REVIEW: Woo Me by Karina Bliss

The Outback Bachelor Ball novella series

35,000 word novella (approx 100 pages)

Release date: Oct.20th 2015

Connect with Karina Bliss:

Official website * Twitter * Facebook * Goodreads

Summary

Can true love overcome a bad hide day and a series of unfortunate events?

Disillusioned in love, Jen Tremaine is done with men. So when her best friends dare her to wear a cow costume to their reunion at an Outback Bachelor & Spinster Ball, she's all over it. Who would have thought dressing as a heifer would make her irresistible to a bunch of lasso-twirling, drunken cowboys?

Maybe you should have thought this through, says the sexy security guard who keeps finding her at the center of trouble. Even though Jen's always dismissed soul mates as a load of bull, the sizzle between them is making her wonder: What if you met The One while wandering lonely as a cow? Would you find the courage to become a believer?

When ex-Special Forces soldier Logan Turner is roped into helping out with security at the B&S ball, he isn't expecting to find love - but after months in all-male company he sure is hoping for lust. Hecertainly isn't expecting to fall for a feisty, funny, trouble-making Cowderella. Only problem is, she's leaving Australia tomorrow.

Convincing Jen they can still have a future together may wind up being the toughest mission of his life.

***MY REVIEW***

Logan and Jen sure did woo me! The novella begins with a Bachelor and Spinster Ball, Jen and her friends Beth and Ellie are all dealing with some love issues so they all decide to go to this country ball. Each novella deals with a separate heroine and her respective adventures; Woo Me focuses on Jen.

Now, due to a dare she can’t refuse, Jen goes to this ball dressed in a costume – as a cow. Logan is an ex-soldier who helps out his little sister by working security at the ball. Now, you may think this couldn’t possibly work, but it does! Jen is an urban girl, independent, strong – I liked her a lot. Logan, despite his tough exterior hides a caring and protective personality. They’re so well matched, IMO and their chemistry was incredible. There was no instalove, which is always appreciated; the characters do get to know each other a bit before getting together.

Moreover, I loved the tension, and I’m pleased to say I liked both characters separately before I liked them as a couple. That’s always good, in my book. Furthermore, the sexy times – once the moment arrived, it was sizzling HOT! Jen and Logan have some mean chemistry together. It didn’t feel like a one night stand at all (not that there’s anything wrong with those, mind you!), it’s just that I really felt the connection between Jen & Logan; like I knew them for a long time. And I sure wouldn’t have minded knowing them a little longer either. This novella is only some 100 pages long, but it made me swoon, laugh and ache. There were a lot of secondary characters, for example Wayne, who provided comic relief – I really would’ve loved more scenes with him, LOL. Then Lily, Logan’s little sister… Had this been longer I’m sure all those characters would’ve been further explored!

Overall, it left me wanting more. And I believe this just speaks about Karina Bliss’ amazing writing abilities. It takes talent to create good romance in just 100 pages. Novellas are always more difficult to write than full-length novels, at least that’s what I think.

This is my second time reading Karina Bliss, and her stories are always real, but never dull, sexy and emotional at the same time. I can say she quickly became one of my favorite romance authors.

*A copy of this book was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.*

*Read my review of Karina Bliss' novel RISE --> here.* 

xoxo,

Beatrix

ARC Review: DARK ECONOMY by M. Keedwell

Summary:

Love can’t stay buried.

Medical student Cadell Meredith has been known to acquire “volunteers” from the occasional pauper’s grave in order to improve his surgical skills. While the legality of this practice is a bit murky, he wouldn’t go so far as to call it out and out robbery.

His latest acquisition, however, is different. The body on his table was obviously healthy, wealthy—and murdered. Cadell feels compelled to seek justice for the dead man, but while dissection comes naturally to him, crime investigation is unfamiliar territory.

Furthermore, he’s caught the attention of one of those new police officers, Blaine Breton. A handsome, sentimental fool who insists Cadell is a criminal. A criminal! Cadell is the first to admit he’s no saint, but he’s no killer.

A marvelous game of cat and mouse ensues as Cadell seeks to expose the truth while hiding his own secrets. A task that grows ever more difficult as his desire for Breton grows…and the danger deepens.

Buy Links:

Samhain Publishing | Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Kobo | ARe 

Connect with the Author:

Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Review:

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars.


One of my favorite parts of Samhain Publishing books is that warning that comes at the end of book blurbs. They are always fun to read, and for me not even a warning, but actually a list of things to look forward to in a book. With Dark Economy it was: This story contains mystery, mayhem, and a male romance that starts off in the most delicious way possible—mutual hostility. Awesome warning, right? No surprise, right after I finished the book, the first sentence I wrote was:
A whole lot of mystery, quite a few suspects, and a bit of romance in Dark Economy...
 

Mystery is rightfully mentioned first as it was what the book was mostly about.


It starts off with the hero Cadell Meredith breaking the law. As a medical student keen on learning as much as he can, he finds his classes rather unsatisfactory in providing him with the knowledge he so desires. Therefore, he's forced to be creative in the ways of learning human anatomy, meaning occasionally acquiring bodies from pauper's graves, which was exactly what he was doing at the beginning of the story, and thus breaking the law. Right then and there we also meet the policeman who will throughout the book be his main adversary as he is an officer with a firm belief practicing on cadavers is an awful practice, which sparked many an argument between them. He will also be the man to wake a part of Cadell he spent years ignoring. But back to the mystery at hand. The body Cadell brought home to dissect did more than offer insight in the intricacies of anatomy, but also in the life and death of the person it used to be. For one, it was apparent the body didn't belong to a pauper, but to a rich young man. Second, the young fellow had clearly been  murdered. That knowledge woke in Cadell the need to investigate. Why he chose to go on the mission of finding out who the man was and what happened to him, he'll ask himself several times without having a definitive answer. He felt he owed it to him, he supposed, for helping him in his medical studies, but over time it became more:

“Kind of funny that you dragged me back to life by dying.”

 
His investigation required he get help from an old friend who had been at one time more than that, he made new friends, and his path kept crossing with the bloody policeman who occupied this mind until even they made peace with each other, and for all that Cadell was grateful. Which brings me to this: Dark Economy is a story I liked, but (there's always a but) it would've been a story I loved -- the book would've been an easy five-star read -- had a few parts been handled differently. The parts I'm referring to are the ones relating to Cadell's personal life. His love for medicine and his dedication to it was well described. His dedication to his chosen studies and eagerness to put his knowledge into practice was so palpable it made me happy for him for having found a profession he feels that way about. What I would've liked to read more about was his personal relationships, past and present, as that is something that interests me about characters. It was obvious he had issues with his family, and that something happened to drive them apart. Same thing with his friend. His past love life, I thought, deserved more page space. Not to mention his present love life. He and his main love interest had little time together for the majority of the book. They didn't even become lovers until the very end. I knew going in the main focus would be solving the mystery of Treswick's murder, but I had hopes the romance would have a slightly bigger part in the plot. Why this was as it was, I do not know, but since this book seems as one of those stories that could get a sequel or more of them, if it happens, I do hope the attention shifts more to Cadell's private life. All this, of course, is because of my preferences. I do watch crime/investigation TV-shows, and even then, the episodes I enjoy most are the ones that are about cases that are personal to the main characters.



Uncovering Treswick's life and death piece by piece was interesting. In fact, it was so interesting and complicated, I wished he were alive so we could get a book about him -- I think it would've been a good one. Alas, he's swimming with the fishes. However, as much as it was interesting, keeping track of everything and everyone proved to a hard task for me, and more than once I would find myself confused by all the information as there were quite a few suspects (this is something that happens to me while watching criminal investigations in TV-shows as well). Nevertheless, as a whole Dark Economy, Cadell Meredith and Blaine Breton have left a good impression. I look forward to seeing what the author will come up with next! 


In the end, I believe Dark Economy would appeal most to mystery lovers who don't mind a tiny bit of M/M romance thrown in the mix. I'll continue hoping M. Keedwell's next book will contain more than a tiny bit of romance. *fingers crossed*


***ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***

Until next time, happy reading!

XOXO,

 

ARC Review: IRRESISTIBLY YOURS (Oxford, #1) by Lauren Layne

Summary:

Meet the men of Oxford magazine! In the first captivating spin-off of Lauren Layne’s Sex, Love & Stiletto series, a not-so-friendly battle of the sexes turns into a scorching office romance.

Hotshot sports editor Cole Sharpe has been freelancing for Oxford for years, so when he hears about a staff position opening up, he figures he’s got the inside track. Then his boss drops a bombshell: Cole has competition. Female competition, in the form of a fresh-faced tomboy who can hang with the dudes—and write circles around them, too. Cole usually likes his women flirty and curvy, but he takes a special interest in his skinny, sassy rival, if only to keep an eye on her. And soon, he can’t take his eyes off her.

Penelope Pope knows all too well that she comes off as just one of the guys. Since she’s learned that wanting more usually leads to disappointment, Penelope’s resigned to sitting on the sidelines when it comes to love. So why does Cole make her want to get back in the game? The man is as arrogant as he is handsome. He probably sees her as nothing more than a barrier to his dream job. But when an unexpected kiss turns into a night of irresistible passion, Penelope has to figure out whether they’re just fooling around—or starting something real.

 

Buy links:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo |All Romance eBooks | iBooks 

Connect with the author:

 Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads 

Review:

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars, meaning it's right between liking it and really liking it. :)


Irresistibly Yours is the first book in a new series by Lauren Layne. Oxford is a spin-off of Sex, Love & Stiletto series, so if, unlike me, you've read about the Stiletto group, you've already met the hero of this book Cole Sharpe, and you've probably been wishing for him to get his own story. Judging from what I see on the cover and what I've read, I can see why. What can I say, I kind of liked him from page one when he was staring at a woman focused on a game, instead of focusing on that game himself. The woman -- she was Penelope Pope, the heroine of this book, and the woman Cole was worried would steal his job, when he should've been worried about her stealing his heart.

 
Nothing like a bit of rivalry to spice up the beginning of a romance. Both Cole and Penelope had good reasons for wanting that sports editor position as much as they did, so I never really picked a side. That's why I was pleased with the outcome, more so because it meant more bickering. Pen and Cole were so cute when they argued. But that friends/co-workers (who liked to give each other a hard time) relationship proved insufficient for both of them. Penelope wanted Cole, because apparently he was a hard man not to want, and Cole came to a realization that a short (tiny even), skinny, sassy woman who knows about sports maybe more than he, and who's genuine through and through, was really his type. And Penelope, used to always being in the friend zone, and being only disappointed in love, didn't consider herself in Cole's league, but she would take what she could get.

 
And, so, Pen & Cole started seeing each other not only during office hours, but out of the office too for sexy times. Yes, there were sexy times in the book, which is something I usually look forward to, but as I said these two were so cute when they argued, I was sad when they didn't. I may have once or twice wanted to stop them getting all smoochy and say: Noooo! Fight, fight, fight! But that's just me...

 
It's clear I liked the main characters arguing about the magazine cover and whatnot, but I also found them likable as individuals. Penelope was so sweet and great it broke my heart to see over and over again just how low her self-esteem is. But after everything she's been through, I couldn't find it in me to judge her, only to be happy for her whenever she would overcome some of her insecurities.

 
Cole was one of those heroes with enough charm to spare, and a part of his life he prefers to keep private, which makes you like him more. He was also one of those heroes who just before the ending, have a freak-out, so they break up, then break down when they realize what they've done. It's inevitable. Of course, they always come around, but when you have meddling friends as supporting characters, all that goes much faster, thankfully.

 
As I've mentioned at the beginning Oxford is a spin-off series of Sex, Love & Stiletto. I have not read that series, so I can safely say this book works perfectly fine as a standalone. But it also works as an incentive to read that series that started it all. Those meddling supporting characters were the stars of Sex, Love & Stiletto and I am curious about how their stories went.

 
As for the stories to come, I must be one of many who wished Lincoln's book would be next. Funny, charming, a bit secretive man who's in good terms with all the women he's been with -- how could I not. Alas, his is the third book. Book two, I Wish You Were Mine is actually about a player, who will be familiar to anyone who reads the epilogue of Irresistibly Yours.


In the end, all I can say is that this book was a light, sweet romance which made it easy and fun to read. It's perfect for when you need that type of quick, headache-free read.

 

***ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***

Until next time, happy reading!

XOXO,

 

SPOTLIGHT TOUR: Dirty Little Secrets by Erin Ashley Tanner

Dirty Little Secrets by Erin Ashley Tanner

Genre: Romantic Suspense, Mafia

BLURB:

Danger ignites a passion neither of them can refuse. 

Ava Hill learned early in life that to survive, she has to be twice as smart, twice as ruthless as those who seek to undermine her. And as the widow of a mob boss with a daughter to raise, nothing is more important than protecting what’s hers. Her determination to shield her child from the ugliness of her past takes a hit when a man claiming to be her late husband’s son barges through her front door. 

Dominic Sambarino demands half of her daughter’s inheritance. Ava wastes no time showing him she’ll come out swinging with everything she has. But no amount of fight in the world can prepare her for the instant, smoldering chemistry between the two of them. A friend’s invitation for a weekend getaway is a welcome chance to regroup, or so Ava thinks. But she soon finds herself caught in a circle of her dead husband’s secrets and lies that threaten to cost her everything. And her only safe haven is the one place she vowed she’d never go—Dominic’s arms. 

Warning: Strong language, graphic sex scenes between a woman whose well-ordered life is turned upside down by the only man with arms strong enough to catch her when she falls. 

BUY LINKS:

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EXCERPT

 

Dominic caressed her cheek. His voice grew soft. “I can be your happy ever after.”
And then his lips were on hers. Taking. Consuming. Forcing her to admit the truth that her body had already decided. She wanted him. He gripped her face tight as he kissed her with ardent passion. Ava moaned against his mouth as his other hand slid between her legs. Rubbing. Caressing. She pressed herself into his hand. His tongue slipped into her mouth, mimicking what he was doing with his finger. Her breasts were crushed against his chest. Her hands gripped his shoulders pulling him closer to her. She whimpered when he stopped kissing her.
His eyes burned into hers and she was surprised when he picked her up and placed her on the counter. He wedged himself between her thighs. Her bottom lip trembled as he played with her breasts.
“I’m not going to force this, Ava. If you say stop, this goes no further, but I think you want it too.”
He leaned down and kissed her neck softly. Repeatedly. Her body was screaming, begging her to give in to his seduction. It wasn’t like she hadn’t already enjoyed the fruits he had to offer. Why not, Ava? She tried to ignore the voice in her head, but she couldn’t. Not with the way her body was humming.
“Tell me, Ava. Do you want this just as much as I do?” he whispered against her neck.
Her body tingled and she bit her tongue trying to hold back her response. Trying to deny her body what it wanted most. But every kiss across her neck weakened her resolve. “Yes.”
“Yes what?”
“I want you.”
Dominic kissed his way back along her jawline. “What do you want? Tell me how you want it.”
“I want you kissing me. Touching me. Rubbing me. Pleasing me.”
“Pleasing you how, Ava? Tell me. I want to hear you say it,” he whispered.
“I want…I want…”
“I’m waiting.”
“I want you to go down on me and don’t stop until I tell you to.”
Her hands flew to cover her mouth. She was sure her cheeks were red with embarrassment. Dominic’s laughter rumbled in her ear. She made a move to push him away, but he stopped her.
“Your wish is my command.”
She didn’t breathe as he pressed her back against the mirror behind the counter and dropped to his knees. He grabbed her thighs and opened them wider. The first lick of his tongue made her nerves dance. Bracing herself on the counter, she closed her eyes and gave herself over to the pleasure he made her feel. He lapped at her, licking and sucking like she was a juicy sweet mango. His grip on her thighs was tight. And already hovering closer was the promise of an orgasm.
“More. More.”
He complied by sucking her harder. Her pleasure increased and before she knew it she was grabbing his hair holding on to him.
Her entire world burst to life between her legs and the force of the orgasm left her trembling.
“Everybody freeze. Right now.”
Ava opened her eyes. Two uniformed men were standing in the entrance of the bathroom with guns pointed at her and Dominic.

   

 AUTHOR BIO 

A proud Alumna of the University of Central Florida and Florida State University, Erin Ashley Tanner specializes in steamy tales with romantic suspense elements. Prior to journeying into the world of contemporary romance, Erin wrote paranormal romance for Evernight Publishing. Her debut novel, Goddess of Legend released in October 2013, was an Amazon bestseller and was the first in her Demi-God Daughters paranormal romance series. The follow up, Goddess by Chance was released in November 2014. Dirty Little Secrets is Erin's first book with Samhain Publishing. Her next release with Samhain, Devious Little Lies is scheduled for release in March 2016.
 

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Pre-Release ARC REVIEW: Butterfly Dreams By A. Meredith Walters

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Buy The Book:

AMAZON / KOBO / PRH

Connect With The Author:

GR / Website / Twitter / Facebook 

Synopsis On GR:

In a powerful romance for fans of The Fault in Our Stars and If I Stay, New York Times bestselling author A. Meredith Walters tells the story of a troubled young woman and the unforgettable guy who teaches her to live—and love—to the fullest.
She’s waiting to die. . . . Corin Thompson is paralyzed by her obsession with mortality. Having lost both of her parents, she is terrified by the idea that she too will die young, and she loses control at any sign of illness. But when Corin connects with someone who has survived a very real brush with death, she begins to see the world in a whole new way.

He’s learning to live. . . . As Corin struggles under the weight of her neuroses, Beckett Kingsley is attempting to rebuild a life that feels all too temporary. With the ever-present threat of heart failure never far from his mind, he just wants to make the most of whatever time he has left. And that means pursuing the girl he never expected to find.

Together, Corin and Beckett finally learn to let go of their fears and take solace in everyday pleasures. Who knows what the future holds? After all, nothing lasts forever—the only promise they have is right now. 

RATING: 2.5/5 stars

*** REVIEW ***

For me, if you compare yourself to The Fault in Our Stars, you have to be able to fill in the big shoes, because that's one of my favorite books ever. I don't mean to sound cheesy, but that's one of those books that leave a mark on your soul, at least in my case. That is why I was both eager and afraid to read this story which "dared" to compare itself to TFiOS. Another reason that gave me hope this might be my new favorite read is the fact that Walters is not an unfamiliar author to me. I read her Find You in the Dark (FYitD, #1) book before and loved it.Unfortunately, I can't say the same this time.

~ The main reasons "why":

1. Plot

The story was pretty slow-paced in the beginning. It was to0 ordinary for my liking and it simply failed to engage me. The first half of the story was overall okay, but I was mostly bored in the second half, with the exception of the epilogue which was the best part for me. It took me a week to read a 240 pages long book- that says it all.

2. Romance

The romance was quite instantish and therefore I just wasn't feeling any chemistry or connection between the MCs  since the very beginning which left me indifferent to their story in the end.

To be clear, my rating of this book is based on my personal reading preferances, meaning on the impression it left on me which can be summed by one word ~ forgettable. It is a well-written book with an inspiring and powerful message, but other than that it didn't leave the desired effect on me. All I can say is: read it and decide for yourself !

xoxo, 

Purple

SPOTLIGHT TOUR & GIVEAWAY: First Time with a Highlander (Sirens of the Scottish, #2) by Gwyn Cready

Title: First Time with a Highlander

Author: Gwyn Cready

Series: Sirens of the Scottish, #2

Pubdate: October 6^th, 2015

ISBN: 9781492601968

From the “master of time travel romance”, award-winning author Gwyn Cready continues her steamy Sirens of the Scottish Borderlands series.

She needs a man—but only for a night

What do you get when you imbibe centuries-old whiskey—besides a hangover the size of the Highlands? If you’re twenty-first century ad exec Gerard Innes, you get swept back to 18th-century Edinburgh and into the bed of a gorgeous, fiery redhead. Gerard has only a foggy idea what he and the lady have been up to…but what he does remember draws him into the most dangerous and exhilarating campaign of his life.

Be careful what you wish for…

Serafina Seonag Fallon’s scoundrel of a fiancé has left her with nothing, and she’s determined to turn the tables. If she can come up with a ringer, she can claim the cargo he stole from her. But the dashing man she summons from the future demands more than a night, and Serafina finds it easier to command the seas under her feet than the crashing waves he unleashes in her heart.

Gwyn Cready is a writer of contemporary, Scottish, and time travel romance. She’s been called “the master of time travel romance” and is the winner of the RITA Award, the most prestigious award given in romance writing. She has been profiled in Real Simple and USA Today, among others. Before becoming a novelist, she spent 25 years in brand management. She has two grown children and lives with her husband on a hill overlooking the magical kingdom of Pittsburgh.

***

This October the second in Gwyn Cready’s Sirens of the Scottish series, First Time with a Highlander, comes out! To celebrate, Gwyn’s here to tell us a little bit more about the inspiration behind her time-travel romances AND play a quick game of “Would You Rather.”

“People often ask me why I like to write time travel romance, and it’s a two-part answer, because there are really two questions in there—why do I like to write romance, and why do I like to write time travel.

I began to write with the intention of getting published in June, 1997 to honor my younger sister, who was a poet and photographer and who had died suddenly the month before.  The sort of book I wanted to write was a book like the one a friend had given me a few months earlier—Outlander. At that time, I’d never read a romance before, and I COULDN’T PUT IT DOWN. Jamie is the best sort of hero—devoted, funny, brave, smart, and supportive of the heroine. I was so hopped up on the first three Outlander novels, it was pretty much all I could talk about in the spring of 1997—and it was one of the things I talked to my sister about since her college boyfriend had been named Jamie and like the heroine in Outlander, my sister’s name was Claire. It was the last conversations I ever had with her.

So there I am, in 1997, wanting to honor my sister with a book, and certain the book I want to write is a romance like Outlander. Time travel fit in nicely for me. Outlander is a time travel novel, of course, but I’d been a time travel fan before that. The Back to the Future movies are my holy grail of time travel. I loved Somewhere in Time, of course, as well as the Terminator movies, Time After Time, and Groundhog Day. Time travel lets you quickly throw your character into adversity and see if he/she sinks or swims. The question you want readers asking in romance novels is “How, with all these challenges, will the hero and heroine still end up together?” Time travel adds another layer to that tension, specifically, “How will they end up together when each is destined to be in his/her own time?” In my mind, one of the most heroic things a character can do is give up his own time in order to be with the person he/she loves, and that’s always a tender and gripping moment to write in my books.

Which brings us to First Time with a Highlander. Serafina and Gerard were such fun characters to chase through a novel. As with Just in Time for a Highlander, the first book in the Sirens of the Scottish Borderlands series, I wanted to shake things up a bit by having the hero be the person who travels to the past. Gerard is an ad man—and since I spent twenty years working in brand management at a big pharma company, I know what ad men are like. The women in this series hold positions of unusual power for women in the eighteenth century, and Serafina is no exception. She inherited a shipping concern from her father, but her blackguard of an ex-fiancé has run the business into the ground. He’s ruined her socially and financially, but Serafina is not one to take things lying down. She uses herbs she’s, ahem, “borrowed” from a famed spell-caster to summon a man to help her claim the cargo from the ship’s final voyage before her fiancé can get his hands on it. She only needs a man for one night and…well, you can imagine what that leads to in the hands of an inexperienced spell user. But Serafina is willing to pay the price—in fact, she’s quite willing once the smart, dashing Gerard appears.

Would You Rather Question: You can only hear one song for the rest of your life. Bohemian Rhapsody or Ring of Fire?

How can you not a pick a song that begins with “Love is a burning thing”? That line pretty much sums up half of the core essence of romance novels, with the other half being summed up by a line from another of Johnny Cash’s songs: “Because you’re mine, I walk the line.” That’s it, my friends. That’s what it’s all about.

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1Od18Lg

Apple: http://apple.co/1UTdm01

BAM: http://bit.ly/1LfkTjF

B&N: http://bit.ly/1KdVz9j

Chapters: http://bit.ly/1OVBKXF

Indiebound: http://bit.ly/1Lfl8eq

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1LwEJ5N


*** GIVEAWAY ***

a Rafflecopter giveaway


  xoxo,
Purple 

Review: NAUGHTY BITS by Joey W. Hill

Summary:

To better serve the customers of her lingerie shop, Madison must explore the pleasures of giving up control...

After inheriting her sister’s North Carolina lingerie shop, Naughty Bits, Madison jumps at the chance to dump her boring finance career and try her luck down South. But even before Madison can settle in, she catches the attention of the owner of the neighboring hardware store. Sexually dominant Logan Scott recognizes a submissive when he sees one. And what he sees, he wants.

He presents her with three very tempting gifts—handcuffs, erotic cards, and an open invitation to start her sexual training. She has to accept. After all, how can she hope to sell fantasies to lingerie customers without embracing her own? Now, she’s about to discover just how far her fantasies can take her—and how far Logan will go to make every one of them come true.

 

Buy links for the complete novel:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo |All Romance eBooks | iBooks | Book Depository

Connect with the author:

 Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Fan Forum

A few moths ago I read and reviewed Naughty Bits, and I posted the review of Part I, but before I posted the rest, real life pulled me away from the blog, and in the end it all slipped my mind. Before something else gets in the way, here are my reviews of all of Naughty Bits, Part I included. 

The complete novel is available, but I've read and reviewed it part by part.

Okay, here we go!  

Buy links for part one:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | All Romance eBooks| iBooks











 
Summary:

When finance executive Madison inherits a lingerie shop called Naughty Bits, she decides to leave behind her staid career and explore her every forbidden desire...

Madison is a control freak with one wish—to lose control. Her hidden submissive cravings have led to a string of disastrous relationships. So when she inherits her sister’s North Carolina lingerie shop, Naughty Bits, she jumps at the opportunity to dump her boring finance career and bad history and try her luck down South.

But before Madison can settle in, she catches the attention of the owner of the neighboring hardware store. Sexually dominant Logan Scott can see the hunger for command in Madison’s eyes and is anxious to help unleash her submissive desires. He presents her with three very tempting gifts—handcuffs, erotic cards, and an open invitation to join him at a submissive’s training session.

Faced with the realization that she can’t sell fantasies to her lingerie customers without embracing her own, Madison accepts Logan’s offer. Now, she’s about to discover just how far her desire can take her…

Review:

Rating: 3,5 stars.

A very good start of what I believe will be another amazing love story by one of my favorite romance authors. Reading blurbs of Ms. Hill's books always leaves me wondering how exactly the story will go, how the main characters will get together, and most importantly how they will fall in love, but what my imagination comes up with never comes close to the wonderfully written tales Ms. Hill is an expert in. Madison and Logan's is no exception. The beginning of it, at least, but I'm quite confident it'll only get better from now on.

A control freak with one wish—to lose control, Madison already has me feeling bad for her, and how could I not? Her life in general is not in a good place. She just lost her sister. She inherited a lingerie shop which she has very little idea how to run, and the few interactions with customers proved that. But at least it's a sort of a new start for her, and from what I've learned about her in this part, it's a much needed fresh start. Her sister Alice knew that, and made sure Madison at least gave it a chance. Alice also knew what Madison really was: a submissive, but no matter how much she tried to get Madison to accept and embrace that part of herself, she failed. And Madison had a string of failed relationships because of that. This is the most interesting aspect of Madison's life to me. I do hope to get to the bottom of her terrible choices of men in the next parts. Why she'd deny herself something that's she needs so much, and then date men who couldn't possibly provide it, who even judged her for it, is beyond me. Luckily, her sister knew her well, and left her with Logan.

Logan has me crushing on him already. The whole part one is written from Madison's perspective and she only just met him, so the information about him is limited, except he seems like someone saying "Yes, Sir" to would be a privilege. No matter what Madison says, she can feel that, too. She may tell herself she's accepting to help him train another sub for the sake of her business, but we all know that's only an excuse. I can't wait to continue their journey, and see what happens during that training session.

And, yes, the Joey W. Hill magic I was hoping for to get over a depressing book is very present on these pages, but if you're reading Naughty Bits not as a whole novel, but part by part, be aware there's quite a few less pages of the actual story in Part I than you'd think. It caught me off-guard, but that won't happen again.

Now, on to Part II!

Buy links for part two:

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Summary:

Fear is no match for lust in Joey W. Hill’s sexy new novella about a woman who sheds her shame to embrace her pleasure…

Madison may have ditched her well-ordered Boston life to run Naughty Bits, her sister’s North Carolina lingerie shop, but she didn’t expect to throw herself into such chaos—or to become intimate with the sexiest man she’s ever had the pleasure of meeting. After spending a night observing a submissive’s training session, Madison is ready for Logan to teach her how to feed her own deep fantasies—and get rid of all her lingering fears…

Madison’s aching desire to submit is unlike anything Logan’s ever experienced before, and he’s determined to be the man to make her relinquish control. Still, Logan’s unsure if Madison is ready to take that first step to becoming his—until she shows up at his door ready to be commanded. Luckily for them both, Logan’s got more than a few surprises up his sleeve that he knows she’ll enjoy…

Review:

Rating: 4 stars.

Well, did it just get really hot in here or what... And sweet... And emotional... In that order. Part II left me wishing I had magic powers so I could cast a spell to make Logan real to have for myself.

Now, I could use this whole review space to say for the hundredth time how much I love reading Joey W. Hill's stories, and talk about all the warm, fuzzy feelings I get while reading them, but right now I'm short on time. Plus, unless I'm mistaken, I've done that in all of my reviews of Ms. Hill's books. This time, suffice it to say what I said I wish to do with Logan's character is a common occurrence with the heroes I find in this author's works.

At the end of Part I Madison reached a wise and inevitable decision to take up Logan on his offer to join him during a session with Troy, a submissive he's training, and right at the beginning of Part II I got to enjoy reading it. And enjoy it I did. Logan, the amazing Dom, Troy, the incredible sub, and Madison, the eager observer. It got very hot, very fast in that room, especially when Madison joined in the fun.

The session served its purpose of helping Madison become more suited to run an erotica shop, and guide her customers in the right direction. That became clear with the visit of an interesting trio. Now, that trio is special, not just because I'm jealous of Sam for being involved with both a Dom and a sub, but because they will be the stars of the new Naughty Wishes serial coming next year. That little visit they made to the Naughty Bits store was enough to make me want to have their story, and I couldn't be happier Ms. Hill felt the same. I'm also wondering about Troy and his Mistress. I haven't found them in published books, so fingers crossed they get their own book. But I digress...

Over the course of over twenty works, it's become abundantly clear this author's gift in making ordinary activities highly erotic. Take this novella, for example. A simple night watching a movie became an intense D/s session. Madison is slowly but surely embracing her submissive side in the care of Logan's mastery. To my chagrin, he's still an enigma. What exactly Alice (Madison's late sister) told him about Madison is still pretty much unknown, as is his history and present. Not his fault, mind you. Madison wants to keep the fantasy for a little while longer. I do hope she gets over that soon, because I want to know more. Madison is also prepared for more--a session involving pain. Oh, I can't wait! 

Buy links for part three:

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Summary:

After inheriting her sister's North Carolina lingerie shop, Madison is discovering how delicious it can be to lose control...
thanks to her master's exquisite skills.  Logan is committed to awakening Madison’s long buried desires, and after he shows her the depths of ecstasy they can reach with a little bit of roleplay, he’s ready to take her to the next level.
But when Madison’s old fears resurface, Logan grows wary of pushing her too far too fast.  He can sense just how deeply she longs for release from past regrets, but what surprises him the most is the intense yearning his innocent new sub is awakening in him. Now Logan must decide to what lengths he’ll go to convince Madison to give herself over completely…

Review:

Rating: 3.5 stars.

Part II of Naughty Bits gave an idea what the third part would be about: it promised this time some pain would be mixed with pleasure in Bound to Please, and it delivered. Madison enjoyed it more than she expected, and I enjoyed reading about it, but that was no surprise at all. ;) Those scenes are amongst those I look forward to most in this author's books, because she writes them so well, so well I find myself disappointed when the Dom/Domme in question doesn't have a sadistic side. Logan seems to have one; I just wish he'd unleash it more often. But I understand that would not be the right way with Madison, with all her issues and all. However, she did discover she's more of a masochist than she imagined in that session that pulled unexpected reactions out of her.
All in all, I liked that part, but there was just one thing that didn't go as well as I had hoped. Sex. To be clear, it wasn't that the sex was bad. Far from it. It was more that after so much build-up, I expected more than what I read. It was kind of anticlimactic. However, the second time was much, much, much better. That entire last scene was amazing--sweet, emotional, hot--all in one. It also gave a glimpse of what is to come in the fourth, last part: enacting Madison's auction fantasy. It should be good.

But before all that happened, there were two more significant parts in the story.
First was when Madison came face to face to Veronica, a woman in an abusive relationship with a violent asshole posing as a "Master". It's easy to forget the harsh reality has those people lurking around when I'm reading about these incredible male specimens that are the heroes in Ms. Hill's books. In that situation Logan once again proved his worth, underscoring once again to Madison what a good man he is.
The second was Madison trying out the Mistress role with Troy. A hot teacher disciplining a misbehaving student--fun times. But as fun as it was, it was not not enough. Madison realized who and what she was, so it was well worth it. Plus, it gave a glimpse in the relationship between Troy and Shale.

Now, time for the finale!

Buy links for part four:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | All Romance eBooks| iBooks

Summary:

To understand her customers’ desires at her lingerie store, Naughty Bits, Madison has been exploring her own deep yearnings with the help of neighboring store owner—and oh-so-sexy Dominant—Logan. After overcoming her fears and allowing herself to truly submit, Madison is ready for her ultimate sexual adventure: an auction where she’ll be offered up to the highest bidding Master.

But when her fantasy brings her face-to-face with her true feelings for Logan, she’ll have to figure out if she’s ready to trust her heart as well as her body to him forever…

Review:

Rating: 3 stars.

The final part in the serial revolving around Madison, a woman whose seven failed relationships had left her with a ton of intimacy issues, is about finally getting past them, letting go of the past, and AT LAST accepting Logan for what he truly is: her Master. I say "at last" because Madison had started to become frustrating for one simple reason: seven times she had given herself to a wrong man, but now that the right one came along (and she knows he's the right one), she keeps backing away. Silly woman. I mean, hellooo! I guess she thought him to be too good to be true. I think it's a shame he's fictional, but what can you do...

The Highest Bid was about making fantasies come true. Not mine, sadly, but Madison's. Early on she confessed to Logan her recurring fantasy of being trained as a sex slave, and then sold at an auction to a soldier who she secretly wished for. I admit this part wasn't my favorite. This type of auction, whether real or fantasy, is not something I enjoy reading about, and Logan did a very good job at making it seem real. Scarily so. I did like the part leading to the "auction", but the rest kind of freaked me out a bit. Like I said, this isn't my thing. However, it is Madison's, and Madison is what this was all about. For her this appeared to be the right way to go to get her to finally understand Logan is there to stay, so it was well worth it. The HEA was achieved! (At seventy-something percent.)

All in all, reading Naughty Bits was enjoyable, as was to be expected given Joey W. Hill is one of my favorite authors. As per usual with this type of serials where we have one novel split into several parts, I think I did the right thing by reading them all one right after the other. I can't help but think it would have been even better had I not even stopped to review each one after finishing them. Maybe, I don't know. What I do know is that the way the parts were written worked, but I still do prefer when Ms. Hill writes those really long novels. I also missed having the hero's perspective, especially since the hero was someone like Logan. No matter, this worked well enough for me to look forward to Naughty Wishes.

Until next time, happy reading!

XOXO