Wayward One

by: Lorelie Brown

Publishing Date: 2/5/13

Publisher: Samhain Publishing

Genre: Historical Romance

Source: Provided by Author

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Description:

He’ll protect her with every vicious bone in his body.

During her ten years at the prestigious Waywroth Academy, Sera Miller clung to a strict code of propriety to shield herself from rumors that she isn’t an orphan at all. She’s a bastard. Now she wishes she had never allowed her friends to talk her into snooping into the mysterious source of her tuition. 

Her benefactor isn’t the unknown father she dreamed of one day meeting, but Fletcher Thomas—underworld tycoon, gambling den owner, and a man so dangerously mesmerizing that he could spark the scandal Sera has worked so hard to avoid. 

Fletcher is only two steps away from leaving the life of crime he inherited from his father. First he plans to join an aboveboard railroad consortium, then claim the one thing his ill-gotten gains have kept safe all these years—Sera. 

With every wicked caress, Sera fights harder to remember society’s rules and reject the painful memories his touch resurrects. Accepting Fletcher’s love means accepting her past—a risk too great for a woman who has always lived in the shadows. No matter how safe she feels in his arms. 

Warning: This book contains a do-gooder heroine, an accidentally charming hero with tendencies toward caveman-itis, inappropriate household décor and fabulous sex against a wall.

My Review:

I seriously want to gush over the cover for a minute before I go into my review.  

The cover alone had me sold on reading this book.  I love the colors chosen  for the cover and how the cover models are placed....and the dress of course is GORGEOUS!!!  

Sera Miller had a very rough life when she was younger and when her mother passed away, she went off to Waywroth Academy where she learned how to become a very proper woman and to keep herself from being disgraced from society.  She never knew who took care of the expense of going to the Academy and when she finds who the person is that helped her...she is more in shock than ever.

Digger, otherwise known as Fletcher Thomas now has always felt compelled to protect and look after Sera.  He has known for awhile and all he wants is for her to be happy and be loved.  He knows he did bad things when he was younger, but he's trying to make up for it.  

He wants to help Sera further than giving money for her to attend school and now he wants her to help him be accepted into society as well.  

When Sera decides to help she is thrown into a world where she's not used to and a world where she wanted to avoid at all cost.  Fletcher keeps being a very difficult man to be with and she cannot help, but start to really have feelings for him.

She's even being threaten in Fletcher's home to leave, but she has no idea who the culprit is.  

It's going to be very difficult for Sera to keep herself proper around the handsome Fletcher, especially when he tends to be there for her whenever she needs him the most.  

Lorelei Brown gives you a historical romance that has a lot of angst, romance, and sweetness.  

She gives you two characters that you will rooting to get together because they are made for each other.  They have known each other for awhile and it also helps when you have the sexy Fletcher trying everything to let Sera know he loves her and then Sera trying to fight her feelings, but she just cannot after so long.  It's inevitable.  =)  

Fletcher is definitely a character who I adore a lot of in the story.  He had his bad ways, but when he was around Sera, he was different.  He stole my heart and when the steaminess happen between him and Sera....yeah...he kind of stole my heart more.  

Sera got on my nerves during certain parts of the book, especially towards the ending.  She kind of overreacted over something and I felt bad for poor Fletcher.  Although, Sera did have qualities I loved about her.  She could be difficult at times because she was all about not being snubbed by society...but she did put Fletcher in his place several times in the book when he truly needed someone to.  

Overall this book definitely was a very enjoyable and sexy book from the very talented Lorelei Brown, who readers know her as Katie Porter.  I had a hard time in certain parts, but other times I had to keep turning the page on my iPad.  I am a sucker for a historical romance book though because I love when a author can make me feel like I am back in time and that is what Lorelei Brown did.  

I look forward to reading more of Lorelei Brown's books in the very near future.

I give "Wayward One" 4 full moons and highly recommend it to historical romance readers out there.  

I received a complimentary copy of the book from the author in exchange for an honest review.  

Lead and Follow

(Club Devant #1)

by: Katie Porter

Publishing Date: 1/8/13

Publisher: Samhain Publishing

Genre: Erotica w/ M/M | Menage

Source: Provided by Author

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Description:

The best partners share everything... 

Lizzie Maynes's torn ACL threatens more than her career as an international Latin ballroom champion. During her lengthy recovery, her longtime professional partner, Dima Turgenev, has been dancing at the Chelsea District's most notorious burlesque, Club Devant. More than just dancing, he’s been experimenting with shocking new moves that make her want to pull him off stage and get back on tour as soon as possible--the better to keep their successful friendship safe. 

Dima knows all about safety, and the lack thereof, because he blames himself for Lizzie’s injury. Far from the pressures of competition, Club Devant is the perfect creative venue to rebuild his rattled confidence. He’d love for Lizzie to join him and revel in the club's intoxicating freedoms. By exploring the new sensual energy simmering between them, they could become more than friends. 

Paul Reeves, a recently divorced Texan starting over in the Big Apple, is all for joining the dancers as they blaze through sexual boundaries. But he also knows their sizzling trio won’t last. Lizzie and Dima belong together. Before the last sparks fade, he plans to transform two stubborn friends into lasting lovers--one raunchy lesson at a time. 

 Warning: Burlesque meets ballroom in this f***ing sexy book when a smoldering Russian dance god and a blonde firecracker with hips possessed by the devil share a sunny, filthy-minded Texan--for just a dance or two.

My Review:
This is my first book from the fabulous Katie Porter and it definitely will not be my last.  My blog partner  has read Katie's books before and I read the synopsis of "Lead and Follow", I knew it was one book I had to read from Katie Porter.

"Lead and Follow" is a erotica with M/M and Menage in it.  Erotica is one of my fave genres and having M/M and Menage elements made this book beyond HOT.
Remember me saying the synopsis sold me on reading this book, well reading this book, I definitely look forward to reading the next book in the Club Devant series and so on.
This is the first book I have read that has dancing in it and the dancing is ballroom style, but with a lot of sexiness involved.
Here you have the sexy Russian who has the right moves and the sexy blonde bombshell who knows the sexy Russian's moves by heart.  In fact she knows how to make the Russian fall for her.

After her injury while dancing with her partner, Lizzie has been coping with what happen.  She could lose everything she ever worked for including her partner if she does not get her act together.
Dima remembers the day his partner tore her ACL and it has been eating at him since then.  He wants his dance partner back, but she has been acting different ever since the injury.
Club Devant where Dima dances at now with his new partner is not what he truly wants.  He feels stressed due to what happened to his partner and the club owner knows something is missing in Dima's life.
It takes an outsider to have Lizzie and Dima realize what they are capable of doing together.
Paul, the outsider who is the bartender at Club Devant meets with Lizzie and has some fun with her and he is intrigued with Dima the minute he sees him.  Lizzie and Dima are about to make his world different, but he is about to change their world as well.

Katie Porter pulls you into story of two stubborn friends who put themselves through so much drama and sex.  She thens makes you run to take several cold showers after all the amazing sex between Paul, Dima, and Lizzie.  OMG!  Just thinking about those scenes...makes me want to have a cold glass of water to calm down.
Dima and Lizzie have so much chemistry, not only because of their dances together, but being there with and for each other since they were young.  I fell in love with both them the minute they were introduced.  The best part of this book was you get inside the head of both of them so you feel each of their emotions and what they are going through.  Who did I side with more though...Dima.  Poor guy...he definitely was feeling crazy over what Lizzie kept putting him through.  I just wanted to go through the book and hug him and maybe even steal him from Lizzie.   I was rooting for them to get together though.  They definitely were meant for each other.
Paul, the sexy cowboy bartender....my thoughts on him...sex in a cowboy hat...enough said on that one.
Remember the saying, save a horse, ride a cowboy....definitely thinking that when I read the scenes with Paul.
Lizzie was one lucky gal in this story.  She had both Dima and Paul.  She needed that swift kick in the butt at the end though.
Oh...and the ending was the best part in the story.  I was literally in tears.  I felt like I was on stage with Dima when his dance partner came into the light.

Katie Porter's "Lead and Follow" is an amazing sexy start to the Club Devant novels.  The title alone should have you wanting to buy the book because the title has meaning to the story and what happens between the characters.

I give this book 4.5 full moons and highly recommend it to readers who enjoy the erotica genre.
I look forward to what Katie Porter does in the next books and I will be well-prepared ahead of time when I read the next books too...cold water and ice to help me cool down and maybe even a glass of wine or two or three.  Oh yes...this is that kind of book.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Mating Instinct

(Moon Shifters #3)

by: Katie Reus

Publishing Date: 3/5/13

Publisher: Signet Eclipse

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Source: Netgalley

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo (Coming Soon)

Description:

As the beast within struggles to break free, he must learn to be what she needs... 

Surviving for centuries, powerful lupine shifter Jayce Kazan managed to stay away from humans until he met Kat Saburova and was consumed by the need to protect her. But while Jayce shared his passion with the human seer, he refused to make her his bondmate—a refusal that caused the end of their relationship. 

A year later, an attack that left Kat near death has resulted in another lupine shifter turning her. Furious that he wasn’t the one to save her, Jayce is determined to show Kat that he is the one she should rely on. But the newly turned shifter is still traumatized and worried that she’ll hurt those she loves, unless she can learn to control her inner wolf. 

And as Jayce struggles to protect Kat from her own worst instincts and convince her to rekindle their love, the extremists who almost killed her are looking to finish the job…

My Review:

"Mating Instinct", the third book the Moon Shifter series has become my FAVE out of the series so far.  I had a hard time putting down this book.  (I seriously gave my hubby the evil eye whenever he interrupted me while I was reading this book....Needless to say, he learned his lesson)  =)

( First off, I highly recommend you read this series in order.  Katie continues each book where it is left off at, but with different characters.  )

Kat Saburova is adjusting to her new life as a shifter, and she's trying to get over what happened to her in "Primal Possession", but she's having a difficult time.  She's realizing being a shifter requires following pack laws, but it is going to take time to learn them all.  She also needs someone to teach her the pack laws.  In the mean time though, she has Jayce Kazan to worry about.  He was her past love and now he is making it known he wants back in her life.  Kat is not making it easy for him.  He is trying to make amends with her and let her know what happened in the past and why he lied to her about the bond...but Kat is being more than difficult.
Jayce Kazan is one of the enforcers to the shifters and he is town on official business, as well as taking care of Kat...or at least trying to.  He is going to step up and teach her how being shifter is like and take care of her training.
Kat has her goals set on vengeance against the APL and she'll do everything in her power on making that vengeance come true without the pack.  Unfortunately, the APL has their own plans.
In fact someone is putting the blame on shifters on recent killings in the town, but none of Conner's pack has any involvement in it.  Jayce is trying to figure out another matter, but he is also going to find out who is actually putting the bad spotlight on the shifters as well.

"Mating Instinct" is a ride full of sexual tension, suspense, and emotions that will make you keep turning the page.  You'll fall in love with these shifters and will be determined to get rid of the APL just like they are.

Kat and Jayce have to be my fave couple out of this series so far. I clicked with Kat because even after everything she went through in the second book, she has proven she is a strong female character and she is not to be messed with.  She's stubborn at times and a little reckless, but she is such an amazing match for Jayce.
Jayce is strong willed as well and very determined to prove to Kat, he loves her.  It just takes him an awful darn long time to say it to her and prove it.  Have I mentioned he's powerful, scary, and sexy?  Oh I haven't...well now you know what I friggin' love him.  =)

This book even made me hungry while reading it.   I was craving chocolate while reading certain scenes.  =)  (*evil smile*)
Let's just say Jayce's scent that Kat is smelling every time he gets worked up.....is what I'm referring to. (*another evil smile*)

I love how Katie continues each book where it was left off at, but of course with different characters to continue the story.  She does continue the story of previous characters into each book so you know what the characters are up to.  Connor plays a major role in this book and Liam shows up as well, who were the lead male characters from the other books.  I love me some Liam and Connor....but for some reason Jayce stole my heart more after reading "Mating Instinct".  Maybe it was the chocolate...or maybe it was because he came back to Kat.

If you have read the first two books in the series, you'll definitely enjoy this installment.  If you haven't read this series yet, what are you waiting for?  Add it to your TBR to read later or get it when it comes out and start reading.

I am really curious on what is going to happen next, especially when it comes to the APL.  Will they ever find out who is really running the show...and what about certain characters that I want to find out more about.

I highly recommend this book and give it 5 full moons.  If you love the paranormal romance genre, love shifters, and love Katie Reus...you definitely need to read this book and series.  =)

I received a complimentary copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Relentless

(Degrees of Darkness #1)

by: Winter Austin

Publishing Date: 2/11/13

Publisher: Crimson Romance

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Source: Provided by Author

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Description:

Dallas homicide detective Remy LeBeau trusts no one. He hides from a past that could kill him and anyone involved with him. What he’s not prepared for is the return of an elusive serial killer . . . and an unwanted desire to protect a witness at all costs. 

Professional barrel racer Cody Lewis’s dream of being top in the nation is within reach until she discovers a murdered woman in her horse trailer. The event pulls her into the sickening world of the Rodeo Sweethearts serial killer—a madman who terrorized Dallas’s rodeo circuit five years prior and is now back for more. But what’s worse is that Cody fits the profile of the Rodeo Sweetheart victims. . . . 

As Remy dives into the investigation, he uncovers secrets of a botched investigation and a tight-lipped boss, while attracting unwanted attention from the killer. Battling his partner, his attraction to Cody, and the demons of his past, catching the killer could cost Remy everything. Even Cody’s life.

My Review:

Are you a rodeo lover?  Do you love books that are based in Texas? Do you love a book that has romantic and suspense elements to it?  Have I gotten your attention yet?  =)  

"Relentless" is the first book in Winter Austin's Degrees of Darkness Series and I definitely look forward to reading the second one after reading this one.

The Rodeo Sweetheart killer is back and women with red hair are being targeted in Dallas and homicide detective, Remy LeBeau is on the case to find out who it is.  Remy wants to figure out why the killer is targeting certain women and also find out if the previous detectives are hiding something that happened before.  He has Cody Lewis that actually finds one of the women's bodies in her horse trailer.  Now Cody is in danger of becoming a victim of herself since she fits the killer's victim's descriptions.  Remy is not supposed to be getting attached to Cody due to what happened in his past.  Unfortunately, Remy finds something about Cody that is intriguing.  She's a stubborn, strong-willed woman who will do at anything to have her dream come true in being the top professional barrel racer in the nation.
The killer though has other plans and it is up to Remy and his partner to crack the case before the killer kills someone else, particularly, Cody.

Winter Austin takes you on a chase to find the Rodeo Sweetheart Killer before it is too late.  Once the killer is discovered, you'll be in shock like I was who it actually was.
Be prepared for twists and turns in "Relentless" and once you do read "Relentless" you'll understand why it was named that title exactly.

Remy was not always my favorite character due to his reluctance of showing his feelings toward Cody and Cody was difficult also.  She has her dreams though to conquer, while Remy was hiding secrets. Remy was even losing trust from his partner as well due to hiding his past.

I definitely recommend this book to romantic suspense and thriller readers.  There is more suspense though in this novel than romance, but you'll be more focused on cracking the case along with Remy than dealing with what Remy and Cody were trying to hide.

I was provided a copy of the book from the Author in exchange for an honest review.

It Stings so Sweet

Publishing Date: 2/5/13

Publisher: Berkley Trade

Genre: Historical Erotic Romance

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Description:

They vibrated with incendiary Jazz. They teemed with sexual abandon. The Twenties were roaring and the women–young, open, rebellious, and willing–set the pace and pushed the limits with every man they met… 

In the aftermath of a wild, liquor-soaked party, three women from very different social classes are about to live out their forbidden desires. 

Society girl, Nora Richardson’s passionate nature has always been a challenge to her ever-patient husband. Now he wants out of the marriage and she has just this one night to win him back. The catch? He wants to punish her for her bad behavior. Nora is offended by her husband’s increasingly depraved demands, but as the night unfolds, she discovers her own true nature and that the line between pain and pleasure is very thin indeed. 

Meanwhile, Clara Cartwright, sultry siren of the silent screen, is introduced to a mysterious WWI Flying Ace. If Clara, darling of the scandal sheets, knows anything, it’s men. And she’s known plenty. But none of them push her boundaries like the aviator, who lures her into a ménage with a stranger in a darkened cinema then steals her jaded heart. 

Working class girl Sophie O’Brien has more important things on her mind than pleasures of the flesh. But when her playboy boss, the wealthy heir to the Aster family fortune, confronts her with her diary of secret sex fantasies, she could die of shame. To her surprise, he doesn’t fire her; instead, he dares her to re-enact her boldest fantasies and Sophie is utterly seduced. 

One party serves as a catalyst of sexual awakening. And in an age when anything goes, three women discover that anything is possible…

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Stephanie Draven is currently a denizen of Baltimore, that city of ravens and purple night skies. She lives there with her favorite nocturnal creatures–three scheming cats and a deliciously wicked husband. And when she is not busy with dark domestic rituals, she writes her books. Stephanie has always been a storyteller. In elementary school, she channeled Scheherazade, weaving a series of stories to charm children into sitting with her each day at the lunch table. When she was a little older, Stephanie scared all the girls at her sleepovers with ghost stories. 

She should have known she was born to hold an audience in her thrall, but Stephanie resisted her writerly urges and graduated from college with a B.A. in Government. Then she went to Law School, where she learned how to convincingly tell the tallest tales of all! 

A longtime lover of ancient lore, Stephanie enjoys re-imagining myths for the modern age. She doesn’t believe that true love is ever simple or without struggle so her work tends to explore the sacred within the profane, the light under the loss and the virtue hidden in vice. She counts it amongst her greatest pleasures when, from her books, her readers learn something new about the world or about themselves.

It Stings So Sweet

by: Stephanie Draven

Publishing Date: 2/5/13

Publisher: Berkley Trade

Genre: Historical Erotic Romance

Source: Provided by Author

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Description:

In the aftermath of a wild, liquor-soaked party, three women from very different social classes are about to live out their forbidden desires. 

Society girl, Nora Richardson’s passionate nature has always been a challenge to her ever-patient husband. Now he wants out of the marriage and she has just this one night to win him back. The catch? He wants to punish her for her bad behavior. Nora is offended by her husband’s increasingly depraved demands, but as the night unfolds, she discovers her own true nature and that the line between pain and pleasure is very thin indeed. 

Meanwhile, Clara Cartwright, sultry siren of the silent screen, is introduced to a mysterious WWI Flying Ace. If Clara, darling of the scandal sheets, knows anything, it’s men. And she’s known plenty. But none of them push her boundaries like the aviator, who lures her into a ménage with a stranger in a darkened cinema then steals her jaded heart. 

Working class girl Sophie O’Brien has more important things on her mind than pleasures of the flesh. But when her playboy boss, the wealthy heir to the Aster family fortune, confronts her with her diary of secret sex fantasies, she could die of shame. To her surprise, he doesn’t fire her; instead, he dares her to re-enact her boldest fantasies and Sophie is utterly seduced. 

One party serves as a catalyst of sexual awakening. And in an age when anything goes, three women discover that anything is possible...

My Review:
I first noticed this book on Amazon one day underneath my recommendations and decided to place it on my Wish List.  I have always loved the 1920s and the description of this book, as well as the cover, had me already ready to buy it when it released.  I was contacted by Stephanie's assistant inJanuary to read the book early and review it.  I definitely could not pass it up since the book was on the top of my Wish List so I did not miss out on buying it.

Stephanie Draven not only dived me into the Roaring 1920's with flappers, prohibition, and women's suffrage...but she brought me into a world of 20's erotica that includes BDSM, menage, and scandals.

Three different stories, but each have a connection with each other, which made me love this book even more.  I believe more authors should do this kind of writing style.  It made everything fall in place and took me into other's people's heads during each story.

The first story, Leave Me or Love Me, is about Nora Richardson and how her husband is going to leave her due to what she did with another man.  She will stop at anything to win him back and have him with her forever.  She'll even discover things about herself, she never knew she enjoyed.  She'll even discover what her husband always wanted from her.  This story definitely takes you out of your comfort zone and what Nora endures with her husband.  He puts her in certain scenarios that would make women cringe, feel embarrass, or leave their husbands for.  Instead, Nora is a strong-willed wife that will please her husband and spite her father, just to prove to her husband she loves him.

The second story, When I'm Bad I'm Better, is about the famous actress, Clara Cartwright, who has never fallen in love.  Until, she meets a stranger one night, who has something of hers that could hurt her career.  The stranger is about to reveal the real Clara and what she is capable of doing.  He'll push her to new boundaries, she never thought she would enjoy, until the stranger introduces her to his best friend.  This story leads you into a menage story where Clara is about to be devoured by two handsome guys, but only one will steal her heart permanently and change her for the better.

The last story, Let's Misbehave, is about the working girl Sophie O'Brien, who works at the hotel run by Robert Aster.  He is introduced several times in this book.  Sophie never thought her fantasies would come true, until she is called into her boss's office to discuss the journal that was found in her locker.  He wants to make her journal fantasies come alive.  In the mean time though, she may be over her head with Robert.  Robert also may be over his head...but both are going to find out how much they really need each other in their lives.

I enjoyed all three stories and also enjoyed being taken back in the past with certain historical elements that definitely have intrigued me since I studied the Roarin' Twenties in school.  Stephanie Draven did an amazing job on putting everything together and making it feel like I was taken back in that era with her characters.
Each story gets you out of your comfort zone, and Stephanie Draven makes each story more erotic it seems. ( at least in my opinion it was....one of my fave scenes is in the last story....let's just say it involves restraining an individual)  =)
This book includes elements of BDSM, menage, and several other elements that you will have to read to find out.
If you love historical romance and erotica together, you will enjoy this sexy, erotic novel from Stephanie Draven.