Losing Control (Kerr Chronicles #1) by Jen Frederick Review and Giveaway

Blurb:

I’d do anything to keep my mother alive.

Anything, including ask Ian Kerr for help. I don’t know much about him, except that he has more money than some small countries. And he’s willing to spend it on me. Just one catch: there’s a string attached, and not just the one I feel pulling me into his arms and his bed. There’s also the plan for revenge he wants my help with.

Every time he says my name, it makes my body shiver and my heart stutter. I know he’s going to wreck me, know there won’t be anything left of me but lust and sensation by the time he’s done with me, but even though I can see the heartbreak coming towards me like a train, ready to crash into me, I can’t get out of the way. I want what he makes me feel. Want what he’s offering.

This may have started out as something to save my mother, but now…now it’s about what he makes me feel. I’m in danger of losing everything that’s important. Worse? Ian's whispered words and hot caresses are making me believe that's okay.

My review:

This book will make you laugh and cry and squirm (in the best way).  In this modern day Cinderella story you have a dyslexic bike messenger and the super-rich businessman.  The chemistry is there from the moment they meet.  He wants her but she is intimidated by his money and feels insecure because of her disability. I fell hard and fast for Ian and struggled along with Tiny as she watched her mother grow ever more ill.  Jen Frederick is a “new to me” author but you can bet I will be checking out her backlist and am awaiting the next installment of the Kerr Chronicles with baited breath. 

Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.

Author Biography

Bestselling author Jen Frederick lives with her husband, child, and one rambunctious dog. She's been reading stories all her life but never imagined writing one of her own. Jen loves to hear from readers so drop her a line at jensfrederick@gmail.com.

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​Mild Excerpt

“Bad morning?”

The question comes from a rich deep voice to my right. Some stupid actor, probably. The notes of his voice are perfectly modulated as if he spent years perfecting the tone and depth to reach the biggest audience.

“Yeah, what’s it to you?” I challenge because I’m not in the mood to be chatted up by some wannabe in an off, off Broadway production who wants to try out some new lines on a messenger girl.

My sneering gaze melts right off my face when it lands on the owner of the voice. Dark haired and dark eyed, the stranger gives me a slow smile as I take him in. He’s tall, much taller than my five foot four inch frame. I have to trek upward to see the entire package.

And there’s so much to appreciate from his trim waist to the wide shoulders encased in a gray wool suit coat that fits him so well I wonder if he was sewn into it. Tiny stitches on the lapel mark it’s expensive provenance. A dark tanned neck gives way to a firm chin and lush lips.

Bee stung is the description that I’ve heard used to describe the same look on super models. Those lips are about the only soft thing on his face. Those lips and a hollow on the side of his face that appears when those plush lips curve upward. The divot is too shallow and wide to be termed a dimple, but it’s just as devastating.

One hand is stuck in a pocket and his jacket is pushed behind the hand to reveal a flat stomach. No desk paunch on this guy. There’s an intense sexual aura about him. The nonchalant stance, the dark gaze, the lush lips are all an invitation to rip the buttons of his snowy white shirt apart and see exactly what lies underneath all of those fabrics.

I stick a thumb under my jaw under the guise of giving my chin a scratch just to make sure my mouth is closed. This guy? He can practice lines with me all he wants.

Extra Hot Excerpt

“What makes you think I’ll be done with you?” He says and he moves my hands upward until they meet in an arch above my head and he can grip my wrists in one big fist. Free, his left hand slides down my arm, leaving a trail of goose bumps in his wake. His mouth is on my chin, my jaw, and then my neck. He’s tasting me, pressing the flat of his tongue against my racing pulse. “Maybe I’ll never be done with you and your solid gold pussy.” At the last word, he closes his mouth over that pulse point and sucks hard. The only thing holding me up is his hand around my wrist. He pumps his thigh against me and an involuntary moan escapes my lips.

“I don’t care,” I manage to choke out this obvious lie because my body cares a lot. “I’m not a toy. You don’t get to put me in Barbie’s expensive town home and play with me until you’re bored. I’m a fucking real person and my mom’s a real person. And we don’t need this shit right now.”

He doesn’t stop my diatribe but he doesn’t lift his mouth from my skin either. He’s sucking hard at the spot where my neck curves into my shoulder and his hand is under my ass, moving me backward and forward along his thigh. His other hand has worked its way under my shirt and is palming my breast, a large thumb rubbing my nipple. I realize my hands are free and that I’ve been holding them above my head while he rubs all over me. When I drop my hands to his shoulders I find I can’t push him anyway. Instead, I’m using his shoulders as leverage to grind down on his thigh.

The nerve endings of my sex are hyper sensitized and I swear I can feel every thread of his superfine wool pants. His leg moves, a tiny hitch, but it interrupts the rhythm and removes the pressure. “Don’t you stop,” I threaten him, all the heat in my tone has turned from anger to throaty desire.

“Shh, bunny, I got you.” He lifts me completely and spins me around. I have no option but to wrap my legs around him. A few quick steps and we’re in another bedroom with one giant bed and nothing much else. He tumbles me back onto the bed and then lowers himself on top of me, and there’s nothing in my field of vision but the hard planes of his face and the ruddy flush of desire on the high points of his cheekbones. He looks fierce and hungry.

Before I can capture another thought, his mouth is on mine and his hand is pushing aside the lace of my soaked panties. I’m moaning from both the feel of his thick tongue inside of my mouth and the sensation of one and then two of his fingers thrusting inside me. Sucking hard on his tongue, I lift my hips to grind against his hand.

His free hand spears my hair and tugs my head back as if he can’t get his tongue deep enough inside me. He tastes of spearmint and earthiness, of true desire. My whole body is alive and it’s straining toward him, toward completion. I brace my feet against the mattress, seeking more pressure. Breaking away from his mouth, I pant, “Harder. Fuck me harder with your fingers.”

I give him a quick once over. His suit is ruined. He never took even his coat off when he finger fucked me and I’m guessing the fragile wool wasn’t meant to be worn during any intense physical encounters. There are creases in the arms and shoulders were I clutched him and was that a … stain on his thigh. I ducked my head to hide my embarrassment. “You owe me a lot of explanations.”

“I’ll be here when you’re done. Come back and we'll talk.”

I give him an absent nod but it’s not sufficient of a response for him. He strides over and tips my head back. “I’m having this suit bronzed, you know.”

My cheeks heat because I know he’s referring to the mark in the wool made from my arousal. He leans down and gives me a hard kiss. “Come back here tonight.” It’s a demand and not a question.

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Bitten By Ecstasy (Dark Judgement #2) by Naima Simone

Blurb:

A brutal attack left Bastien Sarris for dead. But a chance encounter with a mysterious female drags him back from the brink of death—and transforms the hippogryph healer into a monster he doesn’t recognize. Now a terrible hunger consumes him—one that is becoming impossible to satisfy. Desperate for a cure, he hunts the cruxim who cursed him to a hellish existence. But the petite warrior ignites a fierce desire for her body that overwhelms the sweet call of blood.

For three hundred years Sinéad lived and hunted as a cruxim—a winged vampire hunter. But one sacrificial act stripped her immortality, leaving her human, vulnerable and unprepared for the reappearance of Bastien in her life. The hippogryph is harder and colder than she remembers…and he triggers an onslaught of need within her that is as powerful as it is unfamiliar. She craves his kiss, his touch. Yet even as she surrenders to this newfound passion, she faces a crucial decision—betray the man she’s come to love and regain her immortality, or save Bastien and condemn herself to a human life and death.

My review:

We briefly met Bastien in Under His Wings (Dark Judgement #1) but this book can probably be read stand alone.  Bastien is a Beta male hippogryph and an extremely talented healer.  He was heading to see his best friend Nico (Dark Judgement #1) after his girl dumped him when he was viciously attacked and left for dead.  He would have died but was found and saved by Sinéad - a cruxim—a winged vampire hunter.  In saving him she changed them both.  He ends up craving blood.  When he hunts her down to see if she can change him back he is shocked to find she is now human.  And now the object they both need to give them a chance to return to their former selves has been stolen by the vampires.  They need each other and find themselves falling for each other. 

I liked Sinéad from the start.  Bastien not so much.  Of the two she got it worse and just from going against her nature to nurture him back to health and he was the whiney one.  Fortunately right about the time I was going to give up on him he manned up and got his stuff together.  The sex scenes are hot and in the first half of the book mostly takes place in their imaginations.  Naima Simone has a gift for a turn of phrase and her descriptions leave no doubt. 

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Midnight Crossroad (Midnight, Texas #1) by Charlaine Harris

Blurb:

Welcome to Midnight, Texas, a town with many boarded-up windows and few full-time inhabitants, located at the crossing of Witch Light Road and Davy Road. It’s a pretty standard dried-up western town.

There’s a pawnshop (someone lives in the basement and is seen only at night). There’s a diner (people who are just passing through tend not to linger). And there’s new resident Manfred Bernardo, who thinks he’s found the perfect place to work in private (and who has secrets of his own).

Stop at the one traffic light in town, and everything looks normal. Stay awhile, and learn the truth...

My review:

Nobody does quirky mystery quite like Charlaine Harris.  Midnight Crossroad introduces you to the residents of Midnight, Texas including psychic Manfred Bernardo (who we met in the Harper Connelly books).  Everybody seems to have their secrets and don’t push to know yours. There are more mysteries than just the town folk and Ms. Harris will have you staying up late to find the answers.

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Crazy Maybe (Crazy #1) by A.D. Justice

Blurb:

Andi Stone is a strong, smart and independent woman, thanks to the help of a famous boxing trainer, Mack, and his protégé, Shane, who have respectively been like a father and brother to her. But that wasn't always the case. Andi never knew what a “normal” life was like. Having been raised in foster care from the age of six after the death of her parents, Andi became emancipated at 16 after an especially horrible incident forced her into a psychiatric hospital. 

Luke Woods, the family black sheep and street-brawler, is determined to be a successful professional boxer despite his family’s protests. He needs Andi’s help to get there. The wedge between him and his family over his past relationship issues and career choices is not easily overcome. Luke must learn to face the past mistakes, fears and demons that constantly plague him. 

Fireworks and passions quickly ignite between Andi and Luke in the midst of the chaos that surrounds and threatens them. She never revealed the secrets and lies that have plagued her, but when she publicly inherits her family fortune, the living, breathing past comes back to torment her and threaten all that she holds dear. For the first time in her life, Andi must learn to rely on someone else to love and protect her or risk losing the man she loves. 

Sometimes love isn’t enough. Sometimes it’s all you need.

My review:

I am usually not a fan of he said/she said type books but it was important to the story that we know what each character was thinking and dialogue wasn’t an option.  I really got a kick out of this book.  I stay up late to finish.  I will admit that as an old fart I did have to look up some of the lyrics of the songs mentioned but other than that… This is supposedly the first in a series but this stands well on its own (no cliffhanger endings) you can be sure I will be checking out the next installment.

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Her Royal Protector (A Johari Crown novel) by Alexandra Sellers Review & Contest

Blurb:

Aly Percy is her family's ugly duckling, and she's never been allowed to forget it. So she knows better than to imagine that Cup Companion Arif al Najimi's blue gaze holds anything but contempt for her as a woman, or ever will. But if he's offering to show her just how wild one night with him can be, wouldn't she be a fool to turn down his charity? She may never get another offer like this one. 
Arif al Najimi isn't sure why he's dreaming about the little scientist who's so determined to take crazy risks for the sake of her research into the endangered turtles of his country. But as luck would have it, he's going to get the chance to do a little research of his own…into the question of why Aly believes her own negative publicity about how desirable she is—and how hard it will be to convince her of the truth.

My review:

This is a sweet escapist romance.  It was a joy watching Aly bloom. She is smart and fiercely determined to do the right thing.  She is nobody’s fool yet she has self-esteem and Daddy issues that keep her from being all she can be.  Arif has issues too but not as easily recognizable.  When these two get together there is an undeniable chemistry.  Now if they can only get their heads out of the way and let their hearts do the talking.  Get away from it all and visit with Aly and Arif in the gulf islands.

Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.

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Remember our Heroes

Remember our Heroes

Unexpected by Lori Foster

Blurb:

Who's Protecting Who?

Eli Conners expected hired mercenary Ray Vereker to be a tank of a guy with forty tattoos--not the feminine ideal with lethal combat skills. While Eli certainly needs Ray's help, the rest of him is thinking he might have something to offer her. . .

Ray's as good as any man when it comes to storming enemy compounds and loading an AK-47, but who could blame a girl for succumbing to mind-blowing temptation in the steamy jungle? But now it's back to business. If only Ray wasn't feeling hot, bothered, dizzy. . .

Suddenly, Ray's precise, no-nonsense mission is veering wildly off course, derailed by raging hormones, out-of-control desire, and a delirious love that is completely unexpected. . .

My review:

I had fun with this re-release of Unexpected by Lori Foster.  It is filled with Ms. Fosters’ manly men and smart sassy women.  It is a fast paced romantic suspense and another reason that I have Lori Foster on my auto buy list.

Under His Wings (Dark Judgement #1) by Naima Simone

Blurb:

Warrior, lover…savior. A winged avenger with chocolate feathers and lavender eyes haunts Tamar Ridgeway’s dreams—her erotic escape after surviving a horrible plane crash and enduring years of painful physical therapy. But fantasy becomes terrifying reality when she’s attacked by a mythical creature from her darkest nightmares. Now her sexy dream warrior is vowing to save her, whether she wants his protection or not.

Nicolai Abioud, judge and executioner of the hippogryph, is stunned when the woman he rescues is the same who submits to him nightly in his dreams…and a replica of his dead wife. He’s fascinated by her beauty and spirit, consumed by the craving to touch…to take. Yet he lost his one true bondmate five hundred years ago. And falling for a human—no matter how beautiful—is a foolish risk. But the choice to love may be snatched away. Danger is closing in. They must conquer their enemy and fears, or be doomed to lose the love of a millennium.

My review:

Not your average shifter book.  From the cover I thought this book was going to be about angels. NOPE.   Tamar has had it tough.  She was the lone survivor of a small plane crash and then was abused by her then fiancé and then lost her mother to illness. The only thing that got her through it was her very vivid (and erotic) dreams of a winged warrior.  When she and her friend were attacked her warrior appears in real life to save her. 

This is a fun, sexy, shifter romance.  I adored Tamar.  She is a survivor with a snarky sense of humor.  She refuses to surrender and is the perfect mate for our hero.  Off to get the next installment.  Bitten By Ecstasy.

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Touch Me (Semper Fi Marines #3) by Melissa Schroeder

Blurb:

A man trying to forget.

Jackson Johnson had always planned to spend his life in the Marines serving his country—that is until he came back from a mission with memories he’d rather not have. He feels like he’s circling the drain until he meets the new tenant next door. An altercation with her unruly dog has them at odds. That is until he finds himself kissing her.

A woman who doesn’t have time for love.

Veterinarian Hannah Richmond doesn’t have time for the surly Marine or any man for that matter. Still, resisting his kisses proves futile and soon she finds herself falling for Jack. For the first time in a really long time she discovers she might just want to try for that happily ever after—that is until her past comes back to haunt her.

A Marine determined to prove his love.

Jack knows Hannah is pushing him away because she wants to keep him safe but there is one thing she needs to understand: this Marine will never retreat until she surrenders.

My review:

Jack Johnson was born to be a Marine.  He has had a couple of rough deployments so he is stateside teaching at Camp Pendleton.  He has taken some grief from his siblings as he is still un-married.  His next door neighbor is a veterinarian with a huge mutt that likes Jacks flower bed.  The more he interacts with the pretty vet over this the more he wants her in his bed.  Like his brothers and sister he falls fast, hard and final.

Jack has been the mystery man so it was good to get to know him in this story.  Though this is part of a series it can be read stand-alone.  This is a quick, sexy, fun read you can’t beat. 

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Her Marine Bodyguard (Always a Marine #22) by Heather Long

Blurb:

Someone is watching her…

Shannon Fabray’s career in the art world is on the rise thanks in no small part to her signature sculpture Her Marine. But with fame, comes fans and some like to get closer than others. Coping with the notoriety, Shannon doesn’t let the constant contact get under her skin until one night, it goes to far and to Shannon’s horror, one of them is making it very clear he wants the artist for himself and sees her as a possession that should be added to his collection.

He’s coming home…

After dozen years in service to his country, Lieutenant Brody Essex has lost count of the missions he’s run, the hours he’s spent in the field and the number of days he’s been out of the country. Budgetary issues freeze his promotion, and his unit is left on the ground in Afghanistan, but he makes it work because the only countdown that matters to him is the one that will bring him home—home to the artist that carved a niche in his heart. When bureaucratic snafus hold up his paperwork, he sucks it up until a phone call alerts him that Shannon’s loft has been broken into, and she was nearly kidnapped. 

Breaking all the rules…

Now Brody will break the rules and go AWOL, heading home without permission because his girl is in danger and she needs her Marine bodyguard…

My review:

We met straight arrow Lieutenant Brody Essex and artist Shannon Fabray in Her Marine (Always a Marine #5).  Two years have passed and they have grown closer through infrequent visits, skype, email and snail mail.  Shannon has found her passion and it has made her work shine.  Her work is growing in popularity and she has a stalker.  Brody is overseas but his Marine family has been watching over Shannon in his absence.  When the stalker escalates to violence against her Brody needs to be by her side. 

It is tough being a military spouse/significant other.  I know this from experience.  Being apart from your loved ones is hard but it is especially difficult in times of trouble.  This book puts you there.  I promise you will feel Shannon’s fear and Brody’s frustration but mostly you will feel their love and the sense of community from their friends and the great folks from Mikes place.  You probably can read this stand-alone but it will mean so much more if you’ve at least read Her Marine.  This is an addictive series and each seems to be better than the last. 

An advanced copy was provided by the author for an honest review


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Spotlight on Make Me Burn(Book 2, Fireborne Series) by R.G. Alexander

Make Me Burn

Book 2, Fireborne Series

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Aziza Jane Stewart is the last of the Fireborne, and so far it’s been nothing but a curse, destroying her family and putting everyone she loves in danger. Now she’s on a quest to find her brother’s portion of the power that flows in her veins and track down the murdering Jiniyr who are a threat to her loved ones.

She and her Enforcer lover Brandon are officially “in a relationship”, but she’s still torn between two men who both set her on fire. Brandon’s duties are driving a wedge between them, and her need to protect her Jinn guardian isn’t helping. Exiled and stripped of his powers, Ram is focused on satisfying his darkest urges…and tempting her to come along for the ride.

When Aziza discovers Brandon has been keeping news of ritualistic murders from her and the evidence is pointing at Ram, all bets are off. It’s time to find her own answers, embrace what’s inside her and make her own rules, damn the consequences.

Warning: Explicit content, and even more danger and heavy drinking than book one. Fetish clubs and role-play, whips and chains, voyeurism and exhibitionism. More inappropriate use of supernatural powers for deviant activities. In other words, burning down the house.

Excerpt:

Copyright © 2014 R.G. Alexander
All rights reserved — a Samhain Publishing, Ltd. publication

It’s almost time. All you have to do is let go.

No. If she let go she would fall.

Adrenaline made every muscle in Aziza’s taut, outstretched body tremble and her grip tighten instinctively on the silk fabric, the only thing keeping her from crashing to the floor far below.

Her mind was flooded by the memory of falling backward carelessly and plummeting from Penn’s roof with her arms wide. Though the world had gone black, before she realized it, Ram had saved her from crashing into the unforgiving ground.

He wouldn’t save her this time. He wouldn’t need to. Things were different now.She was different.

A small handful of people standing beneath her craned their necks, waiting in absolute silence to see what would happen next. They wouldn’t save her either, but she had their undivided attention.

Show them how to live. Let go…or I will.

Pushing away that disturbing thought, Aziza listened for the cue of the music through the pounding of blood in her ears. When she heard it, she relaxed her pose and let go of the silk. Her body dropped, twirling down, the floor rising up to meet her so swiftly that to the untrained eye it may have seemed accidental. But she was in complete control. That was the point. She wasn’t falling. She was in control.

Of this, if not her love life. If not of the Jinn or the Niyr or her emotions. Of this, if nothing else.

The silk that had been coiled purposefully around her waist was now held in both her hands as she swung her legs upward and wrapped the fabric around her ankles. The swaying rigging helped as she used her body’s weight and momentum to spin in a dizzying circle through the air.

Flying.

The music she’d brought to practice on the aerial silks—a club-style remix of “Come Josephine in My Flying Machine”—reminded her with every precise movement who she was. The vocals were haunting, the beat hard and invigorating.

Discordant.

It was how she felt. Just a little…off. Not completely herself. She was missing something.

Brandon. She wavered on the silks before pushing him out of her mind. The song. Focus on the song.

The tune from her nightmarish dreams had now become a sort of anthem, a melody meant to keep her mindful of what she’d done…what she’d been told she still needed to do. The more she listened to it, the more familiar it became. Not only from the dream, but from a childhood memory that remained frustratingly out of reach. Sometimes she saw flashes of laughter and her father’s smiling, bearded face, but nothing else.

She never forgot anything. Every word she’d heard spoken and every moment in her life was filed away and easily accessible in her mind. Even the memories she’d rather not keep—like the lifeless eyes of last night’s victim—would always be with her. So why was this apparently happy memory eluding her?

Her arms and legs straightened as they’d been trained to do, slowing her spin and pulling her body up with a strength she’d never had before, a strength that had only grown in the last few weeks, giving her this newfound agility.

Aziza pushed her legs back against the silks, her body curved and breasts jutting out like the busty carving on the prow of an ancient ship, her skin warm, more from excitement than exertion. Forgetting her pain and fear, she let herself fall forward once more, loving the momentary sensation of weightlessness as she did flip after perfectly controlled flip until she landed on the padded mat and the music came to an end.

Back on solid ground again, she sighed in disappointment.

The smattering of applause made her grin in spite of her dark mood, as her instructor, Anthony, left the others who’d been watching her and came to her side.

“Either I’m a miracle worker, which you are perfectly free to profess to anyone within hearing distance,” he said with the self-effacing British charm that was so much a part of his personality, “or you, Aziza Jane Stewart, are a prodigy. One week at your American school and not much more time here, and already you’ve given our seasoned performers some true competition. That was inspired. Are you quite sure you won’t join in this season’s student performance?”

Aziza laughed, placing her hand on his arm as she bent down to grab her towel and water bottle. “Thanks, Anthony, but I’d rather be in the audience than in the spotlight. It’s the best place to watch your show.”

“I am glad of that.” Anthony cupped her shoulder in a friendly gesture before dropping his hand awkwardly. “Though my joy is tempered with the knowledge that my charm is not what it once was. Both you and your handsome friend have turned me down again.”

Handsome friend. Her instructor was no more immune to Ram’s charms than anyone else in this city. He drew people to him like moths to a dangerous flame. From what little she’d seen, the Jinn had the market cornered in the sultry and breathtakingly beautiful department. And Ram was a prime example of his species, even without his powers.

“Ram was here today?” She looked around, attempting a casual air, as if she weren’t dying to see him. To warn him about the murders. To be near him. Usually she passed him on her way in or saw him watching her practice, but she hadn’t caught a glimpse of him yet this morning.

She’d talked him into coming with her a couple of weeks ago when she saw him at Underbridge. Dared him, really, since “talking” implied a conversation between two people and Ram tried to avoid those whenever possible. She’d had to do something. His body had healed but the rest of him was taking longer. Whether he admitted it or not, he was hurting and she owed him.

Luckily, the dare had paid off. He still wasn’t back to his old self—with her, at least—but as soon as he arrived here, so many people had fallen all over themselves to be near him, she wasn’t surprised when he came with her the next time. And the next. Ram had trained as a warrior most of his life, and he had enviable skill and control over his body—and enough arrogance and ego to appreciate the way everyone here admired it. Admired him.

“He’s still here.” Anthony tilted his head, his smile broadening. “I understand he and another man are having an impromptu sparring session in one of the training rooms. I believe that’s why it’s so empty in here. Shall we go take a look?”

Smiling back, she nodded and followed him through the grand room crisscrossed with ropes and wires, carefully staying out of the way of a young man in a harness who was running along the wall.

The Hangar was a large industrial building in Greenwich, a little bit hard to get to but more than worth it for Aziza. The Aircraft Circus held performances throughout London, and The Hangar was where they all worked and trained in aerial silks and trapeze, among other things. With four studios, acrobatics, yoga and flexibility classes, along with these one-on-one sessions, this was the best place to get the kind of workout she needed. One where she was her only competition, and all her battles were internal. It was her meditation, her workout. And it was by far the preferable option to werewolf boot camp.

Thank God she’d discovered this place—this very human, no-magic-needed-for-feats-of-daring place. When she’d marked “running away to join the circus” off her bucket list back in Texas so long ago, she’d been sad to leave the small class behind. Because of her memory—the woman performing on an aerial hoop beneath a hot air balloon—but also because of the atmosphere. The acceptance…the feeling of joy and family. The trust.

When they arrived in a crowded hallway, Anthony steered her through the huddled group so she could look inside.

“Speaking of perfection,” a woman behind her muttered. “You ever seen anything tastier than those two fit devils grappling shirtless?”

Aziza was too busy catching her breath to answer.

Ram and a man she didn’t recognize moved together in a dance-like circle on the exercise mat, close enough to either kiss or beat each other bloody as they ducked kicks, dodged punches and held each other’s arms down. The spectacle was breathtakingly erotic.

Her Jinn was still godlike and beautiful, but the word “pretty” was no longer entirely accurate. His time in exile had hardened him, made him look more like the warrior he was than the mischievous, deviant devil she’d first met. He’d cut his hair close to his head in a militant look and his side still carried the slashing scar from the wound he’d suffered that fateful night. The solid cuff on his wrist that she knew couldn’t be removed glinted as he threw a punch, reminding her that his actions had left more than physical scars behind.

He was stronger, his lean muscles more defined than they had been a few weeks ago. When she first met him she’d thought, despite his behavior, he looked like an angel. Now, he was all man.

Ram bent his knees and rolled, a move that should have knocked his opponent on his ass, but instead the man jumped with a laugh and winked at the audience. “Fool me once…”

A collective sigh echoed through the crowd, and Aziza wasn’t any more immune than they were to the smiling stranger. She’d been surrounded by hot men for months, and yet this man still managed to startle her with his attractiveness. It was as if someone had taken all the best qualities of her hunky entourage and poured them into one cool, lean package that reminded her a little bit of a young, short-haired Lenny Kravitz.

And she’d had an all-out, posters-in-her-high-school-locker crush on Lenny.

The man had obviously been getting a workout because his light-brown skin was gleaming. He wore low-riding black sweatpants and nothing else, and what she’d at first assumed were tattoos, on closer inspection merged into a series of scars across his chest, raised marks that had form and had obviously been put there on purpose. Designed. Scarification? He had small-gauge piercings in his ears as well. They only made him look more masculine and dangerous. So did his eight-pack abs.

He’s different.

Naughty Bits Part II: The Training Session (Naughty Bits #2) by Joey W. Hill

Blurb:

Fear is no match for lust in Joey W. Hill’s sexy new novella about a woman who sheds her shame to embrace her pleasure…

Madison may have ditched her well-ordered Boston life to run Naughty Bits, her sister’s North Carolina lingerie shop, but she didn’t expect to throw herself into such chaos—or to become intimate with the sexiest man she’s ever had the pleasure of meeting. After spending a night observing a submissive’s training session, Madison is ready for Logan to teach her how to feed her own deep fantasies—and get rid of all her lingering fears…

Madison’s aching desire to submit is unlike anything Logan’s ever experienced before, and he’s determined to be the man to make her relinquish control. Still, Logan’s unsure if Madison is ready to take that first step to becoming his—until she shows up at his door ready to be commanded. Luckily for them both, Logan’s got more than a few surprises up his sleeve that he knows she’ll enjoy…

My review:

I always feel like a bit of a voyeur when reading something written by Joey W. Hill.  Her writing makes me feel like I am in the moment with the characters and some of those moments can be intense indeed.  In this installment of Naughty Bits Part II: The Training Session Madison is continuing to grieve for her sister and has taken her decision to explore her sensuality and submission with Logan to the next level.  Trust is still an issue for her but Logan is helping her overcome that in a most delightful way.  I can hardly wait for the next installment.  

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The Navy SEAL's E-Mail Order Bride (The Heroes of Chance Creek #1) by Cora Seton

Blurb:

Mason Hall, Navy SEAL, knows all about difficult assignments, but his current mission is one for the record books. Not only must he find a wife—and get her pregnant—or forfeit the ranch his family has prized for generations, he must also convince his three brothers to marry, too—before the year is up. Who knew one city girl and three wayward brothers could put up such a fight?

My review:

Four brothers.  Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines.  They grew up on a ranch in Montana till their father died and they were forced out by their uncle.  Now the uncle I dead and they have a chance to get the ranch back.  But it comes with strings.  They each need to find a wife.  Mason, the oldest, is just getting out of the Navy and tasked with not only finding a wife but getting her with child within a year.  He has never backed down from a challenge and won’t back down now.   

There has long been a tradition of mail order brides for ranchers out west.  This story is the modern version.  It is funny, sad, sweet and sexy.  I look forward to seeing how the rest of the brothers fare.

Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

Blind Fury (Men of Steele) by Gwen Hernandez

Blurb:

When always-play-it-safe Jenna Ryan starts questioning how her brother died in Afghanistan, someone decides she must be stopped. Permanently. Her brother’s best friend—a sexy thrill-seeker she can’t stop thinking about—won’t reveal what he knows about the fatal shoot-out, putting Jenna at odds with the only man she trusts to keep her alive.

Former special forces operator Mick Fury would give his life to keep his best friend’s irresistible sister safe. He took an oath to stay silent about their last mission, but Mick’s will is tested by the white-hot attraction to Jenna he’s tried to ignore for years. Now he must risk everything—even falling in love—to protect her from the truth that could destroy them both.

My review:

Lots of action and adventure in this romantic suspense tale by “new to me author” Gwen Hernandez.  Rule number one in the Guy Code is you don’t hit on your best buds sister.  Mick has been trying to stay away for years but when that best bud asks you to take care of her with his dying breath what is a guy to do.  Jenna has been kept away from the rough side of life by an over protective brother but when trouble shows up at her door there is nobody she would rather have to keep her safe (besides her brother) than Mick.  He is hot and charming and has a way with the ladies but that hasn’t kept Jenna from wanting him.  When your life is on the line priorities shift and you discover that life is to be lived and sometimes that means taking a risk even if it may break your heart.  I will look for future installments of the Men of Steele.

Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review

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Slightly Spellbound (Southern Witch #4) by Kimberly Frost

Blurb:

With two kinds of magick at odds inside her and two gorgeous men vying for her attention, Tammy Jo Trask is used to being pulled in opposite directions. But in the latest Southern Witch novel she’ll have to make some serious decisions—like how she intends to stay alive.

Tammy Jo’s romance with the wizard Bryn Lyons is on hold while her ex-husband is in town trying to remind her of the good old days. Choosing between them isn’t easy, and it doesn’t help that a skeletal creature is spying on her, a faery knight is hunting her, and she just made friends with Evangeline Rhodes—a rich witch who thinks her own family is trying to kill her.

When Evangeline disappears under suspicious circumstances, Tammy Jo is determined to find out what happened. As she uncovers a secret more dangerous—and personal—than she could have imagined, she also discovers that, in both love and magic, you can’t stay neutral forever.

My review:

TAMMY JO IS BACK!  When the last book Halfway Hexed (Southern Witch #3) came out in February 2011 it left a lot of unanswered questions.  Slightly Spellbound answers a lot of those issues but of course brings up more.  Hopefully we won’t have to wait as long for answers to those.  This is part of a series and I would suggest you go back and find Would-Be Witch, Barely Bewitched, and Halfway Hexed (Southern Witch #1-3).  Believe me they are worth the read.  Fans of Molly Harper and Angie Fox will eat this up.

 

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Her Perfect Mate (X-Ops #1) by Paige Tyler

Blurb:

When Special Forces Captain Landon Donovan is picked for an assignment with the Department of Covert Affairs, he’s stunned to find his new partner is a beautiful woman who looks like she couldn’t hurt a fly, much less take down a terrorist.

Ivy Halliwell isn’t your average covert op. Her feline DNA means she can literally bring out the claws when things get dicey. She isn’t thrilled to be paired with yet another military grunt, but Landon is different. He doesn’t think she’s a freak and he’s smokin’ hot.

Soon they find themselves facing a threat even greater than anyone imagines...and an animal magnetism impossible to ignore.

My review:

Romantic suspense with a paranormal twist.  This is the first in an exciting new series.  Action, adventure and romance.  I liked everything about this book but the title.  It is a little misleading. The characters were compelling and the story kept you turning the page to see what happens next.  This is an incredibly fast paced story and I couldn’t put it down.  I look forward to the next installment.

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