4 stars

• Buy BENEATH THE BURN (Kindle)

4 stars

Dark, gritty and intense!!

I repeat: DARK. GRITTY. INTENSE. (oh, and kinky 😉 )

All I knew going into this book was that there was a tortured hero slash rock star and some kind of captivity theme mixed in with a second-chance romance… and while it’s rare for me to go into a book blind, I have to admit that that was enough to sell me on it.

The story centers on Charlee and Jay. Charlee has spent years held captive by a brutal, powerful and sadistic billionaire who uses and abuses her in every way possible. Jay is a tortured soul, haunted by the nightmares of his past, trying his best to lose himself in music. They cross paths and although the timing isn’t right, they each unknowingly become the other’s salvation – inspiring the strength to endure throughout suffering and the drive to become a better person.

Three years later, they meet up again by chance but the past years have been tainted by more horrors. She’s now on the run, a survivor trying to heal from the physical and mental scars left over by her captivity and he’s now a broken rock god who has turned to drugs to find release from the pain he keeps buried inside, and yet sometimes in a crazy world full of evil psychotic billionaires, endless crowds of paparazzi, and a rock tour that must go on, they help each other help to heal and find happiness again.

“You showed me beauty in survival. I’ll show you strength in healing.”

I loved that Charlee was able to immediately see past Jay’s scars. To her, they just were a part of him and she fully accepted him just as he was. She knew his boundaries and respected them while also gently pushing them to try and help him heal. And, in turn, her acceptance of him made him determined to become a better man for her.

“That decided it. He would confront the thing that made him like this. He would become a man she could hold, despite his tattered and worn edges.”

It was heartwarming to watch these people finding support and healing in each other. They understood each other’s pain and also recognized the extreme necessities of each one’s situation.

“You trust me not to put my hands on you, and I trust you not to take my control.”

“Putting your trust in someone is the most vulnerable thing you can do… Dare to be vulnerable with me.”

I think initially I fell in love the book because the dark, gritty intensity just really punches you in the face when you start it. It’s shocking in the best of ways. It put my heart in my throat and kept me flipping pages like mad because with the way each chapter ends, it really compels you to keep reading. It’s definitely the kind of book that can keep you up til 4AM. But, once the shock wore off, I’m not necessarily sure how I feel about all the details of the story.

This book was fast-paced. There was always something new happening. It moved from scene to scene quickly and at no point did the story drag. Every time I thought I had a handle on where it was going, it veered in a different direction. But, there were times when I felt like it was a lot, almost too much, to pack into one book. It was like a mix between a dark and kinky BDSM book, a rock star book, and an action flick mixed in with a little second-chance romance. But at the same time, it all kind of worked.

On a random note, I have no idea how to work this quote into the review so I’m just going to throw it in here for fun  as a bit of a glimpse into the crazy rockstar world just because it made me laugh 😉

“OhmyGod, you’re haaaaawt, Jay Maaaaaayard.”

Click. Click. Click….

Did a boob just flash in his face?

“I love you, Jayeeeeeee. Looking good. You’re so handsome.”

No, several boobs. Huge naked boobs… How far away was that damned car? .. More crying. More bouncing nipples.

Teehee. Ok, back to the review.

I found a few of the scenes just a little too blatantly over-the-top while others just didn’t quite add up. The middle of the book got a little craaaazy a times and there were a few parts I had to read twice to be sure of what had happened. But still, again, this is fiction so I pretty much just decided that I’d rather enjoy the story than pick it apart so I just went with whatever happened and tried not to ask too many questions because at the end of the day, I really couldn’t put it down.

It’s all told in third person but we still get alternating POVs. I found the transitions smooth and easy to follow and appreciated being able to get both sides of the story.

I warn you though – this book is not for the faint of heart. Heed the disclaimer warning on the blurb of this book because some of the captivity scenes in here make Captive In The Dark look tame. Okay? I’m serious. But, despite those scenes, this is not a Stockholm Syndrome book. Not at all. Charlee’s captor is a cruel, evil, sadistic psychopath and at no point is the reader made to feel anything but extreme hate for him.

My heart really broke for her. I think the freakiest part was that she was held captive right in the middle of town. She was right before everyone’s eyes and yet completely hidden from the world. “Every action supervised. Every. Single. Breath.” Her captor had everyone (even the cops) in his pocket and his intense obsession with her was so unnerving because hiding was nearly impossible. What do you do when the person who has made it his life’s mission to hurt you pretty much owns the world? Where do you turn?

This book is also full of dark twisty kink. It is graphic, it is hot and did I mention kinky?? There was this one scene that … um, hmm, ok all I’m going to say is this: Sandpaper. Belt. Cheese grater. Ice Pick. Plug. Ginger root. Drumstick. Cable. Bamboo pole. Guitar pick. Oh, and… a nipple clamp. That’s it. My lips are sealed on the rest 😉

In all seriousness though, I liked that Charlee and Jay were able to give each other what they needed. They didn’t choose what had happened to them and had no choice but to live with the scars left behind from their pasts and rather than succumb to them, they embraced them and embraced the things that the other needed to heal – even if those things made them uncomfortable and pushed the boundaries of their comfort zones.

“I fucking love you. I don’t deserve you, but I will spend the rest of my life earning that right. You are my music, do you understand?”

I felt like I wanted a little ‘more’ out of the story overall but, I still liked it. I was in the mood for dark and twisty and this certainly delivered.

I’m a little torn on rating here. I’m going to give it 4 stars because overall that’s where it sat with me… but there were moments that dipped down to 3.5 stars and others that almost reached up to 4.5 so it’s really not a clear cut rating.

It did have a happy ending though so you are rewarded at the end of the 500 pages with the characters finding peace and happiness. I did find it a little rushed at the end, but I was happy that they were happy.

“No matter what happens, no matter where we go from here, we go together.”

4 stars

• Buy BENEATH THE BURN (Kindle)

 

• Buy REMEMBER WHEN (Kindle)
• Buy REMEMBER WHEN (Paperback)

“Years before Trip Wiley could be seen on movie screens all over the world, he could be seen in the desk behind me in my high school English class.”

4 stars

A light-hearted quick read that took me right back to high school and that whole first crush/first love feeling! Of course, my high school crush didn’t grow up to be the next Brad Pitt, but I digress.

This book had me smiling, swooning and chucking to myself from the first chapter. There were a few moments so that were so funny that when I tried to read them aloud to my husband, I was laughing and crying too hard to get the words out!

“Are you there, God? It’s me, Layla. I know I just jerked off some guy who is not even my boyfriend in the bathroom of this crappy, brown house. But if you could find a way to kill me quickly and painlessly within the next ten seconds, I promise to never touch another penis again. Well, I’ll be dead so, I guess I promise not to whore it up in heaven. Which, of course is where you’ll be sending me, right? I mean, I’d hate to think you’d deny me an eternity behind your pearly gates just because of one impetuous hand job. Thank you. Sincerely, Layla Warren. Amen.”

LOL! See what I mean? 😉

The trilogy is a second-chance romance. The hero, Trip, and the heroine, Layla, met in high school and fell in love. But, at the end of the year, their lives took them in opposite directions and it was years before they reconnected. This entire book is a flashback showing us how they met and taking us through their year together in school and is told from Layla’s POV, as though she’s looking back and directly telling the story to the reader.

It’s all total high school fun. There are crushes and jealousies and miscommunications but I found everything really endearing. The characters were quite lovable and I really  just enjoyed my read.

Most of the time, the purposes of a high school party were to socialize, drink and hook up. The latter of which I was reminded of while waiting in line for the bathroom as Coop Benedict tried to stick his tongue in my ear…
“He your boyfriend?”
I stammered out, “Uh, no. God, no. Why’d you think that?”
Trip raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know… Maybe because I saw him tonsil-deep in your ear a few minutes ago and yet he still has his balls.”

I absolutely adored all the parts of the book which were focused on Trip and Layla. I do wish their romance had developed a little further though. They certainly had feelings for each other from the start but a part of me wished that there was more time in the book spent on “them” but I’m sure we’ll see more of that when they reconnect in the next book.

“No, Layla. I won’t stop.” He moved closer, cradling my head to his chest before continuing. “I know you’re leaving and I would never try to keep you from going, and I guess I have my own path to follow as well. But don’t ever ask me to stop loving you, because I can’t. Don’t ever think I’ll be able to forget you, because I won’t.”

I read it in one quick sitting but I do wish that I had waited because this book does end on a cliffhanger. Well, technically it wasn’t a surprising cliffhanger (‘cuz we all know they get separated after high school) but still… I wish I had the rest of the story ready to go because fucking hell, I hate goodbyes 🙁

“Is there anything so powerful as the love of two teenagers bring ripped apart?”

I heard book #2 has a cliffhanger that’s even bigger than this one so I’m going to wait til the third and final book is released and then read 2 & 3 back to back but I will definitely be reading on in the series. The little snippet I saw from book #2 had me intrigued so I’m looking forward to seeing where their story goes from here 🙂

** Edit: all books are now available!!

4 stars

• Buy REMEMBER WHEN (Kindle)
• Buy REMEMBER WHEN (Paperback)

My casting:

• Trip (just imagine him in high school for this book)

  

• Buy EVERSEA (Kindle)
• Buy EVERSEA (Paperback)

Total escapism! A fun romance between a Hollywood heartthrob mega-star and a feisty small-town girl.

In her small town of nine thousand people, the last person Keri Ann ever expected to meet was Jack Eversea. THE Jack Eversea. But there he was, in person, the world most famous Hollywood mega-star actor sitting in her bar.

Turns out he was escaping his life, so to speak. Between the drama of a bad public break up and the non-stop spotlight on his life, he just needed a break. An escape.

“Suddenly, my heart started going a mile a minute and I was breathing hard. Jack Eversea was in my house! I willed myself to calm down and catch my breath. He was just a person. A human being. Right? I bent down for a moment and stuck my head between my knees, hoping my blood would circulate normally again.”

I loved that despite the fact that Keri Ann was actually a big fan of his movies, she was able to separate them from him as a person and realize that underneath the whole Hollywood persona was really just this sweet, charming (and maybe even a little lonely) guy.

They hit it off and despite wanting to keep his presence in the town a secret, he trusted her and proposed a trade — he’d help her fix up her house if she’d agree to do things like getting him groceries and supplies (which he couldn’t do without being recognized)… and so began their flirtation-filled friendship.

Meanwhile though, quite literally the whole world was wondering where on earth their top favorite movie star had gone!

But things weren’t that simple. Jack was literally bound by contract to be in a relationship with a high profile movie actress (who he had actually dated in the past).. this was a signed deal, set in stone, no way out. Needless to say, that put more than a little hitch in any potential relationship between him and Keri Ann. There were so many questions that popped up — I mean, it was wonderful that he was in her town now, but he couldn’t stay forever so… what would happen when he went back? Would he get back together with his ex? Would he have to leave soon? Could the spark between them realistically go anywhere?

I think there’s just something thrilling about the idea of a romance with a Hollywood star. But despite that there was a definite undertone of angst because throughout the whole book, you just KNEW that at the end of it, he would have to return to Hollywood and would have to go back to at least pretending to be with another woman.

“What do you want me to say? I’m sorry I’m so fucked up I sold my life, my soul and my future to the devil?”
His hand left mine, and he pressed it palm down in the centre of my chest.
“If I’d know you were in my future, I would have chosen differently.”

Despite this having some more serious elements to it (including Jack’s backstory), there were still some really cute funny moments scattered throughout that kept me smiling for a lot of the book.

“Jack tensed, and puling away from me, turned to the edge of the pool. After several moments of mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like “dead puppies, dead puppies, dead puppies”, he lifted himself out.”

I have to say I really loved that Keri Ann was mostly very up front about her feelings and I really felt for her. I mean, how would YOU feel if the person you were crushing on slash falling for “had” to be in a public relationship with someone else?

But I liked that even though she was a small town girl and he was a big shot movie star, they really went toe-to-toe on everything.

“Did anyone ever tell you how arrogant you are?”
“Not arrogant. Confident. There’s a difference.”

I enjoyed watching them fall for each other despite their situation. The progression of drama felt very natural – nothing that made me ill with worry but at the same time, I did really want everything to get sorted out.

“Do you think it’s normal for people to feel like this,” he motioned between us, “whatever this is that happens when we are in the same room with each other? Maybe you have no idea, but I do. It. Doesn’t. Happen. At least not to me.”

The ending was a cliffhanger. Buuuuut, I knew that going into the book. At least it was more of a “positive” cliffhanger though – the kind where you’re left with the knowledge like it’s all going to work out in the end as opposed to one where everything is blown to hell but still… I need book #2. Like now. Right now. Dammit.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. It was light and engaging with a dash of angst, a smattering of serious, and a swoon-worthy hero. I liked the characters and the story and while it didn’t pull any huge range of emotions from me, I’m really glad I read it and I’m definitely looking forward to the next one, FOREVER JACK, which will be out on November 30, 2013 🙂

4+ stars

** SERIES READING ORDER **

#1 — EVERSEA
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback

#2 — FOREVER JACK
Buy for Kindle

• Buy DARKNESS BEFORE DAWN (Kindle)

“I loved you then, I love you now, I’ll love you always. You’ve always been it for me, Blake.”

This review is spoiler-free.

I’ll start out though by saying that you absolutely must read book #1 “There Is No Light In Darkness” first. This book is a direct continuation of that story (see my review).

After the huge cliffhanger at the end of the first book, I was just absolutely desperate for more!! I needed to know what happened! Just like with the first book, I inhaled this one in one sitting. The next thing I knew I looked out the window and the sun was coming up!

In this book the plot thickens, answers are found and family loyalties are chosen. Book #1 was equal parts mystery and romance. The mystery kept me guessing and the romance kept me swooning. But I found this book to be more focused on the mystery than the romance. Now, don’t get me wrong, Cole and Blake are still both heavily featured in this book and there’s both swoon and steam but I guess I felt that their relationship development took a bit of a back seat in light of all the developments happening on the mystery side of things. I did miss the relationship focus, but I also understood the need to delve into the mystery.

Blake needed answers, Cole needed answers, heck I needed answers! And this was the point where the secrets began to unravel – the answers to WHY everything had happened. But I found myself getting a little lost at times. There were a LOT of interconnected characters to keep track of and I really mean a LOT. My head was spinning in circles and sometimes I found myself getting a little tangled in the story line. But it did feel good that Cole seemed to also be a little overwhelmed by it:

“Can someone get a pen and paper and start drawing out the family trees and everyone’s connection to everyone else?!” It just genuinely was a complicated situation.

This book is told in alternating POVs between Cole and Blake. Given the ending of the last book this made a lot of sense and I felt it added more depth to the story by allowing us to see more of what was going on. I also really enjoyed getting inside Cole’s head and seeing how he saw things:

“Some of my friends that haven’t been around us have given me shit… because they don’t understand our relationship. They say it’s not normal, not healthy, and I get that, but we can’t change our past. We’re just two broken people in love trying to heal each other and despite everything, we don’t want to be with anybody else… When it comes to Blake, nobody else matters.”

Seriously that man was devoted. Utterly, head over heels in LOVE with his girl. You never doubted it, you always felt it, he took every opportunity to show it, and I just find it seriously heart-melting reading about guys like Cole who will literally go to any lengths to protect the ones they love.

I found there to be a lot less angst than in the first book. This one didn’t really make my heart race in the same way and, like I said, was very focused on finding answers to the mystery. There were still some heart-stopping moments though, an awesome showdown and reveals I didn’t see coming.

The romance was there and Cole was swoony as ever (seriously, is that man perfect or what?) but I’d say the focus of this book shifted more towards piecing everything together and deciding how to move on.

Oh, and this is pretty cool — there is a little almost-cameo from a certain book hero from another book that I know several of you are in love with. I thought it was a cool touch to connect those two stories like that.

I loved the message this book had about family. How blood is not the most important connection. Family is an earned place. Family are the people who matter to you the most no matter who they may biologically be. A father, a brother, a mother, a sister… these are not only determined  by blood.

“You’re not just involved with the person that makes your world make sense. You live for that person. You breathe for that person.”

I liked this book (in comparison to the first one which I loved), but it kept my interest throughout and I desperately wanted to find out the answers to what was behind everything, it didn’t quite affect me as strongly in an emotional way. There were parts that were confusing as I was reading (but I guess that’s to be expected in a mystery) and a few time jumps that disconnected me just a little bit but I liked that we finally got the answers to everything and it did all make sense in the end.

It was really wonderful to see Cole and Blake find their happiness, answers and peace of mind in the end. I loved the ending and where it left the characters. There was a lot of sweetness in the last scene and I finished the book with a smile on my face and a happy feeling in my heart. After everything they’d been though, those two had really earned their happily-ever-after.

I would have wished for an epilogue but I’ve been told the author is writing one (I hear it is LONG!) and will be releasing it very soon for anyone who wants a glimpse into Cole and Blake’s future. Personally, I can’t wait!!

This series was a wonderful read and refreshingly different from any previous book I’d read. I’d certainly recommend checking them out!

I’m definitely a new fan of Claire Contreras and will be looking forward to more books from her in the future!

4+ stars

• My review of Book #1: There Is No Light In Darkness

Reading Order

• #1 THERE IS NO LIGHT IN DARKNESS (still only $0.99!!)
• #2 DARKNESS BEFORE DAWN

My casting:

• Cole
• Blake

• Buy FIRE INSIDE (Kindle)

4 stars

“We don’t have a future,” I informed him.
“We have a future,” Hop informed me.
“We don’t.”
“Lady, we do.”

Ok. I’ll be honest here – when I first heard that book #2 in this series was going to be about Hop and Lanie, I kind of went “huhhhhh???” Hop just never really screamed ‘hero’ to me but I had faith in KA. If there is any author that could turn my head around and literally make me fall in love with just about anyone, it was KA. As an author, she has earned my trust over and over and over again with her mile-long list of phenomenal books.

I read the first page and it felt just like coming home. KA’s writing has such a wonderful rhythm and feel to it. You can just fully immerse yourself in this badass world.

Poor Lanie had really drawn the short end of the stick in life – both in her childhood and then with her first husband. But according to Hop, Lanie was just some kind of crazy given some of her past life choices. When her late husband had gotten himself involved with the Russian mob just in order to get a particular kind of flower (yup, flower!) for their wedding and subsequently gotten himself shot to death (wounding her in the process) over it, she’d stood by him… and that rankled Hop just a wee bit. He had some issues seeing the logic with that stand but had since decided that despite being hot, Lanie was somewhat certifiable.

That being said, when she walked right up to him and said, “Wanna fuck?”, certifiable took a back seat on the importance scale… but soon what was supposed to be just a one-night stand turned into so much more as their emotions began to be involved and deeper emotions started to take hold.

“Anything you need, baby, I’m there for you one way or another.”

One thing that threw me a little that I’ll mention right here at the beginning was the timeline. This book actually takes place almost at the same time as book #1, Own The Wind. For some reason, I expected it to be a continuation but it wasn’t. So maybe just bear that in mind when you read because some of the events that Chaos deals with are the same between the two books.

I have to say how much I really just love KA dialogue. It just follows it’s own rules, you know? Sometimes it’s wordy as hell but you just love it because you’re able to completely connect to the speakers feelings simply because there’s nothing held back… and sometimes only one single word is all that’s needed to convey every single emotion that the character is going through.

As a reader, I had an interesting like/dislike relationship with Hop. It was mostly ‘like’ but there were a few things that rubbed me a little bit the wrong way. He was just a little bit of an asshole at times… or, rather, a better way to say it was that he was sometimes bossy in a way that pissed me off. But I guess that comes part and parcel with the whole ‘badass biker’ package and, most importantly, underneath it all he had a logic to what he was saying that, despite it ticking me off, I couldn’t help but see. And once I felt like I ‘understood’ him, he was a pretty easy guy to love. Loyal. Protective. Badass.

Both Lanie and Hop had had hard lives and had been forced to learn the painful way not to trust people — even the people they should have been able to depend on and truth. And this book was really about them finding stability and trust in each other. I absolutely love this quote:

“… [he] used you as a shield… No way would I let you put yourself in the path of anything for me… You’ll learn to trust me, the brothers, Tack. I don’t use you as a shield. I am the goddamn shield.”

I have to admit, when I first met Hop in Motorcycle Man, I did judge him harshly given the whole incident going on there (it’s a bit of a spoiler so I won’t mention it). But in this book, when his whole story came out, I honestly just felt bad for him and because of hearing everything, all of his actions and decision became understandable. See? I told you KA could make me fall for anyone!

And, I just have to share this quote ‘cuz it made me laugh!

“Got rules for the woman I take to my bed. No sleep. Don’t ever wake up to a woman. It sends the wrong message. Really no fucking tee. Bitches claim tees.”

I really liked that, for the most part, Hop really insisted on pushing through to making things work with Lanie. He could really sense that something about her was broken and wanted to help… whether she wanted it or not 😛

“I’ll wear you down,” he proclaimed.
“No, you won’t,” I denied.
“You won’t let me in, I’ll break in, sneak in, blast in,” he promised.

“Baby,” his lips dropped to mine but his eyes didn’t let mine go, “Christ, I’m beggin’ you, let me in. Let me help. Let me in so I can untie that shit you got wound up inside you.”

That being said, they both did have their moments of stupid and miss-communication. I wasn’t thrilled about those but was happy that they did work everything out.

One of my favorite elements of KA’s writing is the way she describes family dynamics. It really brings a nice touch that rounds the story out separate from the romance only.

This book felt a little different than some of the other KA ones. For one thing, there was no 90% freak out (possibly due to the timeline of this one matching up to the last book). In case you’re new to KA books, nearly every single one of her books has this point at about 90% where the shit just HITS the fan. Bigtime. And it’s this huge adrenaline rush of craziness that has your heart in your throat and flipping pages like crazy and is them (usually) followed up by a heart-clenching epilogue. I had to admit that I love looking forward to that in a book and, despite this book being good and my enjoying it, I did really miss it here.

All in all though it was a good book. It didn’t fully have that KA spark that just makes me go absolutely crazy for some of her books but I still enjoyed my read and am looking forward to the next book she releases.

Kristen Ashley is one of those authors whose books are auto-buys for me. I’ve never disliked one of her books and each time I’ve been taken on a fun, badass ride. I look forward to every one!

4 stars.

• Click here for the complete reading order of ALL Kristen Ashley series

CHAOS SERIES READING ORDER

 …