Monthly Archives: January 2014

ARC Review: Layers Peeled (Layers Trilogy #2) by Lacey Silks

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Title: Layers Peeled
Author: Lacey Silks
Publisher/Year: MyLit Publishing 1/13/14
Length:  189 pages
Series:  Layers Trilogy #2

Overview

New life binds them,
Past ghosts haunt her,
Fresh secrets distract him,
…and history repeats itself.

Allie, a rookie cop hired and desired by a private investigator, is about to knock the wind out of Tristan with the biggest news of her life… … right after the announcement that he fired her sinks in.

Tristan, the owner of Cross Enterprises, has a few surprises for Allie as well. And she won’t see them coming.

While the couple tries to deal with their predicament and growing romance, ghosts from Allie’s past haunt her, slowly calculating the timing of their return.

With new assignments distracting Tristan, fate has stacked a threat against them. Can Allie and Tristan peel away their protective layers for long enough to see the danger brewing at their doorstep? If they don’t work together, trusting and sharing information, it may be too late.

And history may repeat itself.

My Thoughts

I loved the cliffhanger that we got from book 1 – i mean, really – Allie was set to reveal something game changing to Tristan, and he utters 2 words ‘You’re Fired’.  Allie’s life came to a crashing halt, and she didn’t know what to make of things

Then we pick up in book 2 with the same moment in time, Allie’s reeling since she was just about to tell Tristan that she’s pregnant, and doesn’t know what to do there.  What she doesn’t know and quickly learns though is that yes she’s fired,…..but from her current position and Tristan’s set up a new foundation for her and Laura to head up to rescue the kidnapped woman.  Amazing right?  At that same time, Tristan reaches for the box that Allie brought with her with the booties in it, and when Tristan realizes that she’s preggo, Allie’s afraid that things will end abruptly since he doesn’t seem like the type to want to be tied down.  well…she’s wrong!  He’s thrilled….so happy moments ensue, yet these may be the few ones in this story.

What we get in this 2nd and somewhat final yet not final installment (cause it is a trilogy i think) is a roller coaster.  We have a few interesting things going on here.

1) Allie and Laura are hot on the trail of trying to rescue women, with one girl in particular resonating more…Marissa.  The girl that was in the same auction as Allie, and who looks like she could be Allie’s sister.  This plot line in particular kept me guessing.  i mean, why keep mentioning that she could be Allie’s sister…right?  it’s just odd- but and interesting twist towards the end for sure.  The other interesting twist with this story is that you don’t know who the ‘ghost buyer’ is that bought her, and while i did have my suspicions (which were confirmed), i wasn’t 100% sure and that was fun.

2) Allie and Tristan’s relationship wasn’t certain in some sentiments.  while on just about every other page of this book they were having amazing sex and making me all hot and bothered, there wasn’t any certainty in what their relationship was going to be.  It seemed like everyone was pushing them to do things that weren’t ever in Allie’s cards before, and what Tristan didn’t seem ready for.  It made for a nice bit of diversity here.

3) David Wright.  i don’t know about any of you, but i wasn’t sure that he was out of everyone’s hair after book 1 – i mean, we never saw him die or put in jail, so i had a feeling that he was going to come back, and boy does he.

So, the confusing thing that i have to call out, which i know that Ms. Silks addresses in her notes after the story is that there’s a 4 month gap in the story – kind of like a fast forward.  IT’s like we learn a lot of information very quickly in the first few lines of the skip ahead and i kept wondering if i missed something.  The good news is that it sounds like we’ll find all the detail out in the next book from Kendra’s POV.

Anyhow, I really enjoyed this series so far, and i hope that the novella that i have on Gabe and the next book from Kendra will keep in line with the quality that we’ve gotten so far.  There’s nothing better than a story that has such passion and chemistry that you know it’s inappropriate for reading on a commute.  This book is that – you can’t get more than a page without the happy couple having trouble keeping their hands off each other – which is GREAT.

Enjoy!

ARC Review: Wanted (Most Wanted #1) by J Kenner

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Title: Wanted
Author: J Kenner
Publisher/Year: Random House Publishing 1/7/14
Length:  352 pages
Series:  Most Wanted #1

Overview

He is everything I crave, all I desperately want—and he is everything I can’t have.
 
Evan Black embodies my every fantasy. He is brilliant, fierce, and devastatingly handsome. But he is also headstrong, dangerous, and burdened with secrets.

My family warned me to stay away, that I could never handle Evan’s dark dealings or scarred past. Maybe I should have listened. Maybe I should have run. But our desire is undeniable, and some temptations you just can’t fight.

And from the moment we touch—the passion between us consuming us both—I know that I will never be the same.

My Thoughts

Well, the first thing that i can say is that J Kenner certainly didn’t disappoint in this new series – and i think that my expectations coming out of the Stark Trilogy into this one have been met and possibly exceeded.  The plot, the heat, the backstory – i think that there’s something really good here.

There’s nothing better than one of those stories about the younger girl who meets the main domineering sexy male when she’s too young and out of her league, forms a crush and is then left wanting.  Of course, that older man exudes such raw sex appeal that she’s haunted by it, but has to move on.

Well, here we meet Angelina, (angie or prior to that Lina) when she’s now about 24, at the funeral of her uncle who has been somewhat of a father figure to her since the death of her sister 8 years prior.  Angie comes from a family that’s well off, and political, her father being tapped possibly as the next VP candidate.  All that wrapped into the guilt that she carries from the death of her sister, well that means that she has to make a different personality and life for herself.

In comes Evan, the man that she’s been lusting after for a few years ,and well, he’s something to really lust after.  He’s tall, powerful, and while he’s a successful and well known businessman, he’s also a bad boy, which is right up Angie’s alley.  although she has a boyfriend, who’s an FBI agent.  (meaning that we know that something’s going to happen that’s a bit rough around the edges right?)

So, fast forward not very far, and Angie decides that with everything going on, Kevin isn’t what she needs, she leaves him and ends up with Evan, which seems like an answer to her prayers.  He makes her feel like everything is lighter, he controls her in a way that she needs, that’s not really self deprecating and harmful, and that’s ideal for her given her true nature.

This story takes us on the journey of this couple, when we know that there’s an expiration date to things (3 weeks in the future since Angie’s taking a job in DC), and we want to see where things go with them.  The question is about power struggle, both with Evan/Angie and Kevin and everyone else.  What’s the angle that he’s going to work with the couple, and is going to try to bring everyone down?

What’s even nicer about this story is that you know where the next 2 installments of the series will take us.  Cole and Tyler, Evan’s best friends and partners in business and crime so to speak.  they have their own air of sexuality and power that means that we’ll get something great out of their stories too.  and it would be great to see Angie’s friend Kat get in on the action since we know that she’s lusting after one of those guys.

Suffice it to say, i was hooked in the first few chapters.  It was hot, it was sexy and it really shows that J Kenner knows how to write in this genre.  I can’t wait to get my hands on Heated, the next book in the series, and see who’s hands get on whom.

enjoy!

2014 Books: Coming Soon

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As always, I happily default to Goodreads when i’m looking to compile a list of the ‘to read’ books for the coming year, and THANK GOODNESS they have listopia, otherwise i’d be left to my own devices to compile lists.

https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/2014-release-date

https://www.goodreads.com/list/tag/2014

All in all, a lot of great continuations of series that i love and adore, and a few new ones for me to get into.  Which books are you looking most forward to?  for me, here are just a few:

1)  The One by Kiera Cass (The Selection Trilogy #3):  Due out 5/6/14 (totally wish i could get my hands on it sooner!!!)

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2) Three by Kristen Simmons (Article 5 #3):  Due out 2/11/14

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3) Aftershock (Afterburn & Aftershock) by Sylvia Day:  Due out 3/11/14

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4)  Slow Seduction (Struck by Lightning #3) by Cecilia Tan:  Due out 8/26/14

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ARC Review: Slow Seduction (Struck by Lightning #2) by Cecilia Tan

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Title: Slow Seduction
Author: Cecilia Tan
Publisher/Year: Grand Central Publishing 1/28/14
Length:  272 pages
Series:  Struck by Lightning #2

Overview

Unforgettable passion . . .

Two months have passed since Karina’s painful departure from James, the mysterious lover who awakened her darkest desires, and she’ll do anything-anything-to locate him and win him back. Her search takes her to London, where she finds herself immersed in the world of fine art and forbidden pleasures. And soon, Karina meets another enigmatic man who promises to help her find James . . . for a price.

Unexpected pleasure . . .

Damon George is rich, gorgeous, and a member of a secret society that caters to the sensual thrills of the wealthy and powerful. Though Karina insists her heart will always belong to James, Damon is determined to have her, body and soul. By the time she finds James, Karina has been “trained” to please another. Will James reject her again . . . or find her more irresistible than ever?

My Thoughts

I had to re-read Slow Surrender so that I could refresh myself on this exciting and erotic game that James was playing with Karina, and boy was I happy that i did.  Where we left off with this couple is upon James flight from Karina after the first ‘society’ party that they had attended together, where they not only ‘consummated’ their relationship but Karina ‘forced’ James to reveal his full name and therefore his identity that he has been working SO hard to hide all this time.  Once that’s done, he up and leaves her at the party and she doesn’t hear from him again.

Where Slow Seduction picks up is a few months in the future where Karina has just taken a summer job at the Tate Britain through the connection that she made via James with Martindale who is the curator there.  Karina has the opportunity to be a guide through the pre-Raphaelite exhibit so that’s something to do until she finds out if she’ll be allowed to graduate (once the nonsense with Renault settles hopefully).  The other reason that she’s taken this job too is that she’s heard through the grapevine that James is in England and she’s trying to locate him and see what went wrong.

The path that this 2nd installment takes us is the journey of Karina searching for her love since she won’t give up hope that they can be together, and the people that cross her path in that journey are quite interesting.

Through her roommate Becky, she meets Paulina and Michel who put her up in their home in exchange for help in renovating and opening their own gallery.  There are interesting connections of this couple to others in the story as we learn throughout.

We also meet Damon George who in his own way is very much like James and is even a member of the London branch of the same society that James is, and Karina some how hopes that through the club she can find him, so she builds that relationship with Damon as a means to find him.  Of course though, we know that things aren’t quite that simple, and Damon has plans of his own, and intentions of his own, and plans to make Karina his if he can manage it.

So, we’re taking on a search and rescue excursion here that’s a great plot line, and peppered in with steamy sceneing between Karina and Damon and he works to train her.  It’s yet another introduction into the world of BDSM for her, which we saw in book 1, but certainly in more depth in this 2nd book.

I’m really pleased with this bridge in the series.  I think that we get everything that we were expecting and a little bit more with the way that it ended up.  There were a few unexpecteds that showed up towards the end, and that’s the lead in to what i hope will be an even better 3rd and final installment.  Now if only i didn’t have to wait so long for it!  I hope you guys enjoy!