Category / Endearing Heroine

by mvbookreviewer

Requested ARC Review: The List by Joanna Bolouri

Format: E-bookthelist
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Quercus Publishing
Hero: Oliver
Heroine: Phoebe Henderson
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: January 6, 2015
Started On: April 9, 2015
Finished On: April 9, 2015

The List by Joanna Bolouri is one of those laugh-out-loud variety romances that makes you feel good and break out in laughter even long after you are done. It all starts when the new year rolls in and Phoebe finds herself still pathetically single, going to therapy, trying to take her mind off the ex who had cheated on her and left her in the lurch.

Like many of us, Phoebe is one to make all sorts of new year resolutions that never see the light of day. However this year, Phoebe is determined that she’d stick to her resolution and see it through, even if it kills her. Thus she and her best friend Lucy get together and make a list, a list that would guarantee that she, Phoebe, would have sexual adventures of the kind that she has only read about, and that she would put herself first this time than anyone else.

Next thing you know, Phoebe finds herself with her friends-with-benefits partner, none other than the Irish sex demi-god Oliver himself, who happens to be one of her closest friends. Oliver has no issues with making her scream with pleasure, in showing her how desirable she is. However, both Oliver and Phoebe promise each other that they aren’t an exclusive item, and that’s where all the ‘misadventures’ of Phoebe’s sex life begins.

The List is written in first person, in Phoebe’s point of view. The whole cast of characters tended to give the story a Sex & the City vibe to it that I absolutely loved. I felt like I had come home to characters who could make me laugh, who could make me cry and yet again who could make me smile through my tears through the happy ending it delivered.

One cannot talk about the good stuff in The List without mentioning the hilarity it delivers. The humor. Oh the humor. At times you feel like you’re watching a movie where everything that can go wrong will go wrong, and yet there’s nothing like laughing your way through the good and bad and being able to look back and still smile when you know that you had gone through it all like a champion. That is the sort of tale that The List delivered and I gobbled it all up in just one sitting!

I would be remiss in my review if I were not to mention the impact that Oliver brought to the story. Oliver, the Irish bloke who teaches Phoebe that she is desirable and sexy and that she deserves better than the man she has continued to pine for for the past year. The fact that they’ve known each other for so long makes it even better, that they can be their true selves with each other without any pretenses speaks volumes on just how well suited they are for each other; Oliver is the kind of friends with benefit bloke every girl should have; funny, sexy as hell and practically a God when it comes to making a woman scream in bed!

Only thing that I didn’t like was missing out on Oliver’s point of view. I felt a bit cheated out because of the fact. I’d have loved to see even a glimpse into his mind, how he views Phoebe, the woman he has loved all this while, the woman whose love he’d been willing to forgo just so that he could spare her the hurt that he’d inevitably cause when he screwed things up! This is the one reason that I tend to dislike books written in first person, which is a fad that every Tom, Dick and Harry seems to be following these days. I believe that Oliver’s viewpoint would have made the story more wholesome and given it a whole lot more emotional punch than the story delivers now.

I loved Phoebe. What is there not to love? I loved her courage; it must’ve taken a lot for her to actually take the step towards moving on even when heart kept clamoring for the man who’d cheated on her and hurt her in the worst way possible. Her cluelessness when it comes to Oliver is one that proved costly, but the angst the fact delivered to the story was one that made it all the more better!

Recommended! Couldn’t put it down. Even for a second. Highly readable!

Final Verdict: Fun & provocative. Loved it!

Favorite Quotes

“Take off your trousers.” I demanded.
I took off my skirt and tights, pulled my knickers to one side and slid down on him. Hard. I then whispered in his ear,
“I am going to fuck you so slowly and take every inch of you, until you’re begging me to let you come. Can you feel how wet I am already?”
He raised one eyebrow (man, I love it when he does that) and said, “Good god Phoebe! Keep talking like that and I think I’ll keep you.”
So I did.

We maneuvered round to the front of the car and he took down my tights and underwear. I say ‘took’, it was more of a ripping action, which would have been sexier had I not been wearing industrial strength pants and tights. With some help, they were flung in the nearby hedge and I was flipped over and shagged on the bonnet of the car, quite dramatically, and while it was obvious he wanted me, I could tell he was totally trying to out-shag Stuart so he could then jump up and down in front of me shouting “I’M THE WINNER, I’M THE FUCKING WINNER!!”
As he was kissing my neck he moved his mouth to my ear and said “It’s never this good with anyone else. Is it?”
I answered truthfully: “No. It isn’t.”

He slowly pulled down my bikini bottoms and began licking me, so slowly I felt my knees buckle and my face flush. He undid his jeans, wrapped my legs around his waist and held me up. I could feel the tree scratching my back and he went faster and faster and then he stopped, looked into my eyes and kissed me. I mean really kissed me and all I could do was kiss him back. It was passionate and as he started to move inside me again I cried out it was so intense.
“The thing about Ruth” he said as we fucked, “is that she’s not you Phoebe.”

He didn’t say anything. He walked to the door…and then he stopped. And he locked the door.
We made love right there on the bed. There was no shouting, or gymnastics or laughing. We were slow and quiet and we never took our eyes off each other. He was so gentle and the moment he entered me, I was so grateful to have him back inside me again, to feel him moving his hands over my thighs and to feel his mouth on mine. It was so intense and I came before he did. It was beautiful.
This morning when I woke up he was gone.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | eBookMall | iTunes

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Man With a Past by Kay Stockham

Format: E-bookmanwithapast
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Joe Brody
Heroine: Ashley Cade
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: November 24, 2010
Started On: April 2, 2015
Finished On: April 5, 2015

Man with a Past by Kay Stockham is one of those stories that I stumbled across in my quest to find something featuring a widowed hero or heroine. I was utterly convinced to give this a go based on the rave reviews her books seem to receive, noted in particular for her delivery of emotional reads.

Man with a Past deals with ex-convict Joe Brody who returns back to his hometown after spending 10 years in prison for murder. Joe knows that no one would welcome him with open arms but he needs to find a way to stay, at least for his father’s sake.

Ashley Cade is swimming in waters out of her depth, having just moved to the neighborhood. Growing up in group homes has left its mark on her, and the one thing that drives her to strive to make it amidst feeling like the outsider who would never fit in is the dream that she and her husband had shared of bringing up their children in a homey neighborhood which would give them the experiences that they had both never had.

When Joe turns up at her home, Ashley, the one who follows every self-help guide that was ever written has a hard time letting go of her control issues and saying yes to the help that he would provide. The fact that no one else wants to work that hard for such a small pay is one of the reasons she says yes and within no time Joe proves to her that he is more than capable of delivering on his promises where work is concerned.

What troubles both Joe and Ashley from the onset is the attraction that slowly unfurls in both of them, each yearning for the other in a fashion that refuses to be denied. Joe believes deep in his heart that no one would want to be tainted by a man with a past as his and Ashley though she knows that its time for her to move on from the memory of her beloved, has a hard time trusting her instincts when it comes to going all in.

Kay Stockham writes a mean romance, delivering on characters that reach out to you, putting in the angst and emotional factor that makes the story that much more worth delving into. Joe is the character that clutches at your heart right from the very moment he steps into the story. The wealth of pain that he hides in his heart is one that swallows you a whole and you can’t help but feel for him all the way through.

Joe is one of those heroes that all kinds of romance readers would fall in love with without fail. He is sweet, kind and yet a tortured soul that you’d want to soothe no matter what. The fact that he had made something out of himself during the time in prison when he could have let it rot his mind and soul shows strength in his character that is rarely found. That Joe could find it in his heart to be patient when everything and everyone practically worked towards running him out of town was one of the best selling points when it came to his character. And of course, his rough and tough physique that hides the sweet and generous man that he is serves to be the icing on the cake.

Ashley proved to be a strong heroine, who has a hard time coming out of her comfort zone, her mode of survival when she had been growing up. It takes a different kind of strength to shake free the emotional ties that bind and strive to be better, to push yourself out there because you want your child to have the kind of childhood that you’d never experienced. I loved Ashely from her sassy nature to the kind hearted soul that she tries hard to hide, which nevertheless makes itself known time and yet again.

Kay Stockham touches on a lot of sensitive and important issues in this short novel. Deaths of babies associated with vaccination is one of the reasons why some parents tend to forgo vaccinating their children altogether, owing to the fact that certain children can prove to be allergic to certain vaccinations, especially given the circumstances of their birth. I found it quite informative, the concept that Kay explored in this story, an area that I have never yet delved into even with all the reading that I do.

The issues associated with small towns is also one that touched the core issue of someone from outside trying to fit in. Not to mention the tough time that even a wrongly convicted person, having served his “time” has in trying to fit back into society. There’s a lesson to be learnt from each of these issues that Kay has touched and I love an author who can make me think beyond the storyline and well into the issues that are highlighted in the story. All in all, I can honestly say that Kay Stockham is an author I would continue to seek and read because she has the sort of talent that draws the reader in.

Recommended for those that love sweetly emotional reads.

Final Verdict: Emotional, tender & sweet!

Favorite Quotes

Ashley’s laughter ended with a gasp. She pulled away to look him in the eyes, but didn’t put any more distance between them. He stared into the honey-bronze depths of her gaze and waited for her reaction. Waited for her to shove him away and stammer something about how she shouldn’t have hugged him.
Instead her mouth parted and an instant later Ashley raised herself on those sexy, red-painted toes. That was all the encouragement he needed. He pressed his mouth to hers, swept his tongue inside. She tasted hot and sweet, musky.

“What if I want you to?” she whispered. “What if I want you to kiss me?”
Joe turned just enough to glare at her over the shoulder she touched. In her bare feet she nearly met him eye to eye–nearly, but not quite. And although Mac had been taller, Joe was broader, more strongly built. Honed and hardened.
By prison.
“You deserve nice things like that car your date drove. Things I can’t give you.” He swore softly. “Ashley, I can’t give you anything right now because I have nothing to give.”

Still, he did as she asked and she got an eyeful of taut backside and corded muscles. She smoothed her hands up his arms, trailed her fingers to his shoulders, in to his neck and down his spine. She rose to her tiptoes and pressed another kiss to his skin, this one to the tattoo of Josie’s name.
“Ashley.” His voice broke, husky, filled with too much emotion and needing an outlet. Joe turned so fast she gasped, and even though she stood mere inches from the bed, he swept her into his arms to lower her to the surface. Then Joe’s mouth covered hers, his tongue delved deep and she immediately discovered a difference between this kiss and the ones they’d shared before she’d found out the truth.
Joe’s hesitation was gone. Her acceptance of him, of his past, had unleashed something inside him, a fierceness, a tenderness.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | eBookMall | ARe | HQ

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Chasing Trouble by Anne Stuart

Format: E-bookchasingtrouble
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: James Michael Diamond
Heroine: Sarah “Sally” Gallimard MacArthur
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: October 1, 1991
Started On: February 14, 2015
Finished On: March 15, 2015

Chasing Trouble by Anne Stuart is one of her oldies and nevertheless an enjoyable one at that. By the time I finished reading, I was sighing over the book, typical reaction to having read an Anne Stuart romance. My life undergoing a bit of a change right now means that I don’t have as much time as I used to, to read for fun. And when I do, I want the book to sweep me away on a journey, just as if I was discovering the wonderful genre of romance anew. Anne Stuart books have a way of surprising you with just that and Chasing Trouble is one of those stories that had me pleasantly surprised and of course giddy with the whole effect of it when I was done.

Sarah “Sally” Gallimard MacArthur is looking for a private investigator and an “unsavory one” at that, one who would ask less questions and help her find her sister. While James Michael Diamond fits the mold that she is looking for, James proves to be a tougher nut to crack than she imagined he would be. James would like nothing more than to forget the classy Sally that walked into his office, trying to convince him to find her sister. But then Sally proves to be a difficult woman to forget, before long, James finds himself saddled with a woman who talks too much and still manages to drive him crazy with the secrets that she harbors close to her heart.

Chasing Trouble is a story that manages to deliver the great stuff that the romance genre is legendary for, and yet the stories of the present seem to quite not be able to deliver. It does not present a mystery that makes your heart pound. But what it does is present two complex characters that the reader would like to peel the layers off to find what lies beneath.

James is the sort of cynical detective, whose life as a cop and his failed marriage has helped shape him to who he has become. Sally, while she might have led a privileged life, suffers from issues of her own which you become privy to as you read along. Both are reluctant to let other people close enough to trust the other with their heart, but eventually its a losing battle they fight when you factor in the sizzling hot attraction that makes the whole body hum.

Anne Stuart is legendary for the types of heroes that she manages to create for her stories. While James is a tamped down version of the caliber of heroes that Anne Stuart is ever famous for, his impact is no lesser. The control that he exerts on himself was one that I wanted to break down under the onslaught that his senses were being subjected to by Sally. I loved the witty banter which is of course another trademark of Anne Stuart novels. This one has got a lot of that going down and boy, do the sparks fly! The “mystery” aspect of the novel has little bit of twists to throw your way and I think everything worked out just wonderfully in the end.

Final Verdict: An enjoyable romp between two opposites. Recommended!

Favorite Quotes

She would have been able to resist an attempt to overwhelm her. Men had tried it often enough, and she had simply shoved them away. She would have been able to resist a polite brushing of his lips against hers. That was usually all she allowed. But she couldn’t resist the slow, sensuous nibbling of her lips, the way he drew her lower lip into his mouth and sucked lightly, the way his tongue moved against hers, the way his fingers stroked her breast into pebbled hardness, feeding the fire that was burning in the pit of her stomach.

He was almost frighteningly efficient about it. He seemed to know just what to do, just where to touch her, how hard, how soft, to elicit the response he wanted. She hadn’t known her breasts were so sensitive, but beneath his hands, his mouth, her reactions were astonishingly strong. She lay beside him on the bed, squirming, whimpering, straining to get closer to him as he quickly, cleverly brought her to the edge of explosion, all without letting her touch him.

She wanted to keep that response from him. She wanted to argue, to force him to break through that control, but the words wouldn’t come, her hands could only clutch his sweat-slick shoulder, her body could only move with his, reaching for him, clenching around him in a sudden shower of stars.
She remembered being almost surprised that he followed her, his body going rigid in her arms, his eyes closed tight, his mouth clamped shut as he gave her the one thing he couldn’t withhold.

“Sally, ” James said, his voice tight with regret, “I’m not the man for you. “
“Yeah, I know. You’re too old, too broke and too mean. Don’t worry about it. I’ll get older, I’ll give away my money and I’ll work on being just as sour as you. “
“Sally. . . “
She put her lips against his and he had to kiss her. There was no way he could stop himself. ”Don’t argue now, Diamond. Once we’re back in San Francisco and my sister’s safe, you can give me the brush-off. Or you can try, ” she added, as if honesty compelled her to. “But for now, just shut up and kiss me.”

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Duality Principle by Rebecca Grace Allen

Format: E-bookthedualityprinciple
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: The Portland Rebels, #1
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Hero: Connor Starks
Heroine: Gabriella Evans
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: November 11, 2014
Started On: February 20, 2015
Finished On: March 3, 2015

“A rose represents promises and hope, but its beauty is bonded with thorns. It embodies pain and loss. Combined together, they are in perfect harmony, equal parts beautiful and strong.”

I have somehow forgotten how I stumbled across this book, but I bet there is a good story behind it. The Duality Principle by Rebecca Grace Allen is a contemporary romance that is based on quite the “brainy” principle of duality. The heroine Gabriella Evans is doing her PhD in disproving the duality principle which states that “if a theorem is true, it remains true if each object and operation is replaced by its dual.” Gabriella is not just super intelligent, she is also someone who is tired of hiding her true nature from the men she had accepted into her life up till now. The fact that every single one of them had left her feeling like she is doing something wrong by wanting more from the physical aspect of their relationships had left its scar on her.

Gabriella comes to Portland, Maine to not only sort her thoughts out and work on her thesis, but to say goodbye to the home that had been her grandmother’s, a home that holds sentimental value to her and she is having a hard time letting go of. Her relationships with her parents is a tension filled one at best, and Gabriella comes seeking the solitude which she has always found at her grandmother’s place. When her best friend suggests that she go on a blind date with a friend of hers, Gabriella goes along with it, not thinking that anything much would come out of it. However, when Connor Starks shows up, there is something about him that makes her want to know more, that makes her senses go on red alert, and makes her want to climb, lick, kiss and suck every single inch of him. The fact that Connor seems to present two very contrasting sides of his character to her confuses her more and makes her want to unravel what it is that Connor is “hiding”.

Connor is the bad boy who has worked hard to walk the right path. The fact that Gabriella interests him on a level that no other woman has ever interested him before makes Connor fidgety about the fact that being true to his seductive nature could spell out trouble for him where his long term plans with Gabriella are concerned. But then again, the best laid plans always have a tendency of going awry, and time and yet again, Connor finds himself literally being driven crazy by the desire that makes him feel absolutely primal with wanting when it comes to Gabriella.

What made this book a fun read is the scorching hot sexual tension that sizzles through the pages, practically making me melt, on the spot. Connor is someone who turns up the heat, just like that, and there is nothing anyone can do but go along for the ride. The fact that Connor is the one who holds back, trying to do what is right as per his twisted logic when it comes to Gabriella is what lends the story the interesting tangent of angst that made this worth reading.

While most romance writers tend to shy away from writing brainy heroines of Gabriel’s nature, I found Gabriel to be an interesting mix. The duality that lives within her character, that is constantly at war with one another until Connor comes along and proves to her that he is man enough to handle both was quite compelling. The fact that I learned of a completely new-to-me nerd fact was the icing on the cake when it came to this book.

Recommended for those who love stories featuring sexy as sin, reformed bad boys who just can’t help but be bad with the right woman!

Final Verdict: Loved it!

Favorite Quotes

“You sure you don’t want any more?” he asked.
“I might want more.” But she didn’t mean the ice cream.
“You should. It tastes really good.”
He took the cone from her hand and slowly, purposefully gathered some ice cream onto the tip of his tongue. Closing the distance between them, he bent down to brush his lips against hers. For a moment, all she felt was hot breath and cold lips, and then his kiss washed over her. Gabriella melted into the feeling, drinking the ice cream that spilled from his mouth into hers.
Connor pulled back to take a breath and threw the cone to the ground.
“You taste better.” He roughly clasped her neck, cleaving her to him for another dizzying kiss. “Goddamn, you taste so good.”

Make an island of yourself, make yourself your refuge. There is no other refuge. Make truth your island. Make truth your refuge.

Connor slipped his hands to her bottom, and her hard exhale was as loud as his hiss when he squeezed. His lips brushed hers in an open-mouthed tease. “Am I hot yet?”
“Almost.” She reached back and drew one of his hands around to her belly. “Other side.”
Connor groaned and pulled her to him with the hand still grabbing her ass. He fell back against a nearby tree, leaning on it for support, and Gabriella licked the shell of his ear. Reveling in his shudder, she bit down on his earlobe and brought his hand down toward the waistband of her shorts. She popped the first button open for him, and Connor’s hand slipped inside.
“Now you’re burning up,” she told him.
“Fuck,” he said, his breathing hard and fast. When his fingers stroked over the damp fabric covering her slit, he seemed to completely forget about his quest. Instead, he simply snapped.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | ARe | Samhain

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Rebel by Kristina Douglas

Format: E-bookrebel
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Series: The Fallen, #4
Publisher: Pocket Books
Hero: Cain
Heroine: Martha
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: March 26, 2013
Started On: February 8, 2015
Finished On: February 10, 2015

Rebel is the last published book in the Fallen series by Kristina Douglas. Rebel tells of the fallen angel Cain, who returns to Sheol after a long period of time, nursing the need vengeance and revenge that has been haunting him for a long time. Cain is the hell raiser, the angel that everyone at Sheol has a hard time trusting given his penchant for causing trouble and leaving a trail of destruction in his wake. When Martha, the seer of the Fallen “sees” the arrival of Cain, Martha would like nothing more than for her this very vision to be proved wrong.

From the minute Cain arrives in Sheol engulfed in a ball of fire, everyone is shocked and apprehensive of his presence at the same time. Martha more so because of the wicked variety of dreams that had been haunting her for a while now, dreams of Cain and herself getting down and dirty in a way that she and her now dead husband had never engaged before. Nothing scares Martha more than opening herself up to the vulnerability that would be sure to follow if she allows Cain in and Cain certainly makes it hard for her to trust him with her heart when it comes to him.

Cain believes that nothing but boredom makes him seek out Martha. That her dull character would soon bore him and he would be able to move on without much trouble. That Martha is nothing but just one step he needs to cross in order to execute his plan of making the Fallen bleed a success. What he doesn’t bet on is for Martha to show him a side of her that proves to be alluring both physically and emotionally, for her to reach into a side of him that makes him want to lash out and he does, in ways that will exasperate the reader and then some.

While all of the Fallen stories follow a similar pattern, it is Cain’s arrival that heralds a belief change in the entire group that stirs things up in a manner that the occupants of Sheol has never faced before. Martha whose character appears to be a bit of a lackluster one in the previous novels proves to be the most surprising element to the story when she reveals her backbone of steel that has seen and being through a lot in her life. She is the usual no nonsense variety of heroines that Anne Stuart loves to write and she writes them well.

While I totally was on board with the angst that was delivered to the story through Cain’s reluctance to put a label on his feelings where Martha was concerned, I felt that Cain didn’t really have to work for it when it came to winning Martha over. I would definitely have loved to see Cain grovel a bit, so that it would have given readers a more well rounded ending to their story.

While there is no mention anywhere on the continuation of this series, I would like to think that somewhere along the way Anne Stuart would put pen to paper and give the series an ending that readers would love. Lucifer is the fallen angel that is left and the angel which I believe as per how things were proceeding would end up turning things around not just for the Fallen, but for the entire world.

Recommended! And one more thing; the dream sex – totally hot!

Final Verdict: A hell raising angel and a seer whose visions never seem just quite right. Love definitely is a game changer.

Favorite Quotes

He moved then, and his breath was hot against my skin, his long hair drifting against me, his hands on my arms, holding me still. And then his mouth touched my skin, and I wanted to weep.
It was no erotic kiss, no arousing tease of my suddenly tight breasts. It was a soft, sweet kiss against the place where the claws had bitten deep into my flesh, where the scar puckered in such an ugly way. A kiss, a benediction, followed by another, and then another, as his mouth traced the brutal line of scarring, then moved on to the next one, and I was weeping beneath my tightly closed lids.
He said nothing, but I heard his thoughts anyway. You shouldn’t be ashamed of these scars, his voice said in my dream. They’re a badge of honor.

“More.” I didn’t recognize the raw, needy whisper, but I could feel the strange delight of his laugh against my clitoris, and then his teeth, delicately, as he withdrew his long finger and then pushed two inside.
I shattered immediately, my voice hoarse as I cried out. “Don’t . . .
“Don’t . . . stop.”
He didn’t, pushing me over that hill and then dragging me up another, higher, steeper, and I knew the plummet into darkness would be terrifying, and I knew I couldn’t—wouldn’t—fight him. I wanted this. In the private darkness of my dreams, I wanted everything, because nothing was real.

“Take me,” I whispered, my voice hoarse. “Take all of me.” And I moved, baring my neck to him.
He thrust, so deep and hard that it was a kind of pleasure-pain that had me teetering on the very edge. And when I felt his bite sink deep into my throat, I went over, lost in the pulsing of my blood into his mouth, the pulsing of his semen inside me. Lost, forever, until, as I wanted, there was nothing left.

“It doesn’t. It’s just me asking. Come here, Martha. Or turn your back on me. It’s your choice. It always has been.”
I stared at him. “And it doesn’t matter which one I choose?”
His smile was rueful. “Of course it does. I’m ready to explode from wanting you. You’re making me crazy—I can’t concentrate on why I’m here; all I can think about is getting inside you, and each dream only makes it worse instead of taking the edge off. I’m drowning in you, in your scent and your touch and your taste. Come to me, goddamn it.” His voice was ragged at the end of this, and I was hot, trembling.
“No,” I said. Just to see the darkness flood his face. “You come to me.”

I felt the wall against my back, hard, and his hands were up under the shift, on my hips, ripping away the scrap of underwear I wore. He braced me against the wall as I felt his fingers between my legs, testing me, slipping in the wetness of my arousal, and then he fumbled with his jeans. I heard the rasp of a zipper in the darkness, and a moment later he was pressed against me, large and hot and real, and there was no sweetness, no gentle persuasion, there was only the hard thrust of him, pushing in, deep, so deep that I wanted to cry out in sudden satisfaction. Wanted to cry out for more.

“I want you to feel this,” he whispered against my ear. “I want you to be so caught up in you and me that there isn’t room for anything else. Not doubt, not control, not trust or Thomas or any of the thousands of reasons you don’t want this. I want you to think only about why you do. Why you want me inside you. Why it feels like you’d die if you didn’t feel me inside you. And then you’ll understand what I’ve been feeling for the past week, every time I look at you.”

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | eBookMall | iTunes

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Warrior by Kristina Douglas

Format: E-bookwarrrior
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Series: The Fallen, #3
Publisher: Pocket Books
Hero: Michael Angelo
Heroine: Victoria Bellona
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: April 24, 2012
Started On: January 24, 2015
Finished On: February 8, 2015

He wanted her. Needed her.
He wouldn’t take her.

Warrior by Kristina Douglas is the third book in the Fallen series. Warrior tells the story of Michael Angelo, the angel that has honed himself into a lethal fighting machine. It has been two centuries since Michael had last taken a mate and Michael has no intention of taking one until fate brings to his life Victoria Bellona, the Roman Goddess of War.

Victoria doesn’t believe in the fact that she is a goddess of anything, much less a Goddess of War. However, it is undeniable that her childhood up till now had prepared her in the art of fighting and she aims to fight dirty to gain her freedom from the life she has been subjected to, until she finds herself married off to Michael, a man whose very presence makes Victoria forget herself, until she learns that Michael is one of the Fallen and has no intention of ever truly making her his.

Michael fights a losing battle when it comes to Victoria. Michael’s honorable intentions take a hard hit when it comes to her. When Michael is forced to go after Victoria, all bets are off when both Victoria and Michael finally give in to the hunger that courses through them every second that they are together.

With every searing kiss and scorching touch, Michael knows that there would be no turning back for him when it comes to Victoria. But the Fallen’s number one enemy is still eager as ever to break them up, make them all bow down to him and in the process, destroy what they’ve built millenniums ago. Will Victoria make a difference or will she be the one that helps their enemy finally and once and for all bring them down?

Though not as good as the first two books in the series, it is hard to remain detached from a tale spun by Anne Stuart. She brings the variety of wicked humor and nerve tingling passion alive in her books that are hard to forget. Michael and Victoria, though at the surface might seem like they don’t want anything to do with each other, fights an attraction that burns through their blood, a calling that runs through their soul for each to claim the other. Half the fun lay in Michael trying to resist Victoria and the passion that ignited when he finally succumbed to the inevitability of it all.

Recommended.

Final Verdict: A grumpy & reluctant angel finds his match in the brave goddess of war that entices him unlike any other.

Favorite Quotes

He stood at one end, his face cool and impassive. Such an arresting face on the man. Angel. Whatever he was. Exquisitely beautiful. Exquisitely cold.
In the bright sunlight I could see him clearly for the first time. He was wearing white as all the others were, a loose open shirt, though he’d rolled up the sleeves, as if even a so-called wedding required hard work. I looked at his strong forearms, and for the first time I noticed tattoos snaking their way up beneath the white cloth. The shirt was loose at the neck as well, and there were more markings on his chest, his throat, twining around to the back of his head, markings I hadn’t seen before. I halted, momentarily fascinated, and then Allie caught my arm and gently urged me forward.

She must have heard him come in. She rose on one elbow, looking at him, and the sheet fell away, exposing one small, perfect breast. And he needed to suck at it, to slide his hand between her legs and feel the wetness of her desire. He’d tried everything he could to fight this.
For the first time in his limitless existence, he had lost a battle.

“You’re not paying a debt,” he said. “Are you?”
She hesitated. “No,” she said, and leaned back against the pillow. “And you aren’t doing your duty, are you?”
“No.” He knelt on the bed, straddling her carefully. There was barely enough room for the two of them. It didn’t matter. They were going to be so close they wouldn’t need extra space. “No,” he said again, moving between her legs, lifting them. He took her mouth, her sweet, inexperienced mouth, with his, and then simply pushed inside her, hard, knowing she’d be wet and ready for him.

He pulled out almost completely, and she let out a cry of loss. He slid his hand down her stomach to her clitoris, touching her as he suddenly slammed into her, and she shattered, her body clamping around him. She shrieked against his shoulder, in shock, in pleasure, her fingers digging into him so tightly he would have thought she’d draw blood. That was another arousal, and he thrust, again and again, hard, riding her orgasm, prolonging it, and when she finally fell back, limp, he let himself go, releasing his seed into her, filling her, his head dropping to the pillow beside her as his wings unfurled to lock around them, cradling them in softness.

Darkness. Thick, enveloping darkness, with his strong body surrounding me, his hot, wet mouth on mine. All arguments fled. I wanted this. Needed this. Ever since I’d left his bed, a part of me had been missing, and now it was found again. He had come for me. And I was his.
His tongue slid into my mouth, and I felt unaccountably shy even after last night, but it didn’t seem to matter. When I tentatively moved my tongue against his, he let out a low growl of unmistakable approval, and I wanted to get closer. I wanted him inside me again, I wanted to take his cock into my mouth the way they did in the books I’d read. I wanted everything.

So many contrasting emotions were flooding me that I felt dizzy. Lust and irritation went without saying. But . . . he’d come for me. He’d died for me. He had my blood inside him, making him strong. He had me inside him.
And in willingly giving him my blood, my life force, I was afraid I’d given him more than that. I had given him love.

He shook me again, gripping my wrists so tightly that my hands were growing numb. “Had enough?” he demanded furiously.
“Not even close,” I snapped back.
And then we both froze. He looked down at me, bafflement and rage fading from his face. His mouth was bleeding. “Oh, shit,” he said.
He released my wrists. I didn’t know if he was going to try to pull away, but I wasn’t going to give him that chance.
“Oh, shit, indeed,” I said, my eyes daring him.
His mouth on mine was hard and angry, and I could taste his blood. It should have horrified me. It didn’t.

I shattered, letting out a low, keening wail, and he caught the cry from my mouth, drinking it in. Distantly I heard the clang of his belt buckle and the rasp of his zipper, and then he was inside me, sliding deep, pulling my legs around his narrow hips. I was already wet, aroused, my body accepting, and I clung to him, shocked. I felt like a boat on a stormy ocean, adrift in a tempest of sensation so powerful I could focus only on his body and what it was doing to mine.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | eBookMall | iTunes | ARe
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by mvbookreviewer

ARC Review: Under His Touch by Jeffe Kennedy

Format: E-bookunderhistouch
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Erotic Romance
Series: Falling Under, #2
Publisher: Carina Press
Hero: Alexander Knight
Heroine: Amber Dolors
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: January 19, 2015
Started On: January 15, 2015
Finished On: January 22, 2015

Under His Touch by Jeffe Kennedy is an explosive read and the second book in the Falling Under series by the author. Being my very first Jeffe Kennedy novel, I didn’t find any difficulty in immersing myself in the story, thus pretty much safe to say that this can be read as a standalone and that Jeffe writes one helluva story!

Amber Dolors is young, smart and ambitious. The only thing that seems to be lacking in her life are prospective men with whom she can connect on a physical and mental level. What Amber craves physically is someone who would hold mastery over her, but Amber finds herself hardpressed to find someone who fits the persona that she has in mind. A persona that seems to tie in perfectly with her boss Alexander Knight (Alec).

Scarred from his marriage and preceding divorce, Alec is a broody hero if ever there was one. Hailing from Britain, Alec’s move to the U.S. had come in order for him to leave his past behind. Amber is a distraction that Alec can definitely do without. Though their workplace has no strict rules on inter-office dating, Alec feels that he is way older for someone like Amber even though his body smolders from the very idea of him and Amber together.

Under His Touch is a story that has a lot of angst of the good variety in it. Alec though he wants to possess Amber in every single way possible, resists her at every level until he realizes that him and Amber will happen, one way or the other. For Amber, Alec giving in means she gets to experience the sort of sex life that she has been craving for, for a very long time. But as these two embark on an affair that has no time limit set on it, both Alec and Amber realize that it is not just the physical aspect of their relationship and connection that draws them together. And Amber realizes that if ever they were to have a chance at making things work long term, Alec would definitely need to lay the demons that hound him to rest.

Under His Touch is an erotic romance with BDSM elements to it. Alec is a man who exudes so much control over himself and that of his encounters with Amber that lent an extra charge to the sensuality that was pretty much overloading my senses to begin with. The one encounter during which Alec’s legendary control broke is one that is worthy of a mention. I couldn’t help but want more of the same.

Amber was definitely a heroine that endeared to me. I liked her spunk, her independent nature and the fact that she wasn’t willing to settle for anything less than what she wanted. And I loved her for the fact that even though she is young and inexperienced when it comes to the likes of a BDSM lifetstyle, she is intuitive enough to know what Alec wants and needs. Though Alec might be the dominant in their relationship, Amber herself provides the much needed relief and salvation that Alec had been seeking, albeit unknowingly.

Alec is a hero that would drive most readers nuts, and all in a good way. His sexuality is one that is not all over the place, but yet the strength of it could be felt at the turn of every single page. Amber labeling his attire as suit porn was one I could definitely relate to. I couldn’t help but smile and fan myself a bit everytime Alec came into the picture. Yes ladies, he is that enchanting! And now imagine all that with a sexy British accent? Swoon!

The only thing that I felt lacking in the story was a well rounded ending. I wanted a little bit more of Alec and Amber before the story was through. I felt that the ending was a trifle bit rushed. Perhaps an epilogue that showed Alec and Amber somewhere down the line would’ve done a lot to appease readers like myself who wants to actually see the happily ever after before turning the last page of the story.

Recommended for fans of BDSM, fans of angsty romances & fans of sexy British heroes! I loved it!

Final Verdict: Alec exerts mastery of the kind that would drive you absolutely mad from the wanting!

Favorite Quotes

He tapped a pen on the desk, glanced out at the empty hall and back to her with a wry smile. “I find that hard to believe. I’d think they’d be lining up to buy you drinks and so forth.”
“Back at you. Aren’t the women of New York falling over themselves for a shot at you? I could name half-a-dozen on this floor alone.”
“Please don’t.” He leaned his forearms on the desk, laced his fingers, checked the hall again. Seemed to gather himself and met her gaze. “Surely you know if I wouldn’t cross the line for you, I wouldn’t for anyone.”

“A kiss,” he whispered, “to seal our agreement.”
Saturating herself in the experience, she relished Alec’s obvious desire as much as her own. It felt so perfect, to yield this way, to be half-naked on his lap, held in his grip as his mouth lowered to hers. To know he’d control the kiss and at the same time craved the taste of her. Trying to be gentle, he brushed her lips with his, but his hand tightened on her hip, fingers digging in, and he made a sound she would have called despair in another circumstance, from another person.
Heady with the moment, with him and the way his mouth sank into hers, she returned the kiss, leaning into him with a sense that she might die if he stopped. His hand on her chin shook and he transferred it to the back of her neck, winding it into the fall of her hair and twisting, pulling her head back so he kissed her more deeply. He tasted of wine and desire, kissing her so hard, the attraction they’d both banked until now meeting and opening like their mouths, feeding on each other and fusing in a nuclear reaction, slamming them into each other and into a blaze of need.

Then he replaced his finger with his tongue and she lost her mind entirely.
Oblivious to anything but the slow stimulation of his tongue on her tender breasts, feeling that at any moment she might begin bleeding through her pores, she dropped her head back, trying to absorb it. Sounds came out of her. Delirious moans and whimpers, but she gave up wondering when he’d stop this. Gave up thinking about needing an orgasm like water in the desert. She only rocketed with each tortuous lick, unable to resist in any way.
When his mouth closed on her nipple and bit, she came.
The orgasm took her like a lightning bolt. Unheralded except for the static cloud that had built so slowly and imperceptibly that she hadn’t been able to prepare. Instead it caught her in its convulsing current and she screamed, thrashing in Alec’s hands, wild and mindless. He switched to her other nipple, sucking and biting it as she bucked on his lap.

“Suck me off then,” he ordered, setting the brandy aside and making himself think about the damn McCloskey account. Which helped not at all because it reminded him immediately of how she’d smiled when she suggested they could discuss that over drinks, sly and full of that—
“Holy Christ,” he gasped as she freed his cock and closed her hot mouth over it.
She worked the shaft with her delicate fingers, taking him deep into the depths of her clever mouth. His balls clenched as she sucked the climax out of him almost instantly. Unthinking, he buried his hands in her hair, held her head and thrust himself into her mouth. Mindlessly emptying himself.

She stilled, cognizant enough now to anticipate, her breath hitching with tears and moans of encouragement. In one swift movement, he buried himself in her and slipped his fingers into her slick tissues, to press hard on her clit.
As he’d anticipated, she convulsed, wrenching as the orgasm took her. To his surprise, he nearly came, too, barely hanging on, digging his fingers into the sheets as her body milked him. He managed to make it until she crested, enough to ease himself into stroking in and out of her, finding her rhythm, bracketing her clit to ease her through the crash and prolong her arousal. She responded as a thoroughbred race horse, ramping into another rise and climax, her body shuddering and her cries going from despair to delight.

“Only when I say you can, yes?”
“Yes.” She sighed out the agreement, willing to promise anything, then sucked the air back in when he thrust hard into her, slamming his hips against hers, penetrating impossibly deep.
Though she’d just come, the near-brutal shock threw her close to climax, like a spark set to a rocket. She clenched her teeth against the keening sound coming deep out of her.
Alec pulled back, kissing her with all the gentleness lacking a moment ago, coaxing her through it. As she recovered, softly, sweetly he moved in and out of her channel, stroking in long glides, lulling her, so she rode up on steadily increasing levels of arousal. Each time he seemed to ease deeper into her and she had no ability to resist, only to yield more.
Without warning, he slammed hard into her again.
She screamed and she thought she heard him laugh, low and wicked.

“So what now?” Tell me to strip, Alec.
He glanced at her. Away again. Face and voice in that carefully neutral mode. “What
would you prefer to do? If you want to go, I understand. Maybe you should. That’s part of why I stayed away this evening. Part of me hoped you’d find me gone and leave again.”
“Why?” Her mouth had gone dry with dread. But he’d said he wanted her. In devastating, erotic detail.
His lips curved in that cruel ironic smile and he turned to face her, leaning an elbow on the rail. Not relaxed, though. Coiled. “Perhaps the monster always hopes, somewhere in its twisted heart, that its prey will escape.”

“I’m looking,” he grated out. He seized her wrists and stretched them over her head, pinning them there with one hand and using the other to flick open the front clasp of the bra. Cupping her naked breast, he squeezed, tight, and she writhed under the grip. “I’m touching.” He leaned in hard, his erection pressing against her belly, the brick wall grating against her back through the silk. “Now tell me to stop.”
Instead she moved her hips against his, wild for more. “Don’t you dare stop.”
“You know the penalties for giving me orders.” He pinched her nipple and she gasped but held his gaze, defiant.
“Do your worst.”

With a curse that sounded almost foreign, his accent had gone so thick, he released her wrists, dug in his pocket and ripped open his pants, just enough to release his cock and get the condom on. “Put your leg around my waist,” he ordered, pinning her wrists on either side of her head. “I can’t be gentle.”
“I don’t want gentle.” She barely finished the words before he’d pushed deep inside her. Fast, hard, nearly brutal. Clenching her teeth to keep from screaming as a new orgasm built on the last, she watched his face, the way his gaze stayed riveted on her as he fucked her with a wild intensity.
“I want you every second of every day.” His thrusts punctuated his words, thick and guttural. “That’s not the problem.”

“Please,” she gasped, unable to frame more than that. “Please.”
“When I say.” He thrust in and out, the sensation so intense, shattering. Unreal.
With his other hand, he gathered her breasts together, squeezing them, and she cried at it,
a long stream of pleas. The forestalled orgasm seemed as agonizing as any of it. He accelerated his pace, smacking into her hips so hard she had to brace against the glass.
“Now!” He shouted, simultaneously dragging off the clamps and pinching her clit, ramming to the hilt inside her.
She screamed. Flung far from the earth, fired into orbit by the incredible release. Rocket fuel. Nuclear fission.
She blasted into tiny fragments of who she’d been.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Requested ARC Review: Midnight Promises by Lisa Marie Rice

Format: E-bookmidnightpromises
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Series: Midnight, #5
Publisher: Carina Press
Hero: Sean “Metal” O’Brien
Heroine: Felicity Ward
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: January 19, 2015
Started On: January 12, 2015
Finished On: January 15, 2015

Midnight Promises is the 5th book in the Midnight series by Lisa Marie Rice. I got hooked onto Lisa Marie Rice ages ago when I first stumbled upon her Dangerous series. Lisa has a penchant for creating heroes that are as tough as they come. Demanding in the bedroom, gentle with their lady outside of it and lethal in the art of fighting and willing to lay their last breathe for the women they love. Ah! Those are the books that still linger afresh on my mind because the impact a good novel can have on you is imprinted in the deep recesses of your mind forever.

The 5th book in the Midnight series features a heroine in danger from the Russian KGB, for the secrets that she unknowingly holds in her hands. Felicity grows up in a household where her father had always looked sad, fear of being captured or worse always making him look over his shoulder. Her mother hadn’t fared any better under the life they’d been forced to live and Felicity had borne the brunt of it all.

Her trip to Portland had been a test of sorts, to see whether she could lead a normal life. A bit of a recluse and a genius in computer coding, Felicity is taken unawares when she is attacked in the airport itself. Her ingenuity and quick thinking saves her life and she lands on the doorstep of her friend Lauren, where Sean “Metal” O’Brien takes charge of her well-being and her heart in the process.

Midnight Promises for me held echoes of the Lisa Marie Rice that moved me to sigh over her books and squirm over the rough and oh so sensuous sex scenes she writes so wonderfully. Sean is the hero who has battle scars all over his body to prove that he is a toughie all around. Felicity, while she might’ve had to lead a reclusive life, is classy and beautiful with a heart that wants to trust that there just might be a person out there capable of keeping her safe from harm. And yet I found myself wanting more from both of them.

Though Midnight Promises had potential to be something more, it fell a wee bit short of hitting the mark. Sean and Felicity were likable enough, I just wasn’t able to connect with the rest of the story as much. Some parts of it dragged a bit, and I missed out on how Lisa tends to forge  a connection between the hero and heroine in her previous books that makes it feel like they are in a world of their own, a cocoon of their own making where they are the only ones that exists. But I still would like to say that even with the lack of that, the scene in which Sean makes Felicity his was superbly done; Lisa has a penchant for making the dirty variety of sex sound beautiful and poetic.

Recommended for fans of the series and fans of Lisa Marie Rice. I might be of the very few who found that the story could have been much much better.

Final Verdict: A little bit of the Lisa Marie Rice magic goes a long way!

Favorite Quotes

“She was pure sensation, feeling not thinking. Her brain just switched off, like in sleep only better. Because she was aware of the sensations.
His lips were soft but his stubble was rough against her skin. He somehow moved above her, in a dominant position and that excited her so much it scared her. He lifted his mouth for a second, so close she could feel his breath—actually she felt as if she was breathing through him. When he spoke, his lips were against hers, voice so deep it seemed to reverberate throughout her chest.
“I’m glad you aren’t with anybody. Because you are now.”

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | ARe | Carina | iTunes

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by mvbookreviewer

Requested Review: Wildsmith by J. J. Sachs

Format: E-bookwildsmith.jpg
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Erotic Contemporary Romance
Series: Untitled, #1
Publisher: Self-Published
Hero: Jason Wildsmith
Heroine: Lucy Albright
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: October 18, 2014
Started On: December 21, 2014
Finished On: December 21, 2014

Wildsmith by J.J. Sachs is a novel that took me completely by surprise, in a wonderful way. Lucy Albright is having a hard time with her boyfriend Kieran James, the best looking guy in the university, who should have been able to knock her socks off and then some. But time and yet again, Lucy finds herself frustrated, left hanging too many times to count and on the verge of screaming herself hoarse from the sheer frustration of it all.

When Lucy’s new professor Doctor Jason Wildsmith revvs her engines in more ways than one, Lucy is at first wary though excitement tinges along with it. The intensity that is Wildsmith is one that Lucy is hardpressed to ignore and finally, Lucy decides to give in and test the waters where Wildsmith is concerned.

What follows is one of the most erotic and mind melting variety of sex scenes with a touch of BDSM that made me go yowza in several places. Wildsmith and the control that he exerts on himself and the sex scenese fraught with tension plus the mindless pleasure that he gives Lucy is one that is addictive; even to the reader. Wildsmith, the name itself conjurs something wild, his bad boy past and the educated mind of his with his “reformed” self one that is damn near IRRESISTIBLE!

The ending when it came was one that made me want to howl. I so wanted the story to be done in one book, but the fact that this is the debut book in a series meant that I had to go through the agonizing end and weep over what both Lucy and Wildsmith has to go through to hopefully come out stronger and united when the series is through.

The one thing I did love about the ending though was the fact that Lucy gained enough self confidence to take charge of her sexuality. And though I did love Lucy’s dominant side towards the end, I do wonder how that is going to work with Wildsmith. Somehow I have a hard time conjuring up two dominants together. Even then I couldn’t help but mourn for Wildsmithm, the man who has entered my heart and I don’t think that there is going to be any other for either Lucy or me!

Definitely recommended! I am definitely going stir crazy with curiosity over how J.J. Sachs is going to turn around the story now!

Final Verdict: Erotica that sizzles through the nerve endings; Wildsmith makes the heart pound.

Favorite Quotes

She had gone less than ten yards when he heard the sound of running feet. A hand fell on her shoulder, whirling her round. Arms wrapped around her, and Wildsmith’s mouth fell on hers. With a hunger she hadn’t known she possessed, she answered his kiss.

And still he went on. All restraint gone, he allowed her legs to fall open and grabbed her hips. Hair falling across his eyes, growling with his own pleasure, he pounded his cock into her, pulling on her hips to make sure she took every last millimetre.
She cried out again as a fresh wave of orgasm shattered her, almost weeping as he fucked her with rough, animal wildness.

“Open your eyes, Lucy. I want you to watch this in the mirror.”
She obeyed, instantly.
“You will learn to control yourself,” Wildsmith continued. “Now I am going to fuck you. If you make a single sound, or move, until I give you permission, I will stop and this session will be over.”
How can he be so fucking cruel?
The thought was blown away in a hurricane as Wildsmith gripped her hips and pushed into her.

Fearing to move in case he stopped completely, she could only bite her lip in frustration as he entered her millimetre by frustrating millimetre. Breathing ragged, she fixed her eyes on the image in the mirror to distract herself. The reflection she saw there just made her need worse: Wildsmith rising above her naked body, hair hanging over his face; candlelight gleaming on his skin; jeans hanging open. Her own eyes were fierce and wild; the collar still around her neck making her look like an animal.

Her orgasm was instantaneous; the howl that wrenched from her throat as she arched her back and lifted her head, primal. Her body shuddered and shuddered again, as Wildsmith’s driving shaft finally brought release. Lucy could no longer tell pain and pleasure apart. Every part of her was caught up in a blossoming explosion that ripped through her, touching off fresh, bigger and deeper explosions. It was as if Wildsmith had spent the previous hour setting explosive charges throughout her body and was now triggering a series of ever-greater detonations with the relentless thrusting of his cock.

Purchase Links: Amazon

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by mvbookreviewer

Requested Review: The Farthest Shore by Marian Perera

Format: E-bookthefarthestshore
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Series: Eden, #3
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Hero: Alyster Juell
Heroine: Mirande Tayes
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: August 26, 2014
Started On: December 15, 2014
Finished On: December 20, 2014

Alyster Juell is the captain of the steamship Checkmate, involved in a race between Denalait ships and a Dragan schooner. Captain Alyster appears in the second book of the series, i.e. The Deepest Ocean, my favorite Eden book thus far. Alyster’s excitement over the race is a given and when he finds a stowaway on board, none other than Mirande Tayes (Miri), one of the reporters that he had met the previous night, Alyster’s first reaction is to distrust her on every level.

The truth about Miri’s past and where she comes from is the reason behind Miri’s fate that ends her being onboard Alyster’s steamship as a stowaway. Miri bargains with Alyster to keep her onboard until they reach a port where she can make her way. Alyster who has misgivings about a reporter he distrusts is left fighting an attraction born out of respect for Miri proves her mettle and shows him that she is unafraid of hard work to make her way when required.

Meanwhile, the war that has waged for years between the Tureans and the Denalaits rears its ugly head in the midst of the race, the Tureans willing to use every dirty trick under their sleeve and then some to “win” in a war that has seen its fair share of casualities and damages on both sides. The war has done nothing but create a divide the likes of which we find in the real world today, racial divides that seem insurmountable at best which is the situation that comes to light between Miri and Alyster.

Marian’s ability to create and combine the creepy with the mystic, the romance with the world building continues to amaze me with every story that I read from the Eden series. The Farthest Shore combines all of the above to give a spellbinding read that keeps the reader on tenterhooks until the very last page.

The fate of the little girl under the Turean command, that holds so much power in her hands is one that filled me with unease and fascination quite at the same time. I cannot help but want to read her story somewhere along the way, perhaps Marian might end up giving readers like myself one sometime in the future.

Alyster as the hero is a bit of a laid back version compared to his brother who has a reckless streak a mile wide. The commanding side to Alyster is a direct contrast to his beta-ish nature, both of which makes for a compelling hero. Though Alyster has a hard time coming to terms with who Miri is, the honesty with which he and both Miri handle the situation is one that deserves a mention. Miri is a courageous heroine, whose penchant for being truthful and upfront with Alyster before anything serious could happen between the two of them endeared her to me in more ways than one. Waiting for more stories from the world of Eden.

Recommended!

Final Verdict: Marian’s world building of Eden offers endless possibilities for fascinating tales of intrigue, excitement & danger!

Favorite Quotes

“A lot can happen in a few hours.”
“Alyster…” she began. She wasn’t sure what she intended to say, perhaps just tell him that it was the wrong time and place for whatever he was trying to do—and she knew now that he didn’t only want her to trust him. She also knew that she should not have said his name for the first time like that, in a voice that showed altogether too much need, betraying both a loneliness and a longing that she had never allowed herself to show before. But by then it was far too late.

He’d shaved, so the skin grazing her ear was velvety-rough, his teeth hard against her earlobe.
That time it was she who made a sound instead, a whimper she couldn’t stifle, and her arms went up around him.
“Yes,” he said, his voice as raw as if he had fought not to say anything at all, and when he kissed her again there was no gentleness about it. But she didn’t need that now. She needed to forget about everything, needed the pain of the past and the darkness of that night wiped out in a desire so fierce she couldn’t think any longer, needed him.

“I’ve never known a woman quite like you,” he said quietly.
Again she hesitated. Only the faintest edge of moonlight from the open hatchway showed the soft waves of her hair and one shoulder in the darkness.
“A woman who was half-salt?” she finally replied, and he had the impression she’d used the pause to make certain only a cool edge of disdain showed in her voice. He didn’t think he’d allow her the chance to get a shield up again. He didn’t think he wanted there to be anything between them again, at least not for that night.
“Half-idealistic and half-exasperating and all remarkable,” he said, and closed his hands around her shoulders, pulling her against him.

Over a rushing sound in his ears, he heard her groan low in her throat, and he managed to break the kiss so they could breathe again. They were both panting as if they’d been nearly drowned.
As he wanted to drown in her, wanted to sink into her until she was gasping and helpless under him. There was no need to search for her mouth a second time. She kissed him back, one arm sliding up around his neck, and her fingers caught in his hair. He shuddered, and his mouth went to her throat.

“Do you want me?” He barely recognized the sound of his own voice.
In the darkness, he heard her swallow, and the sound made him take a quick step back before he could lose the last vestiges of control and push her up against the wall. “Yes.” The word sounded like a sigh, albeit a sigh dragged out of her with a fishing gaff.
A tension he hadn’t realized was present drained out of him. “Then come to my cabin,” he said, and walked away.

A whimper trapped in her throat, she bent her knees, trying to force his mouth closer to her, but she might as well have been trying to shift a mountain. He made a sound that might have been a laugh if it hadn’t been so raw with need, and buried his face between her thighs. The roughness of the stubble on his face made his mouth feel more sensitive and sensual, and he impaled her with his tongue.
The world vanished in a soundless explosion. Her body jerked in a climax so fast and hard she couldn’t even scream. Her spine locked rigid, her head fell back as wave after wave of clenching release slammed into her, and he drew out the last shudders as he licked her swollen, spasming flesh.

“Now,” she whispered, but he only shifted position, and his tongue played slowly over her other nipple. She squirmed, unable to bear the ache between her thighs. “Alyster, now—” He came into her deep and hard, stretching and filling her. She cried out, a sound as much plea as it was pleasure. Her arms tightened around him to hold him where she needed
him, her hips rose to meet his fierce thrusts, and she was close, so close, so—
“Miri,” he groaned against her ear, and that was enough. Everything in her tightened at once, clenching and rigid, and Alyster pulled back before driving in again, faster now as if he had lost all control too.

“Ride me, Miri,” he whispered, and she lifted herself above him. The slick slide of his naked flesh against hers made him set his teeth, and when he pushed back into her, it felt even better. She braced her hands against his chest, rising and falling again and again, meeting his thrusts in a rhythm that was steadily growing faster, more out of control.
“Now—” The muscles of her face tightened too, her eyes closing as she surrounded him and withdrew, relentless as the tide. Her thighs were trembling against his hips, squeezing them, as she impaled herself completely. “Alyster—”
Yes, Alyster thought and thrust up as hard as he could. It was enough.

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