Category / Ellora’s Cave

by mvbookreviewer

Score Sheet Review: Flash Point by Shelli Stevens

Format: E-bookflashpoint.JPG
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novella
Genre: Contemporary Erotic Romance
Series: Holding Out for a Hero, Book 3
Publisher: Samhain Publishing Ltd.
Hero: Todd Wyatt
Heroine: Caitleen (Kate)
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: March 8, 2011
Started On: March 5, 2012
Finished On: March 5, 2012

CATEGORY SCORE GRADE
The hero 90 A
The heroine 90 A
Story line 90 A
Emotional Intensity 90 A
Story’s ability to suck me in 90 A
Heat & Sensuality  95 A
Conflicts within the story 90 A
Writing Style 95 A
Quotable Factor 60 A
The Ending 80 A
Overall Grade 87 A

Score Sheet Summary

Flash Point is a novella that I have been meaning to read for quite sometime. Almost a year to the date that it was first published, I managed to find some time to squeeze this novella in between some of my heavy reads and I enjoyed the escape that Shelli Stevens provided with this red-hot novella which combines elements of friends turning into lovers with a hero who is commitment phobic to the extreme and a heroine who is sunny, bubbly and vivacious as they come.

Todd Wyatt might want to go on thinking of Kate as a younger sister. But something vital in their relationship seems to have shifted after that tentative kiss that Kate had placed on him 5 months back and for the world of him Todd cannot seem to get the kiss out of his mind.

Kate has been half in love with Todd almost all her adult life, no wonder when Todd is the type of man that every woman in the vicinity wants to tame and call their own. But Kate knows that Todd is not the type for a long term relationship, but even that doesn’t stop her from staking her claim and taking anything and everything that Todd is ready and willing to give, even if it means that Kate would have to walk away nursing a broken heart when all is said and done.

I loved this installment of the Holding Out for a Hero series. Todd is a fireman who has got his own set of insecurities to deal with and the best thing about him was his possessiveness when it comes to Kate, which even he cannot explain. Kate was just lovely, a heroine that I utterly adored in all the ways.

Highly recommended, this is a novella best read after at least reading book 2 in the series, Command and Control which was the book that intrigued me to look up Todd and Kate’s story.

Favorite Quotes

[Todd] “There isn’t a woman I’m trying to impress with baking. I made that up.”
Kate frowned, stilling in her efforts to free herself. “Why did you say that then?”
“Damn it, to keep this from happening.” His head blocked out the light as it dipped, and then his mouth crashed down on hers.
Shock ripped through her as his lips masterfully parted hers, his tongue plunging inside to taste her.

She teetered to catch her balance, but his arm still held her, kept her from falling. And then his mouth crashed down on hers and her balance went wonky for other reasons.
Kate clutched his shoulders and moaned, parting her lips to his fierce kiss. The smell of his familiar, spicy cologne filled her senses. His tongue explored every inch of her mouth, his hands roving over her body. It was deliberate. A man staking his claim. Every female instinct inside of her could sense it.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Samhain | BoB

awesomeread

by mvbookreviewer

Score Sheet Review: Midnight Run by Lisa Marie Rice

Format: E-bookmidnightrun
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Erotic Romantic Suspense
Series: Midnight, Book 2
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
Hero: Tyler ‘Bud’ Morrison
Heroine: Claire Parks
Sensuality: 4.5
Date of Publication: February 18, 2004
Started On: February 15, 2012
Finished On: February 15, 2012

 

CATEGORY SCORE GRADE
The hero 90 A
The heroine 90 A
Story line 90 A
Emotional Intensity 90 A
Suck Me In Factor
 100 A
Heat & Sensuality  100 A
Conflicts within the story 90 A
Writing Style 90 A
Quotable Factor 70 B
The Ending 80 A
Overall Grade 89 A

Score Sheet Summary

Stopping after reading just one Lisa Marie Rice book is an impossibility for me. Midnight is a series that I have read completely out of order and because of that very reason I am able to say that Midnight Run sort of reads like a mix of the 3 books in the series put together. 

Bud is a cop, working undercover at a dance club in Portland known as The Warehouse when he sets his eyes on the beautiful Claire Parks. Bud is a tough, larger than life, total alpha hero who succumbs to the lure of the gentle and altogether too pretty for her own good Claire. Though Claire might be the last virgin in Portland, she has no intention of staying that way for long and its a weekend of decadent pleasures that Bud introduces Claire to, each and every encounter bringing the deeper emotions to the surface as their lovemaking grows more explosive as the weekend goes on.

Midnight Run is a book that is a feast for the senses. I say this because there wasn’t one non-tingly nerve in my body as Bud came into the picture and practically depleted the oxygen levels in the room with his take charge attitude in bed and out of it that serves to be a major turn-on. Though Claire is no pushover, it is always with pleasure I welcome heroines that Lisa Marie Rice creates, no feminists clouding up the story with their attitude in her novels.

The one disappointment for me was how the story ended. There was a lot of angst towards the end, and for me there were some “issues” that needed to be resolved between Claire and Bud before their happily ever after could begin. Of course, the love they have for each other is an unquestionable one, but I would have loved to see a bit of a prolonged ending to a story that had me reading the book in one sitting, giving my mind that much needed relaxation from the cloudy atmosphere of politics that is the current Maldivian environment.

Recommended for fans of the author and fans of the series.

Favorite Quotes

Yes, she, Claire Parks, who by all rights should have been dead these many years, her bleached bones rotting in the cold ground, was turned on. Waves of heat rolled through her body in liquid surges. The heat became almost incandescent in her breasts and in her loins, but her entire body burned and tingled with heat and life.

The rest of what she wanted to say was lost in his mouth. A red mist rose in his head. Fast as lightning, he picked her up, stripped her, pulled off his sweatshirt, pushed his sweat pants down—he deliberately hadn’t put on underwear, either—and embedded his c#ck in her. Just shoved it in because he’d die if he didn’t have his cock in her now.

With any other man, Claire would have been a little afraid, his expression was so fierce and dangerous-looking. She wasn’t frightened. This was Bud. He would never hurt her. “Why are you asking?”
Bud shifted his hips, pushing forward, moving even more deeply into her. “I want you to be comfortable,” he whispered, “because this is the position you’re going to be in for a long, long while.” His gaze held hers. “I’m going to fuck you all night.”

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | BoB | Ellora’s Cave

awesomeread

by mvbookreviewer

Requested Review: Heart Signs by Cari Quinn

Format: E-bookheartsigns
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Erotic Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
Hero: Samson Miller
Heroine: Rory Fowler
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: February 3, 2012
Started On: February 4, 2012
Finished On: February 10, 2012

Cari Quinn’s first release of the year 2012 is an emotionally gripping one. Samson Miller (Sam) is a man who is unable to let go of the memories of his dead wife. Sam keeps punishing himself for all that he had failed to do during their marriage by working to keep the love he had for Dani alive by posting love notes on billboards. 

Rory Fowler works at JD Signage and deals with Sam’s requests to put up the billboards. Rory and Sam’s many interactions had certainly made them e-mail friendly over the past 2 years. Rory finds Sam’s love notes romantic, her fascination with his love notes something that she keeps to herself. When she finds out that Sam had recently become a widow, her only intention in reaching out to Sam is to pass on her condolences. But Rory reaching out to Sam sparks something that has long since being buried deep inside of him and thus starts a chain of events that changes both their lives for the better.

The small spark of feeling that flares to life inside of Sam has him seeking out Rory’s company because for the first time in 2 long years, Sam feels something more than desolation and despair. Rory’s quirky and energetic nature, together with the way she blurts things out without thinking and the way the big and beautiful man that Sam is practically melts with Rory’s touch works as a healing balm on his tattered soul, bringing Sam back to life.

Sam Miller is such a big sweetie that all the while I was reading the story I just wanted to draw him into my arms and never ever let go. There wasn’t one inch of him, and I mean this literally and figuratively, that I didn’t want. Sam’s is a bleeding soul, the love notes that he writes to his wife practically seeping with emotion that one cannot help but be drawn towards the man who writes such beautiful words made all the more poignant by his tortured nature.

Rory Fowler is the character that zaps this story to life. Her vivid and vibrant nature that brings color to the story as well as to Sam’s life, lighting both up until you can’t help but be mesmerized by the events that unfold and lead Rory and Sam to a place where they attain their happily ever after. And beneath all the emotional angst that Cari so effectively delivers in the story lies that unique thread of humor that had me bursting out into laughter in several places.

Recommended!

Final verdict: Lovable characters, intense emotions and mind melting hot sex. Erotica doesn’t get any better than this.

Favorite Quotes

You hold my heart. Even when you didn’t want it anymore. I waited for you since the beginning of time and no separation will ever keep us apart.

… she stepped into him, tipping her face upward until their mouths brushed. Her soft lips heated under his, encouraging him to press his tongue against their parted seam. She made a sound of acquiescence, of excitement. The deeper he slid, the more she made the noise. Almost a purr. Carefully, he reached up to hold her head in his palms, tilting her so he could explore. She tasted like grape bubblegum. Sweet, a little wicked. A lot sexy.

He waited for her to say something. Anything. But she only watched him watching her, their equally ragged breathing fighting for dominance. With a flick of his fingers, he slipped beneath the cotton and absorbed the feel of her delicate skin, now way past warm. Past even hot. She burned for him. Skating lower, he brushed her thatch of damp curls. His heartbeat kicked up and that lightheaded sensation overtook him again, stealing his attention from her face for as long as it took him to get control. Then he met her eyes once more before he slid into the steam.

I can’t stop loving you. If I do that, what will be left of me?

“… The moment your tongue met the head of my cock I almost fucking lost it right there. Just looking at you made me so hard.”
“Like you are right now?”
The hope in her tone made him smile. “Yes. Believe me, baby, I’m like steel for you and I only have a memory and your sexy voice to guide me.”

He leaned in and took her mouth with his, snatching away her words and her protests and whittling the moment down to just them. No words, no worries. Just two pairs of lips, two eager tongues and two unsteadily beating hearts that throbbed against each other when she pressed close.

Longing for you is the sweetest anticipation I’ve ever known.

She was whole and real, not someone he held in his mind and heart but whom he couldn’t touch. God, she was so alive.
“Rory,” he managed, lifting his hands to frame her flushed cheeks. Her startled gasp became a moan that flowed between his lips when their mouths fused. She opened for him at once, her dark lashes falling down to hide her eyes. It didn’t matter. He tasted what she felt when her tongue tentatively curled around his.

“… You were summer and freedom and everything I hadn’t had in so long. Everything I hadn’t allowed myself. I’m going to allow myself tonight.” He tossed his shirt aside and she glimpsed his broad chest in the flickering light from the portable woodstove she’d noticed out of the corner of her eye. “You’re going to be my ocean and I’m going to drown myself in you.”

Rory,
I used to think home was a place. Four walls with a door. Now I know it’s your voice. Your laughter. Waking to your smile against my throat and your breath fluttering over my pulse while I turn you over and bury myself inside you…that’s home. That’s life and I’ve never appreciated it more.
~ Sam

Purchase Links: Amazon | EC

amazingread

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Elizabeth’s Wolf by Lora Leigh

Format: E-bookelizabethswolf.jpg
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Erotic Romance
Series: Breeds, Book 3
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
Hero: Dash Sinclair
Heroine: Elizabeth Colder
Sensuality: 4.5
Date of Publication: June 30, 2004
Started On: January 7, 2012
Finished On: January 11, 2012

So, I went and did the one thing I swore I would never do again. Somehow, Elizabeth’s Wolf by Lora Leigh ended up tempting me into peeking into her world of romance once again, something I swore to myself I would never ever do because most of the books I have picked up by Lora Leigh seems not to have worked for me that well. But, with all the glowing reviews from my fellow Goodreads friends for this title prodding me along the way, I ended up picking this up, hoping that this would be worth my time.

Dash Sinclair is a loner, a military man who has served in the Special Forces, who loses 7 members of his team during his last mission and barely makes it out alive himself. He is pretty much about to give up on living, lying on a hospital bed with a lot of severe injuries when his salvation comes in the form of a letter written by the 8 year old Cassie, whose way with the words just tugs at his heartstrings. Suddenly Dash has a mission for which he would fight for with his very life; to protect the beautiful Cassie and her mother Elizabeth Colder whom he already considers as his, whose cries for help from the danger that surrounds her and her daughter makes him a doubly lethal soldier on his mission.

Elizabeth is barely surviving being on the run with her daughter Cassie from the men who refuse to stop hunting after them. Running from one place to the next is taking its toll on mother and daughter until through the blizzard walks in the larger than life Dash Sinclair whom Elizabeth has a hard time trusting. Nevertheless, with Dash by their side, Elizabeth starts feeling safe for the first time in 2 years and for the first time ever, Elizabeth starts feeling pinpricks of desire stab into her very soul with the barely reined in desire that flashes in Dash’s eyes.

Filled with lots of scorching sex, some of which I skipped over I admit, lies the continuing story of the Breeds of which I have never read a book so far. Dash was born out of genetic experimentation, his reclusive and aloof nature owing to his difficult past. With Elizabeth he finds himself in uncharted waters, the very presence of her scent capable of driving him nuts to the point of being obsessed about her. Dash somehow reminded me of my favorite Lisa Marie Rice heroes to an extent because of his protective instincts that flare to life when he claims Elizabeth and Cassie as his own.

Elizabeth is a mother who would do anything to keep her daughter safe. When the truth about Cassie does come to light, needless to say Elizabeth is shocked within an inch of her life, but to her Cassie is her daughter, the child she would fight with every fiber of her being in her attempts to keep her safe. She doesn’t expect anyone to help her without an ulterior motive of their own, but in Dash she finds her partner, the man who would die rather than see any harm befall on either of them. The heat and passion between them that drives her crazy seems to have the same effect on the man who makes her senses simmer, and their explosive passion cements a deal that Dash knows right from the start is an inevitable one.

Overall, I enjoyed Elizabeth’s Wolf more than any other story I have read from hers to-date except for her title Maverick which I read and enjoyed immensely. But alas, there were still those things that continued to bug me, those little things that kept hindering my enjoyment in the story. For one thing there was this bit with the word “vagina” that kept appearing over and over again. For me, that word is not enticing neither erotic. Maybe that’s just me. And then there was this “knotting” syndrome that happens when Elizabeth and Dash mate, and I couldn’t help but cover my parts a bit in a flare of panic. 

Even with all those things that irked me, I did manage to keep reading, enjoying those moments that were taut with the sexual tension that fairly sizzles across the pages. Recommended for fans of Lora Leigh and fans of the Breed series!

Favorite Quotes

He was tall, one of the tallest men she had ever seen. Dressed in jeans, boots and a cotton shirt. Thick black hair grew rakishly long, falling over the collar of his shirt. Intense brown eyes, almost the color of amber, surveyed the diner slowly before coming back to her. Electricity sizzled in the air then, as though invisible currents connected them, forcing her to recognize him on a primitive level. Not that she wouldn’t take notice anyway. He was power, strength, and so incredibly male that her breath caught at the sight of him.

His lips covered hers as he laid the gauze on her leg. Fiery pain shot through her flesh as his lips swallowed her cry, then replaced it with such amazing sensation she wanted to whimper in return. He licked her lips. He didn’t steal her kiss. He didn’t take it. He cajoled it from her. 

Yes, Elizabeth.” Dash kept his voice low, but let it rumble with his arousal. “I lived for you and Cassie. But while I fought to live I dreamed, and it was this I dreamed of.”

His lips covered hers swiftly, his tongue taking advantage of her gasp and sweeping in commandingly. He had asked for the caress earlier that morning, now he demanded. He conquered, he licked and stroked her tongue and gloried in her instant, if hesitant, response. She was shy. Wary. She wouldn’t give in to the heat pulsing between them easily. But she was curious enough about it to allow the kiss. 

Her eyes opened then. They were drowsy, slumberous, staring up at him with a hunger that was impossible to miss.
“I felt you,” she whispered, a smile tilting her moist lips. “Watching me. Should I feel you watching me?”
Was she asleep or awake?
“Of course.” He found the growl building in his throat. “Every time I look at you, baby, I touch you.”

She cried out into his kiss, her hands clawing his shoulders, adrift now in a pleasure that threatened to consume her. In her sexual lifetime she had never known anything like it. Had never tasted such a dark kiss, one that warned her he had no intention of making allowances for sensual inexperience. He was hungry. Needy. And she was the meal he craved.

She shuddered, convulsing beneath the whiplash of his tongue as the world dissolved around her.
“Now.” He moved before the last violent pulses stilled.
He came over her body, catching his weight on his elbows, staring down at her with savage intensity as the bulbous head of his c#ck nudged against the sensitive opening of her pussy.
“Now,” he whispered again. “I make you my woman, Elizabeth. Now.”

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard | Ellora’s Cave

goodread

by mvbookreviewer

Requested Review: Intimate Whispers by Dee Carney

Format: E-bookintimatewhispers
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
Hero: Jason Raines
Heroine: Sabrina Turner
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: October 7, 2011
Started On: December 3, 2011
Finished On: December 3, 2011

Sabrina Turner is a woman who hears voices of the dead from which she finds no reprieve until she takes the offer of an incubus (a male demon believed to have sexual intercourse with sleeping women) with whose encounters after which Sabrina finds a brief respite from the haunting voices.

When Sabrina during one of her episodes crosses paths with her sexy neighbor Jason Raines, both their lives are changed irrevocably, Jason who wants to reach out to his dead brother one last time and Sabrina who has resigned herself to remaining in her lonely existence for the rest of her life.

I am a reader who is willing to accept content in a story that some readers may find to offensive. And no, I am not talking about kinky stuff but rather situations that the hero and heroine sometimes find themselves in that might not sit well with the average romance reader. Dee pushes the normal boundaries within this story, landing the heroine in a situation where she cheats on Jason and the love that is growing between them. However, for me, I felt that if Jason was wiling to accept that along with all those other strange things about Sabrina, and since Dee made the scene work for me without grossing me out, I found that it actually added to the depth of the story rather than detracting from it.

Jason was such a sweetheart all throughout the story, the only time I felt he deserved a bit of a poke in his chest was when he let his father’s effect on him change his attitude towards Sabrina. The way he is protective of Sabrina, sheltering her through the worst moments of her life, the way he loves her enough to accept things a lesser man would not, makes him a hero whose one of a kind.

The only thing that irked me about  the story was Sabrina’s reluctance to move on, to believe and accept the fact that Jason was there to stay forever by her side. His patience is a never ending one when it comes to Sabrina but she still continues to have her doubts even till the very last minute, which didn’t sit that well with me. But nevertheless in the end, Sabrina does place her trust, heart and soul in Jason’s hands in spite of her misgivings which I guess goes to show just how much Jason really means to her.

The one thing that I loved were the scenes of passion between Jason and Sabrina of the scorching hot variety. If there was one thing that I knew for certain I would be getting out of this story when I accepted this for review was the fact that Dee would not disappoint me in the sensual aspect of the novel. And I was deliciously proven right time and yet again as the story progressed.

Invigoratingly different in its storyline, Intimate Whispers is for those who love to read romances that are not of the norm, stories that makes you think beyond the happily ever after. Compelling the reader to keep turning the pages, Dee Carney manages to keep one riveted throughout this unusual and at times eerie tale that kept me entertained during my foray into this book.

Favorite Quotes

She groaned as he bottomed out. He stood there without moving at first and there was so much unsaid about his acceptance. Jason waited, not moving, not speaking more. His entire body pressed against hers, and in that moment, she knew protection. She knew acceptance. And dear God, she knew love.

by mvbookreviewer

Score Sheet Review: Don’t Call Her Angel by Cara McKenna

Format: E-bookdontcallherangel
Read with: iBooks for iPhone
Length: Novella
Genre: Contemporary Erotic Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
Hero: Rasul
Heroine: Emily
Sensuality: 4.5
Date of Publication: June 10, 2011
Started On: November19, 2011
Finished On: November 20, 2011

CATEGORY SCORE GRADE
The hero 100 A
The heroine 70 B
Story line 70 B
Emotional Intensity 85 A
Story’s ability to suck me in 100 A
Heat & Sensuality 80 A
Conflicts within the story 70 B
Writing Style 100 A
Quotable Factor 60 B
The Ending 49 C
Overall Grade 78.4 B

Score Sheet Summary

This is the very first time I have attempted to read a romance that features more than the usual hero and heroine in the mix. And though deep inside I would always be a M/F fan girl for life, there were certain elements within the story; mainly Cara McKenna’s prose and style that just sucked me in from the very beginning and possibly might have changed my mind about reading stories featuring multiple protagonists.     

Rasul was a hero I loved from beginning to end. Unusual as they come, he hails from Jerusalem and is the broody, silent warrior type who still suffers from the emotional scars left behind from his childhood. A man who  shoots dirty talk in Arabic, I loved the fact that for Rasul there was no other woman but Emily and the fact that he was willing to do practically anything for Emily’s happiness, even if it meant inviting another man to take part in their physical relationship.    

For me, Emily was the deal breaker. I could understand the fact that she is totally different from what she seems to be on the outside, the one who actually controls the relationship between husband and wife contrary to popular belief. The fact that she wanted another man made me feel that she wasn’t totally satisfied with Rasul who knows every inch of her deepest and darkest fantasies and accepts her for the way she is. In the end, the encounter with a second man in their bedroom, hot as it was, for me it served no real purpose for their relationship which is why I wasn’t so satisfied with the ending.   

But the personal revelation that this book brought; if tastefully done, I would be able to enjoy erotic romances featuring m/f/m as well as the next erotica lover was worth the guts it took for me to venture into the story! And for that I bow down to Cara McKenna’s mastery with the words!   

Favorite Quotes

He pumped her roughly, filling the room with the sounds of their breathing and the smell of their sin. She felt drunk, this man’s harsh energy as intoxicating as ten bottles of wine. She stroked his chest and dug her fingernails into his shoulders. Spurs, telling him to make it rougher.

After a moment’s hesitation, he (Jeremy) asked, “Would you ever ask her to do this for you? Bring another woman in…” He stopped speaking as Rasul grasped him once again by the shoulder, thumb pressed uncomfortably close to his throat.
Rasul blinked and stared past Jeremy’s face, seeming thoughtful for several seconds before speaking. His words were slow and cold. “I would sooner die than allow my wife to wonder for a single moment if another woman could stir in me any fraction of the desire she does.”

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Ellora’s Cave

greatread

by mvbookreviewer

Requested Review: Hot Text by Cari Quinn

Format: E-bookhottext
Read with: iBooks for iPhone
Length: Novella
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
Hero: Jeffrey Maddox
Heroine: Karyn Colette Allison
Sensuality: 4.5
Date of Publication: November 2, 2011
Started On: November17, 2011
Finished On: November 17, 2011

With Hot Text, Cari Quinn once again proves to me the reason why she is my go to author when it comes to quality erotica that delivers on all fronts. For some Hot Text might be “offensive” in the sense that sexual relations takes place between a married woman who is on the verge of divorce and the hero. But hey, lets face it; in real life things do not exactly go according to our well laid plans. If it did we would all be married to men who wouldn’t let us out of our bedrooms because they cannot get enough of giving us multiple orgasms. And yes, I digress but I just love the fact that Cari is bold enough and is daring enough to write about scenarios that might not be sometimes well received by 100% of the romance reading population but nevertheless for fans like us who want and crave something different, Cari ALWAYS hits the spot with plots of the said nature.

Jeffery Maddox is the two time divorced older brother of Daisy Maddox whose current beau is the married Lonny James who just rubs Jeff the wrong way. Wanting to do something about Lonny before he can break Daisy’s heart, Jeff takes an opportunity that presents itself and meets up with Lonny’s soon to be ex-wife with the intention of asking her to take Lonny back and work things out.

But from the moment Jeff and Karyn lay eyes on each other, the sparks that fly between them are evident. For Karyn who is a pre-school teacher who defines herself as an average person, who has had 10 years of marriage which had failed miserably when her husband had asked for a divorce is not prepared for her almost forgotten body parts to come alive at the sight of the very fine Jeff whose gruff nature just calls to something deep inside of her. 

A night of unforgettable and decadent sex follows, a night during which every misconception that Karyn has ever had regarding herself and her sexuality is put to bed by Jeff who focuses on her with an intensity that just drives her crazy with wanting. For Jeff, its not just a night of sex and he falls hard and fast only to face the harsh and brutal face of reality come morning when none other than Lonny strolls in.

In my opinion, Cari has done what very few authors manage to do in a novel of this length. She has taken two characters who have no inkling of the other’s existence until the night that changes their lives forever, showed sides of them that both endears and makes them unforgettable to the reader and together with that Cari has pitted them in a situation that you don’t find in the average romance novel. And that’s what made this book a winner for me and of course the out of this world scorching heat that Jeff and Karyn generates right from the very start is worthy of mentioning. 

I loved Jeff’s character right from the very minute he said “Not a screamer, huh? Gonna prove you wrong.” Now, who in the world can fault the man behind that logic is just beyond me. Jeff is someone who is wary of marriage and rightfully so when his previous two marriages hadn’t worked out very well. He is the gruff and taciturn type and not much of a people’s person, but yet in my eyes, Jeff communicates just damn fine when he wants to. I loved his intensity, the way he just takes hold of Karyn and plunges his way into a world of sensuality with her that leaves both of them hungering for more of where that came from. His take charge attitude, the way he solely focuses on giving Karyn a night she would not forget anytime soon and of course the way he can find humor in those little things just made him a favorite hero of mine.

Karyn doesn’t expect her world to turn upside down when she answers the text message she receives from her husband’s mobile phone. And when Jeff turns out to be the man who proves to her in just one night how wrong she has been in neglecting herself, her wants, needs and desires the past couple of years, Karyn knows its time to take charge of her life and let go of the past and fight for all those things that she has accepted as her due. Divorce is hard and messy on anybody and doubly so for Karyn when she cannot make up her mind, when she still cannot fully comprehend the fact that 10 years of her life had just meant nothing to the man she had shared it with when he had asked for a divorce. It is her encounter with Jeff that bursts through the bubble she has wrapped herself in and it is then Karyn realizes that has a lot of “growing up” to do before she can proceed with whatever it is between Jeff and herself.

I loved the concept, the hero and the heroine and of course the neat little epilogue that Cari tucked in at the end. If you like myself are a fan of tastefully done erotic romances that deliver on the not-your-average tropes and a hero to definitely drool over; Hot Text is the novella for you! For fans of Cari Quinn, this is another little goody which would have to tide us fans over until she can publish another decadently sinful novel for us to enjoy!

Favorite Quotes

He didn’t reply but by then she’d found something else to occupy her attention. His eyes.
Though she’d expected them to be as serviceable as the rest of him, they were a smoky blue-gray fringed in dark lashes. Pretty eyes. Even when he stared her down like a cop might a perp. And not just any perp. One who was heavily armed and an imminent flight risk.

She expected an easy kiss. Good, perhaps, but not intense. He seemed like a low-key, moderately passionate person. As she’d been, without the right stimulation.
Without this.
What she got was a glancing blow of lips that soon turned to a furious meshing of mouths and teeth. It wasn’t elegant. It was messy and rough and God help her, bordered on dirty.

Even when she’d fantasized, what she’d come up with hadn’t ever matched this reality. She’d never envisioned a sexy, borderline grouchy guy with a glint in his eye and an erection this tempting. 

He inched in, slid out. Pumped deeper, pulled away. Just as her frustration swelled to a fuckingly epic level, he hauled her hips up, dragging her higher before he sank all the way in, filling her so completely she gasped.
Her flesh stretched, unaccustomed to a man after so long. Each thrust stirred her unspeakably. More than just her p#ssy linked with him when he slid into her. A little part of her heart did as well. 

Karyn reached out to graze his jaw with her thumb, savoring the beginnings of stubble. She’d never seen her ex with stubble. Or with his mouth as deliciously soft and used as Jeff’s.
“How’d we end up here?” she asked softly, not expecting an answer.
“Luck,” he said, turning his head to kiss her palm. “Blind fucking luck.”

Soft strokes and tender words of praise might’ve made her suspicious but his rough manner helped her to trust him. What she saw was what she got with Jeff Maddox. And what she saw, she liked. A lot.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Jasmine Jade

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Reviewer’s Note: I just had to mention this as part of this review. I was listening to Give Me Everything by Pitbull feat Nayer, Ne-Yo while reading this  and somehow, that song ended up being one that was perfectly in sync with the events that took place in the story.

I loved the following part of the lyrics:

Tonight I will love love you tonight
Give me everything tonight
For all we know we might not get tomorrow
Let’s do it tonight
I will love love you tonight
Give me everything tonight
For all we know we might not get tomorrow
Lets do it tonight
[…]
Grab somebody sexy tell ‘em hey
Give me everything tonight
Give me everything tonight
by mvbookreviewer

Dear Author Review: Guilty Needs by Shiloh Walker

Format: E-bookGuilty Needs
Read with: IBOOKS for IPAD
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
Series: Standalone
Sensuality: 4.5
Hero: Colby Hutchins
Heroine: Bridgette Lancaster (Bree)
Date of Publication: September 19, 2008
Started On: September 9, 2011
Finished On: September 9, 2011

Guilty Needs by Shiloh Walker is one of my all time favorite books since its release on September of 2008. I wanted to show my appreciation for a story that I love to bits and rather than just do a re-read review of it, I thought to myself I would start up a new type of review for those extra special books that I just love no matter how many times I end up re-reading them.

So ladies and gentlemen, I now present you with my very first “Dear Author” review which features a letter to Shiloh Walker written down in order to at least try and show my gratitude and appreciation towards this story that would continue to hold a very special place in my heart for now and always.

Dear Shiloh Walker,

As you can see, I am writing this letter/review to you because I just can’t help but fall a little bit more in love with your story Guilty Needs every single time I read it. I have now seriously lost count of the number of times I have picked this up from collection of Favorites books on my hard disk drive. If this were a paperback version I guess my copy would have become dog eared and worn out a long time back.

The thing that ALWAYS gets to me when it comes to Guilty Needs is the tons of emotion that practically seeps through every single word in the book, its hold on me a never ending one until I reach its very end. Even afterwards, I find myself unable to let go and spend a long time contemplating on what went on in a story that describes so well how guilt wars with desire when the widowed hero finds himself lusting after his dead wife’s best friend.

Alyssa Hutchins the wife who dies from cancer, who makes appearances into the story as a ghostly being that wants Colby to find love and be happy again, and that also with her best friend Bree who has always loved Colby from the sidelines, all 3 of the characters just makes this story come alive right from the very beginning that makes this book  that much easier to fall in love with over and over again.

The way you bring forth the friendship between Alyssa and Bree and made their bond an unbreakable one and yet managed to let the reader know of Bree’s feelings towards Alyssa’s husband and not sully the age old friendship between two friends continues to astound & amaze me.

One of the things that caught my attention when I first found your books from Amazon.com is the way you bring out the sexual tension between characters that just leaves a reader begging for more. And Guilty Needs is one of the best in delivering sexual tension of the sizzling variety that practically leaps out of the pages and grabs the reader right from the very start. The sensual scenes are so very well done that I could not help but reach out for my non-existent glass of cold water that I should remember the next time to keep by my side.

Sometimes, because you love a story so much, its hard to come up with the bits that stand out, but I still wanted to let you know that the moment that Alyssa asks from Bree the favor that she wants from her, it was a seriously throat-in-the-lump moment from the emotions overload. And the first kiss that Colby and Bree share – it is out of this world hot and the heat these two generate throughout the story can definitely light up my world for eons to come! And oh baby, the porch scene – if anyone has it on their mind to give me a present anytime soon, I’m just saying I wouldn’t mind a Colby or two as my pressies!

Guilty Needs will ALWAYS remain in a special corner of my heart and I believe I would never get tired of the story of how Bree finally gets the man she has loved for more than 15 years of her life, and of course Colby who just personifies sexy and takes it up to a whole new level!

Before I end this, I am just going to share some of those quotes from the story  that even later on would urge me to go seek out this little indulgence from my massive mountain of books.

Favorite Quotes

Patiently, Alyssa repeated the question she’d asked only seconds earlier. “Do you love Colby?”
Some trite lie formed on the tip of her tongue. Of course I love him—he’s your husband and that makes him almost a brother to me. But she couldn’t. It was just too wrong—lying to her dying friend, claiming to feel a fraternal emotion toward a man who inspired anything but fraternal thoughts. In the end, all she could do was just sit there and blink away tears.

Then she rose on her toes and kissed his cheek. If she breathed in the scent of his skin a little deeper than she should, it wasn’t intentional. If she shivered a little and wished she had the right to kiss him differently, it wasn’t because she could help it. She loved him—she always had.

They barely touched, his mouth on hers, his hands cupping her face while hers clutched at his wrists. But that contact was enough to shatter the foundation of her world.
He eased up, lifted his head just a little. An involuntary whimper escaped her and she swayed toward him. He growled low in his throat and reached for her, hauling her against him until they were plastered together.

 

Once again Ms. Walker, splendid is the name of the game when it comes to Guilty Needs & hats off for pulling this one off so brilliantly!

Sincerely Yours,
MBR

Purchase Links: Amazon | Jasmine Jade Enterprises

outstandingread

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Against the Wall by Rhyannon Byrd

Format: E-bookagainstthewall
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
Series: Standalone
Hero: Ryan McCall
Heroine: Shea Dresden
Sensuality: 4.5
Date of Publication: December 3, 2004
Started On: July 29, 2011
Finished On: July 29, 2011

Against the Wall is the novel that first introduced me to what Rhyannon Byrd can deliver in the erotic contemperory romance category. Filled with blistering scenes of raw and explicit passion between an aggressively alpha hero who is reluctant to get involved, with a plucky and innocent heroine who is more than willing to fight for the man she wants, Against the Wall is an erotic romance that truly lives up to its name delivering more than one against-the-wall-smexing scene before half way through the story.

35 year old Ryan McCall is an ATF agent who spends his days chasing gutter scum and his nights  seeking mindless pleasure from women who knows the score before getting down and dirty with him – that Ryan doesn’t do commitment at all. But all that changes from the moment he meets his neighbor, the sweetly innocent Shea Dresden who might just be the one to make commitment free sex a thing of his past, if he were to allow Shea to get past the walls of defence around his heart.

27 year old Shea is determined that her sexy as sin neighbor Ryan would take notice of her and deliver her from the sheer sexual frustration that seems to be a part of her ever since it stood up and took notice of the lethal sex god that Ryan seems to be. But what Shea wants from the sexy ATF agent is much more than sex, a fact that Shea knows would drive Ryan away instead of bringing them closer, a fact driven home by the 3 months during which Ryan has ignored all her attempts at making him sit up and take notice that she is very much interested in getting down and dirty with him.

Ryan can barely control himself when he lets his mind think about the sexy, impish creature that is his neighbor, if his possessive streak a mile wide when it comes to her is anything to go by. When Shea gets assaulted by a drunken lout driving Ryan into a rage that refuses to be tamped down, all the sizzling sexual energy that seems to simmer between them bursts forth, refusing to be held back letting Ryan know that just one single taste of Shea would never ever be enough where he is concerned.

Thus starts a week of sex-fest during which Ryan stakes his claim on the woman who has the ability to bring him to his very knees with a single look, a fact that seems to terrify and exhilirate him at the same time. But the question of the hour remains; will Ryan ever be able to let go of his past long enough to take the plunge into the future with the woman who is his match made in heaven?

As I mentioned before, Against the Wall is erotica in its most explicit form, delivering blisteringly raw and hot passion between two individuals that some might find to be a bit too much. But, being a book of the erotica genre, for me, I found the raw energy that practically pulsates between Ryan and Shea to be just what I needed as I ventured out to re-read this book, the scene at the bookstore that has always been on my mind prodding me along.

Ryan is a total alpha through and through, a bit aggressive and a bit of an ass at times when his raw emotions come to the surface. But I totally loved him for who he is and who he becomes as the story progresses along and nearly devoured him to pieces by the time I reached the epilogue. Shea is a wonderful heroine whose head over heels plunge into falling for the stubborn Ryan doesn’t stop her from going all the way to get what she wants, even with her vulnerable emotions so close to the surface where Ryan is concerned. The way she gives as good as she gets and lets her tender side heal Ryan is what made me fall for Shea all the way.

True, there isn’t much story telling apart from the sex fest that continues throughout which Rhyannon does so well. I would have loved to know more about both Ryan and Shea and the story would have been more fulfilling if they had been allowed to grow as a couple outside their sex hazed environment. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this one even the second time round and would recommend this to fans of erotica who don’t mind one electrifying sex scene after the other in their erotica.

As I finished this off the charts hot little number, there was one question ringing incessantly in my mind; is Rhyannon ever going to write the story of Ryan’s sexy partner Detective Derek Kiely and Shea’s best friend Hannah who seem to make a pretty darn explosive couple of their own? Oh well!

Favorite Quotes

And not just any man, honey, her incessantly complaining libido chimed in, but Ryan McCall, the sexiest damn thing we’ve ever set eyes on!
She looked up at him from beneath her long lashes and suddenly her lips curled  into a wicked smile full of carnal possibilities, feral and hungry and God-it’s-about-time! Then with trembling fingers, she pushed the silky dress right off her shoulders. It fell to the floor in a quiet swoosh of fabric, and she was standing before him wearing nothing but a minuscule black lace thong and her sandals.

Ryan felt his stomach drop to his feet and his heart lodge in his throat. Oh, hell. The last of his control shot to pieces as the raging hunger she always ignited in him blazed to life.“I just need to kiss you,” he murmured softly…roughly, his face already lowering to hers, big hands pressing against the slender line of her back, pulling her into his wide, tall frame while he pushed her harder against the book-lined wall. “I just need the touch of your lips…your taste in my mouth,” he rasped, voice thick with wonder. “I don’t know how you fucking do this to me, but I’m dying for it like some junked out addict.”

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard | Kobo | Ellora’s Cave

greatread

by mvbookreviewer

Requested Review: Provoke Me by Cari Quinn

Format: E-bookprovokeme
Read with: Kindle for I-Pad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Unveiled, Book 2
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
Hero: Spencer Galvin
Heroine: Kelly Crossman
Sensuality: 4.5
Date of Publication: June 22, 2011
Started On: June 24, 2011
Finished On: June 24, 2011

Provoke Me is a title that lives up to its name. It draws the reader in, refuses to let go and provokes all sorts of emotions from the reader and I absolutely loved it. Cari Quinn can certainly do no wrong with her sensational novels, and yes I say sensational because she pens a novel that is nothing less than perfection and Provoke Me is no exception to this rule.

The second book in the series Unveiled, Provoke Me tells the story of how the utterly controlled and focused Spencer Galvin finds in Kelly Crossman a reason worth letting go of his hard earned control in more ways than one. 35 year old Spencer has already learnt the bitter lesson of mixing business with pleasure and he is determined that he would stay true to his vow no matter how much Kelly tempts him to do otherwise.

A decade younger than Spencer, Kelly is caught between a rock and a hard place when even after 3 years of working for Spencer hasn’t dimmed her desire for him even one teensy bit. If anything, she yearns for him more than ever, and if not for the fact that she loves her job at The Book Nook, she would have given in and jumped his bones a long time back.

When Kelly encounters her hands-off boss at Kink the sex club, all bets are off as Kelly finally manages to get under Spencer’s skin to make him let go even for the few minutes during which he gives her the best orgasm of her life up against the club’s wall before all the shields are back again in full force.

Thinking that a few encounters with the whiskey-eyed Kelly with her killer legs would cure him of his fascination for her was Spencer’s first mistake. All his attempts to push her away with the moments in between that show glimpses into a core of sensitivity that few get to see, Kelly knows that for her its Spencer and him alone until Spencer does the one thing that is guaranteed to drive away the best thing that has ever happened to him in his life.

Filled to the brim with erotic sensual material that just about emptied out my salivary glands, one would think that Provoke Me is all about good sex with nothing much else going for it. But that’s where you are wrong as Provoke Me tells the story of two very real individuals who find themselves in the grip of red-hot passion that undermines everything else, giving them both a reason to hide from what it is that they really feel for the other.

Provoke Me definitely tested my boundaries as an erotic romance reader and though I wouldn’t say that I am a convert into the overly erotic material, Cari’s style in introducing me to the world of kinkier behaviour certainly sat well with me.

The one thing that I loved most about Provoke Me is Spencer whose hard and driven nature along with his superb control and focus made him a total hottie and earns him a very well earned notch in my favorite alpha male list. And I loved Kelly because her quirky, strong and yet vulnerable nature was what Spencer needed though he takes a long time to reach that conclusion himself.

Recommended for fans of Cari Quinn and for those who love emotion and depth in their erotica. The fact that I read this in one sitting whilst sick and in need of much required rest should tell its own story.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Kobo | Ellora’s Cave

outstandingread