REVIEW ~Unleash by Felicity Heaton~

Title: Unleash
Author: Felicity Heaton
Series: Vampire Erotic Theatre #6
Release Date: May 18, 2013

My Rating: 4.5 Stars

A powerful vampire lost deep in his bloodlust, Snow is a savage animal, mindless with rage and a thirst for violence, and trapped with no hope of awakening from an endless nightmare… until a song draws him up from the abyss, restoring his sanity but leaving him haunted by the sweet feminine scent of lilies and snow, and fragmented familiar lyrics.

When the mysterious and beautiful songstress reappears in Snow’s room at Vampirerotique, she awakens a fierce protective streak and stirs dark desires that drive him to claim her as his female, even when he knows his touch will destroy her innocence.

A single forbidden taste is all it takes to unleash emotions in Aurora that she shouldn’t possess, tearing her between duty and desire, and luring her into surrendering to her wildfire passion and embracing hungers that burn so hotly they threaten to consume them both.

One act of kindness can lead to one thousand acts of sin though, each a black mark against the bearer’s soul and another grain of sand that slips through an hourglass. The clock is ticking and time is almost up. Can beauty save the beast?

So, I've been waiting for Snow's story since I started the Vampire Erotic Theatre series, and I could not have been more pleased with how his story turned out. I'm going to call Unleash a "heavy hitter". It dealt with so much baggage between all of the characters and even characters I didn't know existed yet but, that happened to have a huge impact on Snow's life. At the end, I didn't feel that there was a single loose end to be seen. Everything was resolved, and everyone gets their happily ever afters. But along the way I experienced so many emotions and my heart ached for Snow and Aurora . For me their HEA couldn't come quick enough.

Unleash touches a bit on each of the couples from previous books, we get to see how their relationships and families have grown. But, the main part of Unleash is Snow. At the beginning he is deep in bloodlust and in his own head, to a point where no one can get him out. The stories we've never been told though, are what happened when Snow first experienced bloodlust all those years ago that changed his life forever. Those stories are what Snow relives every time he experiences the bloodlust, and therefore we get to see the gore and trauma first hand as well. I never knew what set Snow off in his rampage to begin with, and we get a glimpse of that as well. The real turn of events is when we meet Aurora, an angel who saved Snow all those years ago and helped set into place the horror that would follow suit. After saving Snow, for every terrible act he committed it was a mark against her, causing her to be an outcast among the angels. 

So, how was this supposed to work? The girl who saved him, when he didn't want to be saved, and the man who caused her a lifetime of burdens and pain? Ironically, Aurora and Snow are perfect for each other. Both extremely misunderstood, they are the only ones who truly see the real behind their facades. The pain that Aurora and Snow have been through was almost unbearable to read about, but their pain didn't end once they found each other again. These two could only find solace in each other's arms. Aurora helps quell the bloodlust in Snow, and he makes her feel. But they have a long journey and many enemies to fight to get to their happy place. I loved every second of Unleash. It was definitely one of those "FINALLY!" books for me. Snow finally got his HEA, which he so rightly deserved. And Aurora, who we don't meet until this book will have a special place in your heart too. Ms. Heaton has done it again with lovable and captivating characters, and a spell-binding story that will hold you from beginning to end!

Happy Reading!

Links to Buy:

Connect with Felicity:

BLOG TOUR + GUEST POST + GIVEAWAY ~Quintessentially Q by Pepper Winters~

Title: Quintessentially Q
Author: Pepper Winters
Series: Monsters in the Dark #2
Release Date: December 15, 2013
Tour Organized by: As the Pages Turn

“All my life, I battled with the knowledge I was twisted… fucked up to want something so deliciously dark—wrong on so many levels. But then slave fifty-eight entered my world. Hissing, fighting, with a core of iron, she showed me an existence where two wrongs make a right.”

Tess is Q’s completely. Q is Tess’s irrevocably. But now, they must learn the boundaries of their unconventional relationship, while Tess seeks vengeance on the men who sold her. Q made a blood-oath to deliver their corpses at Tess’s feet, and that’s just what he’ll do.

He may be a monster, but he’s Tess’s monster..

“Tess,” I growled, charging for the bed.

She let me come. She didn’t move away or try to hide under the covers. She cocked her head. “I didn’t think you’d be sleeping with me. Not after what I said.”

She wore the same white T-shirt of mine to bed, and all I could think about was her undressing before I strapped her to the cross—it felt like a century ago. We’d been happy then. I’d been tormented and scared, but happy as Tess promised she’d never leave.

I pinched my brow, trying to get my thoughts under control. “I’m not coming to bed, esclave. You and I need to talk.”

She eyed me but nodded. “Okay.”

Goddammit, where was the fire? The argument that she didn’t want to talk because I woke her in the dead of night. I needed to see tenacity and boldness. Nothing shone on her face, no ounce of emotion.

I squeezed my eyes, trying to understand what the fuck I was doing here.

“Q…”

Her soft voice wrapped around my heart and I struck.

I didn’t mean to. I didn’t give my hand permission to strike her cheek. It just happened. The force of her power over me made the monster fucking crazy. Denied for so long, it’d done what I was terrified of happening all along. It took away my control—made me hit her.

The soft sting in my palm and the resonating noise of connecting with Tess’s cheek was pure heaven. I’d missed it for far too long. I opened my eyes, looking at the red handprint on her skin. My cock instantly hardened.

The first fucking erection I’d had since I found Tess so ruined and weak.

Her eyes popped wide as she touched her cheek with gentle fingertips.

I waited, licking my lips—waiting for her crystal tears that tasted so sweet, but her eyes remained dry. No salt, no amazement, or accusation.

“I know you’re trying to get an emotion out of me, Q. But…it won’t work.” She broke eye contact. “I’ve tried. I hate what I’m doing to you. I loved you and can’t stand to be the reason for your pain, but they made me—” She swallowed. “My thoughts aren’t safe anymore. I can’t be myself because everything is wrapped up in such evil.” She looked up. “I’m truly sorry but you have to let me go.”

The alcohol rolled in my stomach and I lost it completely. I’m not proud of what I became. I never wanted to be so out of control, but I lost all elements of the man and showed her just how much the beast fucking wanted her.

I ripped the sheets off and shoved her into the middle of the bed. The T-shirt rode up, showing her flat belly, and I had to bite her. Had to mar that slightly bruised flesh.

With a snarl, I buried my mouth against her stomach. She flinched as I bit hard. I didn’t break the skin, but only because some miracle intervened.

I spread my entire weight over her, smothering her into the mattress. Eyes to eyes, mouth to mouth, hips to hips. 

I thrust hard against her, groaning at how good my hard cock felt. It’d been too long. Way too long since I’d had this woman…since I’d wanted this woman. “Feel that, Tess. That’s for you. I want you. So. Fucking. Much. Please come back to me. You will come back to me.” I smashed my mouth against hers. Her taste intoxicated me more than any alcohol.

Top 5 Things Q cannot live without:

1) Birds. Q has to have birds around
2) Flogger and bindings
3) Whisky
4) His business to do his ‘charity’ work
5) Tess—of course!

Links to Buy:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Meet Pepper:
Writer, reader, sometimes wife.

An avid devourer of sexy romance and angsty New Adult.

Nothing beats lolling in a bubble bath with her array of book boyfriends.

Her two titles: Tears of Tess and Broken Chance are coming soon.

Connect with Pepper:

Follow the rest of the Blog Tour by clicking the banner!

REVIEW ~Wrecked by Priscilla West~

Title: Wrecked
Author: Priscilla West
Series: Wrecked #1
Release Date: December 16, 2014

My Rating: 3 Stars

Two years ago, Lorrie’s mother was murdered. But that wasn’t the end of it. Reeling from the tragedy, Lorrie’s father spiraled into alcohol, depression, and finally suicide.

The two most important people in Lorrie’s life are both gone but she’s still alive.

Trying to recover from the tragedy, Lorrie returns to campus, ready to pick up the pieces of her life. All Lorrie wants is to get back to “normal.”

Then she meets Hunter. The man, the legend, “the Hammer.”

Hunter is a cage fighter who takes on every fight like he’s got nothing to lose. His life is a tangled mess of girls, booze, and fist fights. And while it may seem like he’s got a devil-may-care attitude, he’s fighting a private cage-match with a monster he can’t defeat.

Lorrie knows that Hunter is the exact type of guy she should stay away from, especially in her fragile state, but Hunter has other ideas.

As Hunter and Lorrie grow closer together, will they be able to overcome their pain and heal each other? Or will they both end up wrecked?

So, this wasn't my favorite. At times I enjoyed it, but others it seemed to fall a bit flat or maybe the characters seemed too naive. I like the beginning. It held some mystery, was very engaging and highly entertaining. The same with the very end. It was highly enjoyable, captivating and definitely made me want to read the next book. It was the 65% in the middle that had me wanting to skip ahead. 

Wrecked is the story of two very scarred college students, Lorrie and Hunter. They meet under abnormal circumstances, that ends in Lorrie running off. When they meet again, while Hunter is in the middle of a MMA fight, he ends up pursuing a friendship with her. They strike up their friendship and end up spending more and more time together. They have a lot of secrets though. From previous mentions we know Lorrie's story. Hunter's is a bit more shaded and sketchy. I could just tell that he had is own heartbreaking story. But, the real root of his troubles is never eluded to until the author shocks readers with the announcement near the very end of the book. Before we even get there though, it is a tip toe dance between Lorrie and Hunter. She refuses to be anything more than friends, and he usually doesn't press the issue. Along the way their are major turns in both Hunter's and Lorrie's life. It ends up being a screwed up disaster on both their parts. I ended up with my heart breaking for them both. My biggest beef came from when they actually got together. First off, it was like Lorrie did a 360 and completely changed her mind. Which I get, you can only old out on a stud like Hunter for so long. My other problem though, was their dialogue and interactions. It seemed very forced and cheesy at times. However, there were the uber cute and super steamy moments too. So, its really a toss up with which scene you're reading at the moment. 

Overall, not Priscilla's best, but definitely not terrible either. I have a feeling that the second book is going to redeem the few negatives I felt about the first. Just in general though, I had a majority of positive feelings about this book. I just wish Hunter and Lorrie's reactions hadn't been on the kid-ish side. This series has a potential to go great places and Wrecked was definitely a stepping stone to get there. I just don't think the series or the author reached their full potential with this book. 

Happy Reading!

*ARC provided by the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review*

Links to Buy:

Connect with Priscilla:

COVER REVEAL ~Seducing Lauren by Kristen Proby~

Title: Seducing Lauren

Author: Kristen Proby

Series: Love Under the Big Sky #2

Release Date: August 19, 2014

 

In the second book in the Love Under the Big Sky series from this USA TODAY bestselling author of the With Me in Seattle series, life in Montana gets spicy when a woman and her divorce lawyer sign off the papers—and sign on to love.

Now that his best friend, Josh, has happily settled down with his true love on a Montana ranch, small-town lawyer Ty Sullivan starts thinking that maybe single life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. And when Lauren Cunningham’s no-good ex-husband comes after her for an unexpected trust fund, Ty steps in to protect her. But soon he can’t help but think of her as more than a client. Lauren’s in no mood to jump into another relationship, so how can Ty convince her that her mistake wasn’t getting married, but marrying the wrong guy?

Pre-Order:

Meet Kristen:

USA Today bestselling author of the popular With Me in Seattle series. She has a passion for a good love story and strong characters who love humor and have a strong sense of loyalty and family. Her men are the alpha type—fiercely protective and a bit bossy—and her ladies are fun, strong, and not afraid to stand up for themselves. Kristen spends her days with her muse in the Pacific Northwest. She enjoys coffee, chocolate, and sunshine. And naps.

Connect with Kristen:

BLOG TOUR + GUEST POST + GIVEAWAY ~Until You by Penelope Douglas~

Title: Until You
Author: Penelope Douglas
Series: Fall Away #1.5
Release Date: December 5, 2013
Tour Organized By: As the Pages Turn

My Rating: 5 Stars!!

***This novel contains graphic sexual content and harsh language. It is only appropriate for adult readers age 18+.

Have you ever been so angry that hitting things felt good? Or so numb that you actually felt high? The past few years have been like that for me. Traveling between fury and indifference with no stops in between.

Some people hate me for it, while others are scared of me. But none of them can hurt me, because I don't care about anything or anyone.

Except Tatum.

I love her so much that I hate her. We used to be friends, but I found out that I couldn't trust her or anyone else.

So I hurt her. I pushed her away.

But I still need her. The sight of her centers me, and I can pool all of my anger into her. Engaging her, challenging her, bullying her...they are my food, my air, and the last part of me that feels anything human.

But she left. She went to France for a year, and came back a different girl.

Now, when I push, she pushes back.

So I riddled Ms. Douglas this:

What has been your reaction to all the positive reviews and negative feedback of Bully?

*and she replied*

Bully was my first book, and I loved writing it. In life, we get in ruts where we feel like we’re living the same day over and over again. When I wrote Bully, I felt like I was working towards a goal again and creating something special.

The positive blew me away. I never expected much to come from Bully. I never promoted it, so I was in awe over the response.

The negative hurt to hear, of course, especially since some of the comments were personally directed at me, and I didn’t understand that behavior. People said I should be censored, and that I didn’t have love in my life and other silly statements when they didn’t even know me. The book world is a lot of drama that I wasn’t expecting.

Now, I have so much confidence about my work. The readers have turned out, and I know that some people will dislike my stories. I can’t please everyone after all. But most like my writing, and I don’t even read the bad reviews anymore. They’re often mean and not constructive, so there’s no reason for me to put myself through that.

I have the best readers, and I love being a part of their lives. It’s crazy that I get messages from people around the world reading my books and from other authors who’ve read my work. I just shake my head like I’m still trying to wake up from the dream. I will happily ride this ride for as long as I can, and I can’t wait to see what adventure I can (hopefully) dream up next!

This book blew me away. I read Bully the day it came out and absolutely fell in love with Tate and Jared. Funny story, this was in my pre-blogging days and I hadn't even heard about Bully, until I ran across it on Amazon. So why did I read it the day it came out when I had a TBR list a thousand miles long? I really cannot tell you why, I read the blurb and something just gripped me and I put all other books on the back burner. That was back in June. When I got the opportunity to review Until You I jumped at it. I couldn't wait to get inside Jared's head. While Bully is an all inclusive book, it is told from Tate's POV, so there are a bunch of feelings and experiences we didn't get to see from Jared. I have found that books told in different POVs are my weaknesses right now... if done well. I don't want to read the same book all over again. And believe me I felt like I was experiencing this story for the first time. It was absolutely fantastic!

"I hurt her, not because I hated her, but because I hated that I wasn't strong enough to not love her."

~Jared

"Tate, we are climbing out of this fucking mess one way or another, because no one ruins us."

~Jared

Because Bully was in Tate's POV we never really got a straight answer as to why Jared treated Tate the way he did. I mean kinda, but we get a MUCH clearer picture in Until You. Jared's POV was completely captivating. The struggles that he's experienced and his conflicting emotions towards Tate mesmerized me from beginning to end. We see a little glimpse of Jared's life during Tate's absence, and best of all we get an extended ending that will have you swooning galore! There wasn't a moment where I tired of Until You, thinking that I was just re-reading Bully. It was a totally fresh spin on the story of Tate and Jared finally finding their love for one another. I think even if, heaven forbid, you didn't like Jared in Bully, Until You will completely change your mind. His story is so much more that what we saw in Bully and I have to thank Penelope Douglas for sharing his side of things. 

"Tate. My Tate. My best friend, and my worst enemy. The girl that turned my world upside down with her overalls and red baseball cap. The only person in every one of my good memories."

~Jared

"Annnnnd... I was fucking hard again."

~Jared

On another positive note, in my opinion, Until You is much steamier and dirtier than Bully. Jared has one filthy mind and it definitely took the heat level up a couple notches. But sex aspects aside, we also see Jared's interaction with his father (who is the devil incarnate IMO), and hear more of what happened that summer. Until You shows the full evolution of Jared and I enjoyed every second of it. And his inner thoughts concerning Tate and other guys.. hilarious! It was nice to see that under his rough exterior Jared could still be a possessive yet funny guy. I was almost relieved to see a different side of him, it showed that his father really hadn't killed his spirit. His inner reactions to Tate are golden though. Probably my favorite part of the book was when she started to stand up for himself, and he was like "Oh! Maybe she can handle my screwed up ass." Obviously, Until You makes it high up there on my faves of 2013. It was pure brilliance. And I can't wait for future books from the Fall Away series! I have  feeling KC, Jax and Madoc are all going to have crazy, wonderful stories as well!

Happy Reading!

*ARC provided by the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review*

Links to Buy:


BOOK #1

Title: Bully

Author: Penelope Douglas

Series: Fall Away #1

Release Date: June 17, 2013

My name is Tate.

He doesn't call me that, though. He’ll barely refer to me at all, and he’ll hardly ever speak to me.

But he still won't leave me alone.

We were best friends once. Then he turned on me and made it his mission to ruin my life. I've been humiliated, shut out, and gossiped about all through high school. His pranks and rumors got worse as time wore on. I even went to Europe for a year, just to avoid him.

But I'm done hiding from him now, and there's no way I'll allow him to ruin another year. He might not have changed, but I have.

It's time to fight back.

When one brave young woman stands up to her best friend Jared, now tormenter, the consequences go beyond anything either of them ever would have imagined….

Links to Buy:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Meet Penelope:

Penelope Douglas is a writer and teacher in Las Vegas. Born in Dubuque, Iowa, she is the oldest of five children. Penelope attended the University of Northern Iowa, earning a Bachelor's degree in Public Administration, because her father told her to "just get the degree!" She then earned a Masters of Science in Education at Loyola University in New Orleans, because she hated Public Administration. One night, she got tipsy and told the bouncer at the bar where she worked that his son was hot, and three years later they were married. To the son, not the bouncer. They have spawn, but just one. A daughter named Aydan. Penelope loves sweets, the show Sons of Anarchy, and she shops at Target almost daily.

  Connect with Penelope: