Format: E-Book Read with: Kindle Paperwhite Length: Novella Genre: Contemporary Romance POV: Third Person, Dual Series: Standalone Publisher: Impeccably Demure Press Hero: Sebastian Brand Heroine: Emma Milsom Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥 Published On: September 01, 1992 Started On: May 28, 2023 Finished On: June 07, 2023
She could tell him that she was obsessed with him. That she wanted him. That for whatever perverse reason, she was crazily, improbably in love with him. But she couldn’t tell him that he didn’t frighten her. She couldn’t lie. He scared her half to death.
The Monster in the Closet by Anne Stuart is a riveting and intense tale that expertly blends themes of horror, romance, and psychological intrigue. Being the avid fan of Ms. Stuart’s dark and complex characters that I am, I found this book to be a great way to keep away the blues that hits every now and then because I am left with very little from Ms. Stuart’s impressive backlist of published books to indulge in.
The story centers around Sebastian Brand, a British horror actor who is as enigmatic as he is troubled. Sebastian owns a house that developers are after him to sell for them redevelop the property, but he stands firm, haunted by the memories that the house holds. His reluctance to let go of the past sets the stage for the unfolding story that brings into his sphere the unsuspecting Emma Milson, whose life turns upside down from the moment they meet.
Emma takes on the role of general manager for the volatile and brilliant Teddy Winters who is directing the movie that would redefine his career, starring none other than Sebastian. Against her better judgment, Emma accepts the job, knowing Teddy’s reputation for pushing people beyond their limits. It is also partly the safe and boring status of her life that pushes her to give in to Teddy’s demands, landing her in a situation more than she bargained for.
Emma’s task is to keep Sebastian out of the public eye, a job that proves more difficult than she anticipated. Sebastian’s initial coldness towards Emma gradually gives way to a reluctant fascination. The chemistry between them is intriguing, and their interactions charged with an intensity that keeps growing with every encounter, until the inevitable happens. Sebastian’s charismatic yet tortured soul contrasts sharply with that of Emma’s vulnerability, creating a dynamic that I reveled in.
Ms. Stuart’s portrayal of Sebastian’s traumatic history is both heartbreaking and compelling, making him a character you can’t help but root for despite his flaws. Emma being the bleeding heart that she is, finds herself unable to walk away from Sebastian, even when he is being his coldest, trying to do his best to push her away, especially when danger increasingly seems to stalk Emma, eerily similar to incidents from Sebastian’s past.
What I particularly appreciated about The Monster in the Closet is Ms. Stuart’s creation of Sebastian, who is deeply flawed and yet incredibly compelling as is usual for her heroes. Sebastian’s struggle with his dark past and his fear of vulnerability make him a complex and intriguing, while Emma’s journey from a life of safety to one of risk and emotional exposure is equally so. The passion between the two is all consuming, one that scares Sebastian and compels Emma to fight for Sebastian in every single way.
Recommended for fans of Anne Stuart and stories that deliver a unique mix of romance, horror, and elements of mystery.
Final Verdict: The Monster in the Closet is a masterfully crafted novella that combines elements of horror, romance, and psychological drama, weaving intricate and emotionally charged narratives.
Favorite Quotes
She’d never been kissed like that. With that much longing and restraint and carefully leashed passion. He kissed her as an artist might paint a picture, delicately, powerfully, thoroughly, so that all she could do was stand there and tremble in helpless response. She brought her hands up to touch him, and despite the fact that his hands were cradling her face so gently, the iron-hard tension in his tightly muscled arms was shocking. The moment her fingers touched him, touched the smooth, hard flesh of his biceps, he broke away, stepping back into the shadows, leaving her suddenly alone.
“The fact of the matter is, Emma,” he whispered, his mouth brushing hers so lightly that she might have imagined it, “I feel the same way. Angry.” He pushed his body closer, up against hers, his hips pressing against hers. “Turned on,” he said, and there was absolutely no doubt of that. “And quite, quite terrified of you.” With that, he released the iron bars and pulled her into his arms, imprisoning her against his hard, tense body. He kissed her then, and she was lost.
“Stop fighting it,” he breathed in her ear, his own voice ragged, and she knew he understood her body better than she did. “Stay with me, damn it.” She released the iron bars, turning her hands beneath his above her head. He clasped them, driving his hips against her as his mouth crushed hers, and the fear was gone, burnt away in a flashpoint of cataclysmic proportions as her entire body seemed to arch, shatter, and dissolve.
He covered her, sliding into her, filling her with a deep thrust that brought a cry to her lips. But her arms wrapped around his back, her long, beautiful legs wrapped around his hips, and she buried her face against his shoulder, against his hair, and her voice was muffled, fierce, as she told him what she needed. He put his hand between their bodies, touching her, and she exploded immediately, her body convulsing around him. He’d gone into some dark, wild place, beyond sense, beyond reason, and all that existed was her body, her soul, her heart racing against his, her breath panting in his ear, as he thrust into her again and again as she clung to him, sobbing.
Format: E-Book Read with: Kindle Paperwhite Length: Novella Genre: Contemporary Romance POV: Third Person, Dual Series: Ice, #6.5 Publisher: Impeccably Demure Press Hero: Luc Dubois Heroine: Emma O’Bannion Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥 Published On: March 17, 2023 Started On: May 27, 2023 Finished On: May 28, 2023
Dangerous Lover by Anne Stuart, the latest release in the bestselling Ice series, takes readers on a captivating journey through the shadowy world of covert agents and forbidden romance that is synonymous with the series. As an avid fan of Ms. Stuart’s work, especially her knack for creating irresistibly dark and complex heroes, I was in a sense of anticipation as I dove into this novella, and I was not disappointed.
The story begins with 29-year-old Emma O’Bannion dreading the upcoming Valentine’s Day. It is a holiday she finds particularly depressing, amplifying her restlessness and longing for an adventure that might distract her from her inner musings. Emma’s life is seemingly well-planned, with her ambitious goal of making partner at Kelton and Kelton by the time she turns 35. Yet, there’s a spark of impulsiveness within her that ignites when she encounters Luc Dubois, the enigmatic new tenant in her building.
From the moment Emma decides to send Luc an anonymous lover’s card for Valentine’s Day, believing it to be a harmless gesture, the story takes the turn that I was waiting for. Luc, a retired agent of the Committee, a global covert agency with its own hidden agendas, has been living a life of relative quiet in his retirement until a warning makes him up his guard once again. When Emma’s seemingly innocent card coincides with this warning, Luc deliberately puts himself in Emma’s space and world, something which he had been resisting up till that point.
Luc is a man marked by his past, particularly by betrayal five years ago, also on Valentine’s Day. This haunting memory makes Emma’s “anonymous” gift too much of a coincidence for him to walk away from and consider as harmless. When Luc confronts Emma suspicious of her in every sense, what ensues is a tense, captivating dance between them, culminating in the kind of passion and want that Luc has no place for in his life.
Ms. Stuart excels at crafting heroes who are dark, broody, and dangerously irresistible, and Luc Dubois is no exception. His initial coldness and calculated demeanor hides a deep well of passion and vulnerability, which Emma gradually uncovers. Their chemistry is electric and Luc’s protective instincts towards Emma, despite his better judgment, adds a layer of complexity to their relationship that kept me hooked.
While Dangerous Lover is a novella and shorter than a full-length novel, I found myself wishing for more time with Luc and Emma, as it always happens when you are enamored by a story and want it to continue forever. I wanted to delve deeper into their backgrounds and the intricacies of their relationship and encounter the angst that Ms. Stuart so famously delivers in most of her novels.
Ms. Stuart’s ability to write darker romance with a flair that is uniquely hers is why she remains my go-to author for my dark romance fix. I aim to do a re-read of some of my favorite books of hers sometime soon, having done so a year or so back in recent times. Not every romance reader may appreciate the dark themes and morally ambiguous characters that Ms. Stuart excels at creating, but for those who do, her books are a treasure trove of unforgettable stories, some of which remain permanently on my favorites shelf.
Recommended for fans of the Ice series and those who love their heroes a bit darker than most. While part of a series, Dangerous Lover can totally be read as a standalone.
Final Verdict: Dangerous Lover is a thrilling addition to the Ice series, delivering on the suspense, romance, and dark allure that Anne Stuart fans have come to expect and love from her novels in the series!
Favorite Quotes
The last button went, and her silk blouse hung open, exposing her indecent little wisp of a bra. “And what made you choose my apartment building? What made you decide to move in beneath me, and watch me every time you could catch a glimpse of me?” “I didn’t even know you were there,” she said wearily. “I told you, I didn’t think anyone lived upstairs until a couple of months ago. And it’s not your apartment building, buster, it belongs to the owners and it’s run by Mr. Habib and I have just as much right as you have…” “It is my building. I own it.” She could feel the tip of the knife against her bare skin, a strange, painless caress. A shiver of pure fear ran across her skin. She looked up at him, into his opaque, unreadable eyes, and she held her breath.„ And then he slid the knife between the bra and her skin, cutting it open.
He slid one hand through her hair and kissed her on the mouth again, taking his time, no need for hurry, no need for force. He was willing to wait, to see how long it would take her to respond. Her mouth opened beneath his slow, deliberate kisses, reaching for breath, reaching for words, reaching for his mouth, letting him, asking him, her lips clinging for a shy second and then falling back, then kissing him again, and this time when he used his tongue it truly was like sex, entering her, pushing inside the dark wetness of her mouth, and she let him, taking him, a hot damp clinging of mouth to mouth.
“Don’t think about it,” he whispered against her mouth. “Don’t think about anything. Just feel.” She wanted to cry. She lost herself in the taste of him, the sweet texture of his mouth and his tongue, the silken heat of his skin beneath her trembling hands. He hadn’t touched her breasts, yet they felt exquisitely sensitive, almost burning. He was rocking her against him, a slow, lascivious rhythm, her wispy silk panties against the buttoned fly on his jeans, and the sensation was a powerful one, making her breath catch in her throat. His eyes were half closed, watching her, and she was shy, edgy, her fingers digging into his smooth shoulders, as her stomach knotted and a jolt of something streaked through her body in anticipation.
She didn’t know why she was so wet, and she didn’t care. He was holding her too tightly for her to pull away, her face was pressed close against his shoulder, and she could feel the thunder of his heart, could feel the tension thrumming through his muscles, and she wanted to lick his skin, she wanted his mouth, she wanted everything, she no longer cared what he wanted to do with her. Nothing mattered but the wet, delicious waves of sensation he was coaxing from her, an almost lazy cycle of response that began to build, sharply, until without warning it exploded, and she screamed against his chest and her body arched off the bed in a spasm of hot, prickling response.
“Open your eyes, Emma,” he whispered in a harsh voice, and there was no ignoring him. Her eyelids fluttered open, and she stared up at him in dazed confusion. He cupped her buttocks, pulling her up closer against him, but she simply wrapped her legs around him, tight, drawing him in deeper still. His faint smile was answer enough. “You like it?” “I like it,” she whispered. “You want more?” “Yes, please.”
Format: E-Book Read with: Kindle Paperwhite Length: Novel Genre: Western Historical POV: Third Person, Dual Series: Standalone Publisher: Dell Hero: Seth Archer Heroine: Olivia Morrison Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥 Published On: December 18, 2007 Started On: April 21, 2023 Finished On: May 20, 2023
He staged a predatory assault upon her senses, determined, ruthless, driven by a fierce passion that overwhelmed every inhibition she had ever had.
Karen Robards’ “Ghost Moon” is a suspenseful and emotionally charged novel that weaves together elements of romance, family secrets, and chilling mystery. The story begins with a haunting scene from 1969, where a young girl is murdered in her sleep, a girl who had been terrified of the monsters lurking in the shadows. This tragic event sets the stage for a tale that spans three decades, culminating in a gripping narrative of past and present that meshes well together.
26 year old Olivia Morrison, returns to her childhood home, LaAngelle Plantation, after a prolonged absence. As a single mother, Olivia brings her eight-year-old daughter, Sara, back to a place filled with painful memories and unresolved emotions. Once the glamorous and rebellious member of the prestigious Archer clan, Olivia has fallen on harder times and is barely making ends meet. Her return is anything but uneventful, as she is immediately confronted with family tensions, especially with 37 year old Seth Archer, her step cousin that she had faithfully followed around until things had gotten complicated between the two.
Olivia’s homecoming stirs up long-buried memories that haunts her, including the trauma of her mother’s death, and the family dynamics that left her feeling like an outsider. Her struggles to reconcile her past mistakes with her present, and forge newer bonds with the family that she had left behind, made me root for her wholeheartedly.
Meanwhile, the darker elements of the story continues, with chilling accounts beginning from 1979 of young girls kidnapped from their beds. These incidents, echoes eerie similarities to the murder that sets the opening stage of the novel, and brings to the story a different kind of tension that winds the reader up as the story progresses. The recurring theme of young girls fearing monsters in the shadows underscores the lurking danger which echoes patterns of parents being dismissive of their fears as mere fantasies until each and every one of them are taken, never to be found ever again.
Ms. Robards masterfully captures Olivia’s complex emotions as she navigates the memories of her mother’s mysterious death and her difficult past with Seth. The chemistry between Olivia and Seth is tangible, their shared history adding delicious nuances to the story which I reveled in. Seth, who once acted as a protective older brother, now finds himself battling his renewed attraction to Olivia, despite his engagement to another.
Obviously the one factor that I thoroughly loved was the friction between Olivia and Seth and the push and pull that draws them tighter together. There is no denying that both feel the same way about the other, and the delivery on that front I would have to say, was classic Ms. Robards, who does a mean job on the built-up sexual tension in her novels.
While Ghost Moon delivered a great story for the most part, I felt that it occasionally faltered in its pacing. I for one would have loved to learn more about the villain and their backstory, as they brought a facet to the story that kept me intrigued throughout. I am always keen on understanding well crafted villains, as much as I adore the main protagonists and want to know as much my heart desires about them. What makes the villain tick? What made them into who they are in the stories? What role did society play to create such monsters to begin with? I would have loved to learn more on that score.
Recommended for fans of romantic suspense, with a good dose of spicy romance on the side, along with the family theatrics that keeps the pages turning.
Final Verdict: Ghost Moon is a compelling read that blends romance and mystery with a Southern Gothic flair and an eerie undertone of lurking danger of the heart pounding variety.
Favorite Quotes
‘‘Seth,’’ she whispered, unable to help herself as her chin tilted up and her mouth moved infinitesimally closer to his. ‘‘Better?’’ he asked, and his voice was hoarse. His gaze slid from her eyes to her mouth and back. Olivia nodded. Her breathing had quickened, and so, she saw, had his. From her shoulders down her body was so close to his that they were practically fused together. Some of it was her fault—she pressed against him like they were two halves of the same piece of Velcro. But his arms were wrapped around her, too, and he wasn’t letting her go.
‘‘Jesus Christ, Olivia.’’ His voice was thick, hoarse, almost unrecognizable. This time he moved, pulling her up on tiptoe as his mouth came down on hers. His mouth slanted across hers with fierce hunger. His tongue slid between her lips, touching hers, possessing her mouth. Olivia kissed him back just as fiercely, opening her mouth for his taking, possessing his in turn. She couldn’t get enough of him, just as he, it seemed, couldn’t get enough of her.
He took her fiercely, driving into her with an urgency that made her strain and buck and writhe in frenzied response. Her hips arched up off the bed to receive him. She shook, and clung, and at the end, when the firestorm took her, cried out his name. ‘‘Livvy,’’ he groaned in response, huge and hard and hot as he thrust into her trembling body. ‘‘Ah, Livvy.’’
Format: E-Book Read with: Kindle Paperwhite Length: Novel Genre: Western Historical POV: Third Person, Dual Series: 75th Copper Mountain Rodeo, #1 Publisher: The Tule Group, LLC Hero: Jasper Flint Heroine: Chelsea Crawford Collier Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥 Published On: September 08, 2013 Started On: May 15, 2023 Finished On: May 17, 2023
Megan Crane’s Tempt Me, Cowboy is a beguiling romance set against the backdrop of a small Texas town, featuring two protagonists whose lives intertwine in unexpected and compelling ways. The story revolves around 30 year old Chelsea Crawford Collier and 35 year old Jasper Flint, two individuals from vastly different worlds who find themselves drawn to each other through a series of chance encounters.
Chelsea, a dedicated schoolteacher, spends her life taking care of her demanding mother and trying to preserve her family’s legacy in Marietta. Her life is turned upside down when the Marietta Railway Depot, a symbol of her family’s heritage, is sold to Jasper Flint, a mega rich oil tycoon looking for a new project. Chelsea’s mission to save the depot brings her face to face with Jasper, leading to the fireworks that explode between the two.
Jasper, a man accustomed to getting what he wants, finds himself intrigued by Chelsea’s honest and genuine nature. He likes the novelty of being accepted for the man he is, rather than being taken at face value as the wealthy tycoon that he is, which draws him to Chelsea in a way that he never thought possible.
Chelsea’s struggle with her own insecurities and her determination to prove herself worthy of love and respect are what endeared her to me. Her internal conflicts and the weight of her family’s expectations are portrayed with nuance and empathy, making her a heroine worth rooting for, and also quite relatable in many aspects.
Jasper’s backstory adds layers to his character, revealing a man who has achieved great success but is still searching for something meaningful. His history outlining life with a broken, bitter father who had shaped his most formulative years and a trophy wife makes him a hero worth empathizing with. The story also culminates in the message of the power of genuinely felt and given love, and its transformative abilities in shaping the best of humanity.
The romance between Chelsea and Jasper is electric, marked by moments of intense passion and tender vulnerability. Their chemistry is palpable, and Ma. Crane does a masterful job in capturing the push and pull factors of their evolving relationship.
Chelsea’s fear of her mother’s disapproval and her own doubts about her worthiness create significant hurdles that she must overcome. The weight of her family’s legacy and the small-town scrutiny add to the pressure she feels. Yet, it is this very pressure that drives her to grow and find her own voice.
Recommended for those who love romances in small-town settings and the heroes who sweep you off your feet!
Final Verdict: This is a beautifully written romance that delves deep into themes of identity, legacy, and love. Megan Crane’s skillful storytelling and rich character development makes this a captivating read.
Favorite Quotes
Chelsea had been kissed before, even well, she would have said. But Jasper was a revelation. He kissed her the way he’d driven them on his bike, with an ease and a skill that combined into something liquid and powerful, driving her straight out of her head. He took her mouth like it was his, like she was his and always had been, and he tasted like fire and whiskey. And she wanted. She yearned.
Format: E-Book Read with: Kindle Paperwhite Length: Novel Genre: Contemporary Romance POV: Third Person, Single Series: This Time, Forever, #1 Publisher: Harlequin Hero: Cesare Falcone Heroine: Mina Carroll Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥 Published On: September 01, 1995 Started On: March 01, 2023 Finished On: March 02, 2023
Entirely focused on him, she felt light-headed. ‘I didn’t know—’ ‘Didn’t know what?’ Cesare whispered unevenly, dropping his hand to the bedspread wrapped beneath her arms as he coiled fluidly up so that their eyes locked. ‘That wanting like that is rare? That most people go all their lives without ever feeling like this? It’s a hunger so strong it has to be satisfied…and it’s bound to rage out of control.’
A Savage Betrayal by Lynne Graham, first published in September of 1995 is told in the third person from the heroine’s perspective. The story begins with the heroine, Mina Carroll, who while working alongside her boss at the charity benefit that her workplace organized, runs into none other than Cesare Falcone, the man who broke her heart years ago.
Four years back, a freshly graduated Mina found herself at the receiving end of a cutthroat job interview, after which Cesare hires her as his executive assistant. Two months in, Mina realizes that she was head over heels in love with her boss, and by the end of the third month, Mina is sacked rather unceremoniously, and that too without a reference.
Discovering that her one night of passion with Cesare right before she was sacked had borne its fruit, Mina finds herself in the tough position of having to juggle being a single mother and making ends meet in a world that is frightful for women who do not have the kind of support systems that prevent them from falling into utter destitution.
Coming to the realization that the spark that has always existed between her and Cesare burns even brighter than before, and that she is just as vulnerable to the heat between them, makes Mina wary, especially in light of the revelations that Cesare believes her to be a deceitful tramp, perhaps the only woman who has ever made a fool of him in the worst way possible.
Cesare’s belief that Mina committed a criminal offense four years back is an ironclad one, citing that he is in possession of irrefutable proof with which he could send her to jail even now. While Cesare continues to believe the worst about Mina, the way he is helplessly ensnared in the web of desire that clouds his judgement is something he perhaps despises about himself.
Cesare definitely drives a hard bargain, expecting Mina to be his and only his satisfying his every carnal desire, and in bed, Mina knows that she is able to drive him just as wild as he does her. When the truth of her conception four years back comes to light, Cesare is of course livid and devastated, and what ensues leading up to the climax of this delectable story was just unforgettable.
A Savage Betrayal is a novel that is evidence of Ms. Graham’s remarkable talent in weaving a story that would have required so little to completely unravel. At certain points, I was left wondering as to how Ms. Graham would be able to turn things around, to show to readers why Cesare was worth all the heartache, grief, and pain that Mina goes through, even as she struggles with her enduring love for a man who sees very little of worth in her.
The story is one that is brilliantly executed, with the sexual chemistry and heat between Mina and Cesare off the charts hot and steamy. Perhaps the one reason the story got to me so much is the fact that the reader has to discover how Cesare feels about Mina through her perspective of his actions. The hero who comes off as ruthless and says often the cruelest things (which Mina is perfectly capable of handling), is unable to bear it when he witnesses Mina being hurt, in pain, or in tears. That is how the reader knows just how deeply that Cesare feels for her. And there is of course the red blooded alpha male whose possessive streak rears its head whenever he feels that what is his is in danger of being claimed by another, and the red hot jealousy that courses through him every single time!
I loved how Cesare meets his daughter who is just as temperamental as he is which gave me a couple of good chuckles that broke the never ending tension that is consistent throughout the story. This book had such good verbal warfare happening alongside all that sizzle, which made Mina and Cesare highly entertaining. The way Ms. Graham managed to make Cesare so arrogant, powerful, sexy, and vulnerable was nothing short of amazing, paving the way for everything to just click into place when all was said and done.
Recommended for fans of Lynne Graham and those who love explosive love stories between two protagonists whose verbal warfare just adds to the spice factor!
Final Verdict: A Savage Betrayal is a novel that is fierce in the way it consumes all your emotions. Those who love a good angst-fest; this one is for you!
Favorite Quotes
Her breath hung suspended and then he pressed his mouth hotly to the tiny pulse flickering wildly above her collarbone. Every bone in her body melted in a burst of feverish heat. Her head fell back, her throat extending. She trembled violently, an upswell of sensation suddenly released with devastating force. Her hands flew up of their own volition, one finding his shoulder, the other spearing into his hair, and just touching him again felt so good that she ached.
‘Move, Cesare!’ Cesare continued to stare at her as though he was mesmerised, brooding golden eyes intently fixed on her. Outraged by his lack of response, Mina planted a small hand against his broad chest to thrust him out of her way. A lean hand whipped up and unexpectedly trapped hers, preventing her from withdrawal. ‘What the heck are you—?’ she began. Without the smallest warning he grabbed her right there in the middle of the street. Two strong hands clamped to her waist as he lifted her up against him and brought his mouth smashing down on hers with an explosive sexual hunger that travelled through her like forked lightning.
The first day when you walked into that interview I decided I could not possibly employ a woman whom I wanted to strip and fling onto the nearest bed!’ Helplessly her head flew up. She couldn’t believe her ears. ‘I gave you a nightmare interview…and you took it,’ Cesare condemned with lingering disbelief at such unfeminine strength of will and staying power. ‘You were trying to scare me off?’ Mina questioned in a tone of revelation. ‘I was a fool. I gave you the job.’
‘You’re mine,’ Cesare muttered thickly, one strong arm closing fiercely round her to stress the assurance, and he simply shifted his hand smoothly from beneath hers and slid it beneath the parted edges of her bodice, slowly curving his fingers over the firm thrust of one unbound breast. It had been so long since she had known such intimacy that her teeth clenched on the sweet pleasurepain of her own helpless excitement, and in the interim her hand fell away. He tugged the dress open, exposing the smooth pale flesh he sought, discovering the delectable curves she had tried to conceal. With an unashamed groan of hunger he caressed a pouting pink nipple with almost worshipping fingers, watching the bud bloom into aching prominence.
On some other level she was aware of the cooler air that brushed her skin as her dress fell away entirely and then he was laying her flat, crushing her mouth under his with raw, unashamed hunger. Her hands swept over his silk-clad back in sudden frustration, instinctively seeking the satin-smooth skin she remembered. His muscles rippled as he tautened and broke the connection of their mouths. Her glazed eyes opened on that shock of separation. He was ripping off his shirt, and she remembered that from before, but she heard no warning bells. Past and present had merged indistinguishably. The pectoral muscles of his lean, golden torso were hazed with a sprinkling of ebony curls. Like someone in an hypnotic trance, she focused on the blazing gold of his eyes and sank ever deeper into his power.
He pulled her to him with strong hands and instantaneously attempted to sink into her with one powerful thrust. There was a flash of momentary pain that made her bite down on her tongue and taste blood. Cesare muttered something in Italian, settled his hands on her hips and drove into her again, making her tender flesh yield more fully, and the sensation was so unbearably pleasurable that she moaned in shock and delight, for she had worked so hard at forgetting, had made herself forget, that most intimate moment.
Cesare had turned pale at one glimpse of her Caesarean scar. ‘You’ve had surgery,’ he breathed as she sat bolt upright, grabbed clumsily at her discarded dress and concealed herself behind it as best she could. ‘Major surgery—’ ‘No, only a little female thing,’ Mina lied in desperation, evading his shocked gaze. ‘It looks much worse than it is.’ ‘What was the matter with you?’ he demanded tautly. ‘I told you, something female and private—minor.’ ‘It doesn’t look minor—’ ‘But it is and I’m sorry you find it so offensive,’ she said wildly, ready to say or do anything to throw him off the subject. ‘Of course I don’t find it offensive but naturally I was disturbed,’ Cesare asserted stiffly, ‘and if that is the result of some minor female problem you must have had a third-rate surgeon!’
‘It doesn’t even have to be my best,’ Cesare murmured thickly, dense black lashes screening his gaze to a sliver of hard gold as he scanned her feverishly flushed face and unwittingly pleading eyes. ‘The one thing you ever gave me that was honest…why? You can’t control it. But I can—’ ‘Can you?’ Mina was in another world, one where she felt far more than she thought. Her hand lifted of its own volition, shyly smoothed along his strong, clean shaven jawline, fingertips softly brushing a high cheekbone. Her nostrils flared on the warm maleness of him. That close, it would have been sensory deprivation not to touch. He dipped his dark head and trapped her fingers with his mouth before she could reluctantly drop them again. Her eyes squeezed shut on a wave of unbearable excitement as he sucked first one finger and then another and her breath rasped in her dry throat, liquid fire running through her quivering body, melting every bone to boiling honey. She was poised on the edge of an erotic anticipation so intense, it consumed her.
Cesare tensed, momentarily holding himself back, and then her tongue flicked against his in an enticement that was entirely instinctive and, with a raw groan of need, he ravaged her reddened mouth with potent hunger. Suddenly she was no longer upright but lying back. His hand slid up one trembling thigh, wrenching the dress out of his path. She was out of control, her breath sobbing in her throat, her heart racing. She clung to any part of him she could reach, her fingers clutching at his hair, the back of his neck, splaying against the silk-clad heat of his taut abdomen, scratching down his long spine, clothes, always clothes getting in her way, driving her mad with frustration.
‘Get out of here, Cesare!’ ‘But this is our wedding night, cara.’ Mina’s teeth clenched. She wanted to leap off the bed and thump him but she was afraid that the bedspread would fall off. ‘The answer is no!’ A winged ebony brow elevated. ‘Did I ask a question?’ ‘You need it spelt out to you?’ Mina intoned, quivering with fury. ‘OK. I am not prepared to share a bed with a man who thinks I’m a gold-digging, dishonest tramp!’ ‘Why not?’ Cesare enquired softly. ‘If I’m prepared to sacrifice my principles—’ ‘Yours?’ Mina flared in disbelief. ‘Who else’s? If I could keep my hands off you, don’t you think I would?’ Cesare murmured with grim satire. ‘Do you really think that it was my secret ambition to take a wife who could be described as a gold-digging, dishonest tramp?’
He leant over her, nibbled erotically at the reddened fullness of her lower lip, and as she trembled, he uttered a strangled groan and shuddered, every muscle tautening with whipcord tension as he lifted her against him, searching out the moist heat between her thighs. She writhed, cried out, unbearable sensation rising to a sudden shattering peak that was pure torment. ‘I can’t wait.’ He brought her down to him with aching slowness and agonising control, forging his entry little by little, and it was so staggeringly exciting that she somehow wanted to faint with delight and scream with frustration at the same time.
He took her by storm and she felt possessed, driven, inflamed by the feeling that he was out of control. All honeyed pliancy and complicity, every fibre of her body pitched to an unbelievable height of anticipation, she let herself go, lost herself entirely in the thunder of her own crazed heartbeat and the fevered tension coiling ever tighter inside her. With every driving thrust he took her higher, and then suddenly the whole world went multi-coloured, her back arching, her teeth clenching as she sobbed, ‘I love you…I love you!’ on the peak of a shuddering and ecstatic wave of drowning pleasure.
‘Why do you think Steve hates you so much? Steve and I dated for four years and we were never intimate, never even partially intimate! But I only knew you for three months and he actually dared to tell me once that that was the hardest thing of all for him to accept…and I thought at the time, To hell with fragile male egos—and I still think it!’ ‘Mina—’ ‘So if you want to go on thinking that I bounced straight out of bed with you into bed with him, go ahead! I’ll phone and tell Steve…he would be absolutely delighted to know you think that! But how dare you try to drag me down to the level of a slot on some pathetic male sexual score card?’ A dark flush of blood had highlighted his hard cheekbones. ‘That was not what I was doing,’ he told her rawly. ‘That’s exactly what you were doing! All that sophistication on the surface, and underneath what are you?’ Mina splintered tempestuously. ‘You’re so primitive you haven’t even made it on to the bottom rung of the evolutionary ladder!’ ‘Whatever turns you on, cara,’ Cesare murmured, eyes a sliver of flaring gold below his black lashes.
‘This time…you really are mine,’ Cesare murmured roughly, framing her hectically flushed face with hard, possessive hands as he looked down at her, eyes of molten gold alight with desire and primitive satisfaction. But those hands weren’t quite steady and that big, powerful body trembled in the circle of her arms. On a very female level, she was fully attuned to that awareness. ‘Absolutely mine,’ Cesare savoured, lowering his dark head to her breasts, circling a taut bud with the tip of his tongue and then hungrily engulfing her achingly tender flesh with the raw heat of his mouth.
‘We should have made better use of last night,’ Cesare muttered raggedly. ‘I want you so much, I ache…’ Without warning, he pulled back from her and communicated with the chauffeur. ‘What are you doing?’ ‘It’ll take over an hour in this traffic to reach the town house…’ Minutes later he was tugging her out of the limousine in front of a well-known hotel. Ten minutes after that they were standing in a luxurious bedroom. ‘This is crazy,’ Mina protested weakly. ‘Everything I do with you is crazy,’ he muttered thickly, hauling her into his arms.
She lost herself in him. Her heart hammering, her slender body writhed beneath his, desperate for the completion that only he could give. She clutched at his hair, scored the satin-smooth skin of his back and then arched and sobbed as he sank into her in one powerful thrust. ‘Nobody is going to take you away from me,’ he said savagely, scanning her with glittering golden assurance. ‘Nobody!’
Format: E-Book Read with: Kindle Paperwhite Length: Novel Genre: Contemporary Romance POV: Third Person, Dual Series: Brides for the Taking, #3 Publisher: Harlequin Hero: Jax Antonakos Heroine: Lucy Dixon Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥 Published On: May 23, 2017 Started On: February 27, 2023 Finished On: March 01, 2023
Sold for the Greek’s Heir by Lynne Graham is the third installment in the Brides for the Taking series, published under Harlequin in 2017. Ms. Graham brings to readers the story of Greek billionaire Antonakos and single mother Lucy Dixon, with the tale unfolding from the perspectives of both protagonists.
Jax is the proverbial man-whore and bachelor and likes his life that way, even as his father wishes and pushes him in the hopes that Jax would marry the woman of his choosing. Jax makes no commitments and has no intention of giving into his father’s demands. He is marriage and children averse, the bitter divorce that resulted in the split of his parents having left its mark on him. Living with his mother was not a walk in the park either, with a father who pretty much ignored his existence up till he did not have a choice but to.
Lucy arrives in Greece to finally unite with her long lost father. The fact that he accepted that Lucy was mother to a fifteen month old baby girl seals the deal for her, up until she comes face to face with the father of the baby, i.e., Jax, who pulled the disappearing act on her.
Lucy was a naive nineteen year old virgin when Jax swept her off her feet. Devastation hit when Jax abandoned her, and made it all but impossible for her to reach him with the news that she was pregnant with his child. Lucy is therefore determined that she would not give Jax the time of the day, that is until machinations by her father which she has no knowledge of, forces the hand of Jax into offering her marriage.
When Jax comes face to face with the one woman who had shaken his very existence, the shock of discovering that he is father to a toddler pushes him into taking action to ensure the best for his daughter. It certainly does not help matters when Jax is driven by the nightmarish revelations that forced him to cut ties with Lucy in the first place, and that proves to be the ultimate conflict around which the story revolves.
While I did enjoy some of the aspects of the story, I felt that the prose of the novel was all wrong for Lynne Graham, or at least the Graham novels that I always enjoy and revel in. Lucy was definitely a welcomed change from some of the doormat variety of heroines you come across in category romances especially. But at the same time, Jax failed to invoke all those heady emotions in me which I look forward to when it is especially a Lynne Graham novel. All the attributes that should make him so were there, and he should have been appealing in every sense, but somehow the elements did not come together in the way that I expected perhaps.
I guess this has a more modern streak going through the story, which perhaps is not a bad thing in itself. However, I believe I jive better with older Graham novels.
Recommended for fans of Lynne Graham and those who love category romances featuring the forced marriage trope!
Final Verdict: Sold for the Greek’s Heir is a hit and miss sort of novel; there were aspects that worked and those that did not.
Favorite Quotes
Just one kiss, she bargained with herself, just one, but the man who had once seduced her with kisses had no intention of breaking his perfect track record. He always knew what she wanted and he gave it to her, all the seething passion he had taught her to crave. He kissed her and she went up in flames. Her body flared into shocking awareness and suddenly burned back to almost painful life with every plunging thrust of his tongue.
‘I can’t get enough of you,’ Jax growled between the urgent biting kisses that bruised her lips and the devastating plunge of his tongue that made her slight body jackknife in reaction beneath his. ‘We’ve got all night,’ she whispered through rosy swollen lips, eyes glazed with passion. ‘I’ve got a hunger that one night won’t come anywhere near satisfying,’ Jax told her rawly, fisting a hand in her tumbling curls as he snaked a string of kisses down over her collarbone and found a plump, pointed nipple to torment with attention.
‘Thee mou, I want you so much,’ Jax ground out as he slid over her, his hands strong on her hips to angle her back. He entered her slowly, urging her tender flesh to open for him and stretch, and the sensation made her dizzy with yearning and wildly impatient for more. He eased back and then pushed in hard and deep and her body convulsed and tightened round him, intense sensation ravishing her. A string of tiny sounds was wrenched from her parted lips as he ground into her and picked up the pace, raw excitement flooding her as she tilted up to meet him, hot, damp and abandoned as the wild roller coaster of sensation raged on and on.
That fast she wanted him intolerably and with every probing plunge of his tongue she wanted him more. Evocative little noises were wrenched from low in her throat as skilled fingers teased and played to prepare her for his entrance. And then he tilted her back and thrust into her with vigour while she clung to his shoulders, her ankles wrapped round him. He grunted with raw male satisfaction, his hand supporting her hips as he pounded her yielding body with delicious force. Excitement writhed through Lucy in an unstoppable surge and she reached her peak with an involuntary cry, convulsive waves of exquisite pleasure rippling through her lower body as an orgasmic flush spread over her sun-dappled skin.
Format: E-Book Read with: Kindle Paperwhite Length: Novel Genre: Contemporary Romance POV: Third Person, Dual Series: Bennett Sisters, #1 Publisher: Mills & Boon Hero: Nicholas James Thorne Heroine: Vivian Mitchell Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥 Published On: January 01, 2008 Started On: February 27, 2023 Finished On: February 27, 2023
‘I’m your future now. I’m the one who controls your destiny.’ She gave a little yip as his free hand slipped under the hem of his sweater to splay warmly across her quivering, tautly stretched belly. ‘And I’m the one who controls your fertility. The first child you’ll ever carry in your womb will be mine. The first baby to suckle at your breast will belong to me, as you will…’
Vendetta by Susan Napier, first published in January of 1998 is a very short read, the length of a novella I must say, and even then, Ms. Napier managed to surprise me with just how meaty the story was when all was said and done.
The story begins with the hero Nicholas James Thorne waiting for the arrival of Vivian Mitchell to a remote island that he owns, to close a vital property deal on behalf of Marvel-Mitchell Realties. Nicholas is a man who has been biding his time for ten long years to get his revenge, and he believes that Vivian for all intents and purposes got away scot-free, without a scratch, when he had lost it all.
When Vivian arrives at the godforsaken island, which she had expected more from since it was owned by a millionaire, she finds out that nothing is as as she presumed it would be, starting from the man himself, who aggravates her, intrigues her, and arouses her in equal doses. Once Nicholas reveals his nefarious intentions, it is already too late for Vivian, who knows deep in her heart that Nicholas has managed to steal her heart without much ado.
As outlined earlier in the review, though it is a very short read of just 70+ odd pages, this was still a very compelling story in many ways. The shocking revelations regarding both Vivian and Nicholas made this quite enjoyable. And even though I missed the heady and sensual scenes of passion that Ms. Napier is very capable of delivering in her novels in Vendetta, the simmering sexual tension was definitely in place whenever Nicholas and Vivian were together.
This could have been such a swell read if it had been the length of a usual category romance novel, and I will forever mourn the fact that it was not. Recommended for fans of Susan Napier, stories featuring revenge arcs, and those who love a lightly themed beauty and the beast story.
Final Verdict: Vendetta offers a titillating read of the larger-than-life and scarred to boot Nicholas, whose best laid plans turn to ashes when Vivian makes him forget his best intentions.
Favorite Quotes
‘Poor Vivian, no wonder you look so pale and tense.’ He casually brushed her cheek with his thumb and she nearly went through the roof at the bolt of electricity that sizzled her senses. They looked at each other, startled. His gaze dropped to her soft naked mouth, open in shock, then to the sliver of thickly freckled skin revealed by the modest cleavage of her blouse and the faint suggestion of lace hinted at by the trembling rise and fall of her lush breasts against the cream silk. In that single, brief glance he stripped her naked and possessed her.
Vivian knew he was talking about Peter. Briefly surfacing from her passion-drugged state, she tried to arch away, but Nicholas shifted his hand from the back of her neck to the front of her silk blouse, slipping his fingers into the prim neckline and ripping it open with a single downward stroke that scattered the pearl buttons like lustrous tears across his chest. ‘Nicholas!’ Her gasp was lost in a spasm of violent sensation as he flicked open the tiny plastic catch between her breasts and allowed them to tumble free of the confining lace. The ginger freckles were stretched over their swollen fullness, the soft pink tips swaying against the hard contours of his chest, contracting instantly into tight points that scraped and caught on his own peaked masculine nipples.
Format: E-Book Read with: Kindle Paperwhite Length: Novel Genre: Contemporary Romance POV: Third Person, Dual Series: Bennett Sisters, #1 Publisher: Self-Published Hero: Max Connor Heroine: Julia Bennett Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥 Published On: March 07, 2016 Started On: February 21, 2023 Finished On: February 22, 2023
God knew Max had given her nothing, not so much a single hello in almost two years, and yet, and yet, and yet, her crush stuttered on like a corrupted MP3 file, making her feel electric and helpless and nauseous and depressed in turns.
Book one in the Bennett Sisters series is another wonderful story by the critically acclaimed author that is Eve Dangerfield. Locked Box, published initially in March of 2016, brings to readers the story of 33 year old Senior Constable Max Connor at the Brenthill Police Station where 25 year old Julia Bennett works as the IT person aka “computer girl”.
Julia harbors a massive crush on the all too married Max and that has been the case for a long time, something which mortifies and petrifies her in equal doses. When on the eve of a long weekend, Julia gets roped into organizing the entire computer section of the Brenthill Evidence Room which is definitely not a one person job, and she gets locked in the the room, the man who strides to her “rescue” is none other than Max himself.
When a series of mishaps ends up with both of them locked in together, things start to get interesting as we get our first insights into how Max actually feels about Julia and the truth about his marital status. Max and Julia met years ago, a night that has left its impression on both of them equally. While Max moved on and got hitched, Julia has steadily been working towards her goal of launching her own video game.
As things start to heat up between Julia and Max, it is Julia’s desperation that pushes past the reluctance and the walls that Max shields his heart with. A rushed marriage which had gone awry with time has left its mark on him, and having to suppress his needs has left him feeling him exhausted. But Julia tests every bit of his resistance until it lies in tatters around him, and he gives in to the scorching heat that has always existed between them since day one, something he has denied for far too long.
Max does not want to feel the way he does around Julia, all inept and mindlessly horny as he puts it. But then love and lust in combination does strange things to even the most intelligent and coherent of people and that is what makes him warier than ever. Even as Max tries to put distance between himself and Julia, things certainly do not go according to plan as Julia tests the reserves of his strength, and makes him question every aspect of why he had walked away all those years back.
I loved both Max and Julia and thoroughly enjoyed knowing that there was no way that Max was going to be able to walk away this time around. I loved how Ms. Dangerfield brought out the tidbits of their past entwining with the present, giving their attraction and the intense connection between the two more meaning. Max is wild for Julia, there is no doubt about that. And Julia has her work cut out for her when it comes to convincing Max to take that chance on her, which ends up being the factor that gave this story the angst that I always need in my romance novels.
Recommended for those who love a broody and reluctant hero who spikes up your heart rate just by stepping into the pages.
Final Verdict: Multi-layered with a forbidden love angle that we all love, Max’s intensity and Julia’s unwavering love made this memorable!
Favorite Quotes
“Max.” “That’s it, say my name.” Usually, an orgasm turned her body to stone, but this was so raw, so surreal, all Julia could do was thrash against Max, who was thankfully strong enough to keep her in check. She shrieked and shuddered and cursed enough to kill several fairies but he didn’t slow down, he kept stroking her G-spot until she did something she’d only ever done once before; gushed into his open palm. It was as excruciating as she remembered, painfully pleasurable, completely unable to be stopped.
Format: E-Book Read with: Kindle Paperwhite Length: Novel Genre: Contemporary Romance POV: Third Person, Single Series: Standalone Publisher: Self-Published Hero: Sean Heroine: Megan Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥 Published On: January 02, 2006 Started On: February 10, 2023 Finished On: February 11, 2023
“How did you reach the point of,” she searched for a polite way to phrase the question, “considering prostitution as a source of income?” “Some of the kids I knew were whoring, but I wouldn’t at first. I was sure I could find a job. But the days went on and I had no money. This kid, Donnie, convinced me sucking c#ck was a pretty simple way to make fifty bucks. So one night I did it.” Megan swallowed. “How did you feel about it?” “I didn’t feel anything. He was right. It wasn’t such a big deal and I had enough money to eat for a few days.” His voice was perfectly steady and emotionless.
Finding Home, written by Lauren Baker and Bonnie Dee, published in January of 2006, is a story that is beautifully crafted. It is a story about finding love in places that you least expect, of how society often seems to fixate on the wrong issues instead of righting the grave injustices inherent, and how love of the truest kind will always persevere.
Written in the third person, told solely from the heroine’s perspective, Finding Home brings to readers the story of 23 year old Megan who works as a copy editor at a weekly LA paper, with dreams of becoming a reporter. To speed things up on making that transition, Megan decides that a freelance expose was in order, and sets out to tackle the issue of male prostitution.
When Megan meets 17 year old Sean (known as Mouth on the streets), she is fascinated by how self possessed he appears and how nothing seems to faze him. Quickly befriending him, Megan finds out that the story that she started out to write in an attempt to advance her career is not for the faint of heart, and that she cannot detach herself from the lived realities of the young adults who are forced into prostitution for one reason or the other.
As Megan finds herself in over her head when it comes to Sean, and a sequence of events culminates in Sean requiring time to heal from injuries inflicted, Megan offers him room and board at her place, at least until he is better able to take care of himself. Megan’s offer comes without any expectations on her end, and it is heartbreaking to come to the understanding that for a young adult like Sean, his life which has been an endless series of being taken advantage of by other people, trust is the hardest commodity to come by.
As proximity gives room for the awareness that has always existed between the two of them to grow in leaps and bounds, Megan finds herself in the unenviable position of having to deny her heart when it comes to Sean, as the feelings that she harbors for him increases by the day. Things come to a head and when Megan finally gives in, it is not without self-recrimination, doubts, and being self-conscious about society’s perception on the relationship which buds to life between them.
Sean’s story is not a unique one, but nevertheless a heartbreaking one. A deadbeat mother who was more concerned about where her next fix would come from, Sean had abandoned ship as soon as he was able to, with the knowledge that he could take better care of himself than his mom ever could. Being homeless and bunking with other kids who were of the same fate, Sean had found himself bartering away his body for cash to make ends meet.
The lifeline that comes in the form of Megan is one that Sean doesn’t realize that he needed. Megan, with her soft heart and bleeding emotions for the boy she gets to know and the man she comes to love, rescues him from a life of continued destitution and poverty, and gives him that needed chance to be independent, find himself, and find his way back to her. His home.
That was in essence what was so moving about the story. This was why it was such an emotionally gripping tale that turned out to be a riveting read in many ways. Even though Megan is older of the two in terms of age, it is Sean who seems to be emotionally more mature, perhaps as a consequence of having shielded himself for so long from the realities of childhood trauma.
The chemistry between Megan and Sean from the onset, sexual and otherwise, was an intriguing aspect of the story. Megan’s warmth towards Sean is evident from the start, and even when their relationship crosses all those lines it rightfully should not, somehow it makes sense because Megan and Sean fits in a way that is indescribable.
Megan truly does try to resist giving in, and I believe if the positions were reversed, even I, as the reader would not have felt the need to explain how much she tried to resist. It is the norm to read about and hear about older men succumbing to much younger women, or getting into a relationship with a woman in a vulnerable position. But because it is the woman who holds the long end of the stick in this dynamic, I guess we needed “more assurance” than we usually would under the circumstances. Which is telling in itself about the inherent bias that we harbor.
Society perhaps, will always reserve judgement about cases such as Sean and Megan, and it is with good reason, I admit. But there are also those rare happenstances when two people just fit, and age becomes just a number. Fact that it was Sean who took the needed time to start on a path that would allow him to start healing, to face the demons of his past, showed the kind of maturity that I would expect from an older character. His declaration of love for Megan was all the more meaningful because he comes to that conclusion on his own terms, and that, was just beautiful.
The fact that the story was written solely from Megan’s perspective was another reason why this story made such a huge impression on me. I am a sucker for stories where it is hard to read what the hero is feeling except through the heroine’s often biased perception. And that, is a treat to my senses!
Definitely recommend this gem of a romance to readers who can set aside their preconceived notions and give Sean and Megan the chance they truly deserve!
Final Verdict: Finding Home is the kind of novel that invades your heart with stealthy determination, until absorb all of it, one must. Therein lies the true beauty of this story!
Favorite Quotes
She wondered what, or who, he was thinking of to make him so hard, and hoped it was her. Megan felt caught in a trap, unable to move, her senses on overload, and while every brain cell screamed at her to get out, step back into the corridor and ignore what she’d just seen, her animal instincts wanted her to move closer. Her body betrayed her. She felt hot and wet and melting to the core of her being, her sex aching for his touch.
He started slow, holding back and building the pressure with light, controlled strokes, driving Megan into a frenzy until she grabbed his ass with both hands, pulling him deeper inside her. Her gesture seemed to shatter his self-control and he started really fucking her, hard and fast. His mouth slipped down from hers to her neck, biting her, until she reached her peak again, and much to her surprise, because Megan wasn’t usually a screamer, she swore and cried out, overwhelmed by the strength of the climax which ripped through her.
Megan turned her mouth into her shoulder to stifle her moans. She gripped the edges of the sink as she was carried on a wave of pleasure that seemed to crest ever higher, triggering spasm after spasm in her. This was so hot, so wild, and so not her. She wanted to scream or sob. Sean leaned forward and his hand snaked over her hip and onto her clit, rubbing and circling. He continued to slam into her hard and rough. Their harsh breaths and the slap of flesh on flesh were the only sounds in the room. Megan whimpered as her whole body contracted and released in an amazingly powerful orgasm.
A faint trail of hair led toward his chest. She examined the hard planes of his chest, his peaked nipples, the sharp lines of his collarbones and his broad, muscled shoulders. The curve of his neck led to his face. Sean looked down at her, lips slightly parted, his wet hair messy on his forehead, his blue eyes caught between arousal and amusement. As their eyes locked, he ran his tongue across his lips. Megan sighed. “Jesus, Sean,” she breathed. “You’re beautiful.”
Format: E-Book Read with: Kindle Paperwhite Length: Novel Genre: Contemporary Romance POV: First Person, Single Series: Kindled, #1 Publisher: Self-Published Hero: Jackson Heroine: Faith Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥 Published On: August 26, 2021 Started On: January 03, 2023 Finished On: January 03, 2023
Maybe Jackson would be different if he were in love. If he were in a relationship. Or if the world outside this room hadn’t fallen into violent chaos, hadn’t become a constant war we have no choice but to fight. Maybe he would take his time. Be softer. Gentler. Maybe he would smile or even laugh. Maybe I would be different too.
Haven by Claire Kent is a book that had me psyched for a very good reason. I had just found out that Ms. Kent previously wrote as Zannie Adams, an author who suddenly disappeared after publication of a handful books of which Complicated ended up being a favorite of mine, which as a result is an author I have been trying to find for the past thirteen years! It has been a long wait to re-discover Ms. Adams writing as Claire Kent, and I was so excited to pick this up and indulge to my heart’s content.
First published in August 2021 and told in the first person from the heroine’s point of view, this is a post apocalyptic romance featuring 25 year old Jackson and 21 year old Faith, both survivors of an event known as the Impact. The Impact is an event which took place five years prior to the story, during which an asteroid hit Europe, wiping out the whole continent, wreaking havoc on the environment, and destroying economies and governments across the globe. It was estimated that more than half of the global population had died off since the Impact and its aftermath which continues five years on.
Faith is the daughter of the couple who set up the New Haven Farm years before the Impact, the place where the story mainly takes place. Her parents, wanting to live off the grid, built a farm with all the necessities required for self-sustenance, the main reason behind the survival of those at the farm when the rest of the world had pretty much collapsed.
Faith has known Jackson since she was twelve years old, Jackson having come to live on the farm as an angry and surly teenager having spent his most formative years in foster care. Even though Faith had more or less being fascinated by Jackson since then, which she never would admit to, neither of them show much inclination of having deeper feelings for each other, that is until you peel back the layers which reveals a whole other story.
As the story delves deeper into the lives of Faith and Jackson, readers get to see what simmers underneath; the red hot attraction between the two that blazes to life, consuming both of them. What starts out as an occasional night during which Faith goes to Jackson and they have the kind of sex that most talk about and few ever actually get to experience in their lifetimes, turns into a craving that just a few nights a month won’t satisfy.
What is most interesting is how Faith’s inner turmoil and restlessness with life becomes key to bridging the gap between the physical and emotional connection between the two. Jackson I would say, was a delight in every sense. Sexy, silent, broody, and the kind of man who takes charge in the bedroom, leaving you breathless and wanting more!
As the story is written solely from Faith’s point of view, the reader must understand Jackson through her eyes, and I would say it was delightful, going on that journey of discovery right alongside with Faith. The true depth of Jackson’s feelings for Faith starts becoming more evident as the story moves towards its climax and I loved Jackson for being the man who gives Faith a safe space to just let go and be vulnerable, which was sexiest aspect of the story if you ask me. There is nothing sexier than a man who knows how to treat his woman right, who knows when to nudge, take charge, and offer the comfort of a warm embrace when in need. Such is Jackson, and I loved him to bits for that very fact. The pace at which Faith and Jackson’s relationship develops and progresses was realistic. And the sex scenes outrightly naughty and smutty in the best way possible!
Recommended for readers who like romances in post-apocalyptic settings, with a commanding hero who makes you swoon just by stepping into the pages.
Final Verdict: Rediscovering Zannie Adams as Claire Kent was definitely the best find in recent times. Loved the adventure, the buildup, hot sex, and tenderer emotions explored in this post apocalyptic romance!
Favorite Quotes
It’s dark in his room. He’s already in bed. A board squeaks on my third step, the same board that always squeaks. I hear his covers rustle. He’s moving now. He knows I’m here. I set the candle down on the table. When I reach the bed, he grabs for me and pulls me onto the mattress, stretching me out as he rolls on top of me. Without a word, he kisses me, deep and hard and hungry.
His eyes crawl up and down my body. From my face to the place his cock moves in and out of me. My eyes have adjusted more so I can see more details. His messy hair keeps falling into his eyes, and he’ll give his head a quick jerk occasionally to move it out of the way. His bare chest has a scattering of dark, coarse hair, and the impressive definition of his arms—the strong, corded muscles there—flex and tense. I have a brief impulse to stroke them. Feel the shape of them. To trace his familiar features with my fingertips. To push his thick waves back from his forehead. I don’t do any of that.
Then he rasps out one word. “Kitten.” Right before he pushes me up against the wall and kisses me hard. I should be annoyed by the mocking nickname, but I’m not. Irrationally, it gets me really hot. I grab for his neck and open to the kiss, and before I know it, I’m wrapping one leg high around his thighs and grinding my aching pussy against his leg.
He makes a guttural sound and jerks his head slightly, his nostrils flaring. “Tell me you want me.” I make a sobbing sound as the words trigger something deep. I scratch lines into the skin of his arms. “I want you.” He speeds up, pounding into me so hard the bed bangs loudly against the wall. “Tell me who you want.” “You. Jackson. I want you. Jackson. You. Only you!” The last words come out as a hoarse cry because I come hard on the heels of them.
A Maldivian's Passion for Romance 