Category / Tortured Hero

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Morgan’s Hunter by Cate Beauman

Format: E-Book
Read with: Kindle Paperwhite
Length: Novel
Genre: Romantic Suspense
POV: Third Person, Dual
Series: The Bodyguards of L.A. County, #1
Publisher: Self-Published
Hero: Hunter Phillips
Heroine: Morgan Elizabeth Taylor
Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥
Published On: October 09, 2012
Started On: November 19, 2022
Finished On: November 21, 2022

“Let go of me,” she said weakly as her heart pounded—but it wasn’t fear that made it race.
“Not yet,” he murmured, pulling her bottom lip between his teeth, nibbling gently, his gaze burning into hers. “I’m the only person around here who’ll be taking a bite out of you, Morgan. You remember that.”

I don’t quite recall how I came across Morgan’s Hunter by Cate Beauman, a new-to-me author that I wanted to try out. The first book in The Bodyguards of L.A. County, which has about eleven books published to-date, this is the story of 28 year old Hunter Phillips who becomes bodyguard to 26 year old Morgan Elizabeth Taylor, a story of opposites attract with a reluctant hero to boot!

Morgan is a wildlife biologist and socialite, whose idyllic existence is shattered when she receives a phone call that changes her life forever; that her research team had been found slaughtered. With no clues coming forth and the case growing colder by the day, Morgan is determined that she would get to the bottom of it, even if she has to go down to the location herself and find out what happened.

Knowing that Morgan is resolute about going, she is assigned a bodyguard from one of the best security firms in the country. Morgan gives in, more so to appease her father than anyone else, and finds herself saddled with a man who takes her breathe away and at the same time makes her grit her teeth from the need to say something that would bring him down a peg or two.

Hunter has no qualms about labeling Morgan as he sees her (through his prejudiced eyes), the altogether too beautiful but spoiled bitch (his words, not mine), whom he judges at first sight to his own detriment. Hunter has scars that has never truly healed from losing his best friend in Afghanistan, and he is dead set on remaining emotionally impervious to everyone he comes across, lest he has to put himself in a position of vulnerability all over again.

As a result, Hunter bristles at the sexual heat that ignites between him and Morgan from the start, an attraction that is so fierce that neither he nor Morgan is able to deny the strength of it which draws them together. Even as Hunter pulls back just as much as the orbit around Morgan reels him in, the more time he is forced to spend with Morgan, the more he realizes that in Morgan lies a woman of strength, beauty, brains, and the right touch of emotional vulnerability that he could definitely get on board with.

As the danger closes in on them and the story reaches its ultimate climax, revealing the villain to be someone too close to home for comfort, it is up to Hunter to decide whether he wants to fight to keep Morgan by his side as much as he fights to keep both of them alive during the mission, or walk away from the best thing that has ever happened to him in his lifetime.

I liked this story mostly because Hunter did not turn into an overly needy, clingy, and endearment pushing hero overnight. I so dislike romances where the hero is sold as someone who has emotional baggage, a reluctant hero, and resists getting close to anyone, and voila, by chapter two, he is totally into the heroine and calling her everything beautiful under the sun!

Hunter is a different breed, and he stays true to his convictions at the beginning, which begins to erode away bit by bit as he gets to know Morgan better, which is more realistic in my opinion. I liked Morgan too; she was feisty in a way that did not break the story but rather complemented what was unfolding and was exactly what Hunter needed. She knows when to push, when to give in, and when to walk away from something that is detrimental for her own good.

I must admit that some of the writing did feel a bit choppy and I did not appreciate the repetitive style by which it was reiterated over and over how sexy Morgan was, which I believe the readers got the memo of after the first two chapters. However, I am willing to overlook those bits because the story that unfolded was great in every other aspect. Just wish that the epilogue (which is published separately) was part of the book, which would have amped up the enjoyment factor that much more.

Recommend this for those who love romantic suspense novels set in the wilderness, with forced proximity playing its critical role in bringing two opposites together!

Final Verdict: The debut book in The Bodyguards of L.A. County starts out with a bang, bringing to readers two characters who seal the deal with the sizzle between them that scorches the pages through!

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

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Secret Obsession by Charlotte Lamb

Format: E-Book
Read with: Kindle Paperwhite
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
POV: Third Person, Single
Series: Sins, #1
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Ben Havelock
Heroine: Nerissa Havelock
Sensuality: 🔥🔥
Published On: January 01, 1995
Started On: September 07, 2022
Finished On: September 08, 2022

His face was taut, his eyes hard.
‘Do I have to remind you that it was me you married, not him?’
‘I want a divorce, Ben!’ Nerissa broke out in a voice that shook, and the room filled with an intolerable tension.
‘I’ll fight it,’ he said curtly. ‘I’ll use any weapon I have to -even if it means bringing him into it. What do you think that will do to your family pride?’

Secret Obsession by Charlotte Lamb, first published in January of 1995, is an unusual story at best, the reason why I picked this up to read in the first place. Told in the third person from the heroine’s perspective, Ms. Lamb brings to readers the story of Ben Havelock and his wife Nerissa who have been married for just three months when the story begins.

Ben and Nerissa’s had been a whirlwind romance, where Ben had pursued her in earnest since meeting her a year earlier at a party given by one of his clients, who happened to work with her. Ben being a very successful and wealthy barrister and a divorcee at that, had convinced Nerissa that they would work after managing to draw out all truths about about Nerissa and leaving her pretty much in the dark when it comes to understanding who Ben is inside out during their courtship.

Things come to a head when Nerissa receives the news that her adored cousin Philip is in a coma, Philip whom Bend would never agree to let her go to be by his side. For Ben knows the truth of Nerissa’s feelings for Philip and the reality behind the family unit within which Nerissa had grown up which makes for interesting reading.

Nerissa flies the coop (of course), to be with the man who had been the most important person in the world to her up till the point where the truth had been forced out leaving both of them devastated in the process. Nerissa is a woman torn about how she feels about her husband Ben; she wants him, thinks about him when he is not around, he is necessary for her, but she does not know him as she does Philip, and therein lies the problem.

When Ben comes in hot pursuit of her and forces her to face the ugly truths about her past (which is also very much present) which she has been playing ostrich about, it is up to Nerissa to decide whether she wants to fight for her marriage and the man who has become the most important person in her life unbeknownst to her, the man that she had actually fallen for without realizing the hows and whys.

As mentioned earlier in the review, Secret Obsession is not your usual run of the mill variety of story, the most shocking revelations being about Nerissa’s past and how that had shaped her up as the person she is at present. Nerissa meets Ben at a turning point in her life, when she had been desolate about the futility of the future she had envisaged of a love that was impossible.

For Ben, trust is a hard commodity to find, having held up the short end of the stick in his previous marriage. Some would say that Ben is a glutton for punishment given how he who swore off marriage altogether, and then goes onto tie the knot with Nerissa, a woman who was definitely going to cause him a lot of heartache and pain along the way.

I loved how Ben forces Nerissa into examining the depth of her own feelings when it comes to a whole host of issues that are revealed along the way and his patience with her. Most men would not have found it possible to be that patient, knowing that your wife’s heart belonged to someone else, the wife that you fell for a long way back.

While the story had a lot going for it, I found the execution of some of the aspects to be a bit problematic. There were elements of the story that definitely held my attention, like how obsessed Ben actually is about his wife, even when he had sworn off of marriage altogether when his first marriage failed so spectacularly.

I was also intrigued by Nerissa’s feelings – seldom do novels explore the nuances of the female emotions as it does Nerissa’s in this story. The raw emotions and the psychology explored in the story was riveting but the continued rehashing of how wounded Ben’s pride was and how his ex-wife had done a number on him made the story a tad tiresome. Skipping chunks on inner monologues in the story made it all worthwhile!

Recommended for fans of Charlotte Lamb and her unusual stories. I am guessing, given the ratings for most of her books, she is either a hit or miss for readers!

Final Verdict: Secret Obsession is a fitting title for a story that explores a husband’s hidden infatuation with his wife, whom he pursues and wins over through the biggest gamble of his life!

Favorite Quotes

When she heard him come downstairs again she went out into the hall in a hurry. He was carrying his suitcase and she felt a pang of dismay as she realised he had meant it; he was really going.
‘Ben, listen… I can’t come now. How can I when they need me? But…’ she began, and he turned a grim face to her.
‘No buts, Nerissa. I meant what I said. I’m sick of this charade of a marriage. I can’t live with it any more.’
He was gone a moment later, the front door slamming behind him, and she stood rooted to the spot, white-faced and stunned. She heard the car start, the engine roar as he put his foot down on the accelerator, the sound of the wheels churning gravel as he set off along the drive.
Ben had left her.

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by mvbookreviewer

Review: Unexpected Pleasures by Penny Jordan

Format: E-Book
Read with: Kindle Paperwhite
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
POV: Third Person, Dual
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Gabriel Calbrini
Heroine: Sasha
Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥
Published On: January 01, 2012
Started On: September 03, 2022
Finished On: September 06, 2022

Suddenly Sasha turned her head and saw him. For a second she simply stared at him, and then abruptly she turned on her heel and started to run.
Gabriel’s reaction was instinctive and immediate. Sasha could hear the fierce pounding of his feet on the sand above the shocked thud of her own heartbeat. He was closing the distance between them but she still ran on, driven by the instinct of the prey to escape from the hunter.

Unexpected Pleasures by Penny Jordan, first published in January of 2012 is a novel that delves deep into the psych of two characters who have had rotten childhoods and carried the trauma with them for the better half of their lives. It is striking how at times category romances such as this number published under Harlequin, romance novels that people usually pick up for a light read or label as fluff, can end up being stories that pack a significant punch way above what anyone expects of them.

Such is the story of Gabriel Calbrini and Sasha, whose pasts are entwined in a way that makes a clean break from each other impossible. When the story begins, Sasha is mother to nine year old twins and newly widowed, facing the prospect that with her husband’s death she had gone overnight from being the pampered wife of a rich man to a virtually destitute widow.

Sasha had been an impressionable, emotionally vulnerable, and needy seventeen years old when she had met Gabrielle in whose arms she had known true sexual awakening and desire. Her mother having died during childbirth, Sasha had grown up in an environment that had been insufficient to address her great need for love and emotional security.

A year later, Sasha had married the much older Carlo, pregnant and unable to reconcile or accept the depth of devastation that Gabriel had wreaked on her heart when he had so callously turned away from the love that she had to give. In hindsight, ten years on, Sasha is able to understand that it was with Carlo that she had managed to make peace with her past, and had flourished in the safe environment that her husband had provided for her.

Sasha’s past comes calling when Carlo leaves guardianship of the twins to his second cousin, none other than the father of the twins, Gabriel. He has never forgiven Sasha for the way she had left his pride in tatters, and Gabriel has always refused to examine his battered emotions too closely lest he find something he did not want to face particularly.

Gabriel has so much baggage from his childhood, being an unwanted child discarded by his maternal relatives who had been richer than sin, abandoned by his father once he found someone to replace Gabriel’s mother, and a mother who had never looked back once she walked out on him and her father. Foster homes had been it for him until circumstances had forced Gabriel back into the circle of his maternal grandfather, where he had led a loveless existence which had solidified his resolve as a man.

Gabriel is a man in whose heart lies a wealth of bitterness, judging every woman by his own mother’s standards, which makes him the worst sort of cynic. In Gabriel’s opinion, Sasha had proven her worth when she had walked out on him and sold herself to the highest bidder. As Gabriel makes a comeback into Sasha’s life and things start to add up, it is he that must reconcile with the past and examine his own actions which had destroyed what was between Sasha and him at the very beginning. Perhaps they both needed the time apart to really be together, one could argue, and I would be one of them if you ask me.

I had a hard time rating this book, not because this did not deliver a riveting read. I had some issues with how the story handled Gabriel’s issues for the most part. It was evident that Sasha had dealt with her scars from childhood in a healthier manner, her years with her older husband having given her the comfort, luxury, and time to pace herself through the recovery and reconciliation process.

Gabriel however, is a tougher nut to crack, with his childhood having hardened him to a point where he has a tough time separating his mother’s cruelty from every single overture made to him by any woman attempting to establish emotional ties with him. The protective shield around Gabriel’s heart seems almost impenetrable, that is until the truth about Sasha and their past slaps some sense into him. My issue lies with how such a character seemingly healed overnight and changed into a loving man, even though it is evident that Gabriel loved Sasha even before, though he never acknowledged the fact.

That brings me to the other issue I had with the story. While I understood the need for flashbacks, I also felt as if a major portion of the story was told through memories of the past than incidents in the present, which perhaps would perhaps have made more sense in the long run.

Recommended for those who love a good second-chance romance and fans of Penny Jordan. Ms. Jordan is a definite favorite when it comes to category romances.

Final Verdict: With flashbacks into the entwined pasts of the main protagonists, Unexpected Pleasures delivers the ultimate second chance romance with interwoven threads of sensuality in the mix!

Favorite Quotes

As a lover he had opened her eyes to a whole new world of pleasure, and he had imprinted that pleasure on her body in such a way that she knew she would never be able to forget it. There had been long hours when he had held her on their bed and caressed and kissed his way over every inch of her—the curve of her throat, the tender flesh inside her arm, her fingers. If she closed her eyes she knew she would almost be able to feel the slow wet curl of his tongue as he drew slow patterns of almost unendurable erotic stimulation along the whole length of her.

Gabriel leaned down and lifted her bodily against himself. As she wrapped her legs around him he could feel the sharp grittiness of the sand from her feet rubbing abrasively against his skin, a reminder that intense pleasure needed to be edged with the sting of pain.
Maybe that was why he felt this overpowering need for her now. Because without her his life had been bland and dull. Maybe he needed the pain to really feel.

She closed her eyes and ran her hands feverishly over Gabriel’s torso, avidly relearning its shape, tugging buttons free of buttonholes as he kissed her, plunging her straight down into the depths of her own desire to that place where there was no reason, only the voices of her senses, whispering to her to hurry, to take what she could while she could, while there was still time.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | eBooks | HQ

by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Cozakis Bride by Lynne Graham

Format: E-Book
Read with: Kindle Paperwhite
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
POV: Third Person, Single
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Nikos Cozakis
Heroine: Olympia Manoulis
Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥
Published On: January 01, 2000
Started On: September 02, 2022
Finished On: September 03, 2022

‘Are you insane?’ he questioned rawly. ‘You must be out of your mind to come to me like this! How could you think for one moment that I would marry an avaricious, brazen little tramp like you?’

The Cozakis Bride by Lynne Graham is one of those novels that swept me off my feet on a journey of angst, heat, and love of the kind that reaffirms my faith in my commitment to remain a romance reader for life. First published in 2000, Ms. Graham brings to readers the story of 29 year old Nikos Cozakis (Nik) and 27 year old Olympia Manoulis, whose entwined past ten years ago makes them the bitterest enemies.

If anyone had asked Olympia just an year ago if she would ever consider going back to Nik, the man who had left her heart and pride in tatters when she was just seventeen years old, quite naive and wholeheartedly in love with her fiance Nik, she would have probably told them to shoot themselves in the head. But circumstances force Olympia to do just that, where she is forced to “barter” herself in marriage in exchange for much needed medical treatment and security for her mother.

If Olympia resents Nik for what had happened a decade ago, Nik himself loathes the very existence of the woman who made a fool of himself and his family’s unsoiled reputation. The way Nik sees things, Olympia, his doe-eyed supposedly virginal bride-to-be had betrayed him in the worst way possible, and there is no way he was going to forgive or forget what happened, no matter how much he may lust after the woman he is going to be legally bound to as a husband.

Thus begins the battle of wills between Nik and Olympia being tied together in holy matrimony, each unwilling to look beyond the wounds that had scabbed over and never truly healed from that fateful night when everything had gone so horribly wrong. For Olympia, she had been judged and found guilty of a sin she had not committed, and for Nik it had been all too easy to believe what he was led to through machinations of those who had their own agenda.

What neither can deny is the flame that sizzles, burns, and roars to life whenever they are together, something that they are both helpless to turn away from. Nik may pretend that for him it is about getting what he wants out of Olympia, both in the short and long term. Olympia may likewise act as if the passion between them is inconsequential at best, but the truth is far from it.

I loved how The Cozakis Bride commandeered all my senses and did not let up from the minute I plunged into this heady tale. I adored the story for how it was chock-full of excitement from the get go, even when you are hyperventilating through scenes and wanting to slap some sense into Nik, and being gleeful about how all the feels knotted up my insides. There is nothing better that a romance reader can ask for than to be emotionally invested in a story, to feel as if you are going through train wreck, and yet still root for the main protagonists and their happily ever after.

There were times when Nik was unbelievably cruel in the story, times when I thought, boy, I hope this man has to grovel a lot to get the girl in the end. I must confess that I actually loved how cruel that Nik was at times because it showed the depth of his unresolved feelings towards the heroine. If Nik had not cared as much and if it was just his ego that had been bruised back then, the reactions from him would have been altogether very different. Nik made me fall in love with all that he is; from the sex-in-a-suit male specimen personified he is, to the ruthless side of him, and to the very vulnerable man that lies underneath all of that.

I loved Olympia for being feisty where needed, for being able to see how her naivety all those years back had played its role when those she had trusted had taken advantage of her, and for being self-aware and honest enough to face the ultimate truth when it came calling; that she loved Nik with everything she was and if she wanted a future that was worth living, it would have to be with Nik, and that fight she would for his love.

The fact that the story was told purely from the heroine’s perspective made it all that much better in my opinion. While Nik was quite the forceful character, seeing the shades of vulnerability on his part towards the end was enlightening and went a long way towards making this a well rounded romance.

Definitely recommend this gem to fans of Ms. Graham and fans of ruthless heroes with that core of vulnerability that we all love!

Final Verdict: The Queen of Harlequin romance seldom disappoints. Being older and better able to understand the complexities & nuances of human emotions makes this read all that more wonderful to the senses in every way that matters.

Favorite Quotes

‘You owe debts, and through me you will settle those debts.’
‘What are you t-talking about?’
‘What you did ten years ago cost your poor mother any hope of reconciliation with her father. What you did ten years ago savaged your grandfather. And what you did to me, you can find out the hard way,’ Nik concluded darkly.
Stabbed to the heart by that reminder about her mother, Olympia dropped her head, tears springing to her eyes. ‘It wasn’t my fault…what happened…I was set up—’
‘You’re embarrassing me,’ Nik slotted in with contempt. ‘Lies and fake shame are not going to protect you.’
‘You’re scaring me…’ Olympia condemned tearfully. ‘You are really scaring me!’

‘Let the light of reality in here. Ten years back, while you played Miss Prim and Proper Prude and brandished your innocence at every opportunity, I was in absolute agony…in the grip of overpowering lust and unable to do anything about it!’ Nik’s lean, powerful face hardened. ‘Did that give you a kick, Olympia?’
‘A…a kick?’ Eyes huge pools of enquiry, she stared back at him, struggling to absorb his assurance that he had found her sexually attractive in those days. That claim ran against everything she had ever believed, and she was paralysed by a sense of sheer disbelief.
‘You kept me in a constant state of arousal. I never slept after I was with you. My fantasies about what we were going to do when we got married even embarrassed me!’ Nik admitted grimly. ‘I wasn’t used to going without sex…it was torment; it was seriously painful.’

He came back to her with a driving kiss that consumed her. He was rough, and she had never known him rough before, and he excited her beyond belief. She was out of control, but so was he and she loved that. It answered the wildness leaping through her. He was hard and hot and full, and he sank into her tender welcoming flesh with a forceful maleness that made her sob out his name in ecstasy. Her back arched as the blinding excitement peaked on a shivering storming tide of mindless pleasure.
In the aftermath, she opened her eyes and blinked.
For a split-second, as Nik stared down at her, she saw a shell-shocked look in his stunning dark deepset eyes that could only have mirrored her own. Rolling off her without a word, he headed for the bathroom. She lay there immobile, struggling to breathe again, feeling ravished, feeling the sweet, heavy satiation of her own body with shattered recognition.

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

by mvbookreviewer

Review: My Killer Vacation by Tessa Bailey

Format: E-Book
Read with: Kindle Paperwhite
Length: Novel
Genre: Romantic Suspense
POV: First Person, Dual
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Self-Published
Hero: Myles Sumner
Heroine: Taylor Bassey
Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥
Published On: June 06, 2022
Started On: August 19, 2022
Finished On: August 19, 2022

Based on appearances alone, this man might have just walked out of a criminal underworld. If the permanent scowl on his face didn’t scream villain, then the long, unkempt hair and poorly scrawled tattoos do the trick, as do the scars on his knuckles and the side of his neck.

My Killer Vacation by Tessa Bailey is the kind of story that has you laughing one minute, swooning the next, and agonizing over what is coming, because you know that your heart is going to squeezed rather painfully and perhaps broken in a place or two before being fixed as the story plunges head on towards its climax.

Released in June of last year, though it has mystery-thriller elements as a major element of the story, this is still classic Ms. Bailey with the kind of characters that you root for, with the steam factor ramped up high! Told in the first person from the perspectives of both the hero, Myles Sumner, and the heroine, Taylor Bassey, the story begins with Taylor and her brother Jude traveling to a luxurious beach house for six days of vacation. Taylor, a second grade teacher who has always more or less being responsible for her younger brother by three years, has scrimped and saved through the years to finally go on her dream vacation.

However, all of that comes to a standstill when they discover a corpse in the rental house, and things certainly go awry, especially when the rough and tough looking Myles turns up in pursuit of the killer. Nothing prepares Taylor or Myles for the heat that they generate together even when Myles is being his obnoxious best, trying to keep Taylor at bay lest his control be tested.

Taylor however, is a woman on a mission, firstly to prove to herself (and perhaps her parents and brother) that she too has the bravery gene that runs through their family, and hunting for a killers seems like a fool-proof plan to prove that from where she stands. Gunning after Myles too falls into that category, because for the first time in her life Taylor feels as if she has met the type of man who would show her what she is missing, the type of man who would not be afraid to show her what it means to be handled with anything but kids gloves on in the bedroom, if only she could convince Myles of this sound plan as well.

For Myles who has done the marriage thing once and failed at it, knowing deep down that Taylor is the marrying kind means he plans on steering clear of her no matter how much she may tempt him otherwise, or how he knows deep in his soul that she is sort of, kind of, made for him. He also carries a wealth of guilt from his old job as a detective at Boston PD, and it has been three years since he has been making a living as a bounty hunter mainly just running from one location to the other to keep the pain and the memories that haunt at bay.

Taylor definitely wants what Myles can offer, but unless Myles is able to face the demons that plague him and comes to accept that he has what it takes to give someone precious like Taylor the ultimate happily ever after, there is no future for the two of them in the long run. The baggage which Myles carries and prevents him from seizing his own happiness plays its role in delivering the angst factor, which I loved!

I enjoyed this rom-com, mystery-suspense novel, so much so that I read this in one day, which is a rare happenstance nowadays. I loved both Taylor and Myles; Ms. Bailey can do no wrong in characterization and delivery of the steam factor, which was off the charts hot in this tight little number as well.

I was also intrigued by the side drama that was happening, which just leaves readers with tantalizing glimpses of Jude’s love-hate relationship with his best friend Dante, and Ms. Bailey announced this August that she would be releasing a novella with their story pretty soon, which I am pretty sure a lot of readers are anticipating.

The epilogue was in an essence the best thing about this novel. It gives you the laughter, heat, and swoons, all in one! Definitely recommended!

Final Verdict: She is a second grade teacher, the type you take home to meet your mother. He is a bounty hunter, rough around the edges and prefers solitariness. When these two collide, it is fireworks all the way through!

Favorite Quotes

It’s obvious that something happened. I took three wrong turns on the way home. I’ve been responding in one-word sentences, but now that I’ve processed—mostly—what happened, I need someone to confide in. “First there was some kissing.” No need to go into detail. I’m not even sure I could say what happened without sweating through my yoga pants, anyway. “Then we broke up even though we were never dating in the first place. We’ve been ending our non-existent relationship since we met, actually. It’s kind of our thing.”

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | eBooks | Apple

by mvbookreviewer

Review: The Lady and the Orc by Finley Fenn

Format: E-Book
Read with: Kindle Paperwhite
Length: Novel
Genre: Fantasy Romance
POV: Third Person, Single
Series: Orc Sworn, #1
Publisher: Self-Published
Hero: Grimarr
Heroine: Jule Norr
Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Published On: October 28, 2019
Started On: August 07, 2022
Finished On: August 19, 2022

“Cursed woman,” he hissed, mouth smeared with red, eyes glittering, hair hanging down over his face. Hands flat to the earth on either side of her head, his broad bare chest heaving, streaked with rivulets of sweat, every muscle stark and corded and beautiful in the firelight. “My woman.”

Anyone who knows of my reading tastes can attest to the fact that I am a huge fan of dark romance, the darker, the better. Having come across the Orc Sworn series by Finley Fenn on Instagram was a godsend in this regard, and my first foray into this fantasy monster romance series was wonderful in every sense.

The Lady and the Orc is the first book in the series, with eight book published to-date. Told in the third person from the perspective of the heroine, the angst factor was greater because of the fact. The debut book in the series brings to readers the story of Grimarr leader of five clans of orcs that lives under his command, from The Ash-Kai clan who have long served as the orcs’ leaders and captains, and Lady Jule Norr, married to a man a decade older than her for the past five years.

Jule is a woman who is an “outcast” in the human world, having been determined to be barren, unable to bear children for her husband. Jule’s husband is a man who has given her little in the way of happiness, and totally disregards her welfare, well-being, and safety as is his responsibility. This ends up being a pivotal reason why Jule is ripe for the picking and is captured by none other than the Orcs who are rumored to be huge, hideous, dangerous, deadly, and constantly raiding human territory for goods and women.

Jule has heard of the terrible fate that women are subjected to, once they are taken by the Orcs. Jule does not forget the callous disregard with which her husband had treated her fears right before he had departed leaving her alone, without a means to defend herself, with the parting shot that even Orcs would want whole women, and that she was not even good enough material to be taken hostage by the Orcs.

When Jule realizes that she has been taken by none other than Grimarr, the leader of the Orcs, she is intrigued as much as she is frightened by the prospect that awaits her, and determined that she would not give in to the fear that is her first reaction to the hideous creature that stands before her. Grimarr is the Orc who has led his brothers for the better part of 30 years, and became the captain to steer the ship just recently. He is determined that he would do right by his brothers, even if it means destroying his own self in the process.

Surprisingly for Jule, it is only Grimarr who sees her husband for who he is – a man who is equal parts weak and a fool, who exerts his strength and uses it to demean the weak. Jule however is distrustful, and rightfully so when it comes to the Orc, but also drawn to Grimarr despite everything she has heard about the Orcs and the dangers they pose to humans, especially womenfolk. At the same time, as a captive, Jule is also forced to look more closely at the events that have unfolded between the Orcs and humans, and reassess her opinion on who the perpetrators and the victims are in the decades old conflict between the two.

Jule also understands that there is a reason behind her being taken as a captive by the leader of the Orcs; after all she is the wife of the leader of the human clan with whom the Orcs war with and it gives Grimarr a strategic advantage unlike any other. Against her own judgement, Jule also finds herself strangely drawn to Grimarr in a way that makes her wary, and yet is helpless to walk away from. The hold that Grimarr and his scent has on her, and the way Grimarr keeps talking about her as if she is his fated mate lures her in, until she is hooked well and good.

Ultimately, her need for him outweighs everything else, and it is not long before she pledges her allegiance to him and claims him as her mate leading to a series of events that is anything but kind to her burgeoning feelings for him. Even as Grimarr takes steps to amend his behavior and do right by Jule, he also has far more devious plans that outweigh his connection to her or his need for her, which proves to be the ultimate test that both Jule and Grimarr face in this heady tale as it moves forward.

I loved this highly unusual and sensual tale that Ms. Fenn has gifted to readers and the world building that offers a lot of tantalizing possibilities for future stories down the line. It is stories like these that makes me marvel at the infinite boundaries of the human imagination, about to conjure up stories like this one. The aspect I loved the most (as you must have guessed), is the world of hurt in store for both Jule and Grimarr before all is said and done, giving readers like myself the perfect combination of angst and romance which I adore.

For Jule, trust is a hard commodity to come by, given how she has fared in her marriage up till she had been taken by Grimarr to be used as he likes. For Grimarr, even if he acts as if Jule is replaceable in the strategic “war” that he has begun, his actions speak otherwise, or rather reading between the lines leaves you with that impression, which ramped up my enjoyment factor with this novel. Grimarr was the perfect balance of ruthlessness, gentleness, hedonistic, and dangerous – the kind of hero that I love best. He delivered on all aspects spectacularly and I could not have asked for a better hero.

Definitely recommend this for readers who love their romance on the spicier and darker side. Nothing to lose by taking the plunge with a story well written, and a happily ever after that is guaranteed!

Final Verdict: The Lady and the Orc was unexpected in the most captivating way; I was all for the darkness of the characters and the transformation both underwent in the journey to their happily ever after!

Favorite Quotes

“Where are we?” she asked toward Grimarr, without thinking — but then she went stock-still all over, because she was looking at him, and he was looking at her. And here, standing in the bright, unforgiving daylight, the infamous captain of the orcs was truly, thoroughly hideous.
His skin was a deathly shade of grey, latticed over with scars, one almost bisecting his long, crooked nose. His eyes were sunken and black, framed by stringy black hair that was tied back in a matted mockery of a braid, and his neck was thick and corded, angling down to sloped, bulbous shoulders.

Jule’s mouth barked out a hoarse, high-pitched laugh. “What, the gods decree that orcs have to kidnap women, and make them bear their sons? You can’t honestly believe that?”
“No,” he said, and one of those big hands slowly lifted toward her again, this time settling warm and heavy against her hip. “This — kidnap — you speak of, this was from the war. From men who deny us women. Who deny us our sons, and our freedom.”
Oh, so now it was all the men’s fault, but Jule’s retort was silenced by the feel of Grimarr’s other hand, coming to spread flat and warm against her belly. “But it is the gods’ decree that orcs mate with women,” he murmured. “If it were not so, there would be no sons. No pleasure in the mating.”

The blinding light of the sun was almost painful, after all that time spent underground, and Jule blinked at its brightness through her fingers. Halfway up the curve of the sky, it was mid-morning, and had Grimarr kept his whole band waiting here all this time, just for her?
“Do you hunger,” came Grimarr’s curt voice beside her, drawing Jule’s unwilling gaze — and then she squeezed her eyes shut, breathing hard. Gods, he was hideous. Absolutely repulsive, in the light, like a grey rotting corpse whose face had been carved into by maggots, and had she truly kissed that mouth? Had she welcomed the touch of those hands? Had she sworn to make him her mate? What the hell?

Jule’s eyelids fluttered, her mouth suddenly sucking on that invading finger, and Grimarr gave another one of those low, rolling laughs. “This pleases you,” he murmured, as he tugged the finger free, and went back down, pooling more of that thick sweetness onto it, and then bringing it back to Jule’s mouth. “How do I taste, woman.”
Jule should have lied, but her swirling tongue would have betrayed it, and her gaze was trapped in those watching, half-lidded eyes. “Sweet,” she managed, around his finger. “Like honey.”

“You really think I’m judging you harshly? Do you not recall, down while I was making supper for you and your hundred friends, how you publicly threatened to burn my clothes and force me while they laughed?”
Grimarr’s eyes blinked again, and Jule leapt to her feet, not caring if she was still naked and filthy, just needing to get away, as far from him as possible. “You are the one who brings shame to me, orc,” she gasped. “And to all your fellow orcs as well. You have shown me that in comparison to you, my husband Lord Norr, who I believed to be one of the cruelest men I have ever known, was in fact a patient and generous soul. And if ever presented with the choice” — she gulped in a breath, glared at those eyes — “I will immediately reject you, and run back to Norr Manor, and thank the gods for my blessed good fortune!”

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Hey, Mister Marshall by Saffron A. Kent

Format: E-Book
Read with: Kindle Paperwhite
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
POV: First Person, Dual
Series: St. Mary’s Rebels, #4
Publisher: Purple Prose Press
Hero: Alaric Rule Marshall
Heroine: Poe Austen Blyton
Sensuality: 3
Published On: June 14, 2022
Started On: June 18, 2022
Finished On: July 04, 2022

Saffron A. Kent is an author who shot upward at rocket speed to the position of most revered authors as a romance reader and then plunged on a downward trajectory at a speed that has been heartbreaking to say the least. Her novel The Unrequited (and I keep talking about this in every review of her books since – most probably), was one of a kind, and Ms. Kent’s backlist contained a couple of really great books which I adored. It is her latest books that have been troublesome for me to wade through, this huge “transformation” of her writing style that has been difficult to immerse myself in, which has been a heartbreaking experience for me all around.

Hey, Mister Marshall, the fourth installment of the St. Mary’s Rebels series is actually the story that I anticipated the most when the series was first announced, the story of Alaric Rule Marshall and Poe Austen Blyton, the angst-ridden road to happily ever after for a very particular guardian and his ward. First published in June of last year, and told in the first person from the view of both the protagonists, this is a review that I write with a broken heart as I feel that this is where I bid goodbye to future books from Ms. Kent, unless I have a very good reason to return to them.

Alaric is a history professor specializing in the Renaissance era, already head of department at the age of 31. Poe is 14 years old when she is forced to move into his home, live with a man who refuses to even talk to her. For Poe who has lived most of her life taking care of herself given the diva nature of her mother, a famous soap opera actress, it should have been an easy transition to move from New York to the home of her guardian. But the loss of one’s mother, the only parent she has known, has its downward spiraling effect on even the best of us.

Years pass, and it is an 18 year old Poe that is enrolled in the very school at which Alaric is employed, the school for “troubled” teenagers which seeks to discipline them. Poe knows that this is the punishment that she must endure for daring to fall in love, for breaking the rules as set by her guardian, the sole reason as to why she was sent to the school.

Needless to say, things happen, Alaric and Poe spend time together, and Poe starts to realize that Alaric too is not immune to all that she is, no matter how much he might pretend otherwise, or tries to push her away and keep her at arms length. But Alaric never factored in the force to be reckoned with that is Poe, when she is at her most determined.

To be honest, this was still a “better” book than My Darling Arrow, the debut book in the series. As much as it pains me to say this, I stopped reading the second book in the series, A Gorgeous Villain, half way through, because I just couldn’t take it anymore. Perhaps the reason I stuck through with this one was because a) I had waited so long for Alaric and Poe’s story, and b) some of Poe’s determination must have rubbed off on me to see this through.

As I mentioned earlier, it is the stark difference that is felt in Ms. Kent’s prose that is the bitterest pill to swallow when all is said and done. It actually makes me wonder whether I am reading stories written by the same author, and whether it was actually Ms. Kent who wrote the earlier books, where she wrote dark characters who were true to where the story led them, where she wasn’t afraid of pushing the boundaries that may be frowned upon by the larger romance reader base, and where she told a story of such grit and heart that your whole being is invested in the outcome, no matter what.

Compared to that, these recent books read like the stuff of your worst nightmares, written by someone who flunked their writing class and yet is bold enough to subject us to this kind of drivel. The repetition in each and every book since is tedious to the point where you are skimming through huge chunks of each chapter, just because you have invested all that time in the story and want to see it through. To be frank, this story could have actually been a novella for what it was worth.

Though Alaric reminded me of Thomas from Unrequited in some ways, I just could not get past the immature inner voices of both Alaric and Poe. Now with Poe you could understand given that she was at first fourteen and then eighteen years old as the tale unfolds – she is in effect, a teenager. It is Alaric’s voice having the same vibe which grates on the nerves. He is a 31 year old when the story begins, a double PhD holder – one must wonder whether he got permanent head damage, and twice, which must be the reason for all this nonsense.

Also what is with the annoying way of stating each character’s name in half and then in full during the inner monologues? At one point, this is Alaric; “And here I thought that I’d already made it, my biggest mistake. Four years ago. When she came into my life. And when I forced her to stay. Poe Blyton. Poe Austen Blyton.” At another, this is Poe; “Him, him, and him. It has all been about him. Alaric Rule Marshall. My soulmate.” – I just can’t!

The funniest bit though was when I snorted at the point where Poe realizes she is in love with Alaric – while he is shagging her in the arse. Just poetic!

Recommended for fans of young adult romances – this is as whiny as it gets!

Final Verdict: It is with a heavy heart that I bid adios to an author whose earlier works I will always treasure. Ms. Kent, it has been bittersweet!

Favorite Quotes

This man.
Of dark hair and dark eyes.
With the broadest shoulders I’ve ever seen and the deepest voice I have ever heard. This man with a name that sounded so ancient and boring when I first heard it, but it made sense when I saw him.
When I saw his face, I knew why he was named something classic and vintage.
It’s because he is classic and vintage. It’s because every feature on his face, every line and angle, every plane and crest, is quintessential.
It’s because he’s the very definition of male beauty.
It’s insane actually.
How fucking beautiful he is. It’s unreal.

Purchase Links: Amazon

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Phoebe by Minerva Spencer

Format: E-Book
Read with: Kindle Paperwhite
Length: Novel
Genre: Historical Romance
POV: Third Person, Dual
Series: The Bellamy Sisters, #1
Publisher: Crooked Sixpence
Hero: Paul Edward Needham
Heroine: Phoebe Bellamy
Sensuality: 3
Published On: May 31, 2022
Started On: June 07, 2022
Finished On: June 18, 2022

“Everyone comes from somewhere, Twickham—even the lowest chimney sweep could trace his bloody lineage back six hundred years if he had the leisure and money to do so.”

Minerva Spencer is a one of a kind author who creates such intricate love stories that are hard to put down. Phoebe, the first book of The Bellamy Sisters series proves the same, bringing to readers the story of 20 year old Phoebe Bellamy and 35 year old Paul Edward Needham, Viscount Needham.

The Bellamy family consists of eight members, with Phoebe the fourth daughter being in charge of managing the meager finances of the family that is in dire straits. Phoebe considers herself to be plain and average unlike her sisters, most of whom she views in a more favorable light than she does herself.

When Phoebe encounters Paul, her first impression of him is not a favorable one. However, Paul has a need for a wife to establish his daughter in society, Paul whose newly acquired title which does not really earn him the approval of the established members of the ton, who view him more as a boorish merchant than the entitled ones. Phoebe too has a reason for a husband – to rescue her family from going bankrupt and saving her family home from ruin.

As these two enter into a marriage of convenience and traverse the tricky corners of married life, especially with the family circumstances being what they are for both, Phoebe starts to realize that most, including herself, tends to underestimate her husband for various reasons, believing him to be more brawn than brains.

It is Paul’s secrets and back story that makes for enticing reading as the story progresses. Paul who had held the short end of the stick in the parenting department with a father who had not cared for much except for his status and wealth, and believed that what did not kill his son, only made him stronger.

Paul’s toxic family is what gives this story the edge, not to mention the man himself who I fell head over heels in love with. Sadly, Phoebe never did really grow on me as she continued to be rather stuck up in my opinion about where she comes from. I also never understood why she was so angry about Paul taking control of Phoebe’s family home, when her father making them homeless if otherwise was a foregone conclusion.

Paul from the beginning treats Phoebe with nothing but gentleness. His bedroom recreation itself takes into consideration her pleasure first and foremost which is telling of the kind of man he is. What I found odious was how Phoebe always chose to believe the worst when his actions dictated otherwise, and even though she leaps to his defense towards the end, she always tended to continue to be in shock when she realizes that the truth is so far from what she conceived it to be. I truly wanted to love Phoebe as much as I did Paul, but alas I did not believe that Phoebe was worth the gold standard that was Paul.

Recommended for fans of the romance genre, those who love a good meaty story to sink their teeth into!

Final Verdict: The best thing about this story was Paul, the big brute of a hero who was a gentle giant, with a penchant for control in the bedroom, who designs exquisite lingerie for his beloved!

Favorite Quotes

“There is something I don’t think you understand about me, Phoebe. Or perhaps you’ve just refused to accept it. But I am, in the main, the sort of man who guards all his possessions—”
She tried to jerk her chin away. “I am not your poss—”
He held her more firmly and continued as if she’d never spoken. “Where you are concerned, I am an exceedingly jealous man. I don’t like it when you have nuncheon with Dixon, just the two of you, flaunting your behavior for all our neighbors to see and speculate about. I don’t like it when you flirt and charm him every night at dinner and then answer me in monosyllables. And I don’t like it when you go off riding with my handsome young noble secretary—”
“But we didn’t do anything.”
“But you wanted me to think you might, didn’t you, Phoebe?”
She opened her mouth to lie and deny it, suddenly ashamed that she had hoped to get a response out of him.
But not one this frightening.
Phoebe chewed her lip; what in the world could she say? “I don’t—er, I—”
“It doesn’t matter,” he said coolly. “What matters is that I don’t like watching or knowing that Dixon gets to enjoy the pleasure of your company while you deny me. You are mine, Phoebe, mine alone. Mine to enjoy however and whenever I please.”

She’d not believed she could feel more naked, but when he raised the gauzy gown over her head and tossed it aside, she knew she’d been wrong.
His lips parted and a low humming noise rumbled in his chest as he looked at her bare body.
That was when it struck her that it was Phoebe who was causing her husband to flush and breathe harder.
Exultation surged through her like sweet, slow-moving honey at the realization.
She was the one making this man—who always appeared so untouchable—shake and sweat and gaze with hunger.

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Contract Baby by Lynne Graham

Format: E-Book
Read with: Kindle Paperwhite
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
POV: Third Person, Dual
Series: The Husband Hunters, #3
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Raul Zaforteza
Heroine: Polly Johnson
Sensuality: 3
Published On: June 01, 1999
Started On: June 03, 2022
Finished On: June 03, 2022

‘She used my son as a bargaining chip to blackmail me into marriage!’

Contract Baby is the third and final book in The Husband Hunters series by Lynne Graham. First published in June of 1999, this is the story of 21 year old Polly Johnson, surrogate mother to 31 year old Raul Zaforteza’s child, a man who has sworn off the institution of marriage (even though he has never been married) and yet wants a child of his own.

When Polly disappears without a sign from Vermont where Raul had placed her during the first stages of her pregnancy, it is a furious Raul that seeks her out once again, determined that he would get access to his baby who is rightfully his. Raul’s fortune founded in gold and diamond mines is the result of his brilliance as a business tycoon, and as per gossip columns, wins awards on being a notorious womanizer as well.

When Raul finds her once again, it is a Polly that is in a predicament that she never thought possible; pregnant with a baby whom she thought was going to a couple whose dream she was going to fulfill. Polly finds herself in dire financial circumstances, and in no position to access what her godmother had left for her three goddaughters in her will without getting married, and keeping the home fires burning for at least a period of six months.

Raul finds himself caught between a rock and a hard place when Polly accuses him of being dishonest about the contract she signed, of which he had no knowledge of. With the British law being what it was regarding surrogacy, knowing that any judge would let the mother keep the child, if they were to believe that it was in the child’s best interests, Raul has no option but to force himself to agree to a marriage of convenience between himself and Polly, the only condition upon which Polly promises to accompany him to Venezuela.

It is an angst-ridden fest for these two as they traverse the treacherous world that Raul inhabits, with Polly being forced to confront the very present past of the man she had fallen in love with months ago. Polly is ill-equipped to deal with a man such as Raul, having grown up with a strictly religious father, and it was Polly that had paid the price for her mother’s infidelity which had resulted in her leaving when Polly was just seven years old. Polly’s father had ensured that she remained innocent, his tyrannical nature driving away even female friends, and she had no inclination of the strength of human desire when it comes to sexual wants and need until Raul strolled into her life.

Raul’s childhood made him abhor marriage, never wanting to give any woman that sort of power to dictate the terms of his life in any sense. All of that comes to head when he has to marry Polly, and it is an interesting journey to witness how Raul is brought to his very knees by the diminutive Polly who becomes his wife. It is rough going of course, which made for delicious reading experience, especially when coupled with the fiery desire that leaves both wanting more.

I believe that this would my favorite of the three installments in this series, because being the glutton for punishment that I am, I love a story that breaks and makes my heart, that infuriates and soothes me in equal doses. Contract Baby was such a story and I could not have asked for more. The only thing that would have made it all better? An epilogue to tie up the series which would have done wonders in my opinion.

I would recommend The Husband Hunter series for everyone who loves a good dose of angst-ridden romance! These three books certainly deliver on all fronts!

Final Verdict: She had dreams of marrying for love. He was determined that he never would, for any reason. Circumstances dictated otherwise. This a match made in angst-ridden heaven!

Favorite Quotes

‘But you wouldn’t want me to share your bed without all that idealistic love, commitment and permanency jazz… would you, querida?’ Raul breathed with sizzling golden eyes, watching her freeze in shock at that plunge into the more intimate and personal. ‘You see, what you want and what I want we can’t have, because we both want something different!’
Every scrap of colour drained from Polly’s face. ‘I don’t want you…like that,’ she framed jerkily.
Raul cast her a glittering appraisal that was all male and all-knowing. ‘Oh, yes, you do…that sexual hunger has been there between us from the moment we met.’

Bending, Raul slid his arm below her slim hips and lifted her unceremoniously up to his level, crushing her swelling breasts into the muscular wall of his chest. Her nostrils flared on the enervating, hot, husky male scent of him. Hard black eyes assailed hers and held them by pure force of personality. ‘You will not dictate terms to me. You will not demand empty and meaningless guarantees. A proper wife doesn’t put a price on her body!’
‘I…I wasn’t doing that—’
‘The marriage is on trial…I am not!’ Raul stressed forcefully. ‘I will not be judged on the basis of my past!’

His stunning eyes read the message in hers. He came down to her and kissed her breathless with a force of hunger that overwhelmed her own. ‘I feel wild…’ he groaned with a ragged laugh. ‘One more night watching you across the dining table and I would’ve pulled you under it!’
‘It didn’t show.’
‘Infierno…I get as hard as a rock just being in the same room with you,’ Raul growled rawly. ‘I don’t think I have ever been so frustrated in my life! I was tempted to take you into the stables earlier and..’ As her dark blue eyes widened in open shock at that series of blunt revelations, he compressed his lips, a dark rise of blood emphasising his cheekbones. ‘I just want you so much I can’t think of anything else right now.’

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | eBooks | HQ | Apple

by mvbookreviewer

Review: Hook, Line, and Sinker by Tessa Bailey

Format: E-Book
Read with: Kindle Paperwhite
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
POV: Third Person, Dual
Series: Bellinger Sisters, #2
Publisher: Avon
Hero: Fox Thornton
Heroine: Hannah Bellinger
Sensuality: 3.5
Published On: March 01, 2022
Started On: May 21, 2022
Finished On: May 28, 2022

“Waiting for you is the best I’ve ever had.”

Tessa Bailey is an author who stormed into the romance genre with her penchant for well crafted emotional reads, delivering the zing factor as it should be. She is well known in the reader community as the Queen of Dirty Talk, a badge well deserved. Her writing has evolved over time as it should, and her stories of recent times are very well nuanced, highlighting on issues and changing norms of society today. Such is the underlying topic of the second installment in the two-book Bellinger Sisters series, first published in March of last year.

31 year old Fox Thornton and Hannah Bellinger meet one another in the previous book, when Hannah tags along with her sister to Westport, hometown of their biological father. It has been over six months since Hannah left and her sister Piper stayed on, Hannah back to her job working as an assistant at a production company, while crushing on her boss.

When Hannah returns to Westport for filming purposes, circumstances would have it that she lodges at Fox’s place bringing to the surface, the simmering emotions underneath for both of them. Fox considers Hannah to be his friend, something he never entertained could be possible for someone like him; a girl being his friend, and that girl liking him for something other than what he could deliver in bed. Through the months that they have proceed to get to know each other via text and otherwise, Hannah has gotten under his skin and Fox, even though he does not know how to deal with that particular aspect, knows that Hannah’s presence is something he wants and needs in his life.

Hannah is the sister who was always comfortable waiting in the wings, with Piper taking up the spotlight. Hannah has always been the friend, the confidante, the comforter in times of need. And even though Hannah considers Fox to be her friend, she too is not immune to the whole vibe that surrounds Fox – the one that lets a woman instinctively know what a man would be capable of in the throes of passion.

It made for absorbing reading experience to see both Hannah and Fox navigate through the waters that were choppy at times and exhilarating in many aspects, their journey towards seeing each other, understanding each other, and giving into what they could be together in every sense.

I loved Hannah for being such an intuitive heroine – being the quieter child always has its perks because you are constantly cast into the role of the observer which helps you understand the nuances of human emotions better and take cues from the subtle and not so subtle shifts in mannerisms, tone of voice, and body language. That is what helps Hannah identify that beneath the beauty that is Fox to every sense imaginable to the heterosexual female, he is a man hurting over the fact that he would never be good enough.

Fox is a man who is a victim of toxic masculinity in a very real sense. From childhood through his most formative years and adulthood, Fox has borne the brunt of the promiscuous nature of his father, Fox’s own good looks, and the sexualization of his childhood by those who should have known better. Fox too had lived up to that reputation he felt that he had to keep up with, but it had left its scars that run deep.

Fox is a man who has been burnt badly, making him believe that for any woman, he is only good for the very short term, and beyond that, even in a professional capacity, he is only deserving of the sloppy seconds. Reverse judgement is a huge theme throughout the story, where Fox has always been continued to be judged by his looks, and that plays a huge role in Fox’s psychology and sense of self-worth.

It takes a special kind of woman, someone like Hannah, to be able to peel back those layers to the man underneath and get to the heart of the man that beats only for her. It takes patience of the kind that not many women might be able to exert around a man like Fox, especially when he does everything in his power to make Hannah believe otherwise. I found Hannah to be amazing in every sense, especially in the way she stands up for Fox, the first person to do that for him.

This is a story that stays with you long after you turn that last page, with Ms. Bailey having done a number on your emotions. If I were to choose a favorite between the two books in the series, it would have to be this one, as the story explores emotions that run far deeper than the average. The series has managed to explore both sides of the coin when it comes to toxicity of the sexes, and has done it extremely well.

Don’t be thinking that this is all about the emotional punch; Ms. Bailey never lets down her fans of singeing sex scenes that she is able to write with such flair, and this one is no exception. It just requires a little patience to geth there and it is well worth the wait!

Absolutely recommend this gem of a read!

Final Verdict: It is not the romance alone that tugs at the heartstrings with this number, it is how Ms. Bailey explores the topic of toxic masculinity with such heart that keeps the pages turning!

Favorite Quotes

Hannah was approximately five feet from Fox when his expression changed, and he read her intention. His creeping insecurity vanished, and he rocketed to inferno status on a dime. Those blue eyes darkened, and that square, bristled jaw flexed. Ready. A man well used to being wanted and knowing what to do about it.

During a particularly long-winded story from Deke, Hannah felt Fox watching her and looked back, the alcohol thrumming along in her veins, sending goose bumps riding in a slow wave up her arms and neck.
Right, it’s the alcohol.
In a daze, she watched as he wet his lower lip, rubbing the moisture together with the top one, leaving his mouth looking fresh and male. His heavy-lidded blue eyes never leaving her.
Seductive blends. Seductive aromas.
Sharon Stone.
Go home, you’re drunk.

“You’re a surprise, Hannah. How could I hate them?” He cleared his throat hard. “Even familiar . . . you’re a constant surprise.”

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | eBooks | Apple Books