Review: End of Day by Jewel E. Ann

End of Day 
by Jewel E. Ann
Series:  Jack & Jill #1
Pub. Date:  Aug. 17, 2015
Publisher:  Self-Pub
Pages:  424
Format:  eARC
Source:  NetGalley (and Kindle Unlimited)


My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in the sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life.

Four caskets. Two bodies.

Jessica and Jude Day witness their funeral and that of their parents a few yards away from mourning family and friends. Stripped of the only life they’ve ever known, the Days say goodbye to San Francisco forever.

Six months later, two thirty-year-old misfits with elite self-defense skills and penchants for alcohol, sex, and trouble arrive like an earthquake to Peaceful Woods, a retirement community in Omaha, Nebraska, that thrives on rules and gossip. Welcome home, Jackson and Jillian Knight.

Jackson celebrates his new beginning by embracing his job and wiping his cavalier past clean with a temporary oath of celibacy. But Jillian’s past is branded into her soul—the deaths, the insanity, Dr. Luke Jones, and the need to make her lovers bleed. Her chance for redemption comes in the form of a next door neighbor, one Senior Master Sergeant Monaghan. He’s sexy, dangerously alluring, and riddled with emotional issues from years of service. He’s also … So. Damn. Grumpy. 

Their mission is simple: Let go, start over, don't kill anyone, and pray that nobody wakes the dead.

**THIS BOOK CONTAINS EXPLICIT LANGUAGE AND SEXUAL CONTENT 18+ 

I honestly cannot say whether I liked this book or not. I didn't dislike it. But I'm sitting here struggling to put into words what the book was actually about. I don't know. I'm confused. I'm conflicted. I kept waiting for the plot to climax or break or something, and it just didn't happen. I don't know why Jillian and Jackson are basically in hiding. I don't know anything. I'm assuming this all comes out eventually in the series... but I'm a little disappointed that I'm 424 pages in and I feel like I haven't scratched the surface. I would have liked to get thrown a bone somewhere in there.

Indie Wednesday Spotlight Review: Breaking Bennett by Anne Jolin

Breaking Bennett 
by Anne Jolin
Series:  Rock Falls #3
Pub. Date:  Oct. 29, 2014
Publisher:  Self-Pub
Pages:  186
Format:  eBook
Source:  Amazon


My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

Beth Rhodes has always had a game plan. Go to college. Get the perfect job. Get the perfect guy. Get the happily ever after she's always wanted. It is just her luck that everything falls into its precise place in her life. At least it seems that way until her blueprints go up in smoke. She loses the job she loves and her prince charming is turning out to be the villain of her fairytale instead. With failures and mistakes piling up on her doorstep, she knows something has to give—or she could very well end up paying for those mistakes with her life.

Braxton Bennett is lethal, both in the courtroom and in the ring. Two sides of him constantly wage war against one another, and to keep the internal bloodshed at bay, he allows himself to indulge in his violent vice. Suit by day and brawler by night aren’t easy dual lives to manage for a man of his status. The only way to do so is by following a strict set of rules—rules he won’t break for anyone. But what if he already has? 

On a summer night in the depths of the city, a chance encounter will turn both of their perfectly constructed worlds upside down. 

Will they battle together against all odds to break Bennett’s rules? Or will Rhodes tap out to save herself before the fight is over?

So I think this is going to be my favorite book of the series. I just loved loved loved the hero in this book, Braxton Bennett. Braxton is many things. Dark. Edgy. Damaged. Tattooed. Rich. Alpha. Male. Attorney. One of these things is not like the other. Can you tell which? Yep, its that Attorney label. Let me tell you, I have been an attorney for a while now and I worked in the legal field for 8 years before I became a lawyer. I have never - NEVER - ever met an attorney like this. Seriously, it was my lament of law school. There were no good looking law students; most of the guys were weenie whiney manboys. And all the law firms I have encountered are divided into the older partners, or the absolutely average looking. So Braxton Bennet is my ultimate fantasy... if I could only find a real one. Le sigh.

I was so absorbed in Braxton that I can't even remember the heroine's name. Oh yeah, it's Beth (I had to look it up). Beth is Hannah's older sister and at the end of Choosing Henley, we discovered she was dating a major douche canoe. The douche has turned dangerous in this book, which results in her being rescued by the Cinderella Man. I liked Beth as much as you can like a girl who has something that you want. But that's about all that I have to say about her.

This book is one of insta-love... but I think that was necessary to work within the confines of the length because there was a plot conflict along with the romance, and that had to be developed and explored as well. I like that we got some suspense and bad guys in this book, it gave us something fresh and different from the earlier books in the series. I continue to love all of the secondary characters... but I am a sucker for that tattooed bad boy type so I would be right at home in this group of friends and family. (If I ever find out Anne based these guys on real people, I am moving to Canada.)

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About the Author

Hey y’all, 

I was born and raised in Ladner, a small farm town just outside Vancouver, Canada. I grew up riding horses, shooting guns, and driving in trucks. 

I never expected to be an author. A massage therapist? Yes. Take over the family construction company? Yes. But an author? No. Writing was something that snuck up on me and rooted itself into my life. It was beautiful to discover that love, and I’m truly grateful to say I’ve found my passion. 

Since I’ve always been a creative person, it feels amazing to harness all of that energy and use it to tell a story I love. I enjoy incorporating bits of my real life into the stories I write. What parts are true? Hah. I’ll never tell—what would be the fun in that? 

If I could leave y’all with one thing, it’s that life’s far too short to not live it out loud. Drown in your passions, hold on tight to the things that inspire you, and chase your dreams relentlessly. I can promise you without a doubt that you won’t regret it. I know I don’t. 

Mad love, 

Anne Jolin 

xx

Social media links:

Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter | Website | Instagram | Amazon

Rock Falls Series

My Review	My Review	My Review	Review Dec. 2015

Indie Wednesday Spotlight and Review! Leather & Lace by Samantha Cole

This is the inaugural edition of the new feature here on Bambi Unbridled - Indie Wednesday!!!  This feature will take place the third Wednesday of every month and will feature a review and spotlight for an indie author. For our first edition, I am happy to present you with indie author, Samantha Cole!

Samantha Cole is a retired policewoman and former paramedic who has started her third career as an author. She has lived in the suburbs of NYC all her life. Ms. Cole is planning on becoming a 'snow-bird' soon and splitting my time between New York and Florida. Her two dogs, Jinx and Bella, keep her company and remind their 'mom' to take a break from writing every once in a while and go for a walk, of course with them in tow.

Ms. Cole has been an avid reader all her life and was often found with one or two books in her hand as a child. After being gifted with a stack of romance novels from her grandmother, Samantha's love of the genre began in her teens and blossomed further in adulthood. She is continuing to work on the Trident Security series and also has a few stand-alone books planned as well. 

Website / Facebook / Twitter

Leather & Lace 
by Samantha Cole
Series:  Trident Security #1
Pub. Date:  April 21, 2015
Publisher:  Self-Pub
Pages:  271
Format:  eARC
Source:  Author / Kindle Unlimited


My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

Kristen Anders is starting her life over again after divorcing her cheating husband. An author of several 'vanilla' romance novels, she spiced up her latest one involving BDSM and it became a best-seller. Now she's researching the subject for her follow-up book and manages to get a tour of the elite, private sex club, The Covenant, and runs into the one person she never expected to see there. 

Devon "Devil Dog" Sawyer is intrigued by a cute brunette he meets at a friend's Irish pub and does something he hasn't done in over twelve years. He asks her out on a date. While it might seem strange to most, Devon's only relationships since he was twenty-four have started and ended in the same place–a BDSM club.

What was supposed to be a single weekend of mutual pleasure and dirty sex, turns into something more. But while they fight their growing connection, a killer has Devon in his sights and Kristen may end up as collateral damage. Will they survive with their lives and hearts intact? 

This book contains adult content.

Teaser by Samantha Cole

Phew, please pardon me while I fan myself.  The Sexy Six-Pack indeed!  Who's the Sexy Six-Pack?  I will tell you, but don't get your hopes up because they are mine, all mine!  Well, I might let you have the Six Pack if I can have Carter, the super spy black ops guy.  The Sexy Six-Pack, deemed so by our heroine, are a group of former Navy SEALs who have come home from the service and started Trident Security... and another little side business.  Just a small one - an uber private club where adults go to have, er, adult fun!  The story is set in Tampa, Florida... and where the heck was this place (or these men) when I lived in Tampa????  I may have stayed if I could have met a Devon or Ian or Carter sneaking around the shadows of the city.

The heroine in this story is Kristen Anders.  She is an author who has written a number of vanilla romances, one BDSM romance, and is working on her second BDSM romance. She also does beta reading for some extra money.  It was lots of fun to get into the reading/writing world with this heroine!  Kristen is fresh out of a marriage to a one of those selfish-in-the-sack asshats who made it seem like their problems were her fault... so she wasn't particularly looking for a romantic entanglement as soon as she moved to Tampa.  However, Kristen is struck mute at the site of the Sexy Six Pack when she walks into a pub for some lunch and writing time with her laptop.  She is particularly interested in Devon who is the embodiment of Master Xavier, the hero of the book she is writing.  

Devon was an uber-hot alpha male dom tough guy.  He was also tall with dark hair, electric eyes, and a body as chiseled as a marble statue.  (Stand-by, I had to fan myself for a minute while thinking about him.)  How fortuitous for Kristen to have met Devon, the owner of a sex club, just when she needs to do more research into BDSM for her next book.  The pair falls into a steamy and salacious D/s relationship that fogged up my Kindle screen.

In the midst of this relationship, the former SEAL team gets targeted by an assassin and puts them all in danger.  The guys have to figure out who is behind the plot while trying to keep everyone safe.  I enjoyed the suspense plot just as much as the sexytime... so that is always a good sign.

Samantha sent me this book for free in exchange for an honest review.  I have to admit that I had not heard of her before... but that is one reason that I decided to start this Indie Wednesday feature.  How would we ever find out about these talented authors if people don't help spread the word!  So thanks to Samantha for sending me this book... please write one for Carter!  And I think his leading female should be a spunky attorney named Jennifer! ;)  

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Trident Security Series