizzle, fun & heart. Not to be missed!

Favorite Quotes

With a puff of dissatisfaction that he was so slow to respond, she pulled her hand from his, rose on her toes, slid both her hands against his cheeks, angled his mouth and kissed him.
Her lips pressed against his and the slight scratch of his top lip grazed hers as she coaxed him to open his mouth to her. Chocolate, coffee and heat flowed through her, spinning currents of delight eddying through her, feeding her need for this man like oxygen fuels fire.

Her fingertip touched his and flames engulfed her. His large, strong hand closed around her wrist. She lunged toward him as his arms lifted her at the hips, and then her legs were wrapped around his waist, and she was burying herself against his chest. She was home. Her body, so taut with ragged need for so long, stilled for a heartbeat, suspended in bliss, and then primal energy thundered through her. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she lowered her mouth to his and kissed him.

His hands gripped her hips and he lifted her over him and then very slowly he lowered her down.
Her body, oh so very ready and desperate for him, opened easily, absorbing him bit by bit until she’d stretched to the limit and he completely filled her. The sensation was indescribable and she experienced the oddest feeling that she was going to cry, which made no sense because her body was on fire for him. Her throbbing muscles, which had ached for him, closed around him and need became fire driving her upward to seize the ultimate prize.

She smelled of vanilla and tasted of salt and he couldn’t get enough of the feel of her body. Reverently, he cupped her breasts in his hands, savoring the weight of them against his palm.
She gave a moan of pleasure and he felt her breasts tighten. He grinned. He’d never had a lover this responsive. Very slowly, he moved the pad of his thumbs across her nipples. Her body jerked and her eyes opened as wide as a cat’s. In the clear, green depths he clearly read desire—hot, molten need for him.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Carina | iBooks

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Hostage to Pleasure by Nalini Singh

Format: E-bookhostagetopleasure
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Psy-Changeling, #5
Publisher: Berkley Sensations
Hero: Dorian Christensen
Heroine: Ashaya Aleine
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: September 2, 2008
Started On: July 23, 2013
Finished On: July 25, 2013

“And the Psy do not allow the flawed to live.”

Dorian Christensen is one of the sentinels of the powerful DarkRiver leopard pack in San Francisco. Vengeance is something Dorian is all too familiar with, his hatred for anything and everything to do with Psy a visceral burn that never really leaves him. Born latent and unable to shift into his leopard form, Dorian is equipped with the classic good looks of a beach bum, both of which makes Dorian try that much harder to hone his fighting skills and abilities and come out at the top.

26 year old Ashaya Aleine is a 9.9 Gradient M-Psy with the ability to work in the science of genetics which makes her one of the most valuable commodities for the Psy with their plan on completely controlling the thought processes of the Psy population as per the Council’s desires. But Ashaya is a woman who has something to live for; to safeguard her son Keenan for whom she would lay down her very life without a second’s hesitation.

Dorian might not like the fact that his inner leopard seems to be all sorts of interested in Ashaya ever since that fateful night 2 months back when he had had her in the scope view of his sniper’s rifle. Vivid dreams of them turning to each other in need and heat torments him, the fact that he could feel all that for a Psy making him want to crawl out of his skin with the guilt he feels once the dreams subside. When Ashaya crosses his path again, this time around Dorian is willing to put on the charm to get Ashaya out of his system. But what neither Ashaya nor Dorian fail to comprehend is the connection and attraction that leaps to life between them and grows stronger as Ashaya tries to safeguard the sort of secrets that could in fact break the fragile bond & connection between them.

Hostage to Pleasure is the 5th book in the Psy-Changeling series and is told in 3rd person from mostly Ashaya and Dorian’s points of view.

Hostage to Pleasure is a beautiful and wondrous story, the fact that I couldn’t get enough of both Dorian and Ashaya one of the reasons that I loved the book. The fact that Dorian cannot shift is one of the most unique aspects of the story that unfolds, the constant pain he is subjected to because of the fact and especially with Ashaya tempting the inner leopard to come out and play which drives the pain to levels Dorian had previously learned to ignore. Through the haze of the need for vengeance and revenge on the Psy, Ashaya’s at times matter of fact and the other times the actions that reveal the vulnerable and emotional cracks beneath the deep conditioning on her mind as per the Psy mandate, Dorian learns to accept the fact that Ashaya is his mate and that is how it is going to be no matter how much his rational mind might want to reject that sort of deep emotional intimacy with a Psy.

Ashaya’s character was just beautiful. No two ways about it. I think since Sascha in the 1st book in the series, Ashaya is my second favorite heroine in the series! Her need to protect her son is one that knows no bounds, be it even faking her own death to escape the clutches of the Psy that holds her under lock and key to get what they want from her. To think of the amount of years Ashaya must have kept up the pretense that her Psy conditioning is perfect, well lets just say that kind of strength is what makes or breaks a person. Ashaya’s innocence when it comes to pleasures of the flesh and the refreshing way in which she reacts to both the playful and the raw and animal side of Dorian was what made me fall in love with her character.

Nalini Singh knows how to perfectly balance the suspense, romance, intrigue and the paranormal aspects of the story, all the while forging deep ahead into the fascinating world building she continues to do throughout every book in the series. It takes an author of immense talent to be able to write this many books and still have something fresh and exciting to offer with each new installment & truth be told I am just in utter awe of Nalini’s ability to spin tales that leaves me wanting to become an actual part of the Psy-Changeling world.

The intimacy that Nalini weaves into the story is what makes her stories stand out, the way she brings forth characters from previous novels and appeases the reader’s hunger to know more about them what makes these books unbeatable. Loved, loved, loved the epilogue and I couldn’t have asked for a more fitting end to the story.

Highly recommended for fans of romances! If you haven’t read the Psy-Changeling, you haven’t been reading romance that MUST be read!

Final Verdict: Laid siege on my heart & set it afire with pleasure from beginning to the end.

Favorite Quotes

His taste was inside her mouth, a dark and richly masculine thing at odds with the sheer beauty of him. Protected by the strange, twisting, chaotic shield that blocked Amara, she broke every rule and savored the experience. When his tongue swept against hers, she felt her throat lock. He did it again. Shuddering, she dared explore him in return. His growl poured into her mouth, making her nerve endings sizzle.

She tasted so good, he licked at her with quick catlike flicks that made her pulse turn to thunder. When she couldn’t seem to gasp in enough breath to ask him about the warning, he smiled. “I wasn’t kidding about having you in my bed. Get ready to dance with me.”

He bit her shoulder again, harder this time. She felt her body coat his with another layer of hot dampness even as lights started sparking behind her eyes. “Let go,” he said in a voice touched with a rough tenderness that undid her. “I’ll hold you safe.”
Yes, he would, she thought. So she rode the wave of pleasure, let him ride her through it, and when the next wave crested, she buried her face in his neck, licking at the salt of his skin.
Something very close to a purr rumbled through his chest. And at last, he began to move faster, the hard heat of him a pounding beat inside of her. She held on, was held safe . . . even as she held him safe.

Slipping into her bed, he cradled her against his chest. “You’re wrong. You would’ve pulled yourself together for Keenan, for Amara. That’s who you are.”
“He didn’t understand, she thought. “But I wouldn’t have survived.” She put her hand on his chest, wanting to feel the pulse of his life. “Pieces of my heart, Dorian. You’re in so many pieces of my heart.”

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Take Me Under by Rhyannon Byrd

Format: E-booktakemeunder.jpg
Read with: Kindle for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Series: Dangerous Tides, #1
Publisher: Berkley
Hero: Ben Hudson
Heroine: Reese Monroe
Sensuality: 4.9
Date of Publication: June 4, 2013
Started On: July 20, 2013
Finished On: July 22, 2013

34 year old Ben Hudson is the new sheriff of the idyllic holiday beach town of Moss Beach, Florida. Having given up his position as a homicide detective in Miami due to circumstances that had unfolded during his last investigation, Ben moves to town to take things at a more sedately pace. Ben has a reputation for working hard and playing that much harder and is never afraid of going after what he wants. The only thing that scares the bejeesus out of his is emotional entanglements of any sort.

Newly divorced 28 year old Reese Monroe moves to Moss Beach aiming to kickstart her life in a whole new direction. Her marriage to a cheating scoundrel has pretty much dented her ego and eroded her sense of self esteem and the need to escape from the mess her life had become motivates the move more than anything else.

Ben has hungered for Reese ever since the night he laid his eyes on Reese three years back. He has bided his time, always knowing deep inside that if and whenever Reese becomes free from the clutches of her good for nothing husband, he would definitely make his move and leave them both with the scorching imprint of how good things could be with them between the sheets.

Told from both Ben and Reese’s points of view in third person, Take Me Under takes place in its entirety in Moss Beach, Florida.

The connection between Ben and Reese sizzles right from the onset, a very much wary Reese who has no idea of how much of a starring role she has played in the sexy sheriff’s fantasies a little bit taken aback by the zeal with which Ben pursues her. And when it comes to light that Reese has a stalker who might have made his way to her new hometown on her heels, there is no stopping the protective instinct that surges forth in Ben and he becomes more of a force to be reckoned with which means for Reese there really is no turning back.

Rhyannon Byrd is very talented in the style with which she effortlessly blends the erotic and downright dirty sex into whatever genre of romance she works on. It has been while since she has published a contemporary romance and Take Me Under was a novel that I had been very much in anticipation for ever since she announced its release. Though it didn’t live up to all my expectations, Take Me Under proved to be a hot and panty-melting read with a dirty talking hero tossed into the mix.

Ben seemed to be a bit overwhelming to me; and I believe this just might be the first time I’m saying that about a hero, especially someone who looks like Christian Bale of all people. Forceful in his nature, Ben is a man from whom a woman can’t hide, either during the moments of passion or otherwise. And Ben is greedy enough to want everything Reese can give, although he might not be ready for the overwhelming riot of emotions that blindsides him as much as the passion between them does. The only thing that Ben is more afraid of than anything else is opening up the raw wounds that has festered for far too long inside of him.

Reese knows exactly what she is getting into when she says yes to getting down and dirty with Ben, and she goes onto show it in more ways than one, which actually seems to do a pretty good job of annoying Ben out of his stance on no messy emotional entanglements. It was quite amusing to see Ben in a role that he has never found himself in before as he reluctantly comes to the conclusion that without Reese by his side, he might just as well not exist.

I’m pretty much looking forward to Alex’s story, which seems to be in the works if the ending was anything to judge the next book in the series by. Alex certainly looks to be a hero who would be worth all the heartache he would put a reader through before embracing his own happily ever after.

Recommended for fans of Rhyannon Byrd and erotic contemporary romantic suspense.

Final Verdict: Raw & explicit, Take Me Under is a good debut for the Dangerous Tides series.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo

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by mvbookreviewer

ARC Review: Escaping Reality by Lisa Renee Jones

Format: E-bookescapingreality
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Series: The Secret Life of Amy Bensen, #1
Publisher: Julie Patra Publishing
Hero: Liam Stone
Heroine: Amy Bensen
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: July 22, 2013
Started On: July 17, 2013
Finished On: July 20, 2013

His touch spirals through me, warm and sweet, wicked and hot. I shouldn’t trust him. I shouldn’t tell him my secrets. But how do I not when he is the reason I breathe? He is what I need.

Liam Stone is a reclusive billionaire and philanthropist, a brilliant architect whose work is coveted by anyone and everyone who wants to make a long lasting impression in terms of building architecture and landmarks. A man who hugs his own demons far too close to comfort, Liam is a man used to taking charge, going after what he wants and winning.

Amy Bensen is a woman who is on the run, who has been on the run since she’d been 18 years old. Blending in with the rest is what does best, drawing attention to herself something that makes her palpitate in the fear that whatever or whoever she is running from would get the best of her.

Amy and Liam’s paths cross when the unseen danger comes calling once again, requiring her to leave whatever semblance of normalcy she has had for the past couple of years and leave everything behind. With the attraction and sense of awareness that trickles to life between them real and hard to ignore even from the very start, Amy finds herself breaking all her self appointed rules when it comes to Liam and how utterly and thoroughly he wreaks havoc on all her senses. Told in first person from Amy’s point of view alone, Escaping Reality is the first book in the two book series, The Secret Life of Amy Bensen.

Escaping Reality is my very first book by the New York Times Bestselling author Lisa Renee Jones. Amy’s story is one that calls out to the reader, one there is no escape from once you start reading. With the turn of each page, Lisa embroils you deeper into the unfolding relationship between the darkly handsome Liam, whose contrasting nature of being demanding in the bedroom and protective out of it tugs at your heartstrings.

Liam is a force to be reckoned with. One doesn’t assume the role of being a billionaire after having grown up barely making ends meet without becoming one. His utter focus on Amy and uncovering the secrets that makes her flinch away from life and all the possibilities it has to offer is one that compels the reader to keep turning the pages. There is a darker side to Liam, a side that he mostly hides from the rest of the world. The moment of desperation that revealed that side of him was in essence the point where I felt myself get drawn deeper into his character.

Amy has been running for so long, looking over her shoulder for the danger in pursuit of her, from the bits and pieces of memories that haunt and taunt her for so long that its almost as if she has known no other way of life. Liam is the rule breaker, the man who disturbs and destructs all the plans she has laid out in her mind to play her role in the game of survival that has become her life for the past six years.

Amy might want to turn around and run, run as far away as she can from Liam and all that he comes to mean to her in the short span of time that takes to form the bond between them, but something holds her back, the need within her that spirals out of control every time Liam lays his eyes on her. It is her undying need to be with him and protect him from her at all and any cost that finally makes Amy take that vital step towards seeking answers for the questions that has always been at the back of her mind, never being answered for the lack of courage within her to step in that direction.

Escaping Reality of course concludes with a cliffhanger ending which leaves the reader practically itching to find how the series will conclude, the curiosity which will only be sated coming October.

Final Verdict: Relentless; with the hint of danger & darkness snapping at the heels of the turn of every page, Escaping Reality is an unstoppable page-turner!

Favorite Quotes

His fingers curve around my neck, tugging my mouth near his, teasing me with the promise of a kiss. “You have no idea just how demanding I can be.” And with that erotic promise, his tongue slices into my mouth, a silky, hot caress that seems to touch every inch of my now tingling body. The taste of him, of hot passion and desire, sizzles through my senses, and my fingers splay on the hard wall of his chest.

He advances on me and I swallow the rest of my sentence. I start to back away but he is already in front of me, his hands on my waist. I suck in a breath, and just that fast, I’m on the counter, skirt up, knees apart, and the fingers of one of his hands tunnel into my hair. His mouth slants over mine, his tongue licking into my mouth, and he doesn’t taste tender. Not one little bit. He tastes like the raw, honest passion he’s promised this night will hold. And he tastes like me.

There is just the wild passion consuming us, and he is touching me, moving inside me, and I am going crazy with my hands tied. I want to touch him. I need to touch him.
He is on edge too, his grip tightening around my hips, his face buried in my neck, and with a guttural moan, he pushes harder, deeper, and my sex is one deep pulse around his shaft that begins a wave of pleasure and spreads through my entire body. I am there. I am falling, tumbling, and finally, I crash into that sweet spot.

Purchase Links: Amazon

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by mvbookreviewer

ARC Review: The Heiress Effect by Courtney Milan

Format: E-booktheheiresseffect.jpg
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Brothers Sinister, #2
Publisher: Self-Published
Hero: Oliver Marshall
Heroine: Jane Victoria Fairfield
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: July 15, 2013
Started On: July 14, 2013
Finished On: July 17, 2013

He wanted her, everything about her.
Everything except… Her.

Oliver Marshall is a duke’s son born on the wrong side of the blanket. Though Oliver hadn’t wanted for much as far as familial love went, society had never let him forget that he would always be left wanting because his father had never claimed Oliver rightfully as his. Ambitious & driven by the need to prove himself, Oliver is a man at times torn between the desire to do whats right and walk a bit on the darker side for the greater good, or so he tells himself.

Miss Jane Victoria Fairfield or the Feather Heiress as she is famous for has only one goal in mind. Protect her younger sister Emily at all and any cost, even if means making a spectacle of herself in the society. Jane counts herself as a loner, fighting a lonely & dangerous battle if the ones that hold the power in their hands were ever to figure out just how good she is at deceiving them into believing what she wants them to believe. Never quite seeming to fit in, Jane is the one that vividly stands out, a little too loud & bold for society’s comfort.

When Oliver’s ambitions collide in the path that Jane walks upon, Oliver is decidedly torn on whether to carry through with the nefarious task designated to him, which would be oh so easy if it were’t for the fact that Jane and her plight seems to echo a bit too closely with what Oliver had experienced during his childhood and adolescence. Somehow, the woman that Oliver bluntly says is the opposite of what he wants as a wife begins to grow on him, the taunting memories and dreams on the impossible woman for him being oh so deliciously right for him driving him to the brink of wanting that refuses to be denied. But the ultimate question lies in whether Oliver would be courageous enough to take that step towards accepting the fact he needs Jane in his life or would he walk on the path society dictates and leave Jane behind, even if it tears him into bits and pieces on the inside.

Set in Cambridgeshire of England in 1867, The Heiress Effect is the second full length novel in the Brothers Sinister series. Told from viewpoints of multiple characters, The Heiress Effect can be read as a standalone though I’d recommend reading at least The Duchess War before proceeding with The Heiress Effect.

You know those books that are hard to part with, not because it didn’t give you what you wanted but because it delivered exactly and rightly what you wanted that they are hard to let go? Well, The Heiress Effect is a book of the sort that makes you want to soak up and wallow in the emotions left behind in the wake of the story for a day or two before even attempting to pick up another book to read.

Courtney Milan skyrocketed her way to my auto-buy list of authors right after my very first novel from her which was the first book in the series. Ever since, I’ve been waiting a tad impatiently for the rest of the books in the series to come out and Courtney certainly have made the wait worthwhile. There are authors who can draw you into the story just be the prose & at times poetic and hypnotic writing style that begs a reader to lose themselves in the unfolding story. And Courtney definitely is one of them.

There are so many things I loved about The Heiress Effect. Namely Jane’s character that surprised, beguiled and made me fall in love just like that. The strength of her character and the burdens she shoulders all alone is admirable, her honesty refreshing and the way she cannot help but talk a person’s ear off when nervous endearing. The fact that Jane stayed true to her character, even towards the beautiful little epilogue tucked at the end which takes place 6 years down the line was what made the story in my opinion. I’ve seen very few authors manage to keep a character true to who they are, and so Courtney, I bow down to the refreshing honesty the story brought forward.

Oliver is definitely not the type of hero you’d go gaga over because of his good looks, rather you go crazy over him in spite of all of that. He might not be handsome in the classical sense but he more than makes up for it by that sheer intensity of his character alone. He has this way of saying certain things like, “Keep talking Jane”, which might be a very innocent statement given the circumstances and all, but the way he says it goes deep and I was sighing over his fascination with Jane and how out of character she makes him feel.

The secondary romance tucked into the story was a delight to read as well, not to mention other characters such as Oliver’s younger sister Free and his aunt Freddy that lends the story an extra richness that at times brought tears to my eyes. Courtney Milan just doesn’t write a romance, she paints a beautiful masterpiece everytime she puts pen to paper and that’s exactly why I’d always keep coming back for more. I cannot wait for Sebastian’s story to come out. I have a feeling that the pages are practically going to explode from the sheer force of his character alone which I am absolutely looking forward to!

Recommended for fans of Courtney Milan, fans of the series and practically EVERYONE who loves a good romance that can make you sigh and swoon in all the right doses. This one’s for you!

Final Verdict: Poignant, beautiful and poetic, there are few authors who can rival what Courtney Milan brings to the genre.

Favorite Quotes

She kissed him back, lips to lips, and then tongue to tongue. She kissed him until he wasn’t sure who was kissing and who was kissing back. The kiss took on a life of its own, roaring through his blood. As if somehow, if he kissed her hard enough, he could avoid the past and the future altogether. He might stay in the present forever.

And then there was just him—his weight, his breath, his body bearing her down, joining with her so intimately. His hands, turning her face up to his, and his kiss, warm and sweet on her lips. There was no other time at all.
Just now.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Smashwords

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