Playing for Keeps (A Neighbor from Hell, #1)

by R.L. Mathewson

Done with being the world's biggest pushover, Haley decides that things are going to change starting with the aggravating neighbor who has too much charm and not enough restraint. What she didn't expect was to sucked into his world, but Haley has a game plan and she won't let herself forget just what the bad boy next door is capable of. The last thing Jason expected was for his little shy neighbor to go Rambo on him over some ruined flowers. After he decides to take her under his wing he can't help but that notice that she fits very nicely in his life. Now the only left is to convince her that this is anything but a game.


Review as on Goodreads by ♡ Sassy ~ Amy ♡ 
Well... after all the hype & I expected it to be really good, it was kind of disappointing. BUT for $0.99 it was worth the read.
I have read some intense books recently & this book didn't even come close. It was good, but for a contemporary romance it just came in a little short for me.
I think the plain covers make the book. If it had a cheesy cover, I think it would be rated differently. Maybe this was the wrong thing to read right after Kristen Ashley... I dunno.
The premis of 2 neighbors living next door to each other & working together was good. I haven't read one like that before. It ended sweet as well.
I have a serious problem with food boundries though too, so that might have been a factor. who knows. I really wanted to like it based on the reviews & recommendations, it just didn't work. sorry.
Rating: 

Kade's Dark Embrace

by Kym Grosso

After a series of girls are ritualistically murdered on the cold streets of Philadelphia, seasoned detective, Sydney Willows, is forced to work with sexy, alpha vampire, Kade Issacson. While working the case, Sydney finds herself inexplicably drawn to Kade, fighting the passion she feels towards him. Kade, determined to solve the case and mete out justice, is captivated by the independent, fiery detective. As he attempts to protect her from a very real murderer, Kade grows concerned that the beautiful, but very human detective, could easily end up dead should she tangle with supernatural forces that are beyond her control.
The investigation leads them into a dark and dangerous world, deep in the heart of New Orleans, where together, they search for the perpetrators of the Voodoo killings. Sydney soon becomes the target of the killer and ends up fighting for her life and love in the Big Easy. Will she eventually give into the intoxicating desire she feels for Kade if she makes it out alive?


Review as on Goodreads by ♡ Sassy ~ Amy ♡ 
This book started out pretty good. This was the intro to a paranormal world. The king vamp of new orleans goes to philly to help solve (actually look into) murders of women where all of their blood has been drained.

Vamp hottie Kade meets badass hottie philly cop Sydney Willows and she is forced to work with him. She likes him, he likes her and it goes from there. It's an easy relationship, but the problem was that the flip flop back and forth made it cheesy. It was then followed by... Oh, I love you & Oh I love you too. I don't understand it, but I do... Ookkayy!

It had way more potential & it was really short. I did find myself skimming over a bunch of pages because it did lack any real connection & read like one of those books you have to take at face value. I think the first half was amazing, but the second half went way too fast. It could have really been played out more. Oh well. For a first time PNR by this author, it was a good start. I hope it gets better. 
Rating: 

Her Latin Lover

by Katheryn Lane

Escape from danger with HER LATIN LOVER

When Mary Delaney is offered an all expenses paid, luxury holiday in South America with her journalist boyfriend, the last thing she expects to happen is to find herself stuck in the middle of nowhere with no boyfriend, no money and no way of getting back to London. When an irresistibly sexy landowner, Don Paulo de Castile, tells her that he has just won her in a game of poker, should she believe him, or try to find out what has happened to her missing boyfriend?

Paulo didn’t realise at the beginning of his poker game that he was playing to win Mary, a woman who bears a striking resemblance to a person he once loved. However, it takes more than a game of cards to win Mary’s heart and Paulo isn’t the only local man interested in her. As well as battling for Mary’s affection, he has to fight off the attentions of the local mafia in a fight that can have only one outcome . . .

Reviewed by Milena
Did I like it or didn't I?, that is the question... Mary seemed quite juvenile, didn't connect with her at all. It was a quick read and sexy yet mysterious Paulo managed to keep me intrigued. Mary's boyfriend or ex as it turns out is a real prick and I really had this need to punch his lights out. I can't go beyond giving this book a 3/5. Lucky it was a freebie otherwise I would have been disappointed in spending my money on an unsatisfactory read.

Rating:  

Can't get enough of

Kresley Cole

Check out the video message from Kresley cole and  Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night narrator Robert Petkoff to learn about an exciting opportunity for fans!

Her breathless kiss haunts him...Bowen MacRieve of the Lykae clan was nearly destroyed when he lost the one woman meant for him. The ruthless warrior grew even colder, never taking another to his bed -- until a smoldering encounter with his enemy, Mariketa the Awaited, reawakens his darkest desires. When sinister forces unite against her, the Highlander finds himself using all his strength and skill to keep her alive.

His slow, hot touch is irresistible...

Temporarily stripped of her powers, Mari is forced to take refuge with her sworn adversary. It's rumored that no one can tempt Bowen's hardened heart, but soon passion burns between them. Though a future together is impossible, she fears he has no intention of letting her go.

No deed is too wicked for her seduction...

If they defeat the evil that surrounds them, can Mari deny Bowen when he demands her body and soul -- or will she risk everything for her fierce protector?

Ravishing Rose (A Naughty Novella)

by Andie Prime

One shy girl is about to start living! 
Francesca Ellison is swept off to an A-list party in a concealing mask, a decadent costume and sex-shop panties. There she meets the pirate, Captain Cool. Frankie tells him her name is Rose because for once she intends behaving very badly. The Captain outdoes her at every turn. 
As sky-rockets scream skyward and guests start to demolish the party venue, Frankie loses her panties and her inhibitions. ‘Rose’ is thoroughly ravished, and the Captain gets more (and less) than he hoped for.
This naughty novella is around fifty pages long - just right for a quick bedtime read.


Review by Milena
I found it quite enjoyable for a very quick read. AP did a good job in allowing the reader to glimpse into both Characters point of views. I loved "Captain Cool" wickedness at same time sweetness. Shy "Rose"  turned out not so shy. A well thought out plot with very funny moments. Bedding Brianna is next on my list.


Rating: 

How To Marry A Duke

by Vicky Dreiling

Tristan, the Duke of Shelbourne is a man with a mission: find a wife he can tolerate as long as they both shall live. Love is not necessary--nor desired. But how to choose among a dizzying array of wealthy-yet-witless candidates? Hire London's infamously prim and proper matchmaker. Then pretend she's not the most captivating woman he's ever met...
Helping a devilish Duke create a contest to pick his perfect mate is the kind of challenge Tessa Mansfield relishes. Her methods may be scandalous, but she's determined to find the notorious bachelor more than a wife--she'll bring him true love. Yet when Tessa watches the women vie for the Duke's affections, she longs to win his heart herself. And after a stolen kiss confirms Tristan's desire, Tessa knows she has broken a matchmaker's number one rule: never fall in love with the groom.

Book reviewed by Cybil Solyn
Ugh. I so much wanted to like this book. I really did. But with every page I turned I dreaded the ultimate outcome - our hero and heroine marrying. Tessa is a wholly unlikeable heroine. She is supposed to be this amazing matchmaker, but honestly I don't know how. She has no morals, no class, and no brain. As a matchmaker her priority should be to help people find the perfect mate in a quiet and no nonsense manner. But from her first interaction with Tristan, all she can think about are her needs (she wants to make a name for herself by finding a duke a bride), her wishes (she wants him to realize how important love is), and how this will help her (her emptiness will be filled when he's married to the right woman).

When Tristan straight up tells Tessa that he doesn't want anyone to know that she's helping him find a bride because he's sick of the limelight, what does she do? Publicly announces that he's going to be seeking a bride out of a pool of 24 women she hand picked. Mmmhmm. That'll keep him out of the limelight all right. Poor, poor, Tristan. All he wants is to have a regular marriage of convenience, and instead he discovers that he's fallen in love with a selfish, know-it-all, manipulative, idiot. Poor, poor man.


And really it just gets worse from here. At every turn Tristan is trying to be honest and upfront about his needs. But Tessa keeps manipulating him and putting him, and the 24 girls, into bad positions. When he finally realizes he loves Tessa (WHY??!?!?!), her "terrible secret" (yeah I bet you can guess what it is too because, like I said, she ain't bright and has a tendency to give into her own desires) gets in the way. *sigh* Really, it was all just terrible to watch unfold.

Rating: 

Hot Property (Kinsgton Bros.)

by Tamara Larson

Serena Garrison is in the midst of an epic dry spell. The pretty real estate agent can't seem to sell a house or find a decent date. She desperately needs to get her groove back in both departments. It certainly doesn't help matters that her family business, Kingston Brothers, has hired the object of her teenage lust to be their senior landscaper or "Exterior Property Development Consultant." Now he's everywhere, reminding her of their humiliating history together and threatening the future of her family business with his crazy and costly ideas. All she needs to do is avoid Mark, sell a house, and find someone suitable to spend her life with. If only Mark wasn't quite so drool-worthy and difficult to ignore. 

A busted knee has shortened his career with the NFL, but Mark Goldsworthy has returned to his hometown on a mission. First, to make restitution for his alcoholic father's part in almost ruining Kingston Brothers. Second, and most importantly, to claim the woman he's always loved. Part one of his plan is going according to schedule, but part two is going nowhere. Serena isn't an adoring and awkward teenage girl anymore, and she doesn't want anything to do with him, which makes claiming her a bit difficult. But he's more than up for the challenge. 

Warning: Contains erotic situations and some graphic language.


Reviwed by Milena
It was okay! I don't tend to like past love/infatuation stories, however there was enough banter between the two main characters to make me want to find out how they would end up. I hated that Mark got pimped out at a young age, as he could have put his balls to better use and stand up to his father. I also didn't like the 3 week break as it left much to be told. It was too fast paced but I guess in the end it ended up with a happy ending.


Rating: 

Take it Off

by Tina Gerow

When Samantha Ryan receives a call from her mother asking her to come home and run the family business--a real live Nevada brothel--she's not thrilled about it, but she agrees. Realizing that her final night out with her friends will be the last for a while, Samantha takes the opportunity presented to her in the form of Chase Hanson. 

Chase had his eye on the beautiful brunette all night and when she asks to go home with him, he takes her home and experiences the most mind-blowing sex of his life. The next day, they part, with Samantha saying she'll be out of town assisting her mother for a while, but that she'll call. He feels as if they really made a connection and desperately hopes that she'll call. Meanwhile, he's still forced to fulfill a prior obligation and heads out of town to a brothel to celebrate his buddy's bachelor party. 

When they find each other at the brothel, conclusions abound. Can these two work out their differences?


Review by Milena's Book Corner
What Fun! This erotic quickie is filled with the author's sense of humour, steamy love scenes and a snappy dialogue. The part where Sam teaches Chase a little lesson is just priceless! I will definitely be reading more of Ms. Gerow's. Highly Recommended!


Rating:  

Sweet Dreams

by Kristen Ashley

Lauren Grahame has spent her whole life thinking something special was going to happen. She didn’t know what it was, she just knew it would one day be hers. But she learned the hard way that special wasn’t on offer.

So, after divorcing her cheating husband, Lauren searched for nothing special and she thought she found it when she landed a job as a waitress in a biker bar in Carnal. It was perfect: a nothing job in a nowhere bar in Nowheresville.

Then Tatum Jackson walked in. Part-owner of the bar, he took one look at high-class Lauren and wanted nothing to do with her. And he made this known, loudly.

Tate’s angry insults seared in her brain, Lauren decides the feeling is mutual and she doesn’t want anything to do with the gloriously handsome Tate Jackson. The clash of the bartender and barmaid begins but, even though Tate makes his change of mind clear (in biker-speak, a language Lauren is not fluent in), Lauren is intent on going her own way.

Until a serial killer hits Carnal and Lauren finds out Tate isn’t a bartender, he’s a bounty hunter. He stakes his claim for Lauren before he goes on the hunt for a killer but Laurie doesn’t speak biker nor does she understand bounty hunters and Tate comes back from the hunt to find his old lady has moved on.

Life throws curveball after curveball at Laurie and Tate. As secrets are revealed, women are brutally murdered, and Lauren tries to find her inner biker babe.


Review as on Goodreads by ♡ Sassy ~ Amy ♡

Mmmmm Mmmmm Mmmmm! AGAIN!

This was the sweet story of a woman who got out of a crappy marriage, a high position money making job to find her way to a small nowhere town on the mountains of Colorado. To find herself. 

She gets a job in a biker bar as a waitress & crosses with her boss Tate, the first day she meets him. He's a bounty hunter as well as part owner of the bar she's working in. People Love her because she's friendly, truly sweet & knows people's names. Tate claims her, but not knowing biker talk... she doesn't get it...

All this happening while a serial killer kills skanky women near their small town of Carnal, CO>

I loved it, so what more could I say! 


Rating:  

The Gamble

by Kristen Ashley

Nina Sheridan’s on a timeout adventure in the Colorado Mountains. She needs distance from her clueless fiancé, distance to decide whether she wants to spend the rest of her life with a man who doesn’t care enough to learn how she takes her coffee.

Arriving in a blinding snowstorm at the A-Frame she rented, she comes face to face with the most amazing man she’s ever seen. Minutes later, when he kicks her out of his house, she goes head to head with him.

Beyond angry because she’s flown half a world away to start her timeout adventure, not to mention her sinuses hurt, she heads back down the mountain and ends up in a ditch. Unable to extricate herself, she gives up, hopes for rescue and falls asleep in the backseat.

The next morning she wakes up in the amazing man’s bed and she’s sick as a dog.

Holden Maxwell spends days nursing her back to health and then he spends the next two weeks trying to convince her to take her Colorado adventure further, in other words, make it permanent and take a gamble on him.

Nina has a tough time fighting her attraction to Max, especially when it seems all Max’s friends, her mother and stepdad and the whole town want them together and both she and Max get embroiled in the murder of Max’s ex-friend and the town of Gnaw Bone’s most detested resident – a man everyone has motive to kill, especially Max.

Review as on Goodreads by: ♡ Sassy ~ Amy ♡
After the last book in the dream man series, I was at a loss as to what to read. I was so sad it was over & KA knows how to write up a man!OOOOO OOOO OOO! Yum! This was the perfect series to read right after that! It was not as intense, but it fit perfect! All of her electric man charge $ the first person of the woman's side... what more could I say!

KA is the ONLY author I have ever liked reading written in partial first person. It draws you in, where any woman would like to be stuck. Seriously... And I promise... you will consider moving to the Colorado mountains with this series OR the other one.

Let me know about her other books if you've read them & I THANK 100% to my friend Melanie!! Who recommended this series! Thank you Thank you Thank you!! 


Rating:  

The Stranger in Her Bed

by Janet Chapman

In The Seduction of His Wife, Janet Chapman introduced the Knights, an ambitious logging family whose fortunes and hearts are tied to the rugged mountains of Maine. Now, Ethan Knight is drawn into the family business . . . and deep into temptation.

When Ethan agreed to work at a sawmill his family is purchasing, he didn't foresee getting fired on his first day. He should be mad at the fiercely outspoken female foreman, but something about her seems disconcertingly familiar -- even though Ethan is sure he'd remember meeting a stunning beauty like Anna Segee before.Anna has never forgotten Ethan -- or the schoolgirl crush she had on him before her father whisked her off to Canada. Now the shy, gangly girl is grown up and back in Oak Grove with a new name, new confidence, and a newly inherited mill of her own. Her superb reputation in a male-dominated industry hasn't come easy, but even harder will be ignoring the sexy man Ethan has become. . . .

Review as on Goodreads by ♡ Sassy ~ Amy ♡
This was the better of the 2 logger series books. It is written so it can be read out of order with NO spoilers.

Anna comes back to maine from canada after inhereting an old mill from her grandfather. She has been using her middle name & her dad's last name for the last 18 years after being wisked away to Canada after an attempted rape by 3 boys when she was only 11. Ethan had come to her rescue and saved her.

Her mother had a bad reputation for being the town ho, madeline fox, and had been married 8 times. Her only child was Abigail Anna Fox (then Segee)...

She fires Ethan the first day he comes to the mill after he was almost run over by a logging truck... THEN he punched her before he realized she was a woman.

Anna is a strong bossy woman who knows her job & the milling business. Ethan rents a cabin from her and immediately likes her because she tells him how it is right away.

Rating: 

The Seduction of His Wife

by Janet Chapman

He set out to seduce her for all the wrong reasons -- but found himself falling in love with her for all the right ones.

Alex Knight is dead -- or so everyone thinks. A widowed logger baron with a risk-taking streak, he took on a South American engineering project and was reported dead after a rebel attack. So when he turns up back in Maine very much alive, his grieving family is shocked. But the biggest shock is Alex's, when he discovers he's now married -- to a woman he's never met.

Sarah Banks is ready for a change from running a quiet Bed & Breakfast, and working for the Knight family offers not only a bigger opportunity, but also the family life she yearns for. So she's glad to help secure custody of Alex's orphaned children, whom she's come to love, by marrying their father by proxy before he's legally declared dead. But when Alex returns, the sexy, determined woodsman upends all of Sarah's plans. Because suddenly she's married to a passionate stranger with an easy smile...and tumbling headlong into a fiery dance of seduction.

Review as on Goodreads by ♡ Sassy ~ Amy ♡

Part of a series, but it can be read as a stand alone book. I have read all JC books and thought they were great. This series was one I did not have, so I bought them & Low and behold... here I am.

The book was great, but I absolutely HATED Sarah.

Sarah - Beautiful, busty blond... I cannot stand weak women & she seemed very pathetic. She was obsessed with TV & her romance novels. I know people like that, and they are just WEEEIIRD!! So I put her in this category. ALSO, this has one of those classic scenes where she thinks she's dreaming, ends up having sex with a sleeping guy for him to wake up at the end & throw her out because he can't believe it happened, only for him to really want her back & shortly there after find out she's pregnant. Shocker there! (NOT!)

Otherwise, Alex is the Hot eldest hard working logger son of Grady who was believed to be dead only for 11 days & his dad Grady decided he should marry him by proxy to their hot house keeper, so Alex's ex-in-laws would not sue for custody of Alex's 2 children. He find Sarah HOT and then obviously decides he wants to keep her. He decides he needs to seduce her to get his way. She thwarts all his efforts by being blunt & no matter what he says to complement her, it seems to backfire.

Yes absolutely, there are some cheesy moments in this book where you have to laugh & say "WHATEVER!" but the good far out weighs the bad. I think the little side story of strangers in the woods was also just thrown in there, but hey. It can't all be about a fickle girl in a fantasy world... Hey! I read, but real is real. I wish I could pick the alpha male in my book to marry, but I don't think "hmmm... what would so and so do in my place"...

Rating:

Let Me In

by Callie Croix

On leave for Thanksgiving, the last thing marine lieutenant Talia Barnett expects to find is Liam Brodie waiting for her at the airport. He's had a starring role in her fantasies for the past two years, and although she'd love to make them a reality, she has a dark secret that prevents her from taking things further.

A former marine, Liam's specialty is planning tactical operations, and that's just what he plans to do to win Talia. The woman has kept him at arm's length for too long, and this time he's finally going to claim her—body and heart.

What begins as comfort quickly turns hot. When Liam shows Talia a hint of the dominant nature inside him, the submissive part of her flares to life. Though she desires him, she's going back on deployment and doesn't want to dump all her drama on him. Will he find a way to break through the protective walls around her heart and convince her they have a future that goes far beyond the bedroom?


Review as on Goodreads by ♡ Sassy ~ Amy ♡
A lady marine is on leave. Leaving the plane she is surprised to be greeted by her best friend and her best friends brother whom she has always had the hots for, but finds him out of her league. She believes herself to be a pity case, having a horder mother who she has no relationship with. And his family is so close & have accepted her in as one of their own, making a possible relationship awkward.

I have definitely read better, but this was a pretty good novella. It jumped on the hording band wagon & the psychology of one in this book, paralell to all the shows now out about it. 

I wasn't very convinced with the reaction of the daughter & her need to let someone else be in control. I think they would swing more into the OCD have to be in control mode, but thats just me. 

Novellas rarely fall into the 4 or 5 star range for me because they are rarely epic novels.


Rating: