Tells of Grave Tales

Hello, my name is Christine d’Abo and I’m so happy to be here today.

I’m a firm believer that the good friends are the family members that we get to choose. The get us on a level that sometimes our biological family doesn’t. When I came up with the idea of Ringside Gym and the men who were involved with it, I wanted to make sure that their relationships reflected that feeling.

Max would be the “middle” child of the trio of heroes. He’s my peacemaker, the one who wants to make sure everyone and everything is okay. But Max has a problem – he doesn’t know what to do when he’s not needed. Zack no longer needs him now that he has Noland in his life, and their other friend Eli has been MIA due to his MMA career. Max’s life begins to drift and he questions not only what he wants, but also who he wants in it.

When Grady Barnes shows up on the scene, Max is equal parts intrigued and annoyed. Here is a man who seems to have it all, but is seemingly at the whim of his father. When Grady asks Max for help, he takes a leap of faith and agrees. What Max doesn’t anticipate is how quickly Grady will work his way into his heart.

All Max needs to do is find a way to prevent Grady from being forced into a marriage he doesn’t want, while not giving in to his impulse to sweep Grady into his arm.

Simple, right?

You can visit Christine at her website, and chat with her on Facebook and Twitter (links below). Want to keep up with Christine’s new releases? Sign up for her newsletter and receive a free book!

Read my review

*** This review is SPOILER-FREE! Read on with confidence! ***

Christine D’Abo’s stories always have such heart, a solid thread of human connection, and Faking It lives up to that standard. The characters are likeable and relatable, and the emotional arc is full of that beautiful push-and-pull tension that defines a good romance.

Grady’s celebrity is of the reality tv and old money types, so the story centers around the social and family scenes leading up to his brother’s wedding. Max is solid and self-assured, a man who makes his own choices and thinks before acting out. He has a calming presence on Grady’s more reactive personality, and I enjoyed the easy, natural ways they fit together as as couple.

This story is part of the Ringside Romance series but doesn’t really spend much time in the gym or in Mac’s gay nightclub.

Faking It is recommended for readers who enjoy…

Contemporary gay romance

Celebrity heroes whose notoriety comes from wealth and reality tv

Self-made businessmen at the start of their careers

Strong heroes that don’t let others push then around and don’t act like alphaholes

Faking It is a GraveTells Recommended Read!

This review copy was provided by the Publisher. No compensation was received for this review.

@~~ Did you enjoy this review? Your vote matters! ~~@Help a blogger out and rate up my review on: GoodReads & Amazon

Buy or reserve your copy online at*: Amazon (Kindle) | Riptide Publishing

My star rating: Faking It (Ringside Romance, #2) by Christine d’Abo Series: Ringside Romance #2 Published by Riptide Publishing on May 8, 2017 Genres: LGBT, Gay, Celebrity, Fighter Pages: 238 Source: Publisher Add it to your To Read shelf: Goodreads

Find the Author: Website, Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Pinterest, Tumblr, Newsletter sign-up

Max Tremblay should be happy. His nightclub, Frantic, is one of the most popular gay clubs in Toronto, and his childhood refuge, Ringside Gym, is well on the way to reopening. But when he finds yet another drunk in the alley beside the bar, Max isn’t sure this is the life he truly wants.

Grady Barnes has it all. He’s rich, famous, and wants for nothing. Well, nothing but a good relationship with his father. When he discovers that his father is going to force him into an arranged marriage, Grady has had enough. He tracks down Max, the man who got him to safety after a night of overindulgence, and makes him a proposal: pretend to be his fiancé for two weeks and he’ll invest in Ringside Gym.

When the pair travel to Vancouver to attend a family wedding, the flames of their mutual attraction ignite, and they discover that the only difference between pretend and reality is how well they can fake it.

*This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.

About Christine d’Abo

A romance novelist and short story writer, Christine has over thirty publications to her name. She loves to exercise and stops writing just long enough to keep her body in motion too. When she’s not pretending to be a ninja in her basement, she’s most likely spending time with her family and two dogs.

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Pinterest | Tumblr | Newsletter sign-up

Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Faking It, one lucky winner will receive a $25 Riptide credit. Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on May 13, 2017. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

Follow the tour

Click the banner below to visit the other tour stops for more chances to win!

*** This review is SPOILER-FREE! Read on with confidence! ***

His magic brushed past me, a raging, terrible beast. Shivers ran down my spine. Suddenly the past two months of normal life tore apart, like fragile paper, and I was right back next to Rogan, about to charge into a fight. And it felt right. It felt like I’d been sleepwalking and had suddenly woken up. I had to get away from him as soon as I could. He was bad for me on every level.

What was a more-than-two-year wait for eager readers spanned mere months for Nevada, and she (albeit unwillingly) jumps right back into the fray with her favorite-unfavorite grumpy mage.

“Please don’t get into his car,” I told Cornelius. “He’s dangerous and unpredictable.” “Thank you,” Rogan said.

There is so much to love about this story, this story world. Like the first book in this series, White Hot is a delight to read. The characters are truly unique and universally appealing, each standing out in his or her own way.

@ilona_andrews’s White Hot is a delight to read @GraveTells #BookReview @AvonBooks Click To Tweet

Connor “Mad” Rogan might be an intense guy—seemingly self-serving and manipulative—but he is loyal and dedicated to Nevada in ways she is only starting to understand. Rogan can flip from lethal, scary, and heartless to playful, insightful, and unexpectedly charming in a blink. The force of his character is simply overwhelming, and I found myself jonzing like an addict for my next hit of Rogan. And Nevada Baylor possesses a core of iron strength that she doesn’t let dominate her life or her personality. She’s strong when she needs to be and humble and ordinary the rest of the time. As a couple, they possess enough magical energy to take on small armies, but it’s their personal chemistry that truly shines.

“Do you need me to drop you off?” I asked. “Why would I want that?” “So you can brood in solitude.” “I don’t brood.” “Plot horrible revenge, then. Because you’re freaking me out.” “It’s my job to freak you out.” “Really?” “That’s the nature of our relationship.” A spark lit his eyes. “We both do what’s necessary, and after it’s over, I watch you freak out about it.” “I don’t.” “Oh, I don’t want you to stop. I find it highly amusing.” That’s the last time I try to cheer you up. Go back into your dragon cave for all I care.

The Primes of Hidden Legacy’s magical story world resemble the Cardinals of Nalini Singh’s Psy: so powerful they measure off the top end of the magical spectrum. There is literally never a dull moment in this story. If Rogan isn’t destroying something, Nevada isn’t snarking at someone (or defending herself so very capably), and Augustine isn’t manipulating or charming someone, then Bug is surely up to some hilarious new antic or Grandma Frida is taunting Nevada with marriage text messages. Family is an integral part of this story and a binding foundation of Nevada’s character. Like a real, struggling middle class family, the Baylors stick together through all their sibling bickering and shared-space frustrations. They’re good people at the core, and their scenes breathe down-home vibrance into a story seething with dangerous magic.

Rogan’s personality was like his magic: a powerful typhoon that swept away everything in its path. I had seen the extent of his rage and the intensity of his desire. When he focused on you, he did so completely and you felt privileged to be the object of his attention in spite of yourself.

Every scene with Connor Rogan treks deeper into his why, the experiences and decisions and consequences that made him this borderline-psychopathic juggernaut of a mage. Once you learn how overwhelmingly good the core of his character is, his darkness becomes even more appealing. This man has been through hell on earth, and he’s still protecting people. He’s a good guy dressed up as one of the villains. And he likes it that way. But Nevada sees the real Connor. And I loved that this book sets just the right pace to pay tribute to that.

I might as well have been invisible. Women looked at him wherever he went. In the age of magic, many men were handsome. Rogan wasn’t just attractive; he projected masculinity. It was in his posture, in the male roughness of his face, and in his eyes. When you saw him, you knew no matter what happened, he would handle it. Little did they know that he solved most of his problems by throwing money at them or trying to kill them. Sometimes at the same time.

In true urban fantasy fashion—or maybe it’s just an Ilona Andrews thing—anytime Nevada and Rogan start to get their freak on (or, really, treat each other with any kind of softness), something comes out of left field and tries to kill them. Which was both predictably amusing and more than a little frustrating. But ultimately, totally worth it. The dramatic and romantic tension in this story (and in its predecessor) is magical. White Hot is a prime—har har, pun totally intended!—example of what makes good urban fantasy so addicting. You get just enough of everything to keep you hooked but never enough to satisfy. Which gives any forward progress, particularly in the romantic relationships, even more punch. The fight scenes in White Hot are explosive and imaginative, quick-fire action that never fails to shock and entertain.

The dramatic and romantic tension in White Hot is magical @ilona_andrews @AvonBooks Click To Tweet

White Hot is the middle story in the Hidden Legacy urban fantasy series. While it has its own (very satisfying) ending and is technically a standalone, a lot of core world- and character-building happens in the first book. I spent several sleepless nights addicted to this story, but if you haven’t yet read Burn For Me, you will definitely want to start there. It’s a fan-freaking-tastic read as well and is still, two-and-a-half years later, one of the highest scoring reviews on GraveTells. Check out my review here. White Hot buy links below!

@ilona_andrews’s White Hot is a prime example of what makes good urban fantasy so addicting Click To Tweet

Or snag your copy of Burn For Me on Amazon* here:

This review copy was provided by the Publisher. No compensation was received for this review.

@~~ Did you enjoy this review? Your vote matters! ~~@Help a blogger out and rate up my review on: GoodReads

Buy or reserve your copy online at*: Amazon (Kindle) | Amazon (Paperback) | Audiobook

My star rating: White Hot by Ilona Andrews Series: Hidden Legacy #2 Published by HarperCollins on May 30th 2017 Genres: Romance, Paranormal, Fantasy Pages: 416 Source: Publisher Add it to your To Read shelf: Goodreads

Find the Author: Website, Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Amazon

The Hidden Legacy series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Ilona Andrews continues as Nevada and Rogan navigate a world where magic is the norm…and their relationship burns hot   Nevada Baylor has a unique and secret skill—she knows when people are lying—and she’s used that magic (along with plain, hard work) to keep her colorful and close-knit family’s detective agency afloat. But her new case pits her against the shadowy forces that almost destroyed the city of Houston once before, bringing Nevada back into contact with Connor “Mad” Rogan.   Rogan is a billionaire Prime—the highest rank of magic user—and as unreadable as ever, despite Nevada’s “talent.” But there’s no hiding the sparks between them. Now that the stakes are even higher, both professionally and personally, and their foes are unimaginably powerful, Rogan and Nevada will find that nothing burns like ice …   An Avon Romance

*This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.

Join me in giving a very warm welcome to author Joey W. Hill!

Read on for an exclusive excerpt and giveaway, PLUS my review of Truly Helpless! But first, Joey is treating us to a few extra book quotes to help set the tone for her guest post. Here we go!

She went a step closer to him, within reach of his powerful hands that had broken three strong men in one night. A raw energy gathered, prepared to leap. He was going to grab her, make her startle or flinch, which was what the demon inside him wanted. It wanted to make her afraid. That’s how it would take control. So… She slapped him, then caught his shirt collar and yanked him back to her mouth for a violent kiss. When his arms went around her, she ripped open his shirt in one pull, summoning a snarl from him. His hands clamped on her hips and she countered, raking her nails down his chest, drawing blood. She’d had the occasional hardcore sub who craved bloodplay, and she knew how to deliver that when needed. Gray eyes went back to lightning storm, but she’d startled him enough to get a split-second of advantage. She ducked under his arm, gripped the back of the shirt collar and yanked the whole garment off his broad shoulders to his forearms, restricting their movement. She hit the small of his back with the heel of her hand, pulled him back to his heels and put him on the ground while his balance was off. Shoving him face-forward to the tile, she changed her grip to his neck and planted her knee in his back, digging her nails into his flesh. He wasn’t the first grown man she’d had to take down. “You’re under the mistaken impression that there’s a rabbit in this room, boy,” she said sharply. “And you think you’re the big, bad wolf. That may be true, but I’m the she-wolf here, the bitch in charge. If you want to turn this into an all-out fight, you might win the physical side. You’re a strong beast. But if you want me to show fear, cower or startle when you whip out all that badness, you’ve picked the wrong fucking female.”

So…yeah. In Truly Helpless, Regina finds herself in some very dark waters with Marius. DVK was interested in having me address the challenge of writing a heroine who can counter and control lethal force in a physically stronger man, and wade through that dangerous psychological darkness without breaking down. And, even more importantly, without making readers say WTF?

Okay, admittedly, I’m known for sometimes making readers say WTF?! But you all typically stick with me to see how it all turns out, and for that I’m very grateful. Because sometimes the characters just have to go to WTF-land to find their HEA. [Now I’m reminded of Robin Williams with his classic line in Good Morning, Vietnam: “Excuse me, sir. Seeing as how the V.P. is such a V.I.P., shouldn’t we keep the P.C. on the Q.T.? ‘Cause if it leaks to the V.C. he could end up M.I.A., and then we’d all be put out in K.P.”]

Yes, I have a sort of Tourette’s, only instead of sudden outbursts of expletives, I do sudden outbursts of movie quotes. But I digress. In writing a romance, and particularly a BDSM romance where the hero’s darkness can tip toward physical violence, an author walks a really fine line between losing a reader over a hero who’s an abusive asshole, versus winning their hearts with one who’s a damaged soul that desperately needs a stronger soul’s help to find his way back.

An author walks a really fine line between losing a reader over a hero who’s an abusive asshole, versus winning their hearts with one who’s a damaged soul that desperately needs a stronger soul’s help to find his way back.

That’s a line not only walked in fiction, but in real life. No matter what people tell us is right or wrong, or politically correct (yuck – my least favorite term in the universe these days) I believe we have to listen to our own hearts and souls first, and figure out what we know is true for ourselves. We can’t slap the same label on every situation just because we’re afraid of how an outside world will perceive it. That’s what I want my characters to do as well. It’s simple good sense to be wary of someone who can hurt you physically. But how many spouses are out there dealing with PTSD situations, or loved ones with serious illnesses where the treatments might cause agitation and aggression? Though they hopefully take the right precautions to protect themselves, they don’t back away from helping and caring for those loved ones, even knowing there are elements of risk. That’s what caring about someone is about. Taking risks of heart, life and limb sometimes. It’s the challenge Regina faces in dealing with the darkness inside Marius.

That’s what caring about someone is about. Taking risks of heart, life and limb sometimes. It’s the challenge Regina faces in dealing with the darkness inside Marius.

It also helps to have the heroine in question possess a background that qualifies her to deal with the situation. Regina is a strong, competent woman who served as a prison guard for three years. She’s also an experienced Mistress proficient in edge play. She doesn’t shy away from scary things, and she isn’t reactionary, freaking out and bolting when Marius crosses a line. She evaluates the situation, decides what’s needed and proceeds from there. Because of that, she was one of the most self-confident heroines I’ve ever had the pleasure of writing, as this exchange with one of her friends shows. She’s just told Lyda some of what she’s experienced with Marius thus far:

Lyda scowled. “I heard Tyler kicked his ass out of The Zone. Apparently about fucking time.” “This happened after that,” Regina said patiently. “That’s what I’m here to talk about. He’s become my project.” She took a breath. If she wanted good information, she couldn’t bullshit. “I came to you because I didn’t want to deal with the testosterone display I’d have to handle with Tyler about it, some lecture about getting in over my head in a situation he would have handled in exactly the same damn way. Am I in the wrong place? Did you have an operation I don’t know about?” Lyda’s eyes narrowed. “You think only men can be protective?” Regina snorted. “No. But we don’t transform into cavewomen over it and become entirely unreasonable. And this is about helping someone damaged figure out the best path to healing.” Regina’s attention shifted meaningfully to Noah, Lyda’s submissive. “Which sometimes means doing some things that look wrong from the outside but are the right course.” Lyda snorted. “Using my own history against me?” “Nope. Just proving a point. You think I’d let a man abuse me? I’m far more likely to carve off his testicles with a grapefruit spoon. I keep one in a kitchen drawer, just in case. I don’t even like grapefruit.” Lyda’s expression eased, her sensual lips curving ruefully. “Point taken.”

So I guess the answer to how to write a heroine who can counter and control lethal force in a stronger partner is to a) have her demonstrate she has the training and background to assess the situation and make the best choices for them both and b) show a sympathetic view of the hero, so the reader recognizes he genuinely needs someone to help him see past the darkness to the light.

Oh, and make sure the heroine is someone who can love him with all her heart, without taking any crap from him (grin). I hope you enjoy the give and take between this intriguing pair in Truly Helpless!

Regina is one of the most self-confident heroines I’ve ever had the pleasure of writing @JoeyWHill Click To Tweet

Read an exclusive excerpt

Today, Joey is sharing an excerpt from Truly Helpless that you’ll only find on GraveTells. I love this scene! Hope you love it too. <3

© 2017 Joey W. Hill

So she was going with soft play. It surprised Marius, since he had a reputation for being able to take hardcore stuff and Regina wasn’t a gentle Mistress, but so far, even in pony play, she’d gone a different way. Well, yes and no. He’d expected the pony play to be undemanding, but she’d used the trappings to mindfuck him pretty damn well, taking him somewhere he hadn’t been before. So maybe he shouldn’t assume he knew where she was going with this. Thinking he did kept him in a comfort zone that might not last very long. This, his hands in cuffs, he’d done this before. It was like a Domme staple. When she pulled them up, taking the slack out of the chain so his arms were over his head, she didn’t put any strain on his shoulders. She even double-checked that with the welcome grip of her smooth hand on those muscle groups. Was he disappointed? No…not necessarily. But her going the well-worn track with him was unexpected. She’d probably do a little flogging or spanking, maybe take him with a strap-on, have him come. What he wanted to compel her to do was fuck him herself, her tight, wet pussy sliding down the full length of his cock, her ass pressed against his upper thighs as she seated herself there. She’d denied him direct participation in her last climax, denied him the right to fuck her. It was starting to piss him off. Or maybe that was the cuffs, this whole soft approach. He wanted a fight. He wanted her to push, to hurt. Hell, what was she fucking planning to do? She’d asked if he trusted her enough to let her cuff him. He did. But alarm bells still went off. Especially when she put a blindfold on him, an eye mask she seated securely so he was kept in darkness. But why did it bug him? He’d been blindfolded before. Hell, full head mask, gagged, hog-tied and immobilized. That didn’t put him out of control. He still knew how to work a Mistress, even when it seemed all senses were hampered. Body language was almost impossible to completely silence and Mistresses looked for the responses they wanted to see. He could give her a good time. Why wouldn’t she give him the freedom to do that? Why was he having a fucking two-way argument with himself that was threatening to burn out the hamsters turning the wheels of his brain? “I don’t want a blindfold. I want to see you in my shirt.” He never wanted her to wear anything else. He’d said it like a demand and knew it. Wouldn’t apologize for it. “There’ll be time for that. You’re a little too bossy right now. Let’s take care of that.” Her fingers were at his mouth, easing in a ball gag. He locked his jaw, but she merely slid her finger into the hinge and wrenched it open, strapping it in before he could force it loose. It had a handkerchief wrapped around it. When the scent hit his nostrils, it stilled him. “I rubbed that between my legs,” she said. “I want you to know how much I liked thinking about doing this to you. And how much I liked that kiss at the Riverwalk.” Her knuckles slid along his sides, to his hips, down over his upper thighs. Her voice thickened, giving him an unexpected glimpse of emotion. She stayed in such control, was she playing him now? But her words hit him in a way that didn’t leave room for him to analyze. “I don’t know if any sub can truly understand what it does to a Master or Mistress, seeing you helpless, surrendering your will to us. It takes the mind some interesting places.” She pressed against his back, her hands sliding along his bound arms. “You think you can scare me, big bad wolf? You don’t know all the uncivilized things I want to do with you, here, trapped in my house, bound and helpless. It’s you who should be worried.”

  Read my review

Marius is an alpha sub, the kind of guy who likes control and will only hand it over to a Domme who is strong enough to handle his darkness. And this man’s darkness runs deep. But his need to submit goes even deeper, and that emotional face-off manifests in violence and snark. In the fighting cage, he’s called Rabid, and no one can take him down. But in the club, he’s a man drowning, reaching for the salvation of a worthy Mistress, only to sabotage himself.

“Marius is an accomplished, self-aware split personality. At one time, he excelled in any structured role that didn’t challenge what lies deep inside him. It allowed many Mistresses to enjoy him. In turn, they likely provided him an outlet that kept the darker things managed. But at a certain point…” “A switch flipped.” Regina nodded. “He couldn’t do it in session anymore. But he also couldn’t submit , so he started to push back harder and harder, until it went into the unhealthy area. He can’t stay on the surface of his submissive cravings anymore, but he can’t let go enough to do the deep end, which is really where he wants to be.”

The fight scene near the start of the story is stark, gritty, immersive. It’s as well penned as the cage matches I’ve seen in some series dedicated to MMA romances, but with a thread of darkness.

His time with a Domme was supposed to be about getting her off. He hoped Regina would agree to that next time so he could fuck her and be done with this. He hoped for that almost as much as he wanted her to never give in to him. But they always did. Or they broke. He was the child that always broke his toys before he could figure out how to play with them.

One of the things I look forward to most in any Joey W. Hill book is her creativity and unique insight into the head space of the players. Her stories never get repetitive or boring, and she gathers and grooms the undercurrents of power and need until the atmosphere hums with excitement.

With time and some discipline, a man could develop a body that met all the physical measurements for hotness, but that didn’t translate to sexy . Sexy meant that he could make a woman think of sex just by moving and breathing, because his sexuality was bone deep, a vital part of his masculinity. It was in their gait, their attitude. Regina had seen overweight, middle-aged men with receding hairlines at The Zone who possessed the quality, and muscle heads with tight asses and big dicks completely lacking it. A sexy man understood what aroused a woman. He knew because he paid attention, and because getting that response was what he craved to drive his own arousal. It was a trait all sexy men had, be they Doms, subs or vanilla.

Truly Helpless features a pony play scene, and it is beautifully crafted. Regina uses the special fetish and bondage gear to bring Marius into a safer head space, one where the wounded animal within can’t lash out and do more harm. She uses the scene to give him what he needs but not what he wants.

@JoeyWHill’s #TrulyHelpless is dark, and Marius is truly dangerous #ReadTheReview @GraveTells Click To Tweet

This story is dark, and Marius is truly dangerous. Not in the I’m a badass fighters and I know five ways-to kill you sort of way, although he probably does. No, Marius is a man haunted by the demons of his past, so broken emotionally that he can’t always control his reactions, and his skills make getting close to him, physically or emotionally, a risky proposition. Especially when he’s vulnerable, and isn’t that what Mistresses do best—bring out vulnerability?

@JoeyWHill’s stories never get repetitive or boring #TrulyHelpless @GraveTells #BookReview Click To Tweet

I love that Ms. Hill is not afraid to take her stories outside the normal comfort zones many BDSM books tend to stay within—D/s, Master/slave, impact play and public sex. Oh, her stories have all that, but she also takes on themes like pony play, the Mommy/boy dynamic, electrical play, and sounding (sometimes in very intriguing combinations). The best part of Ms. Hill’s storytelling is that she takes everything in stride, and while often tantalizingly voyeuristic, every scene or character dynamic has a purpose. She dives deep into the psychology of the BDSM lifestyle, giving her romances a heady, introspective quality that pulls a reader in.

@JoeyWHill dives deep into the psychology of the BDSM lifestyle #TrulyHelpless #BookReview Click To Tweet

Readers already familiar with Ms. Hill’s work will enjoy the cameos sprinkled through the story, obviously some from the Nature of Desire series, but other series as well—even a quick appearance from a fan favorite Knights of the Boardroom pairing.

Marius and Regina’s story is not an easy one, and readers sensitive to outbursts of violence and (non-detailed) flashbacks of animal cruelty should tread cautiously. While yes, these parts were hard to read, they are also core to Marius’s character**, and the story wouldn’t carry so much depth and power without his dark side.

**Pseudo-spoiler for sensitive readers: Marius does not partake in the animal cruelty and is only forced to witness it.

Truly Helpless is recommended for readers who enjoy…

Psychologically flawed or damaged characters

BDSM club dynamics or scenes

Femme domme romances

Romances with alpha subs

Gritty stories about professional MMA-style fighters

Pony play, sounding, electrical, and pegging (anal sex with a strap-on) scenes

General mind-fuckery

Racially diverse couples

Immersive romances, heavily introspective

@~~ Did you enjoy this review? Your vote matters! ~~@Help a blogger out and rate up my review on: GoodReads & Amazon

Buy or reserve your copy online at*: Amazon (Kindle) | Amazon (Paperback) | B&N | iBooks | Kobo

My star rating: Truly Helpless by Joey W. Hill Series: Nature of Desire #10 Published by Storywitch Press on April 30, 2017 Genres: BDSM romance, Alpha male, Femdomme Pages: 539 Source: Publisher Add it to your To Read shelf: Goodreads

Find the Author: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Pinterest

Marius has all the things a Mistress could want in a one-night-sub encounter. Hot body, loads of charm and a willingness to get her off in any way she pleases. That’s his reputation at The Zone. But Marius has a dark side. When a Mistress pushes him for something deeper, he’ll push back, mess with her head. When he takes it too far one night, The Zone management has had enough. He’s kicked out of the club and there’s only one way back in—Lady Regina.

Regina’s been studying Marius for a while. She enjoys her submissives in all flavors, and she likes them challenging, though not usually the “knight-in-distress” type, so screwed up she’d need a backhoe to dig him out of his dysfunctions. But on that pivotal night, she sees something in Marius. He doesn’t know what it means to be truly helpless to a Mistress, but he needs it, more than any sub she’s ever encountered. And that’s a challenge this Mistress can’t resist.

*This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.

About Joey W. Hill

Winner of the RT Book Reviews Career Achievement award, Joey W. Hill has published over forty contemporary and paranormal BDSM erotic romances, including six series. Her emotionally-intense love stories offer everything from vampires, mermaids, witches and angels, to boardroom executives, cops and simple housemaids. With her books, she hopes readers won’t “look past the sex,” but instead will “look in it,” and find a story that can touch the heart and soul.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Pinterest

PS – looking for FREE goodies from Joey?

She has an AMAZING collection of freebies on her fan site here. Seriously, you can binge for days on extras featuring her fab characters. Check it out here: http://ift.tt/2qreVWx

Double PS!

Watch the video below if you want to see Joey read you the first chapter of Truly Helpless!

Giveaway

Joey is giving away a free e-book from her available titles (reader’s choice!) and $15 Amazon gift certificate to one lucky reader! To enter to win, leave a comment below then enter via the prize widget! When you comment, let us know…

If you love alpha male subs and what you’re looking forward to with Marius in Truly Helpless

If you’re a fan of femdomme romances and what you like most about them

Any particular lines of dialogue that stood out in the excerpt above

Your favorite quotes from my review

Any other comments for Joey! You never know. She just might answer. =)

Good luck!

widget

Do you swoon for Hollywood heartthrobs?

Do you love nanny celebrity-romances with edgy heroes and strong heroines? If you answered “yes” and “yes”, Bombshell is the romance for you! Read on for an excerpt from this all-new sexy standalone from author CD Reiss!

GraveTells review coming soon! 

Read an excerpt

The front door opened. I expected a housekeeper or butler, but it was the actor himself.

I hadn’t forgotten how beautiful he was; I’d just chosen not to think about it.

“Ma’am,” he said. Southern boy. Parents together. Christian elementary. Public secondary. Two years at USC Drama. Dates his costars for a month after the wrap party, then moves on. Poring through the trades and making calls, I’d discovered he’d spend at least eight of the next twelve months overseas doing action movies, but most had postproduction in town.

“Mr. Sinclair,” I said, holding my hand out. “Nice to see you outside a bathroom.”

He shook my hand.

I’d shaken plenty of famous hands attached to gorgeous men, but my imagination was sparked by the way his fingers slid against mine to grasp them and the way our palms pressed together. My mind clouded over with ripped sheets, hard muscles, and soft skin.

“Pleasure’s mine,” he said and my brain skipped like a trip on a cracked sidewalk over the word pleasure.

He didn’t give me the oversincere hand-over-clasp to show me how damn happy he was to see me, but there was something intimate about that half a second.

Just a consultation.

I followed him into the house. Dora Donovan had designed it. Looked like her with her faux-midcentury white couch and shag rug. That wasn’t going to work with playdates unless he wanted to keep an upholsterer on staff. We went through the living room to a smaller room with a pool table smack in the middle. It had a stained glass Budweiser lamp over it and was racked for nine-ball. Dora Donovan had nothing to do with this room, for sure.

“Wanna sit?” He held a chair out for me. The glass-topped table was just inside the open patio doors and was set with iced tea. I sat.

“I’m not a date,” I said kindly, indicating the iced tea setup. “Just so you know. You don’t have to do things like hold the chair for me.”

“Habit, I guess.”

He sat opposite me.

“Chivalry is nice. But with the nanny, whomever you hire, it can be misconstrued.”

He smirked a little, as if misconstruing his own thoughts. I cleared my throat and pulled my jacket closed.

Buy or reserve your copy online at*: Amazon (Kindle) | Amazon (Paperback) | Audible

Bombshell (Hollywood A-List, #1) Series: Hollywood A-List #1 Published by Montlake Romance on May 1, 2017 Genres: Nanny, Celebrity Pages: 366 Add it to your To Read shelf: Goodreads

From New York Times bestselling author CD Reiss, a standalone romance about a nanny, a Hollywood star, and a love they never expected. Hollywood bad boy Brad Sinclair always gets his way, whether it’s the role he wants or the bikini-clad model he has to have. But when a bombshell gets dropped in his lap in the form of a dimpled five-year-old from a forgotten relationship, he knows his life is about to change forever. Cara DuMont isn’t exactly thrilled when she gets assigned to be the nanny for the latest box-office king. She has one rule: no celebrity fathers, especially single ones with devilish good looks and rock-hard abs. But as soon as Cara meets Brad and his adorable little girl, she knows she’s in for a world of trouble. Because there’s something about the way Brad looks at her that makes her believe that some rules are meant to be broken…

*This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.

About CD Reiss

CD Reiss is a New York Times bestseller. She still has to chop wood and carry water, which was buried in the fine print. Her lawyer is working it out with God but in the meantime, if you call and she doesn’t pick up she’s at the well hauling buckets. Born in New York City, she moved to Hollywood, California to get her master’s degree in screenwriting from USC. In case you want to know, that went nowhere but it did give her a big enough ego to write novels. She’s frequently referred to as the Shakespeare of Smut which is flattering but hasn’t ever gotten her out of chopping that cord of wood. If you meet her in person, you should call her Christine.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Amazon | Instagram | Newsletter sign-up

Ashton Townsend is the most famous celebutante of Manhattan’s glitterati. The black sheep of his wealthy family, he’s known for his club appearances, Instagram account, and sex tape. Most people can’t imagine him wanting for anything, but Ashton yearns for friendship, respect, and the love of his best friend—amateur boxer Valdrin Leka.

Val’s relationship with Ashton is complicated. As the son of Ashton’s beloved nanny, Val has always bounced between resenting Ashton and regarding him as his best friend. And then there’s the sexual attraction between them that Val tries so hard to ignore.

When Ashton flees his glitzy lifestyle, he finds refuge with Val in the Bronx. Between Val’s training for an upcoming fight and dodging paparazzi, they succumb to their need for each other. But before they can figure out what it all means—and what they want to do about it—the world drags them out of their haven, revealing a secret Val has kept for years. Now, Ashton has to decide whether to once again envelop himself in his party-boy persona, or to trust in the only man who’s ever seen the real him.

Read the full first chapter on Riptide’s website!

Available now from Riptide Publishing & Amazon:

About the series

New York City—home of soaring skyscrapers, concrete boulevards, and the hopes and dreams of millions. A city where opposites attract and romance is found in unlikely places. From the glittering penthouses of Manhattan to the blue collar neighborhoods of Queens, values get tested, cultures clash, and connections made. Men of diverse backgrounds examine their lives, test their sexual boundaries, and seek success in an unforgiving urban landscape that moves fast and stops for no one. Despite the odds, there’s love to be found in the five boroughs as long as they’re willing to work for it.

Check out the Five Boroughs Universe here.

Buy or reserve your copy online at*: Amazon (Kindle) | Riptide Publishing

Concourse by Santino Hassell Series: Five Boroughs Published by Riptide Publishing on May 1st 2017 Genres: Contemporary, Gay, LGBT Pages: 321 Add it to your To Read shelf: Goodreads

Find the Author: Website, Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, Google+

Ashton Townsend is the most famous celebutante of Manhattan’s glitterati. The black sheep of his wealthy family, he’s known for his club appearances, Instagram account, and sex tape. Most people can’t imagine him wanting for anything, but Ashton yearns for friendship, respect, and the love of his best friend–amateur boxer Valdrin Leka. Val’s relationship with Ashton is complicated. As the son of Ashton’s beloved nanny, Val has always bounced between resenting Ashton and regarding him as his best friend. And then there’s the sexual attraction between them that Val tries so hard to ignore. When Ashton flees his glitzy lifestyle, he finds refuge with Val in the Bronx. Between Val’s training for an upcoming fight and dodging paparazzi, they succumb to their need for each other. But before they can figure out what it all means–and what they want to do about it–the world drags them out of their haven, revealing a secret Val has kept for years. Now, Ashton has to decide whether to once again envelope himself in his party-boy persona, or to trust in the only man who’s ever seen the real him.

*This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.

  Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Concourse, one lucky tour reader will receive a $25 Riptide credit! Leave a comment below with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on May 6, 2017. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

If you’re a fan of urban fantasy and you haven’t read Amy Lane’s Little Goddess series, you MUST check it out. The series has a lot of similarities to Laurell K. Hamilton’s Merry Gentry series, but without the retina-burning horror elements and the out-of-control menage. Little Goddess is what Merry Gentry could have been. Don’t let that fool you into thinking this series is “safe”. Vulnerable (the first book in the series) will break your heart, and each new book after it will shock you in ways you can’t predict. But that’s what makes this series dynamite. Author Amy Lane is here today with some personal perspective into what makes Green’s Hill (the series’ home base) so very addicting.

Welcome, Amy Lane!

Why Green’s Hill

I’ve heard it from a lot of people over the years—they wish there was a place like Green’s hill. I mean it’s not perfect—privacy is an illusion, monogamy has all sorts of drawbacks and somebody is literally trying to kill you at every turn.

But the pros are also easy to spot: beautiful people, sexual freedom, guaranteed job security doing whatever you like that helps the collective, and let’s not forget immortality or at least a generously increased lifespan.

Who wouldn’t want to live there?

But people who stop at eternal sex and excellent job training are missing the point.

Mental health problems and drug addictions are sort of my milieu. Not mine personally—in fact, a lot of people I hang out with would be hard pressed to remember seeing me drink more than a glass of wine or a single mojito, and there’s a reason for that. But I’ve seen up close the damage done to lives and promising futures and families when self-medicating one problem with another gets wildly out of hand.

When I was teaching, there were a lot of times I saw the signs of kids who were about ready to fall through those same cracks. There wasn’t much I could do for them—helping them pass English, telling them they had a future, helping them find someone to talk to—in the end, I spent less than 4 ½ hours a week with a kid, and much of that was in the company of 35 other people. (California public schools, where class size is no joke.)

And I had a fondness for kids that nobody else seemed to see. The natural smartass—that was my kid. I didn’t care much if they were always on time—what I liked was a kid who knew how to be late. If a kid got to school late every day, entered the room, sat down, and started the warmup so silently that I didn’t see her, seriously? Why get mad? My personal rule of thumb was that if it didn’t disrupt the learning, I didn’t give a rat’s ass, and the kids who bought into that idea were the kids I showed up for every damned day.

So one day, I was driving to work, and got stuck behind a giant hulking land yacht, rumbling at the U-turn where most of the late-ish teachers were idling. As I was staring into space, pondering the latest urban fantasy novel I’d read, I saw a hand with a cigarette hanging out of the window—the sort of bored smoking that a veteran nicotine addict indulges in.

Then I recognized that kid.

I loved that kid.

She was one of my favorites—she’d already submitted to nursing school, and while she wasn’t top of her class, she was definitely going somewhere.

But the nicotine addiction made me so sad.

Because she wasn’t even eighteen, and that was a thing that would follow her through her entire life. I wanted a do over for her—a chance to re-negotiate that part of her life, to come out with the promising future she’d earned and the zero addictions she deserved.

And then (because seriously, this was a frickin’ long light) I thought about fantasy stories. Why did they only serve the introvert, the super smart kid, the exiled nerd? That always seemed sort of self-aggrandizing to me. I mean, yeah, I was that kid, but I didn’t see any of my favorite kids in my books. The disenfranchised. The ones who didn’t test well, or whose hostility got in the way of their brains sometimes. Remember—this was 2000/2001. There was an entire market of YA books of kids who got addicted to meth and then raped by their dealers (no, I’m not kidding!) but there wasn’t much hope in the way of redemption for those kids.

And not only that, but those books… they always made sex seem like such an awful thing. If you have sex, you’ll break up and you won’t be a virgin for your next boyfriend and that’s BAD! Don’t have sex or do drugs because you’ll become perfectly irredeemable as a person and nobody will ever want you again EVER. OH MY GOD, EVERY MISTAKE YOU MAKE WILL BE HELD AGAINST YOU AND YOU WILL BE JUDGED FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!

That’s not the way life works!

Or it shouldn’t be.

One kid doing X at a party shouldn’t get him put in jail for years. One kid who gets high and laid shouldn’t be given up on—ever. And once the addiction started, what then? What happened to that kid whose self-destructive spiral just can’t seem to end?

Because we all know where it does end, don’t we? We’ve seen the commercials and read the literature often enough.

I didn’t make a conscious decision to write Green’s hill that day—but I was writing. When I wrote Cory and Adrian—and then added Green to the mix, I needed Green and Adrian to have a bigger purpose than themselves. They needed to be doing something important, otherwise if Cory ended up with them, she was just trading in one small town dream for another.

And then I realized what job Adrian would be perfect for. What purpose Green’s skill at sex and healing seemed to lend itself to.

If your number one tenet is no shame, and your creed is sensual and consensual, you are the perfect beings to help unfuck the young and the lost, the addicted and the despondent

These two characters—they were agents of redemption. If your number one tenet is no shame, and your creed is sensual and consensual, you are the perfect beings to help unfuck the young and the lost, the addicted and the despondent, those who have been told that their mistakes have rendered them worthless, when the human being who made those mistakes is, in fact, shining and pure and good.

This idea of the found family has become the cornerstone of my writing since then. The theme of forgiveness and empathy being stronger than hatred and shame has crystalized as one of my most dearly held beliefs.

And when I write about Green and Cory, Bracken and Nicky, and dear, darling, beloved Adrian, I am drawn again to the magic of Green’s hill, and reminded that the true magic—forgiveness and unconditional love—are the most human of enchantments.

Forgiveness and unconditional love are the most human of enchantments @AmyMacLane #GreensHill Click To Tweet

  New to the Little Goddess series?

Start with Vulnerable. This is a series you definitely need to read in order! Grab your copy on Amazon below*:

Buy or reserve your copy online at*: Amazon (Kindle) | Dreamspinner Press

Quickening by Amy Lane Published by DSP Publications on May 2nd 2017 Genres: LGBT, Gay, Fantasy, Paranormal, Urban Pages: 316 Add it to your To Read shelf: Goodreads

Find the Author: Website, Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Amazon

Little Goddess: Book Five, Volume One Cory thought she’d found balance on Green’s Hill—sorceress, student, queen of the vampires, wife to three men—she had it down! But establishing her right to risk herself with Green and Bracken had more than one consequence, and now she’s facing the world’s scariest job title: mother. But getting the news that she’s knocked up takes a back seat when a half-elf hunts them down for help. Her arrival brings news that the werewolf threat, which has been haunting them for over a year, has finally arrived on their doorstep—and it’s bigger and more frightening than they’d ever imagined. Cory throws herself into this new battle with everything she’s got—and her men let her do it. Because they all know that whether they defeat this enemy now or later, the thing she’s most afraid of is arriving on a set schedule, and not even Cory can avoid it. The trick is getting her to acknowledge she’s pregnant before she gives birth—or kills herself in denial.

About Amy Lane

Amy Lane has two kids in college, two gradeschoolers in soccer, two cats, and two Chi-who-whats at large. She lives in a crumbling crapmansion with most of the children and a bemused spouse. She also has too damned much yarn, a penchant for action adventure movies, and a need to know that somewhere in all the pain is a story of Wuv, Twu Wuv, which she continues to believe in to this day! She writes fantasy, urban fantasy, and gay romance–and if you accidentally make eye contact, she’ll bore you to tears with why those three genres go together. She’ll also tell you that sacrifices, large and small, are worth the urge to write.

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon

*This post contains affiliate links.

*** This review is SPOILER-FREE! Read on with confidence! ***

“You’re certifiable.” He had to be. A fake engagement to one of the most eligible bachelors in Harbor City so he could avoid his mom’s matchmaking attempts? Now that was an adventure to write home about. Not that she could because of…all the reasons in the world. It was hard to come up with a specific one when he was standing so close, smelling so good, and looking so much better than even the sexiest paparazzi photo

The Negotiator is a riotous adventure of steamy sex, witty comebacks, and sharp characters, with unexpected hilarity and heart. So, basically, an Avery Flynn romance. This lady never disappoints. From private detectives to special ops teams to billionaire businessmen, her heroes all have one thing in common: I want to lick them right through my reader. I won’t, mind you. *shifty eyes* That streak on my screen is the dog’s doing… Anyway, if snarky repartee and classy fixtures is your bag, The Negotiator has it aplenty.

By the time he’d gotten the zipper all the way down, his entire body was hard and demanding attention. A skinny river of her creamy flesh lay exposed to his hungry gaze where the zipper lay open. He caught a flash of her bra’s bright blue color and a dusting of pale peach freckles along her spine that led his attention lower to the initial rise of her completely bare and succulent ass. “Why, Clover Lee.” He glided a finger across the swell of one cheek. “I’m shocked at your brazenness.” “Liar,”she said, turning her head to look back at him as she wiggled her ass at him like a red flag at a bull. “If anything, you’re totally turned on by it. The next time we go out you’ll wonder the entire time if I’m wearing any panties.” She was right and, no doubt, she knew it. Fuck, he was already going through every moment he’d seen her before and wondering if she’d been wearing underwear then. It was blissful torment, but nothing compared to having the woman ready, wanting, and half dressed in the middle of his bed. “Guess that just means I’ll always have to check before we go out.”

Holy smoking hotness. These two are combustible.

His fingers clamped around her wrist and he spun her around before half propelling, half carrying her to the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the city and pressed her palms flat against it. “Exhibitionist much?” she asked, her heartbeat racing as she leaned forward and let her hard nipples brush against the cool glass. “I don’t care about who can see us, but I want to see it all while I’m inside you.” He stood behind her, the almost overwhelming heat from his body seeping into hers. “I want you to have the whole vast world in your sights when you come again, squeezing my dick and calling my name.”

The Negotiator is a delightfully sexy romp that has all the right elements to charm and seduce and sweep you right into the romance. Sawyer and Clover are an unlikely pairing that click and contrast in the best possible ways. The settings and supporting characters infuse couture and tension and warmth and a touchstone of home without feeling overbearing or boring. I devoured this book in less than a day, and it wasn’t even on my review list!

The Negotiator is a delightfully sexy romp and a #RecommendedRead! @averyflynn @entangledpub Click To Tweet

Treat yourself to an easy read that will have you laughing and sympathizing and wanting to reach through your reader to give the characters a big ole hug. The Negotiator is a GraveTells Recommended Read!

Recommended for readers who enjoy…

Billionaire businessman romances

Stories with penthouse settings

Plucky heroines who march to their own beat

Adult romance that carries a healthy, mature New Adult feel

Workaholic heroes with a stern exterior and warm heart

Witty dialogue

This review copy was provided by the Reviewer. No compensation was received for this review.

@~~ Did you enjoy this review? Your vote matters! ~~@Help a blogger out and rate up my review on: GoodReads & Amazon

Buy or reserve your copy online at*: Amazon (Kindle) | B&N | iBooks

My star rating: The Negotiator by Avery Flynn on April 24th 2017 Genres: Romantic Comedy, Contemporary Pages: 200 Source: Reviewer Add it to your To Read shelf: Goodreads

Find the Author: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter sign-up

Wanted: Personal Buffer Often snarly, workaholic executive seeks “buffer” from annoying outside distractions AKA people. Free spirits with personal boundary issues, excessive quirks, or general squeamishness need not apply. Salary negotiable. Confidentiality required. Workaholic billionaire Sawyer Carlyle may have joked he needed a buffer from their marriage-obsessed mom, but he didn’t need a waiting room filled with candidates to further distract him. (Thanks, bro.) But when a sexy job applicant shooes his mom and the socialite in tow out of his office, Sawyer sees the genius of the plan. And the woman. In fact, Miss Clover Lee might just get the fastest promotion in history, from buffer to fake fiancé… This free-spirit might look like hot sunshine and lickable rainbows, but she negotiates like a pitbull. Before Sawyer knows what hit him, he’s agreed to give up Friday nights for reality tv, his Saturdays for flea markets (why buy junk still baffles him), his Tuesdays and Thursdays for date nights (aka panty-losing opportunities if he plays his cards right). And now she wants lavender bath salts and tulips delivered every Monday? Yup, she’s just screwing with him. Good thing she’s got this non-negotiatable six-weeks-and-she’s-gone rule or Sawyer may have just met this match..

Read an excerpt

A teasing promise lit her eyes. “And I never would have guessed you didn’t have any experience working with your hands.”

Now that was just a straight up lie. “I never said that. You know very well that I’m good with my hands.” He reached out and tucked a stray blonde hair behind her ear, letting his touch linger. “Very good.”

Her breath caught, but she didn’t move away as his fingers trailed down the soft column of her neck. Her pulse thrummed under his touch and one glance down at the hard peaks pushing against her thin T-shirt confirmed she was skating along the same fault line between sanity and lust that he was.

“Are you flirting with me?” she asked, her voice breathy.

“No.” He didn’t flirt. That was Hudson. Sawyer was the grumpy brother. He never flirted. Still, his hand didn’t drop from where he was touching her and he couldn’t tear his gaze away from her perfect pink mouth.

“Of course not.” She leaned forward, cutting the distance between them, so close he could feel her soft breath against his skin. “That would violate the contract.”

The temptation to dip his head the few inches to kiss her had his entire body hard and wound tight with anticipation. Lust ran through him like a runaway freight train. The little voice in the back of his head screaming that this was a bad idea suffered the same fate as it had in the supply closet last night: death by ignoring. Clover Lee had that effect on him. It was going to be a very long month and a half.

“The napkin didn’t say anything about flirting,” he said.

No, he was totally free to give himself blue balls the size of watermelons every time he came near his personal buffer.

“Ah-ha!” The triumphant sound escaped her lush lips as she straightened, expanding the space between them and dislodging his hand from her soft skin. “You are flirting.”

Was he? No. He was torturing himself. That was a very different sort of hell. “You take all the fun out of things.”

“No way.” She shook her head, the movement letting a few more silky strands loose from the knot on the top of her head. “I am the definition of fun. If it wasn’t for me, you’d still be in your office banging on your keyboard.”

“I don’t bang.”

“Not me, you don’t,” She shot him a cocky smirk. “It’s in the contract.”

About Avery Flynn

Avery Flynn is an award winning, USA Today bestselling romance author. She has three slightly-wild children, loves a hockey-addicted husband and is desperately hoping someone invents the coffee IV drip.

She was a reader before she was a writer and hopes to always be both. She loves to write about smartass alpha heroes who are as good with a quip as they are with their *ahem* other God-given talents. Her heroines are feisty, fierce and fantastic. Brainy and brave, these ladies know how to stand on their own two feet and knock the bad guys off theirs.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Newsletter sign-up

*This post contains affiliate links.

My father, the king, has condemned my friend Lestra to death for treason, and I’ve joined with her brother Slaine, the most beautiful male Enestian I’ve ever seen, to save her. Although even being seen with him is forbidden, for Lestra and the promise I made to my brother, I’m willing to take the risk. But time is short, and if we’re caught, we’ll be labeled traitors and executed.

To enlist help for our daring rescue, Slaine leads me into a dark, dangerous underworld where an uprising against the crown is brewing. And if the rebels discover I’m Princess Murelle, even Slaine’s status as a commander and vow to protect me with his life might not save me.

Find it online at Amazon* | B&N | iBooks | Kobo | Goodreads | Entangled Publishing 

Read an excerpt

Every part of my body wanted him, and his eyes sparkled with the same fury they had when he was in my quarters the day before. My next breath spread a soft shiver through my chest. Slaine would never make the first move—not with me being a princess. It had to be me. With that realization, I inhaled, my heart beating strong and hard. Leaning forward, and under the power of urges I couldn’t control, I kissed him, not feeling like an amateur but letting my desire play out every move. It was natural and smooth, every touch of my fingers upon him an extension of that passion as they gripped, traced, and worked upon his body in a fervor I had only experienced in my dreams. Every fantasy I’d ever had involving Slaine became real. His lips sealed against mine, his tongue soft and engaging. His hands ran along me, cupping my glutes, sending me into a fit of longing for him as I became weightless in his arms. I closed my eyes, enjoying the soft sensations of his kisses. His hand slid up my arm and across my back, and I brought my palm to the fabric against his chest, my fingers exploring every plate where they overlapped above the hard muscle underneath his shell. His kisses became more fervent, and I threw back my head as his lips and tongue trailed down my neck. Lower he went, until his mouth met the top of my exposed breasts. The powder I’d applied hours before was long gone, but mine continued to glow, my ecru breasts in contrast to Slaine’s beige physique as his hands joined his lips to touch me there.

About the author

A native of San Diego, California, I grew up hanging out at the beach, playing sports, and eventually attending San Diego State University where I earned my bachelor’s degree in English and master’s degree in education. When I’m not nerding out at San Diego Comic-Con or watching Star Wars and The Lord of the Ring’s movies for the umpteenth time, I can be seen doing normal people stuff like cooking delicious meals for my family (I attribute all of my culinary skills to the Food Network) and attending my son’s football games. In my spare time, I write new adult fiction, my biggest passion, and love listening to hard rock music and going to concerts. I hope to live long and prosper, and that you will, too.

Find Kalli online at her website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon | Newsletter

Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway Click here to access the giveaway directly if you can’t see the widget above.

  *Denotes GraveTells affiliate link

*** This review is SPOILER-FREE! Read on with confidence! ***

J.T. Geissinger’s Sin With Me is instantly addictive. From the start, even having read no other books in this series, I fell in love with the whole sparkling cast of characters. Especially Brody and Grace.

“Do you know how to swim?” She stares at me for a long time. “You’re a very strange person.” I grin. “But super hot, right? I can tell you’re totally trying not to jump my bones because I’m so unbearably hot.” “Oh, totally.” She looks at the ceiling and shakes her head.

Brody is a happy-go-lucky, nothing-gets-me-down, considerate guy with a charming personality that is both confident and self-effacing. The effect is an incredibly sexy, lovable rock star you just want to spend all your time around. But he’s hiding a secret, suppressing memories of something horrible he can’t forgive himself for, and that easy-going, carefree guy only goes skin deep.

“So, here’s the deal,” he says, looking at our hands, our fingers threaded together. “I know you just broke up with Marcus a few days ago.” He glances up at me for confirmation. When I nod, he looks back at our hands. “And I also know you’re kind of . . . you’re sort of a . . . serial dater.” My brows shoot up. “If you’re about to slut shame me, princess, I’m about to give you a black eye.” Brody sits up ramrod straight, his eyes wide. “No! God no, I’d never do that! I’m totally guilty of the same thing!”

Grace is a man-eating, ball-crushing beast of a beauty who doesn’t do relationships. Her guys get one month, during which she takes heavy mutual advantage of their god-given assets, and then she’s off to the next booty call. She’s a marriage counselor who has no intention of getting married but can’t totally run from the sweetheart inside who just wants to help people. Her mouth may be sharp enough to cut through glass (and egos) like hot butter, but her secret is a scary one, and there’s a very good reason she doesn’t do long-term relationships.

He crushes his mouth to mine. It’s everything it was the first time, and more, because now it’s all out there between us, my heart as exposed and fragile as a naked baby tossed out into the snow. He holds my head and kisses me with a depth of passion that leaves me dizzy, gasping against his mouth. I’m on fire. I am fire. And he’s the fuel that makes me burn. “Fuck,” he whispers, dragging in a breath against my lips. “Fuck, Grace. Tell me you feel that, too.” All I can do is softly moan and cling to him.

As this story unfolds, I became more and more charmed by Brody, and by the whirlwind beauty of his romance with Grace. They are an adorable couple and I simply couldn’t (didn’t!) get enough. I loved meeting the band and Grace’s girlfriends (including Kenji), and of course I adored the little glimpses into their rock star lifestyle. This book is brimming over with emotions. I can’t wait to read more Bad Habit stories.

In a quiet voice I say, “It’s not Barney. It’s not Marcus. It’s not anyone else, either. It’s you.” Brody’s head snaps up. He stares at me, his lips parted, his body tensed, his gorgeous green eyes shining with need. I take a steadying breath and continue. “You were right when you said I was afraid. I’ve gone skydiving and hang gliding and bungee jumping and climbed the highest summit of Mount fucking Kilimanjaro during an ice storm with a guide named Rooster who was drunk the entire time, and I’ve never been as scared of anything as I am of this thing I feel for you.”

J.T. Geissinger has become one of my new personal “must read” authors over the last year, and taking my first dip into her rock stars world was even more satisfying than I’d expected. And I expected a lot. This woman writes passion like it’s her middle name, and I don’t mean just in the sex scenes (although those are admittedly super charged). Every scene has weight and purpose. Moments shine like stars and characters straight up steal your heart. Everything she writes is original and refreshing, infused with humor, heart, and soul. Sin With Me is easily a one-click read and a recommended romance here on GraveTells.

@JTGeissinger writes passion like it’s her middle name #SinWithMe #BadHabit #MontlakeRomance Click To Tweet

@~~ Did you enjoy this review? Rate it up on Amazon | GoodReads! ~~@

Find Sin With Me online at Amazon* (Kindle, Paperback) | Audible | GoodReads

Recommended for readers who enjoy…

Rock star romances (not on tour)

Tight-knit friend groups

Strong emotional content

Explicit sexual content

Men with easy-going personalities who dominate in bed

Stories involving amnesia

Dual first-person perspective

About the book

The past she can’t remember. The secret he hides. And a love that’s worth risking it all.

After a devastating car crash stole both her family and her memory, Grace Stanton was left with no past and an uncertain future. Now Grace likes to keep things simple. No sleepovers, never date a guy more than a month, and never, ever fall in love. Which is exactly why Grace avoids Bad Habit’s lead guitarist, Brody Scott, at all costs. The green-eyed, sexy-as-hell musician has “trouble” tattooed all over him, and Grace isn’t taking any chances with her heart.

Brody knows he doesn’t deserve an amazing woman like Grace—her creamy skin, red hair, or that smart mouth that fuels his every fantasy—but there’s something between them that’s more than chemistry. Something real. He’ll just have to convince Grace that he’s worth the risk—and hide the secret that haunts his worst dreams. But when fate plays a cruel hand, Brody’s darkest sin suddenly threatens his last chance at redemption…and the life of the woman he loves.

About the author

J.T. Geissinger is an award winning and best-selling author of dark, sexy romance.

She is the recipient of the Prism Award for Best First Book, the Golden Quill Award for Best Paranormal/Urban Fantasy, and was a finalist for the prestigious RITA© Award from the Romance Writers of America. Her work has also finaled in the Booksellers’ Best, National Readers’ Choice, and Daphne du Maurier Awards.

She lives in California with her husband, on whom all her heroes are based.

Connect with J.T. online at her website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads | Instagram | Pinterest | Subscribe to her newsletter

    *Denotes GraveTells affiliate link

*** This review is SPOILER-FREE! Read on with confidence! ***

Author Sarina Bowen pairs with hockey romance like white-chocolate-covered Oreos with rich, creamy, vitamin D milk. That is to say: perfectly and with much anticipation. (And dang it. Now I’m hungry!)

It’s no secret that I’m a long-time fan of the gay hockey romance series Ms. Bowen co-authored with Elle Kennedy (if you haven’t read Him, you’re missing out big time), but this new solo series—The Brooklyn Bruisers—is just as dynamite and hits a more diverse reader base. Whether you read New Adult or more adult-oriented contemporary romance, whether you love sensitive heroes or men with rough edges, whether you like your heroines spunky or classy—the Brooklyn Bruisers hockey romance series has something for you, and every story is teeming with heart and soul.

Every Brooklyn Bruisers story is teeming with heart and soul @SarinaBowen @BerkleyRomance Click To Tweet

Pipe Dreams, the third story in the series, cuts right to the grab-your-chest emotion as the book opens on the high of the team securing a playoff spot, followed by the devastation of our heroine having to face the man she loved and lost and never forgave or forgot.

“Nathan,” she demanded in a low voice. “Why am I here?” “Because the team needs your help,” he replied immediately. “And two years is a long time to miss out on hockey.” “I was just fine without hockey,” she pointed out. Nathan raised an eyebrow, looking so smug she felt like strangling him. “No matter how often you say otherwise, you love hockey.” Seriously? “Please tell me I’m not here right now because you were staging some kind of intervention. That’s fucked up, Nathan.” His eyes went back to the surface of the ice, where the puck was in play once again. “It would be more convenient if you were afraid of me like everyone else is.” “Good luck with that.” He snickered. “Your boy is back in action.” “He’s not my boy.”

The Lauren we knew from the first two books—the chic, fashionable, controlling ice queen who hated hockey and anyone associated with it—is nowhere to be seen in Pipe Dreams. This Lauren is actually friendly and vulnerable and likeable. Seems an apology goes a long way toward making things right. I loved the strength of character Lauren showed in this story. She’s determined, competent, and self-confident, with a killer fashion sense. I can easily see her as a VP of a Fortune 500 company. I kinda want to be her. Just saying.

“It’s not over between us,” he said suddenly. If it was over, he wouldn’t still feel like this—as if just standing in the same zip code with Lauren had his body humming with newfound possibility. “What’s not over?” Leo Trevi asked, sipping a fresh beer. “Beak wants his girl back,” O’Doul explained. “But he’s facing some pretty steep odds.” “I waited six years to get mine back,” Leo said. Shit. “I don’t have six years. I don’t even have six weeks. Once the play-offs are over, she’ll be gone. You assholes better put some goals on the scoreboard in Tampa. I need to take this thing all the way to the Cup.” “That’s the weirdest motivation I’ve heard for wanting to reach the finals,” Leo said. “But whatever works for you, man.”

Mike is such a sweet, honest man, and his vulnerability punched me right in the heart. His backstory is brutal and sorrowful and beautiful. He’s a family man and a tough, career hockey player. And I’ve always had a soft spot for goalies. Mike is easily my favorite hero of the series so far, and every new obstacle, every new smooth (or panicked!) reaction to a crisis just endeared him to me more.

@SarinaBowen’s Pipe Dreams will bring on the feels & the waterworks! @BerkleyRomance Click To Tweet

And writing a believable, likable 13-year old daughter is a daunting task. Ms. Bowen has penned a teenage character that perfectly compliments the stalwart, easy-going nature of her dad, and behaves exactly how I would expect from a youngster both grieving and growing into her changing body. Elsa is surprisingly relatable, and I can’t say that for many kids I read about in romance books.

He walked over to the bed and perched on the edge. “Baby, I dream about you more often than it’s healthy to admit. You’re the one, Lo. There’s nobody else.” Seriously? “You had a hell of a way of showing it.” “You own me,” he said. “I never wanted to let you go.” “It’s not easy for me to believe in you,” she said quietly. He looked up at her. “I know. But I’m going to change that.”

Oh. So. Many. Feels! You’d think hockey romances would be all caveman tough guy, but oh no, Ms. Bowen had to go and make me cry. You read through this story’s ending with dry eyes. Dare you to try! This story is so good. And you don’t need to have read the previous books in the series to enjoy the emotional beauty of it. Although, if you do start with Pipe Dreams, there may be more than the usual amount of new characters to keep up with.

@SarinaBowen’s Pipe Dreams is a @GraveTells Recommended Read! @BerkleyRomance Click To Tweet

Another solid installment in the Brooklyn Bruisers hockey romance series by Sarina Bowen, and another recommended contemporary romance read here on GraveTells.

@~~ Did you enjoy this review? Rate it up on GoodReads! ~~@

Grab your copy of Pipe Dreams on Amazon* here:

Pipe Dreams is recommended for readers who enjoy…

Hockey romances

Contemporary adult romances

Second-chance romances that feature kids

You may also like

  New to the Brooklyn Bruisers series and want to start from the beginning? Check out my review of Rookie Move then grab your copy on Amazon here*:

If love gay romance, are a fan of hockey romances in general, and want a guaranteed excellent read (as in 2016 RITA-winning excellent) with tons of feels, check out Him by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy. Him was the 2015 GraveTells Book of the Year and still one of my favorite all-time romances. Read my review of Him here or snag it for your Kindle ASAP here*:

  For the kinksters out there, Heidi Belleau has a sweet, edgy (and, okay, a little raunchy) New Adult gay-for-you romance—Straight Shooter—that features a college hockey jock and an adult film star in a D/s relationship. I loved this whole series (Rear Entrance Video), and it’s worth reading from the start, but if you want to sneak in for just this story, you totally can. Read more about Straight Shooter here (an interview with author Heidi Belleau) or grab your copy here*:

*Denotes GraveTells affiliate link

Pulling off a romance between two dominants, especially where one of them is slotted into the submissive role, is a tricky task, and Jenna Jacob pens it masterfully. From the very first scene, we can see Mistress Sammie’s dilemma: she has established herself as Domme at Club Genesis, but her instant and explosive attraction to Max awakens the submissive urges she’s repressed, and Max seems to see right through to the heart of her. But a part of Sammie thrives on being a Domme, and her scene with a club sub in the first part of the story is a beautiful demonstration of how her psyche craves the high of topspace too, and of how skilled she is in welding a sub’s exchanged power.

“Oh, yeah,” his gravelly voice rumbled. “This is going to get dirty…fast.” Without asking, Max yanked open the drawer of my nightstand. A wicked grin tugged his lips as he pulled out a string of condoms, bottle of lube, my long, slender vibe, and thick rubber dildo. “Real. Fucking. Dirty.” My body trembled but I boldly lifted my chin. “I can make it ten times dirtier if you pull out the strap-on that’s in there.” “Not tonight, sugar,” he said with a chuckle.

And Max, god, it’s impossible not to love Max. He’s a strong Dominant, and he’s a little pushy sometimes, but he’s also respectful and adapts his responses and behavior to the situation. If Sam needs compassionate and gentle—whether or not she wants it—that’s what he gives her. When stubborn, dogged interrogation is in order, that’s where he takes it. And he bursts into action without a second thought if he believes Sam is in danger. Whether from his intense military training or just as part of his own personality, Max is an expert at reading people and situations and reacting appropriately.

“Such pretty blonde curls,” he whispered, threading his fingers through the wet ringlets. “I love the scent of your pussy. It’s sweet…rich…earthy. I’m going to love smearing your thick juice all over my face, too.” “Max,” I hissed. “What?” He chuckled. “You don’t want my mouth on you, Sam?” “No. I do. Just stop talking about it and do it.” “Is that an order, or are you begging me?”He grinned as he arched his brows. “Neither. It’s a request.” “Well, in that case…I’m gonna have to grant your wish, fair maiden.”

Resisting My Submission is deep, psychologically powerful. Events in Sam’s life have led her down a path she’d never planned for, and this story exposes all her self-doubts and hidden needs. The emotional arc is delicately woven, and Sam’s journey through grief and recovery pays homage to all those who have struggled to find and trust themselves. This story will bring on all the feels, from the naughty kink to the soul-deep sorrow to the beautiful reawakening of self, with all the volatile emotions that bridge the gaps.

“What happens when a powerful and intuitive Dom crosses your path and discovers the sleeping slave within?” Slowly, I turned and stared at Max in disbelief. He was that powerful and intuitive Dom who’d discovered my sleeping slave. But Max had done far more than simply cross my path. He’d shown me a whole new road, one paved in compassion, understanding, and trust.

So with all that goodness in mind, this wasn’t a story that resonated with me personally, probably due to the Master/slave dynamic Max and Sam embrace toward the end. I enjoyed her sass and his honest, vulnerable, patient waiting more than his complete domination of her character. Readers who are less comfortable with Domme Sammie will probably feel the opposite and love the second half more than the first. BDSM is a nuance genre, so knowing what you’re going in for is critical to enjoying the story.

@jennajacob3’s Resisting My Submission is an an emotional, compelling power exchange romance Click To Tweet

Resisting My Submission is a compelling, well written power exchange romance with a lovely and authentic emotional arc. The club setting of Genesis will appeal to readers who love the voyeuristic, sex-forward atmosphere of kink clubs and series with characters that visit book after book as part of a gracious, inviting ensemble cast.

Recommended for readers who enjoy…

Club scene BDSM

Series with ensemble casts

Master/slave power exchange dynamic

Strong female characters with naturally submissive natures

Large-and-in-charge dominant hero types

Emotionally sensitive and intuitive heroes

You might also like…

If the Doms of Genesis series is your kind of romance, you may also enjoy Cherise Sinclair’s Masters of the Shadowlands and Laura Kaye’s Blasphemy series. Both are set in exclusive, private clubs (just like Genesis) and both feature compelling ensemble casts of dominant and submissive players who prefer various types and degrees of BDSM play.

Grab Club Shadowlands, the first in Cherise Sinclair’s Masters of the Shadowlands series, on Amazon* here: (FREE at the time of this posting!)

Snag Laura Kaye’s Hard To Serve, the intro novella for her Blasphemy series, on Amazon* here: (Read the GraveTells review HERE!)

Want to start at the beginning? Get your copy of Embracing My Submission, the first book in Jenna Jacob’s Doms of Club Genesis series, on Amazon* here: (FREE at the time of this posting!)

Did you enjoy this review?

Help GraveTells spread the word about awesome romance and @~~ LIKE THIS REVIEW ~~@ on Amazon and Goodreads!

About the book

They say first impressions mean everything. Either Maximus “Max” Gunn didn’t get the memo or he didn’t care. The gorgeous, muscle-bound Dominant’s assumption that I, Mistress Sammie, was a submissive set my blood boiling. I wanted to drive the toe of my coveted Louis Vuitton stilettos between his legs—and bring him to his knees.

But anger wasn’t the only burning emotion Max ignited inside me. The potent sexual attraction we share threatened to burn me alive, too. Unwilling to cede our Dominance, the battle for control raged like a third world war, both in and out of the dungeon. It would take a coup d’état for love to conquer our drive to command.

But when Max learns the secrets of my past, and attempts to heal my scars, I don’t know if I’ll be able to still the battle…or fall willingly to my knees..

Find it online at Amazon US* | Amazon UK | B&N | iBooks | Kobo | GoodReads

About the author

USA Today Bestselling author Jenna Jacob paints a canvas of passion, romance, and humor as her Alpha men and the feisty women who love them unravel their souls and heal their scars to find their happily-ever-after kind of love. Heart-tugging, captivating, and steamy, Jenna’s books will surely leave you breathless and craving more.

A mom of four grown children, Jenna and her Alpha-Hunk husband live in Kansas. Jenna loves books, Harleys, music, and camping. Jenna’s zany sense of humor and lack of filter exemplify her motto: Live. Laugh. Love.

Meet the wild and wicked family in her sultry series: The Doms of Genesis. Or become spellbound by the searing love connection between Raine, Hammer, and Liam in her continuing saga: The Doms of Her Life (co-written with the amazing Shayla Black and Isabella La Pearl). Journey with couples struggling to resolve their pasts to discover unbridled love and devotion in Jenna’s new contemporary series: Passionate Hearts.

Find Jenna online at her website | Facebook | Twitter

  *Denotes GraveTells affiliate link

Read on for a sneak peek at Rebecca Zanetti’s newest Blood Brothers romantic thriller, LETHAL LIES, releasing May 16, 2017!

A deadly secret can’t stay buried forever . . .

Revenge. It’s the only thing that will help Anya Best sleep at night. The serial killer who murdered her sister is on the loose, and Anya will stop at nothing to put him behind bars—even use herself as bait to lure him out of hiding. But she can’t do this alone.

Private investigator Heath Jones’s job is to bring bastards to justice. This time it’s personal. He knew the Copper Killer’s latest victim so when her sister asks for his help, he’s all in. But when Anya uses the media to taunt the killer, she exposes Heath’s identity, putting them both in jeopardy. Now, secrets buried long ago are coming to light and the forces determined to destroy him are watching Heath’s every move, waiting to exact their own revenge. And they’ll use anything and anyone to get to Heath.

PREORDER it online at Amazon* (Kindle | Paperback) | B&N | Books-A-Million | Google Play | iBooks | Indiebound | Kobo | GoodReads LETHAL LIES releases on May 16, 2017!

Praise for Rebecca Zanetti’s Blood Brothers series

“4 1/2 stars! Top pick! This is a true thriller that will keep readers frantically flipping the pages as death and danger come at the protagonists from several directions. Zanetti’s brilliance at storytelling is on full display…When it comes to high-octane thrillers, they don’t get better than Zanetti!” —RT Book Reviews on LETHAL LIES

“Zanetti balances the adventure and menace of Zara and Ryker’s lives with a relatable romance. The result is a story that’s sexy and emotional, and filled with a rich look at love in all its forms.” —The Washington Post on DEADLY SILENCE

“Budget your time, readers, because this is one that’s hard to put down.” —HeroesandHeartbreakers.com on DEADLY SILENCE

Read an excerpt

“All the more reason to get you out of town,” Heath said quietly. She shook her head. “No. I’m staying.” Her words were brave, but her chest hurt. No way could she deal with a serial killer all on her own. She could train every day for the rest of her life and not end up as practiced or as deadly as Heath already was, and she knew it. “I understand you have other cases and people after you. So leave, and I’ll handle this myself.” “Those are big words, baby,” he said softly. Her lip quivered, and she bit down on it. “I know. I promised her, Heath. It’s all I have left to give to her.” He paused, understanding crossing his expression. “Ah, sweetheart. Your sister wouldn’t want that for you.” His voice turned velvety and soft. Soothing. Anya nodded. “I know. But she was my sister. We shared blood and part of a childhood. She took me trick-or-treating when I was five, and it’s one of my best memories. Then when I needed help as an adult, she didn’t hesitate. She came to me right away, like family. She was the first person I really cared about in far too long, and it hurts like hell that I got her killed.” He breathed out, the emotion in his eyes deepening. She swallowed. “I have to do this for her. Either you understand that or you don’t.” “Why don’t you just let us handle it?” She pressed her point. “I could, but you need me. I’m the bait.” Inwardly, she winced at the description. That wouldn’t help her to convince him. “Also, here’s the deal. This could be a long op. At some point, you have to leave and deal with whatever is haunting you from your past. When you do, I’ll just challenge him again, and next time you won’t be around to assist.” “That’s extortion,” Heath said, amusement curving his lip. She grinned. “Apparently I’m getting quite good at it.” Heath shook his head. “You’re putting me in an untenable position, baby.” “No, I’m not.” She shrugged out of his hold. Finally. “I’m not yours to protect, Heath. We’re not together, and we’re not responsible for each other.” The words sliced through her even as she said them. “You’ve been more than clear on that score.” “There’s something here, Anya. Maybe something real and lasting, if I get everything done I need to do.” She blinked. “What’s that?” “The less you know the better. Believe me.” “What a bunch of bullshit. Go back to your ‘This is fake’ proclamation,” she all but yelled. “Your position is one of work . . . and this is just work.” His chin lifted. “You think this is just work?” The tone—low and filled with tension—zinged through her body. Her legs trembled with the urge to take a step back. “Yes.” “Want me to prove otherwise?” His eyes darkened to the color of the sky right before midnight hit. As a threat, as a warning, it was damn good. But she’d gone too far to give in now. “You can’t.” Yeah, she’d just waved a red flag in front of a bull. He didn’t move a muscle. His focus on her was so absolute, she wanted to squirm. “You’re into challenging dangerous men these days, aren’t you?” She kept her stance. “You’re not all that dangerous, Heath.” His smile stole her breath. Then he moved. Faster than she could track, he had her by the armpits and up in the air as he carried her toward the bedroom with such speed that her legs automatically wound around to clasp his rib cage. By the time she sucked in air to protest, her butt was on the bed, and he was flattening himself over her. She struggled, her body on fire, fighting the urge to laugh out loud. His mouth crushed hers, and she stilled. Heat. Fire. True danger. He held nothing back, kissing her hard, pressing her head into the comforter. His tongue worked hers, his powerful body plastered against hers, and his hands dug into her hair to hold her in place. Desire spun so quickly into need she couldn’t breathe, even when he wasn’t controlling her mouth. She shifted against him, closing her eyes to kiss him back. This was what she’d wanted. All of this. He nipped her lip, soothing the slight pain with another kiss. Then he traced along her jawline, kissing and nipping, finally reaching her earlobe, where he bit. She arched against him, letting out a soft sigh. “Anya.” His fingers tangled in her hair, and erotic pain tingled down her scalp. One of his strong arms slid around her waist and then down. His palm spread across her butt, and he ground her against his hard cock. Pleasure swamped her, and mini explosions flew through her sex. The idea passed, somewhat fleetingly, that he wasn’t playing. Not at all. Yet she couldn’t stop herself. Her knees widened, and she rubbed against him. “This feels real,” she whispered.

PREORDER it online at Amazon* (Kindle | Paperback) | B&N | Books-A-Million | Google Play | iBooks | Indiebound | Kobo | GoodReads LETHAL LIES releases on May 16, 2017!

  About the author

Rebecca Zanetti is the author of over twenty-five romantic suspense, dark paranormal, and contemporary romances, and her books have appeared multiple times on the New York Times, USA Today, and Amazon bestseller lists. She has received a Publisher’s Weekly Starred Review for Wicked Edge, Romantic Times Reviewer Choice Nominations for Forgotten Sins and Sweet Revenge, and RT Top Picks for several of her novels. She lives in the wilds of the Pacific Northwest with her own alpha hero, two kids, a couple of dogs, a crazy cat…and a huge extended family. She believes strongly in luck, karma, and working her butt off…and she thinks one of the best things about being an author, unlike the lawyer she used to be, is that she can let the crazy out.

Find Rebecca online at her website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | GoodReads

Follow Forever Romance online at their Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

Win a paperback copy of LETHAL LIES!

Leave a comment, then enter to win on the prize widget below!

Are you a fan of the series?

Do you love Rebecca Zanetti’s alpha hottie bad boys?

Let’s chat!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Can’t see the widget above? Click here to enter directly.

  *Denotes a GraveTells affiliate link

If I kissed her, she’d probably remove my cock with her bare hands and then hit me with it. That was just the kind of person she was. I was a little scared of her, if I was honest. Even if I knew she had a softer, rarely-seen side, the fact remained that Raven Archer was a brutal, sharp-tongued vixen capable of building you up and tearing you down in the same sentence.

Mixed Up is a sassy, ballsy, vivacious contemporary romance with humor and heart. There’s zero love lost between Raven and Parker, who have hated and needled each other for decades, but that little spark of lust is new, and they’re both determined to ignore, resist, repress!

Parker sat down next to me and set his shoes on the sand next to him. “Do you ever think we should stop this childish fighting and be nice to each other?” “All the time,” I answered honestly. “Then you open your mouth and I forget why.”

These two banter like it’s a competition. Hating each other since childhood, arguing is a skill they have definitely mastered, and between her half-Greek temper and his hot-tempered, impatient chef personality, they’re an explosion waiting to happen.

“Are you just gonna stand there?” The words escaped me before I could stop them. Parker leaned forward, somehow moving deeper into me, and wound my hair around my hand. One sharp tug brought my head back, and he kissed the side of my neck. “Just deciding how hard I have to hate-fuck you.” I swallowed, the lump in my throat thick and unmoving despite my best efforts. “That depends how much you hate me right now.” “You have no idea,” he said right into my ear before pulling back. Judging by the way he pulled out and slammed back into me so hard our skin slapped as it came together, he hated me a whole lot.

And when they finally do get together…whew. Hot. “Hate fuck” isn’t something I see in romance all that often, but Parker and Raven do it right. Under the surface of all that seething tension is a relationship just riding out the storm, waiting for the chance to flip hate into love.

@EmmaHartAuthor’s Mixed Up is all seething tension, cutting wit, and steamy NA romance #BookReview Click To Tweet

This story is fun and rowdy, and readers with big, boisterous families will identify with the Greek invasion that is Raven’s extended family.

Mixed Up is recommended for readers who like…

Sassy, hard-working heroines

Cocky, competent heroes

Mature New Adult romances

The small vacation town setting

Stories with big, nosy families

@~~ Did you enjoy this review? Rate it up on Amazon | GoodReads! ~~@

Hiring my brother’s best friend was not on my to-do list. Neither was he.

Expanding my dirty cocktail bar into food was supposed to be easy, except finding a chef in my little town of Whiskey Key is anything but. Until Parker Hamilton comes home—bringing his Michelin starred chef’s hat with him. He has no work. I need someone like him in my new kitchen. There’s just one problem: I hate his cocky, filthy-mouthed, sexy-as-hell guts. Even if I might want him. Just a little…

Working for my best friend’s sister? Not on my to-do list. She’s another story.

Whiskey Key was supposed to be a relaxing vacation, except I haven’t reached the heights I have by lying in a hammock drinking cocktails. So when Raven Archer is desperate for a chef, I offer up my skills. I’m bored. She needs what I can give her. Except there’s a problem: I’ve always hated her. Her and her big, blue eyes, sassy mouth, and killer curves. If only I didn’t want her.

Find it on Amazon US* | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Amazon CA | B&N | iBooks | GoodReads

Read an excerpt

I knew I was making a mistake. After what Raven said last night at dinner, I had the strongest urge to find out what her cocktail menu was. With names like Dirty Screw and The Slutwhisperer, what other gems did she have hidden on there? Shit, what gems were hidden inside her apparently filthy mind? I had no place to be thinking that. She was Ryan’s sister and the bane of my goddamn existence. I didn’t give a shit what was inside her head or how she came up with a filthy cocktail menu. I was going to believe that she’d spent stupid amounts of time on the Internet coming up with those kinds of names. Seeing her in that damn short dress yesterday had already affected me enough—not to mention the fact that she’d changed since I last saw her. I didn’t know people could change so much in only three years, but Raven Archer had. She was no longer post-grad, trying to seriously figure out what she wanted to do with her life, uncertain and serving burgers to people to make money. She was grown-up, in more ways than just her age. She was even hotter-headed that she was back then. She seemed stronger and more stubborn, and her tongue was so sharp I probably have scars from how quickly she cut me with her words. She was taller and fucking curvier, too. Her lips were fuller. Her eyes were brighter. And the general air that hung about her, that hint of sass and sexiness, the very same thing that made me insult her whenever I opened my mouth almost made me want her, too. And that was exactly why I couldn’t sit and think about what went on in her mind—filthy or otherwise. No matter what she looked like or how fucking hot she was, she was my best friend’s sister. Nobody was more off-limits than she was. That wasn’t a new development. It had always been that way. Thank fucking god I was only here for the summer, and only because my mother had guilted me into it. As soon as the summer was over, I’d go for my next challenge. I could get through a few weeks of being in the same town or two as Raven—because after today, avoidance was at the top of my life. Otherwise, I’d go fucking insane. Dirty was right on the seafront, only meters away from a small, sandy bay. It’d only taken me a few minutes to walk here from where I’d parked downtown, and despite the music coming from inside the bar, I could still hear the gentle crashing of the waves as they crawled up the sand. The water was right out, and I stared out at the water as I headed up the hill to the bar. Fairy lights twinkled along the underside of the roof that jutted out over the sidewalk. It was like a goddamn princess castle from the outside, but the beachy vibe was evident. Different sized and colored shells covered the pillars that held up the balcony that jutted out over the front doors. I pushed open the door. Cold air blasted into me, and so did the heavy bass beat of the music that blared out from the speakers just above my head. There were more fairy lights inside, but they were strung all beneath the bar, across the beams on the ceiling, and over the back wall where the spirits were on the wall. There wasn’t much else in the way of lighting, but what there was was effective enough in holding the entire space into a balance between bright and dusky. The inside of Raven’s bar was like being outside at the moment the sun set. I cast my gaze over the rest of the bar. The solid, wood tables and stools that lines the walls and filled the space to my left all had tiny vases of fresh flowers in. Even those were surrounded by fairy lights. Fucking hell, did she let a class of little girls in here to decorate? No matter what I felt about the fairy lights, it looked good. Damn good. I stepped up to the bar and leaned forward on it. Raven was at the other end of the bar, wearing jeans and a tight tank top that tucked beneath the waistband. Strappy, silver heels on her feet glinted off the under-bar lighting, and it was all too easy for me to drop my eyes there then slowly drag my gaze up the length of her entire body. Light bounced off the chrome cocktail shaker in her hand as she shook it. She popped off the top with one slick of her thumb, and without spilling a drop, poured the pink-red liquid into two martini-style glasses. With her other hand, she reached back to the register and jabbed at it. Seconds later, she was handing them back their change. It all happened in a flash. How did such she go from lost to…this…so quick? “Raven!” A dark-haired woman sitting a few stools away from me with her friend yelled. “There’s a hot guy staring at you!” I laughed loudly as Raven jerked around. Her gaze landed on me with what felt like a snap, and I swore she mouthed, “Motherfucker,” before she stalked to this end of the bar. Her hands slapped on the bar in front of me. “What are you doing here?” “I told you I was coming to check out your menu.” “He was checking out more than the menu,” the woman’s friend giggled. Raven held her finger up to them, and with her other hand, slapped a smooth, laminated menu in front of me. “Did you drive?” “No, I walked all the way from Key West.” I picked up the menu. “Of course I drove.” “Pick one,” she said, moving away. “I’m not serving you anymore than that. Make it a good choice. What can I get for you?” she asked someone else, cutting me off before I could say a word. I raised my eyebrows. “She runs a tight ship,” the first woman said. “Three days ago, there was a guy in here spiking drinks. She caught him and bashed him in the balls with her cocktail shaker so he couldn’t run from the security guard.” Could my eyebrows go up any higher? “That doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. I’ve seen her do worse.” The second woman’s eyes narrowed. “You have? You know her?” The first woman rolled her eyes. “Of course he does, Cam. When have you seen her react to a customer like that? He obviously pissed her off in a past life or something.” “I should be so lucky.” I smirked. “More like all in this life.” “Her brother’s friend, right?” She tilted her head to the side. “Yeah, she mentioned she hated you.” She’d talked about me? “She didn’t say you were hot, though,” the second woman said. “Camille!” Ahhh. The best friends. “What?” Camille said. “I’m just saying.” “No more Slutwhisperers for you,” the other woman—the one I presumed to be Lani—said, reaching for her glass. Camille leaned over and slurped the last of the drink through the straw. That explained the name of the cocktail. “What are you doing?” Raven asked, stopping in front of them. “Cam? Your glass is empty. Let me refill that for you.” She winked to the other girl as she turned around. What was she doing? She put her back to her friends and grabbed the tequila bottle. She tipped it over a cocktail shaker without actually pouring anything into it. My lips quirked up as she put together what was some pink juice or something and blended it with raspberries. She poured the mixture into a glass with some vigor in front of Camille. She’d made her a placebo. “Made your choice?” Raven turned to me, holding onto the shaker. “No.” I spun the menu to face her. “What do you think I should have?” Completely straight-faced, she said, “The Blue Balls.”

Find it on Amazon US* | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Amazon CA | B&N | iBooks | GoodReads

About the author

By day, New York Times and USA Today bestselling New Adult author Emma Hart dons a cape and calls herself Super Mum to two beautiful little monsters. By night, she drops the cape, pours a glass of whatever she fancies—usually wine—and writes books.

Emma is working on Top Secret projects she will share with her followers and fans at every available opportunity. Naturally, all Top Secret projects involve a dashingly hot guy who likes to forget to wear a shirt, a sprinkling (or several) of hold-onto-your-panties hot scenes, and a whole lotta love.

She likes to be busy—unless busy involves doing the dishes, but that seems to be when all the ideas come to life.

Find Emma online at Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads | Amazon Author Page

  *Denotes GraveTells affiliate link

What’s sexier than a bad boy? A bad ass man who’s got his shit together.

Max Alexander is nearing thirty-five. He’s built a successful company, and he’s conquered the professional world, but he’s never been lucky in love. Focusing so much time on his business and raising his daughter, adulting has come at the expense of his personal life. His social skills are shit, his patience is shot, and at times, his temper runs hot. The last thing he has time for is the recently single, too gorgeous for her own good young woman he hires to take care of his little girl. She’s a distraction he doesn’t need, and besides, there’s no way she’d be interested. But you know what they say about assumptions?

This is book 3 in the Roommates series, but each book can be read as a complete standalone as they all feature new couples to fall in love with.

Find it online at Amazon* | Amazon UK | iBooks | B&N | Kobo | GoodReads

About the author

A New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of more than two dozen titles, Kendall Ryan has sold over 2 million books and her books have been translated into several languages in countries around the world. Her books have also appeared on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists more than three dozen times. Ryan has been featured in such publications as USA Today, Newsweek, and InTouch Magazine. She lives in Texas with her husband and two sons.

Find Kendall online at her website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads | Amazon Author Page. For the latest book news, and fun extras Subscribe to her Newletter.

*Denotes GraveTells affiliate link

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Laura Kaye brings you the second title in her Raven Riders Series, RIDE ROUGH. A sexy romantic suspense, you might’ve first met the Ravens in the Hard Ink world, but this series about a different kind of a motorcycle club with a protective mission stands on its own and is even sexier, edgier, and grittier! The Raven Riders Series takes you on a new adventure and kicks it into overdrive! 

Ride Rough releases on April 25, 2017! Order your copy of RIDE ROUGH today!

  Brotherhood. Club. Family. They live and ride by their own rules. These are the Raven Riders…

Maverick Rylan won’t apologize for who he is—the Raven Riders Motorcycle Club Vice-President, a sought-after custom bike builder, and a man dedicated to protecting those he loves. So when he learns that the only woman who has ever held his heart is in trouble, he’ll move heaven and earth to save her.

Alexa Harmon thought she had it all—the security of a good job, a beautiful home, and a powerful, charming fiancé who offered the life she never had growing up. But when her dream quickly turns into a nightmare, Alexa realizes she’s fallen for a façade she can’t escape—until sexy, dangerous Maverick offers her a way out.

Forced together to keep Alexa safe, their powerful attraction reignites and Maverick determines to do whatever it takes to earn a second chance—one Alexa is tempted to give. But her ex-fiancé isn’t going to let her go without a fight, one that will threaten everything they both hold dear.

Can’t see the video above? Watch it directly here.

  Order RIDE ROUGH by May 1st, fill out this form, and receive an email with a bonus short story of more of Hard Ink’s Beckett after Release Week!

Find it online at Amazon* | B&N | iBooks | Kobo |  GoodReads

Read an excerpt

It was one of Maverick’s favorite dreams.

He and Alexa had gone up to Swallow Falls in Western Maryland for a weekend getaway and were staying in one of the mini cabins at the state park. After a day of hiking and swimming and picnicking outside, they’d come back to their cabin tired and ready to crash, but getting naked for showers had sidetracked them for hours. And even once they finally fell asleep, Maverick was hard and ready every time he woke up, and he took her again and again, falling asleep still buried inside her . . .

And fuck if he wasn’t ready right now.

He burrowed his face in Alexa’s soft hair and banded his arm around her stomach. His hand filled with the soft mound of her breast. He pulled her back against his chest and ground his erection against the swell of her ass.

“Maverick,” she moaned.

Hell, yeah. He nuzzled her neck, kissed her there, tasting and nipping and sucking. God, he needed in her. “Fuck, Alexa,” he whispered.

Her hand gripped his. “Maverick.”

He rolled her under him and crawled on top of her, his body falling into the cradle of her spread thighs.

“Uh, Maverick.”

He frowned and kissed her jaw, her cheek, her mouth. It was the kiss that did it. Something wasn’t right. The memory playing out in his sleep-fogged mind didn’t feel like the reality confronting his physical senses. His eyes blinked open. And he found himself lying on top of Alexa. Not in the cabin at Swallow Falls years before. In the gray morning light of his house. Her wide hazel eyes stared up at him.

He reared off of her in an instant. “Fuck,” he said, coming to stand by the couch. Alexa looked stunned—and so fucking sexy that Maverick barely resisted crawling back on top of her. She lay on her back in his clothes, on his couch, her knees drawn up and falling out, her hair sleep-mussed and sexy. Jesus. He adjusted himself, unable to hide his raging hard-on, and scrubbed at his face. “Goddamn dream. I’m sorry, Alexa. I didn’t mean to do that.”

“You . . . you were dreaming. Of me?” she whispered.

His gaze narrowed. “Don’t ask a question you don’t want the answer to.”

Find it online at Amazon* | B&N | iBooks | Kobo |  GoodReads

About the author

New York Times and USA TODAY bestseller Laura Kaye is the author of thirty books in romantic suspense and contemporary and erotic romance and has sold more than one million books in the U.S. alone. Among her many awards, she won the RT Book Reviews Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best Romantic Suspense of 2014 for Hard As You Can. A former college history professor, Laura grew up amid family lore involving angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses, cementing her life-long fascination with storytelling and the supernatural. Laura lives in Maryland with her husband and two daughters, appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day. Laura also writes historical fiction under the name Laura Kamoie, also a Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and USA Today bestseller.

Find Laura online at her website | Twitter | Facebook | GoodReads | Newsletter sign-up

Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Can’t see the giveaway above? Click here to enter directly!

    *Denotes GraveTells affiliate link

*** This review is SPOILER-FREE! Read on with confidence! ***

The opening to Escape Velocity is gruesome and eye-opening, and a little shocking in its sheer, imaginative tenacity. As Commander Kai Yang escapes from a horrible prison, the reader experiences the risk and the desperation and the nastiness of the situation right along with him. The opening few chapters of Escape Velocity are so immersive, they effortlessly pull you under, until you’re so wrapped up in the characters and their emotions that you could be sitting right next to them, watching it all unfold with a psychic eye.

Despite her hold on him, he leaned closer. “Always so calm and collected. One of these days, you’re going to lose control. I’m going to make you lose control.” Oh, god. Just the tenor of his low voice was almost enough to make her break. Her fingers contracted on his shoulders, digging into the muscles beneath his shirt. She gulped in a breath, and he closed the remaining distance between them. But he didn’t kiss her. No, he brushed right by her mouth, his lips landing on the edge of her jaw, just below her ear. A shudder rocked her, and she only just managed to curb the moan wanting to slip free. His mouth moved up, over her lobe, breath spiraling warm against her skin. “Tell me again, Sacha, why we can’t have this between us?” She opened her mouth, but no words came out, as if her brain had vacated the premises. Maybe just one kiss wouldn’t hurt. After all, they’d shared a kiss or two already, and it hadn’t really hurt anything… Her comm vibrated in her pocket with a spell-breaking trill.

The sexual chemistry between Sasha and Kai is stunning, and their personal history lends some serious potential energy to their will-they-won’t-they budding romance.

Kai had returned and revived her emotions with all the subtlety of a tactical ballistic missile.

The romantic arc of the story is authentic and gut-wrenching. The Valiant Knox’s futuristic medical equipment may have mostly healed Kai’s abused body, but as a former POW, he is just starting his journey toward emotional recovery. And a relationship with his doctor, beyond professionalism or friendship anyway, will only mire him in dependency—no matter how hot they are for each other or how deeply he truly does love her. I love this dynamic in the story. It adds a believable element of tension and supports the very real and nasty mental repercussions of PTSD. The portrayal of the Commander’s psychological trauma and the way it naturally ramps up, along with the subtle little story and relationship clues that support it, is simply masterful. I was left with a few outstanding questions from the general plot arc (which I can’t voice without giving away spoilery details), but hopefully those are tied into the greater story universe and will be explored in the next installment of the series.

Oh the feels, so very many feels! Escape Velocity is authentic and gut-wrenching @JessAnastasi Click To Tweet

Oh the feels, so very many feels! Escape Velocity reads more like a modern day military romance than a sci-fi, but has enough space lingo and tech mentions sprinkled organically about to satisfy lovers of the genre. The tension throughout this entire story is delightful—not just romantic tension, but action- and plot-inspired too. Escape Velocity is one of those stories that is straight-up great, no matter its genre or subject matter. Luckily for romance readers, it also happens to feature some pretty juicy chemistry.

Escape Velocity is one of those stories that is straight-up great @JessAnastasi @EntangledPub Click To Tweet

@~~ Did you enjoy this review? Rate it up on Amazon | GoodReads! ~~@

Snag your copy on Amazon* here:

*Denotes GraveTells affiliate link.

From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Larissa Ione, comes RAZR, a passionate and spellbinding novella from the Demonica Underworld Series, brought to you by 1,001 Dark Nights! Be sure you grab your copy today!

New York Times bestselling author Larissa Ione returns to the Demonica Underworld… A fallen angel with a secret. An otherworldly elf with an insatiable hunger she doesn’t understand. An enchanted gem. Meet mortal enemies Razr and Jedda…and the priceless diamond that threatens to destroy them both even as it bonds them together with sizzling passion. Welcome back to the Demonica Underworld, where enemies find love…if they’re strong enough to survive.

Find it online at Amazon* | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU | Paperback

Can’t see the video above? Click here!

Read an excerpt

Shivering, she went back inside and fetched the med kit from the bathroom. Razr was still passed out cold, so gently and carefully she stripped off his slacks. He didn’t wear underwear. Oh, my. Her mouth went as dry as the sand forest in her elven homeland as she took in his magnificent body. Everything began to burn, parts of her she’d all but forgotten she had in the five years since she’d last been with a man. The fallen angel was about as perfect as anything she’d ever seen. Made sense, she supposed—she’d never thought angels would be anything less than perfection. But seeing one naked and up close? No one could blame her for wanting to take pictures and post to all her friends on Instagram, right? Cursing her ethics, she arranged him on his belly to allow access to his shredded back. Shame at the fact that she’d just ogled him shrank her skin. Gods, he must have been in so much pain. She’d nearly passed out herself during the beating, unable to stomach the sight of muscle and bone exposed by the deep lacerations. Making matters worse, Shrike had reveled in the gore, growing angrier with each strike, as if he’d been taking some deep inner pain out on Razr. When it was over, he’d thrown down the cat and fled the office without a word, leaving her to gather Razr’s unconscious body and find her way out of the castle. At least the wounds had stopped bleeding and were already starting to heal. Still, this was one of the times she wished she’d chosen the garnet Gem of Enoch instead of the diamond. Jedda and her sisters hadn’t known what power each of the gems had possessed at the time they’d chosen and assimilated them, but neither Jedda nor Reina had been completely happy with the outcomes. Manda had embraced the killing power of her stone, but Reina had no desire to heal and had been furious. And while Jedda’s gem had given her an ability to violently repel demons that she actually used sometimes, being able to help now and then would have been cool too. Very carefully, she cleaned Razr’s wounds and applied bandages, each one drawing an elven curse from her. Such a perfect body, torn to shreds on a regular basis. He had no scars—at least, none that were visible. She’d heard there were species of demons that could see scars no one else could, and she wondered what one of those demons would see if they looked at Razr. Jedda saw a very fit, very toned male.

About the author

Larissa Ione is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. An Air Force veteran, she traded in a career as a meteorologist to pursue her passion of writing. She now spends her days in pajamas with her computer, strong coffee, and supernatural worlds. She believes in celebrating everything, and would never be caught without a bottle of Champagne chilling in the fridge…just in case. She currently lives in Wisconsin with her U.S. Coast Guard husband, her teenage son, a rescue cat named Vegas, and her very own hellhound, a King Shepherd named Hexe.

Find Larissa online at her website | Facebook | Twitter | 1001 Dark Nights

  *Denotes GraveTells affiliate link