Romance Experience

I’m going to keep this short, and sweet and to the point! But let’s be clear, I loved this book! I loved Professed. I LOVED Confessed. And now I can add this one to my Love list! This book took me on a ride that I didn’t want to get off of! I wasn’t entirely sure what it was about going into it, but the fact that it was written by Nicola was enough for me to want it!

In this one, we meet Jimmy and Mary and we pretty much fall in love with them immediately! Jimmy is a NFL quarterback and the most lovable one at that! He’s such a down to earth guy and a fire is ignited in him when he meets Mary! Mary just happens to be his new physical therapist. So ethically? This is terrible! Story wise? This is juicy and I’m here for it! Their story was unique and I was rooting for them from the jump!

A Beautiful Nightmare was a thrill ride that I enjoyed immensely! This book is definitely darker than most of my other reads and I loved every second of it! This was my first read by Shana but it definitely won’t be my last!

The description reads as follows:

In chess, the king is the most important piece. But the queen is the most powerful. Sometimes to win, she is sacrificed.

Lies melt, and this queen has plenty. She should have seen him coming, she should have known. He took her long before these walls let her know. He won’t let her go. Won’t listen to reason. For a love that doesn’t exist, or has her heart committed treason? Lust won’t be ignored, doesn’t care for these wall of lies. And for every one she’s ever told, she’s always had another in mind. But he is truth—he is king. And the longer he is all she sees … and tastes … she can’t help but think, some nightmares are beautiful, and some are dreams.

In this dark and thrilling romance, the lines of lust and truth are blurred. Life seemingly ends the moment 27-year-old Kinley Hashawaye awakes to find herself inside of a nightmare. Fear and lies are covered in gold and darkness, and her heart won’t let her be when the truth comes back to haunt her. But perception is everything in this kingdom, and danger exists even in our dreams.

And this king will stop at nothing to have his queen.

You get a bit from the description but. There’s. So. Much. More. This book was incredibly interesting and crazily complex I can’t even begin to describe it! When I started it at first, I was immediately freaked out because it seemed like a terribly scary possibility (Especially for me), but as I continued reading, things…changed (in a great way)! While the author note in the beginning frightened me some, I’m incredibly glad to have stuck around!

Both of the characters were absolutely incredibly and insanely complex as well. As the story unfolds you gain insight on each of them and they take this story to an entirely different level! I couldn’t honestly pick between the two because they each brought something so different to the table. Dash was interesting within himself and there were many, many things going on with him. Because of that fact, everything he did had me looking at it…differently. Kinley was also such a complex characters, and completely unlike any character I’ve ever met! At times I really liked her and felt for her while other times I wasn’t rooting for her at all! I think it was incredibly interesting that Shana took it where she did with both characters and this book was wow because of it!

I’m still in shock that I got to receive an ARC of this one because holy smokes I wasn’t ready! When I first got wind of this book, an eyebrow raised about it only because of the political aspect. However, that was quickly set aside when I remember that Katy Evans wrote this, I mean come on, she hasn’t disappointed me yet! So of course I started reading with an open mind and boy was this something!

This is one of those stories that you just have to pick up and read! The chemistry between our main characters Matt and Charlotte is incredible fire that’s off the charts and the “complicated” aspect of this makes it even more heart stopping. Matt is a strong, smart, and captivating man who has an obvious love for his family, people in general, and his country! You get to see his character show through his actions and the love that he developed for charlotte was undeniable. Charlotte was incredibly sweet and caring, and watching the relationship between her and Matt develop was incredibly fun and lighthearted. She helped him become an even better man and it was heartwarming to watch!

The progression of the story was incredibly smooth and it slowly stole me away. It gripped my attention from the start and at no point did it let go. For a while they tried not to acknowledge the feelings they had for each other, but of course that avoidance didn’t last forever and they finally gave in (and boy when they did)! This story was told slightly different from the way I remember Manwhore and I actually loved it just as much!

Is this love or just a game?

Four Letter Word was fun, but this one was even more so! It was fun to watch Tori and Jamie interact in Four Letter word and it was just so right that we got a whole novel for them! Their story was incredibly fun and at times jaw dropping. I spent a good amount of time laughing and I found myself trying to read faster to find out what happened next!

Jamie is something somewhat different than most of the men in the books I’ve read. He has a dirty mouthed, jerk, who doesn’t let go of what he wants. But he’s also incredibly loyal and was always down for Tori. Tori is the most stubborn of them all and as much as she’s said she’s not interested in Jamie, I mean, everyone knew the truth.  Tori and Jamie bickered all the time and it was so funny because it showed how much they are alike. It was fun to see how a little game caused their relationship to unfold.

I cannot even begin to explain the love I have for this book! I remember when I found it I knew that this one had the potential to be something incredibly special to me, but I had no idea how special it would be. I love this book for so many reasons and I barely know where to start! Just:

Katherine is a woman who only finds comfort in the four walls she calls home. She barely leaves her home, not because she doesn't want to, but because she finds it incredibly difficult to. She suffers with PTSD and the anxiety disorders that follow it and because of these, her life is very secluded. She musters up as much courage as possible to go to the nightclub Panic for her sister's bachelorette party. There she has a panic attack that leads her to meet Nick, the owner of the club. Nick's first impression of Katherine is that she's just another drug addict in his club and he doesn't even want to deal with her. Nick, along with his brother Matt, is trying to keep the club out of trouble so instead of calling someone for help, Matt talks Nick into taking Katherine home. When Katherine wakes up, she tries to explain to Nick that she's not an addict and is going through other things, but Nick doesn't want to listen to it. After he leaves he wants to be done with her because he doesn't want another liar and addict in his life, but  he can't get her out of his mind because he wonders if she's telling the truth. This thought makes him go back to see her and the story unfolds after that.

Sidney Halston did an incredible job with Katherine! Katherine was incredibly authentic and an accurate portrayal of how these disorders may affect someone. I wasn't entirely sure what I was getting myself into when I first started this one, but this book hit home so quick it was wild! I immediate fell in love with Katherine because she was so painstakingly real! What she was going through, and the reasons it came about, completely stole my heart! And with that said, I also LOVED Nick as well! At first he was incredibly judgmental of Katherine and I didn't like him because of it. But as time went on, his eyes opened and his want to understand grew. He did his best to understand what was going on with her and that was the start of their relationship blossoming into something that would change them both.

Their relationship as well as the story was smooth and beautiful. You see these two  steadily grow and their relationship progress into something important to each other. My favorite part about their relationship is that Nick didn't see her as a disorder, he saw her as a woman who was trying to deal with a difficult problem.

She's Katherine, a beautiful, intelligent, self-assured woman who happens to have this terrible affliction. But I like Katherine. A lot. And it's too late to walk away.

After he realized what she was going through, he did his best to help her and it was because he wanted to. It's a beautiful thing for someone who is going through difficult circumstances to have someone on their side that will try to see from their perspective. Although it wasn't easy and it was something he wasn't prepared for, Nick went out of his way to try to help her live a better life the best way he could.

Reading this book, you get to see what day to day is like for someone who suffers with severe anxiety. You get to see how they manage to think themselves into the dark and how their life can be affected by it. Sidney Halston wrote this book in such an incredibly realistic way, it's hard to even compare anything to it. This is one book that I would recommend everyone read because not only do you get an incredibly love story, you also get an incredibly story of a girl's bravery to overcome her fears while standing alongside someone who really cares for her!

This book was definitely something! This book is technically the second one in the Club Desire series, but it is also a standalone. Kate finds a sense of refuge in L.A.’s elite BDSM dungeon scene as a hot new thing to politicians and Hollywood A-listers. She eventually finds herself bored of the men who are becoming common to her but when a new and different Dom comes around, she rises an eyebrow and her interest is piqued. Dex, although a FBI agent, fits right in at these popular L. A. clubs. He's on an assignment, but his desire is awakened when he meets Kate as he figures she could possibly be someone he could love. Things take a more interesting turn as Kate becomes a target of a bigger enemy and Dex decides to take her to his Phoenix home. With that we get a mystery and a love story.

The characters in this one were probably my favorite part. Kate had spark in her attitude and wasn't willing to let herself get ran over. She was smart and often head strong and was paving the way for her own life even though her father wasn't rooting for her. Dex was also a smart and interesting character. One of the most notable things about him is that he finds what happens at the club Kate often goes to unacceptable and is against the way some are doing things. He makes sure to care for Kate and mutual consent was always a big thing for him. There was an instant and undeniable chemistry between the two and it started smoothly but intensely. And check out that interracial goodness on that cover!

I received an ARC of this book and I didn’t have a clue what it was about until I opened it up! Once I read that it was about a boy with Asperger’s Syndrome, a girl who pulls him out of his isolated existence, and a lottery ticket that changes their lives, I was all in! From what I could see around, this book was different from her other books, but because of her character development, story line, and writing style, I’m more than ready to pick up her other ones!

Our main character Matthew is different and he’s very much aware of it. Simple things that most may take for granted pose as a challenge for him. Matthew displays many charcteristics that an individual with Asperger’s may exhibit and one of those characteristics is that he’s reluctant to change. With that in mind, in this story many things change when he’s forced to pair with a new lab partner, Mayra, a beautiful, popular girl. At first he wasn’t too keen about changing from his regular partner, but as time goes on his routine starts to change for the better and Matthew starts to grow closer to Mayra. The friendship and trust between them grows and as it does Matthew finds out alot about himself and realizes

One thing I loved most about this story was the characters! They were each both so great and authentic! It was so very interesting to watch this story unfold through Matthew’s eyes and Mayra was one my favorites because her character was so incredibly caring and sweet! Other characters within the story also played a part and I enjoyed them immensely as well. These characters caused the storyline to be something lovely within its own. This book wasn’t emotionally draining and was just a good read! It was adorable, sweet, and incredibly different.

I think that one of the most important things to note is that Shay is yet another wonderful author to shed light on Autism! My younger brother has Asperger’s syndrome and this one most definitely hit home for me. I think that Matthew was an incredible representation and this book definitely gave me some kind of insight on what may be going through my brother’s mind! I appreciate any kind of book that brings awareness to Autism and the like and this one was definitely special!

You win some days; you lose others. That’s just how it works.