ONCE UPON A TIME IN BLISS (Nights in Bliss, Colorado #8) by Lexi Blake-Review & Excerpt Tour
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Re-release July 16, 2019
Re-released in a second edition with new content.
Go back in time to Bliss’s first happily ever after…
CIA operative John Bishop arrived in Bliss, Colorado, seeking a respite from the high-stakes game of blood and lies that sent him to the worst corners of the world. A week playing the role of vacationing professor Henry Flanders would recharge his batteries, especially if he found a gorgeous woman to occupy his time.
Nell Finn has spent her life focused on helping others, but when she meets the tall and mysterious Henry Flanders, she can’t stop imagining what he might do for her. When Nell and her mother are threatened, Henry comes to her, offering his protection and comfort.
But as the threats escalate out of control, Henry discovers that the beautiful and innocent Nell is much more than a plaything. Can he save the woman he loves without exposing the secrets that would drive her away?
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REVIEW: ONCE UPON A TIME IN BLISS is the eight instalment in Lexi Blake (aka Sophia Oak) contemporary, adult NIGHTS IN BLISS, COLORADO erotic, BDSM, romance series focusing on the town of Bliss, Colorado. This is former US Army soldier/ CIA operative John Bishop aka Henry Flanders, and activist Nell Finn’s story line. ONCE UPON A TIME IN BLISS can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary. The story line takes place six years earlier.
NOTE: ONCE UPON A TIME IN BLISS is the re-release of the 2013 novel written as Sophia Oak with additional content.
Told from dual third person perspectives ( Nell and Henry) ONCE UPON A TIME IN BLISS is the prequel story line focusing on former US Army soldier/ CIA operative John Bishop aka Henry Flanders, and activist Nell Finn, a couple who have regularly played secondary and supporting characters throughout the series. John Bishop needs some down time from his latest CIA assignment so when his friend and former CO Bill Hartman offered a few days of R&R at his Bliss, Colorado nudist resort Bishop arrived under the name Henry Flanders, in an effort to remain anonymous and out of the line of fire of the US Government but things don’t go according to plans when a local resident and her mother become the victim of a stalker intent on destroying their lives. Enter activist Nell Finn, and the woman with whom Henry would fall in love. What ensues is the building romance between Henry and Nell, and the potential fall-out as Nell’s stalker makes good on his threats.
Henry Flanders aka John Bishop is a Dominant by nature, and meeting the naïve and innocent Nell Flanders stirs something deep without our hero’s heart but John doesn’t do relationships, and his time in Bliss, Colorado comes with an expiry date.
Nell Flanders is an idealist; a dreamer; a optimist who is hoping to change the world one protest at a time but it is Nell’s continuing protests that have stirred the ire of someone who doesn’t want to be disturbed.
The relationship between Nell and Henry is one of immediate attraction but once again, John doesn’t do relationships but Henry is considering all available options including his own happily ever after with our story line heroine. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate with some light spanking and discipline scenarios.
We catch a glimpse of several familiar faces including a younger version of Seth Stark and Logan Green, and Jamie and Noah, and of course Ian Taggart.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN BLISS reveals some of the background and introduction between Nell and Henry, as well as the possibility of John Bishop’s past catching up with our story line hero. The premise is engaging and entertaining; the romance is seductive and steamy; the characters are sexy, sassy and energetic.
Previous Reviews
Pure Bliss
Changing Bliss
Copy supplied for review
Reviewed by Sandy
He felt his eyes narrow because she had plans. That was obvious. He was fairly sure that he wouldn’t like her plans. “Why?”
“Because I need to start scheduling the repairs.”
That wasn’t all she was planning on doing. She was hiding something. It was right there in the way she wouldn’t look him in the eyes. And why had she talked about her mom staying with Pam Sheppard and not herself? It was time to start herding Nell in the proper direction. He crowded her. It wasn’t hard in the small bedroom.
The minute she realized how close he was, she backed up, ceding the space until her back hit the door. “Henry?”
“How do you intend to pay for those repairs?” This cabin would require extensive repairs. Everything would have to be replaced. The door alone would cost hundreds of dollars, not to mention fixing the windows. He would bet a lot that Nell didn’t have that money.
Her face flushed the closer he got. Yes, she was aware of him, finally. That was what he wanted. “I don’t know that’s your business.”
“So it’s my business to take care of this for you, but not to know how you’ll take care of yourself? Is that how you work when you help someone out? You do one piece of the job and send them on their way?” He was playing on her sympathetic soul. And her body. He leaned in. She smelled sweet, like milk and honey. Damn, but he could eat her up. And there was no way to miss the way her nipples peaked under her sweater because she wasn’t wearing a bra.
Her voice was slightly breathless. “I think it’s nice that you want to help, but I don’t need it. I can fix everything.”
He loomed over her, well aware that he was using his height to intimidate her. “How, Nell? Do you have a job you haven’t told me about?”
“I have a computer I can pawn,” she said quietly.
He’d wondered what she’d intended to do, and still his freaking cold-as-fuck heart softened a fraction. All she’d talked about on the way over here was her writing. “I thought you wrote books.”
Her back was against the wall. She had nowhere to go, and that was just what he wanted. Her eyes had dilated. They roamed from his face to his neck to his chest, taking him in even as she spoke. “I do, but I have to admit, I don’t think I’m very good at it. I keep getting rejected, so I might as well get rid of the computer. Do you have to stand so close?”
There wasn’t a trace of irritation in that question. It had been asked with a delicious breathiness that let him know she was interested.
“If you didn’t want me to stand so close, you should have gotten a bigger bedroom,” he said, well aware his voice had gone low. He stared down at her, unwilling to let her off the hook for a second. Now that he was close to her, he was damn sure he couldn’t let her go. Oh, eventually he would. He would go back to his life and she would move on with hers, but for a week or so, he was going to be in her bed. He was going to be in her body. And he was going to solve a few of her problems. “You can’t pawn your computer. How will you keep up with your protests? How will you know what to protest in the first place?”
It didn’t make any sense, but he couldn’t stand the thought of her walking into some crummy shop and giving up her computer for half of what it was worth.
“I’ll figure it out,” she replied, her eyes round.
And selling the thing wouldn’t do any good. It would be a drop in the bucket of what she would need. “It won’t work, Nell.” He backed her against the wall. “Let someone help you. I can loan you the money.”
It wouldn’t be a loan, but she didn’t have to know that until he was long gone and she couldn’t find him.
“That’s not a good idea.” Her head tilted up. “None of this is a good idea.”
But her lips, those fuck-me, take-me lips, were trembling. Her hands were moving to his waist like she couldn’t help herself, and he didn’t even want to try to help himself. Everything about his life was plotted and planned and decided on for the best of whatever fucking mission he happened to be on.
He didn’t want to think. He wanted her. That was all that mattered.
“It’s the best idea I’ve had in a long time.”
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.
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