Series Saturday Audiobook Review: The Master by Kresley Cole

The Master
by Kresley Cole
Series:  The Game Maker #2
Pub. Date:  Feb. 17, 2015
Publisher:  Simon & Schuster Audio
Narrator:  Kimberly Alexis
Length:  11 hrs 14 min
Format:  Audiobook
Source:  Audible


My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

A need colder than Siberian winter meets an attitude hotter than the Florida sun in #1 New York Times bestselling author Kresley Cole’s sultry new Game Maker novel.

Everyone fears the Master...

Rich, irresistible politician/Mafya boss Maksimilian Sevastyan prefers tall, obedient blondes to fulfill his... complicated desires. That is, until the icy Russian encounters a disobedient brunette whose exquisite little body threatens his legendary restraint.

Except her.

Catarina Marín was a well-off young wife until her world fell apart. Now she’s hiding out, forced to start working as an escort in Miami. Her very first client is beyond gorgeous, but when he tells her what he plans to do to her, Cat almost walks out of the door.

If pleasure is a game, play to win.

After their mind-blowing encounter burns out of control, the lovers crave more. If they escape the deadly threats surrounding them, can Maksim overcome his past—to offer Cat his future? Only then will she tempt him with what he really wants: her, all tied up with a bow.

I have been meaning to continue w/ this series for quite some time as I absolutely loved The Professional and Aleksei. It's been so long that I didn't remember quite how steamy the first book was!

Cat Marin is on the run from her con man husband, Edward. Hiding out in Miami and cleaning houses for money, she is convinced to give the escort business a try when her friend Ivana has a bad reaction to botox and needs a stand in. This brings Cat to the penthouse of The Master.

Maksimilian Sevastyan is a billionaire politician bratva boss. He is also a hobbyist - a hobby which includes ordering up thin/blonde/Russian escorts for some impersonal BDSM play. When he ordered Ivana, he definitely was not expecting a 5'2 curvy Cuban mamasita.

At this point, the story pretty much devolves into sex over substance and remains that way for about 2/3 of the book. The plot conflicts during this part were mainly spats between Maksim and Cat... though some of the arguments and behavior did elicit some chuckles from me. Arguments aside, this part of the book was very VERY H.O.T.

Then the last part of the book speeds back up with the suspense involving Cat's husband. This part of the action and suspense was excellent and kept me listening quite late in the night. I was quite emotionally invested in Cat's character... which surprised me because I usually don't care for escorts as heroines.

I give the audio performance 3 stars. The accents were off for me at times, particularly during intimate scenes when Cat's voice devolved into a caricature of a high-pitched hispanic timbre. I think this book would have been performed better with dual narrators... particularly Iggy Toma, who does a wonderful Russian accent.

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The Game Maker

Indie Wednesday Spotlight Review: Coach by Alexa Riley

Coach 
by Alexa Riley
Series:  Breeding #1
Pub. Date:  Sept. 9, 2015
Publisher:  Self-Pub
Pages:  117
Format:  eBook
Source:  Kindle Unlimited
Challenges:  Pervy Girl, New to You, KU


My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

Retiring from the NFL was the right decision, and at thirty years old, I've done things most people could only dream of. After all I've accomplished, coaching high school football should be easy...but when you've got a distraction in the form of a nerdy girl with curves, things can get complicated. 

She's a student, she's barely legal, and she's my best friend’s daughter. 

I didn't know what desire was until Megan. I had no idea obsession could drive someone insane, until I saw her. I wasn't prepared for the fact that once I laid eyes on Megan my life would really begin. 

I have to have her, no matter what the cost. I have to breed her and bind her to me so tightly she can't ever get away. She'll be mine, even if I have to take her. 

Warning: this book is ridiculous, over the top, completely unbelievable, and pretty much just about breeding the heroine. If you're okay with that, welcome to my dirty, dirty book! Just remember, I warned you.

O-M-G. What did I just read??? Lemme 'splain.  See, I really wanted to read Mechanic because I am totally lusting over the cover.  But right before I started it today, I noticed on Goodreads that it was actually second in a series. Well, of course my OCD had to kick in and would not let me start in the middle.  

So I went on my little one-clicking trip to find the first book, which turns out to be Coach. And I have to admit - Alexa Riley does fantastic covers. Seriously - holy hot hairy guy! I am not usually one for an abundance of body hair, but even I cannot deny that dude on the cover looks very, erm, tasty. Well, as long as you don't mind picking hairs out of your teeth. He just looks like a man's man, be still my smutty heart.

But I read the blurb for this one and I was like... um, I'm not sure this book is for me. It sounds a little squicky.  I mean, I am now thinking of my gym coach from school, and my softball and baseball coaches, and I am not seeing good things. I can honestly say that there were no hot teachers or coaches at my schools that had teen girls giggling and swooning over their hair shirts.  We were more likely to be laughing and pointing at their furry shoulders or something. So, no.  Then to pile it on, this book is about BREEDING.  What IS that?  I have certainly never heard of a freaking breeding fetish.  That's seriously a thing?  Hmmm... this got my curiosity going.  What IS it? I just had to know. And - now I do. And it was kind of fascinating, in a weird way of course.

This is the range of faces I was making as I read this book.

So the authors warn you right in the blurb that this book was ridiculous and over the top, which I totally respect. Because then I know what to expect going in.  Nothing worse than starting a book and getting blindsided with weirdness. The warning for this book definitely rings true. I kept saying OMG, EW! and No Way!  But I also couldn't stop turning the page in wide-eyed wonder and bewilderment and morbid fascination.  Then I would show a passage to my bud, Deanna, and make her commiserate with me. I kid you knot, at one point the words "poop juice" came out of her mouth. Ugh. You can guess which face that was above.

As you can imagine, this book is sex over substance. And when I say sex, it's of the shocking smutty filthy dirty sort. Was it entertaining?  Yes. I have to say so.  Will I read the other books in the series? I think so - but I probably won't read them all together.  I think that much breeding would shock my system.  Or worse, it could desensitize me to this stuff and make me think it was (((shudder))) normal!  So I am giving this one 3 shocking stars... not regular stars. These are 3 stars on the smutty smut smut scale. Maybe those stars should be a different color... they need to be a bit tarnished I think.

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About the Author

Alexa Riley is two sassy friends who got together and wrote some dirty books. They are both married moms of two who love football, donuts, and obsessed book heroes.

They specialize in insta-love, over-the-top, sweet, and cheesy love stories that don’t take all year to read. If you want something SAFE, short, and always with a happily ever after, then Alexa Riley is for you!

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Breeding Series

Review: Dirty Pleasures by Meghan March

Dirty Pleasures 
by Meghan March
Series:  Dirty Billionaire #2
Pub. Date:  Dec. 29, 2015
Publisher:  Self-Pub
Pages:  177
Format:  eARC
Source:  Rock Star PR
Challenges:  Pervy Girl


My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

I did it. I married a billionaire.

My reasons are my own, but the last thing I expected was to feel owned.

I may have taken vows, but I’m still determined to be me.

Now his rules are taking over my world, but I’m not the kind of girl to just obey.

There’s only one problem: I might actually be falling for him…

I have no idea how this marriage is going to go, but holding onto a piece of myself while succumbing to his dirty pleasures is shaping up to be the ride of a lifetime.

Dirty Pleasures is the second book in The Dirty Billionaire Trilogy. Dirty Together, the conclusion of this filthy trilogy, will release on 1/12/2016.

Dirty Pleasures picks up where Dirty Billionaire left off. When Creighton does show by the designated time that Holly needed to leave for Nashville, she takes off leaving nothing but a note saying "Goodbye Creighton." The story picks up with Holly flying coach back to Nashville and the tabloids speculating on marriage trouble in paradise.

So we all know that Crey has messed up and is going to have to chase after her to do some groveling. I was okay with that. I would have been ticked off that he forgot about me too - especially if I made it clear that something was very important to me. After the whirlwind of the first book where things were just getting going, I was looking forward to further character development in this book. I really wanted to know more about Creighton and wanted to get in his head and learn all his dark and dirty secrets. He no longer came off as a shallow douche in this book. He was more attentive to Holly and was chasing her around the tour doing things for her. As nice as that was, I am still waiting to fall in love with Crey. I don't know anything about his business or his past or his family. What's up with his uncle? Did this Annika bitch break him? I wanna know him! I hope we can get into his head and heart in the final installment, Dirty Together.

In my review of Dirty Billionaire, I thought the meat of the story would be happening in this book. This one was actually a quicker read and while there was less sex, I didn't feel like there was more substance. It seemed like we got the surface of the story, but not a lot of the deeper details I was hoping for. I would have been interested to read the conversation between Holly and her mom. I think that would have been an opportunity to hook me back into her character emotionally, but it faded to black.

I knew Holly was a runner after Dirty Billionaire, and I understood her reasons. After the fist book, I was on Team Holly more than Team Crey. However, I was hoping that her flight instincts would have deserted her once Crey came groveling. He showed up and did all the right things in this book... but Holly is still a runner. I didn't understand her panic or insecurities. So now I am firmly on Team Crey, and Holly will have to do a lot to redeem herself in Dirty Together.

I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 3 stars / 5 flames.

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About the Author

Meghan March is the author of contemporary and erotic romance novels. Meghan March has been known to wear camo face paint and tromp around in woods wearing mud-covered boots, all while sporting a perfect manicure. She's also impulsive, easily entertained, and absolutely unapologetic about the fact that she loves to read and write smut. Her past lives include slinging auto parts, selling lingerie, making custom jewelry, and practicing corporate law. Writing books about dirty talking alpha males and the strong, sassy women who bring them to their knees is by far the most fabulous job she's ever had. She loves hearing from her readers at meghanmarchbooks@gmail.com.

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Dirty Billionaire

My Review	My Review	Review 01/25/16