Kaleb by Nicole Edwards

Rumors abound about the seven Walker brothers. They may be gentlemen, but they are far from saints. Good God and there’s seven of them?! Heaven help their mother.

What’s it About? 

Zoey Stranford might’ve had a crush on the sexy boy next door since middle school, but she’s a woman now, and that crush has turned into a full blown case of lust. So why is it that at twenty nine, her libido decides to ramp into high gear and the only thing she can focus on is the intensely sexy, scorching hot boy next door who is definitely not a boy anymore? The only problem is that Zoey and Kaleb have been best friends for as long as she can remember. Not to mention, Kaleb and his brothers are working on buying Stranford land to build a new resort, and she’s more than a little hesitant about his intentions.

Kaleb Walker has had his eye on Zoey for close to twenty years, but never before has he considered taking their friendship to the next level, no matter how many fantasies he’s had about her over the years. That doesn’t explain why Kaleb is hell bent on having her – in as many ways as possible.

Kaleb finds himself in a precarious situation. His brothers have nominated him to pursue Zoey’s father about purchasing the land needed to get their new resort off the ground. Finding out that Carl Stranford is on the brink of foreclosure and Zoey might just lose her house and the land, Kaleb now has to convince her to put aside her pride and let him help her. It doesn’t take long before the flames start burning bright and hot, and the two of them burn up the nights and the days as they explore each other’s forbidden fantasies. But can their friendship survive a business transaction or the new friends with benefits clause? Or will they realize that they’ve been overlooking something much deeper that’s been right in front of them all along?

First Impressions

Kaleb and Zoey have been neighbors for years, and he’s been lusting after her since they were just a couple of horny teenagers. The synopsis tries to imply that it’s only because he’s trying to convince Zoey to sell her family’s land that they suddenly get closer in the physical sense. However, that’s not really true. If anything it seems like after being friends for so long they’ve had enough with putting things off, and kind of fall right into being romantically involved. There’s really no awkwardness at trying to navigate a physical relationship. They simply get down and dirty with it, including their flirtatiousness. And hell, why not add another guy into the mix as well?!

Secrets and Sensuality

Zoey admits to Kaleb pretty early on in their newfound relationship that it’s been a fantasy of hers to be the filling of a Walker brother sandwich. Seeing as the Walker brothers are known about town for sharing their women at the same time, Zoey’s biggest conundrum is what other Walker brother she’d want to have a threesome with. Not gonna lie, I did find it rather strange that considering how long Zoey has been lusting after Kaleb she’d be willing to toy with the idea of allowing another one in there. Meh, what do I know about the emotional or physical logistics of a threesome. I’ve always said it seems like too many limbs jumbled together!

As for Kaleb, he’s been waiting for so long to take Zoey to bed, and has even been dreaming about sharing Zoey with one of his brothers for a long time. Talk about being close with family to an uncomfortable degree! Kaleb mistakenly assumes that Zoey will have an innocent vanilla approach to sex, but when he discovers her secret desires he’s almost afraid of pushing her too far with his own desires. However, it doesn’t take long before he overcomes those insecurities, and brings their dreams of a threesome to a reality. Rather than sharing her with a blood relative though, Kaleb decides to bring his best friend to the party. Kaleb is excited to bring Zoey to the ultimate pleasure, yet experiences an unexpected mixture of possessiveness and lust when his best friend strokes Zoey’s thigh. Now that he finally has Zoey, will he be able to share her with someone else? Um, yeah. Multiple times.

Threesomes and Land Purchases

I’ve read a few erotic novels featuring threesomes before, and this one definitely took a unique approach to the horizontal conga line. I feel like normally when it comes to threesomes we either see a couple experimenting with it once as a way to mix things up in the bedroom, or you have three people who all fall in love with each other and decide to become romantically involved forever and ever. In this novel however, there were a surprising number of threesome scenes involving Zoey, Kaleb, and his best friend Gage. Zoey clearly understands that Gage is only there for the pleasure aspect, and her true feelings of lovey doveyness are for Kaleb alone. She’s just intrigued with the idea of exploring her sexuality after the disastrous end to her marriage, and apparently that involves more than one foray into the world of threesomes.

The other aspect of the novel which surprised me was that there’s really no attention focused on this club that Kaleb and his brothers are opening. The majority of the story involving the club deals with the land purchase from Zoey’s father. I guess I just assumed this club would be constructed and fully opened by the end of the novel, but that’s not the case. Looks like this might drag out to encompass the other novels in the series as well. I do feel the club’s concept deserved more attention and discussion, especially when Zoey discovers they are planning to open a sex club. Seems like it’d be a main topic of conversations, but nooooope. Moving along.

Series: Alluring Indulgence, book 1. I won’t rush to read the next book in this series, but I won’t delete it from my TBR list just yet.

Should you read it? This novel was definitely more about sex than story. It’s mainly just about Zoey exploring her sexuality. Don’t get me wrong, that’s good and all, but it simply doesn’t make for a very engaging read. There isn’t much drama at all involving our multitude of characters, including all the Walker brothers, and when there was drama it seemed pretty unnecessary. Overall, a lack of really any kind of depth to the story.

Smut Level: With a threesome here, and a threesome there. Here a threesome, there a threesome, everywhere a threesome.

Get it on Amazon: Click Here. $3.99 Kindle Price. Pocket Star Publishing. 342 Pages.

Alpha by Jasinda Wilder

What would you do if you received a $10,000 check in the mail? It’s addressed to you, yet the signature is illegible. There’s just one word written in the memo line: “You”. So, what would you do? Cash it? I feel like I’d harass someone at the bank for more info, even if they couldn’t give it to me. Ask around a bit!

What’s it About?

The first time it happened, it seemed like an impossible miracle. Bills were piling up, adding up to more money than I could ever make. Mom’s hospital bills. My baby brother’s tuition. My tuition. Rent. Electricity. All of it on my shoulders. And I had just lost my job. There was no hope, no money in my account, no work to be found. And then, just when I thought all hope was lost, I found an envelope in the mail. No return address. My name on the front, my address. Inside was a check, made out to me, in the amount of ten thousand dollars. Enough to pay the bills and leave me some left over to live on until I found a job. Enough to let me focus on classes. There was no name on the check, just “VRI Inc.,” and a post office box address for somewhere in the city. No hint of identity or reason for the check or anything. No mention of repayment, interest, nothing…except a single word, on the notes line: “You.” Just those three letters.

If you receive a mysterious check, for enough money to erase all your worries, would you cash it? I did. The next month, I received another check, again from VRI Incorporated. It too contained a single word: “belong.” A third check, the next month. This time, two words. Four letters. “To me.” The checks kept coming. The notes stopped. Ten thousand dollars, every month. A girl gets used to that, real quick. It let me pay the bills without going into debt. Let me keep my baby brother in school and Mom’s hospice care paid for. How do you turn down what seems like free money, when you’re desperate? You don’t. I didn’t. And then, after a year, there was a knock on my door. A sleek black limousine sat on the curb in front of my house. A driver stood in front of me, and he spoke six words: “It’s time to pay your debt.” Would you have gotten in? I did. It turns out $120,000 doesn’t come free.

First Impressions

When our main female lead receives this mysterious $10,00 check she decides to cash it. She just got fired from her job, her mom is in an assisted living facility, her brother is in college, she’s in college, and her rent is past due. I think I’ve got all her bills covered! Although she debates over it for a while, she seemingly has no choice but to cash it. I must say, I did admire that one of the first things she did was give some of the money to her best friend to help with rent payments. Pretty selfless if you ask me. She made sure to take care of her own responsibilities rather than, say, go on a shopping spree. Kyrie also has the sense to admit to herself that there’s no way this money is being given absolutely free. Eventually, someone will come to collect. And after one year of receiving a $10,000 check every month, that collector comes a knockin’!

10k Here and There

Now, you’re probably asking yourself the same question I did whilst reading this one: why the hell would you continue cashing these checks, and racking up even more debt to this unbeknown benefactor? Especially considering the first 3 checks spelled out “you belong to me” in the memo lines. Creeeeepy! However, I gotta give it to Kyrie, she had a pretty logical answer to this conundrum. She was desperate to cash that first check to take care of herself and her family, and she knew there was no way she could have paid back that initial $10,000. When the others started coming she figured, what the hell? I’ll never be able to repay any of it, might as well keep cashing ’em. It kind of makes sense.

The set-up to the novel was interesting, but the first year of cashing checks did drag on for a while. Then when the collector finally comes along things get pretty weird. Her benefactor’s personal driver comes to “collect” Kyrie, and when he brings her to Mr. Rich Guy he insists she wear a blindfold whenever she’s in his presence. He also refuses to tell her his name. Dude, you’re basically kidnapping this chica, maybe try and make her feel a bit more at ease rather than making it seem like she’s trapped in a horror film.

A Billionaire Beast

In a way, this novel reminded me of a blend between Beauty and the Beast and Pretty Woman. Our mysterious benefactor is rather moody at first, he has his own personal quarters which are off-limits to Kyrie, and they manage to bond over his ginormous library. As for Pretty Woman, well, he provides her with her first ever opera experience!! The only difference here is that she had to remain blindfolded the entire time, and he makes her come during the “climax” of the performance.

And this brings me to the discussion of their sexual relationship. Gotta say, not a fan. I’m sorry, but I feel like there is a big difference between pushing your lover to try new things, and making them do things they legitimately don’t want to do. Prime example was when the blindfold was eventually removed, and Roth is feeling up Kyrie in his car. They quickly catch the attention of the driver in the car next to them. Kyrie repeatedly tells him to stop, that she’s embarrassed, and she keeps trying to push his hand away. But he ignores her, and keeps shoving his hand up her skirt. Personally, I found that to be disturbing rather than hot.

Keeping Secrets

Now for the other annoying feature of the story. Roth admits right off the bat upon first meeting Kyrie that he has a big secret he’s keeping from her. Eventually he’ll tell her what it is, but he admits it will cause her to run from him, so he’s going to keep it to himself for now. Kyrie is initially concerned, but then basically just focuses on her burgeoning sexual relationship with Roth, and all the pretty things he keeps buying for her. I thought this secret was ridiculously obvious, but what really irked me was that Roth didn’t tell her what it was upfront. Yeah, she would have withdrawn from him, but then he could have tried to win her over through his actions. Instead, Roth tries to get close to her, make her fall for him, and then try to bring honesty to the discussion. Seems pretty manipulative to me.

Narrator

I listened to this one as an audio-book. Overall I would say the narrator was just ok. Although she does a good job with Kyrie, she seemed to have a more difficult time with Roth. He’s supposed to have a slight British accent, and I felt she focused so much on trying to get that right that his voice came across as much older, and lacking any real emotion. When it came to Roth’s Mexican housekeeper, Eliza, and his Italian restaurant owner friend, both came across sounding Russian. The accents were definitely a problem. The last chapter of the novel was told from Roth’s point of view, and we suddenly get a male narrator, who actually did a great job. However, it was kind of jarring to suddenly have this deep and rumbling voice for just a few pages at the very end.

Series: Alpha, book 1. I wasn’t a huge fan of the decisions some of these characters made in book one. Not sure I’ll want to carry on with book 2. Stranger things have happened though!!

Should you read it? Upon first collecting Kyrie, Roth was pretty insistent that this wasn’t all about sex, and if they do eventually have sex it wouldn’t be prostitution even though he gave her $$. Umm, sure, whatever you say. I have to call slight B.S.though considering it’s not long before he’s making her moan.

Smut Level: Funny how these billionaires always have a friend who owns an Italian restaurant. In this novel, Roth makes Kyrie secretly come by fingering her under the table as his friend presents their dinner of lasagna and chicken parmigiana. Who needs to worry about awkward dinner conversation when you have that going on under the table?

Get it on Amazon:  Click Here. FREE. Self-Published. 450 Pages.

“Consumed by You” by Lauren Blakely

A dirty talking fireman with six-pack abs and a puppy. Heaven help my ovaries.

What’s it About?

She’s playing with fire…Dog trainer Cara Bailey wants to find “the one,” but fantasizing about her sexy-as-hell client, firefighter Travis Jansen, is getting in the way. Her only option? Get the confirmed bachelor out of her system-in every position possible-so she can settle down with Mr. Right. Starting right now.

Travis doesn’t do relationships, so no matter how badly he wants the pretty little brunette, he keeps his distance. Until Cara goes and changes the game. She’ll fulfill all of his fantasies if he agrees to walk away when it’s over. But when the wildfire between them blazes out of control, it will consume everything-and everyone-in its path…

First Impressions

There are a large number of romance novels out there where our main characters agree to just have a short fling, and screw each other out of their systems. Nothing exactly new here. However, I must say this is the first book I’ve come across with an addendum to that verbal contract wherein they also agree to never have sex in an actual bed. Because…well that would just be too intimate. Imagine if one of them were to fall asleep afterwards and they’d actually have to like, spoon? Oh, the humanity!!

Thinking Outside the Box

Like with all other romance flings of this nature, their attempt at a short fling doesn’t exactly go as planned, but my God they certainly do get creative with their sex locales. I’ll certainly have to take note of a few of these for my “Saturday Sexcapades” posts. They get their grind on in the back of a club, the hood of a car, the kitchen counter (a classic), the back porch (exhibitionists are we?), and they certainly give her washing machine’s spin cycle a run for it’s money. If you and your significant other are looking to spice things up a bit, you could probably get some tips and tricks from this read!

Cheesy Sweetness

This book sort of reminded me of a good ole fashioned rom-com (albeit with a hell of a lot more sex involved), in that it has a delectably sweet, yet cheesy ending. Especially when it comes to their final declarations of love in the closing scene. Let’s just say the whole book leads up to a final Fireman’s Bachelor Charity Auction where Cara has trained Travis’ dog, Henry, to do a fancy trick, and Travis definitely uses the cute little pup to swoon Cara. Cheesy for sure, but it’s also making me want to look up where the closest Fireman’s Auction is to my current location.

Series: Fighting Fire, book 3. Can be read as a stand-alone.

Should you read it? Definitely a sweet read, but sexy as hell. Travis is a fireman and poker player, so he’s trained himself to survey every scenario, and avoid risks. Putting his heart on the line for Cara is a risk he doesn’t want to make, but he’s just too smitten with the lady to say no. And…did I mention a freakin’ dog is involved?!

Smut Level: Cara actually has to train the dog Henry not to bark when Travis spanks her during sex. Probably comes in between lessons for “sit” and “play dead”.

Get it on Amazon: Click Here. $2.99 Kindle Price. Entangled: Brazen. 252 Pages.

 

Seven Sinners Anthology: Seven Sizzling Stories!

This collection of short stories all relate to a different deadly sin, and they are all sexy as sin! See what I did there? Sexy as sin? Gotta love it!

What’s it About? 

Can’t get enough of hot contemporary romance? For a LIMITED time buy this sexy, EXCLUSIVE anthology with seven ALL NEW stories from top authors, including USA Today Bestsellers, and discover your favorite sin today! All seven sins are represented: Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Wrath, Sloth, Pride and Greed. USA TODAY bestselling authors Amy Andrews and Natalie Anderson, and Rock and Roll romance authors Robin Covington, Avery Flynn, Michele de Winton, Carmen Falcone & Talia Hunter have brought together a sizzling, lip-smacking anthology.

First Impressions: 

I don’t know why, but for some reason I love anything and everything related to the seven deadly sins, and this anthology was no exception. From start to finish, it was an entertaining read, and I’ll admit I had a lot of trouble putting it down! When one story ended I immediately wanted to go on to the next. They just suck you in. Sure, some were better than others, but I loved that every novella had an interesting story or connection between our main characters, not to mention some passionately descriptive sex scenes. Even though each story represents a different sin, you can’t ignore the fact that lust runs rampant through them all. What’s not to like?!

The Benefit of the Format

Novellas can be both a blessing and a curse. They’re short, so you can get through them quickly, but more times than not you are left wanting more in regards to the story. In my opinion, that wasn’t really an issue with any of the novellas in this anthology. Each one had some kind of interesting back story or new-found chemistry between the characters, and I think there was only one that I felt was too short. All of the others were the perfect length, and left me more than satisfied. Just like the lovers. Tee hee. Also, because each novella was so short, you didn’t have to worry about waiting around forever for our couples to come together and get to the good stuff.

My Favorites

There were two stories that were my absolute favorites, and surprisingly they were actually the first two novellas of the anthology. The first was surrounding the sin of envy, “Blaze for Me” by Natalie Anderson, and told the story of a female skier and her sinfully sexy sports doctor. She was envious of the love and passion that other couples had, and wanted to experience it for herself. He was more than happy to give it to her. Multiple times. I must say that if this novella was ever turned into a full length series, I would definitely be a reader.

My second favorite was the story of gluttony called “Glutton for Punishment” by Amy Andrews. When I first considered what each sinful story would be about, I was kind of hoping that gluttony would deal with food. You know what I mean. Strawberries, whipped cream, maybe some chocolate sauce. But alas, this was actually the BDSM novella of the bunch, and I must say it was freakin’ hilarious! By far the best BDSM story I’ve ever read. Why, you ask? Because the heroine insists that she wants to try some BDSM elements for the first time, but after a few good spanks from her lover she can’t help but jump up and rub her bottom from the pain. Turns out BDSM isn’t exactly her thing. But that doesn’t mean their sexual relationship is purely vanilla! They can dirty it up pretty quickly. So ironic and awesome!

*A copy of this book was provided for an honest review*

Series: Nope, just an anthology of short stories.

Should you read it? I think the order in which the stories were presented could have been switched up, and at times the link between the story and the deadly sin was a bit of a stretch. That being said, this would be perfect for all of you out there looking for some short, sexy reads. Especially if you don’t have the time to sit down and read a full length novel, and want something you can leave and come back to later.

Smut Level: We’ve got naughty talkers, dirty talkers, and downright filthy talkers.

Get it on Amazon: Click Here. The Kindle version is only $0.99, and it came out today! Amazon Digital Services. 426 pages. Also check out http://sevensinsbook.com/.

Exposure by Annie Jocoby

This is the first book in the Exposure trilogy. I finished it in less than a day, and I am officially intrigued to find out what happens next. I need book 2, and I need it now!

The Synopsis

Photographer CJ Parker is a woman who has literally not gone outside for the past six months. She’s been hiding from the world, and from life, ever since an unimaginable tragedy forced her into seclusion. On the one day where she decides to finally venture outside, she meets the mysterious billionaire, Asher Sloane. Dark-headed, magnetic, and gorgeous, Asher drips sex and animal magnetism. He draws CJ out of her shell and into the world, while showing her things that she never knew existed. What CJ doesn’t know is that Asher has a dangerous past. Behind his beautiful blue eyes and confident demeanor lies dark secrets that, if they are brought to light, could mean the end of CJ and Asher’s relationship. Will the exposure of Asher’s past destroy them?

First Impressions

For all of you who aren’t big fans of the billionaire theme, don’t let that stop you from giving this book a try. The story-line is absolutely amazing. Yes, we do have a debonaire billionaire who apparently “drips sex” (sounds messy), but the size of his wallet is not the driving force behind this novel. The heroine’s agoraphobia undoubtedly sets this book apart from your average billionaire contemporary romance. It’s intense, dark, and full of secrets, but CJ’s drive to never give up in overcoming her tragic past was inspiring.

It Sucks You In

One of my favorite things about this novel was that the storyline was never stagnant. The characters encountered several different obstacles, and yet everything flowed together into one cohesive plot. From the very beginning we know that CJ’s agoraphobia stems from some terrible event in her past, and we soon discover that it relates to the guilt she feels over her little brother’s death.

I must say the author took a very risky, yet ultimately successful approach to this crucial aspect of the story. Although CJ and Asher are strangers when they first meet, he already knows the details surrounding her brother’s death because it was covered extensively in the news. However, we as the audience are not privy to the details of his death until over a quarter of the way through the book. I was initially worried that this strategic delay would cause reader frustration, but shockingly enough it simply made me read the pages even faster.

As if that storyline wasn’t enough, Asher has is own problems. He first came across CJ passed out on the sidewalk after her first attempt in months to go outside. When she awakens hours later in his apartment, he feels an intense desire to protect her, and help CJ face her fears. He’s also crazy horny for her, and it isn’t long before he’s got her pressed up against a wall, bumping and grinding their way to a happy ending. Asher quickly makes a proposition that CJ act as his fiancee in order to get his stalker ex-girlfriend off his back. He’s rich, handsome, and mysterious. Of course he has a stalker ex. This fake fiancee proposition was the one part of the book where I was like, “Really?”

The Stalker-Bitch

A little over a month ago, I wrote a post about female stalkers in romance novels, and Asher’s ex Sophie acts like your stereotypical bitch of a stalker who you just wanna slap. Although, technically she’s less violent than your average female stalker. Eh, we still have 2 more books in the series for her to get really crazy.

Sophie presents yet another hurdle for our heroine to overcome. I suspect that in her youth, Sophie went to the Premier Bitch Academy for Spoiled Youngsters, was captain of the “How to Push People’s Buttons” team, and majored in “Royally Pissing Me Off.” Her treatment of CJ was beyond deplorable, and whenever they discussed Asher’s past she was annoyingly cryptic. To be fair though, towards the end she was basically spelling it out for CJ, but it was completely going over the poor girl’s head.

Twists and Turns

A large chunk of the novel is focused on uncovering CJ’s past, which cleverly draws attention away from Asher’s own little secrets. There was some initial mystery surrounding his character, but fairly early on Asher confides to CJ about the death of his own brother and mother. This shared past of family tragedy is what initially drew them together, and allowed them to have a deeper emotional connection. Little did we know that there was actually more of his past to uncover, and it isn’t until the very end of the book that we are offered a glimpse of what he’s been hiding.

I don’t do spoilers, so I’m not going to reveal how CJ’s brother died, or what exactly is going on with Asher. Even though I won’t tell you the details, trust me when I say that altogether these secrets combine to form a gripping story that will have you hooked.

*A copy of this book was provided for an honest review*

Series: The Exposure Series, book 1.

Should you read it? I feel the need to provide a disclaimer here. The story surrounding CJ’s brother is heartbreaking. The author makes his death seem so real, as well as CJ’s difficulty in adjusting to his loss, that it was hard to read at times. Overall though it was a captivating read that I simply couldn’t put down.

Smut Level: Asher is a man who knows how to talk dirty, and he isn’t afraid to put his skills to good use. Hot and steamy baby!

Get it on Amazon: Dude! This book is free!! Get it while you can, click here.