Contemporary Romance

• Buy KNIGHT AND PLAY on Kindle

“… You deserve better. You deserve to be adored, and you deserve to be fucked until you can’t stand up.”

3 stars

HOLY SMUTTTTTTTTT!!!! 

lol. I mean really.

This is the kind of read where you just stop thinking and just go with it 😉

It was an absolutely random spur-of-the-moment buddy read I did last night. It had been sitting on my to-read list for a while because it had a lot of ‘key’ themes in the blurb that caught my attention – namely the damaged, hot and kinky billionaire whose name had me drooling… Lucien Knight. C’mon, admit it. That’s a hot name!

Overall I’d say it was short, smutty, and HOT.  By smutty and hot, I mean that they were pretty much having sex almost non-stop from approximately the 20 – 85% mark. See? I wasn’t kidding!

The story isn’t too deep though. There’s almost no plot, or even romance really, but it sure is HOT and honestly, for a book that only took me about 2 hours to read, I’m not really complaining.

However, I will say that I didn’t connect with any of the characters though – I think its because this kind of isn’t a fall-in-love-style romance per say.  The heroine is married (albeit to a lying, cheating husband) and the hero is her new billionaire, adult club owning, dominant boss who pretty much has never been in love, doesn’t believe in love, is up front about his intentions and just offers her a bit of an “escape” for a week.

“My husband is having an affair, Lucien … And here’s the thing. Right at the moment, he’s God knows where with God knows who until next weekend, and I don’t think I even care.” …
“He’s a fucking fool”
Sophie shrugged and looked out of the window. “Maybe. He’s avoided having sex with me for more than six months now.”
“I’ll say it again. He’s a fucking fool.”
“Yes.” …
“Would it help if we fucked?”

LOL – see, I thought he was kind of joking. But nooooo, he was dead serious. And she accepted! So, this was basically the point where I just accepted that this was going to be just a fun SMUTTY read and I just basically completely stopped judging it and just went with the story – over-the-top moments, squinty-eyed moments and all.

I guess the reason I didn’t connect as strongly to the characters though had nothing to do with the smut or anything, it was that the main couple didn’t actually fully fall in love over the course of the book and as such, since THEY didn’t fully connect on an emotional level, I in turn had a harder time connecting to them… I mean, it really was all about and ONLY about the sex.

But… *holds up one finger* I think that’s something that, give the ending, will likely be explored more in the second book because there was a bit of a touching moment near the end which gave me hope for that. But really, plot or no plot, the sex was H.O.T.

The ending was a complete cliffhanger that left the story open to go in a number of directions, but personally I found that because I wasn’t strongly attached to the characters, it wasn’t remotely painful. Yes, I’ll read the next one because I’m curious to see where this all will go, but it didn’t leave me biting my nails or throwing my kindle.

If you are looking for a hot, smutty read… this is it!! *winks* … just don’t go into it expecting anything too deep… err… you know what I mean…ok, I’ll just be quiet now.

I give it 2 stars for plot and character development, and 4 stars for smut, which rounds it all off to 3 stars.

• Buy KNIGHT AND PLAY on Kindle

“…how I hated her, how much I craved her…”

I feel like I have to run and hide after I say this but, in all honesty, I was a lot less “wow-ed” by this book than I was expecting to be. It wasn’t bad at all, I just really didn’t feel anything for it or the characters. I mean, okay, maybe a LITTLE, obviously, I mean I did care for the characters, but nothing that made the story ‘stay’ with me or make me overly attached to them.

I’m still giving the book a 3.5 – 4 star rating because while nothing jumped out at me that I just fell in love with, it also wasn’t bad either and nothing ever rang any of my alarm bells, it just didn’t really make my heart race… which I usually want.

I’ve seen a lot of mixed reviews for this book and I guess I can honestly say that I can truly understand both the really low and the really high ratings… I mean, I guess its about your mood of the moment maybe?

It was basically a light-hearted (but not funny) enemies-to-lovers story that centered largely around the sexual escapades of a boss and his intern. 

I guess to describe it, its the story of Chloe who is working towards her MBA while being the assistant to Bennet Ryan – a “womanizing, arrogant, pigheaded asshat who assumed everyone around him was an idiot.” … in other words: a Beautiful Bastard.

Despite their intense physical attraction, they have an strongly antagonistic relationship at first…. until one day, the UST* snaps and (around 5% into the book) they pretty much just break down and have angry sex in the board room. Then in the stairwell. Then in the elevator. A fitting room. The backseat of a car. Two bathrooms. Almost a shower. And then about 10+ times in bed…. In case you were wondering, this book has a LOT of sex in it. I mean a lot. Its hot but not kinky – just very very frequent and often very very angry. Did I say a lot yet? … hmmmm, maybe, honestly, even too much at times? Or possibly a better way to say it would be too much, too soon.

But about half way through, emotions start to seep into their relationship – or, rather, positive and more romantic emotions and basically, the more they gave into their bodies, the more their hearts slowly began to catch up with the program and they began to fall for each other.

“He looked so different – still my asshole boss, but also someone else now: a man, in my bed, looking like he was ready for round… Four? Five? I couldn’t keep track.”

“Tell me what you want.” My voice is rough with need. “Tell me the things you want me to do to you.”
“I don’t know,” she whispered into my mouth. “I just want to see you come apart.”

Chloe and Bennet had a highly dysfunctional relationship… but one that kinda worked for them. I mean, they spent the first half of the book pretty much hating each other and trying to fuck each other out of their systems which, consequently, disconnected me a little from strongly “feeling” for them because THEY weren’t really feeling it yet. You know?

“So here were the facts: I felt possessive of her. Not in a romantic sort of way, but in a “hit her over the head, drag her off by the hair, and fuck her” way. Like she was my toy and I was keeping the other boys in the sandbox from playing with her. How sick was that? If she ever heard me admit to that, she would cut off my balls and feed them to me.”

It was nice that the story was told in alternating POVs though and that we got to see the man behind the bastard so to speak. It helped soften the way I felt towards him, understanding his frustrations with Chloe that made him act the way he did. That being said, I did really like that Chloe was a smart and sassy heroine who pretty much just threw all his asshatery back in his face so there was no ‘doormat’ syndrome going on here 😛

There were cute moments, some sassy banter, a lot of lust-hate-sex-lust-hate-sex… and some things I couldn’t help but laugh at (like Bennet hoarding all her torn up panties in his drawer *shakes head* LOL)… but I felt a little disconnected from the story. It took a long time (really right up until the VERY end) for them to actually be in a real relationship together and I guess I just usually want more actual romance in my reads.

I feel like I would have gladly traded in some of the sex scenes for more character development I mean, neither of them really ‘grew’ much as people (except to stop hating each other) and neither of them had damaged pasts or had anything in their past that was a mystery or affected their lives in any way… the story has no twists or anything, its really just a straight up enemies-to-lovers story. I guess I would have liked to know WHY Bennet was so mean to her – I mean, yeah, it was sort of explained but I would have wanted a bit of a deeper reason for that degree of asshatery.

There is a happy ending (no cliffhanger) but I did feel it was rushed and abrupt. They kind of solved their problem and then the book was just over. I feel like I really could have used an epilogue.

But… at the same time, I know I’m griping a lot but it really wasn’t a bad read. It just won’t be making my favorites pile and didn’t leave a lasting impression on me or really ever touch my heart emotionally.

However, I read it in one sitting (about 4 hours) and did enjoy my read so, all in all, I am glad I read it… I just won’t be doing a reread.

Rating: 3.5 — 4 stars

*UST = Unresolved Sexual Tension

CASTING –>  click here

Click covers to purchase. Books listed in reading order.

• Buy WOUNDED on Kindle
• Buy WOUNDED in Paperback 

5 stars!!

Absolutely BRILLIANT book!!!

Wounded was a beautiful, realistic, heart-wrenching and erotic love story that took me out of my comfort zone, wrapped me up in the characters’ journey and worked its way right into my heart.

It was absolutely NOT what I was expecting on so many levels but I LOVED IT!!!!

I’m done the book but I can’t even think about moving on yet, my mind keeps drifting back to Rania and Hunter….

This book caught my attention because it just seemed so DIFFERENT from so many others I’d read. I mean, its a romance between an American soldier and an Iraqi girl from two completely different worlds, on opposite sides of a war, with no common language, meeting by chance and falling in love. Yup. It had my undivided attention to the point where I actually dropped all my other reading plans for it, and let me tell you… it was SO worth it!!

The writing style is absolutely beautiful. The vivid descriptions just instantly transport you straight into the middle of the war zone during which the story takes place. I mean, You. Are. THERE. Right there.

The author has a simple but evocative way of allowing you to see every side of the conflict, every perspective – both the cold brutality and the intense emotions resulting from it. The senselessness, the unfairness, the destruction of lives, homes and spirit.

The story is about an Iraqi girl, Rania, whose home and family were torn apart in the war. Alone, starving, and unable to support herself, she resorts to selling the only thing anyone will buy – her body. She hates it with all her heart, but its that or death and she is a survivor through and through.

Hunter is an American soldier whose heart was recently crushed by his cheating ex-girlfriend only a few days before he was deployed. Coincidence leads him to a brutal gunfight right in front of Rania where he is critically injured. Drawn to him and unable to leave him to die, she drags him back to her humble dwelling and tries to help him heal.

Oh my gosh, guys. I can’t tell you how much this book touched my heart!! Here they are in the middle of this horrible war. He’s critically wounded. She’s selling herself for money. They don’t understand a word of each other’s language. But you can’t HELP but just FEEL their connection!! Its just the most unlikely combination ever but it so totally worked for them!

And I’m sure you can only IMAGINE the degree of protectiveness this all calls out of Hunter. Holy Alpha male! I mean, wow! His drive to protect her is just so strong and so deep but he’s fighting against it, I mean, he barely knows her but he’s just falling for her… and ohhhh the swoon!

And after all the horrors of her life and what she’s had to do to survive, he’s the first man to ever make her feel warm and safe and actually care for HER.

Because of the the contrast of the grit and destruction of war and their situation, everything beautiful between them was felt even more strongly. And the more they fell in love, the harder their situation became…. Gah!! My heart!!!

“A kiss, a kiss, just a kiss. But god, so incredible. I’m electrified, wired, hardened by the taste of her, the feel of her. Intoxicated by her. I’m shaking all over from the effort to keep my hands to myself, to keep the kiss chaste. Its an impossible losing battle. Then her hand leaves her lap and touches my face… A simple, innocent touch, but so meaningful. This woman who sells touch, who much find men to be such nasty creatures, this woman who has seen the worst monsters that are men, she’s kissing and touching me.”

Wounded has a gritty, heavy feeling to the story. However, it also flows smoothly and has no slow points. If I had had the time, I would have easily read it in one sitting.

This book is also HOT!! And I mean H.O.T. !! Like, woah hot. I have to say this was something I was NOT expecting from this. Simply given where the story took place and the nature of what was happening, I don’t know why, but I just did not expect it. But holyyy hotness! I’m serious. The first love scene went from 64-71% in the book and was absolutely beautifully portrayed, emotionally charged, intensely hot but also just so incredibly intimate. You could just FEEL how strong and deep their connection was. Totally made my heart pound.

Rania was such a wonderful heroine. She was strong and smart – an absolute survivor. I felt so terrible watching her have to do what she did to survive but admired her resilience. She truly deserved her happy ending.

“Of course, I know nothing of such things, having never had sex with a man who has not paid me for it. Perhaps all sex is paid for in some way. I think it is true. A man who takes a woman to dinner first, takes her to drink, tells her she is beautiful, pays her father to arrange a marriage to her… this is paying for sex. It is cloaked in custom and tradition, but the result – sexual domination of the man over the woman – is still prostitution.
I am not willing in this. I did not choose this life. I do what I must to survive. It is this, or starve.”

Hunter… ohhh my God I so totally loved him! He was protective and Alpha but in a very realistic way. The jealousy, disgust and possessiveness he felt listening to her ‘working’ just ate at my heart! And despite being this badass Marine, he was just so tender and patient and utterly sweet with her  ♥. There were several moments when he fought for and protected her that brought a smile to my face there was this one absolutely BADASS moment (and I’m even grinning as I write this) where you literally watched him switch from tender lover to hardcore Marine that just gave me CHILLS!!!!! LOVED IT!

“I don’t know what to say to her. I’m in battle mode. Shut down. Hard. I’m not Hunter anymore. I’m Lance Corporal Lee, USMC. Semper fi, bitches.“

I loved that he didn’t care about her past – that when he looked at her, the only thing he saw was HER. And I loved watching her grow to trust him to take care of her even though really, she was also saving his life.

He lays me down on the bed and leans next to me. He does nothing but look at me for a moment.
“You are so beautiful,” he whispers. “Do you know that?”
I shake my head. “I know that men think –”
He cuts me off with a kiss. “Man. One man. Me. I’m all that matters. No one else can have you. You’re mine.”
I shiver at his words. “Do you promise me?”
“Yes, my love. I promise.”

Everything about this book felt real. The pacing was perfect and  absolutely everything about the story made sense. No moments of eye rolling or wanting to throttle characters.

It was a beautiful, character-driven story about two scarred people finding love in the most unlikely of places and ultimately saving each other. This book is definitely going to make my list of favorites for 2013!

The story is told in alternating POV’s which are clearly marked at the beginning of the chapters. The author’s writing captures the distinct voices of each of her characters so vividly that you can’t help but instantly connect with them and feel like you are right inside their thoughts.

Ok, I’m also going to try and answer a few question that I’m anticipating you’ll have…. About the war. Yes, its gritty and horrific and I know that some of you are wary of reading war stories but please don’t let that bother you here. The war is the setting for the story but it does not tear them apart. Yes, Hunter gets wounded several times but from the time they meet in the story, they are never separated. Yes, there are instances of rape and violence (well, its not exactly rape, its more that she’s forced to sell herself to survive) but they are not descriptive or gruesome – they are more just telling you what happens to her. It sickened me that it happened to her but the author did a great job about how she presented it – there are no extended rape scenes or anything like that.

I also loved that the book didn’t just end with them leaving the war zone and getting to safety. I loved that we got to see them build a life together after.

The story also has a happy ending complete with an epilogue so really, your heart will be safe.

“I love you, Hunter. Please do not stop. Not ever.”
“I won’t, I promise. Never. I’ll love you forever. I’ll make love to you until there’s no me and no you, only us together like this forever.”

Its a heavy read. Definitely not fluffy at all, but its hot and erotic (in the second half, once their relationship is established) and the story keeps you totally engaged all the way through. Its well-written and the kind of story that stays in your mind and heart even after you’ve finished your read.

I absolutely recommend it!

5 stars!

• Buy WOUNDED on Kindle
• Buy WOUNDED in Paperback 

Both books in this world are complete standalones.
You can read either one without the other if you wish, but they are connected.

WOUNDED
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review | Read Mr. Aestas’ Review

CAPTURED
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review