Tag Archives: Laurelin Paige

Last Kiss (First and Last #2) by Laurelin Paige-Review and Book Tour

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LAST KISS (First and Last #2) by Laurelin Paige-Review and Book Tour

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LAST KISS
First and Last #2
by Laurelin Paige
Release Date: June 14, 2016
Genre: adult, contemporary, erotic, romantic suspense

Last Kiss

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

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date June 14, 2016

A GAME OF CAT AND MOUSE FILLED WITH DARK DESIRES AND DANGEROUS SECRETS…

Emily Wayborn has made a decision.

She might not fully trust handsome and deadly Reeve Sallis, but he is the one person that gives her what she needs. With Reeve she can finally be herself. Submitting to him is the only thing keeping her grounded as the rest of her life falls apart. But the hotelier is a master at keeping secrets and as she continues her quest for answers someone is making sure she doesn’t find them.

Time is running out and she is questioning everything she thought she knew about friendship and love. She must now make an impossible choice that will determine if she will survive with her heart…or at all.

•••••••••

REVIEW: LAST KISS is the second and final installment in Laurelin Paige’s contemporary, adult FIRST AND LAST erotic, romantic suspense duology focusing on billionaire hotelier businessman Reeve Sallis, and actress Emily Wayborn. Their continuing story focuses on the search for Emily’s best friend Amber, Reeve’s dark and dangerous past, and his connections to underground crime.

SOME BACKGROUND: Emily Wayborn searches for the truth. Months earlier, our heroine, hears a phone message from her best friend whom she hasn’t seen for close to seven years-a phone message using a safe word the friends had promised to use if ever they were in trouble. What ensues, is Emily’s hunt for the truth-a hunt that begins with the last person known to have seen Amber alive-billionaire hotelier Reeve Sallis. Emily will begin to seduce her way into Reeve’s life and his heart ensuring she has a front row seat when the truth is finally revealed.

Told from first person point of view (Emily) LAST KISS continues immediately upon the events of book one –FIRST TOUCH-wherein our heroine has seduced her way into Reeve Sallis’s life- a life marred by dark demons, murder and missing women all with a connection to our story line hero. While Emily searchers for the truth about her missing friend, our heroine has hired her own investigator who is determined to prove that Reeve Sallis is guilty on all counts. What ensues is an intricate, emotional and revealing story about obsession, addiction, revelation and love.

LAST KISS is not as dark or merciless as FIRST TOUCH. With Emily’s past previously revealed, the author focuses on the search for the truth, and Emily and Reeve’s building love. But relationships are doomed to fail when a ghost from the past returns demanding to pick up where everything was left off.

Laurelin Paige’s FIRST AND LAST is a passionate series with dynamic, decadent and memorable characters, and an intensely sexual love. LAST KISS takes the reader on a seductive journey into one woman’s life of hope and loss; love and rejection; heartbreak and renewal. Reeve is an enigma- a man trying to protect the woman with whom he is falling in love from a past mired in death and destruction but in doing so fails to acknowledge the truth.

LAST KISS is an emotional journey with powerful and startling revelations where uncovering the truth may cause more heartbreak for everyone involved. The premise is intriguing and intense; the characters are vibrant and electrifying; the romance is sensational and fated.

Click HERE for Sandy’s review of FIRST TOUCH.

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

excerpt

“Oh, hi! I didn’t see you there.” I sounded flustered and on

edge. “Sorry to have surprised you.” The man’s head

tipped toward

me. “Emily, right?” he asked, as he exhaled a puff of smoke.

I squinted at him, trying to place him, but I couldn’t. In

fact, I was certain I hadn’t seen him before. He had to be one

of the ranch guests, which didn’t explain how he knew me.

“That’s right,” I said tentatively. “I don’t think we’ve met.”

He tilted his head as he took another slow draw from his

ciga- rette. “Nope. We haven’t.” Even in the dark, I didn’t

miss the hun- gry way his eyes groped my frame.

He took a step toward me, and I readied myself to run. Just

then, the front door slammed open. I looked up to the porch

to see a couple of Reeve’s men leaving the house. W hen I

turned back, the man wasn’t there anymore. I glanced around

and caught sight of him circling around behind the building.

A man didn’t run off that easily if he hadn’t had ill intent.

I shivered. I wondered if all of the guests were that

creepy. No wonder Reeve was wary of them. Suddenly, I

wanted to run and tell him about the encounter.

Then, at the top of the stairs, I noticed his door was shut,

which meant he was in there. But what if he wasn’t alone?

What if the con- versation with Amber at dinner had led them

to his bedroom?

Before I let myself get worked up, I looked to Amber’s

door. It was shut too. It was the first time I’d seen it closed

since her arrival, and my mind jumped to a hundred different

possible conclusions. Maybe she was exercising her new

babysitter-free status. Maybe she was puking again in the

bathroom and wanted privacy. Or she was making out with

one of the ranchers. Or crying over whatever Reeve had said

to her after I’d left them.

Or she wasn’t in there at all.

I could easily knock on her door to find out, but I wasn’t

sure I

l a s t k i s s 93

could face her if she answered, and I was absolutely sure I

couldn’t take it if she didn’t.

Hoping I would be better equipped to handle the situation

after a good night’s sleep, I retreated to my own room with a

sigh of res- ignation.

Though it was late enough to go to bed, my emotions were

too frazzled for sleep. And I was cold. My evening walk had

set a chill in my bones that lingered even in the warm house.

W hile I wished it was Reeve warming me up, a hot shower

would be just as effec- tive at raising my body temperature and

would also calm my nerves.

I stripped, tossing my clothes onto the chair in the corner

of my room, then went to start the shower. I turned the water on

without getting in, sticking my hand under the stream until

it was hot enough. Then I crossed to the linen closet at the

other end of the bathroom and picked out a couple of towels.

When I shut the door, I turned back toward the shower and

nearly jumped out of my skin. “Reeve!” I patted my

in my chest. “Goddammit, you scared the hell out of me.”

Between his sneaky arrival and the lurking cowboy outside,

I wouldn’t have been surprised if I was on my way to a heart

attack.

His lip curled up with amusement.

I scowled. “I’m glad you think sending me to an early

grave is funny.” But I wasn’t really irritated by his arrival in

the least. I was glad, and I was certain the accelerated tempo

of my heart rate had as much to do with his appearance at all

as it did with the element of surprise.

He leaned his hip against the vanity and folded his arms

across his chest, a position that highlighted both his broad

shoulders and toned biceps. “You like it when I keep you

guessing,” he said dis- missively, not an entirely inaccurate

statement, though it was a bit discomforting that he knew it so

breastbone, trying to calm the thudding

well.

“And I like you on your toes,” he added, his eyes dark as

they slid the length of my body. I felt them like silk as they

caressed over

9 4 l a u r e l i n p a i g e

the slopes of my breasts, down the plane of my stomach,

zeroing in on the landing strip above my pussy. Suddenly I’d

warmed up quite sufficiently, the pool of moisture between

my thighs as hot as the steam gathering in the room.

I met his scrutiny with ogling of my own, biting my lip

as my eyes landed on the large bulge at the front of his pants.

He was bare- foot, and I tried not to wonder if that meant

he’d been undressed once already in the evening. Tried not to

wonder if it was his first or second erection of the night.

Bringing the towels in front of me as a much-needed

barrier, I

mirrored his crossed arms. “W hat are you doing here,

anyway?” He shrugged. “You wouldn’t come to my bed so

I had to come

yours.”

It was surprising how easily happiness bubbled in my

chest. Teasingly, I threw his words from the night before

back at him. “This isn’t my bed.”

He was already walking toward me. “It’s close enough.”

The towels fell to the floor as he seized my hips and turned

my back to the counter. His mouth captured mine, greedily

stealing my breath and sense of reason with his lips and

tongue.

God, I was hungry for him. I roved my hands over his

chest, wanting to touch all of his body at once, delighting at

the hard muscles that met the underside of my palms. He was

solid every- where. A wall of strength and potency that could

so easily over- power me. I was weak in his presence,

incapable of anything except to yield.

A warning bell sounded in the back of my head, though,

urging me to get my wits together and address . . . something.

It was dif- ficult to remember what exactly when his hands

were on my breasts, squeezing and pinching. The bite of pain

sent jolts of electricity through my nervous system, signals

that my brain read as pleasure. Pleasure I couldn’t resist.

About The Author

Laurelin PaigeIn 2013, Laurelin Paige self-published her first novel. Her husband was just laid off, she had three kids, one with special needs, and they had just filed for bankruptcy so she needed this novel to work. Less than 1 year later, her debut novel, Fixed on You, was at the top of the bestseller lists and was named one of the top ten selling books of 2014 by Publishers Weekly (the only self-published book to do so) and a Top Ten Favorite Read of 2014 by People Magazine. Her successive self-published novels have been smash hits with readers.

Laurelin Paige is the NY Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of the Fixed Trilogy. She’s a sucker for a good romance and gets giddy anytime there’s kissing, much to the embarrassment of her three daughters.

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First Touch (First and Last #1) by Laurelin Paige-Review, Book Tour and Giveaway

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FIRST TOUCH (First and Last #1) by Laurelin Paige-a review

 

 

 

 

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / The Book Depository / BAM

About the book: Release Date December 29, 2015

When Emily Wayborn goes home to visit her mom while on hiatus from her hit TV show, she receives a voicemail from her former best friend, Amber. Though the two were once notorious party girls, they haven’t spoken in years. Although the message might sound benign to anyone else, Amber uses a safe word that Emily recognizes, a word they always used to get out of sticky situations during their wild days. And what’s more chilling than the voicemail: it turns out that Amber has gone missing.

Determined to track down her friend, Emily follows a chain of clues that lead her to the enigmatic billionaire Reeve Sallis, a hotelier known for his shady dealings and play boy reputation. Now, in order to find Amber, Emily must seduce Reeve to learn his secrets and discover the whereabouts of her friend. But as she finds herself more entangled with him, she finds she’s drawn to Reeve for more than just his connection to Amber, despite her growing fear that he may be the enemy. When she’s forced to choose where her loyalty lies, how will she decide between saving Amber and saving her heart?

•••••••••

REVIEW: FIRST TOUCH is the first installment in Laurelin Paige’s contemporary, adult FIRST AND LAST dark, erotic romance series. This is actress Emily Wayborn, and billionaire hotel magnate Reeve Sallis’s storyline.

NOTE: The storyline contains triggers for some readers as it pertains to violence, rape, atypical sexual acts, and dubious consent.Some readers may be offended by some of the storyline content-you have been warned.

Told from first person point of view (Emily) FIRST TOUCH follows Emily Wayborn as she searches for the truth. Months earlier, our heroine, hears a phone message from a friend she hasn’t seen for close to seven years-a phone message using a safe word the friends had promised to use if ever they were in trouble. What ensues, is Emily’s hunt for the truth-a hunt that begins with the last person known to have seen Amber alive-billionaire hotelier Reeve Sallis. Emily will begin to seduce her way into Reeve’s life and his heart ensuring she has a front row seat when the truth is finally revealed.

FIRST TOUCH is a slow build to a suspense filled and intriguing cliff hanger that will only create more questions than answers; a dark, erotic romance that focuses on two people whose lives are interconnected through a missing woman-a woman Emily presumes to be dead. Emily and Reeve’s taste for the darker side of sex borders on deviance: fantasies that go beyond BDSM and role play; and questionable consent. Our leading couple straddles a fine line between right and wrong: trust must be earned; boundaries are pushed; control and power are at the center of all negotiations. While our heroine continues to search for the truth, she begins to lose herself to a man who is capable of destroying her world. So many clues are interspersed throughout the storyline premise.

Laurelin Paige pushes the reader into an unimaginable world; a place where our thoughts go but our heart does not belong; a story that will command your attention until the very end. But I want to add, that sometimes an author goes for ‘shock value’ in the storyline content, and I have to wonder if that is the purpose for some of the graphic imagery.

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

 

 

Excerpt Black and Hot Pink

 

“Tell me something,” he said, overtly switching gears. “What’s with you and Chris Blakely?”
He’d been watching me at the Expo, then. Before he’d come outside after me.
His question about Chris was spoken casually, but it was purposeful. A more naïve woman might have missed it, but I was too experienced with men like him. He wanted me to know that I was in his sightline. That this was what it meant to be part of his life. That he would monitor me, if he felt like it; he’d rule me. And he expected me to submit.
I couldn’t decide if that freaked me out or thrilled me.
So I played coy. “He’s an actor. We’ve worked together on occasion. I guess we’re friends.”
I walked into the kitchen and got a glass from the cupboard. Chewing my lip, I filled it with filtered water from the sink and debated full disclosure regarding Chris…It was a long shot, but since I hoped to contact Chris for more information about Missy at some point, I decided the less I said the better.
I drank some of my water then set the glass down and leaned across the counter to watch Reeve. His fingers trailed across the spines. I couldn’t see the exact books, so I tried to think what was there. My Katherine Hepburn autobiography. My copy of Rebecca.
He stopped and pulled one from the shelf then flipped through it lazily. This one I recognized from the cover. PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives, one of my coffee table books. I collected them and had so many that most lived on my bookshelf rather than on my coffee table. This particular book was a printing of blog posts that shared secrets anonymously. Parts of it read like my diary, and I’d marked several pages with Post-it notes so I could easily come back to them. Reading it had always felt comforting.
Seeing it in Reeve’s hands, though, wasn’t comforting. He flipped through the pages, stopping on the ones I’d tagged. Chuckling at some. Growing somber at others. At one, he lifted his head toward me and nodded slightly as if confirming what he’d just thought, what he’d just read.
I ran through several confessions I knew by heart, trying to imagine which it had been—
“Again and again. Used.”
“I’m more scared of court than I was when he almost killed me.”
“I would do absolutely anything in the whole world if I thought it would make her happy.”
Whichever ones he was reading, any of them—all of them—were private. Too private for him to know spoke to me. Yet, I didn’t stop him. I let him sink one layer deeper under my skin.
It was bad enough that he was in my apartment—in an apartment that I paid for myself. His presence reminded me of a time when everything I owned had been given to me by men. The things I had now, though small in number and worth, were all mine.
Trying to distract myself from the anxiety Reeve’s invasion caused, I asked, “Why do you want to know about Chris anyway? Do you want me to fix you up? He’s got a fiancé, you know.”
Reeve shot me a glare. “Cute.”
He put the book back on my shelf and moved toward me. When he reached the counter, he said, “Chris doesn’t look at you like he has a fiancé.”
Ah. I’d forgotten Reeve was a jealous man. Or I’d underestimated the depth of his envy. Strangely, it was a fairly common trait of the kind of men I’d involved myself with in the past, the kind of men who had everything. I knew how to pander to them, knew what to say to put their insecurities to rest. No one could ever be man enough to compare with you, I’d say. It might have been what Reeve was looking for in regards to Chris.
But I couldn’t bring myself to give it to him. “A lot of men don’t look at me like they have a fiancé.”
Reeve leaned across the opposite side of the counter so we were face-to-face. “I don’t like that.”
Jealousy was generally boring, yet, on Reeve, it was fascinating. And, I suspected, dangerous. “You don’t? What are you going to do about it? Lock me up and never let me out in public?”
“I have some nice secluded resorts I think you’d like. My island properties are so beautiful you’ll forget you’re in a prison.”
He flashed his dimple. It was subtle, only noticeable when he smiled in a certain way, the way he was smiling now. And his eyes…I’d thought they were blue, but now I saw green flecks. They caught in the light. They caught me in them, made me feel warm. Made me feel trapped.
I stood up straight, distancing myself without moving away. “Look at you. Acting as if you have some claim to me. I think I already blew you off the other night.”
“Look at you, acting as if I’m a person that you blow off. I think I already warned you about me.” He was teasing as I’d been. But he wasn’t all at the same time.
My heart skipped a beat. “Another threat?”
“If you want it to be.” He looked at me like he had earlier—that intent way that saw through me, into me. Saw all my dark parts.
In a way, he was showing me his darkness as well.
My lip quivered, but I wasn’t scared. Well, not scared enough. “I do.”
His eyes sparked, and with that simple phrase, we entered into an agreement. He would have me. He would fuck me. He would bring me into his world.
And in return I’d let him break me. 


 

About the Author Black and rose

Laurelin PaigeLaurelin Paige is the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling Author of the Fixed Trilogy. She’s a sucker for a good romance and gets giddy anytime there’s kissing, much to the embarrassment of her three daughters. Her husband doesn’t seem to complain, however. When she isn’t reading or writing sexy stories, she’s probably singing, watching Game of Thrones and the Walking Dead, or dreaming of Michael Fassbender. She’s also a proud member of Mensa International though she doesn’t do anything with the organization except use it as material for her bio.

 

STALK HER:  Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Pinterest

 

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First Touch (First and Last #1) by Laurelin Paige-a review

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FIRST TOUCH (First and Last #1) by Laurelin Paige-a review

First Touch

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / The Book Depository / BAM

About the book: Release Date December 29, 2015

When Emily Wayborn goes home to visit her mom while on hiatus from her hit TV show, she receives a voicemail from her former best friend, Amber. Though the two were once notorious party girls, they haven’t spoken in years. Although the message might sound benign to anyone else, Amber uses a safe word that Emily recognizes, a word they always used to get out of sticky situations during their wild days. And what’s more chilling than the voicemail: it turns out that Amber has gone missing.

Determined to track down her friend, Emily follows a chain of clues that lead her to the enigmatic billionaire Reeve Sallis, a hotelier known for his shady dealings and play boy reputation. Now, in order to find Amber, Emily must seduce Reeve to learn his secrets and discover the whereabouts of her friend. But as she finds herself more entangled with him, she finds she’s drawn to Reeve for more than just his connection to Amber, despite her growing fear that he may be the enemy. When she’s forced to choose where her loyalty lies, how will she decide between saving Amber and saving her heart?

•••••••••

REVIEW: FIRST TOUCH is the first installment in Laurelin Paige’s contemporary, adult FIRST AND LAST dark, erotic romance series. This is actress Emily Wayborn, and billionaire hotel magnate Reeve Sallis’s storyline.

NOTE: The storyline contains triggers for some readers as it pertains to violence, rape, atypical sexual acts, and dubious consent.Some readers may be offended by some of the storyline content-you have been warned.

Told from first person point of view (Emily) FIRST TOUCH follows Emily Wayborn as she searches for the truth. Months earlier, our heroine, hears a phone message from a friend she hasn’t seen for close to seven years-a phone message using a safe word the friends had promised to use if ever they were in trouble. What ensues, is Emily’s hunt for the truth-a hunt that begins with the last person known to have seen Amber alive-billionaire hotelier Reeve Sallis. Emily will begin to seduce her way into Reeve’s life and his heart ensuring she has a front row seat when the truth is finally revealed.

FIRST TOUCH is a slow build to a suspense filled and intriguing cliff hanger that will only create more questions than answers; a dark, erotic romance that focuses on two people whose lives are interconnected through a missing woman-a woman Emily presumes to be dead. Emily and Reeve’s taste for the darker side of sex borders on deviance: fantasies that go beyond BDSM and role play; and questionable consent. Our leading couple straddles a fine line between right and wrong: trust must be earned; boundaries are pushed; control and power are at the center of all negotiations. While our heroine continues to search for the truth, she begins to lose herself to a man who is capable of destroying her world. So many clues are interspersed throughout the storyline premise.

Laurelin Paige pushes the reader into an unimaginable world; a place where our thoughts go but our heart does not belong; a story that will command your attention until the very end. But I want to add, that sometimes an author goes for ‘shock value’ in the storyline content, and I have to wonder if that is the purpose for some of the graphic imagery.

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

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Find Me (The Found Duet #2) by Laurelin Paige-Review and Book Tour

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FIND ME (The Found Duet #2) by Laurelin Paige-Review and Book Tour

find me book tour

FIND ME
The Found Duet #2
by Laurelin Paige
Genre: adult, contemporary, erotic romance
Release Date; August 25, 2015

find me cover

 

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

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 25, 2015

The Conclusion of Gwen and JC’s Story

Gwen Anders came to The Sky Launch to begin fresh, away from the horrors of her past. She fit in quickly, becoming good friends with her co-manager, Alayna Withers and the owner of the club, Hudson Pierce. Though the circumstances that brought her here were not the best, she’s never felt more at home.

But starting a new life means letting go. And there are some things she doesn’t want to leave behind – like JC, the man who taught her how to let loose. The man she wasn’t supposed to fall in love with. The man she doesn’t want to lose.

Now, with the reason she ran still a threat, Gwen fears she’ll never be able to move on completely. And if she does, can she still hold out hope that JC loves her enough to come and find her?

•••••••••••••••

NOTE: You can read Sandy’s review of FREE ME (book 1) at the end of this review.

REVIEW: FIND ME is the second installment in Laurelin Paige’s contemporary, adult The Found Duet erotic, romance duology focusing on the mysterious billionaire JC Bruzzo, and night club manager Gwen Anders. FIND ME should not be read as a stand alone as most of the premise builds upon the events of book one –FREE ME-wherein the storyline’s cliffhanger leaves the reader wondering where everything went wrong. The Found Duet is a spin off from Paige’s FIXED SERIES but you do not have to have read the previous series to understand the premise.

Told from first person point of view (Gwen Anders) with an epilogue written from JC’s point of view, FIND ME advances the duology one year and in all that time Gwen has not heard from or seen the man with whom she had fallen in love. Threats against our couple found Gwen and JC going in opposite directions leaving a grieving Gwen considering her options for the future. One year is a very long time to pine for the man who promised one day he would return but pressure from family and friends finds Gwen seeking out a relationship from another direction.

FIND ME is a story of passion and romance; heartbreak and betrayal; letting go and moving on. There are tender moments wrapped in a comforting blanket of promises for the future that are often eclipsed by the darkness that threatens to destroy everything they have. JC is a broken man who desperately wants to protect the people that he loves but in doing so leaves a trail of heartbreak and pain in the wake of his need to run once again.

Hudson Pierce and his wife Alayna Withers-Pierce play a secondary and supporting role throughout the series. Gwen’s sister Norma and the man in her life Boyd must consider their own options towards a future together; and Gwen’s brother Ben, whose own life begins an upward climb towards a happily ever after. We are introduced to Hudson’s younger brother Chandler- a man who fell in love with a woman whose heart belongs to someone else. Chandler’s story will be told next in CHANDLER (April 2016). The price paid for Gwen and JC’s happily ever after is heartbreaking and sad.

FIND ME focuses on retribution and revenge; secrets and lies; forgiveness and a happily ever after. The premise is romantic and intense. The characters are impassioned and emotional. The $ex scenes are erotic and seductive. The future is heartwarming and free. FIND ME is a welcome read for lovers of erotic romance storylines.

Copy supplied by the tour promoter.

Reviewed by Sandy

excerpt

I grabbed my cell and checked the time. It was six-twenty-nine. I threw it in my purse and turned back to the mirror to give myself a pep talk. “We will not have sex. We will not have sex. We will not have sex.”
Jesus, I was so horny already, and I hadn’t even seen him yet. I’d thought about taking care of myself before JC got there but wasn’t sure if that would make things better or worse. By the time I’d decided it would make it better, Ben was there, and now JC was ringing my buzzer.

“You look incredible,” he said when I opened the door.

I blushed as I gave him a once over. He was dressed in khakis with a fitted shirt and a lightweight jacket. Lots of buttons, I thought. Which was a good thing, considering how damn good he looked. Had he always been that buff? “You do, too.” My thighs felt hot. Good thing I’d changed out of my pants.

I really should have pulled out my vibrator earlier.

“You brought flowers?” I’d been so taken by him I hadn’t noticed the small bouquet in his hands. Three red roses dressed with some smaller white bell-shaped flowers I couldn’t identify were wrapped in a red ribbon. I hadn’t expected it. “I didn’t know you were the kind of guy who brought girls roses.”

He shrugged with one shoulder. “I’m trying to impress you. I have a feeling this date is a test of some kind, and I want to make sure I pass.”

“Not a test,” I said dismissively. Though, wasn’t that what this was? A test to see if we got along as well outside the bedroom as we did inside? “But thank you. You do impress.”

I shifted my weight to one hip and flitted my glance between JC, still standing on the other side of the threshold, and the flowers in my hand. “I should put these in water.” But I wasn’t sure I was ready to invite him in. Because in meant we’d be closer to my bed. And my couch. And my kitchen counter. All of which were locations that could be tempting.

Really, I just shouldn’t be anywhere alone with him.

Either JC felt the same way I did or he could read my mind. “You can do that later. The plastic containers on the stems should last until we get back. And we should get going.”

“Perfect.” I set them on the console table behind me, relieved and nervous all at once. I took a deep breath, grabbed my purse, and turned back to him. “Let’s go!”

In the hallway, he offered me his hand. I took it, then, there it was—the shock of his touch as his fingers weaved with mine. I let out an involuntary sigh, and with it bricks of tension fell from my body. Release. It shuddered through me as electricity sparked up my limb from where we were connected and spread throughout my body, and I wondered if this was what it felt like to melt. What it felt like to be frozen for so long and then, finally, to have the sun brush against cold ice, transforming it into something more fluid, something entirely different.

I glanced down to where we were joined, so overcome by how right it felt to be touching him in this simple way. When I looked back at him, I found his eyes pinned on me. His expression said he’d felt it too.

“You messed up, you know,” he said, as we started toward the elevator. “You were supposed to wear something that I didn’t want to rip off of you.”

My cheeks heated—actually, I wasn’t sure they’d ever cooled from the first blush he’d caused. “You said it would be impossible for me to wear anything that wouldn’t elicit that response. The only other choice was to go naked.”

“That would have been an excellent choice.”

“But not very practical.”

“I’ve never been a fan of practical.” He pushed the call button and the elevator doors opened immediately, the car likely still there from when he’d arrived.

We stepped inside, our hands still molded together. The doors closed, and I so badly wanted to turn and kiss him.

Instead I delivered the short speech I’d practiced since I’d woken up that afternoon. “I think I should tell you, I don’t have sex on first dates.”

“Wow. That’s…surprising. Considering we had sex before we’d ever even been on a date.” He squeezed my hand. “But, after you left me with blue balls this morning, I already figured out you’d turned into a prude.”

I laughed. “I’m not a prude. I’m cautious. And that’s nothing new. That’s always been me.”

“Yes, it has.” The short phrase was full of subtext, and I knew he was remembering how uptight I’d been when we’d first met. Icy. Frigid bitch.

“I’m better than I was,” I assured him.

He nodded. “I know. Otherwise you wouldn’t have given me even this much of you. And if you want to wait, then I can too.”

What I wanted was to push him against the wall and devour him.

But that was an in-the-moment want, and long-term, I wanted a relationship that was real and lasting. “Thank you. It means a lot.”

He leaned in close and, though we were alone, whispered in my ear. “I’m not going to say that I’m not dying to have you under me, Gwen. Because I am. But I’m dying to just be with you more.”

Despite the descent of the elevator, his words sent me floating. “You’re really good at that impressing thing.”

He gave me my favorite grin. “Who knew?”

free meFREE ME
(The Found Duet #1)
by Laurelin Paige
Genre: adult, contemporary, erotic romance

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

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 2014

Her story started long before she started working at The Sky Launch…

Screw fairytales. The only reward Gwen Anders got from her rough childhood was a thick skin and hard heart. She’s content with her daily grind managing a top NYC nightclub—Eighty-Eighth Floor. So hers isn’t a happily ever after. She doesn’t believe in those anyway.

Then she meets J.C.

The rich, smooth talking playboy is the sexiest thing that Gwen has ever encountered, but she’s not interested in a night-in-shining latex. But when a family tragedy pushes her to the brink, it’s J.C. who’s there to teach her a new method of survival, one based on following primal urges and desires. His no-strings-attached lessons require her to abandon her constant need for control. Her carefully built walls are obliterated.

Gwen discovers there’s a beautiful world outside her prison. Freedom is exhilarating—and terrifying. When she starts to feel something for J.C., she fears for her heart. Especially as she realizes that he has secrets of his own. Secrets that don’t want to set him free.

•••••••••••••••••••

REVIEW: FREE ME is the first installment in Laurelin Paige’s adult, contemporary FOUND DUET- a spin off from her FIXED trilogy. This is nightclub manager Gwen Anders, and businessman JC’s storyline. You do not have to have read The Fixed Trilogy to follow the Found Duet.

Told from first person point of view (Gwen) FREE ME follows the building relationship between Gwen Anders and a man she knows only as JC. JC made Gwen an offer-a no strings attached sexual relationship wherein both would get what they want without the exchange of personal or private information; no history; and no emotional attachment. What ensues is a sexual relationship that will grow into a love match between two broken people whose lives are filled with heartbreak and pain.

The relationship between Gwen and JC is one of immediate attraction but Gwen’s life is a series of distant friendship because of the circumstances within her life. Her closest friend is her sister Norma, and a brother whose own life is spiraling out of control. The $ex scenes are aggressive, intimate and provocative. JC’s promise to make Gwen ‘feel’ finds our couple falling in love but not before everything in their personal lives begins to unravel.

The secondary and supporting characters include Hudson Pierce (The Fixed Trilogy) with a cameo by his significant other Alayna. We are also introduced to Gwen’s sister Norma and her brother Ben; as well as a number of nightclub employees, security personnel, and a server at the Eighty Eighth Floor Club Alyssa whose has eyes for the delectable JC.

The world building focuses on the unknown secrets; the hidden truth behind JC’s reluctance to reveal his personal information, and Gwen’s need to remain close to her family. Gwen’s back story is awash in a nightmare that will come full circle; JC’s full story is unraveling a little at a time.

Laurelin Paige pulls the reader into an emotional story about two people who meet each other at a time when their lives are going in opposite directions. The premise is intriguing and full of secrets; the romance is passionate and seductive; the cliff hanger finds Gwen wondering where everything all went wrong.

Reviewed by Sandy

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Laurelin PaigeUSA Today and New York Times Bestselling Author Laurelin Paige is a sucker for a good romance and gets giddy anytime there’s kissing, much to the embarrassment of her three daughters. Her husband doesn’t seem to complain, however. When she isn’t reading or writing sexy stories, she’s probably singing, watching Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead, or dreaming of Adam Levine. She is represented by Rebecca Friedman.

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Forever With You (Fixed #3) by Laurelin Paige-a review

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Forever With You (Fixed #3) by Laurelin Paige-a review

Forever With You Jan 14

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk/ Barnes and Noble / KOBO /

FOREVER WITH YOU (Fixed #3) by Laurelin Paige

ABOUT THE BOOK: January 13, 2014

Alayna Withers relationship with Hudson Pierce has tested both her and his ability to trust. They decide that the only way they can move forward together is with open doors and transparency. It won’t be easy for the scarred lovers, but they’re committed to each other more now than ever. Alayna, in particular, has grown through their trials, and has emerged more confident and faithful to the man she loves.

But while the pair is focused on the future, their past shows up again to threaten their fragile bond. Promises that were made are broken, and Alayna learns that Hudson still has very potent secrets—secrets that will tear them both apart. As much as she feels for him, her ability to forgive and forget is tested beyond her limits.

Even though she found the only man who could fix her, a forever with Hudson seems more and more out of reach.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••

REVIEW: FOREVER WITH YOU is the third and final storyline in Laurelin Paige’s contemporary, new adult, erotic Fixed series focusing on Alayna Withers and Hudson Pierce. Although this is the end of Alayna and Hudson’s arc-Laurelin is continuing the series with one of the characters introduced in Forever With You.

The storyline continues from the previous two instalments but focuses on Alayna’s need to uncover the truth behind Hudson’s relationship with a woman he claims is only a friend. The deeper Alayna digs the more she becomes unglued only to discover that everything about her relationship with Hudson has been a lie.

Laurelin Paige pulls the reader into an emotional storyline that will make you think. Alayna and Hudson both have issues of trust but what Alayna uncovers will blow your mind. What you thought you knew is not what you will expect.

FOREVER WITH YOU is an emotional storyline about the extent of one family’s dysfunctional nature and the extent of which has affected the next generation. The final resolution was difficult to accept under the circumstances but this is fictional story with a HEA- one that did not sit well with this reader.

Freed Series

Click HERE for our review of FIXED ON YOU (book 1)

Click HERE for our review of FOUND IN YOU (book 2)

Review by Sandy

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Fixed on You/Found in You (Fixed 1 & 2) by Laurelin Paige-a review

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Fixed on You/Found in You (Fixed 1 & 2) by Laurelin Paige-a review

Fixed Series

FIXED ON YOU (Fixed #1) by Laurelin Paige

Fixed on You

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date June 22, 2013

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk/ Barnes and Noble / KOBO /

Stalking and restraining orders are a thing of Alayna Wither’s past. With her MBA newly in hand, she has her future figured out—move up at the nightclub she works at and stay away from any guy who might trigger her obsessive love disorder. A perfect plan.

But what Alayna didn’t figure on is Hudson Pierce, the new owner of the nightclub. He’s smart, rich, and gorgeous—the kind of guy Alayna knows to stay away from if she wants to keep her past tendencies in check. Except, Hudson’s fixed his sights on her. He wants her in his bed and makes no secret of it.

Avoiding him isn’t an option after he offers a business proposition she can’t turn down and she’s drawn further into his universe, unable to resist his gravitational pull. When she learns Hudson has a dark history of his own, she realizes too late that she’s fallen for the worst man she could possibly get involved with. Or maybe their less than ideal pasts give them an opportunity to heal each other and finally find the love their lives have been missing.

*********************

REVIEW: FIXED ON YOU is the first storyline in Laurelin Page’s contemporary New Adult series focusing on Alayna Withers and Hudson Pierce-two dysfunctional twenty somethings with some major issues and demons in their past.

The premise follows as Hudson-a billionaire who wants Alayna in more ways than one. He is in desperate need of a ‘fake’ girlfriend to keep his meddling mother off of his back, so he offers the broke Alayna a proposition. Pretend to be his girlfriend as well as a friend with benefits, and he will pay off her university loans. The timing is perfect, as Alayna’s brother has issued an ultimatum of his own.

Alayna has some major psychological issues including an apparent stalker tendency with former lovers and men. Although she has been in court-ordered counseling for over two years, Alayna knows that to get involved with the gorgeous Hudson could ruin everything she has worked so hard to control.

Hudson is a man who believes he is incapable of love or emotions. He comes from one of the most dysfunctional family units in recent novels and the belittling and betrayal amongst the family members is enough for anyone to bury their feelings so deep that they are almost impossible to find. He considers himself cold and uncaring but Alayna will begin to chip away at the ice that holds a man’s heart.

The relationship between Alayna and Hudson begins as an arrangement but all too quickly they both begin to let their emotions rule their heads. Hudson continues to deny his feelings but everything he does screams need and want. And Alayna is worried that if their relationship should fail, she will fall back on her compulsions and obsessions.

This is a story about two people whose family history have left them with psychological scars that have yet to heal. The wounds continue to fester as those closest to them constantly pull them down and attack at every chance. No one and nothing is off limits, including secrets that should have been left alone.

FIXED ON YOU is a psychological study about two people who are dangerous to one another’s mind and soul. From a woman who cannot trust to a man who cannot feel the combination is bound to end in a heartbreaking revelation and a continued dysfunctional lifestyle.

If you like a story about two broken souls who have yet to realize that that the people in their lives are contributing to their pain, FIXED ON YOU is a story that will pull you in and make you wonder where everything all went wrong. But I will give you a heads up, the storyline is a combination of a few of the more popular series and trilogies. There is some definite FSOG and Crossfire action going on.

Reviewed by Sandy

_______________________________________

FOUND IN YOU (Fixed #2) by Laurelin Paige

Found in YouABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 30 , 2013

Amazon.com / Amazon.uk/ Barnes and Noble / KOBO /

Alayna Withers has only had one kind of relationship: the kind that makes her obsessive and stalker-crazy. Now that Hudson Pierce has let her into his heart, she’s determined to break down the remaining walls between them so they can build a foundation that’s based on more than just amazing sex. Except Hudson’s not the only one with secrets.

With their pasts pulling them into a web of unfounded mistrust, Alayna turns to the one person who knows Hudson the best—Celia, the woman he almost married. Hoping for insight from someone who understands all sides of the story, Alayna forms a bond with Celia that goes too far—revealing things about Hudson that could end their love for good.

This is the first relationship where Alayna hasn’t spiraled out of control. And she might lose Hudson anyway…

************************

REVIEW: FOUND IN YOU is the second storyline is Laurelin Page’s contemporary New Adult series focusing on Alayna Withers and Hudson Pierce. The series must be read in order otherwise the premise of Found In You will be lost to any new readers to this series.

Found In You continues at exactly the same spot where Fixed On You left off. Our couple have discovered that the ‘fake’ relationship has become something more-more real and more emotional than either had expected. When the couple decide to take their relationship to the next step-make something more permanent and real-there are several people waiting in the wings to tear them down and prove that they were never meant to be together.

Found In You also looks deeper into the Pierce dysfunctional family dynamics that have rendered their eldest son Hudson a emotionless man who would rather push everyone away than allow those closest to see the truth. But in the end, the truth will reveal and perhaps the cold and callous matriarch of the family has some issues of her own.

The relationship continues to be sensual and sexual but there is always the proverbial elephant in the room-will Alayna lose control of her emotions and will Hudson push Alayna away when she needs him the most.

Found in You also looks at betrayal and retribution. When Alayna is set up for a fall, she will discover just how lonely and desperate some people can be when everything is about appearances and the bottom line. Alayna will find herself on the defensive when not only Hudson’s family but her own will begin to mistrust and point fingers when old habits resurface.

FOUND IN YOU is another interesting storyline that will see both Hudson and Alayna’s pasts resurface. Trust must be earned but when the betrayer is someone close, trust becomes difficult to bear.

Reviewed by Sandy.

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