Category / Red Hot Reads

by mvbookreviewer

ARC Review: Time Out by Jill Shalvis

Format: E-booktimeout
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Harlequin Blaze Publisher Series
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Mark Diego
Heroine: Rainey Saunders
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: February 19, 2012
Started On: February 11, 2012
Finished On: February 17, 2012

I am finding out that whether it be a short length or a full length novel, if it is Jill Shalvis that holds the steering wheel, there is no wrong turn the story can take. Time Out which is set to be released sometime within this month is one wild and enjoyable ride, a romance that just completely reeled me in and I couldn’t have found a better way to drop off to sleep afterwards, dreaming of a Mark that was all my own to do whatever I please with. *sigh*

Rainey Saunders has just turned thirty years old and is single, looking for that special someone. She and her best friend Lena both work at the North District Rec Center in Santa Rey, a small mid-California beach town. Rainey is a bit of a control freak, has the frizzy hair thing going for her and has a heart of gold that shines through right from the very start. She might have a hard time connecting with anyone in her dating life the way she did when she was dumb and crushing so hard on the delectable Mark Diego when she was just 16 years old. But she is way past that crush, or so she tells herself until Mark walks in, more delectable than ever, tempting her to take just a little bite out of him to satisfy all those cravings that practically fall all over themselves trying to get closer to him.

34 year old Mark Diego is the youngest, most popular NHL head coach in the country. With fame and fortune in his hands, Mark doesn’t allow himself to feel those niggling bouts of “emptiness” that hits him once in a while. Mark has always been ambitious, wanting to rise above the poverty in which he had grown up. Wanting to teach two of his players a lesson Mark makes his way towards his hometown, not at all expecting his life to take a totally unforeseen turn when he butts heads with the altogether grown up and too alluring for her own good Rainey who pierces through the rough and tough armor of his to lay siege on his heart.

The story that unfolds is what only Jill Shalvis herself can deliver. Though Rainey keeps reminding herself that she doesn’t want anything to do with Mark, her hormones keep sending the opposite signal, and time and yet again, both Mark and Rainey finds themselves in one clandestine position after the other which serves to be such a feast for the senses. There wasn’t one part of me that wasn’t clamoring to swallow Mark Diego in all his glory in one big gulp or should I say I wanted to savor him in nibbling bites so that the whole feast would last for a lifetime.

The thread of humor that is always a part of a Jill Shalvis book is there in this story as well, and the underlying issues that are much serious in nature also makes their impact on the reader as Jill takes the reader through stories of families hard hit by ravaging forest fires, abusive fathers and all that is brushed under the carpet by people who are mostly at the receiving end of such violent physical and emotional abuse.

The only thing that I was a teeny bit peeved about was the abruptness of the ending of the story. Though Jill managed to deliver that happily ever after I was clamoring for right from the very start, Mark and Rainey’s story ended a bit too hastily for my taste. But apart from that, everything in this story, and I mean everything was top notch, the type of contemporary romance that is too far and few in between these days. 

Delivering a Harlequin Blaze as it should be, Jill certainly packs a punch with Time Out. Intense and sexy as sin with characters of the caliber that only Jill can create, Time Out comes most highly recommended from the sunny side of life!

Favorite Quotes

“It’s good to see you as well,” she said, her mouth against his ear, her lips brushing the lobe.
He went still at the contact, then instead of trying to pull free, merely folded her into his arms, trapping her against him. And damn if her body didn’t burst to life, as if all this time it’d been just waiting for him to come back.
“Yeah, you’re different,” he murmured, doing as she had, pressing his mouth to her ear, giving her a shiver. “The little kitten grew up and got claws.”

At twenty-one, Mark had been long and leanly muscled, not a spare inch on him. Rainey’s gaze ran down his thirty-four-year-old body and she had to admit he was even better now. In fact, the only way to improve on that body would be to dip it into chocolate.

Her hands tightened on him. “I mean it,” she said. “We’re not doing this.”
“Define this.”
“We’re not going to be friends.”
“Deal,” he said.
“We’re not going to even like each other.”
“Obviously.”
She stared into his eyes, hers turbulent and heated. “And no more kissing—”
He swallowed her words with his mouth, delving deeply, groaning at the taste of her. He heard her answering moan, and then her arms wound tight around his neck.
And for the first time since his arrival back in Santa Rey, they were on the same page.

“Mark.” She fisted her hands in his hair and pulled his mouth to hers, her entire world anchored on his finger. When it slid inside her, she thunked her head back against the door and panted. Then his thumb brushed her in a slow circle.
She cried out against his lips, arching into him, yanking his hair. She couldn’t help it. She was going up in flames. He merely pressed her hard to the door, locking her in place. Continuing the torture, he added another finger. She came hard and fast, the power of it sweeping over her like a tidal wave. 

His gaze swept over her, hot and approving, as he lifted her up. “Wrap your legs around me— There. God, yeah, like that—” His voice was a low command, caressing her as much as his hands. “Hold on to me.” Then his mouth crushed her own as he pushed her back against the door.
She threaded her hands into his hair as he thrust deep inside of her. He made a rough sound of sheer male pleasure, his fingers digging into her soft flesh as she rocked into him. Again he thrust, slowly at first, teasing until she was begging. It was glorious torment, hot and demanding, just like the man kissing her.

The kiss ignited like a rocket flash. Not that this surprised her. Everything pertaining to Mark seemed to burn hot and fast. Frustration, lust…
His mouth was rough, hot and hungry on hers as he pulled her closer, taking control. She heard herself moan, kissing him with helpless desperation. If dessert was her usual drug of choice, it’d just been replaced because she couldn’t seem to get enough of him.

With a smug smirk, he kissed her again, then slid into her. Pleasure flooded her, so intense it arched her back and had her crying out, clutching at him. The teasing and fun vanished in a blink, replaced by something so intense she could hardly breathe. Mark’s eyes were dark and sultry, and she reared up to press her mouth to his. He took control of the kiss, making her melt into him all the more as he buried himself in her over and over, deeper, harder, faster, the entire time holding her gaze with his, letting her see everything she did to him.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Harlequin

fantasticread

by mvbookreviewer

Score Sheet Review: Midnight Run by Lisa Marie Rice

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

 

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

Score Sheet Summary

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

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

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

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

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

Favorite Quotes

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

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

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

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

awesomeread

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Nightfire by Lisa Marie Rice

Format: E-booknightfire
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Erotic Romantic Suspense
Series: Protectors, Book 3
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Hero: Michael Patrick Keillor
Heroine: Chloe Mason
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: February 7, 2012
Started On: February 11, 2012
Finished On: February 15, 2012

It seems like I have been waiting forever for the release of the 3rd book in the Protector series. If you like myself have read the 2nd book Hotter than Wildfire, you would know why. Hotter than Wildfire ended on a cliffhanger, leaving the reader in a serious state of anticipation for this book to come out. And though Nightfire didn’t live up to all my expectations, it still managed to deliver the sort of sensually charged read that only Lisa Marie Rice can deliver.

35 year old Michael Patrick Keillor (Mike) is one of the 3 partners of the RBK Security Inc., one of the most successful security companies in the country. While his two brothers and best friends Harry and Sam had found their happily ever afters with wonderful women, Mike remains single, wandering as the restless soul that hides a wealth of pain deep inside of him. His home while stark, antiseptic and empty are a contrast to Mike’s emotions remain chaotic though he manages to hide it well.

28 year old Chloe Mason makes her way towards the building that houses RBK Security not for the usual reasons women seek them out. She comes to find out whether Harry could be her long-lost brother, hopeful and a bit apprehensive at the same time. Chloe is beyond ecstatic when Harry welcomes her with open arms, his fragile younger sister who had suffered and gone through so much in her life already. 

The attraction between Mike and Chloe is an immediate and an all encompassing one that flares to life right from the very minute the two of them lay eyes on each other. Chloe though fragile and delicate with zero experience when it comes to the opposite sex knows instinctively that Mike would never hurt her. However, after one very explosive kiss that burns hotter and brighter than any usual kiss, Mike’s less than stellar activities the previous night proves to be the reason why Mike takes a step back, though he doesn’t completely step away from Chloe’s life.

Story continues six months later, at the point where Mike is ready to bring and end to a promise that has kept him from completely claiming Chloe as he would have liked to do from day one of their “relationship”. And when Chloe’s life is suddenly under threat from ex-Russian military personnel, nothing and absolutely no force on this Earth is going to prevent Mike from claiming Chloe as his, and protecting her from any sort of harm that may come to her.

Nightfire combines all the elements that makes a Lisa Marie Rice book so memorable. Mike is alpha hero personified and Chloe is the delicate, beautiful and serene heroine who just makes you think of flowers and sunshine right from the very minute that you meet her. And the fireworks that bursts forth right from the very start is trademark Lisa Marie Rice, the heat and the off the charts sensuality always a reason to keep coming back for more of her stories.

There is none who can make a reader sweat right along with the hero and heroine as they dance around the heat that is between them, succumbing to the deep pull that is a constant throughout the story. Every single sliver of desire between Mike and Chloe was one I felt to my very bones, the reason why I loved this story so much. There were certain aspects of the story I didn’t like overly much, like the constant re-telling of emotions that seems to grip both Chloe and Mike until towards the latter part of the story. Yes, Mike has a story to tell, an immensely sad one at that too, but I wanted more action on the suspense side as well as the relationship that was fostering between Mike and Chloe to be the center of the story.

Even with all those little things that didn’t work for me, I still enjoyed the story of how Chloe and Mike find that special something with each other, the epilogue at the end that put a smile on my face the reason why I would rate this as a great read, recommended for any fan of Lisa Marie Rice.

Favorite Quotes

Her hand lifted without any volition on her part, as if it were the hand itself that wanted to be held by his. He gently grasped it in both hands, instead of the impersonal handshake she’d been expecting. His hands were as hot as a furnace. Slowly, watching her every second, he brought her hand to his mouth and—oh my God—kissed it.
Something inside her, something she’d never even suspected existed, pinged to life. Heat, excitement . . . desire. 

She whimpered, the sound lost in Mike’s mouth. She was entirely his, completely without willpower or volition. His mouth ate at hers, his shoulders curved in to her like some powerful wall of flesh. He moved his hips against her in short, stabbing movements, hands lifting her hips against his.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | BoB

greatread

by mvbookreviewer

Requested Review: Heart Signs by Cari Quinn

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

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

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

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

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

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

Recommended!

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

Favorite Quotes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Purchase Links: Amazon | EC

amazingread

by mvbookreviewer

Review: In the Marshal’s Arms by Emma Jay

Format: E-bookinthemarshalsarms
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novella
Genre: Historical Erotic Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Self-Published
Hero: Rhys Burgess
Heroine: Maddy Colby
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: December 15, 2011
Started On: February 6, 2012
Finished On: February 6, 2012

US Marshal Rhys Burgess is on the hunt to bring bank robber Edward Colby to justice. His search brings him to the somewhat derelict home of Maddy Colby, mistress to the brothers who had wreaked havoc with their penchant for stealing and being one of the most ambitious bank robbers of the past decade.

When Rhys meets Maddy, she is unlike the woman he has envisioned in his head. Maddy intrigues him with her intelligent mind, the way her hair seems to shimmer and shine with the most contrasting vividness and the way his senses start humming whenever Maddy is around.

For Maddy, Rhys is a temptation that is hard to deny. A woman who is completely comfortable in her sexuality, Maddy has no qualms about seducing and being seduced by Rhys who makes her feel desirable, cossetted and loved all at the same time. But then reality is not too far away and intrudes right at the moment where Maddy is willing to put her faith, trust and love in the one man who has broken down her barriers, the one man she wants to spend the rest of her life with.

In the Marshal’s Arms was a short and hot read that features a most refreshing heroine. Emma Jay has a way of writing her heroines bold, sexy and comfortable with who they are and Maddy is no different. Rhys is a bit shy and uncertain when it comes to expressing his desire for a woman who he has no intention of getting involved with at first. But the heart has an agenda of its own and that is how Rhys finds himself in the best kind of trouble he has ever gotten into in his life.

I loved the ending, the way Rhys wins over Maddy’s affections. In the Marshal’s Arms is a good read, recommended for those who love historical erotic romances. Emma Jay has a way with her heroes that just makes you want to sigh over & over again once you are done.

goodread

by mvbookreviewer

Score Sheet Review: Sex, Lies and Contracts by Jennifer Probst

Format: E-booksexliesandcontracts
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novella
Genre: Contemporary Erotic Romance
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Red Sage Publishing
Hero: Jack Alexander Woodward
Heroine: Julianna Elizabeth Waters
Sensuality: 4
Date of Publication: February 2, 2012
Started On: February 2, 2012
Finished On: February 3, 2012

CATEGORY SCORE GRADE
The hero 98 A
The heroine 98 A
Story line 90 A
Emotional Intensity 90 A
Story’s ability to suck me in 90 A
Heat & Sensuality  100 A
Conflicts within the story 80 A
Writing Style 95 A
Quotable Factor 80 A
The ending 90 A
Overall Grade 91.1 A 

Score Sheet Summary

32 year old Jack Alexander Woodward is the ultimate heir to his family’s shipping business and fortune; that is if he marries within the next couple of months as stipulated in the will by his father. Though Jack might be handsome as sin, sexy and charming enough to make any woman fall for him and rich enough to have any woman he wants, his heart yearns for love and the ultimate happily ever after that comes along only with love in the equation. So Jack sets off on his own, aiming to find the one woman who would love him for him, not because of his wealth and all that is at his disposal, but someone who would love him in spite of all those things.

Julianna Elizabeth Waters lives in New Port of Rhode Island. The promise that she made to her father on his deathbed is the only thing that prevents Julianna from leaving, the freedom which she had yearned for so long once again out of reach because she cannot turn back on duty which had defined her all her life. Julianna’s deeply sensual nature is hidden behind the ugly clothes that she wears and the intimidating expression that she puts on every day that keeps people at arm’s distance. Julianna’s plan is to find a man who is rich enough to save her family home, despite her misgivings and yearnings to do otherwise.

When Julianna and Jack’s paths cross, out comes Julianna’s needs and desires that have been lying dormant for so long, reveling in the heady sense of being woman enough to shake the sexy as sin Jack to his very toes. Jack’s rules are simple once he identifies Julianna to be another mercenary woman after a man’s riches. Julianna’s nights belong to him and him alone, until she is successful in her attempts to snatch a husband who would satisfy her materialistic needs. 

The Tantric Principle was my first Jennifer Probst and I expected a similar emotional read packed with sexual tension hot enough to singe through my e-reader. And let me tell you I wasn’t disappointed at all with how the story proceeded. The raw passion that seeped through the scene on the cliffs had me practically squirming on my seat, the scene being one of the most sexually charged and explosive scenes I have read of late. And oh when Jack talks dirty, quotes poetry that just sizzles along the nerve endings; let me just say, be warned that you would require a tall, cool glass of water afterwards.

The emotion that Jennifer weaves through all the very well done scenes of the erotic variety just sealed the deal for me for this to be rated as an amazing read, a novella I would highly recommend for those who love their erotic romances with that heady spice to heat up your insides. If you are looking for a hero who knows what he is capable of and has no qualms about going after what he wants with everything he has, if you are fan of heroes who talk dirty and can make even poetry sound like sex talk, seize this book and indulge!

Favorite Quotes

He obviously enjoyed her annoyance. He took his time and uncapped the bottle of water. Removed his ball cap. Dumped the water over his head.
Julianna’s breath caught. Her body slammed into overdrive at the raw sexual scene before her. Water dripped from his thick blond hair and ran down his face. Over a carved jaw. Slid down to dampen perfectly cut lips.
His t-shirt soaked up the liquid and clung to his chest like a Women’s Night gone wild. Hunger hit hard and deep as she followed the trail down to his belt buckle, where droplets slid under the denim and hid beyond.

Her gaze lifted.
And collided with a full-sized predator.
His eyes were the dark whiskey gold her father liked to pour in heavily cut crystal glasses. Liquid fire, potent and seething with heat. 

Then his mouth took hers.
Julianna didn’t have a chance. It was the Alamo all over again. Warm, capable lips molded perfectly to hers and with one push, his tongue slipped into her mouth. Like a marauding pirate, he conquered and enjoyed his territory, his hot tongue thrusting in and out in a teasing game before he dove deep and claimed his treasure. 

The night engulfed her with silence, and the horizon pulled her further into an alternate universe. Civilization left behind, she waited for him as the boat made its way deep into the ocean, then slowed. A million stars twinkled overhead.
She never heard his footsteps.
Like a wild stallion mounting his mare, he pressed his hard body against hers and dragged her legs apart. She gasped and held on tight as he yanked her up, spread her wide, and plunged deep inside.

Purchase Links: Red Sage

amazingread

by mvbookreviewer

Requested ARC Review: Hidden Fire by Jess Dee

Format: E-book
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novella
Genre: Contemporary Erotic Romance
Series: Fire, Book 2
Publisher: Samhain Publishing Ltd
Hero: Garreth Halt
Heroine: Jenna Brooks
Sensuality: 4.5
Date of Publication: January 31, 2012
Started On: January 25, 2012
Finished On: January 25, 2012

The day that Jenna Brooks and her twin brother Jackson turns 30 is the day that Jenna finds out that her brother wants to break the pact that had protected both of them, especially Jenna for the past 12 years. At 17, the vicious lies spread by an ex-girlfriend of Jackson who had been one of Jenna’s closest friends had affected Jenna more so than Jackson. The news that Jackson wants out leaves Jenna with a sense of freedom and exhilaration she barely allows herself to acknowledge before she is making her way towards the one man who has invaded the calm facade behind which Jenna has hidden to protect herself for the past 12 years of her life.

Garreth Halt has given up hope that Jenna would ever embrace the fiery connection that has been between them since day one of their encounter 2 years back. Resigned to heading back home in a couple of days Garreth doesn’t expect the warm bundle of woman who hurtles herself into his arms and demands that he take possession of everything she has to give and more. But the secret that Garreth hides is one that drives Jenna away, allowing her to once again put up the shields of steel around her heart and emotions, all but reeling from the news that Garreth imparts during the one time Jenna had opened herself up to him.

Intervention comes in the form of Jackson and his girlfriend, which forces both Jenna and Garreth into each other’s company, to lay their emotions bare and to confront the love that they have for each other. The passion that has always simmered between the two of them bursts forth in waves, the scorching scenes of over the charts hot sex as always so very well done by an author whose erotic contemporary stories I have come to adore.

Hidden Fire, though it reads as a standalone, in my opinion should be read after Winter Fire which first introduces the characters that we come across in this novella. Maybe because I didn’t read Winter Fire before, I found myself in total disbelief at how Garreth justifies his reasons for having done what he did; to remove the obstacle that was preventing Jenna from acknowledging her feelings towards him. The one thing that did redeem Garreth was the fact that he had always been there for Jenna when she had needed it, no questions asked. Even with Garreth’s character turning out the way he did for me, the style and wit with which Jess presents a story is one never to be missed and that’s why I would recommend both the books in Fire series to fans of contemporary erotic romance lovers and fans of Jess Dee!

Favorite Quotes

She kissed him in the exact same way he wanted to fuck her. Hard, insistent, determined, as though burning him with her mouth. Branding her taste on his lips, marking him as her own.

[Jenna] “I’m still scared to be me though,” she told him. “And I’m still a little scared of you.”
For the first time he understood what she meant. “You know what? I scare myself. I’ve wanted to make love to you for so damn long. But getting this close, knowing you trust me? Christ, Jenn, I don’t just want to f#ck you. I want to possess you. Make you mine. Become a part of you. Make you a part of me.”

F#ck, she was perfect. Making love to her wasn’t just heaven. It was the single most amazing experience in his thirty years of life. She may have been made for him, but he was made for this moment. For the ultimate instant when he and Jenna merged into one.

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

[xrr rating=4/5]

Caliber Seal: GREAT READ!

by mvbookreviewer

Requested ARC Review: Dare Me by Lexxie Couper

Format: E-book
Read with: Adobe Digital Editions
Length: Novella
Genre: Contemporary Erotic Romance
Series: A Red Hot Weekend Story
Publisher: Samhain Publishing Ltd
Hero: Robert Thorton
Heroine: Emily Julie Knox
Sensuality: 4.5
Date of Publication: January 31, 2012
Started On: January 25, 2012
Finished On: January 25, 2012

Sometimes, a red hot scorching erotic novella is just what the doctor ordered to chase away those blues and light up your inner fire. My very first Lexxie Couper turned out to be an outstanding read, a book that petted and stroked every emotion I had to give in the deeply emotional and erotic story of how brain cancer survivor Robert Thorton (Rob) finds his ultimate happily ever after in the arms of his ex-doctor Emily Julie Knox.

After 8 months of intensive treatment, Rob finally gets the green signal that his cancer is no more. Even then, nothing and not even his sexy as sin British oncologist Emily would keep him from flying back to Australia to be a part of his best friend’s wedding. Knowing that thinking about the good doctor would get him nowhere fast doesn’t stop his wayward thoughts from fantasizing about her. And when Emily turns up at the wedding reception, looking more appealing than ever, every sane thought that Rob has flies out of the window and its just need for the woman who has invaded his heart that takes control of all his very much alive and kicking body parts.

Emily is a woman who confronts the worst sort of nightmare a person who has undertaken the Hippocratic oath can ever face. Falling in love with her own patient was one thing she never foresaw, her emotions going on a roller coaster ride something she never expected with all that life had brought her way until now. But the memory of that searing kiss which had shaken her to her very toes propels her to hop on a plane, leaving everything familiar behind to go after the man with whom she had fallen head over heels in love with somewhere along the way.

Every minute of the encounters between Rob and Emily are filled with scenes of passion of the scorching hot variety. I loved Rob’s character, his zest for life and his daredevil nature that just shines through with everything he does. The way he cannot get enough of Emily and the way she sets his senses afire was one of the best parts of a story that I fell in love with from page 1 itself.

Emily herself turned out to be exactly what Rob needed to face the fact that he would always be a cancer survivor and that is one part of his past  that he has to accept in order for him to have any future worth living for. The cute little epilogue tucked at the very end of the story just served to make this a very satisfying read, one which I would not be forgetting anytime soon!

If you love a hero who can practically charm your panties off of you, I dare you to pick this little number up and indulge!

Definitely recommended!

Favorite Quotes

Her soft voice played over his senses like it always had, her English accent more pronounced than ever. Or was that because his ears had become acclimatized to the Australian accents around him again? 
He didn’t know.
He pulled in a slow breath, headache forgotten, the subtle scent of Emily’s perfume filtering into his body. His stomach knotted, his balls grew harder, that delicate fragrance flooding him with memories too haunting to bear. She’d cured him of anaplastic astrocytoma, and in the process inflicted him with something else. Something powerful and—he was discovering all too quickly—inescapable.

She stared at him, her heart in her throat. ‘Robert…” 
“Ah. fuck it,” he growled. blue eyes piercing her in the garden’s muted light. 1 can’t wait anymore.” He grabbed her wrist and, nostrils flaring. yanked her to his body and crushed her mouth with his.
His tongue plunged past her lips, stroking over her tongue in a kiss that was far more forceful than the one they’d shared in his hospital room fifteen days ago. That kiss had been gentle in its molten hunger. It had filled her with aching desire. This kiss, however.. .there was nothing gentle about it. He took complete possession of her mouth, invading it with not just hunger but ravenous greed. Its ferocity flooded her sex with damp pressure and made her head swim.

The raw urgency in Rob’s voice sent fresh blood flooding into Emily’s already swollen sex. She squirmed. feeling her orgasm approaching. Fast. 
“Say it again,” Rob ground out, dragging one hand up her torso until his fingers found her breast. He cupped its weight, worshipping its form through the soft fabric of her dress.
She gasped again, arching her back. “I want you,” she panted, the sensations his fingers on her breast created almost stealing her ability to speak. “I want you. I have from the very—”
He didn’t let her finish. His lips claimed hers, his hand squeezing and massaging her breast as his tongue plundered her mouth. He pinched her nipple with hungry force, his tongue matching the ferocity of the caress. Her body burned with pleasure at his feverish actions, the undeniable desire each stoke of his tongue, each flick of his fingers wrought on her body pushing her closer and closer to eruption.

She arched into his thigh, grinding herself on its solid length. another low cry escaping her as constricting tension pulsed through her core. 
“F#ck. I want to hear you come.” Rob caught her earlobe between his teeth, gave it a little nip before flicking his tongue in her ear. “I want to hear you lose control and know I’m the one that stripped it from you. His thumb stroked her nipple again, his lips scoring a languid path over her jaw and throat once more. “Show me why you’re really here, Doc,” he whispered, rubbing his thigh against her pussy with increasing rhythm, “and I will show you it was worth the f#cking trip.”

Heart pounding, he collapsed on top of her, claiming her lips with his as he did so, making love to her mouth with his tongue as his spent c#ck continued to spasm inside her p#ssy. Wanting to give her pleasure even as the steel left his length. 
She wrapped her arms around his back, tangling her legs with his as she returned his kiss. The pulsing pressure of her fading orgasm on his dick was an unbearable caress he would willingly endure until the end of time. An affirmation of the pleasure he gave her.
A confirmation of what his heart had been telling him since he’d first laid eyes on her: he was hers. Irrevocably and unquestionably.

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

[xrr rating=5/5]

Caliber Seal: OUTSTANDING READ! 

by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Sicilian’s Passion by Sharon Kendrick

Format: E-book
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Harlequin Presents
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Giovanni Calverri
Heroine: Kate Connors
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: October 5, 2001
Started On: January 26, 2012
Finished On: January 27, 2012

Released originally in 2001 and later re-released in Kindle in August last year, The Sicilian’s Passion by Sharon Kendrick is one of my favorite Harlequin romances. I remember re-reading this romance more than 3 times in fact, and its being around 3 years since I last revisited Giovanni and Kate’s tempestuous affair born out of their mutual attraction towards one another.

27 year old Kate Connors is an interior designer who is pretty much happy with who she is. Her clients are mostly the rich and sometimes the famous and that is how she crosses paths with Giovanni Calverri, tall, dark and with looks good enough to make the average woman swoon at his feet. The 34 year old Giovanni is used to women reacting towards him the way Kate does from the onset of their introduction. But the difference this time around is Giovanni feels as helpless as Kate in disguising the need that flares to life deep inside of him to claim the red headed beauty who tempts him unlike any other.

Furious with himself more than anyone else about the desire he feels towards Kate, it is a triumphant Giovanni that races towards Kate’s apartment to do his godmother’s bidding, secure in the knowledge that Kate had engineered the meeting that was about to happen between them. Things however go totally in the opposite direction as soon as Giovanni steps into the apartment, the desire that they both inexplicably feel towards each other refusing to be denied when there was nothing holding them back. However with the initial bout of lust sated, the self loathing that Giovanni feels starts festering, the truth about his relationship status driving him away as a thief would slink away into the dark night.

Though Kate comes to know of Giovanni’s betrayal, she cannot help but yearn for everything she felt in his arms, nor can she forget the answering need that had kept them locked in each other’s arms all through the night. And when Giovanni turns up at Kate’s apartment, now a free man willing to indulge in an affair that would satisfy his lust for the English woman once and for all, Kate takes what he offers knowing that she doesn’t have it in her to say no to Giovanni in any form.

Thus begins a most passionate affair that spans different corners of the globe until the inevitable happens and forces both Giovanni and Kate to confront their feelings of the more tender nature towards each other. The journey that they take towards the happily ever after is one that is filled with angst and lots of passionate, off-the-charts sexy moments that just makes my senses hum, no matter how many times I re-read this number. I love stories where the author doesn’t beat around the bush but gets to the heart of the matter which is why this book remains as a favorite of mine even after such a long time.

Giovanni is a hero who has got everything going for him from his good looks to his passionate nature that left me breathless every single time. A man who has always lived by the rules that had governed his life, Giovanni is a bit lost himself when he has to give in to the possessive streak that courses through him even from his first encounter with Kate. Kate is a heroine who is well matched to our Giovanni in her independent nature that asserts itself and makes Giovanni confront just more than his need for Kate’s body throughout their unusual affair. I loved how well they seem to complement each other, in bed and out of it, and loved seeing how Giovanni changes throughout the story. The epilogue tucked in at the end serves to be one of the reasons I will continue to re-visit this story time and yet again, because lets face it; a beautiful happily ever after is one of the major reasons why we love romances as much as we do.

Highly recommended to fans of angst filled Harlequin romances with a hero who has enough passion sizzling through his body to knock your socks off!

Favorite Quotes

‘I don’t believe I’m hearing this!’ she declared. ‘You’d been positively insulting about the fact that I knew nothing about Sicily—and just because I wanted to fill in a few gaps in my knowledge you make it sound like I had some kind of master-plan to ensnare you!’
‘You didn’t need a master-plan, Kate,’ he told her starkly. ‘Your eyes ensnared me from the first moment I looked into them.’

She shook her head, but it was too late, and he was pulling her into his arms and bending his head to hers and she supposed that she could have stopped him. Should have stopped him. But no power in the world could have prevented her lips from parting in a sharp little gasp of remembered pleasure as he drove his mouth down like a man who had been starved of kisses.

The feeling which rocked him took him completely off-guard, and her own corresponding gasps of pleasure as she spasmed around him made him tip his head back in a disbelieving kind of wonder as he came and came and came, his seed spilling uselessly into the condom.
And then he rolled off her and gazed unseeingly at the ceiling.
He hadn’t known it could feel quite like that.

Her big green eyes drove all conventional greetings clean out of his mind. Oh, what the hell? he thought savagely, and bent his head to kiss her.
‘G-Giovanni!’ The suitcase fell uselessly from her hand and her fingertips went straight up to his shoulders, biting into the sensually scented leather with an abandon which gathered momentum with each thrust of his tongue as he kissed her with shameless abandon.

‘You look like my every fantasy come to life,’ he whispered, his voice deepening.
‘How?’ she whispered back.
‘Wicked. Abandoned. And…’
She heard his hesitation, was intrigued by it. ‘And what?’
‘Here,’ he admitted. ‘Now. On my bed after too long. Waiting for me to make love to you over and over again.’

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

 

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Secret Admirer by Susan Napier

Format: E-booksecretadmirer
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Harlequin Presents, #1554
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Scott Gregory
Heroine: Grace Blair
Sensuality: 3.5
Date of Publication: April 1, 1993
Started On: January 22, 2012
Finished On: January 24, 2012

With my second book by the author, Susan Napier has landed in my list of favorite Harlequin romance authors. Even with the 2 books that I have read, I have come to identify with the fact that her books have those elements that continually surprises the reader, which is no mean feat when someone like myself who has read and loved 1000’s of romances can pick up a novel and be drawn into the story because of the opening chapter itself.

Secret Admirer kick starts with seven month widower Grace Blair being caught in an elevator with the man who turns her orderly and well controlled life around. Grace cannot help but be equal parts horrified and fascinated with the turn of events that takes place in the elevator, nor can she forget the heat that had blazed into life in the stranger’s eyes, who continues to haunt and taunt her in vivid dreams of the erotic variety.

When Scott Gregory walks into her life as a potential business partner, Grace cannot believe her eyes nor her luck in meeting the man who keeps popping into her thoughts and dreams at the most inopportune moments. But years of practice and teachings that had been ingrained into her from her childhood itself lets Grace handle the meeting in her usual icy and reserved manner, or so she thinks until she realizes the ease with which Scott invades her life, turning her whole world upside down and making her face the inevitable truth of her changing feelings towards him.

Scott Gregory, hands down, was the best thing about this story. His passion for anything and everything to do with Grace, his utter focus and zeal when seducing Grace and of course the way his senses clamor for Grace’s touch and the desire that he so evidently feels for Grace was such a beautiful part of the story. Scott has a few surprises in store for Grace, one that leaves her reeling, with feelings of possessiveness streaking through her very core. The fact that Scott gives her the one thing that he has been holding off from giving to any other woman should have convinced Grace of his much deeper feelings for her, but Grace continually thwarts Scott’s efforts until towards the very end which pissed me off for a bit when it came to Grace. But nevertheless, the passion, the chase and the ultimate surrender of Grace proved to make this a titillating read that held my undivided attention all throughout.

Highly recommended!

Favorite Quotes

She wasn’t aware of the rip he made in the back of her dress when his shaking hands wrenched the zip down, only of the molten sensuality of his gaze as he steered her into a shaft of light near the window and studied her breasts, nestled in their cups of pure white lace.
‘Sweet…pretty…did you wear this for me?’ he asked thickly, roughly tracing the outline of the lace across the curving swells. ‘Did you want me to take off your dress tonight, Grace? To admire you like this?’
‘I…’ His arousal was so flatteringly intense that she couldn’t deny him the truth. ‘Yes…’ She closed her eyes, gasping as she felt the stroke of his thumbs across the seams, finding the rigid tips that were evidence of her own desire.

Scott stood by the bedside, looking down at her. Then he spread his hands, revealing the fine tremors there.
‘Look what you do to me. You make me weak.’ Grace reached out a hand and touched his ridged stomach. ‘You’re the strongest man I know,’ she said softly, feeling the shift and clench of muscle under her fingers as she stroked them down to his belt. She tugged at it. ‘I want you.’

She felt shy, like a precious gift being gloatingly unwrapped, but she didn’t resent his moment of purely masculine triumph. The glory of the moment was also hers, this beautiful man hers. He was giving himself to her and asking nothing but what she was willing to give in return.

Her mouth trembled and parted and she began to gasp in light, shallow breaths that made her flushed breasts quiver deliciously, invitingly… He bent and touched a stiff pink nipple experimentally with his mouth, very gently. She jerked and cried out, exploding beneath him in a series of violent convulsions that almost unseated him. 

The taste of him exploded inside her mouth, filling her senses with an intoxicating warmth and aroma that had nothing to do with the amount of brandy he had consumed. He made sounds-rough, greedy, indistinct sounds that vibrated through her tissues, his lips and teeth and tongue consuming her with his passion. 

Finally, when she was shaking so much that he staggered with the violence of her pleasure, he drove her back against the wall and took her as she stood, careless of the clothes that bunched between them, oblivious to everything but the primitive, driving force that had conquered him far more devastatingly than he had conquered her.

‘Use me, Grace. If that’s what we’ve been doing so far, I love it. I want to be used. Now.’ He stretched, a long ripple of pure muscle as he invited her in a throaty purr that wrapped itself around her heart and drew her irresistibly towards him, the craving stronger than anger or fear. ‘You can insult me, hurt me, hate me… test me any way you like. I’m strong. I’m not going to run away just because things aren’t perfect between us…’

Purchase Links: Amazon | Abe Books

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