REVIEW: Bad Boy By Elliot Wake

Genre:

New Adult/ Contemporary Romance/ Psychological Thriller

Buy The Book:

AMAZON / B & N / KOBO / BD

Connect With The Author:

Blog / Twitter / GR

Summary On Goodreads:

Vlog star Renard Grant has nothing to prove: he’s got a pretty face, chiseled body, and two million adoring video subscribers. Plus the scars on his chest and a prescription for testosterone. Because Ren is transgender: assigned female at birth, living now as male. He films his transition and shares it bravely with the world; his fans love his honesty and positivity.

But Ren has been living a double life.

Off-camera, he’s Cane, the muscle-bound enforcer for social justice vigilante group Black Iris. As Cane, he lets his dark side loose. Hurts those who prey on the disempowered. Indulges in the ugly side of masculinity. And his new partner, Tamsin Baylor, is a girl as rough and relentless as him. Together, they terrorize the trolls into silence.

But when a routine Black Iris job goes south, Ren is put in the crosshairs. Someone is out to ruin his life. He’s a bad boy, they say, guilty of what he punishes others for.

Just like every other guy: at heart, he’s a monster, too.

Now Ren’s got everything to prove. He has to clear his name, and show the world he’s a good man. But that requires facing demons he’s locked away for years. And it might mean discovering he’s not such a good guy after all.

REVIEW

"An eye for an eye. I’d blind the whole world if I had to." 

Just as it was the case with Black Iris and Cam Girl, the last page of Bad Boy by Elliot Wake left me feeling emotionally drained and in urgent need of hugs, but as every emotional junkie/ masochist reader I'm addicted to this type of books. Books that make you feel and leave some profound impression on you.

First of all - before reading Bad Boy, I highly recommend reading Black Iris #1 and Cam Girl #2, because the stories and the characters are intertwined. Otherwise you'll feel out of the loop if you jump right on this one. Bad Boy is a story about Ren, one of the members of the vigilante group called Black Iris which is dedicted on getting revenge on those who have wronged women. But this is not your typical revenge story. The story is more complex and thoughtprovoking than that, where revenge only makes a small part of it. First and foremost, for me, it's a quite powerful and poignant story about everyday life and struggles of a transgender with the addition of gender and rape culture.

Without spoiling anything all I can say is that you should read Elliot Wake's books if not solely because of the writing which is outstanding. Whereas I adored Black Iris and Cam Girl and can't recommend them enough, when it comes to Bad Boy I'll have to agree with readers who said that the concept of the story was good, I liked it, but I wasn't exactly satisfied with the way the author concluded some situations. With this I refer especially to the ending which was in my opinion rushed and to some point anticlimatic. To sum it up- there were some parts I loved and then some not so much. That's why this time it's 3.5 stars.

Recommended to the fans of thoughtprovoking mindfucks!

“We’re all trapped by something. Freedom is an illusion. It’s the wind in your hair as you plummet off the cliff’s edge." 

RATING: 3.5 / 5 stars

xoxo,

Purple

REVIEW: Wildfire (Hidden Legacy #3) by Ilona Andrews

Genre:

Paranormal Romance/ Urban Fantasy

Buy The Book:

amazon /   b & n / kobo

Connect With The Author:

Goodreads / Blog / Twitter / Facebook

Summary On Goodreads:

Just when Nevada Baylor has finally come to accept the depths of her magical powers, she also realizes she’s fallen in love. Connor “Mad” Rogan is in many ways her equal when it comes to magic, but she’s completely out of her elements when it comes to her feelings for him. To make matters more complicated, an old flame comes back into Rogan’s life…

Rogan knows there’s nothing between him and his ex-fiance, Rynda Sherwood. But as Nevada begins to learn more about her past, her power, and her potential future, he knows she will be faced with choices she never dreamed of and the promise of a life spent without him.

As Nevada and Rogan race to discover the whereabouts of Rynda’s kidnapped husband and are forced to confront Nevada’s grandmother, who may or may not have evil motives, these two people must decide if they can trust in each other or allow everything to go up in smoke.

REVIEW

Ilona Andrews simply can't do wrong when it comes to creating a compelling, action-packed and breath-taking urban fantasy/paranormal romance story with a fair dose of humor and fierce, charismatic and lovable characters. They show that with their every next book, just as they showed it with the third installment of HL series. The book was simply addictive. Unputdownable. I've read it in one day.

These two authors are one of few authors who know the perfect receipt when it comes to my ideal uf/pnr romance book and they keep delivering it every time. The series is fairly new, but they've become one of my favs as soon as I've read the 1st book. One of the biggest reasons for that are kick-ass, witty main and secondary characters who never disappoint. And I can't finish this review without mentioning the main hero - the (in)famous Prime Connor Rogan who makes me think R rated thoughts...dayum... that guy is definitely my new Barrons. 4 stars because of the Rynda case which was a bit irritating in the beginning.

Highly recommended to every urban fantasy/paranormal romance fan!

***  My Review of Burn For Me (Hidden Legacy #1) By Ilona Andrews

RATING: 4/5 STARS


xoxo,

Purple

REVIEW: Archangel's Viper (GH series, #10) By Nalini Singh

Buy The Book:

AMAZON / B & N / KOBO

Author's Page:

Goodreads / Blog / Twitter / Facebook

Genre:

Urban Fantasy/ Paranormal Romance

Summary on Goodreads:

Enter New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh’s breathtakingly passionate Guild Hunter world with the story of a woman who isn’t a vampire or an angel…or human…

Once a broken girl known as Sorrow, Holly Chang now prowls the shadowy gray underground of the city for the angels. But it’s not her winged allies who make her a wanted woman—it’s the unknown power coursing through her veins. Brutalized by an insane archangel, she was left with the bloodlust of a vampire, the ability to mesmerize her prey, and a poisonous bite.

Now, someone has put a bounty on her head…

Venom is one of the Seven, Archangel Raphael’s private guard, and he’s as infuriating as he is seductive. A centuries-old vampire, his fangs dispense a poison deadlier than Holly’s. But even if Venom can protect Holly from those hunting her, he might not be able to save himself—because the strange, violent power inside Holly is awakening…

No one is safe.

REVIEW

“They let you drive now?" he said in a wondering tone of voice calibrated to get under her skin. "I leave for a couple of years and miss kitty's first steps. Did anyone take photos for the baby album I sent you?"

"It's full of pretty pictures." Holly bared her teeth at him in a caricature of a smile. "Honor is a little concerned about how I keep drawing you with your head cut off," she said in a deliberately thoughtful tone, "but an artist must follow her instincts.”

If you ever read one of my reviews of this series you are more than aware that this is one of my favorite uf/pnr series out there and that since book #5 I've become an obssessed fan-girl a hardcore fan of the potential next couple Aodhan & Illium. I might even say that I started that theory or was one of the first fans that saw the potential, so of course that after every next book I'm religiously praying that Nalini Singh will finally succumb to my dirty mind and that the next installment will be theirs, but the 10th book is actually Venom's book, so tough luck poor Purple, maybe next time. :'( xD

But, despite slight disappointment I was still fairly excited for this book, because Venom, a centuries-old vampire with his seductive viper's eyes has definitely been one of the most intriguing GH characters. I got even more excited after I read that he'll find his partner in Holly, Uram's mysterious creation. Unforutunately, when the book was finally published I was still in the phase "I've lost my reading mojo", so it took me some time to give it a chance, but when I did - I could not stop.

Without spoiling anything, my impression of this is installment is that the story was good, uber action-packed and suspenseful, but I'll have to agree with other fans who also described it as a bit lacking, especially in the romance department. The parts I've enjoyed the most were their witty and snarky dialogues that never failed to entertain me. That's why 3.5/ 5 stars. In the meantime, my never-ending prayer for Aodhan's & Illium's book as in mm couple book continues...

RATING: 3.5 / 5 stars

xoxo,

Purple

ARC REVIEW: The Red by Tiffany Reisz

 

Genre: Erotic fantasy

Publication date: July 11th 2017

Goodreads / Amazon

Connect with the author:

 Website 

Book Summary:

Never make a promise you don’t intend to keep…

Mona Lisa St. James made a deathbed promise that she would do anything to save her mother's art gallery. Unfortunately, not only is The Red painted red, but it's in the red. She soon realizes she has no choice but to sell it.

Just as she realizes she has no choice but to sell it, a mysterious man comes in after closing time and makes her an offer: He will save The Red if she agrees to submit to him for the period of one year.

The man is handsome, English, and terribly tempting...but surely her mother didn't mean for Mona to sell herself to a stranger. Then again, she did promise to do anything to save The Red...

The Red is a standalone novel of erotic fantasy from Tiffany Reisz, international bestselling author of The Bourbon Thief and the Original Sinners series. 

Beatrix's review:

Tiffany Reisz is among my top 5 favorite authors, and there’s a reason for that.

Just when I think she couldn’t possibly surprise me – she does. Gosh, the way this woman writes… it’s so smooth, seemingly effortless, but also so intricate, little disturbing, and very kinky.

I wanted to read this book ever since I read The Queen, where Søren says to Nora, “So this is the scene I inspired.” (or something like that) Hah! Now I know which scene he had in mind! Anyhow, The Red is the story Nora Sutherlin wrote, who is the main character of the Original Sinners series. But it’s completely unrelated to that. Actually even if you’ve never read anything by Reisz, this could be a good place to start, to give you a taste of how she writes erotica.

Because, mind you, there is a difference between smut and erotica. Erotica is art. And I think even if Reisz tried to write regular old smut, she couldn’t. Sure this is dirty, at times perverted, and twisted, but it’s So. Well. Written!

Art & sex are two words that best describe this novel. Each chapter bears the title of a certain famous painting and brings you a sizzling hot erotic fantasy. My favorite chapter is chapter 8, because we see Mona accepting who she became, refusing to be shamed for loving sex. Women are so often shamed, labeled, seen as ‘whores’. Here, Mona takes that label and wears it proudly.

Art should be dangerous, you know. It should say something to society that society doesn’t want to hear. Do you know what opposite of art is? Propaganda. There’s too much of that in the world. Not enough art.

Danija's review:

In my favorite fictional world of the Original Sinners, Nora Sutherlin is well-known as a Dominatrix and an author. Her books were described as "delicious works of erotica, each one more popular with readers than the last", and I've wanted to read all of them. I didn't think I'd ever be able to do that, but lately it seems like Ms. Reisz hears my book wishes, and makes them come true. She gifted us with a free Kingsley novella, then wrote a short novel about him (still impatiently waiting for the news on when it will be published), and The Red, one of Nora's works mentioned in the OS series.

The Red certainly is a delicious work of erotica, and it tells the story of Mona Lisa St. James, a hopelessly indebted owner of an art gallery and Malcolm, a dangerous, devastatingly handsome, mysterious man who promised to get her out of her troubles, and the handful of nights they spent together over the span of one year. As per their agreement during those nights Mona submitted to Malcolm in any way he wished. He played games with her, and was very good at the games he played. He was so good at it, Mona often wondered if what happened was a dream or a hallucination, but neither explanation fit the bill. One thing was for sure, those nights were a heady combination of art and erotica, each scene more interesting than the last. They were quite imaginative. Oh, and Malcolm reminded me of Kingsley, so that was another plus.

As time went by, feelings grew, and for Mona a year became too little time to have with Malcolm. Saying goodbye to him after their year was up seemed like a horrible prospect, but time stops for no woman in love. Then, in the last chapter, all was revealed about the mysterious Malcolm. It was a big twist, one that could have left me feeling sad had it not been for a certain someone. I finished reading the book with a smile on my face thinking: "Nicely done, Ms. Reisz. Nicely done."

I was stoked to get this ARC. It's a book by one of my favorite authors loosely tied to my favorite series, and I was kinda in the mood to read something the author described as -- and I'm paraphrasing here -- porn, porn, and more porn. She was totally underselling it, in my opinion. It was a fine erotic fantasy, which made me think, and gave me feels. What more could I ask for? Oh, I know! That Ms. Reisz writes another Nora's book. Yes, please!

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

xoxo,

Danija & Beatrix

#REVIEW: Behind the Hands That Kill (In the Company of Killers #6) by J.A. Redmerski

Genre: 
Romantic Suspense/ Thriller

Buy The Book: AMAZON / B & N  / BD

Connect With The Author:
Goodreads / Blog / Twitter / Facebook

Reading Order:

#1 - KILLING SARAI
#2 - REVIVING IZABEL
#3 - THE SWAN & THE JACKAL
#4 - SEEDS OF INIQUITY
#5 - THE BLACK WOLF
#6 - BEHIND THE HANDS THAT KILL
#7 - SPIDERS IN THE GROVE

Synopsis:

Even professional killers need vacations, but for Victor Faust, his vacation in Venezuela is about more than relaxation and time alone with Izabel Seyfried. It is a chance for him to come clean to Izabel: to tell her the truth about why he sent her to Italy with his brother, the truth behind his interest in Nora Kessler, and about his knowledge of Izabel’s child with her former captor. But before Victor can spill his soul, reality proves that for some killers, vacations are just pipe-dreams.

Attacked and kidnapped, Izabel finds herself stuffed in a suitcase, while Victor later wakes up imprisoned in a cage. In any other situation, Victor would find a way out and save himself and the woman he loves—but not this time. When the identities of their kidnappers are revealed, Victor loses all hope, and begins the mental process of accepting his and Izabel’s last moments together. And Izabel’s final moments of life.

As if his circumstances are not complicated enough, members of Vonnegut’s Order are finally closing in on Victor. And when they do, he comes face-to-face with someone else he once knew and loved, who could either help him, or make a grave situation much worse. Victor’s past has finally caught up with him: the women he has cared for, loved, and killed; the families he has destroyed; the unforgivable crimes he has committed. And now he must face the consequences, and pay the ultimate price for absolution.

But when it is all over, Victor may not have the strength to pick up what is left and move on. Because the event changes him. Because love changed him. And because, unlike before when he thought it is was for the best, he cannot imagine a life without Izabel in it.

REVIEW 

"I am a monster in the shadows; the blood of many stains my gnarled hands;
the souls of the innocent are forever caught in my blade-like teeth. So how can this be, that even an ounce of light be given to a monster such as me?"

My biggest fear after I've finished the magnificent previous installment of ItCoK series - The Black Wolf was that the author will turn this one into some kind of melodramatic & soapish love triangle and anyone who's met me knows how much I love love triangles. Or better say despise them. I just can't stand the never ending drama and cheesiness they bring into the stories and I've even given up on some of my beloved series because of this. But this is Redmerski we're talking about, whose last two installments have literally blown my mind, I still can't decide which book do I adore more The Black Wolf #5 or Seeds Of Iniquity #4, so, as they say- the resistance was futile. I just had to know!

And now I finally know... There is no *beep* love triangle, people!!! (Btw. kudos to you, Redmerski  for that.) And yes, I liked this installment for the most part, but there is... ...unfortunatelly a lot of melodrama of different kind which brings me to the biggest problem of this book when it comes to my reading expirience: Just how much mind-fuck is too much mind-fuck??? I know, you never expected me to say this since I always said that dark, edgy, thrilling and provocative mind-fucks are my favorite type of reads and they still are, but here it is. I've said it and I even mean it, lol.

Just how much more can you complicate the story and keep hitting us with this new, shocking twists and at the same time maintain the excitement and the most important the credibility of the story? Well, in my opinion, Redmerski had its up and down moments in this installment, maybe even more of the later ones. But that's just me. As far as I've seen most of the fans think otherwise and I repect that. 

What I loved the most when it comes to this installment is the introduction of the new characters and their background stories. Victor and Izabel annoyed me tremendously. I think it's time for them to step back and give spotlight to other more interesting, bad-ass characters. Or if not- cut out with the melodramatic crap and bring back the old confident and deadly Viktor & Izabel we love and know. That's why my rating for this book is: 3/5 stars.

xoxo,

Purple

REVIEW: One Step Too Close: Coffin Nails MC Louisiana (Sex & Mayhem #6) by K.A. Merikan

Genre: MM Romance/ Contemporary / Crime
Buy The Book:  AMAZON
Connect With The Author:

Goodreads / Twitter / Website

Synopsis On GR:

--- One love. One motorcycle club. Two stepbrothers. ---

Ryder. Controlling. Ambitious. Protective.
Jed. Self-destructive. Trapped. Lonely.
Their love? Forbidden. Taboo. All-consuming.

For Jed, the Coffin Nails Motorcycle Club is family. With them, he learned how to think, what to enjoy, and how to fight, but there is one thing he knows his friends can’t find out about. They would never accept him as gay, and so his life is a constant struggle with desires that fill him with despair. Only there is a much darker secret lurking in Jed’s heart. His feelings for his stepbrother, Ryder, go far beyond brotherly. Trapped with a yearning that can never be fulfilled, Jed spirals out of control and unwillingly puts the love of his life in danger.

Ryder is climbing up the ranks. Recently promoted to sergeant-at-arms, he has it all: drive, respect, and the love of his biker family. When his stepbrother gets into trouble with the law, Ryder decides to take the blame and save him from a long sentence. Deep inside, he knows there is nothing he wouldn’t do for Jed, but through a desperate attempt to suppress his own hidden desires, he might irreversibly break the man he secretly loves.

But finding out what they feel for each other will test their loyalty to the Coffin Nails MC and change their lives forever.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS:
Themes: Outlaw motorcycle club, criminal activity, forbidden love, stepbrothers, blackmail, homophobia
Genre: M/M dark romance, suspense, drama
Length: 135,000 words STANDALONE novel
WARNING: Adult content that might be considered taboo. Explicit sexual content, strong language, violence. Reader discretion advised.

REVIEW

Ueber-hot bikers with bodies covered in muscles and tattoos and piercings on the most interesting (read: sexy) parts involved in the criminal and dark side of the gangsta world, in the middle of which is one turbulent, all-consuming and forbidden love- love between two stepbrothers.

Oh boy...I know that stepbrother-stepsister romances are currently one of the hit romances in the readers' world, but somehow they never appealed that much to me, but after reading One Step Too Close by K. A. Merikan I guess stepbrother-stepbrother romance most certainly does. Yup, I'm a perv that way and I have no shame. :P Btw. I don't get why people consider this type of romances taboo. It's not as if the persons involved are blood related. Okay, it does sounds creepy if they are raised together since they were babies which wasn't the case when it comes to this book, so while I run the other way from incestual romances, I had no problems with this one. In fact, I really , really liked it.

Action-packed, gripping, suspenseful, deeply emotional and smoking hot with a little dose of forbidden. The best part of this book for me was definitely the romance and the two bikers it revolved around- the strong, responsible and controlling Ryder and the fun, broken and self-destructive troublemaker Jed, while I wasn't that much interested in the occasional biker crime world drama. Probably, because I haven't read the previous books of the series yet, but I definitely plan to.

Therefore- 3.5 stars! I definitely need more stepbrother-stepbrother romances in my life, so feel free to recommend. Recommended to fans of dark romances!

 

RATING: 3.5 stars/5 stars 

xoxo,

Purple

REVIEW: Feverborn (Fever, #8) By K. M. Moning

Genre: Urban Fantasy/ Paranormal Romance
Buy The Book: B & N  KOBO  AMAZON 
 

Connect With The Author:

Goodreads / Blog / Twitter

Synopsis On GR:

In Karen Marie Moning’s latest installment of the epic #1 New York Times bestselling Fever series, the stakes have never been higher and the chemistry has never been hotter. Hurtling us into a realm of labyrinthine intrigue and consummate seduction, FEVERBORN is a riveting tale of ancient evil, lust, betrayal, forgiveness and the redemptive power of love.

When the immortal race of the Fae destroyed the ancient wall dividing the worlds of Man and Faery, the very fabric of the universe was damaged and now Earth is vanishing bit by bit. Only the long-lost Song of Making—a haunting, dangerous melody that is the source of all life itself—can save the planet.

But those who seek the mythic Song—Mac, Barrons, Ryodan and Jada—must contend with old wounds and new enemies, passions that burn hot and hunger for vengeance that runs deep. The challenges are many: The Keltar at war with nine immortals who’ve secretly ruled Dublin for eons, Mac and Jada hunted by the masses, the Seelie queen nowhere to be found, and the most powerful Unseelie prince in all creation determined to rule both Fae and Man. Now the task of solving the ancient riddle of the Song of Making falls to a band of deadly warriors divided among—and within—themselves.

REVIEW

“I want to be Jericho Barrons when I grow up.” 

 

I had this book, which is one of my most expected reads of 2016, for more than a month before real life finally gave me some break to be able to read it properly. During that time I've noticed on GR that once again Fever's newest intallment provoked some mixed reactions, this time maybe more than ever, but I stayed away from potential spoilerish reviews until I finished the book.

To be honest, after the previous book- Burned, #7, I was pretty confused by some of the negative reviews, because I thought the book was pretty awesome, but this time, despite my rating, I can understand to some extent the readers who were disappointed by it. The biggest flaws of this book and things which prevented me from rating it 5 stars are the occasional info dump the author put us through and Mac's inner monologues which tended to become quite annoying from time to time. Other than that I have no bigger complaints. Ok, Mac' s libido was a little out of control too, but hey- as long as it includes Jerricho Barrons I'm more than okay with it. ;)

My favorite parts of the book: 

- I want to be Jerricho Barrons when I grow up

- Jada/Dani vs. Ryodan

 - Alina situation

 - And the ending? It was epic, but damn Moning and her damn cliffhangers!

This is the 8th installment in the series and Moning pretty much spoiled us with the flawlessness of her fantasy world and writing. I agree that this installment wasn't on the same level as her other books, probably the weakest in the series, but still it remains one of my favorite urban series out there and it will be pretty hard to dethrone it. 4 shaky stars! Btw. considering how the things ended the next one has the potential to be epic.

RATING: 4 /5 stars

* Check out my other reviews of the Fever series:

Iced (Fever, #6)  / Burned (Fever, #7) 

xoxo,

Purple

REVIEW: Kings Rising (Captive Prince #3) by C.S. Pacat

Genre: Historical/ Fantasy / MM Romance
Buy The Book: AMAZON /  B & N / KOBO

Connect With The Author: Twitter/ Blog/ Goodreads

Synopsis:

Damianos of Akielos has returned.

His identity now revealed, Damen must face his master Prince Laurent as Damianos of Akielos, the man Laurent has sworn to kill.

On the brink of a momentous battle, the future of both their countries hangs in the balance. In the south, Kastor's forces are massing. In the north, the Regent's armies are mobilising for war. Damen's only hope of reclaiming his throne is to fight together with Laurent against their usurpers.

Forced into an uneasy alliance the two princes journey deep into Akielos, where they face their most dangerous opposition yet. But even if the fragile trust they have built survives the revelation of Damen's identity - can it stand against the Regent's final, deadly play for the throne? 

REVIEW

"To gain everything and to lose everything in the space of a moment. That is the fate of all princes destined for the throne."

One of the hardest things in the reader's world for me is to say goodbye to one of your favorite series. After *that* cliffhanger I've been impatiently waiting and obsessively stalking the authors updates for around 2 years and now I've read the last page and I...just...can't believe it's the end. I don't want it to end. Let it not end. *puppy-dog eyes* But, as always- all good things have to end at some point and we need to make peace with that fact (but of course my inner mm fangirl we'll never stop keeping my fingers crossed & cheering for the author to continue the series- pretty please.) 

The last installment of Captive Prince trilogy was an action-packed, gripping and suspenseful  page-turner. And the push-and-pull, heartfelt and steamy romance? It kept me awake all night long. I can't say the story wasn't flawless, but to be honest the author had to do smth really shocking to disappoint me. I was that eager and grateful to finally have and read the book.

The things that would have made this book a perfect read for me:
- more Damen and Laurent moments 
- more pages in general
- better done ending with a worthy epilogue

But these flaws aside, this series remains one of my top mm series with one of my favorite mm couples ever. The type of series I'll cherish and  reread many times in the future and that is why I highly recommend it to every mm fan of fantasy books with epic hate-to-love story between two powerful, smoking hot, endearing and unforgettable archenemies!

RATING: 4/5 stars

xoxo,

Purple

Buddy-Read Review: Cam Girl By Leah Raeder

Genre:
New Adult/ Contemporary Romance/ Suspense

Buy The Book:
AMAZON / S & S / B & N / BAM! / IB

Connect With The Author:
 Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads / Blog

 Synopsis On GR:

“Darkly erotic…a must read” (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

From the USA TODAY bestselling author of Unteachable and Black Iris comes a new, sexy romantic suspense novel about two best friends who are torn apart by a life-shattering accident…and the secrets left behind.
 
Vada Bergen is broke, the black sheep of her family, and moving a thousand miles away from home for grad school, but she’s got the two things she loves most: her art and her best friend—and sometimes more—Ellis Carraway. Ellis and Vada have a friendship so consuming it’s hard to tell where one girl ends and the other begins. It’s intense. It’s a little codependent. And nothing can tear them apart.

Until an accident on an icy winter road changes everything.

Vada is left deeply scarred, both emotionally and physically. Her once-promising art career is cut short. And Ellis pulls away, unwilling to talk about that night. Everything Vada loved is gone.

She’s got nothing left to lose.

So when she meets some smooth-talking entrepreneurs who offer to set her up as a cam girl, she can’t say no. All Vada has to do is spend a couple hours each night stripping on webcam, and the “tips” come pouring in.

It’s just a kinky escape from reality until a client gets serious. “Blue” is mysterious, alluring, and more interested in Vada’s life than her body. Online, they chat intimately. Blue helps her heal. And he pays well, but he wants her all to himself. No more cam shows. It’s an easy decision: she’s starting to fall for him. But the steamier it gets, the more she craves the real man behind the keyboard. So Vada pops the question:

Can we meet IRL?

Blue agrees, on one condition. A condition that will bring back a ghost from her past.

Now Vada must confront what she’s been running from. A past full of devastating secrets—those of others and those she’s been keeping from herself…

 PURPLE'S REVIEW

RATING: 5/5 STARS

"All art comes from pain."

Dark, raw, thought-provoking, erotic, poignant, inspiring... but above all beautifully written. It's such a complex, powerful and skilfully written story that makes me feeling inadequate to even write a review about it, that's why I'll keep it short. I thought it will be pretty impossible to dethrone Black Iris, but L. Raeder has yet again stolen a piece of my heart with Cam Girl and set the level much higher for my every next read. As always the synopsis does not do justice to her books and it's better to dive into it without any prior knowledge.

"My love is savage and rapacious. It isn't content to touch. It wants to be inside, crawl into the marrow, caress each vein until the cells are all mixed up and there is no you and me anymore, no secrets or shadows sliding between our skin. Only this endless devouring of each other."  

I won't say anything about the plot, because if you're familiar with this author's work you are aware that she is the master of mindfucks and this book is another one of those, meaning the less you know the better the reading expirience, so stay away from potential spoilerish reviews. All I can say that it's the type of a book which will make you question and give another, inside perspective about themes such as self-discovery, sexuality and genders in general. Knowing some background about the author I feel as if she has given us a sneak-a-peak of her soul. The book deserves 5 stars soley taking into consideration the superb writing style. It finds itself already on my top-reads-of-2016 shelf. That says it all. Highly recommended to every fan of dark, suspensful, steamy and thought-provoking mindfucks which will keep you second-guessing till the very end.

Her next book is due on May 31st 2016 and the only info we know it will be about one of the characters from Black Iris and Cam Girl. From the title itself I have my suspicion who will it be and can not freaking wait!

  

"If two people could make each other smile and laugh and forget all the pain and darkness in the world for a moment, why should we feel ashamed of it?"

BEATRIX' REVIEW

RATING: 4/ 5 STARS

What a strange world where we pay people to listen to our problems, and pay them to fuck themselves while we watch, and pay them to save us.

Once upon a time (okay, when I read Unteachable) I fell in love with Leah Raeder’s words. And ever since, I await her next novel with delightful anticipation. It’s like (s)he has this deep, profound relationship with words, and we, as readers, should feel lucky we get to read what comes out of her/his pen. (S)he is an artist, just like Vada, MC of this novel.

Cam Girl is another beautifully written novel, and one which raises a lot of important issues, main one being our preconceived notions about gender and sexuality. Masterfully portrayed, Cam Girl is a novel I will for sure recommend to many people!

You pretend everything’s fine. Even when you feel heavier every day, when the air smothers like a pall. When you feel something pulling you under but can’t escape, because it’s pulling from the inside.

Now, one may wonder, if I loved it so much why not give 5 stars? Well, the reason for that is that I loved Unteachable and Black Iris just a bit more. Plus, there were some parts that I found to be too slow. During the middle part there was also too much focus on Vada and Ellis’ relationship drama, which was also repetitive, same fight over and over.

On the other note, can I just say how happy I was that my favorite psycho made an appearance! (Zoeller, whom you may know from BI)

“I’ve always cared deeply about the Earth. I want it to be pretty for the day I assume control.”

Overall, despite some of my hang-ups, I think Cam Girl is a great novel, one that deserves praise and recognition. Firstly, the writing style will always be my favorite thing about Raeder’s novels, and secondly, the topics (s)he chooses.

Therefore, all I can say is – cannot wait for Bad Boy now!

* If you're interested in this author's work, check out:

~ my and Beatrix' buddy-read review of Black Iris 

~ Beatrix' review of Unteachable and Interview with Leah Raeder