Good Guy (Rookie Rebels #1) by Kate Meader-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway

Good Guy (Rookie Rebels #1) by Kate Meader-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway

GOOD GUY
Rookie Rebels #1
by Kate Meader
Release Date: July 30, 2019
Genre: adult, contemporary, erotic, romance

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / iBooks / Google Play

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 30, 2019

He’s a Special Forces veteran making his pro hockey debut. She’s a dogged sports reporter determined to get a scoop. She’s also his best friend’s widow…

Fans can’t get enough of Levi Hunt, the Special Forces veteran who put his NHL career on hold to serve his country and fight the bad guys. So when his new Chicago Rebels bosses tell him to cooperate with the press on a profile, he’s ready to do his duty. Until he finds out who he has to work with: flame-haired, freckle-splashed, impossibly perky Jordan Cooke.

The woman he should not have kissed the night she buried her husband, Levi’s best friend in the service.

Hockey-stick-up-his-butt-serious Levi Hunt might despise Jordan for reasons she can’t fathom—okay, it’s to do with kissing—but her future in the cutthroat world of sports reporting hangs on delivering the goods on the league’s hottest, grumpiest rookie. So what if he’s not interested in having his life plated up for public consumption. Too bad. Jordan will have to play dirty to get her scoop and even dirtier to get her man. Only in winning the story, she might just lose her heart.

•••••••••

REVIEW: GOOD GUY is the first instalment in Kate Meader’s contemporary, adult ROOKIE REBELS erotic, hockey, romance series-a spin off from the author’s Chicago Rebel series. This is former Special Forces Green Beret and Chicago Rebels newest rookie Levi Hunt, and sports reported Jordan Cooke’s story line. GOOD GUY can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the original series is revealed where necessary. There is a slight cross-over with the author’s HOT IN CHICAGO firefighter series and the appearance of Kinsey Taylor-Almeida as Jordan’s best friend.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Jordan and Levi) GOOD GUY follows the best friend’s wife scenario as former Special Forces Green Beret Levi Hunt becomes the oldest rookie on the professional hockey circuit with the Chicago Rebels. Five years earlier Levi Hunt lost his best friend Josh Cooke to a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, leaving his wife Jordan a widow at twenty-three. Fast forward to present day wherein Levi Hunt has returned to the game that he loves, a game that will bring him face to face with the woman he has loved since the day they first met. Enter reporter and journalist Jordan Cooke. What ensues is the building relationship and romance between Jordan and Levi, and the potential fall-out as words said in anger trigger too many hard feelings between our leading couple.

Levi Hunt knew the moment he saw Jordan Cooke, he had fallen in love but Jordan fell for Levi’s best friend Josh, a man who would lose his life all too soon. Levi would soon discover that Jordan’s latest assignment was Levi himself, an assignment that would both push and pull our couple together and apart. Jordan Cooke knew getting the coveted story about Levi Hunt could make or break her sports reporting career but getting the real story meant going against everything she believed including the potential to destroy the man with whom she was falling in love.

The relationship between Jordan and Levi is one of second chances of a sort. Levi is a bit of a loner; a quiet but powerful hockey play who has been in love with his best friend’s wife for as long as he can remember but keeping his distance meant keeping away from the woman that called to his heart. Jordan knows that to get her story she is going to have to get close to our story line hero but getting close is about to backfire when her fellow reporters sense something else between our leading couple. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including several members of the Chicago Rebels previously introduced in the author’s CHICAGO REBELS hockey series, team manager Dante Moretti; Chicago Rebels owners-Harper and Isabel Chase, Violet Vasquez, and their significant others, as well as the introduction of several members of the sports media; hockey players Theo Kershaw and Ford Callaghan, and Special Forces support team member Elle Butler.

GOOD GUY is a story of family, friendship, heart break and betrayal; a story of loss, love and second chances. The premise is entertaining and captivating; the romance is seductive; the characters are colorful and energetic.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

“Was this night worth your time? Don’t you have a boyfriend who’d like to see you once in a while? Or a life that doesn’t revolve around work?” They stepped into the elevator and he slapped at the lobby level button. Stab. Slap. He was angry and he didn’t know why. He hated not knowing something.
“This is my life, Hunt.” She giggled, the sound going straight to his dick where it proceeded to tease, caress, and kiss the traitor wide awake. “God, playing video games with you guys is gold. And then when your pal showed up proving you’re not such a cold-hearted, friendless Terminator type after all and that you might have a personality underneath that hard-ass demeanor? Icing on the cupcake.”
He opened the door to his building, ushered her out, and tried not to enjoy her bobbing pony-tail.
“So is it true?” she threw out over her shoulder.
“Is what true?”
“The Disney ice cream cake thing?”
“Where are you parked?”
“Around the corner. You don’t have to—”
But he was already eating the ground with every stride like it had offended his honor.
“Levi, what is your problem?”
“Nothing. Just making sure you get in your car and leave.” He was pissed and horny and only now realizing that he had no idea what Jordan’s car looked like.
“Here I am.” She stood by a Honda Civic, two cars back.
Retracing his steps, he tried to get his emotions under control which should not have been a problem. Emotion-wrangling was his bag. Controlling the narrative was his forte. At least, he’d thought so until he met Jordan again.
“I don’t have a boyfriend.” She pushed her key into the lock.
“Say again?”
“You seem to be under the impression that I had someone I could be spending time with tonight instead of enjoying Erik’s weird winking and odes to herring, or Theo’s conspiracy theories as to why Chicagoland has so many mattress stores, or your curmudgeonly ways with hints of Tin Man.” She hummed If I only Had a Heart from The Wizard of Oz.
He passed over the Tin Man reference, probably because he was inexplicably relieved at the implication of her other statement. “Don’t have an opinion on your dating practices. Just something Kershaw mentioned.”
“And you believed him?”
“I didn’t not believe him. Strange thing to make up.” Especially with the graphic detail of naked photos. If she wasn’t seeing someone, then what was all that about?
She opened the door a couple of inches but still stood there. Pertly perking. “You know, the sooner you cooperate the sooner I’ll be out of your hair.”
“I’m doing everything management has ordered.”
“Under sufferance.”
“What you see is all you’re getting.” He was done here. Done with her teasing scent and dick-springing laugh. Done with trying to negotiate a truce between his hands and his cock. Just. Done. “Safe home now.” He turned to walk back, but didn’t get far.
“Coward.”
He pivoted. “What?”
“You’ve never liked me for some stupid, God-knows-what reason and now you can’t be man enough to sit still for a few questions.”
He ignored the last part which was half—okay, all—true, and focused on the first part. “I’ve liked you fine.”
She took a step toward him, then another until she was right in his space. She looked up at him, her expression filled with fury and spirit. Typical, maddening, heart-stoppingly gorgeous Jordan. “Admit it. You can’t stand me. When I kissed you five years ago—”
“We’re not talking about that.”
“When I kissed you five years ago,” she insisted, her voice rising with each word, “it was as if I ripped out a piece of your mind! You didn’t like me. You certainly didn’t think I was right for Josh and then when we had that moment, when we were at our lowest, we were drawn to each other. You hate that of all people, it was me who made you go to this fragile, needful place. It happened and you need to get over it so we can do this interview and you never have to see me again!”

Kate Meader

Originally from Ireland, USA Today bestselling author Kate Meader cut her romance reader teeth on Maeve Binchy and Jilly Cooper novels, with some Harlequins thrown in for variety. Give her tales about brooding mill owners, oversexed equestrians, and men who can rock an apron or a fire hose, and she’s there. Now based in Chicago, she writes sexy contemprary romance with alpha heroes and strong heroines who can match their men quip for quip.

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COVERT VENGEANCE (Vengeance #2) by Kaylea Cross-Review tour

COVERT VENGEANCE (Vengeance #2) by Kaylea Cross-Review Tour

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Add it to your TBR Pile: http://bit.ly/2E2xCIm

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 30, 2019

Revenge came at a heavy price.

Valkyrie hacker Amber Brown is deadly in her own right, but her preferred weapon is a keyboard. So after her teammates left her for dead, she took her revenge the way she was trained to—swiftly and brutally. Except one of her targets might be innocent. To right that wrong, Amber vows to rescue the at-risk Valkyrie no matter the cost, and this time she’s working alone. So when a sexy stranger shows up in the middle of a firefight and announces he’s been sent by her sister, it’s going to take a whole lot more than his word to make her trust him.

Chasing redemption may prove deadly.

Elite gun for hire Jesse Cordova lives on the edge of the law. When a new job offer sets off warning bells, he digs deeper and finds the startling truth. The woman he’s been tasked with capturing is a secret government assassin, and Amber Brown is unlike any target he’s gone after before. But bringing her in opens them up to a whole new level of danger, pitting them against one of the most ruthless assassins in the world. Now that the sexy Valkyrie has stolen his heart, Jesse will risk everything to see their mission through—knowing that the only way this ends is with one of them dying.

••••••••••

REVIEW: COVERT VENGEANCE is the second instalment in Kaylea Cross’ contemporary, adult VENGEANCE romantic suspense series focusing on a group of women once known as the Valkyrie-members of a secret CIA government project. This is thirty-four year old, hacker and Valkyrie Amber Brown, and former Marine Raider now assassin for hire Jesse Cordova’s story line. COVERT VENGEANCE can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous instalment is revealed where necessary but I recommend reading the series in order for backstory and cohesion as there is an ongoing arc throughout. The VENGEANCE series is a spin-off from the author’s HOSTAGE RESCUE TEAM series. You do not have to have read the original series to follow or understand but it is recommended to read DISAVOWED (Hostage Rescue Team #4).

Told from several third person perspectives including Amber and Jesse COVERT VENGEANCE follows Jesse Cordova as he is one of four assassins for hire looking to take down our story line heroine. Amber Brown’s past has finally caught up with her and in this, the take down of a former Valkyrie has placed a target on our heroine’s back. Unaware of what was about to transpire Amber finds herself on the run when more than one assailant is hoping to earn a hefty payday. Enter former Marine Raider and assassin for hire Jesse Cordova, the man with whom Amber will fall in love. On a search and rescue mission of her own, Amber will come face to face with her former roommate and training partner Kiyomi, as well as the woman Amber was hoping to extract. What ensues is the building relationship between Amber and Jesse, and the potential fall-out as the new group of Valkyrie survivors must enact a plan to protect one of their own.

Amber Brown has been betrayed by one or more of her former Valkyrie but recent information has our heroine believing she may have been set up to destroy the women with whom she once worked. Jesse Cordova knew something wasn’t right with the latest assassin request, something that forced our hero to pull back and protect the woman with whom he would fall in love

The relationship between Jesse and Amber begins acrimoniously when Amber suspects Jesse to be one of four assassins but to Amber’s surprise Jesse will do an about face and help our heroine take down the man who placed the target on her back. The slow building romance struggles with Amber’s inability to trust due to years of betrayal at the hands of her handers, as well as her need for independence and striking out on her own, something instilled in the Valkyrie program. The $ex scenes are passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters. We are reintroduced to former SAS veteran Marcus Laidlaw; Valkyrie Megan and her significant other Tyler Durant (Stealing Vengeance #1), as well as consultant and retired SF and NSA agent Alex Rycroft, Trinity, and Miguel and Georgia Bautista (Hostage Rescue Team Series).

COVERT VENGEANCE is a story of betrayal, secrets, and retribution; of family, sisterhood, second chances and love. The premise is intriguing and entertaining; the romance is intimate; the characters are spirited and edgy. COVERT VENGEANCE is a dramatic story of deception, retribution and love.

Click HERE for Sandy’s review of book one STEALING VENGEANCE

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Kaylea Cross writes edge-of-your-seat military romantic suspense. Her work has won many awards and has been nominated for both the Daphne du Maurier and the National Readers’ Choice Awards. A Registered Massage Therapist by trade, Kaylea is also an avid gardener, artist, Civil War buff, Special Ops aficionado, belly dance enthusiast and former nationally-carded softball pitcher. She lives in Vancouver, BC with her husband and family.

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Leave Me (Touch of Death #2) by LP Lovell-Review Tour

Loathe Me / Leave Me (Touch of Death ) by LP Lovell-Review Tour

LEAVE ME
Touch of Death #2
by LP Lovell
Release Date: July 31 2019
Genre: adult, contemporary erotic, romance

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Adelina Ricci was a job, until she became much more. I was tasked to protect her, but I failed. Now she is in the hands of the enemy, and this time, she doesn’t want saving. She’s going to marry him.

We’re bound in a tangled web of loyalty and lies, betrayal and longing. She needs to avenge her fathers death. I just need her.

A princess in a tower. A hero without a cause. A love that may ruin them both.

Leave me or love me?

••••••••••••

REVIEW: LP Lovell hold hard in this one, the second in the series; LEAVE ME continues off with Adelina and her quest for vengeance. Now this one may not be for everyone, it involves abuse, both mentally and physically as well as rape, so be aware of those triggers. Adelina is determined to kill the man that killed her father and is willing to go as far as she must to get it done. She launches a mission to get her vengeance by leaving the dashing Russian Sasha, who was keeping her safe, gives herself up to the man who ruined her life and endures torture of every kind to make sure he pays for his crimes.

I can see that this book is going to drive you a little batty, you think the characters are going to go one way but end up going another. The thing you want most to happen next, well it flops, but it drives you deeper and deeper into the next page. In order to get the full story, I do recommend you read book one, it gives you all the details and goodies and you need for this one. Word to the wise, this book does end in a cliff hanger, so if your like myself, wait until the series is out, because it KILLS ME!

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sarah

____________

LOATHE ME
Touch of Death #1
by LP Lovell
Release Date: May 6, 2019
Genre: adult, contemporary erotic, romance

ebook ONLY 99¢ Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /

I’m a soldier. A killer. The Russian Elite.

She’s a mafia princess. A job. A runaway bride.

My business is death, however, I find myself manipulated into becoming a glorified babysitter to Adelina Ricci. She’s spoiled, naive, reckless, and yet she see’s parts of me I didn’t know existed. Makes me want things I had never even imagined. I will protect her from everything, but I can’t save her from me— that damage is already done.

A lethal knight. A rebellious pawn. A lie that will ruin them both.

Loathe me or love me?

 

Sign up to LP’s newsletter for news of new releases: http://eepurl.com/dnzKQz

Website: www.lplovell.co.uk

Facebook: www.facebook.com/lplovellauthor

Twitter: @Authorlplovell

Lauren Lovell is an indie author from England.

She suffers from a total lack of brain to mouth filter and is the friend you have to explain before you introduce her to anyone, and apologise for afterwards.

Lauren is a self-confessed shameless pervert, who may be suffering from slight peen envy.

LP loves to hear from readers so please get in touch.

 

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RESIST (Wicked Ways #1) by K. Bromberg-Review & Excerpt Tour

RESIST (Wicked Ways #1) by K. Bromberg-Review Tour

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / Chapters Indigo /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 30 2019

Who says you have to play by the rules to get what you want?

Agreeing to meet Ryker Lockhart is my first mistake. Rich, handsome, and more than intriguing, he thinks blackmail will bend me to his will.

But he’s wrong.

I may have done a few things that weren’t exactly legal, but I have my own reasons for that. The last thing I’m going to do is let some high-powered divorce attorney come into my life, have my body, and rule my heart. Not to mention ruin everything that I have carefully built in just a short amount of time.

But as much as I try to resist him, and against my better judgment, there is something about him that has me agreeing to his proposal.

I’m putting everything on the line for him. I just hope I won’t lose everything when this is all over.

••••••••••

REVIEW: RESIST is the first instalment in K. Bromberg’s contemporary, adult WICKED WAYS erotic, romance series focusing on high powered divorce attorney Ryker Lockhart, and business woman Vaughn Sanders. There is a slight-cross over with the author’s DRIVEN series with a cameo appearance by Colton Donavan.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Ryker and Vaughn) RESIST follows the building but acrimonious relationship between high powered divorce attorney Ryker Lockhart, and business woman Vaughn Sanders. Vaughn Sanders is hoping to gain custody of her late sister’s daughter but financial problems find our heroine skirting the law in an attempt to pay down her debt and make enough money to support her eight year old niece Lucy. A business proposition from divorce attorney Ryker Lockhart screams all kinds of problems including Ryker’s claimed ownership of our story line heroine. What ensues is the back and forth, tempestuous relationship between Ryker and Vaughn, and the potential fall –out as Vaughn finds herself caught between head and heart, and the possible destruction of everything she holds dear.

Ryker Lockhart doesn’t do relationships, and in this he struggles with his attraction to a woman with questionable ethics, and a business that caters to the rich and famous. Vaughn Sanders is desperate to reunite with her sister’s daughter but bureaucratic red tape, and uneasy acquaintances threaten any future of which Vaughn is hoping to succeed.

The relationship between Vaughn and Ryker begins as business arrangement wherein the power struggle between our leading couple constantly comes to a head. As Ryker continues to pursue Vaughn, Vaughn’s defences are slowly collapsing leaving her vulnerable to attack from the outside. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and intense.

RESIST is a story of family, betrayal, secrets and lies; a story of power and control; vengeance and pain. The premise is heart breaking and intense; the characters are strong but broken, energetic, stubborn and charismatic; the romance is seductive and captivating. RESIST is a dramatic, animated and decadent story of forbidden love between two people whose lives will collide over and over, again. RESIST ends on a cliffhanger-you have been warned.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

 

The lobby is elegant, with its large chandeliers, but they’re kept dim so as to allow each of its patrons some privacy. Almost as if they know I’m trying to hide some from the rest of the room for a bit. Soft classical music flows from the overhead speakers as people mill about in evening wear. There are hugs given among people, and laughs echo off the walls and marble floors.I stand in the corner, surveying the crowd as nerves I don’t want to admit to run a riotous act within, and my mind tries to grapple for the nth time with what I’m about to do.

You’re keeping your reputation intact.

That’s how I have to look at this. That’s how I have to justify this.

Just like that, my breath catches when Ryker Lockhart waltzes into the lobby. I’m rarely affected by a man—sure, I can say one is handsome or sexy or gorgeous, but rarely does a man really catch my eye.

But there he is . . . standing in the middle of the lobby, surveying everyone around him, making my pulse race.

This is a bad idea.

He’s tall, his shoulders are broad, and there’s an air about him that screams authority while a magnetism about him makes people look his way.

And he hasn’t even spoken a word to anyone yet.

Such a bad idea.

He’s in a well-tailored tuxedo, everything black save for the crisp white dress shirt beneath it. His hair is styled, and an expensive watch glints at his wrist when he holds it up to look at the time.

Of course, that’s my cue that I’m not there exactly on time, but I give him a few more seconds to make him wait.

It’s all about power, even when I’m in a different pair of shoes.

With a deep breath, I walk toward him, shoulders square, head high, and remind myself that I’m not Vee right now. I can’t act like we’re on an equal playing field.

He has hired me. I am his.

 


 

Guest Post: A Pretty Woman With Power by K. Bromberg

Ryker Lockhart: Powerful. Unrelenting. Stubborn.

Vaughn Sanders: Defiant. Strong. Unyielding.

With those two sets of characteristics, Ryker and Vaughn are definitely oil and water one moment and then an ember met with gasoline the next. That dynamic is what made writing them and their story so much fun in my latest book, Resist. Their tale was a delicate dance though because the push and pull of the chase better be worth the reward for readers.

I often enjoy taking characters and painting them with broad strokes (i.e. Vaughn’s profession) so that readers initially question them. Then over the next 100,000 words, I love to smash their preconceived notions so that they root for the heroine. So that they are right beside her cheering her on and falling in love with the hero just like she is.

It’s not often an easy task to write a heroine, because women are often harsher on female characters than they are males. Heroes can be over the top alphas who are dominant and say all the wrong things, but once they show vulnerability, we somehow forgive them. Heroines on the other hand, are judged more fiercely. She’s too weak. She’s too strong. She’s too wishy- washy. She’s being a b*tch for pushing him away. Making a reader like a strong-willed female character isn’t always an easy task. So when you put two characters together who embody all of these things, it’s a delicate balance to have enough push and pull. Enough sexual tension. Enough redeemable qualities so you can love them despite their faults.

This challenge is one of the reasons I loved writing Resist (and its sequel Reveal). I don’t quite remember where the storyline came from, but I recall the furious scribbling on paper as Ryker and Vaughn’s story came to life in my imagination. Take a strong-willed woman with a risqué job and give her a real reason to need that job. Take a domineering divorce attorney who deals with love gone wrong day-in and day-out, and force him to see that there can be more than just sex between a man and a woman. That love is, in fact, possible.

Challenge accepted.

Is Resist a subtle nod to the Pretty Woman trope? I never really thought of it that way, but I can see the similarities being drawn. Vaughn (my character) and Vivian (movie character) have names that both start with the letter V. They both wear a red dress in a scene. The both work in fields that deal with selling sex for profit . . . but that’s where the comparisons stop.

Vaughn Sanders is a force to be reckoned with. Sure, she’s a madam, but once you get beneath the moniker, readers find a strong-willed woman taking measures into her own hands for the benefit of someone else. Readers will find a woman with a strong backbone and a take no prisoners attitude. A woman they can’t wait to see succeed. Sure, we throw in our hero–Ryker, a senator you know is dirty somehow, an adorable niece, and whole cast of other characters and situations and we’re left trying to figure out how it’s all going to play out . . . but the one thing we know for sure, is that we want Ryker and Vaughn to end up together.

Because hopefully when you finish Resist, like Ryker and Vaughn, you start to believe true love does in fact exist.

 

New York Times Bestselling author K. Bromberg writes contemporary novels that contain a mixture of sweet, emotional, a whole lot of sexy, and a little bit of real. She likes to write strong heroines, and damaged heroes who we love to hate and hate to love.

A mom of three, she plots her novels in between school runs and soccer practices, more often than not with her laptop in tow.

Since publishing her first book in 2013, K. has sold over one million copies of her books and has landed on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestsellers lists over twenty-five times.

In April, she’ll release The Player, the first in a two-book sports romance series (The Catch, book 2, will be released late June), with many more already outlined and ready to be written.

She loves to hear from her readers so make sure you check her out on social media or sign up for her newsletter to stay up to date on all her latest releases and sales HERE

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon Author | Driven Group

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Dirty Rich Secrets Part 1 by Lisa Renee Jones-Review & Excerpt tour

DIRTY RICH SECRETS Part 1 (Dirty Rich #11) by LIsa Renee Jones-Review & Excerpt tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release date July 30, 2019

He was passion and the reason I breathed. I loved him, trusted him when life taught me to trust no one. He was nothing I thought he was. He wasn’t even the man he said he was. He was dangerous. Everyone told me to hide, to run, but now he’s back. He came for me and I’m not running at all. Because he’s still the man that gave me a reason to breathe and if that’s dangerous, that’s a risk I will have to take.

Ashley’s story – you met her in Dirty Rich Cinderella Story, and now she’s ready to tell her story. You do not need to read any book prior to this one.

••••••••••••

REVIEW: DIRTY RICH SECRETS Part 1 is the first instalment in Lisa Renee Jones’ contemporary, adult Dirty Rich Secrets erotic, romantic suspense, novella trilogy focusing on paralegal Ashley aka Sandy, and former CIA operative Noah aka Aaron. DIRTY RICH SECRETS Part 1 can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Ashley and Noah) using present day and memories from the past, DIRTY RICH SECRETS Part 1 reveals some of the backstory and history between paralegal Ashley aka Sandy, and former CIA operative Noah aka Aaron. Six months earlier Ashley discovered that the man with whom she had fallen in love was a traitor to the country. Currently in the witness protective program, Ashley would come face to face with the man she knew only as Noah, a man who reveals that Ashley’s life has once again been compromised. What ensues is the rekindling relationship between Ashley and Noah, as our couple find themselves on the run, one step ahead of the people trying to take them down.

The relationship between Ashley and Noah is one of second chances; a rekindling romance in which Ashley struggles with her attraction to a man she knows nothing about, a romance predicated on a lie using our heroine as a cover for an undercover op. The $ex scenes are intimate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

DIRTY RICH SECRETS Part 1 is an intriguing and quick read; a story of betrayal, secrets and lies; of revelations and explanations; of second chances and falling in love. Reading more like a serialized story line, DIRTY RICH SECRETS Part 1 ends on a cliff hanger-you have been warned.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Dirty Rich One Night Stand
Dirty Rich Cinderella
Dirty Rich Obsession
Dirty Rich Betrayal
Dirty Rich Betrayal
Dirty Rich Cinderella Ever After
Dirty rich Obsession: All Mine
The Bastard
The Princess
The Empire

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

NOTE: The excerpt is intended for mature readers due to strong language and content

All the warnings about him play in my head. He’s dangerous. He’s a killer. He’ll wipe out anything and anyone in his path. “What are you going to do to me now that you’re here?”

“This,” he says, and before I realize his intention, his mouth closes down on mine, a deep slide of his tongue that I feel from my head to my toes, and I try to resist. I do, but he tastes like the only man I’ve ever loved. He feels like the only man I’ve ever loved. He smells like the man I thought I’d marry. He’s the only safe place I’ve known my entire life. For just a moment, or two, or ten, I need him to be that man. I sink into the kiss, and I kiss him with all that I am and will ever be, and it’s such a passionate kiss, such a perfect kiss, the kind that fills up every empty place I’ve ever known and overflows with this man.

“Do you feel us now?” he asks, tearing his mouth from mine.

“Of course, I do,” I whisper. “Because you made me love you. I can’t just turn that off. I want this, and us, to be real, but it’s not.”

“We are what’s real. I’m going to make you feel that.” And then he’s kissing me again, and I know I’m a crazy person, but I don’t fight him. If he’s going to kill me, he’s going to kill me. There’s no fighting him, but fear isn’t what I feel. I’ve been so alone without him. And I’m still so in love with him. If I’m going to die, at least I want to live in the fantasy of this man loving me one more time. Just that thought has me pressing my hands under his shirt to feel his hot, hard muscle beneath my palms.

He pulls his shirt over his head, and then he’s pulling jacket and shirt off before our mouths collide again, and he’s taking us down on the mattress. We’re side by side, facing each other, and he catches my leg with his. “I missed the hell out of you, woman,” he says, his voice low, gravelly, guttural. Like he means it. I feel him and us in that moment. It feels real, but it always did. We were the most real thing I have known in my life, and that’s terrifying. He’s terrifying, but as his mouth closes down on mine, the possessive, hungry taste of him touching my tongue, I remind myself I’ve decided to live the fantasy one last time.

I need him.

I want him.

I hate him.

I love him.

He presses me to my back and never stops kissing me. His hand pushes down my bra, his fingers teasing one of my nipples. I moan, and there is a vibrating sound from somewhere. “Fuck,” he murmurs. “That’s our warning, baby.”

“Warning? What does that mean?”

“I’ll make this all up to you, Ashley. I promise. I promise, baby. I will make it up to you, but right now, I need to protect you.”

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Lisa Renee JonesNew York Times and USA Today bestselling author Lisa Renee Jones is the author of the highly acclaimed INSIDE OUT series.

In addition to the success of Lisa’s INSIDE OUT series, she has published many successful titles. The TALL, DARK AND DEADLY series and THE SECRET LIFE OF AMY BENSEN series, both spent several months on a combination of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling lists. Lisa is also the author of the bestselling the bestselling DIRTY MONEY and WHITE LIES series. And will be publishing the first book in her Lilah Love suspense series with Amazon Publishing in March 2018.

Prior to publishing Lisa owned multi-state staffing agency that was recognized many times by The Austin Business Journal and also praised by the Dallas Women’s Magazine. In 1998 Lisa was listed as the #7 growing women owned business in Entrepreneur Magazine.

Lisa loves to hear from her readers. You can reach her at www.lisareneejones.com and she is active on Twitter and Facebook daily.

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ALL IT TAKES (Romancing Manhattan #2) by Kristen Proby-a review

ALL IT TAKES (Romancing Manhattan #2) by Kristen Proby-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 30 , 2019

Quinn Cavanaugh doesn’t do anything halfway. He drives fast, works hard, and plays even harder. And the word “commitment” doesn’t exist in his dictionary. He has no plans of settling down with one woman for he needs to be free to move on to the next big thing—whatever or whoever that may be. Each party knows the score going into it, and it’s all been working out fine. That is, until a sexy new colleague enters the scene.

Sienna Hendricks doesn’t give much thought to Quinn and the revolving door leading to his bedroom. She’s way too picky about who she shares her time or her body with and screwing around with a colleague isn’t part of her plan either. Quinn doesn’t intimidate her. And unlike most other members of her sex, she doesn’t melt into a puddle at his feet whenever he’s near. Most importantly, she has no issues telling him no.

But for a man who has the world at his feet, Quinn isn’t accustomed to being rejected. And he’s not about to let that change—no matter how persistent Sienna is. To his surprise, Sienna is everything he thought he’d never find. Pursuing her, and convincing her he’s changed, is going to be the biggest challenge of his life. One he’s completely up for…

•••••••••••

REVIEW: ALL IT TAKES is the second instalment in Kristen Proby’s contemporary, adult ROMANCING MANHATTAN erotic, romance series focusing on threes brothers and attorneys: Finn, Carter and Quinn Cavanaugh. This is attorney Quinn Cavanagh, and attorney Sienna Hendricks’ story line. ALL IT TAKES can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Quinn and Sienna) ALL IT TAKES follows the building relationship between opposing attorneys Quinn Cavanagh, and Sienna Hendricks. Sienna Hendricks’ grandfather recently died bequeathing an expensive piece of property, designated as park land, to the Bronx but there is an immediate objection when attorney Quinn Cavanaugh claims to have documentation that the land in question does not belong to the Hendricks’ family. A court order forces our couple to work toward a common goal, a goal to research and uncover the truth. What ensues is the building relationship and romance between Quinn and Sienna, and the potential fall-out when secrets and lies converge to destroy our heroine’s heart.

Sienna Hendricks knows working with Quinn Cavanaugh on her grandfather’s case may be all kinds of wrong but when a judge forces our couple to work together, the sparks begin to fly, and the heart falls in love. Quinn Cavanaugh isn’t opposed to working with our story line heroine but convincing Sienna they should work together behind the scenes is a potential conflict of interest when Quinn is presented with information that could destroy the woman with whom he is falling in love.

The relationship between Quinn and Sienna is one of immediate attraction but Sienna struggles working with a man who is determined to take away her grandfather’s legacy. Quinn is determined to make Sienna his own but secrets revealed will pull Sienna out of his life. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including Quinn’s brothers: Finn and London (All the Way #1), Carter Cavanagh and his daughter Gabby, and their mother Margaret; as well as the introduction of Sienna’s sister Lou; their parents, uncle Patrick; and real estate developer Bruce House.

ALL IT TAKES is a story of family, secrets, betrayal and lies. The premise is engaging and captivating; the romance is seductive; the characters are sassy and sexy. ALL IT TAKES is a wonderful addition to Kristen Proby’s ROMANCING MANHATTEN series.

Click HERE for Sandy’s review of books one ALL THE WAY.

Copy supplied by Edelweiss

Reviewed by Sandy

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New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Kristen Proby is the author of the bestselling With Me In Seattle and Love Under the Big Sky series. She has a passion for a good love story and strong, humorous characters with a strong sense of loyalty and family. Her men are the alpha type; fiercely protective and a bit bossy, and her ladies are fun, strong, and not afraid to stand up for themselves. Kristen lives in Montana with her husband and their four pets, where she enjoys coffee, chocolate and sunshine. And naps.

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