Exotica

This book by Eden Bradley had two different stories inside it. There was the story of a woman coming out of a divorce who hasn't been able to find what she lost before her marriage even ended and also there was the story of a woman who had some deep issues that made her seem like an Ice Queen.  I have to say that I loved each of these stories and couldn't put the book down. There was instant connection with the characters of Seven Days of Kama Sutra staring the lovely Lilli and the unbelievably hot and sexy Rajan. Lilli has was put down and demeaned for so long during her marriage she doesn't feel like she is good enough for anyone. When her friend Caroline convinces her to come to Exotica and let her self go and enjoy some her time she agrees but isn't sure what to expect. When she meets Rajan she feels instant attraction, who wouldn't the description of his is just yummy. He is there to do whatever she wants during her time there. He wants to show her all the pleasure she can handle.  When they start to feel more for each other than they should Rajan embraces it but Lilli doesn't think it could work because of his job.  When their time is over she leaves and is convinced she will never see him again. When he shows up at her home unannounced I melted. Truly a wonderful story and the sex was outrageously hot.

The second story in the book is called Nine Days of Arabian Nights and stars Caroline and Kian. Caroline has suffered through something for a very long time and the guilt has hardened her to an Ice Queen. When her friend Lilli convinces her to give herself over to her new employee to basically chill out she agrees reluctantly. When she first meets Kian she tells him he will be auditioning for his job with her, when he agrees she is all over the place with her emotions. At first she is excited then shes worried then she decides she wants him..you get my point. Anyway, soon he has her in his bed and she fights her orgasm like crazy. I feel like she feels like she doesn't deserve it. Kian is confused but also curious about her and decides to invest a lot of time into her. He has never felt this pull toward anyone and wants to investigate it. She fights but eventually tells Kian the terrible thing that befell her and feels better after having shared. When they fall for each other she is devastated to find out he has been lying to her the whole time. She leaves Exotica with the plans to never return and he hunts her down to confess his secret.

I really loved this book with its heartfelt and sexy stories, overall I would rate this at a four star book.

eXclave

These books were a bundled deal by Emily Ryan-Davis and included Claiming Lauren and Dominating Amy. I have never read any books by Emily Ryan-Davis and thought I would love to give it a go. I like reading BDSM from time to time because I love the relationship between the Dom and his Submissive, and that was the case in Claiming Lauren. She is an unhappy housewife who has an arranged marriage and her husband is never there. While searching online she finds Master and after awhile they arrange to meet but she isn't to see his face and she also has to tell her husband. Those are the rules. Disappointed that after calling her husband and telling him she is meeting a man and going to let him dominate her all he says is have a nice flight, she finally arrives to the hotel arranged by Master. It's here that he shows her how it can be. It made me sad that she thought she would never see him or hear from him again. Then when I read the big surprise I wasn't surprised because I had a feeling about Master. I thoroughly enjoyed Claiming Lauren and wanted it to just keep going and going, but alas it had to end.  

Now for Dominating Amy, well, I'm not much on books where the couple is married and yada, yada, yada they are having problems and aren't sure what to do but they love each other, blah, blah, blah. Amy finds that she is into BDSM and wants to submit, because her husband doesn't want anything to do with that she looks elsewhere. The problem I had with this book was the fact that even when her husband finally decides to give her what she wants she acts like a child. He gives her a rule and she breaks it right away, it's like she doesn't know what the hell she wants. I didn't care for the characters in this book either. Mac was better than  Amy, but they just annoyed me. Mac is constantly whining in his head about how he doesn't want to hurt Amy, even though he is clearly aroused by the thought of spanking her but no, no, no, that wouldn't do for him. Then there is  a scene where he does spank her and I thought it was going well, then when it's over she is crying and says that it hurt. Well no shit Sherlock, I thought. Then I knew that would hurt Mac's feelings because of his phobia of hurting her. Overall I just didn't care for this one.

Even though the books came together, I only cared for the first book Claiming Lauren so that is why I rated it a three star book. 

Claimed ( Club Sin Book 1)

Presley moved to Las Vegas to be with her boyfriend of eight years, only after she has left everything and everyone behind does she find out he has cheated on her. Broken hearted she moves in with a friend and tries to get her life back together. When her friend sees her reading BDSM books she confides in Presley that she lives the lifestyle and would love to introduce her to the owner of the club she goes to. When Presley meets Dmitri all her secret desires come to life. Not only does he allow her entrance into the club but he personally agrees to be her trainer. 

I loved this book! From the way Presley first met Dmitri to her first introduction in the lifestyle. Even the characters were so real I didn't feel like I was reading a book I was watching a movie. Cora was a hoot, and I hope the next book in the series is about her and her conquests. I love all the Masters as well, and hope to read more about them. I don't' want to say too much about this book because you need to read it for yourselves. Overall I would rate this book a five out of five stars and cannot wait to read the next in the series!!!

Dead Sexy Dragon

Stig is minding his own business just trying to make it through his time of heat when his dead best friends sister shows up on his doorstep scared and needing a place to stay. Not really feeling safe with her around while he is going through the heat, he wants to refuse her but seeing how scared she is he allows her to stay. Stig is the typical sexy former marine we love reading about, the only difference is he is a dragon and has been alive a very, very long time. While fighting his attraction to Cora he has to lock himself up to keep her safe at night, but she is having dreams about a sexy man making love to her. When she finally becomes aware of his secret and he has told her everything they both admit their feelings for one another and of course that is when the danger follows her. The thing she was scared of and running from shows up and Stig risks his life to rescue the woman he loves.

I did enjoy this book, however there was one main part that really annoyed me , for instance when Cora becomes aware of Stig's secret she just seems to accept it, but then later on when she is going through some changes she freaks out and  runs away unable to handle it. I mean this is a little late isn't it? I would have freaked out when I first found out about the whole dragon thing.

Other than that I was very pleased with the book just wished it had been a little longer. I did love the preview for the next book and I can't wait to read it! Overall I would rate this book a four out of five stars.

In His Command

This book was below my expectations, I found the wording at times to be confusing and I would get lost. I understand where the author was going with the book and found it to be somewhat interesting, but overall it just wasn't for me. Now on the other hand, the relationship between Casper and Nathaniel was quite interesting and the intimate moments were very sexy but lacked something for me as well. The best part I thought of the book was the ending when everything came to a peak. I would rate this a two out of five stars.

Wyrmeweald (Returner's Wealth)

This book was amazing from beginning to end! I have never read any books by Paul Stewart or Chris Riddell but I can say I will be checking out some of their previous works for sure now. This book grabs your attention from the very beginning and hold it hostage. I started this book with the intention of reading a few chapters and ended up reading the whole thing all day long. I couldn't put it down. I was in Wyrmeweald with these characters and felt their joy as well as their pain. Eli is by far my favorite character, and I know he shouldn't be since he isn't the main character, but what can I say? The man just calls to me in some way and the loss he suffers breaks my heart. I cried and sniffled for awhile over that tragic event. Micah is a great character as well and I did grow to care for him obviously, but I think his character just needed to grow a little and by the end of the book he was more in my liking. There were just some things in the beginning that made me think of him as a moron. Just the fact he fancied himself in love with someone and left thinking he would be able to win her by getting Returner's Wealth. You will find out what that is when you read the book! When we first meet him he is fighting to stay alive out on his own and would have died if not for good ole Eli. I love that Eli lets Micah come with him and agrees to teach him what he knows. I love the authors imagination of the world, all the creatures are amazing! The pictures of each one in the back of the book is incredible as well and helped me to picture them more easily.  I have to say I was a little sad when we meet Thrace, and was really happy her and Micah become close. The poor girl needs someone in her life besides her companion that has taken off.

Overall I loved this book and cannot wait to read more of Eli, Micah and Thrace's adventures! I would rate this book a five out of five stars!!  I received this book from the author via NetGalley for my honest opinion.

Necessary Lies

I was looking forward to reading this book when I was approved to read it for the author for my honest review. It took me some time to get into it though, I started and stopped a few times before I finally hit my stride and couldn't put it down! This book was an experience for sure.

Reading about the lives of Ivy and Mary Ella was touching to say the least. The way they lived, working for practically nothing and living in the era they lived in was interesting if not sad. They depended on social workers to get them the things they needed all the time and I wondered if everyone was like that back then. I had read a short story about Mary Ella and Ivy a while back and though it was shocking it was excellent and really set the story for this book. Mary Ella was fourteen or fifteen and had a baby, she isn't right in the head so they sterilized her without her knowledge. Her grandmother gave them permission.  That was what that book was about, this book however was a deeper look into the life of poor Mary Ella as well as the turn poor Ivy took.  Ivy ends up pregnant and her grandmother makes plans along with social workers and a nurse to have her sterilized after her baby is born just like her sister.  A new case worker is hired and she begins to become obsessed with this family and I can understand why, I never thought it was right that they took something away from someone without their permission and the fact they are going to do it again is insane. When I read this is actually something they did to numerous people back then it made me a little sick to my stomach. Granted not everyone should be allowed to have kids, but it was wrong to lie to so many of these people. The new case worker believes this too, her name is Jane and I really liked her but thought she was a little bit out of her depth. Everyone is against her and her beliefs and I wanted to shake them all until they understood. Even her husband is nuts and I couldn't for the life of me figure out why she married him.  Poor Ivy has some terrible things happen around her and then Jane loses her job because she cares too much.  I can't tell you much more without ruining the book so I won't, I will just say that the ending of the book is so freaking good I wanted to cry. I would rate this book a four out of five stars only because it took me awhile to get into it.

Unscrupulous ( Book 2 in the Manhattanites)

 Oh my God, where to start...I liked this book WAY more than the first book in the series. The characters were very believable and connectable for me. Here is a breakdown of what I loved and didn't like in the book:

Loved: Taddy is a strong, independent woman who has fought her way to be at the top the way she is. Every penny she has made she has earned, without any help from her family. The way she cares for and helps out her friends when they are in need is very commendable and something I can relate to as well. The things she has gone through in her life, for example, emancipating at the tender age of sixteen really makes her seem so tough and self assured, but that isn't the case in some matters. All she wants is someone to love her, but she is afraid of love as well because of what she has gone through with her parents. They basically abandoned her if you ask me, sending her off to boarding school and not contacting her at all. Then even today all these years later she is in contact with her mothers sister, but not her parents. I loved how the author set up the meeting of Warner and Taddy and although their love felt a little rushed on his part, I did love their connection. The love scenes are unbelievably sexy and steamy just the way I like them. The ending seemed to leave room for more on this amazing power couple and I wouldn't mind reading more of their life and love together. I just want to throw in here that I loved Warner, his character is totally sexy and we feel sorry for him the way his ex did him. Sexy, hot, rich and powerful are a heady combination for any man, real or not lol.

Didn't Love: I couldn't say Hated for this part because nothing in the book earned that powerful of a word, because I did enjoy it. The only thing I really didn't like so much was the way all of the characters were stuffed in here. Even though I did enjoy reading more back story of how Lex got her business up and running, it just seemed like Birdie popped in this book way too much for my liking.

Well that is all I can think of to say without giving away too much of the book. I would totally recommend this book to everyone that loves a good read.

*** I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review***