ARC Review: Sin and Ink by Naima Simone

Series:	Sweetest Taboo #1
Pub. Date:	Oct 15, 2018
Publisher:	Entangled
Length:	240 pgs
Source:	NetGalley

I was so excited about this new series by Naima Simone that I got super grumpy when outside obligations started interrupting my reading time. Seriously, I need to start marking off a couple hours of DO NOT DISTURB reading time on my calendar every other day. Especially for a hero this supercalafragilisticexpialadopeshit.

ARC Review: Dirty Sexy Inked by Carly Phillips and Erika Wilde

Dirty Sexy Inked 
by Carly Phillips
Series:  Dirty Sexy #2
Pub. Date:  April 5, 2016
Publisher:  Self-Pub
Pages:  168
Format:  eARC
Source:  Rock Star PR


My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

Breaking hearts is what wild and rebellious Mason Kincaid does best. Hit it and quit it is his motto, and with his bad boy reputation and tattoos, he doesn't lack for female companionship. Until one hot night with the one woman he swore he'd never touch becomes an all consuming addiction he can't kick. Katrina Sands has been his best friend for years, but now that he knows what she feels like, and tastes like, there is no going back to being just friends. Hot, dirty sex has never felt so good...or so right.

WooHoo. Much like Dirty Sexy Saint, Carly Phillips and Erika Wilde have produced another contemporary romance which made it past my increasingly hard-to-please self when it comes to contemporary romance. I am trying to get over the burn out, but its more miss than hit lately. So I am totally digging Carly and Erika as a writing duo.

Audiobook Review: Built by Jay Crownover

Built 
by Jay Crownover
Series:  Saints of Denver #1
Pub. Date:  Jan. 5, 2016
Publisher:  HarperAudio
Narrator:  Nicki D. Noir, Jay Crow
Length:  9 hrs 16 min
Format:  Audiobook
Source:  Audible
Challenges:  New to You (author)


My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

The first in the new SAINTS OF DENVER series from NYT bestselling author of the MARKED MEN series, Jay Crownover

Sometimes you have to tear everything down to build something new…

Sayer Cole is frozen inside. At least, that’s what it’s felt like for as long as she can remember. She’s yet to let anyone past her icy exterior – and the one guy she thinks might melt her heart couldn’t possibly be interested in someone so uptight.

Rough, hard and hot-as-hell, Zeb Fuller has rebuilt his life and his construction business since protecting his family sent him to jail all those years ago. His elegant client, Sayer, makes him feel like a Neanderthal in denim, but despite the many hints that he’s been dropping to get to know her better, she seems oblivious to his charms.

Just as things finally start to heat up, Zeb’s past comes back to haunt him and he needs Sayer’s professional help to right a wrong and to save more than himself. As these opposites dig in for the fight of their lives, fire and ice collide in an unstoppable explosion of steam… 

I started listening to this audiobook without realizing that its a series spinoff of Marked Men, which I have not read. Unfortunately, I think you do need to read that series first or you will not understand what is going on with some of these characters, particularly Rowdy, Salem and Poppy. There is a lot of character crossover from the previous series, so it would just give you a better working knowledge of who these people are and what they have been through.

Review: Keeping King by Anne Jolin

Keeping King 
by Anne Jolin
Series:  Rock Falls #4
Pub. Date:  Mar. 2, 2015
Publisher:  Self-Pub
Pages:  189
Format:  eBook
Source:  Amazon


My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:


Peyton Callaghan is a fighter, a survivor, a warrior. When it was kill or be killed, she didn’t hesitate. Now, she’s the only one left standing, haunted by the ghost of a dead man and plagued with the guilt of having taken another person’s life. The upheaval of her life to start over in Rock Falls has been rocky at best, her worst nightmares and wildest desires colliding with each other. Terror tortures her nightly, breeding fear inside her dreams, and in every waking moment, she fights against the lust that threatens to drown her.

Jayden King harbors secrets beneath his outward playboy demeanor. The women who warm his bed lay claim to nothing—you can’t lay claim to someone who doesn’t have a heart. His wit and charm are exquisite means of deflection and distraction from the turmoil roaring inside him. He’s hidden in plain sight, a mask of humor keeping the sadness at bay. The only real reflections of his soul are in the artwork he creates, pieces of him muraled on the skin of others. If tattoo artists could have a calling card, the etch of pain and suffering in each design would be his. Because when the lights go out and the women he’s satisfied have gone home, he’s alone with every fear he refuses to face.

After suffering from a brutal attack at the hands of her roommate’s stalker, Peyton is forced to live with the object of her affection. Without intention, she breathes love into his starved heart, and although the mere thought of that terrifies him, Jayden would burn the city down to keep her safe, causalities be damned.

Some people you have. Some people you hold.

She can have him. She can hold him. But can she keep King? Or is it impossible for Callaghan to keep something that was never really hers to begin with?

I read this whole series within about 24 hours. These were quick reads about a group of tattooed alpha males who seemingly all had maaaggic sticks (if you know what I mean). Anne Jolin writes some very unique alpha males in that they all have a healthy dose of vulnerability.

This book coincides with the ending of Breaking Bennett, where Peyton was attacked in her condo by Beth's creepy stalker dad. Peyton is a tortured heroine, which was eluded to in previous books with her nightmares and reserved personality. In this installment, we uncover Peyton's past and her reason for moving to Rock Falls. I liked her character, well, I have liked all the heroines in this series. She is a survivor, and I liked that she was willing to step out of the box and go after Jay. But I was missing a bit of a connection with this one, which I will explain below.

In previous books, Jay was the jokester of the group, always flirty and fun. He is an alpha male tattoo artist who provided the comic relief. However we now learn that his outward demeanor is hiding old wounds from a tragic event that happened when he was a teenager. Jay is totally different in this book - no more joking Jay. He is serious and vulnerable. Very vulnerable. There is alpha male ugly crying again like in Chasing Rhodes (but for different reasons obviously). I'm still not sure how I feel about weepy alpha males - they make me uncomfortable.

So there were quite a few purple passages in this one that took me out of the story, which is what caused the disconnect that I mentioned above. For example, this is our alpha male speaking to his intended in a conversation:

I refuse to live my life buried under the weight of mediocrity. I refuse to be adequately unremarkable in a world rich with awe-inspiring possibilities. I will take advantage of every breath and every moment I steal from the sun and borrow from the stars. The day I met you was the day the stillness in my heart shook, the hope in my chest waking, and with time, you've breathed love back into my soul.

While I don't always mind purple prose, these types of passages threw me out of the alpha male tattoo artist world. I just don't think people talk like this and, while it may be poetic and pretty, it seemed out of place in this type of book. I know it works for some people, but it didn't work for me in this instance. The series had a few of these purple passages in the last book, Breaking Bennett, but I was able to overlook them easier because I loved the hero so much. In this one, Jay did not grab me as strongly so I didn't have that laser focus and was looking around a bit.

I still love the series and am happy to have found this author. I am also looking forward to reading the next installment, Saving Steele, next year. There is a bit of a cliffhanger for Jackson's character at the end of this book and I am really excited to see where that is going.

View all my reviews

Rock Falls Series

My Review	My Review	My Review	My Review

Review: Choosing Henley by Anne Jolin

Choosing Henley 
by Anne Jolin
Series:  Rock Falls #2
Pub. Date:  Sept. 26, 2014
Publisher:  Self-Pub
Pages:  176
Format:  eBook
Source:  Amazon


My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

Lennon Montgomery is scared. Absolutely scared shitless of love. 

When the floor fell out from underneath her perfect childhood, it shattered her ability to trust. The one man in her life who was genetically programmed to love her left her. Since then, she’s allowed men into her bed and even into her life, but never into her heart. 

Until him. 

Jamison Henley has never wanted a woman for longer than it takes him to make a guitar. He’s content living his life and loving only three things: making guitars, cooking great food, and Martha, his black pit bull. He never chases women, and he’s never had to. 

Until her.

One night together changes everything. There’s no going back to the way it was before. 

She doesn’t want to want him, but she does. 

He knows he wants her, but he can’t have her. 

Will Montgomery take the leap of faith in choosing Henley? Or will her fear cripple their chance at a happily ever after? 

This was another great quick and steamy read from Anne Jolin. I am just devouring these books. Our feature couple in this installment of the Rock Falls series is Lennon Montgomery and Jamison Henley, both of whom we met in Chasing Rhodes.

Lennon is best friends with Hannah, and was roommates with Hannah and Beth. I didn't feel like we learned a whole lot about Lennon in the first book, she just seemed like a girl who didn't talk about her feelings much and didn't date anyone seriously. In Choosing Henley, we learn that Lennon is extremely jaded when it comes to relationships due a serious daddy issue she has from a super craptastic father. Let me tell ya, I was worried about Lennon. I was worried that she was going to be one of those heroines that kept pushing the hero away and ran away from him or would be one of those wishy washy heroines that annoy me. I am happy to report that she was not. Once Lennon decided to give it a shot, she truly did work at it. At one point I was so proud of her for NOT running, that gave her a big ol' goofy fist pump (in public). Awkward. Sometimes I forget where I am when I'm reading.

We knew a little more about Jamison (Jami) from the first book. He was good friends with Hannah, had a pittie named after Martha Stewart, and was a gourmet cook. He also took great care of Hannah when she needed help during an emotional situation. He makes guitars, has some kickass tattoos, and owns his own gorgeous log cabin. And when he decides he wants something (or someone as in Lennon's case), he is going all in until he gets what he wants. It's like a fairy tale wish list of the perfect man. Only, as Jami points out, the sex they have is too naughty for fairytales.

This was a solid romance, not too much drama and lots of steam. I do wish that it had been longer... I was kind of surprised when it ended because I thought I had 20% more book left (there was an excerpt at the end). I would have also liked to see karma work a little bit on Lennon's dad. That's just a consequence of the length, I love the writing, but I can always think of more more more because I'm greedy like that. ;)

View all my reviews

Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Rock Falls Series

My Review	My Review	Review Dec. 2015	Review Dec. 2015