BLOG TOUR REVIEW ~Until June by Aurora Rose Reynolds~

Title: Until June

Author: Aurora Rose Reynolds

Series: Until Her #2

Release Date: May 24, 2016

My Rating: 5 Stars!

June Mayson and Evan Barrister’s whirlwind courtship resulted in a secret marriage right before he left for boot camp. Evan knows deep in his gut that June is too good for him, but after getting a taste of the beautiful life they can have together, he’s unwilling to let her go. June promises to wait for him, knowing neither time or distance will ever change her feelings for Evan—that is until she’s served with divorce papers while he’s overseas and she’s forced to let him go.

Her marriage and divorce a well-kept secret, the last person June expects to run into when she moves back to her hometown is Evan. Angry over the past, she does everything within her power to ignore the pull she feels whenever he is near. But how can she ignore the pain she sees every time their eyes meet? How can she fight the need to soothe him even if she knows she’s liable to get hurt once again?

Is it possible for June and Evan to find their way back to each other again? Or will they be stopped by an outside force before they ever have a shot?

Seeing Evan again is taking a toll on me, I can’t sleep and my mind is in a constant state of turmoil. I wake up in the middle of the night from dreams of us. The memories of him, of us are too much. Some memories have the ability to heal. The ability to light up the dark because the beauty of the memory is so bright you’re still able to bask in it. 

But the memories of us are killing me slowly. They remind me that for one moment I had everything while reminding me it’s gone. It’s the realization that we’re done that’s killing me. The realization that I can see him but can’t touch him that he exist but he’s not mine is agonizing.

Another epically amazing release from Aurora Rose Reynolds. She never disappoint with her alpha heroes, and strong-willed heroines. Until June is proof of that, but eve more so, this book offered something a bit more real, tangible, and emotional for me as a reader. Evan and June have had a harrowing past and face even more roadblocks when we catch up with them again. There is of course over-the-top angst and lust, but I connected with these two so much! Not because I've ever gone through what they have, but because Ms. Reynolds delved deeper into both of their POVs, it seemed to me, and really got down and dirty with their emotions. 

This was a fantastic addition to the Until Her series. I can't wait for more. The whole entire Mayson clan is one that I will never sicken of. I can see myself still enjoying their stories of overbearing males, and hot blistering rendezvous for years to come. June and Evan have a hell of a story to be told and I gobbled up every word of it. There's no easy way to come back from what they each went through, so be prepared for a few emotional slaps and punches to your heart along the way. 

A marvelous book that I would suggest to any reader. It is a standalone HEA book so fear not, you cliffhanger adverse readers, it's safe to enter. You do not have to have read the previous series that connects to this one, but as a reader I do thoroughly enjoy seeing the children of the original couples get their chance at love. Very well done!

Happy Reading! 

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

Aurora Rose Reynolds is a navy brat who's husband served in the United States Navy. She has lived all over the country but now resides in New York City with her Husband and pet fish. She's married to an alpha male that loves her as much as the men in her books love their women. He gives her over the top inspiration everyday. In her free time she reads, writes and enjoys going to the movies with her husband and cookie. She also enjoys taking mini weekend vacations to nowhere, or spends time at home with friends and family. Last but not least she appreciates everyday and admires it's beauty.

RELEASE DAY REVIEW ~Sugar Daddy by Sawyer Bennett~

Title: Sugar Daddy
Author: Sawyer Bennett
Series: Sugar Bowl #1
Release Date: May 24, 2016

Rating: 6+ Stars

Sela Halstead lost her innocence in a way that no sixteen-year-old should ever have to endure. She’s spent years trying to forget that night even while wondering about the identities of the monsters who brutalized her—until a telltale tattoo flashes across Sela’s TV screen. The incriminating ink belongs to Jonathon Townsend, the millionaire founder of The Sugar Bowl, a website that matches rich older men with impressionable young women. Obsessed with revenge, Sela infiltrates Townsend’s world, only to come face-to-face with a tantalizing complication: Beckett North, his charismatic business partner.

The tech mastermind behind The Sugar Bowl, Beck always gets what he wants, in business and in bed. And yet, for a man who’s done every dirty thing imaginable, there’s something about the naïve, fresh-faced Sela that sparks his hottest fantasies. Because with her, it’s not just about sex. Beck opens up to her in ways he never has with other girls. So why does he get the feeling that she’s hiding something? In a world of pleasure and power, the shocking truth could turn them against each other—or bind them forever.

Note: Sugar Daddy ends on a cliffhanger. Sela and Beck’s story continues in Sugar Rush, coming in August 2016!

You think you know. But you don't. You can't even begin to understand what you're about to get into when you open this book up to page one. This is easily the best read of the year so far for me. I can't even pinpoint one thing about it that makes it utterly fantastic. It's just a culmination of everything together. The pain. The lust. The love. The unbearable heartache. The need for revenge. The only question to answer in this book is: What happens when you are within reach to fulfill your self-professed destiny, only to have your true destiny sideswipe everything? 

Sela Halstead has a mission. Not to take back what is hers, because that can never be returned or mended, but to wholeheartedly destroy the man who destroyed her life. Who she is, is not who she was meant to be. She is a ghost of herself, living day to day until the man who stole the sparkle from her eye flashes across her TV. Sela knows what she has to do. The only thing that may make her feel alive again... But she wasn't counting on Beckett. JT's business partner, and best friend. Nothing could have prepared her for the true feeling of living again that Beckett brings out in her. But has she lost sight of what she came here to do, or will she find a renewed sense of revenge despite the new life she's been given?

Everything about this book gripped me. Sela is a character that you want to cheer for so badly. You need her to be happy, but she has this side to her that you will understand, but want her to fight so badly. Then there's Beckett. I feel so desperately in book-love with him. But in the end no one in this book is perfect, but that's what made it so real and intense. Of course, Ms. Bennett takes so liberties with the dramatics, but again, that's what makes it fiction, and mind-blowing fiction, at that. But between Sela, Beckett and JT you vaguely know who to root for, but they all toe the line at times. What this book will leave with is a hurting heart and tears. It's a doozy of a cliffhanger, but I. LOVED. IT. If you hate cliffhangers, you HAVE be warned. Though I'd just say embrace it. Take this rollercoaster book on for all it's worth, because I can guarantee you, you'll be left gasping for more, but you'll also have found a new favorite read. So, obviously I recommend this book. To everyone. It really shouldn't be missed. 

Happy Reading!

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

(click to buy on Amazon)

Since the release of her debut contemporary romance novel, Off Sides, in January 2013, Sawyer Bennett has released more than 30 books and has been featured on both the USA Today and New York Times bestseller lists on multiple occasions.

A reformed trial lawyer from North Carolina, Sawyer uses real life experience to create relatable, sexy stories that appeal to a wide array of readers. From new adult to erotic contemporary romance, Sawyer writes something for just about everyone.

Sawyer likes her Bloody Mary’s strong, her martinis dirty, and her heroes a combination of the two. When not bringing fictional romance to life, Sawyer is a chauffeur, stylist, chef, maid, and personal assistant to a very active toddler, as well as full-time servant to two adorably naughty dogs. She believes in the good of others, and that a bad day can be cured with a great work-out, cake, or a combination of the two.

RELEASE DAY REVIEW ~Desire After Dark by Marie Force~

Title: Desire After Dark
Author: Marie Force
Series: Gansett Island #15
Release Date: May 23, 2016

My Rating: 5 Stars!

Tobias “Slim” Jackson has the perfect life as a pilot on Gansett Island in the summer and in Florida in the winter. He’s happiest when he’s in the air, or at least that was the case before last summer when he met Erin Barton, Gansett Island’s newest lighthouse keeper. Now he can’t seem to find his usual enthusiasm for flying, winter in the sunny South or anything that doesn’t include her.

Erin has been stuck on pause since she lost her twin brother. She’ll tell you herself that her life has been a hot mess since Toby died. After dropping out of law school, she’s flitted from one pointless job to another, existing rather than truly living. Then she comes to Gansett Island to take over as the new lighthouse keeper and meets Slim, who happens to share her beloved brother’s first name. That small coincidence is enough to convince Erin that she needs to spend more time with the dashing pilot—except for the fact that he’s spending the winter more than a thousand miles from her.

Now Slim’s come home to Gansett for the holidays and to hopefully pick up where he left off with Erin. He’s got twelve days before he’s due back in Florida to finish out the remainder of his winter obligations. A lot can happen in twelve days, but will it be enough to convince Erin that it’s time to start truly living again? Read Slim and Erin’s story and catch up with the rest of the Gansett Island cast in Desire After Dark!

I will be completely honest, this book felt as if it was going to be a repetition of Meant for Love, Jenny's story. But I could not have been more wrong. Per usual, and I won't even pretend to be surprised just extremely delighted, Marie Force as offered up her amazing ability to create a fresh voice even when she's 15 books into this series. Her characters never disappoint, the stories always remain incredibly engaging and applause-worthy. Desire After Dark offered that and so much more. 

I can't event begin to fathom how this book included everything it did. A story of two people: one who has had severe debilitating loss in her life, and the other who came along at the right time and just the right amount of sexy, understanding and is the all around perfect-for-her hero. Slim and Erin have an instant connection that morphs into something neither of them were expecting. They had committed themselves to single-hood, for different reasons, but when that fated night they met something changed. In the best of ways, in the forever kind of ways. 

In this book you feel every ounce of Erin's heartbreak over the loss of her twin brother. But what soothes that ache is the utter perfection that is Slim, and the love and comfort he offers her which actually pushes her to face the fears she's been hiding from. What will also calm your aching reader heart when you read this book is Erin's relationship with Jenny. I don't think there's been such a connection between friends and family in this series as their is between these two. They have a connection that runs deeper than blood and it was really heart-warming to see them interact and cement their bond as family even though Toby is gone, and has been for 15 years. 

In the end this book was simply amazing. I couldn't have loved it more. The hilarious antics of the Gansett crew are there in full force, but far from overshadow the importance and seriousness of Erin and Slim's time together. There are so many visits back to my other favorite couples and I devoured each glimpse into their lives post-HEA. This is truly the series that I wish would never end. I can never get enough of it, even 15 books later and I've got grabby hands for whatever is next. 

Happy Reading!

ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review

From the desk of MARIE FORCE

On 50 Books and 50 Years: Things I Know for Sure

This week marks a major milestone in my publishing career. Desire After Dark is my 50 th book, and it releases 17 days before my 50 th birthday. To those who would ask, I didn’t plan that. Like many things in this life, it just sort of worked out that way. I wish I could say I’d written a book a year, but in fact most of them have been written in the last five frantic years that have gone by like a flash.

I thought this 50-50 combination platter was a good time to reflect on what I’ve learned writing 50 books and living for a half century. (God, it sounds DREADFUL when I put it that way!) So in no particular order, here’s what I know for sure halfway through my life. Note to my kids: I intend to stick around for the entire second 50, so batten down the hatches.

1. I’m acutely and painfully aware that too many of my high school classmates didn’t live to be 50, so I’m thankful for every day I’ve spent on the right side of the ground. I’m not planning on indulging in a middle-age funk or crisis or anything like that because being 50 certainly beats the alternative.

2. I’ve accepted that my arms are never going to look like Michelle Obama’s guns. I’m learning to live with that and letting them out to see the world more often than I used to, taking comfort in the fact that they are still smaller than my thighs. I’ve also learned that eating salt and vinegar potato chips makes me happy, so I will continue to eat them in my second 50 years. This is nonnegotiable as is my relentless war against all forms of chin hair.

3. My mom had a magnet on her fridge declaring that FIFTY IS PRIME TIME. I believe that. This time next year, my youngest will graduate from high school and next fall he will head off to college, leaving his parents with now two empty bedrooms and hearts full of memories. In my fifties, I’ll be able to do just about anything I want any time I want. If that’s not PRIME TIME, I don’t know what is.

4. That said, being a mother has been the greatest thrill ride of my life. There is, simply, nothing better in my world than my two wonderful kids, who are both better people than I could ever hope to be. No matter what they do or don’t do or achieve, all I care about is that they are healthy and happy and productive. The rest is up to them, and I can’t wait to see what they get done while I sit in my tub and eat bon bons, knowing I was never a perfect mother, but I always tried to be a fun mom and I did my very best for them always.

5. Family is everything. Parents, siblings, cousins, close family, extended family—if you got lucky in the family department like I did, then you know what I mean. They know you better than anyone and don’t let you get away with anything, which is actually a good thing—until they tell people you look like Nick Nolte’s mug shot in the morning with photographic evidence to prove their point. I’m grateful for the brother who has traveled all but one year of this journey with me as well as our posse of cousins who made us feel like we had a huge family when it was only the two of us.

6. I honestly believe the outcome of your entire life can be determined by who you are born to. I was born to two of the best, and they are as much responsible for the life I have today as I am.

7. Friends who stick with you through bad times—and good—are worth holding on to. Everyone is there for the bad times. The ones who show up during the especially good times, who share in your joy selflessly and without reservation, are the people you want on your journey with you. I have been enormously blessed in the friend department.

8. I also got lucky in the husband department. We don’t always see eye to eye (what fun would that be?), but I always know I can count on him and so do our kids. He gives me Valentine’s Day cards that say things like “I’m still not sick of you,” which is the perfect sort of card for the nonromantic romance author. And his family is rather awesome, too.

9. I’m grateful every day for the series of fortunate events that led to my career as an author. If you had told me at 40 that THIS would be 50, I probably would’ve laughed myself senseless at your delusions of grandeur on my behalf. However… Here I am with 50 titles to my name, 5 million books sold, 22 times on the New York Times list, my closest friends and family members working with me, a new house that Mac McCarthy bought for my family and a life that five years after it happened still feels like a dream in progress. For that I thank the readers who’ve taken my books to heart and me along with them. You have made all of this happen, and I never lose sight of that fact. I’ve also learned that never allowing myself to be entirely satisfied with where I am at the moment can lead to new challenges that broaden and expand my sense of the possible.

10. I have learned that I can do just about everything right, be the best possible friend/family member/colleague/author (fill in your own blank) I know how to be, and it won’t be enough for some people. What I know at 50 is that I’ll never make everyone happy. I’ve learned to be okay with that and to know FOR SURE that if I can make myself and those who matter most to me a little happy every day, then I’m doing something right. And that is more than enough for me.

Here’s to the next 50 books and the next 50 years. As Sam Holland would say, bring it on.

Marie Force is the New York Times bestselling author of contemporary romance, including the Gansett Island Series, which has sold more than 2.2 million books, and the Fatal Series from Harlequin Books, which has sold more than 1 million books. In addition, she is the author of the Green Mountain Series from Berkley Publishing as well as the new erotic romance Quantum Series, written under the slightly modified name of M.S. Force.

Her goals in life are simple—to finish raising two happy, healthy, productive young adults, to keep writing books for as long as she possibly can and to never be on a flight that makes the news.

EXCERPT REVEAL ~Je Suis a toi by Pepper Winters~

Title: Je Suis a toi
Author: Pepper Winters
Series: Monsters in the Dark Novella
Release Date: May 31, 2016

“Life taught me an eternal love will demand the worst sacrifices. A transcendent love will split your soul, cleaving you into pieces. A love this strong doesn’t grant you sweetness—it grants you pain. And in that pain is the greatest pleasure of all.”

Q made me the happiest esclave in the world. He gave me his heart, his empire, his ruthless unforgiving love. And life finally left us in peace.

A man like my maître has special needs though, growing stronger as our lives intertwine. The only way to survive his monster is to agree to all his desires.

Including his latest wish.

I’m his.

And I won’t refuse.

“You obeyed me.”

Her head bowed, her legs spreading wider, revealing the gift I worshiped daily between her legs. “I did. I look forward to my reward.”

My lips curled; the darkness enveloped me. The beast inside stretched, unsheathing its claws, lengthening its spine in preparation.

I stalked toward her and fisted her hair. I fell more in love than I already was.

This woman made me come alive. This woman would end up killing me. But my life was already hers, and I would die gratefully on the pyre of her affection.

“Tu connaiss les règles, esclave.” You know the rules.

“What rules, maître?”

“You don’t get your reward until you’ve been punished.”

Her gaze glittered with rebellion and retaliation but not one ounce of fear—the perfect cocktail for a bastard like me. “Go ahead. You’ll never break me.”

“Ah, my sweet, sweet Tess. That might be the case…” I nipped at her bottom lip. “Mais ça ne m'empêchera pas d’essayer.” But it won’t stop me from trying.

Dropping the black bag by her spread legs, I tugged on her right plait. “Up.”

Unfolding immediately, she stood quivering before me. Her chest rose and fell, imprisoned in the dark red bra I’d handpicked for her. Her flat stomach shadowed with faint bruises from previous nights, and I traced the bite mark I’d left on her hipbone after our parlour games. 

I wanted to do what I’d planned now. To get it over with before she could have second thoughts. But I restrained myself. Anticipation would make it that much sweeter.

Gripping her jaw, I kissed her with a wet-as-fuck dominating kiss before pushing her backward to the bed. 

She obeyed every prompt. Falling onto the bedspread, she watched me with desire-glittering eyes. 

This room was very much like our assigned accommodation, only smaller. The fireplace roared with heat and the four-poster bed hung with midnight blue drapery rather than forest green.

My jeans and t-shirt became too tight as my body prepared to tease and torture.

Tess squirmed on the mattress as I moved toward her and yanked her up the bed by her arms. The moment she was in the middle, I uncoiled a piece of Japanese silk rope from my pocket and looped it around her wrist. 

With a sharp smile, I secured her to one of the four bedposts. 

It was a risk tying her down like this. After all, she’d done the same to me when I’d given her my nightmares to hopefully break hers. However, no memory of that day hovered in her gaze. Her skin already flushed with lust as I fastened her other wrist and moved toward her ankles. 

She didn’t speak—she was too well trained—but her eyes never left my ministrations. 

She gasped as my fingers ran around her ankle, cupping her heel protectively before wrenching her legs apart and securing them as tight as her wrists. 

Once finished, she lay spread-eagled with no hope of escape. 

I stood and surveyed my fucking delicious woman. The lingerie barely hid her bare pussy, shadowing it in red lace while her bra couldn’t hide the pinpricks of nipples begging me to bite. 

Running a fingertip from her instep to her clit, I murmured, “So pretty and no chance of running. What shall I do with you?”

Her hands fisted, her lips parting with breath. “Anything…do anything you want.” 

“Anything?” My fingers pinched her pussy, indenting her soft flesh with the lace protecting her. 

She gasped, white cheeks flushing so prettily. The scrap of material couldn’t hide how wet and hot she was, drenching the delicate underwear. Her desire matched mine. I was rock-fucking-hard for her.

“I’ll give you a choice, Tess.” Rubbing her pussy, I pressed hard and swift. “Pain or pleasure first? You make the call.” 

Her back bowed as I stabbed at her entrance, prevented from entering her by the lacy garment. Soon, that bastard chastity belt would have to be sliced away. But for now, it kept me focused. Gave me a barrier I wasn’t permitted to break. 

Her eyes switched from dove-grey to dark blizzard. “Pain…I pick pain first.”

I shook my head, stealing my hand from her core and bending to unzip my black bag. “Wrong choice.”

Haven’t met Q & Tess yet? 

Grab the Monsters in the Dark Box set here:

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1AElX6H

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1ElHi9B

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1wK3MRr

iTunes: http://apple.co/1MBZr4O

Google Play: http://bit.ly/1zSget3

Pepper Winters wears many roles. Some of them include writer, reader, sometimes wife. She loves dark, taboo stories that twist with your head. The more tortured the hero, the better, and she constantly thinks up ways to break and fix her characters. Oh, and sex... her books have sex.

She loves to travel and has an amazing, fabulous hubby who puts up with her love affair with her book boyfriends.