Monthly Archives: March 2023

Cruel Kiss / Cruel King (Cruel Series) by KA Linde -review tour

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Cruel Kiss / Cruel King (Cruel Series) by KA Linde -review tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 28, 2023

The most eligible bachelor in New York City just asked me to be his fake fiancé.

Gavin King is six and a half feet of delectable billionaire with a devil’s smile that says he knows exactly what he’s going to do to me later. Because he has.

Three years ago, I caught him in the shower and promptly fell into his bed. But neither of us were relationship material. Not to mention I’d just broken up with his best friend.

Now, I’m back in the city and he has a plan:

Go to his cousin’s wedding.
Convince his family that he’s not an eternal bachelor.
Post a huge elaborate break up later.

With those big puppy dog eyes begging me to agree, claiming I’m the only one who can pull it off, I say yes. What could go wrong? Other than pulling it off so successfully that the line between real and fake blurs.

When my family flips the whole script, I can’t see a way out. And I’m starting to wonder if I even want one.

•••••••

REVIEW: CRUEL KING is the seventh instalment in KA Linde’s contemporary, adult CRUEL erotic, romance series focusing on a tight knit group of connected, powerful and well-to-do friends in the Upper East Side of New York City.. This is billionaire businessman Gavin King, and plastic surgeon Whitley Bowen. CRUEL KING can be read as a stand alone but I recommend reading the novella /short story CRUEL KISS (review below) in which Gavin and Whitley first get together.

SOME BACKGROUND: Three years earlier, Whitley Bowen had just broken up with her boyfriend Robert minutes before they set out on their Puerto Rican vacation. Whitley wasn’t feeling their relationship, and when Robert backed out of the group vacation, our heroine took a stand announcing she was going alone. Hoping fro a vacation fling, Whitley never expected to find herself with Robert’s best friend Gavin King, the man who has lusted after Whitley from afar. Gavin King wanted something more from Whitley Bowen, but Whitley ran without looking back.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Gavin and Whitley) CRUEL KING fast forwards the series approximately three years. Dr. Whitley Bowen has accepted a position in New York bringing her back to the friends she left behind including the man who had stolen her heart but with the approach of wedding season, Whitley finds herself the pretend girlfriend and fiance of Gavin King, the man she left behind without looking back. Gavin King never forgot about the woman that ran after their weekend in Puerto Rico but needing a plus one for a family wedding pushed Gavin to claim Whitley as his heart and his future. Everything begins to spiral out of control when both families begin preparations for our couple’s eventual nuptials, preparations fast forwarded with the announcement of an ill family member. What ensues is the fake engagement and building relationship between Gavin and Whitley, and the potential fall-out when the families discover everything began as a ruse.

The relationship between Gavin and Whitley begins as a vacation fling that ends with Whitley walking away.Three years will pass before Whitley arrives back in New York, surprising everyone including the man she left behind. Gavin has never forgotten about the woman who stole his heart but Whitley struggles with what happened and why. The $ex scenes are passionate and seductive without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

All of the previous story line couples return as secondary and supporting characters:Camden and Katherine, Anna and Court, Larkin and Sam, and Whitley’s ex Robert and his new girlfriend Harmony. We are introduced to both Gavin’s parents Julianne and Edmond King, and Whitley’s parents Cynthia and Walter Bowen, as well as Whitley’s brother Wyatt, and the return of Penn and Natalie. There is some family drama with Gavin’s cousin Margaret, and Micah and Merritt Locke.

CRUEL KING is a story of secrets and lies, passion and understanding, forgiveness and love. The premise is entertaining and satisfying; the romance is provocative and intense; the characters are numerous and charismatic.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
One Cruel Night
Cruel Money
Cruel Fortune
Cruel Legacy
Cruel Truth aka The Lying Season
Cruel Desire aka The Hating Season
Cruel Marriage

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

_______

CRUEL KISS
(Cruel World 6.5)
by KA Linde
Genre: adult, contemporary, erotic, romance

FREE ebook Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Google Play /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 7, 2023

Gavin King is not boyfriend material.

And neither am I.

That’s how our friendship works. We flirt and tease and joke, but at the end of the day, playing wingman is preferable to risking my heart.

Until I break up with my boyfriend the day that I leave for a two-week Caribbean vacation. And Gavin and I are the only single people on the island.

But remember that boyfriend I dumped?

Yeah, it’s his best friend.

The last thing I want to do is come between friends. And I swore the green eyes, wicked dimple, and chiseled body weren’t enough to convince me. But then I caught him in the shower…and he said he was thinking about me.

Now, I can’t stop picturing what I saw.

Maybe my ex doesn’t ever have to know.

••••

REVIEW: CRUEL KISS is the contemporary adult erotic prequel to KA Linde’s instalment seven CRUEL KING focusing on Gavin King and Whitley Bowen. Some of the events of CRUEL KISS cross over with, and run parallel to some of the events of Cruel Marriage (6)

Told from dual first person perspectives (Gavin and Whitley) CRUEL KISS takes place three years prior to the events of CRUEL KING. Whitley Bowen had just broken up with her boyfriend Robert minutes before set out on their Puerto Rican vacation. Whitley wasn’t feeling their relationship, and when Robert backed out of the group vacation, Whitley took a stand announcing she was going alone. Hoping fro a vacation fling, Whitley never expected to find herself with Robert’s best friend Gavin King, the man who has lusted after Whitley from afar. As Whitley continues to struggle with her attraction to Gavin King, Gavin is hoping to continue their fling upon their return home.

The relationship between Gavin and Whitley is a friends to lovers in the wake of Whitley breaking up with boyfriend Robert. Whitley doesn’t want a rebound relationship but Gavin’s heart is hoping for more. the $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

All of the previous story line couples return as secondary and supporting characters:Camden and Katherine, Anna and Court, Larkin and Sam, and Whitley’s ex Robert.

CRUEL KISS is a fast paced, quick read that sets the tone and back story for CRUEL KING. the premise is entertaining and captivating; the characters are familiar and charismatic.

Own a copy

Reviewed by Sandy

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K.A. Linde is the USA Today bestselling author of the Avoiding Series, Wrights, and more than thirty other novels. She has a Masters degree in political science from the University of Georgia, was the head campaign worker for the 2012 presidential campaign at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and served as the head coach of the Duke University dance team. She loves reading fantasy novels, binge-watching Supernatural, traveling, and dancing in her spare time.

She currently lives in Lubbock, Texas, with her husband and two super-adorable puppies.

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VIOLENT ASCENSION (Made Men 1) by Giorgia Blake-review tour

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VIOLENT ASCENSION (Made Men 1) by Giorgia Blake-review  & excerpt tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 14, 2023

I’m a Rising Star. A boss. A Real One.
Yet I’m here. Taken and bound inside the home of Alessandro Parisi.
A dangerous man who holds my life and secrets close to his chest.
He has all the answers but refuses to answer any of my questions.
All he’s told me is that I’m his and the key to his family’s ascension.
He saved me from his sadistic cousin, but I traded one monster for another.
This monster orders me to cooperate, bend to his touch, and obey.
Too bad obedience isn’t in my nature; rebellion is my birthright.
I probably won’t make it out of this blood war alive.
The likelihood of my heart surviving Alessandro is even less…

•••••••

REVIEW: VIOLENT ASCENSION is the first instalment in Giorgia Blake’s contemporary, adult MADE MEN dark, erotic, Mafia romance series. This is thirty-seven year old, Romano Crime Family Consigliere Alessandro Parisi, and twenty-four year old, classical pianist Sienna Augustin’s story line.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Alessandro and Sienna) VIOLENT ASCENSION follows in the wake of the discovery of the existence of an heir to the Ricci Crime Family. Alessandro Parisi and Don Thomasso Romano know Thomasso’s son Leo is a sadistic sociopath, and has set his sights on claiming the heir to the Ricci Crime Family. Years earlier, the Ricci family destroyed Alessandro, and in the wake, our hero has vowed his revenge. With the emergence of an heir, Alessandro is first to lay claim, pulling Sienna Augustin in a world she knows nothing about but Alessandro’s ulterior motive is to protect our story line heroine, while his cousin takes aim at controlling them all. What ensues is the building but tempestuous relationship between Alessandro and Sienna, and the potential fall-out as secrets and lies of omission force Sienna to walk away, into a nightmare she was not prepared.

The relationship between Sienna and Alessandro begins as forced proximity, an arranged marriage of convenience in the wake of threats against the Romano Crime Family. Alessandro and Thomasso has suspected someone is conspiring to take control at the top but never suspected the betrayal would come from within. Protecting Sienna means inviting the ire of the Ricci Crime Family but Sienna wants nothing to do with a world where arguments and fights are settled with guns and knives. As Alessandro does battle with his reluctant wife, Sienna must come to terms with a lifestyle that is about to take control. The $ex scenes are provocative and intense.

The secondary and supporting characters are colorful and powerful, energetic and mad. We are introduced to Alessandro’s uncle Don Thomasso Romano, and his cousins Leo and Luna; Don Matteo Ricci; Capo Enzo Bianchi, Capo Mario Bianchi, and housekeeper Maria. The requisite evil has many faces.

VIOLENT ASCENSION is a familiar story of power and control, betrayal and vengeance, madness and mayhem, acceptance and love. The fast paced and dramatic premise is comparable to many Mafia-style story lines I have read in the past yet is also entertaining and captivating. The characters are aggressive and animated; the romance is dynamic and spirited. VIOLENT ASCENSION ends on a HFN-Happy For Now-many of the conflict issues have yet to be resolved.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Copyright 2023 Giorgia Blake

I feel her presence the moment Isabella is nearby. That’s the way it’s become between us the past few weeks. In Jane Eyre There’s a moment where Mr. Rochester tells Jane that he feels the presence of an invisible string connecting the two beneath his left rib. He claims with fervor that if that tether ever snapped, he’d bleed inwardly while she would forget he ever existed. Rochester was old, hardened by the world, and prone to outbursts of anger; while Jane was young, innocent, and talented. The world before her, his criminal past behind him; if he didn’t protect the frailty of that string with his life, then he would lose her forever.

When I first read it, I thought it was sentimental dribble. I saw it as a passage of words to muddle through in order to get to the end of the book. At this moment, I have a different view of that passage. Charlotte Bronte herself must have felt that snap or she was an emotional savant. I feel the snap of the string that kept Isabella in my universe the moment I hear her soft steps turn the corner. She’s holding my mother’s pistol and it seems fitting. I’d want her to have it.

My silly, brave and disobedient girl.

The betrayal in her eyes lets me know that she heard what the bastard just said and she’s more than pissed. She’s hurt. I lied to her, now she’ll be more determined than ever to escape. aToo bad I’ll never let her go. I need her too much. My need has nothing to do with the Romano Ascension but everything to do with the warmth of her sun. I won’t live in the cold without it.

“Father?” Her eyes stay focused on me, and I realize she’s asking me if what she heard is true. Even now, she’s praying I’m not as monstrous as I appear to be. But I am.

I’m dismissed before I can even respond.. Her attention turns to Matteo as she closes in on the truth.,

“You’re Matteo Ricci?” Her voice is strong and sure. Her chin held high, she faces the man that created and abandoned her.

Matteo eyes her carefully. He assesses her with a detached interest. I wonder if she feels it. I pray to God her anger at me does not distort her discernment. That’s a skill I’ve admired her for since we met. She read me like a book within moments of meeting me.

“I am. Come closer child. I want to have a good look at you.”

“Stay right where you are.” I bark. “Don’t move.”

Matteo scowls. “Is this how you’ve been treating my daughter? Like some dog you can call. She’s a Ricci and she should be treated like a queen, something you promised you would do.”

His feigned care is starting to really get under my skin. He’s up to something, and I’m not letting Isabella anywhere near him until I know exactly what it is. Matteo is a dangerous and unpredictable man. It was one thing for him to want her back because she’s his. That’s the mafia way. I expect that from a man like him. It’s something else entirely if he attaches value to her. Assets can be traded or sacrificed like pawns on a chessboard.

I’m a contemporary romance author dedicated to the dangerously delicious world of Mafia Romance. Every story will dare you to believe in the power of love, even when there doesn’t seem to be one sane reason to do so!

My stories feature sexy alphas and smart heroines finding love in the most breath stealing of circumstances. If someone can’t die at any moment–it’s not a Giorgia Blake Romance!

Every plot is full of heat, suspense, and steamy passion that would make the Karma Sutra blush.

So come join me on this wild ride…you won’t regret it!

Follow: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads | BookBub | Newsletter | Amazon

 

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The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore – a Review

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The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore – a Review

 

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Description:
Sloane Parker lives a small, contained life as a librarian in her small, contained town. She never thinks of herself as lonely…but still she looks forward to that time every day when old curmudgeon Arthur McLachlan comes to browse the shelves and cheerfully insult her. Their sparring is such a highlight of Sloane’s day that when Arthur doesn’t show up one morning, she’s instantly concerned. And then another day passes, and another.

Anxious, Sloane tracks the old man down only to discover him all but bedridden…and desperately struggling to hide how happy he is to see her. Wanting to bring more cheer into Arthur’s gloomy life, Sloane creates an impromptu book club. Slowly, the lonely misfits of their sleepy town begin to find each other, and in their book club, find the joy of unlikely friendship. Because as it turns out, everyone has a special book in their heart—and a reason to get lost (and eventually found) within the pages.

 

 

Review:

The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore is a wonderful and emotional standalone novel. The storyline revolves around 5 main characters, who will eventually form a book club.  We meet Sloane Parker, our heroine, who loves her job as a librarian, and is engaged to a chiropractor doctor.  Sloane always is outgoing when meeting people in the library, and then she meets Arthur McLachlan, who is mean grumpy old man, constantly hurling insults to anyone who looks his way.  In a short time, Arthur makes sure to come to the library when he knows Sloane is there, happily insulting her, but Sloane enjoys giving it back to Arthur.

One day, when Arthur doesn’t show up, Sloane becomes concerned when a few days pass with no Arthur. She decides to track him down, and learns he was bedridden, having checked himself out of the hospital. Though he was grumpy, Arthur was happy to see Sloane.  When she loses her job, because of her visitation, Sloane makes it her business to visit Arthur every day, including at times staying over his house to help him.

Sloane meets Maisey, a clairvoyant and Arthur’s next-door neighbor. The two of them become friends, and together they make it their business to watch over Arthur.  When Maisey notices a man parked by Arthur’s house for a few days, she confronts him, and learns that he is Arthur’s grandson, Greg.  Of course, the grumpy Arthur treats his grandson as bad as the others.  Soon Mateo ( Sloan’s coworker from the library, who is also a trained nurse) will join them, as he becomes part of the newly set up book club. 

What follows is we learn more about each of the group, their lives, their secrets, their personality, and even Arthur slowly opens up. Especially when Nigel, a former enemy of Arthur, joins the book club. The characters were great, with so much fun humorous banter between them; you couldn’t help but care about each of them.  All 5 were an unlikely group of friends, who were always there to support each other, with each having their own favorite books.

The Lonely Hearts Book Club was so very well written by Lucy Gilmore.  This was a joyous story of friendship, that was heartwarming, emotional, fun, humorous, with each person dealing with love as well as their own grievances.  The Lonely Hearts Book Club was a fantastic read.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

 

 

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EDGE OF TRUST (Arrow’s Edge MC 6) by Freya Barker-review tour

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EDGE OF TRUST (Arrow’s Edge MC 6) by Freya Barker-review tour

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

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 27, 2023

I am a laid-back wise guy.
A veteran, a friend, a marksman, and a loner.

My name is Honon.
I may be hesitant to pull the trigger, but am not afraid to fire with the right target in my sights.

I am a focused free spirit.
A black sheep, a go-getter, a scrapper, and an artist.

My name is Emme.
I’m single-minded enough to reach my goals, but still moderately flexible when life throws a curveball.

We make a reluctant couple—our hesitation evident—but when innocent lives are endangered, and hard-fought trust is challenged, we discover who we can count on.
Each other.

•••••••

REVIEW: EDGE OF TRUST is the sixth instalment in Freya Barker’s contemporary, adult ARROW’S EDGE MC erotic, MC, romance series focusing on the members of the Arrow’s Edge MC in Durango Colorado. This is Hank ‘Hanon’ Wick, and forty year old, bartender/metalworker Emme Lightfoot’s story line. EDGE OF TRUST can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous instalments is revealed where necessary. The Arrow’s Edge MC is a spin off from the author’s ON CALL series.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Emme and Hanon) EDGE OF TRUST follows in the wake of the discovery of a baby behind the Backyard Edge, the Arrow’s Edge MC owned club and bar. A note left for Emme Lightfoot reveals a once-friendly connection but another child is missing, and the mother is found beaten and dead. An attraction between Emme and Hanon finds our couple working together, along with several members of the Arrows Edge MC to raise a child whose mother is no longer around but a series of attacks against our story line heroine brings the past up close and personal, attacks that find Hanon claiming himself to be security and guardian of Emme and her foundling family. As the clues begin to point to previous problem, Emme and Hanon begin to search for the truth with the help of a nine year old boy who has seen too much in his young life. What ensues is the building relationship between Emme and Hanon, and the potential fall-out when a dead woman’s secrets reveal a dark and dangerous past.

The relationship between Emme and Hanon begins as acquaintances. Emme works at the club owned bar, and Hanon has secretly lusted after our story line heroine. Emme is a strong willed, independent woman who struggled to trust, and Hanon is desperate to protect and claim Emme as his own. 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 colorful and familiar secondary and supporting characters: Trunk (Edge of Reason), Lisa and Brick (Edge of Tomorrow) MC president Ouray and his wife FBI Agent Luna, Yuma and LIssie (Edge of Darkness), Brick and Lisa (Edge of Tomorrow) Tse and Sophia (Edge of Fear) Mel and Paco (Edge of Reality) numerous club members MC members Wapi, Kaga and Leah, and law enforcement Chief Benedetti, FBI Damian Gomez, Consultant Keith Blackfoot and Officer Benjamin Conley. We are introduced to dancers, Mandy and Cher and , as well as nine year old Malco. The requisite evil has many faces.

EDGE OF TRUST is a story of power and control, betrayal and vengeance, secrets and lies, acceptance and love. The fast paced premise is character driven, intriguing and captivating; the romance is seductive; the characters are energetic, determined and strong.

Reading Order and Previous reviews

Edge of Reason
Edge of Darkness
Edge of Tomorrow
Edge of Fear
Edge of Reality

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

USA Today bestselling author Freya Barker loves writing about ordinary people with extraordinary stories.

Driven to make her books about ‘real’ people; she creates characters who are perhaps less than perfect, each struggling to find their own slice of happy, but just as deserving of romance, thrills and chills in their lives.

Recipient of the ReadFREE.ly 2019 Best Book We’ve Read All Year Award for “Covering Ollie, the 2015 RomCon “Reader’s Choice” Award for Best First Book, “Slim To None”, and Finalist for the 2017 Kindle Book Award with “From Dust”, Freya continues to add to her rapidly growing collection of published novels as she spins story after story with an endless supply of bruised and dented characters, vying for attention!

Facebook: http://bit.ly/FreyaFacebook
Twitter: http://bit.ly/FreyaTwitter
Instagram: http://bit.ly/FreyaInstagram
Web: http://bit.ly/FreyaWeb
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/FreyaGoodreads
Newsletter: https://www.subscribepage.com/Freya_Newsletter
Bookbub: http://bit.ly/FreyaBookBub

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DESPERATELY SEEKING KITTY (Kensington Square ) by Taryn Quinn

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DESPERATELY SEEKING KITTY (Kensington Square/ Crescent Cove ) by Taryn Quinn-a review

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

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 17, 2023

Looking to rent a pussy.

Say what?

I’d never seen an ad phrased quite like that before. Not only did it raise my eyebrows, but the late night attention it drew dangerously exceeded our kitten rescue’s bandwidth.

So I did my admin duty and sent the ad writer a warning message.

I didn’t have to send her personal messages.

Or have flirty chats on the phone.

I especially didn’t need to go to her place for late night…kitten calls.

I soon realized she might be exactly who I needed to get my matchmaking family off my back, if she would just attend an important event with me.

She told me over and over she wasn’t girlfriend material—fake or otherwise.

I didn’t listen.

And now I’m ready to put it all on the line to make sure my Kitty understands that our love is very real.

Let the fur fly.

•••••

REVIEW: DESPERATELY SEEKING KITTY is the fourth instalment in Taryn Quinn’s contemporary, adult KENSINGTON SQUARE erotic,romance series set in the author’s CRESCENT COVE world. This is veterinarian Dr. Clint Hauser, and twenty-five year old, romance story editor Katherine ‘Kitty Armor’ Armitage’s story line. DESPERATELY SEEKING KITTY 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 (Clint and Kitty) DESPERATELY SEEKING KITTY follows in the wake of a series of online posts on the ‘Kitten Around’ kitten rescue site, looking to rent a ‘pussy’ by the hour. As the forum moderator Dr. Clint Hauser believes he has found a suspicious user, a user with whom he is about to fall in love. Enter Katherine ‘Kitty Armor’ Armitage. Katherine Armitage is a recluse; a book editor with challenging agoraphobia but a woman who has recently lost a beloved pet. Needing a plus one for her stay at home companion Princess Goldenrod, Katherine aka Kitty uses the local kitten forum to find a friend for her lonely cat but all does not go well when our heroine is suspected of procuring sexual favors, favors to be found on the local site. Kitty, believing she has been catfished, invites Dr. Clint Hauser over to meet her cat but quickly discovers her heart will be lost to our story line hero. What ensues is a quick building romance and relationship between Clint and Kitty, and the potential fall-out as extended family members and friends get worried for their eccentric loved ones.

Katherine ‘Kitty’ Armitage is lonely but her loneliness is complicated by agoraphobia, and a job that keeps her inside, most of the time. Her unconventional and often erratic behavior is questionable at best but meeting Dr. Clint Hauser give hopes to an otherwise lonely existence. Clint Hauser is a former romance cover model/turned veterinarian who is over worked, and stressed due to the inordinate amount of heart breaking work and volunteer hours but Clint needs a plus one for the upcoming holidays, and believes Kitty is the perfect foil to keep his family at bay. Believing ‘Kitty’ is soliciting for $ex on the kitten forum, Clint demands proof of our heroine’s ‘lies’. Finding himself pulled into the craziness that is Kitty Armor, Clint discovers his mind and his body relax in the company of our story line heroine.

The relationship between Clint and Kitty is one of immediate but curious attraction. Kitty has been alone for so long she is willing to invite a stranger into her life, and Clint needs a well deserved vacation, even if only for a few hours at a time. The $ex scenes are passionate and seductive without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful, energetic and idiosyncratic secondary and supporting characters including Kitty’s father, and her agent Magnus; Clint’s sisters Emmaline , Felicia and Melodie, and his father Clintondale Hauser Jr.

DESPERATELY SEEKING KITTY is a wild romantic comedy focusing on real-life situations that aren’t supposed to be funny but the over the top, actions and idiosyncratic behaviors of our story line heroine bring out the crazy in everyone including family and friends. At times wild, comedic and frenetic but often overwhelming, the story line premise is entertaining and captivating; the romance is provocative and steamy; the characters are lively and spirited.

Reading Order and Previous reviews
His Temporary Assistant
My Boss’s Secret

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

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Hunter’s Revenge (Savage Legacy 3) by Faith Summers-review tour

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Hunter’s Revenge (Savage Legacy 3) by Faith Summers-review tour

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

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 20, 203

My monster. My hunter. My husband.
It all started with a chance meeting in a bar that was almost normal.
I was drowning my sorrows, and he was the deadly handsome mysterious stranger who walked in.
He had that dangerous air about him I was always warned to stay away from, yet like a moth to a flame I was captivated by his charm.
All it took was one touch and I couldn’t resist.
When I’m with him he consumes me and our passion is enthralling.
Little did I know that behind Malik Volkova’s fairytale prince smile lurks a monster.
A monster who belongs to the Knights, a notorious secret society.
And we only met because he was actually hunting me.
By the time I find out who he really is, it’s too late, and he unearthed my biggest secret.
Out for revenge on the cartel he forces me into a twisted arrangement for my hand in marriage.
But our union drags me into a war and deeper into his obsession.
Soon it becomes clear there’s something he wants more than revenge—me.
But I’m not sure if he’ll be my destruction or my savior.

Hunter’s Revenge is a dark mafia enemies-to-lovers arranged marriage romance, which is book 3 of the Savage Legacy series. This book is a 120K word standalone romance that contains dark themes, dubious situations, mature content, and graphic violence some readers might find offensive and/or triggering.

••••••

REVIEW:HUNTER’S REVENGE is the third instalment in Faith Summers’ contemporary, adult SAVAGE LEGACY dark, erotic, Bratva romance series. This is twenty-eight year old Malik Volkova, and twenty-three year old, lingerie designer Gwen St. James’ story line. HUNTER’S REVENGE can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Gwen and Malik) HUNTER’S REVENGE follows Malik Volkova as he seeks revenge for the death of his Navy Captain, his best friend, and a year imprisoned by the Mexican Cartel. Six years earlier, US Navy Lieutenant Malik Volkova was taken prisoner in Kazakhstan, where he endured twelve months of torture at the hands of his captors but Malik would later discover the attack had been orchestrated by Manolo Navarro, the leader of the Navarro Cartel, and our hero is determined to take his revenge. Fast forward to present day wherein Malik will uncover the existence of Manolo’s heir, a young woman who is oblivious to what is about to befall her future. Enter twenty-three year old Gwen St. James, a lingerie designer, and the woman Malik is hoping to break, before she dies. Malik Volkova was control of the Navarro Mexican Cartel, and his direct line to power, is to marry the woman with whom he will fall in love. Malik is determined to take control of the Cartel but never thought Gwen would take control of his heart. What ensues is the building but contemptuous relationship between Gwen and Malik, and the potential fall-out as Gwen becomes a pawn in a game between Malik, and the nightmares from his past.

The relationship between Gwen and Malik is one of force proximity. Malik Volkova is desperate to destroy the Navarro Cartel, and in doing so, take control of a billion dollar enterprise but to do so mean to take control of Manolo Navarro’s only heir, a young woman who wants nothing to do with her heritage or her birthright.Taking control of Gwen means destroying a little bit of our heroine’s heart, a heart that will be broken when Malik pushes Gwen out of his life. The $ex scenes are erotic, intense and provocative but I dislike the use of a certain four-letter word in my romance story line, although only used twice, more for shock and mature reader rating.

The colorful and energetic secondary and supporting characters include Malik’s brother and their wives: Desmier and Anastasia (Devil’s Kiss), Zakh and Lorelai (Villain’s Obsession); guards Yuri and Vladmir; maid Kelly; housekeeper/ cook Jeanne; and Gwen’s business partner and friend Dru. The requisite evil has many faces.

HUNTER’S REVENGE is a story of greed, betrayal and vengeance, secrets and lies, power and control, forgiveness, acceptance and love. The fast paced premise is detailed,complex and captivating; the romance is seductive and dramatic; the characters are desperate, determined and dynamic.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews

Devil’s Kiss
Villain’s Obsession

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Faith Summers is the Dark Contemporary Romance pen name of USA Today Bestselling Author, Khardine Gray.

Warning !! Expect wild romance stories of the scorching hot variety and deliciously dark romance with the kind of alpha male bad boys best reserved for your fantasies.

Dive in and enjoy her naughty page-turners.

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BAYOU BELOVED (Butterfly Bayou 6) by Lexi Blake-review & giveaway

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BAYOU BELOVED (Butterfly Bayou 6) by Lexi Blake-review & giveaway

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

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 28, 2023

Quaid Havery always planned to follow in his father’s footsteps. He went to law school and then came home to take over his dad’s legal practice. Being the only lawyer in small-town Papillon, Quaid is pretty sure he’s seen everything. After all, he was once asked to sue an alligator for defamation of character. He’s prepared for anything the town can throw at him, until he encounters Jayna Cardet. She’s gorgeous, smart, funny, and unlike any woman he’s met before….Except he has.

Jayna never thought she’d return to Papillon, but when her life gets turned around she must learn to live in the close-knit community again. She certainly never dreamed she would practice law in her little town, but she finds herself in the courtroom, and the opposing counsel is her former high school crush, Quaid. It wouldn’t be so bad if the man had developed a beer belly, but Quaid is more handsome than ever. And instead of ignoring her like he did in high school, he’s made it plain that he wants to get to know her.

Thus begins a courtship destined to end in a wedding or a war. Either way, the locals are popping some corn and eagerly awaiting the outcome.

••••••

REVIEW: BAYOU BELOVED is the sixth instalment in Lexi Blake’s contemporary, adult BUTTERFLY BAYOU romance series. This is attorneys Quaid Havery, and Jayna Cardet’s story line. BAYOU BELOVED 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 third person perspectives BAYOU BELOVED follows in the wake of the return to Papillon, Louisiana of Jayna Cardet. Jayna wanted our of Papillon, and the trailer in which she was raised but a successful practice in New Orleans ended with an ethical review, a divorce, and her tail tucked between her legs. Hoping to spend a few weeks considering her future, Jayne finds herself representing a few of the local riff-raff, representing against the man she lusted after years before. Enter attorney Quaid Havery, a man whose family has deep roots and even deeper pockets in Papillon, Louisiana, and the man whose heart Jayne is about to destroy. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Jayna and Quaid, and the potential fall-out as Jayna is offered a new opportunity, far away from the man with whom she is falling in love.

Part of Quaid Havery’s family comes from old money, and the snobbery to match rankles many citizens of Papillon Louisiana. His brother Paul’s addictions, and his struggling Hollywood career have followed him home, and the threats are becoming personal for everyone involved. Quaid never expected to fall in love with Jayna Cardet, a woman he cannot remember but the woman with whom he has fallen in love; and Jayna knows that her time in Papillon has an expiry date, an expiry that is reinforced with her family’s history of trailer park trash.

The relationship between Jayna and Quaid begins as opposing council but Jayna quickly finds herself homeless, and living with the man with whom she will fall in love. Jayna’s return to Papillon comes with plenty of baggage, but Quaid’s extended family has baggage of their own. The $ex scenes are passionate and seductive without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

The secondary and supporting characters are interesting and colorful including several locals who are fighting town ordinances and often, one another.We are reintroduced to Roxie and Zep (Bayou Dreaming), Seraphina (Bayou Baby), Lila and Armie (Bayou Butterfly), Sylvie and Rene (Bayou Beauty), Remy Guidry, as well as the introduction of Quaid’s brother Paul, and their mother Marian; Jayna’s sister Sienna, their mother Lissa, Jayna’s ex-husband Todd Shale, as well as several townies, and Judge Brewer.

BAYOU BELOVED is a story of family and dysfunctional relationships; power and money; discrimination and snobbery, acceptance and love. The premise is entertaining and edgy; the romance is tender and compelling; the characters are sassy and animated.

Reading Order and previous reviews
Butterfly Bayou
Baby Bayou
Bayou Dreaming
Bayou Beauty
Bayou Sweetheart

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

NY Times and USA Today bestselling author Lexi Blake lives in North Texas with her husband, three kids, and the laziest rescue dog in the world. She began writing at a young age, concentrating on plays and journalism. It wasn’t until she started writing romance and urban fantasy that she found the stories of her heart. She likes to find humor in the strangest places and believes in happy endings no matter how odd the couple, threesome, or foursome may seem.

FACEBOOK / TWITTER / WEBSITE / AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE

The Reading Cafe is offering a paper copy of BAYOU BELOVED to ONE (1) lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe.

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THE LONG WAY HOME (Corps Security 7) by Harper Sloan-a review

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THE LONG WAY HOME (Corps Security 7) by Harper Sloan-a review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 14, 2023

There’s a price to pay for a life with a greater purpose. The healing of time is a damn liar when you’re living a life as a dead man with no true home, and the silence couldn’t be more deafening. Counting the days, good and bad, I exist as the world keeps spinning. I can never look back. All I can do is hope I took enough out of that life to carry me forward on those dead legs. Everything that was meant to give the tragedy of my life meaning ended up holding me prisoner in this wreckage of my past.

Until now.

One look into her eyes and I’m completely disarmed. It’s only everything I thought I gave up. These walls I’ve built to protect and shroud me crumble more whenever she’s near. I’ve spent years waiting for a reason to breathe again, and now that I have her within reach, I’m not sure I can keep her. Is it possible to find both the missing piece of my soul and the remedy to my healing in one set of bright green eyes? Everything I thought I would never have is staring back at me saying … yes, I can.

••••••••

REVIEW:THE LONG WAY HOME is the seventh and final instalment in Harper Sloan’s contemporary, adult CORPS SECURITY erotic romantic suspense series focusing on a group of ex-Marines and the women they love. This is fifty-two-year old, Zachariah ‘Zeke’ Cooper aka Andrew ‘Drew’ Shaw, and café owner thirty year old café owner Olivia Kelley’s story line. THE LONG WAY HOME can be read as a stand alone but for back story and cohesion I recommend reading the series in order especially COOPER and LOCKE.

NOTE: If you have not read the previous story lines there may be spoilers in my review. The previous to last book in the series was released in 2014 but the author and her fans needed some closure for our story line hero.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Zeke and Olivia) THE LONG WAY HOME picks up more than twenty years after COOPER and LOCKE in which the Corps Security team have grieved the death of their friend and teammate Zachariah ‘Zeke’ Cooper who lost his life protecting the woman Maddox Locke loved but for all intents and purposes Zeke Cooper was dead, and a government ghost known as Andrew ‘Drew’ Shaw became the shadow that now follows our story line heroine. As a ghost, Andrew Shaw worked off books, dark ops for the government, taking down the baddest of the bad including all of the men who destroyed the lives of the people he loved. Along with his new teammates Evan, Hunt and Saint, the man now known as Drew keeps watch over our story line heroine in the wake of threats against her life and the life of her niece Riley. Olivia Kelley is raising her five year old niece after the murder of her sister by the man she once loved. Olivia is unaware of the threats against her life but her attraction to Drew is about to reveal more than she could have ever imagined. As Drew aka Zeke begins to fall for our story line heroine, his past comes ‘sparkling’ back, demanding the truth about what happened and why. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Zeke and Olivia; the protection of Olivia and her niece Riley; the return from the dead for our story line hero; and the fall-out when the threats against Olivia and Riley come hard and fast.

Zeke Cooper ‘died’ the day he took a bullet for his friend’s girl Emmy but Zeke was reborn as Andrew Shaw, a man who now works undercover for the government doing the jobs no one else will do. Protecting Olivia and Riley has become paramount in Andrew Shaw’s life, and he finds himself falling for a woman who is about to relive the death of Zachariah ‘Zeke’ Cooper. Olivia Kelley lost everything the day her sister was murdered but found solace in the raising of her niece Riley. Olivia has spent most of her life alone but for the loss of her sister; meeting Andrew Shaw gave Olivia pause when her heart wanted something Drew may not be able to give.

The relationship between Olivia and Zeke aka Drew begins when Drew and his team frequent the café where Olivia works. Drew as Olivia knows him, is the silent and brooding ‘giant’ of a man, a giant that Olivia’s niece Riley comes to call her own. Zeke knows that to get involved with Olivia could threaten his career but when Zeke’s past comes calling, our hero needs Olivia to be his support and soul. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful, energetic and familiar secondary and supporting characters most of whom we have met in the original Corps Security series including Sway and Davey, Axel and Izzy, Greg and Melissa, Asher , Beck and Dee, Chelcie and Zach, Emmy and Locke. We are introduced to Zeke aka Drew’s new teammates: Evan, Saint and Hunt, as well as Olivia’s niece Riley, and co-worker Ella. I am hoping the author has plans for the next generation as I had mentioned in my review of LOCKE.

THE LONG WAY HOME is a story of family and relationships, secrets and lies, betrayal and acceptance, forgiveness and love. The premise is heart breaking and emotional; the romance is seductive and provocative; the characters are energetic, dynamic and desperate. I have missed these characters-the camaraderie, the friendships, the love and the lives.

Haven’t started the series? Books 1-6 are currently available in a boxset for only $9.99 at->  Amazon US only

Reading Order and purchase links-click on highlighted title
Axel
Cage
Beck
Uncaged
Cooper
Locke

Own a copy

Reviewed by Sandy

About The Author beige

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Harper lives in small town Georgia just a short drive from her hometown of Peachtree City. She (and her 3 daughters) enjoy ruling the house they dubbed ‘Estrogen Ocean’, much to her husbands chagrin. Harper has a borderline unhealthy obsession with books; you can almost ALWAYS find her with her eReader attached. She enjoys bad reality TV and cheesy romantic flicks. Her favorite kind of hero–the super alpha kind!

Harper started using writing as a way to unwind when the house went to sleep at night; and with a house full of crazy it was the perfect way to just relax. It didn’t take long before a head full of very demanding alphas would stop at nothing to have their story told.

 

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