Hard Way by Katie Porter (Vegas Top Guns #4)

Available: April 9, 2013 Amazon/B&N

Type: Erotic Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Samhain

My Copy: Sent

Reviewer: Nikki 

“No holds barred. No mercy. No going back “

Warning: Time to put the kidding aside. Although 100% consensual between a husband and wife, this book contains violent sex that, in some scenes, will appear forced. Readers sensitive to rape scenarios should proceed with caution…

Throughout their eight-year marriage, U.S. Air Force Captain Liam Dash Christiansen and his wife, Sunita, stayed strong through long separations. However Sunny s new job as a high-profile legal advisor puts a severe strain on their enduring bond.

Her abrupt announcement that she wants a divorce is like a missile to Dash s gut but her confession that she s met another man is what unleashes his shocking passion. Sunny is surprised and nearly repulsed by her body s reaction to Dash s animalistic attempt at complete possession. That doesn’t stop her from craving more.

With Sunny s whispered approval, their sex life explodes. Not only does Dash s aggression tap into dark fantasies, she s hopeful that now, “at last,” she ll get what she s always wanted from her devil-may-care, don t-give-a-damn husband. Something honest and candid. Something real.

Yet fiery, carnal encounters won t heal two long-broken hearts. Their bodies are finally speaking the same forbidden language, but it will take more than taboo desires to learn each other for the first time and to save a marriage that s only just begun.

.

After reading this book I need to make this clear right off the bat. Do NOT read this book if you can’t handle intense violent sex (consensual) and rape fantasies. Believe me when I say this, step away. Don’t read it knowing these things set you off and then complain about them later. The book comes with a warning for a reason..please take it into account before picking this one up.

Sunny wants a divorce. She’s waited around far to long for Dash to get his mind together and yet after years of marriage he still withholds a part of himself from her. He’s closed off. Distant. Working across the country and only coming home every so often awarded her the distance physically and she’s ready to take the next step in ending her marriage.

Faced with the fact that his wife wants to leave him, Dash quickly realizes he isn’t quite so ready to stop fighting for her. Knowing there is another man waiting in the wings to take his place makes him snap and what follows is an extremely violent sexual encounter that leaves both of them shaking with the realization that they have been hiding their true sexual nature. Knowing he doesn’t have much time to win her back Dash agrees to her deepest darkest fantasies and realizes they are his as well. Domination. Force.

Ok….I liked this one! I think the author(s) did an amazing job with a sexual fantasy that some people find difficult to fathom. Katie Porter is no stranger to pushing the limits (asphyxiation fetish, HELLO) in her past books in this series so I wasn’t surprised to find out this one involved  the controversial rape fantasy. It’s a fantasy I find intriguing and more about the need for dominance between two consensual adults then the actual act of sex. More about knowing that while you can indulge in your fantasy that the other person will never truly hurt you. Complete and utter trust in your partner. It. Was. Hot.

Past all the sex though was a story that the author(s) did justice to. Sunny has to come to terms with the fact that while Dash did hold parts of himself at a distance he couldn’t be totally blamed for the state of their marriage. It takes two people continuously working to keep a marriage going and Sunny had dropped the ball just as much as Dash did. I enjoyed how they came together, picked up the pieces and tried to re-learn themselves to save the love that they had lost.

Dash is about the sexiest man EVER. Gah, every time I think about him I get the shivers. His goofy joking demeanor with friends hides his true dark nature to take what he wants from Sunny, anytime, anywhere. He finds letting loose with her releases more then just his sexual needs but instead it helps him to find the man he truly wants to be. Figuring out that he’s been unhappy with his life for a long time but that Sunny was never part of his problems though he’s been punishing her for them for years. I loved how he was willing to do anything to save his marriage and he goes out of his way to make Sunny see it as well.

Katie Porter is an AMAZING author and has become an auto read for me. I simply adore this series with its conflicted, sexy men willing to take the risks to get what they want. I couldn’t put this one down! Emotionally charged awesomeness!

I give Hard Way by Katie Porter 4.75 stars! 

Own The Wind by Kristen Ashley (Chaos #1)

Available: April 2, 2013 Amazon/B&N (Paperback in June 2013)

Type: Contemporary Romance/Erotic

Publisher: Grand Central

My Copy: Sent

Reviewer: Nikki

Tabitha Allen has a not-so-secret crush on Parker “Shy” Cage. Shy thinks he knows the path Tabby’s on and it isn’t a good one. So he decides to teach her a lesson to lead her to the right path. 

Unfortunately, he was wrong and his actions wound Tabby, breaking her heart. It’s Tabby who then teaches Shy a lesson about casting judgment and Shy Cage learns what it feels like to be invisible. But when tragedy strikes and Tabby’s heart is broken again, Shy does what he can in the background to help. Trying to forget her heartbreak, Tabby finds herself in danger. To keep it secret from her biker family, the Chaos Motorcycle Club, she calls Shy to rescue her. But when she lets him back in, she gets much more than she bargained for.

Kristen Ashley weaves a tale that is impossible to walk away from and Own The Wind, book 1 in her Chaos series (a spin off from her Dream Man series), is absolutely no different. I will admit that I was wondering how she’d start a new series with a character who is essentially a child in her last Dream Man book. Luckily a jump ahead in time and quite a lead up solved all my issues and suddenly Tabby is a woman on the brink of a budding relationship with motorcycle man, Shy.

Tabby has had quite a crush on Shy for years but after a very harsh lesson from him one night they parted ways and she’s done her best to stay out of his way and concentrate on growing up. A tragic event throws them back together years later and as Shy helps Tabby heal they become closer then they have ever been resulting in a searing attraction that is sure to rock the entire club.

I found the story of Shy and Tabby to be starkly realistic and incredibly well wrote. Shy, like all the men attached to the motorcycle club, is insanely alpha and yet he treats Tabby with such a gentle hand it’s hard to reconcile his high handed ways with that other part of him he really only shows to her. I found myself alternating between “OMG I’d KILL him” and “aww, ok I guess that makes sense”.  I mean let’s be real…if a man said to me some of the things these men say to these woman I’d knee him in the crotch and follow it with a pimp slap to the face. In a book though I want my men alpha, mouthy and over the top. Kristen Ashley gives me everything I want. What’s better though is that the females know exactly how to handle these men. Tabby doesn’t back down from Shy and she makes sure she is heard in every instance. Sure, she could be immature and sure, they fought over some stupid shit. But what couples don’t? Adding those things in just gave it another realistic layer that I appreciated in the story. Plus the fighting leads up to some sheet scorching sex that was awesomely explicit and full of “omg where is my mechanical boyfriend?”.

Shy was a complex character once you got past the alpha-ness. He is driven by the loss of his parents when he was a boy and has taken on the roll of protector in everything he has done. He’s fiercely loyal to the club but he’s more loyal to Tabby and her needs which was definitely sigh worthy. He often lays everything on the line where she is concerned and makes no excuses for his feelings or actions. He is what he is and though Tabby stumbles over that often she comes to understand that learning to love a motorcycle club member takes skill and management abilities.

Own The Wind brings back all the characters readers have come to love and nicely sets up future books and couples. The only thing I thought was odd was the lack of an action packed ending I’ve come to expect. There is a slight scuffle, though it’s glossed over but we don’t actually get to experience it first hand. It’s also left open so I expect the problems that Chaos is now facing to follow them into the next book, which will be Hop and Lanie’s, sometime this summer.

I give Own The Wind by Kristen Ashley 4.75 stars!

Sweet Talk by Julie Garwood

Available: Aug 7th 2012 Amazon/B&N

Type: Romantic Suspense

Publisher: Dutton Adult

My Copy: Sent

Attorney and IRS agent Olivia Mackenzie is the kind of tough, wise-cracking, powerful woman fans expect from a Garwood protagonist—but this time she has outdone herself. Olivia is not just any woman, she is every woman; flawed in the familiar ways so many of us are. 

On the trail of an elaborate Ponzi scheme, one that threatens to ruin the lives of naïve and unsuspecting victims, Olivia suddenly finds her own life is in danger after she asks questions of the wrong people. She is accustomed to fighting for the underdog, but being vulnerable herself is a very different story. Smart enough to know when enough is enough, Olivia calls for reinforcements. 

When she meets FBI Agent Grayson Kincaid there is an immediate and obvious attraction, palpable on both sides. Together they make an excellent team to fight corruption but Olivia is also fighting the immediate and intense attraction she feels for Agent Kincaid, and that may be a battle she is bound to lose.

.

Love love love love love! Do I need to really tell you more? I do? *sigh*, ok fine. Ahem…..this is my first Julie Garwood book. Yes, I’m hanging my head in shame because I adored this book from the moment I picked it up. I literally sat for HOURS and finished it the very next day at work. Yes, I even took it to work. There was just something so engrossing about Sweet Talk and I’m not even sure what it is. It’s a step away from the smexy goodness I normally read, focusing more on a great story then drawl of the hero. Not to say Agent Kincaid isn’t hot. He is. In this stoic kind of way that fills a room to capacity when he enters it. If you like Nora Roberts, you’ll like Julie Garwood.

Olivia  has spent her entire life doing two things. Battling cancer and trying to expose her father for the crook that he is. Now that her cancer is in remission she is focusing on looking for the evidence she needs to go after her father. As a IRS agent she can’t just look into his files but she can go digging on the side, which is what she’s been trying to do for years. With only the help of her aunt because her own sister and mother have written her off as delusional, selfish and under handed.

Olivia inadvertently interrupts a FBI sting when she punches a unruly potential employer in the face and she ends up meeting Agent Grayson Kincaid. One of the agents that was working on the operation.  Sparks instantly fly between them but due to Grayson’s personal life, cool instantly. The time jumps a bit at that point and you go ahead a few months to when a attempt on Olivia’s life is made. I liked the jump because it didn’t leave room for a bloated word count. It got straight to the heart of things. I often find myself bored with the story line of some FBI/cop stories but Sweet Talk was having none of that.

There is no clear villain in this one, save for Olivia’s own father. You’re constantly guessing who did what because there are several players in this game…each with their own agenda but all tied together. It’s intricate and very consuming. The ponzi scheme Olivia’s father is running is complex and at times I’m not even sure he believed everything he had done. He has this scary facade that very rarely cracks but when it does, the sure evilness that lurks under the surface is shown. He’d put his own daughter down to save his fortunes. From the lawyer, bodyguard and potential employer to the shadowy connections each has made, corruption is everywhere and everyone has a motive to want Olivia out of the picture.

Grayson’s ability to break through Olivia’s no relationship rule played a huge part in the love story aspect. He’s a strong character with high moral ground. He chips away at her fear of letting someone in and putting them through the anguish cancer can bring upon loved ones. He slowly shows her that even though she never experienced love in her young adult life, that adult love can withstand the scary ups and downs of life. Even without the abundance of sex, I felt their connection as if it were my own. The story Garwood weaves in Sweet Talk is a abundantly perfect combination of romance, action and intrigue.

Since Olivia grew up in a hospital her three roommates while there are still strong influencers in her life. They each have their own side stories and I hope more books are wrote in conjunction with this book. I’d love to read more about them and where life has taken them now that they are in remission and learning to live life fully and follow their individual dreams.

I give Sweet Talk by Julie Garwood 4.75 stars! 

 

Brody by Emma Lang (The Circle Eight #2)

Available: June 26, 2012 Amazon/B&N

Type: Western Romance – Historical

Publisher: Kensington

My Copy: Sent by Author

A year after their family was brutally torn apart, the Graham siblings begin to put their lives back together at their ranch in East Texas. With their parents gone, their bonds will truly be tested…

Olivia Graham has worked hard to take care of her family at the Circle Eight Ranch. But their family circle was broken when their young brother Benjy disappeared. Liv can’t shake the feeling that he must be out there, somewhere.

Brody Armstrong, a handsome but rough-around-the-edges Texas Ranger, has been working on their case for months, and now he has a promising lead.

As Liv follows him across the rugged Texas landscape and into Mexico, she’ll begin to find the answers she needs—as Brody finds a passion he didn’t know he wanted…

.

A Texas Ranger works alone and Brody is no exception. On his own for years has left him a hard man that doesn’t have time to play house with any woman. Working a murder and kidnapping case leads him back to the Circle Eight Ranch and gets him an unlikely ally in Olivia. Wanting to use her for her ability to lure in the human traffickers he suspects have the youngest member of her family, he agrees to have her tag along, briefly. What he doesn’t expect is the depth of long lost emotions she releases in him.

.

Emma Lang has created a monster in me! If you need me I will be voraciously consuming her back list of books because Brody was just really really good! Often times I don’t want to read historical romance. I just can’t get into them, save for a few select books. I often end up labeling them DNF because the time period just doesn’t speak to me. Not once while reading this did I feel bored or annoyed at the stuffiness I often feel in historical books. It may be because it is western and not regency and that I connect more to that time period. Whatever it is, I’m okay with it because Brody was an awesome book.

Brody is the local Texas Ranger, faced with the responsibility to find the man responsible for the murders at the Circle Eight Ranch and the kidnapping of the youngest member of the family, a little boy named Benjy. After witnessing the death of his brothers at the hands of war, Brody is a hard man. He knows nothing else then fighting for what is right and bringing criminals to justice. He relies on no one but himself and doesn’t work with a partner…ever.

When Brody gets some new information regarding the case he goes to the Circle Eight to tell Matthew (now in charge after his parents murder) but finds Olivia instead. Though he has no time to waste on a woman he finds himself drawn to her. Which he masks with indifference and attitude. Not that she makes it hard. Olivia is a smart mouthed and independent woman who isn’t afraid to say exactly what was on her mind. She doubts his ability to find the men who killed her parents and took her brother so she thinks her best bet is to tag along and help. Completely out of place for a historical…but right on spare for a western. I loved her spunk and attitude and complete fearlessness in harrowing situations. She has deadly aim and when against the wall will rise to meet any enemy head on.

Olivia just wants to find her little brother Benjy…at any cost. If that means crossing into the dangerous land of Mexico and looking for human traffickers with the quiet and enigmatic Texas Ranger, well then she will. She doesn’t second guess herself and rarely falls apart. She can play a part to a tee and that makes her invaluable to Brody though he is constantly wanting to ditch her as her mouth keeps getting them into trouble.

Brody and Olivia together are a force to be reckoned with. With every hair raising step closer to those who took her brother, they also become closer to giving into the feeling each stirs in the other. Though not a virgin, Olivia has never experienced the wanton feeling Brody manages to elicit out of her at the slightest touch or briefest glance. The combustible emotions make Brody uneasy because having a wife and family is just something he doesn’t have time for or feels he deserves.

Filled with more action then I anticipated, Brody was a welcome escape from reality. I rooted for these two the entire journey and found myself wanting to go back and read book one since I had not. The story line seems to be continuing on to the next book because not much was resolved in this one. I was a bit sad about that but I hope that means we will get to see these two again and find out how they are doing.

Emma Lang is a talented author and I will definitely be picking up more from her in the future! This family is one you can get behind and I for one can’t wait for book three!

I give Brody by Emma Lang 4.75 stars!