5 stars

“You’re mine, the girls are mine. I’m stakin’ my claim with you right now…”
“You’re unbelievable,” I snapped.
“I’m yours.”
That socked me in the gut… Taking advantage, his face dipped close and his hands curled around both sides of my head.
“First fuckin’ time you smiled at me in my bed, that’s when it happened,” he murmured.“

• Buy AT PEACE on KINDLE (Amazon)

**SQUEEEEE** O.M.G what a SENSATIONAL book!!!
My heart is filled to bursting here. Love love LOVE ♥

This is a gorgeous book about a second chance at love, life, family and healing. Kristen Ashley never ceases to amaze me with utter brilliance of her books. Just one winner after another!! Damaged Alpha male hero, strong heroine, beautiful story… whats not to love??

After her cop husband’s brutal muder a year ago, Violet moved to the Burg with her two teenage daughters. One night, at 3:33am, she’s tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep because someone is blaring music. In a huff, she stomps out to figure out where its coming from and give whoever was playing it a piece of her mind when she meets Joe Callahan. He’s big, tall, rugged, striking, scarred, gorgeous, blunt, badass, and Alpha-out-the wazoo! But he kind of acts like a bit of a jerk (though not in a way that’ll make you hate him) and needless to say, despite her intense attraction to him, Violet pretty much dislikes him… though, not for long 😛

Who’s the big guy next door?”…
“Joe Callahan.”
“Good neighbour to have.”…
“Why?”
“Looks like he could crush a rock with his fist.” 

It was really heart breaking because you felt how strongly Vi missed her husband. Hell, after a few paragraphs, I missed him. He sounded like such a perfect KA man – gorgeous, caring, protective. And she’s struggling and trying to start a new life – working as hard as she can to keep her and the girls afloat in the aftermath of such a senseless tragedy.

Joe’s work takes him away a lot, but every time he’s back, Vi and him have some sort of interaction. And so begins their on-and-off-ish, swoony-to-us yet perhaps frustrating-at-first-to-Vi relationship.

“You already think I’m a dick.”
I felt my heart beat faster and I whispered. “Joe-”
Joe cut me off. “So don’t matter tomorrow morning you still think I’m a dick, ’cause now, even though you’re drunk, I’m gonna take you inside and fuck you ’till you ache.”

Seriously though, every time they met, even from their slightly rough start, I was grinning like an idiot and squeeing right out loud (often quite loudly).

“And I was in that truck with Joe Callahan. Joe Callahan who was scary and thrilling all in himself. He was more man than I’d ever know and I spent most of my adult life around cops. His maleness filled the cab, dangerous, assertive, assaulting my senses.“

And they come together (hmm, meant literally and figuratively *winks*) FAST!!! This book differs from most KA books (except perhaps Mystery Man) in that the hero/heroine sleep together (or, I should say, have wild, rough, hard, passionate, crazy hot, sexy-as-hell, sex) very close to the start of the book. In this story, the sex (or, honestly I should say f*cking lol) happens first, and the relationship develops second. What they have is explosive, undeniable, and freaking H.O.T… and it doesn’t stop… very soon she’s spending every night in his bed.

But Cal has gone through something tragic in his past that makes him unable to establish a permanent emotional connection and give himself fully over to any relationship even if its what his heart wants and as soon as his feelings for her grow too strong, he breaks both their hearts by leaving and breaking off the relationship.

But when Vi’s husband’s murderer comes back on the radar with his creepy-stalker-eye set on Vi, that isn’t something he can just stand by and do nothing about, so its up to him to do what he can to protect her and the girls, even though he has his work cut out for him to make her trust him again.

And so begins the beautiful craziness of this book – with a seriously SWOONY romance, crazy drunk ex’s, crazy creepy murderer/stalkers, the crazy fun of 2 teenage daughters, the craziness of amazing neighbors and family… and as Vi learns to love again, and as Joe learns to trust again, they both learn to find healing, comfort, love and security in each other … and  an absolutely perfect happy ending 🙂  *melt* *squee* *swoon*

Joe. freaking. Callahan. *swoon* has definitely made my absolute top list of guys… lol, especially after he worked his issues out. It was so sweet and heart warming watching him struggle with his emotions, wanting more, but not trusting, trying to do right by Vi and her girls, trying to protect their family. He might be rough around the edges, but he sure-as-hell could be ridiculously sweet and thoughtful. He just had a lot of walls up, guarding himself against future hurt that might mirror a past he’s spent 17 years trying to forget. And when his back story finally comes out, you get it. Its horrible, tragic, and made me cry. It totally explained his behavior, his attitude and his reluctance to get fully into a relationship.

And since their relationship wasn’t clearly defined for a while, there is a bit of a love triangle thing going on for part of the story, but its always clear who ends up with who especially since the other guy is the hero of book 4 of this series 😛 … but can I just say, that judging by his swooniness, book #4 is gonna ROCK!

Joe was just so damaged and totally Alpha, the perfect tortured badass bad boy. And once he figured all his stuff out and finally accepted that he couldn’t ignore or deny what he and Vi had, he went all-out possessive claimy Alpha and stopped at nothing to prove his intentions, his love and his dedication to both her and her girls. Dear Lord, its hard for one heart to handle that much swoon!! *dreamy sigh*

“Joe burst out laughing and I froze, listening to the richness of it. I wasnt even certain he could laugh. He was my hot-as-shit, bad boy, player, next door, security to the stars booty call. He was a serious, scary, rugged, sinister, alpha male. Men like that didn’t laugh.”

If you want a book with steam, this is it. Its is SMOKING HOT!!! The steamy fan-yourself hotness starts at about 8% of the book and pretty much never lets up, in fact it pretty much just builds as the emotional factor increases as the story progresses.

I have to say, the only thing I didn’t really like was how he called her ‘buddy’ – that’s just a little weird and not exactly hot to me. But hey, if that’s my only possibly complaint about the book (and it is), I can definitely live with it.

This book really sneaks up on you. There were twists that had me rocking back and forth crying, some utterly beautiful scenes, epic badass moments… Loss. Healing. Betrayal. Trust. Family. Friendship. Loyalty. Bonding. Love.

Seriously. KA is a genius. The depth to which she just “gets” deep connections between friends, family, lovers, is just sensational. You can’t help but feel totally connected to them, be totally sympathetic to them, and you end up knowing them so well and feeling for them so strongly that its hard to believe they are not real. She has a magical way with words. Speaks straight to your heart.

I thought it was so beautiful how Joe never tried to replace Tim (Vi’s husband) either with Vi or the girls. He was something different. He was special. He loved them for who they were, not for who he wanted them to be to him.  He really was Superman <3

Joe and Vi had have their share of hotness and swoon, but they also had their share of  of heartache, of mistakes, and of misunderstandings. Watching them work together to learn to trust each other and develop a functional relationship just melted my heart.

“I’m gonna piss you off, honey, probably enough for you to want to leave. I’ve got a temper and so do you, we’re gonna clash…. But… we’ve both learned, this, what we have it’s worth getting over it…. I won’t give up on you, Joe, I promise. I just need you to promise the same thing.“

This book really makes you FEEL!!! I had lots of misty eyes and several tears. Not just from a sad event, often just because the level of emotional I was feeling for a scene was just so strong, it overflowed.

Also, I loved how  Colt and Feb (the hero/heroine of book #1) were integrated into this story. They live on the same street as Joe & Vi and we see them a lot. I love when an author doesn’t forget about the beloved characters from previous books. Its so wonderful to see the development of their happily-ever-after, even if its from the outside.

And Oh. My. God,  the ending is intense!! It starts building slightly sooner than the classic KA 90% mark and your heart just goes right in your throat. Its absolutely epic – filled with cops, mafia, stalkers, murders, kidnappings, plenty of badass… just totally epic, emotional and thrilling!! *mega grin/squee*

“Semper fuckin’ fi.”

LOVE LOVE LOVE this book!! If you haven’t read it yet, GO GO GO!!!!! Get book 1 (or read this one alone, it does work either way technically) and join the swoon-fest. You won’t regret it!

Rating: 5++ stars!!

• CASTING for Joe 

• Buy AT PEACE (Kindle)

** SERIES READING ORDER **

#1 FOR YOU (Colt & Feb) — Buy for Kindle | My Review

#2 AT PEACE (Joe & Vi) — Buy for Kindle | My Review

#3 GOLDEN TRAIL (Layne & Rocky) — Buy for Kindle | My Review

#4 GAMES OF THE HEART (Miky & Dusty) — Buy for Kindle | My Review

#5 THE PROMISE (Benny & Frankie — Buy for Kindle | My Review

   

MY RECOMMENDED READING ORDER FOR ALL KRISTEN ASHLEY SERIES

 

• Buy FORBIDDEN (Kindle)
• Buy FORBIDDEN (Paperback)

**Little note to those of you who are visiting this site for the first time: I feel like I should mention that this is so NOT my typical read. In fact its almost the antithesis of the kind of book I like and it took me many months to work up the emotional courage to read it…  I pretty much ONLY read HEA (happily-ever-after) books and usually VERY swoony ones at that. Thats my rule. I need them in my life…. But for whatever reason, the synopisis of this book and other people’s reviews kind of grabbed at my heart and I’ve had this book in the back of my mind for a while now and finally worked up the courage to try it. So it’ll be the only one of its kind you’ll find on this blog…. the rest are all HEA romances.

~~~~~~~

5 stars  *sob sob sob*

“How could something so wrong feel so right?”   

This book reduced me to a inconsolable, uncontrollably sobbing, shaking, and wailing WRECK!! My heart is utterly SHATTERED !!!!!! Why? Why?? WHY????

I have no idea how to write anything that describes the depths to which my heart ACHES! Its like a physical pain. The ending of this book was “heart-shattering”. Pure, gut-wrenching, PAIN.

It takes the concept of a “forbidden love” to a whole new level.  It does not have a HEA and the ending is guaranteed rip your heart to shreds.

The story is raw, emotional to an extreme, powerful, achingly painful, beautiful and devastatingly tragic.

I was beyond apprehensive about this story because, yes, this is a love story between a brother and sister (*cringe/gulp*, right?). It is only for the most open minded and non-judgmental readers. But I absolutely PROMISE you, after reading their story, you will be wishing they could have a happy ending.

With a self-centered, uncaring, and alcohlic mother and a father who abandoned their family years ago, siblings Lochan (17) and Maya (16) have always felt more like friends than siblings – being the defacto parents to their 3 younger siblings – 13-year-old Kit who is unhappy, self-destructive, and rebelling against life, mischevious little brother Tiffin, and sweet adorable baby sister Willa who is too young to understand the desperation all around her. Lochan and Maya work themselves into the ground trying desperately to hold together the broken pieces of their family for fear that social services will separate them if they learn of the absentee parents. The stress of their lives brings them closer and closer together to the point where they fall in love. They know its not right, they know its impossible, but they cannot deny that the feeling they have are so strong and feel so right.

The romance is slow building and comes as almost (dare I say it) a very subtle, natural, beautiful progression. Its about two people drawn together by their circumstances, who are as close as two people can be, who rely on each other, support each other, have been through hell together… The pain, lonliness, and desolation of their life pushes them together. Everything in their life is so overwhelming, but with each other they feel safe.

“… how to get across to the outside world that Lochan and I are siblings only through biological mishap? That we were never brother and sister in the real sense, but always partners, having to being up a real family as we grew up ourselves? How to explain that Lochan has never felt like a brother but like something far, far closer than that – a soul mate, a best friend, part of the very fiber of my being?”

The book is told in alternating POVs between Lochan and Maya. Their thoughts and perspectives made me question everything I was naturally feeling and forced me to think with my heart instead of with how I was naturally inclined to automatically feel about a sibling romance. It filled me with so many conflicting emotions. My natural reaction was to cringe at the storyline and scream ‘NO!”, but when you read and understand the emotion behind it, you can’t help but want to root for them as a couple.

The writing style is absolutely stunning. It conveys the stifling desolation and desperation of their life so vividly, you can feel with all your heart. It clouds the book, clings to the story and by extension, you as the reader are utterly wrapped up in their world.

This is a story that is going to stay with me for a long time. It’ll make you question right and wrong and think twice about preconceived prejudices.

In so many ways, their relationship didn’t feel weird or wrong. All the realtionship lines in this story were blurred anyways – friend and sibling, parents and child, authority figure and equal… When the situation isn’t a normal one, where are the lines drawn? As a reader, your natural, biological instincts are screaming at you to think of it as cringe-worthy, sick and both Lochan and Maya were realists about their feelings for each other. They knew how taboo it was and struggled long and hard with coming to terms with being able to accept the things they were feeling. Their torn anguish at dealing with what they were feeling but at the same time being true to themselves and not being able to deny the strength and reality of their feelings and passion for each other was heart-wrenching.

“I scrape the fingernails of one hand against the wall, violent sobs running in shock waves through my body, tears soaking my sleeve. “Help,” I find myself gasping, “I don’t understand what’s wrong with me!”

And like I said, they were realists about their situation. They knew they could never have kids and that wasn’t a problem – they just wanted to be together. And in another world, one where they were just Lochan and Maya and not also raising three younger siblings, they could very well have made it work. But the responsibilities of their family kept them from being able to put themselves first and ultimately was what led to the tragic ending.

With all your heart, you feel their desperation as they fight to hide something the whole world will judge them for.

“But its the whole world,” he says in an anguished whisper. “How – how can we make it against the whole world?”

There was just no way to doubt the heart-breaking depths of their love for each other.

“I think I’m going to die from happiness. I think I’m going to die from pain… At the end of the day, it’s about how much can you bear, how much can you endure.“

Their desperation just seeps into your soul as they fight against the cruelty of fate and the odds of the world. *sob*

Lochan was such a gorgeous character, inside and out. To have been able to hold it together for so long  and to make the ultimate sacrifice for the people he loved…  I can’t even write about this without tears coming to my eyes.

Everywhere they turned, there was another closed door. The ending just ripped me to emotional shreds. I’ll repeat, NOT a HEA. My heart won’t heal. The ending was un-fixable, irreversible, and horribly tragic.

The tragic ending didn’t come out of the blue. You could feel it building from the start. I even knew about the twist at the start before I began the book and thought I was fully prepared mentally for it, but it didn’t help one tiny bit and did nothing to shield my heart from the sheer, unbridled PAIN of the ending… around the 80% mark events started unfolding and my heart just sank. It felt like it stopped. I just read with my hand over my mouth, rocking back and forth going ‘please no, please no, please please &$%# no NO NO!!!” . It didn’t help that I was prepared, even writing this now and thinking about it, I’m starting to cry again.

It brought to light a lot of questions. Why is our society/world so obsessed with who loves who?? I can understand certain misgivings from a biological perspective. Yes, siblings should never be allowed to have biological children. THAT is wrong, from a scientific standpoint, not a judgmental one. Its damaging to the gene pool. But if two people love each other and just want to be together… who are we to judge? In a world where technology can make their relationship safe (i.e. vasectomy, tube tying..), why not let them be together? Who are we to judge who can and can’t be together. So long as they are not having kids, why shouldn’t they be allowed to have a relationship?

Their story shattered my heart. It was haunting, beautiful, agonizing and tragic. If you are ever feeling brave enough to try it out, I’d highly recommend it. But you have to be in the right mood…. *sniff* This isn’t a story that I’ll ever forget.

• Buy FORBIDDEN (Kindle)
• Buy FORBIDDEN (Paperback)

 

• Buy SEDUCTION AND SNACKS for Kindle (Amazon)

5 stars!

Okay guys, this is, hands down, the most HILARIOUS romance I have ever read!!!! 😀

No book has EVER made me laugh this hard. I giggled, squeed, snorted, and cried with laughter to the point where I’d have to stop reading in order to catch my breath!! PURE FUN!

But the best part was that it wasn’t just a funny story – it had everything! It was oh-so-swoony with some seriously omg-fan-yourself H.O.T and steamy bedroom scenes and an absolutely heart-meltingly sweet and beautiful story about a family finding each other and coming together… just all-round WIN!! Easily one of my favorite reads of the year!

Claire doesn’t want kids. Ever. However, one drunken college party one-night-stand with a gorgeous swoony guy whose name she doesn’t even know later, she finds herself pregnant.

“I took eleventy-billion home pregnancy tests, after drinking a gallon of milk so I would have enough pee for all of them… [then] I Googled “milk and pregnancy tests” to make sure I didn’t just spend 37 minutes of my life staring in horror at positive pregnancy tests… because pasteurization messed with the hormones and created a false positive.
It doesn’t, just in case you were wondering.”

She searches everywhere trying to find the guy she slept with but with no luck. At the same time, we get the alternate POV from Carter (the gorgeous swoony guy she slept with) who also has been searching everywhere trying to find her. Fast forward 5 years later to present day, Claire is a single mom whose passion is baking but who now sells sex toys with her best friend so she can make money to care for her 4-year-old son, Gavin. Then one day, randomly, out of the blue, Carter shows up in her town and she then finds out that he too has been trying to find her since that night in college. Granted, he’s in a bit of shock to find out that he has a son, but soon takes it all in stride and wants nothing more than to be the best father he can be and finally get a shot to be with the girl he’s been dreaming about for the past 5 years.

Beware, I don’t think I’ve ever read the word ‘vagina’ (or ‘penis’) quite so many times. There is nothing subtle or delicate about this book, but it totally works in the context of how the story unfolds.

The characters were amazing, endearing and hysterical, the plot was fun and engaging, there was no bad guy, very little drama, no stupidity, the writing is witty, the sex is HOT (no ‘closed doors’ in this book!), and the story will undoubtedly warm your heart and leave you with a delightfully happy feeling 🙂

C’mon, doesn’t this make you laugh?!

I decided… I was going to be a labor and delivery consultant. I was going to stand next to every single woman in labor and every time.. the woman’s husband said something stupid like, “Just breathe through the pain,” it would be my job to squeeze the living fuck out of their reproductive organs until they were curled up in the fetal position… and I’d say “Just breathe through the pain, asshole!”

I absolutely LOVED it! It has a very happy ending, but its clear that there is more to the story. When I got to the end, I stupidly sat there trying to flip the last page of my kindle over and over again cuz I couldn’t believe it had ended. Book 2 “Futures and Frosting” though is already out if you want more!!

Seriously, everyone HAS to read it!! Highly recommended if you love to laugh!!!!

• Buy SEDUCTION AND SNACKS for Kindle (Amazon)

CASTING:

• Carter –> Click here
• and the Carter runner-up (wrong eye color though) –> Click here
• Claire –> Click here

 

THE UNIDENTIFIED REDHEAD (REDHEAD #1) BY ALICE CLAYTON

Buy THE UNIDENTIFIED REDHEAD (Kindle)
Buy THE UNIDENTIFIED REDHEAD (Paperback)

5 fun stars!

What a fun book!! The perfect blend of funny (hilarious actually!), sassy, sexy, goofy and swoony! Definitely a great lighthearted read for after a very emotional book 🙂

The book had me laughing out loud more times than I could count. Its a fun, romantic story about Grace Sheridan, a 33 year old actress giving Hollywood a second shot, and Jack Hamilton, the 24 year old next hotshot bigtime Hollywood star actor. They meet by chance at a party and have this really flirty, fun connection. She’s never even heard of his big movie and to him, seems like the most ‘real’ girl he’s met in a long time. And after a few weeks of (brilliant and hilarious) banter, its clear they are both very into each other and want to explore things further. Banter turns to serious flirting, which turns to romantic beach strolls, which turns an adorable relationship.

I really loved that the relationship really “built” itself. It didn’t just – poof! – happen. The progression was realistic and so much fun to read.

“He pushed me back up against the door, slamming me against the doorbell. I heard it ring out.
“Coming!” I heard Holly say as she clicked across the floor to the front door.
“Not quite, but she’s close.” He chuckled, removing his hand and leaving me breathless and rosy cheeked.” 

Jack is totally swoony – he’s smart, funny, charming, totally into her, down-to-earth… all round awesome guy!

“He had known exactly what I needed and when I needed it. It was as if he was put on this earth for the sole purpose of giving me pleasure. Who am I to argue with intelligent design?”

Grace was a totally non-annoying heroine – very tongue-and-cheek, very real, with a wonderful POV.

“The guy looks young enough to be your kid, Grace. 
Yes, but only if I’d really slutted it up in junior high…”

I loved how committed they were to each other – especially once they started getting serious and admitting their commitments. It was so refreshing having a story that didn’t create drama from jealous ex’s, stupidity on the part of the characters, etc. I mean, sure there’s a bit of worry (he IS an uber-famous hot guy who every female on the planet is lusting after… so that’s bound to create some insecurities, also there’s media scrutiny, their age difference, etc ) but he’s so quick to reassure her and never does anything to make her feel or think that he’s anything other than committed to her. Its very sweet… and at the same time, utterly hilarious. Seriously at times, it was like they were young teens teasing each other over the silliest things that literally made my cheeks hurt from laughing.

And there was SO much sex – not too much, but enough that it was a pretty hot read. Car sex. Wall sex. Bed sex. Closet sex (yes, closet sex). Shower sex. Bathtub sex. Hotel sex…. I’m sure I’m missing some here, but you get the picture lol.

“That night went down (pun intended and acknowledged) in history, forever known as, Hamilton:5/Sheridan:Lost Track After 17. It was probably the best night I ever spent in a bed with a man.
And on the floor with a man.
And up against the door with a man.
And, God, watch over and protect us, on the floor of the closet with a man.”

The book ended on a bit of a cliffhanger… she got a big job in NYC and leaves at the end of the book while he stays in LA but I’ve been assured that the ending of book 2 is a HEA so I’m looking forward to starting it tomorrow and seeing Grace and Jack handle their long-distance relationship. I predict oodles of phone sex 😛

I wavered back and forth a bit on the rating… at first  I wasn’t sure if I should give 5 stars to a book that didn’t make me clutch at my heart or have have super emotional tears, but then I realized that was totally unfair. Why should only the emotional books be given 5 stars. To me, this was a perfect 5 star FUN read 🙂

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  ~

THE REDHEAD REVEALED (REDHEAD #2) BY ALICE CLAYTON

Buy THE REDHEAD REVEALED (Kindle)
Buy THE REDHEAD REVEALED (Paperback)

4 stars

“He was everything I’d ever wanted, and everything I hadn’t even known I needed.”

With both their careers growing at opposite ends of the country, Jack’s huge Hollywood movie premiering in LA and Grace’s Broadway show in NYC, they have to deal with making a long-distance relationship work, with learning to trust each other, with only seeing each other every couple weeks/months, with Jack’s growing fame and intense media scrutiny, with nosy and lying tabloids, with with the general insecurities that come with a fast growing whirlwind relationship.

“I just miss you. I miss being in your bed,” he said quietly, and I could hear the desperation in his voice. I felt it too. It was not just the physical love he gave me, but the simple touches we took for granted when we saw each other all the time. I missed him washing my hair almost as much as the intense orgasms he had granted me daily.”

I did want to throttle Grace a fair bit in this one, but her insecurities were understandable. But still, she made some pretty stupid decisions. Thankfully, despite being the younger one, Jack was so heart-warmingly mature and loyal and fought so strongly for the relationship and to convince Grace of his love for her.

“Those fangirls think he’s all sexy scientist man, and really, he’s just a British goober who adores his girlfriend.”

Overall it was a fun read, it was romantic, more drama-packed packed than the first one, but Grace and Jack were still their crazy, fun selves ensuring some hilarious, cute, swoony scenes, great banter, a whole lot of sex, and a happy-for-now ending (there is going to be another book in the series).

BUY THEM ON AMAZON 
Click the covers.