romance

An Early Look: Review: Cake by Lauren Dane

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imageARC provided by publisher via NetGalley.

This novella is part of the Harlequin’s new Cosmo Red-Hot Reads line. (The first one, by Sylvia Day, will be released tomorrow). It definitely lives up to name of the line.

Gregori is a successful multi-media artist. He’s also very, very hot with his tattoos, nipple rings and beard. Wren, currently attending art school, is working hard to get her graphic novel published. Her job as a bike messenger helps pays the bills. Wren has been delivering packages and paperwork for Gregori for a year now.

They have slowly developed a friendship in that year. She always makes her deliveries to him last so that they can chat about his work or her art school. He provides her with scrumptious treats and hot tea.

Underlining the friendship is a super-charged attraction. When they do finally have sex, it is scorching. It scares Gregori how amazing the sex is and how at ease it is to be with Wren. He’s divorced and very wary of being in a relationship. He is the first to back away.

Wren is a fabulous, take-charge heroine. She sees that Gregori is skittish and scared but doesn’t back down from what she wants and doesn’t let Gregori push her aside. She shows him in every way that their relationship will be different than the marriage he had.

“I came here to get some distance between us. To cool things off.” She stepped closer. “I know. I came here to put an end to such silliness.”

Although, this is a short read, I didn’t feel like I was missing anything in the story. I belived in Wren and Gregori’s HEA. Wren is a fierce heroine. I adored her. She never let Gregori give in to his insecurities about their relationship.

This novella will be out Monday, September 15. Go and pre-order this! You won’t regret it!

~Thalia

Pre-order It Now Cake

Review: Rush by Maya Banks

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imageThe book opens with Gabe Hamilton mentally lusting after one of his best friend’s (much younger) sister at the grand opening of his hotel. Mia Crestwell is attracted to Gabe as well. They end up making out at this party. They stop and he tells her to meet him at his office the next day.

Gabe offers Mia a job as his personal assistant. She’s naturally confused. He explains, “The purpose of your working for me is so you’d be at my side at all times. And I’d have you when I want & how I want.” Let me backtrack a little to mention that Mia is a recent college graduate. Gabe is 13 yrs. older than her AND the sister of one of his dearest friends & business partner. This is his proposition to her. It gets worse. She accepts! It gets much worse. He hands her a contract to read stating the terms of their relationship.

The contract states that Mia will “cede power to him not only in the bedroom, but in all aspects of their relationship as well.” Gabe’s end of the contract is “that all her needs would be met, physically and financially. There was nothing at all about emotional needs.” Does Mia sign this contract? Of course, she does, otherwise there wouldn’t be a book. I wish there wasn’t a book. And I wish this was not the first book I won on Goodreads. 😦

The rest of book book lives up to the horrible premise of the book. A lot of excuses are made about why Gabe behaves the way he does. None are valid enough to justify his treatment of Mia. I gave this book 2 stars because I did like his friends, especially the sarcastic Ash.

I won this book though the First Reads giveaway on Goodreads.

~Thalia

Buy It Now Rush (The Breathless Trilogy)

Review: The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay (and giveaway!)

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This is a difficult review to write because I loved the book, the storyline, the characters, the plot, pretty much everything. So it’s hard to be objective and write almost anything.

The book starts off a little slow and at first I was wondering when it would pick up. But after reading the whole book I realized that the slow start was necessary. This book packs in all the emotions and by the end I was overwhelmed with the feels.

It’s almost impossible to say anything without being spoiler-ish and I think with this book it’s important to not have spoilers.

This quote pulled me in right away.

“I live in a world without magic or miracles. A place where there are no clairvoyants or shapeshifters, no angels or superhuman boys to save you. A place where people die and music disintegrates and things suck. I am pressed so hard against the earth by the weight of reality that some days I wonder how I am still able to lift my feet to walk.”

Nastya and Josh tell the story from alternating points of views and this technique definitely worked for this book.

This was not just a romance, this is a suspense, a young adult novel but also an adult one as well. I can’t say enough good things about this book so instead I’m going to give away the book so one reader can see for themselves!

To enter the giveaway make sure you’re officially following this blog and make a comment as well. On Thursday, the 15th I’ll post the winner – which will be chosen by a random number generator.

Good luck!

5 stars

~Clio

Buy it Now The Sea of Tranquility: A Novel

Review: The Long, Hot Texas Summer (McCabe Homecoming #2) by Cathy Gillen Thacker

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3 stars

Justin and Amanda are unexpectedly thrown together to start a ranch for boys with social service needs. As they work on the ranch, a spark develops, and they spend the rest of the book exploring their chemistry together. That, and working on getting the ranch ready to open on time.

This book was predictable and the characters were underdeveloped. But the plot was cute, Justin and Amanda were likeable (and beautiful, of course), and the writing was good.

All in all, The Long, Hot Summer isn’t really special in any way, but it is a cute, straightforward romance with the requisite three scenes of intimacy.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

–Calliope

Buy It Now The Long, Hot Texas Summer

Happy Birthday to US…and a Giveaway!

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Next week our blog will be exactly 1 month old! The 5 of us have been having so much fun reviewing books and getting feedback both from readers and from some of the Authors we’ve reviewed.

We want to keep going and just make the blog better and better every month.

But in the meantime Happy Blog-iversary to us!! On behalf of all of the muses thank you to anyone who has read our posts!!

To celebrate I’m going to give away two of my most recent favorite books that I’ve read.

Pivot Point by Kasie West & The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay

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I’ve read both of these in the last month or so and they were both 5 star books for me. I’ll be posting my review of Pivot Point on Saturday and my review of The Sea of Tranquility. But spoiler alert – they were both freaking awesome. But in totally different ways.

So if you’d like to enter for the giveaway you need to do just 2 things – become a follower of this blog and comment on any of this post or the 2 reviews I’ll be doing. If you’re interested in only one of the books make sure to comment which one.

Next Thursday the 15th I’ll post the winners and contact you about getting your ebook to you!

Good luck 🙂

~ Clio

Review: It Had to Be You by Jill Shalvis

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imageAli Winters is having a rough day. She discovers that her boyfriend is cheating. Said boyfriend dumps her before she can dump him. She was living with her now ex-boyfriend, who didn’t renew the lease on the house, which now leaves her homeless.

Luke Hanover is not having a good day himself. He was in charge of the investigation of multiple murders, with the prime suspect being a prominent senator. The case ended with the death of the senator’s aide and the senator killing himself. Luke is using all of his vacation time to return home to Lucky Harbor and to be left alone.

Unfortunately, Ali is still at his house when he goes home. Feeling bad for her situation, he allows her to stay. Soon, he is helping her investigate who stole the 50K that Ali is accused of stealing. Also, he is dragged into investigating smaller crimes that his grandpa’s friends need help solving.

It is always fun to visit the small but lively town of Lucky Harbor. I enjoyed watching Ali and Luke circle each other and eventually give in to their lust. I liked seeing that lust develop into something more. Ali and Luke both have some baggage involving their families that they must overcome.

The outcome of the books in this sweet, funny and sometimes sexy series is always predictable but thoroughly enjoyable to read. There is sequel bait with Luke’s two friends, Jack, the firefighter and the mysterious, unseen, military man, Ben. I look forward to their stories and revisiting Lucky Harbor.

This is the 7th book in the Lucky Harbor series but it can definitely be read as a standalone. It’s a great entry to the series because it’s the start of a trilogy within the series. The next book features Jack and Ali’s friend, Leah.

ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley.

~Thalia

Buy It Now It Had to Be You (Lucky Harbor)

Review: Married by Morning Lisa Kleypas

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image“Was this some new level of depravity? Had he developed a spinster fetish?”

Lisa Kleypas has created one of her most captivating heroes in Leo Hathaway. As a young man, Leo lost his fiancée to scarlet fever. This tragedy turned him into a hedonistic, sarcastic scoundrel. A very funny one.

“Oh, I have a very pure soul. It’s only my private parts that have gotten me into trouble.”

“Tell me about our legal issues. And use small words. I don’t like to think at this hour of the morning. It hurts.”

Catherine Marks is the one lady who can match wits with him. As they banter back and forth, they acknowledge that beneath that hatred is a mutual attraction. They go from trying to find the worst on each to learning about the best in each other.

It was a pleasure to watch them fall in love. The Hathaway family is there along with a mischevious ferret named Dodger to help Leo and Marks through their courtship. One of Kleypas’ funniest books punctuated by sweet memorable moments.

This is the fourth book in the Hathaways series. This book can be read as a standalone but I highly recommend reading the previous books. Marks and Leo’s relationship develops through the series and you can see the attraction building.

~Thalia

Buy It Now Married By Morning (Hathaways)

Review: Covet, by Tracey Garvis-Graves

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Let me start out by saying a few things. This is my first book by Ms. Garvis-Graves. I have On the Island, but haven’t read it yet. I figured if everyone raves about it, I should, but I haven’t gotten around to it. So when I saw this book, I assumed if everyone likes the other ones, this would probably be similar and I’d like it also. Know what they say about assuming??

I know what the word covet means. I just never read the description or reviews. I just assumed I knew what it was gonna be like. And plus I really liked the cover. I mean, with a gorgeous cover like that, it can’t be bad, right?

I think I may have jumped the gun a bit.

Chris and Claire were struggling in their marriage and they didn’t know what to do. He spent more time away from his house than he did living in it. He misses his wife and kids, but after a year of unemployment, this job is the only thing keeping them afloat. He’s willing to do anything to support his family, but he doesn’t realize the cost of being away.

Claire loves her husband, but is lonely. She meets Daniel, a local cop, and starts a friendship with him. At first, it was all innocent, but after a while lines were getting fuzzy and that was hard to read. She finds herself thinking about Daniel and spending lots of time with him.

I’m not a fan of any kinds of cheating, emotional or physical. So I almost didn’t finish it. I had to take a break for a while.

The intermingling stories of their friends and neighbors were a nice touch. You saw a glimpse into the lives of others that you realize could be your neighbors or friends. It was very believable. I think that’s why it was difficult to read. It’s something that happens more times that we even realize.

I will say this, it does have a HEA, but you have to get through some hard situations to get there.

I received this ARC for an honest review.

~Melpomene

Buy it now Covet

Review: Like Falling by Jaden Wilkes

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17995429Like Falling (Surfaces #1) is another take of my current favorite angst filled genre, New Adult. I can’t help it – I can’t get enough of it. I’ve read the good, the bad and the ugly in the genre so far and believe me there has been some very ugly! But this one seems to fit pretty much right smack dab in the middle of the genre- in a good way.

Sarah Miller comes from a Mennonite family who wants her to marry as soon as possible and have lots of Mennonite babies. She wants to go to college and her parents decide to let her and Sarah explores her boundaries while there, in every way. Sarah lives with her Mennonite friend Nic, who quickly introduces Sarah to all the joys of college life.

Sarah seems at times to be almost over the top, but then I remember people who I’ve known who felt repressed and she acted pretty much just like they did. She is wide eyed and trying to experience different things from cursing to kissing. I did laugh at her text messaging and dealing with her roomate’s girlfriend.

This book was part amusing, coming of age story, and part angsty romance between two people who obviously should be together. It does end in a cliffhanger, but does so in such a way that did not make me angry. The author pointed out that the the 2nd book is in the process and it will be part of a trilogy as she felt that the story was too much for one book.

I received this ARC from Netgalley in return for an honest review.

Solid 3 stars

~Clio

Review: Sweet Revenge by Zöe Archer

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image“Oh, aye,” he said, bitter. “I’m a goddamn hero.” “I never said that.” Her mouth curved into a soft, bittersweet smile. “But maybe someday you’ll become one.”

Jack Dalton has a gun held to his head. On the other end of the gun is Eva Warrick. She and her companions are part of a private organization called Nemesis Unlimited. Nemesis’ mission is to help those in the lower social classes. Their current client is a merchant’s daughter. She was seduced and abandoned by Lord Rockley. Eva and her fellow agents believe that Rockley is also involved in some illegal activities. They want to expose him and thus bring retribution for the merchant’s daughter.

Jack just wants to kill Rockley. Jack’s sister was a prostitute. Rockley had rough sex with her and caused her death. He escaped prison to kill Rockley. Eva threatens to bring him back to prison if he doesn’t help her.Jack is the only person who left Rockley’s employ and is still alive. They need him to track Rockley’s activities as well as his business associates. Jack has no choice but to help Eva and her partners.

Jack and Eva are immediately attracted to each other when they first meet. The romance slowly develops as they work together. They learn of each other’s past. Jack’s is painful, of course, as he is riddled with guilt over his sister’s deaths.

This an exciting and entertaining, action-packed first book in the series with a kick-ass heroine. The tv shows Leverage and Burn Notice inspired Zoë Archer to create this series. I eagerly look forward to the next book. Hopefully, Simon will be the hero.

~Thalia

Buy It Now Sweet Revenge: A Nemesis Unlimited Novel