Category / Red Hot Reads

by mvbookreviewer

Requested Review: Blood Avenged by Gabrielle Bisset

Format: E-bookbloodavenged.jpg
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Sons of Navarus, #1
Publisher: Self-Published
Hero: Vasilije
Heroine: Sasa Lambert
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: December 11, 2011
Started On: July 2, 2013
Finished On: July 3, 2013

Hero: Vasilije is a 400 year old vampire; powerful and ruthless with a hidden streak of kindness for those whom he chooses. Vasilije is lonely and restless though it would take a wooden stake through his heart for him to admit the fact – if ever.

Heroine: 27 year old Sasa Lambert has been taking care of her ailing mother so much so that she hasn’t had any time to worry about anything beyond that. Sasa is willing to do pretty much anything if it means helping alleviate the pain her mother is going through.

Storyline: Blood Avenged is the 1st book in the Sons of Navarus series. A run in an old nemesis of Vasilije stirs up trouble which has him turning up in New Orleans to hunt down the killer of one of his vampires. And thats where he runs into Sasa, the human who tempts, infuriates & comforts him on a level no one has in a long, long while.

Setting: Blood Avenged takes place for the most part in New Orleans and is told from the viewpoints of both Vasilije and Sasa.

Likes: Vasilije makes for an intriguing vampire hero. He is this intricate mix of ruthlessness with an inherent kindness that shines through him at the oddest moments. Hell hath no fury like a sire whose vampire has been killed and that’s exactly what Vasilije is and of course the reaction his nemesis expects from him. Vasilije is someone who keeps his emotions close to his chest, something a little bit more difficult to do around a woman like Sasa. I truly loved the fact that Vasilije stayed true to his character even till the end of the book.

Sasa might have started out on the wrong footing but she does try her darnedest to  make things right. Her vulnerability when it comes to Vasilije is one that she continually questions and the only saving grace for her is the fact that even Vasilije doesn’t seem to fare off any better.

Overall, I liked the easy style of writing that drew me in and I am definitely going to delve into the next set of books in the series.

Dislikes: None.

Recommended for: Fans of vampire romances and heroes with a bit of a ruthless streak in them.

Final Verdict: An exciting debut that definitely has whetted my appetite for more!

Favorite Quotes

Desperate to have him inside her, she pulled his mouth to hers and flicked her tongue again over the tip of one fang. In the dark, she was blind to his reaction but every other sense screamed to her that she wouldn’t have to wait a second longer for him to give her what she craved.
With no warning, he thrust into her, filling the empty space completely and taking her breath away.

Sasa stared up at him with wide eyes. “Please tell me you put some kind of spell or something on me. Tell me there’s a reason why every time you’re this close to me I want you more than I’ve ever wanted any other man.”
Her words hit him deep inside and made his cock stiffen hard as a rock. The thought of being inside her right then made his mind race with possibilities. Unable to stop himself, he dipped his head down to let his mouth softly touch hers and slid his tongue between her lips.

In a blur, Vasilije had her hands pinned above her head and was tearing her skirt and panties from her body. Before she knew it, his clothes had vanished and his cock was pressed against her entrance. Seconds later, he thrust his body into hers.
God, she didn’t want to want him like this. She didn’t want to enjoy the sound of his groans so full of desire each time he rammed his cock into her. She didn’t want to love the feel of his mouth, devouring her passion with a need that matched her own.
But she did. She wanted every inch of him, every moment of him, every touch of him.
Her body burned for everything he was.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

ARC Review: Life of the Party by Kate Davies

Format: E-booklifeoftheparty
Read with: Bluefire Reader for iPad
Length: Novella
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Girls Most Likely To…, #3
Publisher: Carina Press
Hero: Jeremy Wright
Heroine: Tess Bonham
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: July 8, 2013
Started On: July 1, 2013
Finished On:July 1, 2013

Hero: Jeremy Wright moves to Silverton as the hotel manager & finds that he has a reason to stay in the woman he befriends and has crushed on for a long while.

Heroine: Tess Bonham is known as the ‘Life of the Party’, not because she has partied hard but rather the opposite. She’s the one who organises and arranges events and the one everyone depends upon; sometimes to the extent of taking advantage of her.

Storyline: Life of the Party is the 3rd and final book in the Girls Most Likely To… series by Kate Davies. The story revolves around Tess and her hot and wild affair which begins as a friends-with-benefits arrangement, or so she thinks. Little does Tess know that Jeremy has a whole lot of other plans for that involves her that stretches into a long, long while. 

Setting: Life of the Party is set in the small town of Silverton and is told from both Tess and Jeremy’s points of view.

Likes: By far, Life of the Party is my favourite from the series. Main reason being that I loved both Tess and Jeremy, perhaps because they’d both been around a bit in the previous books and I felt like I knew them somehow. Kate has done a wonderful job in creating a believable sense of connection between Jeremy and Tess and I couldn’t have asked for more in a novel of this length.

Jeremy is the kind of hero I love best. He has a wicked sense of humour that got to me right from the very beginning. Though younger than Tess, Jeremy seems very mature and though has been hurt before doesn’t bring along all those nightmares into his relationship with Tess. I am a goner for a hero who utters the endearment ‘sweetheart’ and I found myself practically swooning every time Jeremy flashed that wicked grin of his and uttered hot dirty talk that revved up more than Tess’s engines.

Tess is quite the loveable character in her own right. I loved the fact that she’s the sort of person who goes above and beyond for the people that she cares about. Her self esteem requires a bit of a boost which Jeremy certainly helps along with and I found the way Tess was worried she might mess things up with Jeremy so endearing and relatable! And I loved, loved, loved the way Jeremy brought to life the wicked side of the otherwise prim, proper and conservative Tess.

The fact that Jeremy and Tess can be themselves around each other and still want each other to the extent they do; that’s what made this book a winner in my opinion.

Dislikes: None.

Recommended for: Fans of Kate Davies; fans of the series & fans of older women-younger hero romances.

Final Verdict: Jeremy, oh dear Jeremy. You’ve made me a believer of dirty talkin’.

Favorite Quotes

A grin spread across his face.
“C’mere.”
“Right here?” She looked around, heat crawling up her neck. The sounds of the pub employees moving around outside clearly filtered into the little room.
“Right here, right now.” He held out his hand and she took it, hoping her trembling fingers wouldn’t give her nervousness away. “I’ve been wanting to do this all day.”
He tugged her closer, bringing their bodies into contact, and wrapped his arm around her waist, holding her own hand behind her. Then he lowered his head and kissed her.

“Jeremy,” she said, her voice pleased. “When did you get—”
Her sentence cut off as he pulled her out the door into the alley behind the pub. Turning her around, he pressed her up against the rough brick exterior, stepped between her legs and kissed her.
Within moments, he was achingly, ragingly hard. He rocked into her, letting her feel how much he wanted her, and she moaned into his mouth. He slipped a hand under her thigh, urging her leg up, and she wrapped it around him willingly. They were as close as they could get without losing articles of clothing, and he sure as hell resented the fabric that separated them.

Finally, finally, he moved between her legs, raising her up with both hands beneath her gorgeous ass, and slid all the way home.
They both groaned at the sensation, and he had to stop for a moment, buried to the hilt, as he fought off a too-soon orgasm. It was everything he’d been waiting for—hot and tight and so, so wet. He dropped his forehead to her shoulder and breathed her in. Then he began to move.
Slowly at first, the drag and press of each inch waking nerve endings that had been long dormant.

With the lift of a shoulder, he headed toward his office. “Come on, let’s take a look at the schedule.”
The minute she was inside his office, he had the door shut and Tess crowded up against it. Her hair, so neat and tidy in that auburn topknot, started to slip and loosen. Something inside Jeremy did the same. He kissed her, long and slow, and it wasn’t until she damn near whimpered that he finally pulled away.

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

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by mvbookreviewer

ARC Review: Mine to Take by Cynthia Eden

Format: E-bookminetotake
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Self-Published
Hero: Trace Weston
Heroine: Skye Sullivan
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: June 17, 2013
Started On: June 29, 2013
Finished On: June 30, 2013

Hero: Meet Trace Weston, a man that oozes danger and sex appeal in lethal doses. When he walks into a room, everyone knows. Men are wary of that barely concealed wildness inside of him that has never been fully tamed. When he is on the hunt for the woman who has always been able to mess with his head and make him go uber possessive; then be on the look out. Because Trace is a man who will go down fighting for the woman he loves, the woman who had made all other women pale in comparison since he turned 17 and their worlds had collided that one fateful night.

Heroine: Skye Sullivan, the renowned prima ballerina who harbors a deep and undeniable longing for the man who taught her how destructive a force love and lust can be and left her broken in pieces. Skye has done her darnedest to forget and move on; but then some men are never forgotten are they?

Storyline: Skye is being watched and stalked and she fears that the next time HE finds her, she would never make it out alive. When everyone else refuses to listen to her fears and labels her as merely conjuring stuff out of thin air, Skye turns to the one man she thought she would never ask help from. The minute Skye walks into the plush offices of Weston Securities and sets eyes on an older and a more lethally appealing version of the man who broke her heart, all the feelings that had barely been kept under a leash pulsates back to life back in full force.

There is no turning away from the hunger nor the desire to possess and be possessed. And with the danger relentlessly closing in on her in all directions, Skye has to ask herself the question whether she has entrusted her life to the right man; a man who can still make her or break her if she lets him.

Time Period: Mine to Take has a contemporary setting and takes place in Chicago and New York and is told from both Trace and Skye’s points of view.

Likes: There are some authors who can induce instant lust with their male lead characters and Cynthia Eden is one of them. Trace Weston makes you sit up and take notice the second he enters the equation and there is no going back – ever. He is the uber-alpha type of hero that you envision would one day walk into your life and take you to heaven and beyond. He is the kind of hero that women would throw themselves at because of that intense vibe he exudes, because a woman just knows when a man who can turn her head around walks in.

The way Trace takes care of Skye and is besotted with her is one worth reveling in. I loved the little bits of the shared history between Trace and Skye tucked into the story that made the intense connection that is between them seem that much more real. With the kind of heat that singes and you can’t get enough of, Cynthia Eden has penned another winner with Mine to Take.

This is by no means a light and fluffy read and nor a predictable one. Figuring out who the stalker is takes some doing. There are elements of abuse and a bit of a dark edge to Trace and the whole story that unfolds. I loved the heat, the darkness and the love that is so raw and elemental that is between Trace and Skye. Perhaps a love like their might never materialize in real life but its always a wondrous thing to read about.

I loved the fact that this story captivated me enough to keep burning the midnight oil even when I had work the next day. You can measure a book’s worthiness by how much you are willing to forgo sleep when you know you will regret it the next day.

Dislikes: None.

Recommended for: Those who love dark heroes, hotter than sin sex and fast paced suspense. This is one book that you will not be able to put down.

Final Verdict: Dark & edgy with a passion that sears and a love that defies everything; Mine to Take is a must-read!

Favorite Quotes

His name was a husky murmur from her. Denial and need all tied together.
Her lips were too close. She smelled too good. Sweet vanilla. Good enough to damn well eat.
He took her mouth. Not gently. Not softly. Because he’d never been that kind of guy. Trace knew he wasn’t the tender lover type.
He’d fought for every single thing that he had. He’d keep fighting.

Her bra was tossed across the room.
The cool air hit her nipples, making them go even tighter.
Then his mouth was on her. His mouth wasn’t cool. It was hot. Seeming to singe her and the rasp of his tongue against her nipples felt so good.
She was wet.  She could feel the wetness on her panties, and Skye wanted them gone. She wanted Trace thrusting into her—
“I’ll let your hands go, but don’t move them. I get to touch. I get to taste.”  His hands eased away from hers. “I get to take.”

Release was near, so near—
“Tell me, Skye,” he demanded. A dark note had entered his voice. One that should have made her hesitate. Possessive… fierce… “Only me.”
She hovered on the brink of release.  “Trace, I need more—“
“I’ll give you every fucking thing.”
A zipper hissed down.  He lowered his body against hers.
He thrust into her.
Not easy. Not tentative.
He drove deep, filling her completely, and she stopped being on the brink.

He was hot and hard and strong in her hand.  Moisture gleamed on the head of his arousal, and she knew that just a few more—
“Not that way,” he snarled, the words dark and hard. “In you.”
Her panties ripped.  He lifted her hips.  Her skirt swirled around them. He lifted her—and thrust deep.

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

fantasticread

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Tempt Me Not by Susan Napier

Format: E-booktemptmenot
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Lucas Grey
Heroine: Victoria Bailey
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: February, 1993
Started On: May 8, 2013
Finished On: May 10, 2013

My respect for Susan Napier and her ability to continually surprise me with how different and engaging her stories are continues to grow with each book I read from her. Tempt Me Not is a novel that did all of that and more and as a reader who adores romances that really reaches out to me and grabs my emotions at full throttle, I definitely couldn’t have asked for more.

Meet Victoria Bailey, a woman that most people have tended to overlook all throughout her life. The surprises that Victoria as a character continues to give to the developing story was one reason that Tempt Me Not was so hard to put down. Victoria is a woman who exerts a huge amount of control on her emotions, wants and needs. But that control seems to chip away when she meets Lucas Grey, the temptation that he offers being something even that she cannot ignore.

Lucas turns out to be one of those ever patient heroes that makes you fall in love with them because that’s the sort of understanding required by a hero for a heroine such as Victoria who is quite ‘skittish’ by nature. All the while it drives Lucas absolutely mad to make a little bit of progress with Victoria only to find that the next day she is back with more armour in place to protect herself from him.

Victoria finds herself at an impossible impasse when what has been holding her back all throughout the years ceases to be no more and the guilt that has always been a part of her conscious ever since Lucas invaded her life leaves giving free rein to the sensuous and wanton side of her nature that comes undeniably alive for Lucas.

Though sometimes it feels like Victoria gives Lucas a hard time just to play coy with his obvious interest in her, there is a valid and solid reason behind Victoria’s reluctance to do something that she would never be able to forgive herself for putting both herself and Lucas through.

In the end, all the twists and turns seemed to give me a gut wrenching satisfying read, my emotions going haywire with all the conflict that seemed to evoke all sorts of jumbled up emotions inside of me. Highly recommended for those who love romances that gives you something different to enjoy.

Favorite Quotes

She shifted in his arms, but only so that she could lift her own hands to his shoulders, reaching out for the forbidden fruit that she had glimpsed that afternoon with an abandoned eagerness that would have shocked her if she had been capable of conscious thought. The kiss deepened abruptly to a kind of consummation, a woman accepting the savage thrust of a man inside her body. The gentle eroticism with which Lucas had begun the assault was swiftly overtaken by a primitive need to stake his claim, to stamp her with the image of his sexuality.

Purchase Links: Amazon

amazingread

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Avenger by Julia Sykes

Format: E-bookavenger
Read with: Kindle for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Erotic Romance
Series: Impossible, #3
Publisher: Self-Published
Hero: Sean Reynolds
Heroine: Claudia Ellers
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: May 3, 2013
Started On: May 9, 2013
Finished On: May 9, 2013

Hero: Sean Reynolds, a dominant alpha, whose character is shrouded in shades of grey that makes it difficult to sum him up without giving away the story.

Heroine: Dr. Claudia Ellers, the submissive to Sean; who is unwittingly drawn into the sheer drama and nightmare that her life explodes into when her life crosses paths with that of Sean.

Storyline: Avenger is the 3rd and final book in the Impossible trilogy. Avenger is a culmination of the events that pushes Claudia out of her comfort zone and gives Sean a chance to live a life of his own choosing. Its the story of two people who eventually make it even with insurmountable odds stacked against them.

Time period: Avenger has a contemporary setting and is told in first person in Claudia’s point of view.

Likes: Julia Sykes definitely knows what she’s doing by writing BDSM themed erotic stories with a dangerous edge to them. I loved all three books in this trilogy as they offered a way to slake my hunger for a hero who is not your usual run of the mill variety.

Julia is an author who can make your heart wrench with grief and sorrow one minute and take you on a wild ride of passion and incessant longing the next that its always one hell of a ride to get on. And I definitely wanted more!

Dislikes: Though some of the events that took place in the final story seemed a trifle bit rushed to me, I still enjoyed the story that unfolded and the happily ever after it sent my way.

Recommended for: Fans of Julia Sykes, fans of BDSM themed erotica and fans of rougher around the edges heroes who makes makes you swoon; this one’s for you!

Final Verdict: Sean Reynolds is a guilty pleasure not to be missed out on!

Favorite Quotes

My nipples hardened and I moaned into his mouth, arching up into him as I silently begged him to take me.  His tongue swept into my mouth, and I welcomed it.  His fist tangled in my hair, angling my head back so that he could take me more deeply.  Calloused fingertips lightly traced the curve of my neck, the roughness of his skin contrasting deliciously with his feather-light strokes.  Hot lines of pleasure shot to my breasts and then lower, hitting my core.  My inner walls contracted as I craved for him to fill me, to slake the growing need that was sweetly tormenting me.

He shoved me hard, and the wind was momentarily knocked from my lungs at the impact with the mattress.  Now he was the one straddling my hips, his weight pinning me down where he wanted me.  That cocky, lopsided grin that I loved so much was back in place, his turmoil and grief absent from his eyes, overcome by that dark flame that flickered in their green depths.  The sight of it made me shudder in delight as I realized that he accepted my words; he had let go of his feelings of uncertainty, of self-loathing.  He was embracing the sexual dynamic that gave both of us such unsurpassed pleasure.  He was accepting himself.

Then his teeth bit sharply into my earlobe, tugging at it.  I gasped as the slight, unexpected pain further stoked my need.  His lips were sucking away the pain, this hot tongue soothing the place where he had bitten me.  I writhed beneath him as he awoke yet another erogenous zone that I had never known existed.  His low, satisfied chuckle rumbled through me as he skillfully manipulated my body, drawing forth my submission with every touch.

His harsh expression told me that he could no longer hold himself back.  I watched as the overwhelming possessive need that he had described took over.  All vestiges of his careful self-control vanished as he drove into me to the hilt in one thrust.  My sex was still hyper-sensitive from my orgasm, and I let out a strangled cry as pleasure washed over me again.  I came immediately, my muscles fluttering around him and heightening his own pleasure.  He let out a low growl as he took me roughly, a primal, animalistic urge driving him as he pounded into me.

I could feel him beginning to jerk within me, heralding his own completion.  He leaned into me and bit down on my hardened nipple.  The pain sent me over the edge a third time, and my entire body began to shake.  The motion caused me to jerk against the cuffs, but the pain of their unyielding bite only heightened my ecstasy.  Sean’s howl mingled with my delighted scream as we found our ultimate pleasure at the same time, our bodies in perfect tandem with one another.

Purchase Links: Amazon

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by mvbookreviewer

Requested Review: Officer Off Limits by Tessa Bailey

Format: E-bookofficerofflimits
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Line of Duty, #3
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Hero: Daniel Chase
Heroine: Story Brooks
Sensuality: 4.5
Date of Publication: June 10, 2013
Started On: June 16, 2013
Finished On: June 21, 2013

The Brazen line of romances by Entangled Publishing has quickly become a favorite of mine. The sizzling heat packed into these novels are unbeatable. For someone who loves a lot of heat of the tangible variety in her romances, the books that I have picked up to read from the Brazen line so far have proved that the titles do live up to their name and their super smexy, mouth watering cover images.

Officer-Off Limits is a book in the ‘Line of Duty’ series by Tessa Bailey. Mind you, though this is a series, this book reads perfectly as a standalone and not having read the other books in the series I do not have any idea on whether they are loosely or remotely tied to each other. But the one thing I do know is that if hotter than sin cops in the line of duty are your thing, then you’ve definitely come to the right place.

Story Brooks gets dumped by her fiance just a couple of weeks before they are supposed to tie the knot. A kindergarten teacher who has led a pretty much by the book life till now, Story takes the news that her father has been admitted in a hospital in New York as a godsend in the aspect that it provides her with a much needed excuse to get away and think things through and get her life and perspectives in order.

The one thing she doesn’t count on nor expects is to run into her father’s protege and partner Daniel Chase who turns her world upside down and throws her off-kilter on so many levels that Story doesn’t even know what hits her. Daniel is a skirt chaser if ever there was one and though Story knows she should stay away from all the temptation that he offers, her body has other ideas whenever Daniel is in the vicinity. The wealth of dark emotions that Daniel hides behind his facade of being a womanizer is one that tugs at the heartstrings. And when Daniel encounters the beautiful Story with that sad tinge about her, Daniel goes crazy with the need to possess her and mark her as his.

But what is Daniel to do when his mentor warns him away from his daughter and tells him to keep his grabby paws to himself when all Daniel in fact wants to do is get down and dirty with Story in every single manner possible? And what is Daniel supposed to do when all the emotions that blindsides him makes him crave Story on a level that is completely alien to him that he is completely muddled up with possessive streak that completely takes him by surprise.

The attraction between Story and Daniel is instantaneous, believable and oh-so-scorching hot that I found myself panting almost throughout every combustible scene in the book. There was not even one inch of Daniel that I didn’t love; I completely took him on board as my book boyfriend and wanted to chant his name to sleep. Yep, that’s how obsessed I was with his character and simply put, I just could not get enough of him. I love my heroes with a bit of a dark edge to them, a tinge of possessiveness and jealousy inside of them that makes certain scenes that arise from the predicament they find themselves in that much more delicious to read about. And Tessa Bailey provided me with just that!

Tessa Bailey is a completely new to me author. But her writing style is one that I felt completely at home with, the ease with which she drew me into the story one that is hard to find these days. There are so many books out there that I want to read but have such little time for; or maybe I have just grown a bit jaded with the usual story lines that seem to fill up the bookshelves. So to find a book amongst all of it which drew me in so effortlessly is one that is commendable at the highest level. One thing is for certain, Tessa Bailey has definitely earned herself a place in my auto-buy list.

The one thing that disappointed me was the lack of an epilogue which would have made the story complete in every sense. One thing I would like to mention is how much I loved Story and her best friend Hayden’s banter. Reminded me of the conversations that I have with my younger sister; outrageous, hilarious and of the laugh yourself to pain in your tummy muscles variety. I would love to read Hayden’s story, to find that man who would shake her world so thoroughly that she wouldn’t know how to be so prim, proper and obedient all the time. Oh well, I trust Tessa Bailey can do the magic and deliver one helluva of a read when the time comes.

If you love a dirty talking hero (and oh my lord, does he talk dirty) with enough action to back that all up, grab yourself a copy and indulge. Be warned, keep a glass of ice cubes, yes CUBES, at your side because trust me, the heat from the novel is of the searing and scorching kind and you wouldn’t ever feel the same afterwards.

Highly recommended.

Favorite Quotes

Story might as well have never been kissed before. All at once, she felt reckless. Wild. Free. Digging desperate hands into his hair, she pulled him closer, begging him to deepen the kiss further. Daniel obliged, sinking his tongue into her mouth with a growl.
As they parted for breath, his voice grated against her lips. “If you keep working that hot little tongue against mine, I’ll have no choice but to fuck you.”

“Say please, baby.”
“Please,” she moaned.
Then he tugged on the thong and her mind went blank, oblivious to everything but the pleasure coursing through her. She shook against him as her orgasm battered its way through her system, prolonged by the calculated tugging of material between her legs. His mouth latched onto hers, absorbing her cries, groaning at her wild response.

He bit her ear hard, pulling it with his teeth. It should have hurt, but instead it felt like an attack on every erogenous zone in her body. Her knees buckled underneath her, but his weight kept her upright.
Daniel laughed darkly, palming her roughly once before removing his hand from between her legs and yanking her dress back down. “Who am I kidding? When I finally get inside you, I’m going to fuck you until your voice is hoarse from screaming my name.”

Then he spoke directly against her ear. “Are you ready to scream, gorgeous?”
With a single thrust of his hips, he buried himself deep inside her. She screamed his name, her hoarse cry mingling with Daniel’s shouted expletive. He didn’t stop to savor the moment, however, his hips angling upward and pounding into her in a demanding rhythm, sliding against her exactly where she needed it.

Outside their car, three doors slammed, an engine started, and the van pulled away.
Story screamed his name as the orgasm rippled through her, light exploding behind her eyes. Half of what she said was drowned out by Daniel’s own hoarse cries of release as he plunged into her one final time and let himself go.

Daniel wore all black, from his dress shirt down to his buffed shoes. Somehow he managed to look fresh from the shower and a little dirty at the same time, a day’s worth of scruff covering his jaw. When he started toward her at the bar, he moved with such sensual purpose that Story saw a woman begin fanning herself at the bar. He looked hungry. He looked determined. And he was there for her.

Biting her lip to keep from screaming again, she used what limited movement she had to meet his advances with her hips.
“Daniel. Daniel, please.” She fought the delicious tingling as it built once more, even as she reached for it in desperation. With a throaty cry, she turned and sank her teeth into his bicep.
“Fuck yeah. Bite me, gorgeous. Mark up my whole body. I want everyone to know who I belong to. Who I get hard for. Just you, Story. Just you.”

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo

fantasticread

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Honeymoon Baby by Susan Napier

Format: E-bookhoneymoonbaby
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Do Not Disturb, #2
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Raphael Jordan
Heroine: Jennifer
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: October 1998
Started On: May 7, 2013
Finished On: May 8, 2013

For the lack of something to do to distract my mind on the long plane ride I found myself on, I started reading Honeymoon Baby by Susan Napier knowing that she would deliver a read worth delving into as the two previous books that I have read from her had proved to be stellar reads. True to my conviction, I found myself totally enamoured by the story that unfolded and for the first time in a long while, I found myself being seduced by a hero to such an extent that I found myself daydreaming about him!

Jennifer Jordan (Jenny) seems to be your average proverbial spinster who in your mind you label as someone who would end up old and whither away in the small town of New Zealand where she lives until the too sexy for words Raphael Jordan (Rafe) comes bulldozing his way into her life, wanting to claim the baby that Jenny is carrying, all righteous indignation and smouldering fury evident in every line of his body.

Jenny finds herself in a trap of her own making when Rafe is determined to stay and confirm for himself that Jenny is woman enough to take care of his son or daughter in a fashion that he would be satisfied with. The awareness that had always zinged to life when Jenny and Rafe had crossed paths in the past seems to blaze out of control as both of them discover the depth and reasons behind the frisson of awareness that had always existed between them.

Susan Napier is an author who writes and brings sensuality of the scorching hot kind so effortlessly into her stories. Its the way she creates her heroes and the heroines who are strong enough to love them that makes her books topnotch in that aspect. Rafe is such a delicious hero in every single way that I could wax lyrical poetry about him all day long. I wouldn’t mind it at all if he were to turn up on my doorstep and lure me onto the path of inevitable destruction itself; yep, he is that good.

Its not just Rafe’s good looks alone that appealed to me at a baser level. It is his character that came to life as Susan delved deeper into a story that rocked my world in every sense possible. Jenny might seem like a ‘nobody’ when you first encounter her in the story. But Susan has a few surprises in store for the reader regarding her ‘mousy’ heroine who is anything but that, who rocks Rafe’s world in a way that leaves them both reeling from the aftershocks of every explosion in the wake of their desire for each other. Rafe and Jenny are exactly two halves of one soul, each complementing the other on a scale that made me feel envious.

Its a testament to an author’s ability in writing a romance when the hero and heroine appear perfect for each other and even then makes a small part of you wish and dream for a man like Rafe to come sweep you off your feet; even to an ’embittered’ and ‘jaded’ soul like mine. Honeymoon Baby was just what I needed to kickstart the journey and I’m certainly going to go through Susan’s backlist to find what other delectable heroes that I have missed out on.

If you want to read a Harlequin romance with plenty of heat and a story that doesn’t offer you every single cliche you’ve heard of and manages to grab a laugh or two out of you while you are at it, find yourself a copy of Honeymoon Baby. I promise you, Rafe is a force to be reckoned with.

Favorite Quotes

She tipped up her face to protest and, shockingly, her mouth met his. His lips were firm and resilient, his tongue limber as it slipped moistly past the guard of her teeth and stroked her silky interior. Shock turned to violent craving and she moaned, her mouth opening to receive him. His head tilted, his mouth slanting to deepen the kiss, deepen the penetration of his tongue into her willing depths. He broke off and bit at her lips, licking and sucking at the juicy pink flesh, his hands twisting in the loops of her belt, dragging her closer into the hot, wet embrace of mouths.

She found she was trembling as he looked down over her shoulder at what he had uncovered. She heard him suck in his breath at the sight of her firm creamy breasts straining against the watery silk, their faint tracery of blue veins guiding the way down to her barely concealed nipples.
‘Sexy, he growled, fingering the pure silk hem where it lay against her hip “, but otherwise touching her with only his eyes as he lifted the robe from her shoulders and let it fall in a hush to the floor, leaving her exposed to his reflected view.

She glanced at Rafe, to find him locked in his own world, his head tipped back and his eyes closed, his chest rising and falling as if he’d been running, his arms hanging tense at his sides, the curled fingers of one hand glistening with a faint slick of moisture that it made her blush to see it. He looked as if he was praying to some pagan god, and out in the darkness a molten fire burst accompanied by another crackle of silver brilliance seemed to be his answer.

But no sooner had the pleasure begun to slam into her than he was rising to his feet again, pulling her hips further forward onto the very edge of the desk, ripping open her blouse to expose her transparent bra and tipping her flat on her back as he hooked his arms under her bent knees and mounted her in a single thrust.

We can’t…’ she moaned as he tugged at the back of her jeans and her bare bottom scraped against the matted fibres of bark. She arched against him, and with a grunt of satisfaction Rafe wrenched open the fly of his jeans and guided his thick shaft into the narrow gap between her constricted thighs, pushing himself up inside her until he felt her shudder and accept his full length in a slippery rush.
‘God, I needed this…I can’t ever get enough of you,’ he gritted […]

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Desire in the Sun by Karen Robards

Format: Paperbackdesireinthesun
Read with: NA
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Harper Collins
Hero: Jocelyn San Pietro
Heroine: Delilah Remy
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: December 26, 2006
Started On: April 15, 2012
Finished On: May 5, 2013

Desire in the Sun by Karen Robards is a book that has been sitting in my TBR pile since I bought a paperback copy of it when I was in Malaysia in 2009. I have been putting off reading this for one reason or the other and almost one year after I started reading, I actually managed to finish the story and loved it too!

Delilah Remy (Lilah) is the much pampered and only child of her very rich father who has ensured that she led a very privileged life growing up. Though Lilah dreams of being swept off her feet by some mysterious man who would turn up and make her heart beat faster and make her go all dewy eyed in remembrance, Lilah is of the mind that such things do not happen in real life. That is until Jocelyn San Pietro (Joss) happens into her life who shows her a glimpse of how wonderful it could be and everything goes so horribly awry afterwards.

One minute Joss is his own boss, the commander of his own life who has a feeling that meeting Lilah has changed his life in an inexplicable way and that life would never be the same for him ever again. The next, he faces ultimate betrayal and finds himself taken as a slave, his fierce pride and the anger that flares to life at the injustice nothing short of violent in its desire to be unleashed on those who caused the misfortune to befall on him.

Though it seems unlikely that Lilah and Joss would ever find a way to make things work for them, fate seems to have a different plan in store as they find themselves thrown together time and yet again. When stranded on an island with no one else to act as a buffer to the smouldering passion that is almost always a tangible part of the connection they have with each other, its inevitable that the dam burst open and the passion held on a tight leash find free rein in its abandoned glory.

The trials and tribulations that Joss and Lilah go through in their journey to finally be able to love each other freely and on their own terms was an amazing journey, every minute of which I loved. I loved both Lilah and Joss. I found Joss to be a refreshingly different hero from Jonathan, the hero from Island Flame and Sea Fire who turned out to be the material out of which ass-hole heroes are made of. Joss has this sweetness about him even though he is all alpha when it matters. Lilah seems to be the perfect fit for him and even though there were some gruesome bits to the story, there were those moments of hilarity that occurs between Joss and Lilah that gives the reader no choice but to laugh out loud.

All in all a very enjoyable historical romance by one of my favourite authors in the romance genre, recommended for fans of the genre and fans of Karen Robards.

Favorite Quotes

Lilah gasped as she felt the fiery heat probing against her. Then he was inside the first little bit and his hands on her hips were tugging her down, down until he filled her and she was squirming against the hugeness of him.”Love me,” he muttered again, the words thick. His eyes were glazed, his face flushed with passion.

Lilah cried out as his hands closed over them.
As if that small sound had snapped something inside of him, he groaned and pulled her down to him so that he could take her breasts in his mouth. He suckled with savage hunger, his hands hard and hot on the silken roundness of her bottom as he held her still above him and ground himself upwards into her.

She clasped her arms around his back and lifted her hips to meet him as he thrust wildly inside her.
At last, when he had brought her trembling to the brink and then pushed her over, she got what she wanted. As he convulsed inside her and groaned the words in her ear: “I love you, I love you, I love you.”
Over and over, like a litany.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N

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by mvbookreviewer

Requested Review: Wife in Name Only by Hayson Manning

Format: E-bookwifeinnameonly
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Hero: Rory Hughes
Heroine: Zoe Hughes
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: April 1, 2013
Started On: May 2, 2013
Finished On: May 4, 2013

Hero: Rory Hughes, cutthroat businessman known as Ice Man in the construction world. There’s nothing he would not do to make a merger, be it even sell his soul.

Heroine: Zoe Hughes, owner of the honeymoon island Last Stop, Paradise. Zoe is all about the simple things, wanting the peace and quiet that fulfillment and love can bring to life.

Storyline: When Zoe walked out on her husband Rory one year back, she had no idea that it would be to salvage the source of her salvation that she would be forced to call her estranged husband and ask him for his help. Zoe needs the publicity to boost her business whilst Rory has the intention of killing two birds with one stone, i.e. win his wife back on his terms and tone down that cutthroat image of his which was affecting his business. But Zoe and Rory never factored into the equation just how much things would change when they are “stranded” on an island with nothing much to do but give into that flaring, scorching hot attraction that has never died between them.

Time Period: Wife in Name Only has a contemporary setting and is told from both Zoe and Rory’s points of view.

Likes: There were lots of things that I loved about this book. For one thing I loved the fact that Rory did not change and turn his life around the minute he laid his eyes on his wife again after one long year. Rory doesn’t know how to bend his own self-imposed rules of trying to attain success at any cost and that’s not something that’s so easy to give up. And it wasn’t just Rory who stayed true to his character. Zoe too holds onto those values that she believes in, the reason that she had walked away from being married to the love of her life being that he had turned into someone that she didn’t or couldn’t love any longer  without destroying herself in the process. The woman she has changed into appeals Rory on so many levels, but even then, old habits are hard to break unless that cold and hard shell around Rory breaks down and he is ready to take the chance he never did before. Sometimes relationships break apart and the couple involved needs a time out from each other, to step back and evaluate and heal which just might pave the way to patching things up between them. And that’s exactly what happens to Rory and Zoe and I loved every minute of the journey that took them to their final destination.

How much I loved the chemistry between Zoe and Rory, I can go on talking about that for ages. From the minute Rory sets foot on the island and sets eyes on his beautiful wife, the attraction that has always been a big part of their relationship flares up and neither can deny the heat that scorches them both and leaves them burning for more. I loved the fact that the author doesn’t drag the attraction between the two until the reader is ready to throw the book at the wall because the characters have something called too much self control. My theory is simple. If you have that combustive a sexual chemistry and the timing is right, there’s no way on Earth you can walk away from that kind of heat unless of course you are a self-proclaimed saint. And even then I highly doubt that you can walk away from the kind of chemistry that zings between Rory and Zoe. And yes, it is THAT good and yes, Hayson certainly does deliver on all aspects! Just look at the quotes section and I am certain I can make a believer out of you.

One more thing that grabbed me  was the setting for the romance. It felt like I was lying in a hammock and taking in the scenery myself all the while. It takes good descriptive writing in my opinion to be able to transport a reader into the setting of the story and I believe Hayson did it perfectly.

Dislikes: I thought that the ending where Rory is hit by an “epiphany” which makes him return to his wife was a bit cliche’ but somehow Hayson made it work and the story got a thoroughly happy ending at the end. If it had been me, I would have loved for them to go through a bit of a separation again, just for both of them to discover that being together completes each other. That in my opinion would have been the perfect ending.

Recommended for: Those who love steamy romances featuring married couples who get a second chance at making things right.

Final Verdict: Sinfully good!

Favorite Quotes

His eyes flicked from her visibly hardened chest and back to her lips. His hands cupped her lower back, and he pulled her closer. Sparkles of deep, dark, and delicious want coursed through her veins. With his thumb, he drew circles over the thin fabric of her dress. Before she could help herself, a deep moan escaped from the back of her throat.
She stilled at his sharp intake of breath. Heat pooled between her legs.

A burn started throughout her body, heating her blood to boiling point.
His hand slid from her forearm, up over her shoulder, causing a long cascade of goose bumps. Her name escaped him in a long groan as he bent his head toward hers.
Their mouths clashed. Hot, burning need flowed from her mouth to his and back again. Their tongues twisted around each other in a familiar tango. She sucked in his lower lip and her body sagged when he groaned in her mouth.
She wanted him. Anything to override the powerful current that had heat pooling in a slick between her legs.

Her head fell to her chest then she arched back to meet him. Her body struggled to catch up as he stretched her to her limit. She widened her stance to accommodate all of him. The pressure building in her sex had her hands ripping into the bark of the tree. Inches away from release, she closed her eyes at the pressure building. Her body gave one final arch before she convulsed around him and screamed his name.

“I’ve found what I’m looking for, Rory. Have you?” she whispered.
“I know what I want right now.”
His eyes darkened. His eyes traveled from her chest, and a knowing smile curled his lips before his gaze landed on her mouth and stayed there. She squirmed at the warmth traveling between her legs.
“What do you want?” She licked her lips.
“I want your mouth on mine. Your legs wrapped around my hips, your shorts off, and your sweet body pulsing around me.”

The sensation of his hand working, kneading, and rubbing her overwhelmed all thought. His erection at her opening drove her over the edge. She screamed as the mother of all orgasms rocked her body. She arched, then plunged backwards, driving her body onto him. She moaned as she strained to accommodate the length of him. The pleasure mixed with pain was exquisite. He stilled, kissing the back of her neck but not moving inside her. Her hips instinctively started rocking, but his fingers gripped her hip, stopping her. Her head arched against his shoulder, her breath coming in long, ragged bursts.

She stuck her hand on her hip. “Curves? Really? That’s not going to get you another biology lesson anytime soon.”
His eyes darkened, and that deep pulse in the corner of his neck kicked into life.
“How about now?”
She moistened suddenly dry lips. “No, not now.” Her body did the sexy-times dance it did whenever he had that look about him. “I know what you’re thinking. Your whole body responds. Your pupils dilate, you wet your lips, your breasts push against your top.” His gaze dropped downward to her belly and below. “And I know exactly what’s going on down there. You’re all hot, wet, and mine.”

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

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Traitor by Julia Sykes

Format: E-booktraitor
Read with: Kindle for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Erotic Romance
Series: Impossible #2
Publisher: Self-Published
Hero: Sean Reynolds
Heroine: Claudia Ellers
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: April 12, 2013
Started On: April 22, 2013
Finished On: April 23, 2013

Hero: Sean Reynolds, the man who sends my pulse skyrocketing every single time he enters the picture. To reveal his character here would be spoiling the story for those who would love to get their hands on this delicious trilogy.

Heroine: Dr. Claudia Ellers, pediatrician who is kidnapped at gunpoint in the first book which sets the ball rolling; changing the woman she is and the things she had believed in, once and for all.

Storyline: Traitor is book 2 in this delectable series by Julia Sykes. Book 2 continues where book 1 ended on a cliffhanger. Claudia decides to go undercover, all the while telling herself that it is for the good of the man she has come to care so deeply about in such a surprisingly short span of time.

Time Period: Traitor has a contemporary setting and is told in first person in Claudia’s point of view.

Likes: I am not a patient person. Everyone who knows me well knows this. And I am someone who cannot stand it when I have to wait for such a long time to read a book, especially from an author who is dear to me. And yes, even with the one book that I have read by Julia, I have turned into a fan and would be on the lookout for more of her books. Back to the point, Traitor being out already proved to be a blessing for me when I finished Monster. Where seldom most books hold little interest for me these days, Julia Sykes changed that and it has been a while since I have anticipated a book so much I am even willing to read it while waiting for the bus. That tells a story in itself.

Sean proved to be as delicious as he was in the first book, maybe even more so because as Sean’s character slowly comes to light through Claudia’s eyes, it invoked a lot of mixed reactions deep within me; all of them which were good I should point out. There is that dark edge to him no doubt and I would love nothing more than to finally read about the man who Sean is and the things he had gone through in his life. He is a mix of tenderness, ruthlessness and darkness; all very contrasting characteristics for a single person to hold. But he blends them well and that dominating nature of his is enough to turn even a BDSM skeptic like me into a believer. Oh well, lets not get carried away and say that Julia Sykes does a brilliant job out of it and managed to invoke a lot of seat squirming moments for me! The thing I loved most about the BDSM aspect was that even though Sean may think he is in the driving seat and he is pretty ruthless in his attempt to drive home that point;but its apparent that Claudia holds just the same amount of power or rather should I say even a stronger hold on the man who is Sean? Well, the 3rd and final book will tell I am hoping.

Traitor did threw me to a loop by delving into the relationship that fosters between Claudia and Agent Clayton Vaughn. One second I start believing that Sean is not the one for her and that she would be better off with a man like Clayton who is totally alpha in his own way with a tenderness that beckons Claudia to divulge all her deepest innermost secrets. He provides her with a source to dump all her worries, to cleanse her mind of all the worries and that dark pain that she keeps ruthlessly stamped down. And in the next minute, I start second guessing his intentions and motives for being who he is. Nevertheless to say, it speaks of the impressive talent an author has when she can make a reader go through all that and that too just by projecting only a single character’s point of view in the story.

I should mention that I loved the fact that Claudia is woman enough not to want Sean to treat her as fragile piece of glass that requires delicate handling. I love it that Claudia can see through to Sean, and that she believes in him and wants the best for him though she may not be traversing down the path that everyone might believe to be the most fitting. Nevertheless, I know Claudia’s heart is in the right place and the inner war she wages with her conscience day in and out tells the story far better than I ever could.

Dislikes: None.

Recommended for: Fans of Julia Sykes. Fans of BDSM-themed romances and for fans of ruthless, dark & edgy heroes and the heroines who are women enough to handle them as they are.

Final Verdict: The Impossible trilogy just gets better. Volatile, intense and gritty; I loved it.

Favorite Quotes

His hands were suddenly gripping my waist, jerking me up with him so that we were standing. I twined my arms around the back of his neck, holding him to me so that he couldn’t break the kiss. His hands were fumbling at the buttons of my blouse, trying to expose me for for him. But he wasn’t satisfied with his progress. His low growl rumbled through me as his hands fisted in my shirt. With a jerk of his powerful arms, he ripped it open, the buttons flying free, making small popping noises as they bounced against the hardwood floor.

I could feel him hardening impossibly further, his need for release mounting even as I was pushed towards the precipice. As I felt him jerk inside of me, his fingers found my clit, pinching hard. At the same time, his grip on my throat eased, and blood rushed to my head. The high was incredible. I was shoved over the edge, falling into a bliss-filled haze. Sean was the only real thing in the world as I flew out into the abyss, pleasure consuming me. I didn’t recognize the strangled cry that echoed around the room as my own.

He was pulling almost all the way out of me now, taking me harder and faster. My hips began to move against him, meeting his thrusts.
“You’re mind now, Claudia,” he growled as he drove into me harshly. “Mine!”
“Yes!” I wanted to say, but it came out as an unintelligible groan. Even if I hadn’t been gagged, I wouldn’t have been able to speak; I seemed to have lost control of my tongue. The only movement I could manage was rocking my body back against him, and even that was pure instinct rather than an action I controlled.

Purchase Links: Amazon

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