REVIEW - Tainted (St. Cecilia Slayings #1) by N. Isabelle Blanco and Dee Garcia

The Book
Release Date: 26 March 2019
Goodreads Link

And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. - Mark 7:20-23

The streets of Boston are running red with blood.
It isn’t the first time, either.
Forget the history of this city; it’s what happened nearly nine-years-ago that continues to haunt us all.
Especially me.
They say obsessions can destroy you.
Well, I’m here to tell you that’s a fact.
A serial killer played games with us once, leaving our heads spinning.
I chased them down, threw my whole life into chaos. From the very first kill, I was there.
Watching.
Analyzing.
Losing myself.
My career nearly ended before it ever began.
Then, suddenly, the killer vanished. Gone into the shadows. Never to be heard from again.
Until now.
They’re back, fiercer and bolder than ever. An obsession reawakened that threatens my sanity and leads me towards a collision with a new fixation.
One more dangerous.
One much more vile.
She’s everything my religion warns man to stay away from—the quintessential temptress sent to ruin our lives.
I thought the case would be what ended me.
Turns out, I’d sell my soul for just another taste of her.

Disclaimer: The St. Cecilia Slayings series a series of 6 short novelettes, roughly 25,000 words each, that are being released one month apart.

My Review  4 STARS
**My thanks to the author for providing me with a free copy for an honest review**

This is a deliciously dark book with so many twists and turn that you have no idea what is coming next.

We have Maverick, our detective who has a darkness in his soul and is consumed with a cold case that has just opened up again, taking him down the rabbit hole and into a place he has struggled with before.

Then we have our female masked killer who teases him and takes him further down the rabbit hole taunting him and teasing him.

The prologue gives us a little of the ending, however we then have to take the journey as to how the two characters have gotten that far.

Certainly not for the faint of heart, but a delicious read that i cannot wait to continue in the next books.

REVIEW - The Panty Melter (Hunter Brothers #4) by Lili Valente

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Title: The Panty Melter

Author: Lili Valente

Genre: Contemporary Romance/Enemies-to-Lovers
Release Date: March 26, 2019

BLURB

I don’t date alpha males.

Especially not alpha males with egos the size of Jupiter, who also happen to be my boss’s big brother.

Deacon Hunter is domineering. Condescending. Infuriating.

And yet I can’t seem to keep my panties on for five minutes when we’re alone together.

He keeps melting them right off. With that sexy voice, those confident hands, the way he brings my body wildly to life, he’s proved my libido hasn’t gone into permanent, post-divorce hibernation after all.

Surely there’s no harm in being enemies with benefits… Right?

***

When Violet Boden asks me to take her Divorce Virginity, the only thing I can think is—come again?

No, seriously, come again.

And again and again, until both of us are so satisfied we can’t remember the people who did us wrong.

Best if we keep conversation to a minimum, though, considering I drive her crazy. She drives me crazy sometimes, too. But she’s also sweet, loyal, fearless, and so much fun she’s making it damn hard not to fall for her.

But how to convince a woman who’s put me in the emotional no-fly zone that I deserve a place in her heart?

ADD TO GOODREADS

Purchase Links

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My Review  5 STARS

**My thanks to the author for providing me with a free copy for an honest review**

Finally we get Deacon's story and as we have seen him in previous books i was really looking forward to reading this one.

Both Deacon and Violet do not want a forever person again, Deacon is happy having one night stands and Violet does not want Deacon in any way.

However after a party where things get heated between them, things take a dramatic turn when Violet flees wanting nothing to do with Deacon and his panty melting ways.

The chemistry between the pair is there with every moment and every word and it is so nice to have characters in their 40's with older children instead of 20 or 30 somethings who have very little baggage to bring into a relationship.

I was captivated with this story from the first word until the last word and with true Lilil fashion it fed my emotions and my need to keep turning the page, keeping myself invested in all of the characters and the world that they inhabit.

Author Bio

Author of over forty novels, USA Today Bestseller Lili Valente writes everything from steamy suspense to laugh-out-loud romantic comedies. A die-hard romantic and optimist at heart, she can’t resist a story where love wins big. Because love should always win.

When she’s not writing, Lili enjoys adventuring with her two sons, climbing on rocks, swimming too far from shore, and asking “why” an incorrigible number of times per day. A former yoga teacher, actor, and dancer, she is also very bendy and good at pretending innocence when caught investigating off-limits places.

You can currently find Lili in the mid-South, valiantly trying to resist the lure of all the places left to explore.

Lili also writes super naughty books as L. Valente.

Author Links

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WEBSITE
TWITTER
NEWSLETTER

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REVIEW - In Want of a Wife (Pemberley House #1) by Noelle Adams

The Book
Release Date: 26 March 2019
Goodreads Link

He calls her The Annoying One.

Liz overheard him say it to his friend, and that's just fine. She doesn't like him anyway. Vince Darcy is cold, arrogant, and detached from genuine feelings, and he's become her closest rival in the local antiques market. He might be her new neighbor, and Liz's sister might be falling for his best friend, but that doesn't mean Liz cares what Vince thinks of her.

Yes, he's hot. Very hot. Way too hot. It's another one of his infuriating characteristics. She's having trouble resisting his hotness, so she might consider a casual fling with him--as long as they keep it a secret and it doesn't become complicated.

But she isn't going to like him. He thinks she's The Annoying One. She can't fall for a man after that.

Pemberley House is a series of modern reimaginings of Jane Austen novels, and the books are set in a historic mansion in Virginia that has been converted into condos. In Want of a Wife is loosely inspired by Pride and Prejudice. 

My Review  3 STARS
**My thanks to the author for providing me with a free copy for an honest review**

Although i liked this book and the fact that it was a very modern telling of Pride and Prejudice, it also fell a little flat for me.  To be honest, i struggled to relate or connect to Vince Darcy.

I like Liz, her sister Jane and their friends and the supporting characters, it was just Vince i had a problem with and therefore the story was pulled down.

Liz is a lovely character.  She loves her family and loves the family business of being antique hunters and the apartment that she lives in with her sister in Pemberly House.

Liz is very competitive and when Vince turns out to be a rival, then the gloves come off, but as she gets to know him she warms up to him.

I look forward very much to see what else will happen with this series and whoop of this group of friends will next have a story and which Jane Austen book will be inspired to be written for them.

REVIEW - Date with a Devil: A Hockey Romance (Dallas Devils Book 1) by June Winters

The Book
Release Date: 19 March 2019
Goodreads Link

Austen Marlowe learned all she needed to know about jocks back in high school: they might be tall, muscular, and hot as hell ... but you can never trust 'em. Valuable life experience for someone who dates hockey players for a living.

As the host of Date with a Devil, the young journalist is called into action when the captain of the Dallas Devils insults the team's few remaining fans. Austen's mission? To save the athlete's beleaguered reputation.

But Dane DeHardt doesn't give a damn about his reputation -- and his one-man war against the media is causing problems for them both. Worse, "The Big D" can't keep his eyes off of her. Doesn't he know these dates aren't real?

But DeHardt isn't the dimwit she's been led to believe. And when the sinfully sexy hockey star isn't trying to talk the rookie reporter out of her clothes, he's pushing her to get to the bottom of a scandal she's been ordered not to cover.

Is Austen willing to risk her job because it's the right thing to do? Will Dane make Austen forget why she swore off jocks in the first place? Or is she being played by The Big D? 
Date with a Devil is a 75,000 word stand-alone hockey romance. Dual POV, no cheating. HEA always guaranteed, but the Dallas Devils drama continues in Book 2!

My Review  4 STARS
**My thanks to the author for providing me with a free copy for an honest review**

I must admit that Hockey players have become a bit of a favourite with me.  It' does not help that i live on a small island where there is no hockey and the only place i can see it is on the TV, so i indulge with stories on players instead.

In this story we have Austen a woman who works for the Devils and has her TV show A Date with a Devil. It is though that where she finally has to do a show with the captain Dane DeHardt, the man that has a lot of bad press.

It is through this interview and the subsequent intervention of her boss, that Austen finds out there there is more to Dane than first appears and that things are not right in the world.

Both characters have chemistry with each other and are drawn closer and closer the more they find out about each other, along with the twists in the story that keep them together and working to find a way to get the story told.

I really enjoyed this story and the characters and cannot wait to see what happens next in the series.

REVIEW - Risky Play (Red Card #1) by Rachel Van Dyken

The Book
Release Date: 19 March 2019
Goodreads Link

Even one-night stands deserve a second chance in New York Times bestselling author Rachel Van Dyken’s novel of sporting desire.

What else can a virgin do when she’s ditched at the altar? Seattle heiress Mackenzie Dupont is treating herself to a single-girl honeymoon in Mexico and a desire to relinquish her innocence to a gorgeous one-night stand. Fake names. True pleasure. But when she wakes up alone, Mackenzie realizes just how much anger is left in her broken heart.

Suffering a tragic personal loss, pro soccer player Slade Rodriguez has his reasons for vanishing without a goodbye. Right or wrong, he’s blaming the beautiful and infuriating stranger he never wants to see again. They’re both in for a shock when Mackenzie shows up as his new personal assistant. And they both have a lot to learn about each other. Because they share more than they could possibly know, including a common enemy who’s playing his own games. And he’s not afraid to get dirty.

Now there’s only one way Mackenzie and Slade can win: to trust in each other and to stop hiding from the lies they’ve told, the secrets they’ve kept, the mistakes they’ve made, and the attraction that still burns between them.

My Review  5 STARS
**My thanks to the author for providing me with a free copy for an honest review**

This is the first book that i have read by this author, although i have wanted to try her books for quite a while, i have  just not found the time before.  The author will certainly be on my required reading list from now on though.

This story captivated me from the first page when Mackenzie is left at the alter by the man that she thought had been her best friend.

Fast forward six months and we get the first meeting of our other M/C, Slade Rodriguez on a plane where a malfunction causes the pair to a close encounter that carries on for the rest of the day giving both characters a chance to be a different them for a change.

Both character that have a recent past that changes the way that they look at the world, however it is only Slade that uses it to shelter himself, whereas Mack still has her tender and warm-hearted self still helping people. 

There are some good supporting characters, believable bad guys trying to make things harder for the pair to reach that HEA, but in the end the strength of both character wins though.

Excerpt:

I was kissing her again.

Maybe it was because it had been months since I’d had a decent kiss, since I’d jumped into the arms of anyone who didn’t know me by name.

I could be Hugo for a few days.

Hugo seemed spontaneous.

Hugo seemed relaxed.

Hugo seemed fun.

I sure as hell needed some fun.

I broke away from her kiss and trailed my fingertips down her chin. “So, now that we’ve established the plane didn’t crash and we’re here side by side, what did you have in mind?”

Ashley grinned up at me, her eyes a bit hesitant as she looked from me to the ocean. “Well, I’ve never gone cliff diving, I heard there’s a great place close by.”

My eyebrows shot up. “No offense, but you don’t seem like a thrill seeker.”

She laughed. I decided I liked the way her laugh relaxed me, made me respond with a smile and a need to kiss her again. “I’m not, trust me.” She sobered a bit. Her lips turned down.

I wanted nothing more than to press a soft kiss to the corner of her mouth just to see if it would it make it decide to smile in my direction again.

“But it would be fun, I need fun.”

I sighed heavily and looked at my feet. When the hell had I ever looked away like that? “That makes both of us.”

“Great!” She walked ahead of me into her penthouse suite, which matched mine even in color. I suddenly wondered what she did for a living. I mean I could afford it because I had been the highest paid soccer star in Europe for the last ten years.

The place was around three grand a day.

I eyed the large master suite as she ran around and then held up her hand. “One sec, I’m going to change into a suit, alright?”

“Great.” I smiled reassuringly. It would give me time to look around, not that I was stalking her, but I could never be too careful. I was still surprised she didn’t recognize me. And I knew when she did, this little facade, this freedom I felt in my chest, the easy way she let me breathe around her? It would go to hell, and I’d need another escape.

I thumbed through a few of the magazines on the table, and dropped the last one down just in time to hear the sliding bathroom door open and see a goddess emerge.

A one-piece swimsuit covered her body. It had a plunging neckline that showed off two generously sized breasts, and I immediately regretted not telling her who I was.

Because clothing tended to get pulled off, not put on, when I was in the room.

I eyed the scrap of material she called a swimsuit, my eyes raking over her muscular legs, her curvy body.

“Unless you’re jumping naked, you should change too,” she pointed out, then cleared her throat and looked away like she was insecure. Damn, the woman could make a man cut his own heart out for a taste of her special brand of sin.

I peeled my shirt off over my body and shrugged. “Ready.”

Her eyes went so wide I had to fight not to laugh.

I knew what she saw.

I had Instagram pages dedicated to my eyes alone, don’t even get me started on my abs.

Eight.

Tight, packed abs, all tanned and golden like I was the sun god himself.

“Uh, right.” Her cheeks brightened as she clasped her hands together. “Let’s go!”

I checked her out the entire time she walked ahead of me, and when she caught me staring I just shrugged and said, “Next time wear more clothes if you don’t want me to look.”

“You should talk,” she fired back.

“Misunderstanding.” I grinned. “I wanted you to look.”

She slapped a hand against my bare chest.

I laughed, and then grabbed her hand and kissed her fingertips. “You ready to jump off a cliff with a stranger you’ve kissed twice?”

“Once,” she corrected with a whisper. “I kissed you, you kissed me, we’re even.”

The doors to the elevator opened as I whispered under my breath. “Not for long.”

***

About the Author

Rachel Van Dyken is a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and #1 New York Times bestselling author known for regency romances, contemporary romances, and her love of coffee and Swedish fish. Rachel’s also recently inked a deal for her Wingmen Inc. series—The Matchmaker’s Playbook and The Matchmaker’s Replacement—to be made into movies. A fan of The Bachelor and the Seattle Seahawks (not necessarily in that order), Rachel lives in Idaho with her husband, a super cute toddler son who keeps her on her toes, and two boxers. Make sure you check out her site, www.RachelVanDykenauthor.com, and follow her on Twitter (@RachVD).

Social Media Links

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https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4882127.Rachel_Van_Dyken

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