Audiobook Review: Queen takes Knights by Joely Sue Burkhart

Series: Their Vampire Queen #1 Pub. Date: May 8, 2018 Publisher: Tantor Audio Narrators: Tristan James Cassandra Myles Length: 5 hrs 31 min Source: Publisher

So my friend Deanna has been raving about a lot of reverse harem lately, a new trend/trope in the romance community, particularly with indie authors. It seems that most of these stories are written in the young adult and new adult age groups, but I wanted to give it a shot and see what all the hoopla is about. The Their Vampire Queen seemed liked a good and steamy place to start, with each book being a quick read of about novella length.

Shara Isador grew up not knowing what she was or anything about her heritage. All Shara knew was that she was in constant danger, and both of her parents died protecting her. But when two handsome strangers come to Shara's rescue one night in the middle of Arkansas, it begins an enlightening and awakening for Shara where she will learn her true nature, potential, and power.

ARC Review: The Farthest Edge by Kristen Ashley

Series:	Honey #2
Pub. Date:	June 6, 2017
Publisher:	St. Martin's Press
Length:	497 pages
Source:	NetGalley

I was one of the first to say that I wasn't sure about this new path for the Queen, Kristen Ashley. I didn't know how alpha subs would work, and femdomme is just not my kink. But, as a faithful fan, I was determined to give it a shot, and not just stop after the first book. Man - I am SO glad that I continued with the Honey series! With this second installment of the series, Kristen has found her groove and I felt like her voice was back after getting a bit lost in the first installment, The Deep End.

ARC Review: His Undeniable Secret by Shayla Black

Pub. Date:	Jan. 23, 2017
Publisher:	Self-Pub
Length:	45 pages
Source:	Author

Man... how to review such a short story. Let's try this... smut smut smut smut smuuuutttty smut smut. My smutty friends will jump right on this little story. It's hard to call it a story because, let's face it, there just wasn't a lot of meat to grab on to. Well, there was. But it wasn't the meat of the story. This was a super quick read, only about 15 minutes, that is perfect if you are looking for some inspiration before hitting the sheets.

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!

Website / Twitter / Twitter / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads

Breeding Series

Series Saturday Audiobook Review: Dead Ice by Laurell K. Hamilton

Dead Ice 
by Laurell K. Hamilton
Series:  Anita Blake #24
Pub. Date:  June 9, 2015
Publisher:  Penguin Audio
Narrator:  Kimberly Alexis
Length:  20 hrs 4 min
Format:  Audiobook
Source:  Audible


My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:


Anita Blake has the highest kill count of any vampire executioner in the country. She’s a U.S. Marshal who can raise zombies with the best of them. But ever since she and master vampire Jean-Claude went public with their engagement, all she is to anyone and everyone is Jean-Claude’s fiancée.

It’s wreaking havoc with her reputation as a hard ass—to some extent. Luckily, in professional circles, she’s still the go-to expert for zombie issues. And right now, the FBI is having one hell of a zombie issue.

Someone is producing zombie porn. Anita has seen her share of freaky undead fetishes, so this shouldn’t bother her. But the women being victimized aren’t just mindless, rotting corpses. Their souls are trapped behind their eyes, signaling voodoo of the blackest kind.

It’s the sort of case that can leave a mark on a person. And Anita’s own soul may not survive unscathed . . .

It's been a while since I initially read all of this series in one sitting, and going back to it makes me remember how much I liked it. I know that some people now complain about the gratuitous sex... but I still enjoy the series, the world-building, the ways the various powers works, and most of the individual characters. It may just be my smutty little heart, but I do hope that we will continue to get new books in the series, as they come out so infrequently that its not something that I think I will get tired of.

Let me start off with the title and cover... because I am not really sure how they relate to the story. I don't remember anything particularly "icy" happening here - there were no freezing powers or anything like that. Just another necromancer trapping souls and raising zombies. The antagonist in this story is related to a past villain, Dominga Salvador. His identity turned out to be very interesting and he was a super bad guy. But he didn't seem as much of a threat to Anita and gang than other villains have in the past. I think there was a bit less time spent on the plot conflict in this book because the brunt of the focus was on Anita's various relationship dramas.

Anita and Jean Claude are in the midst of wedding plans and, at the same time, Anita is planning a commitment ceremony among herself, Mikah and Nathaniel. However this is making some of the others in her bed petty and jealous, and the tigers are concerned that she still needs to fulfill the prophecy. Plus Asher is still acting like a spoiled brat, so he causes another line of drama. The bulk of the book is taken up dealing with these various dramas, and dealing with new powers that are continuing to develop and evolve with the main players. I happen to like the dynamic happening between all these love interests, and the characters are so unique and different personality-wise that its easy for me to recall them and what role they have played in the past (even when its been a couple years since I read the last book). I can't wait to see the actual wedding play out, and see what relationships solidify with regard to the commitment ceremony. But I do hope to see a bit more action in the next book, as I feel like Anita is at her best when facing threat's to their empire.

I listened to Dead Ice in audio, and the narrator did a fabulous job with the different voices, dialects and characters. I think I will continue the series in audio in the future as I just love hearing that "ma petite" in Jean Claude's french accent.

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Review: Captive, Mine by Natasha Knight and Trent Evans

Captive, Mine by Natasha Knight

My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

The day my father agreed to testify against Terrence Randall, one of the most ruthless drug traffickers in North America, was the day I became the target of the drug lord’s enraged vengeance. I was the one thing that stood in the way of Daddy’s testimony, and the one thing that could save Randall. The man would stop at nothing to get his hands on me. 

I was prepared for what was coming — as prepared as one could be when vanishing into the U.S. Marshal’s Witness Protection Program. 

I just wasn’t prepared for him. 

For ex-Navy SEAL turned mercenary Lake Freeman, escorting Lily Cross into the Witness Protection Program was just another job — until a better offer came along. Lake couldn’t have cared less about the life he’d been hired to protect. After all, she was a part of the very organization that had cost him so much already. 

At least he never expected to care. 

But when forced into a decision he never thought he’d have to make, the mission became one of survival for himself and his beautiful charge. Lake knew that in order to protect her, he’d need to bring the feisty and unpredictable Lily to heel — he couldn't keep her safe if he couldn't keep her under control. 

But that protective urge quickly turned into something else, something dark ... and his need to conquer, to claim, overrode all else. 

He would keep her safe. He would keep her protected. But he would make her his, as well. 

Now, all he had to do was figure out how to keep them both alive long enough to do it... 

Publisher's Warning: Intended for mature readers. 18 and over only! 

This is a MF BDSM romantic suspense. Themes include: graphic sexuality, pervasive D/s, exhibitionism, spanking, bondage, anal play and other BDSM activities. If such content might offend you, please do not purchase this book. 

I am a fan of dark romances and romantic suspense, but this story did not work for me. The story lacked depth, and there was little plot or character development.

There was not enough danger or suspense for this to be classified as a romantic suspense. We know they are on the run, but are they really? They are holed up in a cabin for most of the story, then them being "found" lasts for a few minutes before they are off and saying goodbye to one another.

And let's talk about what happened at the cabin. A lot of BDSM activity leaning very heavily toward the sadism side. I didn't buy Lake's reasons for Lily's training and punishment. Lake came across to me as a horrible person who liked to hurt and humiliate her. I almost abandoned the book when she was leashed and made to use the bathroom outside like a dog.

For a dark story to work, at least for me, there needs to be a strong emotional connection, or a complete redemption of the male character. The lack of character development killed in this regard. There was potential, we know Lake has a dead wife who he lost to drugs. But she was only briefly mentioned. The author could've done more delving into Lake's psyche, connected his dead wife to his need to punish Lily, or something. But we never really learn why Lake does what he does. It was a huge disappointment.

I did feel sorry for Lily, but I never connected to her. I only felt sorry for her pain and humiliation. This was a classic Stockholm story-line, without sufficient detail to make me understand why she fell for her captor.

At the end, I wish I would've stopped reading when she was crawling around on the leash. I was just hoping that SOMETHING was gonna happen to improve the story.

I would not recommend this book to those who are bothered by reading about sex with sadistic tendencies including, but not limited to, severe strappings, extreme humiliation, and anal punishment. If that's what floats your boat (and I don't judge) then you will probably enjoy this book much more than I did. I would recommend it to Tiffany Reisz fans. I would not recommend it if you look for an emotional connection in these books, similar to what we see in Aleatha Romig's dark romances.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Smutty Sunday: Mia's Books by Tabitha Rayne

Mia's Books by Tabitha Rayne
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Sultry Scale: 5 of 5 flames

Ghost lover or mortal—can Mia have both?

Mia has a big problem. She is in love with two people, and one of them happens to be a ghost. After a late night seduction in a deserted library, Mia brings home a haunted book. The book contains a ghost which instructs her to seduce strangers on its behalf. Mia falls in love with one of her conquests and finds herself in a romantic tangle. Can she keep both her lovers, or will she have to choose?

Content Warning: graphic sexual content, including m/f and f/f sexual interaction

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.  I don't usually read short stories because I like a lot of plot development with my books.  And its just not possible to pack a lot of details and plotting into a story that is 60-80 pages. So now that I am branching out, I am going to try to take these short stories in the spirit that they were written.  Or at least the purpose for which it appears (to me) that they were written.

So what is the purpose of Mia's Books?  Well, I would say, its to get your motor running.  Are you a shy spinster? A tired housewife?  Do you need to psych yourself up for the annual anniversary shag with the old ball and chain?  Well, pick up a copy of Mia's Books.  Its erotica with a paranormal bent.  What can you expect from this story?  Lots of things, but mainly SEX.  It's got self-love, shelf-love, illuminating penetration, ghostly groping, man-love, lady-love, and a paranormal menage.  There isn't a lot of space wasted on plot or character development, but there isn't a lot of room for that in one of these books.  So the next time you need help to feel a little randy, touch your shelf and find Mia's Books.

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