ARC Review: THE PRIEST (The Original Sinners, #9) by Tiffany Reisz

New Orleans, four months after the events of THE QUEEN...

Søren has been suspended from the Jesuits for a minimum of one year after confessing to fathering a child. To say he's struggling with his newfound freedom is an understatement.

Kingsley is about to be a father again and is convinced something very bad is about to happen. Nerves? Or is he right that the time has come for the Sinners to pay for their sins?

And if things couldn't get worse, a handsome private detective shows up and tells Mistress Nora that a priest has just committed suicide, and she was the last person he tried to call. He would like to know why...

She doesn't know, but Nora and her new detective friend will turn over the city to find out, meeting liars, vampires, and witches along the way. When she finds what she's looking for, she may wish she'd never stepped foot in New Orleans.

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Even after all these years, and all the novels, novellas, and all the short stories, I still drop everything to read the new book in The Original Sinners series.

And even after all these years and all those stories, Tiffany Reisz still surprises me.

When I first read The Siren, I was left speechless. So many surprises held the chapters of that book. Then I thought I knew what to expect from The Angel. I was so wrong, I couldn't have been more wrong. With two books read, I once again thought I knew what to expect, this time with The Prince. Cocky youth! I was wrong. I was wrong again with The Mistress. I think that was when I learned my lesson: Always expect the unexpected. It's served me well. By the time The Priest came around, I knew better than to try to answer the question What will happen in the book?. I expected the unexpected, and the unexpected I got.

It says this is the beginning of a new era in The Original Sinners series. It felt that way. Our Sinners are in a new place, geographically and mentally. After all the ups and downs, the fights, the drama, the life-threatening situations, they are living new lives. Happier lives. Calmer lives. How weird it was, after everything, to read about Nora and Kingsley arguing about paint colors. It was nice. Sweet. But still weird.

Also nice, sweet and weird was Nora and Søren's relationship. Now that Søren is suspended, he and Nora were spending more time together, and they weren't doing it in hiding. It was like a normal-ish relationship.

And I can't say sweet without thinking of Kingsley's fussing over the people in his life. He was adorable. I was somewhat disappointed there wasn't more of him in the novel, but I understood it. Since it says this is the beginning of a new era, I'm hoping there will be books focusing on him in the future.

Keeping with the theme of good stuff from the book, when I started reading The Priest, I was reminded of The Siren. The Siren started with Zach, then introduced us to Nora, and we learned about their complicated lives, and we got to meet her kinky world through both of them. In the later books that were solely from the Sinners' perspectives, I admit I missed reading about them and their world from an outsider's perspective.

Well, The Priest introduces us to Cyrus Tremont with a happy love life, as opposed to Zach's when we met him. Cyrus's private life filled him with joy. His work as a private detective helping women and children was satisfying.

Then -- and now we're heading into murky waters -- a priest committed suicide.

Cyrus was asked to investigate further, because the police wasn't going to. The officials were to rule it a suicide caused by depression and be done with it. One officer sensed there was more to the story, and asked Cyrus's help. His investigation led him to our very own Nora Sutherlin, as she was the last person the priest had called before he killed himself. That fact was enough for Nora to join Cyrus on his mission. They were fast friends. I loved their interactions. His and Nora's, his and Søren's. Plus, it was interesting reading about them uncovering clues. The people they met along the way were even more interesting.

Then it got sad. Horrific, really. The truth Cyrus and Nora uncovered was horrific.


See, you can never guess where Tiffany Reisz's story will go.

After the discovery of what led up to the priest's suicide, surprises didn't stop. Nora's decision. Søren's decision. Søren's... something else. The talks they had. The huge question marks about things I held up at the end.

Well, this can't be THE END, right? It's THE BEGINNING. I'm holding onto those words and not letting go. The Original Sinners: New Orleans has only just started!



What can I say in the end? I loved reading something new about the Sinners. (Next time, more about Kingsley, please.) I loved meeting new characters. And I loved that the story had it's twists and turns, though some of them hurt.



There's a quote in the book: Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid.

You could easily say:


Here is the world of the Original Sinners. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. Just read.


I started with






And ended with







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

Until next time, happy reading! 

XOXO,

Review: WINTER TALES: An Original Sinners Christmas Anthology by Tiffany Reisz

Return to USA Today bestseller Tiffany Reisz's Original Sinners series with Winter Tales, a collection of three fan-favorite Christmas novellas plus a brand-new novella exclusive to this anthology.

In December Wine, the long-awaited story of Nora Sutherlin's first meeting with Nico can finally be told. Nora enlists her editor (and sometimes lover) Zach Easton on a mission to track down Kingsley's long-lost son. Nicolas "Nico" Delacroix turns out to be young, strikingly handsome, and very French. He wants nothing to do with his father...but everything to do with Nora.

This special holiday-themed collection also includes the novellas Poinsettia, The Christmas Truce, and The Scent of Winter (previously available only as ebooks). A bonus short story starring Søren rounds out the Winter Tales anthology.

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I step into the Original Sinners world and I never want to leave.

Especially now.

When I closed my copy of Winter Tales, all I wanted was more OS tales. I had the urge to go back to The Siren again and reread everything and anything that is Original Sinners related. It would be lovely to get away from the world and get lost in these books once again. Until I manage to do that, a few words about these wintery tales from me are long overdue.

Tiffany Reisz has been gifting us with Original Sinners Christmas stories for a long time. They've always been something to look forward to in the cold, bleak winter time, especially in the years after the series ended the first time with the eight book. It's really nice to have them collected in print form. I love having them in print on my bookshelf. It makes the book lover and the OS fan in me very content.

There are five winter tales in this collection. Three I've read before, and happily reread, and two are new.

This series has introduced us to a lot of characters, but at the heart of it is the unholy trinity: Kingsley, Nora, and Søren. All three are present in one way or the other throughout the collection, though I would say Søren here has the lead role. That's how it felt to me, at least.

The tale that comes first chronologically is Poinsettia . Poinsettia is the story of a Christmas many years ago. Christmas that young Søren spent in the house of a sadistic madam that was a great teacher to him. Magdalena was quite mean to him. It's something I enjoyed reading the first, second, and the third time. Søren was lovesick over Kingsley. I enjoyed that even more. If only Kingsley knew about it.

Next comes The Christmas Truce in which my dearest trio put their differences aside for one night. The story is set at a difficult time in their relationships, but they let it all go for a little while and celebrated in style. Original Sinners style. With a flashback to an even earlier and even more difficult Christmas for Nora and Søren, this was two Christmas stories in one. It was sweet, emotional, heartwarming, and a bit kinky.

Next in line are the two new additions: December Wine and Blood and Snow.

December Wine has a few elements to the plot. It is about finding Kingsley's son Nico. It is the very start of Nora and Nico's relationship. It's a glimpse into Nico's life and personality. More than that it is Nora and Zach's last tryst. Nora bargained a night with Søren for a week with Zach, and this is that week after which they're friends and friends only. So, it was sort of a goodbye to Zach and hello to Nico. The story is also filled with uncertainty of what the future will be for them all. Lots of changes happened at that time. New city, new children, new relationships.

That brings me to Blood and Snow . It's another Søren and Magdalena story. It takes place at the same time as December Wine, and as such it is also filled with uncertainty. Søren was in such a mental state he sought out Magdalena. A nice bonus short.

The last and my favorite story of the five is The Scent of Winter . It comes as no shock the story entirely from Kingsley's POV is my favorite. I'm nothing if not consistent when it comes to my fangirling. In fact, my original review for this novella was:

"KINGSLEY! KINGSLEY!

KINGSLEY!!!"

Yeah, that summed it up nicely.

The Scent of Winter was Kingsley and Søren's. Two winter stories in one: one from their teenage days, and one from their fifties. All quite romantic and bittersweet.

And that's all five lovely winter tales. I look forward to the future ones, and revisiting the old ones, because as I said at the beginning, I step into the world of the Original Sinners, and I never want to leave.

***An ARC was provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, but I also got a paperback copy from Amazon in exchange for my money, sooo...***

Until next time, happy reading! 

XOXO,

ARC Review: THE ROSE by Tiffany Reisz

 

USA Today bestselling author Tiffany Reisz returns to the world of The Red with an imaginative sequel full of lust and magic, and the dangers unleashed when the two are combined…

On the day of Lia’s university graduation party, her parents—wealthy art collectors with friends in high places—gift her a beautiful wine cup, a rare artifact decorated with roses. It’s a stunning gift, and one that August Bowman, a friend of her parents and a guest at Lia’s party, also has his eye on. The cup, August tells her, is known as the Rose kylix, and it’s no ordinary cup. It was used in the temple ceremonies of Eros, Greek god of erotic love, and has the power to bring the most intimate sexual fantasies to life.

But Lia is skeptical of August’s claims of the cup’s mythology and magic—after all, he’s a collector himself, and she suspects he just wants to get his hands on this impressive piece of art. So he dares her to try it for herself, and when Lia drinks from the Rose kylix she is suddenly immersed in an erotic myth so vivid it seems real—as though she’s living out the most sensual fantasy with August by her side…

Realizing the true power of this ancient and dangerous relic, Lia is even more wary of giving it up, though August insists it is only safe with him. He’s willing to pay the full value of the cup, but Lia has another type of trade in mind. One that finds them more tangled up in each other—and in fantasy—than either was prepared for.

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"The cloud started it."

Many thanks to Harlequin for approving my request! I was so excited when I got the email from NetGalley, I had to reread it to make sure my eyes weren't playing a trick on me.

The Rose is set in the same world as The Red, and that was all I needed to know to put this book on my must-read list. I figured if I enjoyed it even half as much as I did The Red, it would be great. The Rose showed me how silly it was of me to expect so little. It surpassed The Red. I was in a reader's paradise these last few days I spent in the company of Lia and August. I knew Tiffany Reisz has a wonderfully wicked imagination — she proved it time and again — but this was on a whole other level. Greek mythology level.

Not knowing how exactly The Red and The Rose are connected, I reread The Red before jumping into the enchanting world of The Rose. Was that necessary? No. But I'm glad I did it. Lia and August's erotic and non-erotic adventures were captivating, but having a look into how Mona and Spencer's marriage turned out — well, I liked that, too, to say the least. Certainly, all the mentions of Malcolm were appreciated more than they would've been had I not reacquainted myself with the story of The Red. One of the first things we learn about the main character Lia is that she's involved in certain illegal activities at which I chuckled and thought: her great-grandfather would be proud!

The story starts with a party, a precious gift, a new acquaintance, and an unwelcome guest. Though her great-grandfather would've been proud, Lia's business could put her and others in a lot of trouble, so it had to remain secret. When the unwelcome guest came with blackmail on his mind, Lia was backed into a corner. Her way out was August Bowman, the new acquaintance. They made a deal, and thus began the days of erotic fantasies fulfillment and healing.

The gift Lia received, the Rose kylix, had the power making erotic fantasies come true. Lia and August, both well-versed in Greek mythology, had fantasies involving characters and stories from those myths. It's been a long time since I read ancient Greek literature. I hardly remember anything, but I do know it wasn't nearly as interesting or fun or erotic as this. Yes, those parts were all that, but I couldn't help but like the parts where Lia and August were Lia and August a little more. I grew fond of both of their characters early on and I wanted to read about them as much as possible. Lia — "a kitten with a switchblade". And August — that man was like sunshine, a mischievous sunshine. I adored them both, 'cause they were both so freaking adorable. Their story was one that would make me laugh at one part, and make me teary-eyed at the next. Not to forget it was a smoking hot magical story. Of course, since Tiffany Reisz wrote it, the story had an air of mystery surrounding it, and by the end it had some major twists.

To summarize, this is an imaginative, sweet, erotic tale with a twist, and laugh-out-loud moments. In the honor of those moments, and August, and a naughty cloud, I picked the quote with which I started my review.

In the Acknowledgements section, Ms. Reisz asks: Shall we go for three? I say: Yes, please! And then for four, and five, and six...


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

 

 

Until next time, happy reading! 

XOXO,

 

ARC Review: THE CHATEAU by Tiffany Reisz

THE CHATEAU: AN ORIGINAL SINNERS NOVEL

As the Jack-of-All-Wicked-Trades for a secretive French military intelligence agency, 24-year-old Lieutenant Kingsley Boissonneault has done it all—spied, lied, and killed under orders. But his latest assignment is quite out of the ordinary. His commanding officer's nephew has disappeared inside a sex cult, and Kingsley has been tasked with bringing him home to safety.

The cult’s holy book is Story of O, the infamous French novel of extreme sado-masochism. Their château is a looking-glass world where women reign and men are their willing slaves. Or are they willing? It’s Kingsley’s mission to find out.

Once inside the château, however, Kingsley quickly falls under the erotic spell cast by the enigmatic Madame, a woman of wisdom, power, and beauty. She offers Kingsley the one thing he’s always wanted. But the price? Giving up forever the only person he’s ever loved.

The Chateau is a new standalone Original Sinners novel from international bestseller Tiffany Reisz, author of The Siren and The Lucky Ones.

 

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The only appropriate reaction to this is:

KINGSLEY! KINGSLEY!

KINGSLEY!!!



I had to pinch myself when I saw Tiffany Reisz was writing another novel about Kingsley — the news was just too good to be true! Kingsley Théophile Boissonneault was and remains my favorite character in The Original Sinners series. I feel like I should write the author a thank-you note for writing The Chateau, and not only for writing it, but for making it available on NetGalley this month, too. This book could not have come at a better time. When I had hardly any desire for reading, when I only kept on starting books and leaving them, and when I had a terrible cold, King's book was just what the doctor ordered.

The author, as I've learned long ago from her many erotic stories, has the best wicked imagination. Especially when it comes to Kingsley, although I admit I'm extremely biased when it comes to this particular character. Truth be told, Ms. Reisz could have written a whole novel about King reading the newspaper, and I would've found it interesting. The Chateau isn't about that; it is the story of Kingsley's time in a sex cult. It was the beginning of 1989. I was about a month away from being born, and Kingsley was sent on a mission to a sex cult, because of course he was. If anyone would be sent on a mission to a sex cult, it would be Kingsley Edge. But the story didn't start with that mission. It started with him.

The most compelling part of The Original Sinners series to me was the relationship between Kingsley and Søren. You can't speak about Kingsley without mentioning Søren. So, of course, The Chateau started with Søren. Kingsley was 24, living in Paris, doing unofficial official work for the French military, and years after parting ways with Søren, his dreams were still haunted by that blond monster who smelled like winter. Then he got a new assignment: rescue the nephew of his commanding officer from a sex cult. In that cult men served women. For Kingsley, who hadn't served since Søren, it wasn't just another assignment, but also an opportunity to satisfy the submissive part of himself.

The 24-year-old submissive Kingsley was just so freaking beautiful. I was quite taken with him. Luckily, lots and lots of pages were dedicated to the erotic games the women in the château played with willing Kingsley. The most intense game was the one Madame played. Madame, the owner of the château, was quite an intriguing character with the air of mystery around her and with extensive knowledge of Kingsley's life. While the other women Kingsley met in the château played pleasurable games, Madame, a sadist, played a cruel one. However, it did answer questions that had plagued Kingsley about himself and Søren. Søren, again. Always Søren.

As was the case with, I believe, all of the books by T. Reisz I've read, the story in The Chateau took some unexpected turns. Kingsley assignment turned out to be more complicated than saving his superior's nephew from Madame's home. The château and Madame hid big secrets for Kingsley to uncover. I guessed one twist, at least. What was interesting was how Kingsley's observations about that place and its owner reflected in the underground kingdom he built and ruled some years from then. That was a nice touch.

In the end, like in the beginning, there was Søren.

Kingsley leaned forward, wanting to kiss Søren, and it seemed —for once— Søren would let him. At the last second, however, Søren brought his hand up and clapped it over Kingsley’s mouth.

“If you ever try to kiss me again without permission,” Søren said calmly, “I’ll eat your heart like an apple and throw the core on the ground and let the worms have the rest.”

The Chateau is a book all Kingsley fans, all Søren fans, and really all Original Sinners fans should read.


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

 

 

Until next time, happy reading! 

XOXO,

 

ARC Review: WICKED ATTRACTION (The Protector, #2) by Megan Hart

A female bodyguard with enhanced abilities. A billionaire playboy committed to destroying people like her. A romance they didn’t expect…

Dive into the second book in this fantastic new series set in the near future from New York Times bestselling author Megan Hart!


Ewan Donahue has made a lot of mistakes, but making Nina Bronson want to leave him has been the worst. With the initial threats on his life out of the way, he doesn’t really need her protection, but hiring her to take care of him again is the only way to get her back in his life. When Nina shows up ready to work —and nothing else — Ewan’s determined to win her back. If he can break through the walls his earlier betrayal built, maybe they can have another shot at love. When it turns out that this time, it’s Nina who’s being targeted for danger and possibly death, Ewan’s the one who has to keep her safe.

 

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Wicked Attraction is the second installment in The Protector series in which new dangers emerged, and things got more emotional and complicated for the main characters Nina and Ewan.

Poor Nina and Ewan... I had that thought many times throughout the book, especially at the very end. The title of the third book made me suspect the story was headed that way, but, still, poor Nina and Ewan. I had that same thought at the beginning of the book.

In the previous installment, Dangerous Promise, Ewan and Nina met and fell in love. They had a short blissful time together before the reality came crashing in, and Ewan's secret came out. Nina left after that. Soon afterwards, Ewan used trickery and hired Nina once again. That was the end of book one.

The beginning of Wicked Attraction revealed that Nina stayed with Ewan as his bodyguard. She treated it as any other assignment. For Ewan that was the only way to have Nina near him to try to get Nina's forgiveness and somehow repair their relationship. With the time period and the world they lived in described in the previous book, there was no need for detailed descriptions in this installment, so there little left to distract me from the relationship between Nina and Ewan. I liked that very much. Like I said in my review of Dangerous Promise, complicated and emotional love stories is one of the main reasons I love Megan Hart's books. Speaking of emotional, I have to talk about Nina here. Ewan was more-or-less his same likeable self as in the first book, though not so set in keeping the laws about enhancement tech as they were. Nina, on the other hand, was quite different from the woman I first met. I think I would call all of Megan Hart's leading female characters strong women, but Nina was on a whole other level. The enhancement tech had made her into a super soldier, a super soldier who at the beginning of the series was incapable of feeling any intense emotion. By the end of the previous book that changed -- she had started to feel too much. She was like that in this installment, too. It was strange from someone as fiercely strong as her. Unsettling, even, and sad because she was feeling negative emotions.

Luckily, though very slowly, Ewan won Nina back, and for a while they were happy. They were a couple madly in love, and they worked together to change the laws which would improve Nina's and other enhanced people's lives. However, living in a happy bubble couldn't last. This isn't the last book, after all. New shady characters entered the scene, and apparently the old shady characters weren't done with doing damage. The difference was this time around, the one in danger was Nina. It was a danger neither Ewan nor her enhancement tech could save her from. Like I said, poor Nina and Ewan.

All in all, Wicked Attraction was a great sequel to Dangerous Promise and a great lead-up to the final book. I couldn't be more ready to see these characters get their happy ending.


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

Until next time, happy reading!

XOXO,

 

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