Category Archives: BDSM

Review: Black Forever (Obsidian #4) by Victoria Quinn

Posted on by
Reply

Title: Black Forever
Author:  Victoria Quinn
Publisher/Year:  Victoria Quinn 6/13/17
Length:  193 Pages
Series:  Obsidian #4

Overview

The second the whip was placed in my hand, I snapped.
 

I couldn’t turn away.

I needed this.

The man I fought for so long has returned, more feral than before. 

Will Rome still love me?
 

Or will she leave?

My Thoughts

As we go into this fourth and final installment, i have to admit that i really don’t like Calloway anymore. I think that he’s weak and i think that he’s disrespectful. I’m accustomed to our leading characters finding a bit of resentment towards the other when one has to give up more than the other, but in this instance, while Cal has obviously walked away from much more than Rome, he also succumbs to temptation in a way that’s just not ok to me. He should have just walked away from Rome, and while i understand why he didn’t – it doesn’t make me like him.

At the same time, we have Rome, someone who’s clearly keeping some secrets from Cal, won’t budget AT ALL in trying to truly understand why he is the way that he is and understand his needs, but she’s also so in love with him that she trusts everything and assumes his loyalty is real.

Shocker right? i mean, we knew that things would crash and burn, and Isabella, the sub that really doesn’t want to let go of Cal threatened to out him and Cal let her have her way. Every time we think that we’re making progress with this couple, where we think that they have suffered enough that they will come to terms with what the other needs and make it right, something upturns the apple cart and it’s all for nothing.

The same exact roller coaster that we were on last book is the ride we’re on here. We’re happy until we’re not. We have intense passion and sexual chemistry until we don’t. We have deceit and a lack of compromise and pain and that doesn’t make for a good story.

I think there’s no hope for this couple and much of the book i don’t want there to be a couple. Cal wants his cake and to eat it too, he wants to claim that he’ll always be there for Rome and protect her from the likes of Hank, but he’s the reason that she’s gone again and potentially at risk.

Rome isn’t strong enough to even try to live without Cal at times, and she barely goes through the motions to survive, even with the endless support of Christopher. It’s sad to watch such strong characters turn into mush.

It’s only when Isabella and Hank come back and completely inopportune times that we see the tides turn, and what happens has life or death implications to everyone.

The way this story ends is the closure that we need – although it doesn’t really give us the end to the story for everyone as we had hoped. I wanted to see everyone happy. I wanted to see Theresa find her memory and Christopher get his happy ending. We get a tease but nothing concrete, so perhaps i need to dig a bit and see if there’s another story out there that follows up after. So, on that note, i’m sad to see this story go, but i’m happy that i got to spend a few days with these characters. Enjoy!

Review: Black Promise (Obsidian #3) by Victoria Quinn

Posted on by
Reply

Title: Black Promise
Author:  Victoria Quinn
Publisher/Year:  Victoria Quinn 6/6/17
Length:  213 Pages
Series:  Obsidian #3

Overview

I gave up everything for Rome.

The one woman I couldn’t live without.But could I keep my promise and turn my back on everything?Could I really forsake being a Dom?

Or will I pull her into the darkness with me anyway?

My Thoughts

This has been quite the emotional roller coaster between this couple and i don’t know where we’re going to end up, and i have a feeling that we’re going to spin cycle some more with them.

We spent time being insanely happy with this couple, and then suffering through massive depression when things seemed so grim. Then we turn a corner and it seems as though there’s a common ground that we can rest our laurels on, but we quickly learn that perhaps thats not even enough.

Calloway has his needs and if we know anything about people, it’s that you can only compromise so much before you start feeling too much resentment. Feeling as though you have given way more than the other person for what you felt was something that you mutually wanted but realize that you were wrong. Rome makes her needs and desires clear but she’s so unwilling to budge, and with all the secrets that we KNOW she’s hiding, there has to be a reason why. The question though is whether we will ever really find out the motivation and driving forces here.

The path that this installment goes on is one that takes us through the evolution of the relationship that these two share. Watching how their lives start to mesh into one, and then watch how this as a result amplifies how different they are.

There’s also the sub-story (no pun intended there) of Hank – the DA who abused Rome and is stalking her. I honestly don’t know how that one is going to play out. There’s not much that he fears and he’s apparently got access everywhere so i think that he’s still a wild card, even with the protection of Cal.

Add to that story Cal and Jackson’s mom. She’s still in a state where she doesn’t remember things from day to day and it’s painful for everyone to cope. There was one moment where it seemed like they had a breakthrough with Rome, but then nothing. I feel like something will trigger her to remember them but i’m not sure yet what that will be.

Lastly, there’s the slow build of Christopher in this story and how he wants to change how he lives his life now that Rome isn’t with him so much. He’s becoming a mature guy now and we’ll see how that plays out.

Where we end up in this third book is watching our lovebirds really enjoy the chemistry and passion that they have but also at the same time watching Cal’s compromise eat at him and make him into a man that he doesn’t recognize. He has needs and we know that there’s only so much that you can tamp down before it’s too much. We’re at that point and the top is about to blow and i think we can thank Jackson for that. I’m almost afraid to see what happens in book 4 because of this and i can only hope that all the secrets are put out there on the table so that Cal and Rome can find happiness. Enjoy!

Review: No White Knight (Secrets of Stone #8) by Angel Payne and Victoria Blue

Posted on by
Reply

Title: No White Knight
Author:  Angel Payne & Victoria Blue
Publisher/Year:  Waterhouse Press 10/16/18
Length:  235 Pages
Series:  Secrets of Stone #8

Overview

The quest…

I’m Maclain Stone, and Taylor Mathews is my obsession, my reason to be a better human. Is that even possible? For her, I’ll try. Years of living in the fast lane—literally and figuratively—are catching up with me, as I fight to shift gears and win the right to commit to this incredible woman who has tumbled into my life.

The fight…

I’m ready for change, but is she? So far, she’s rejected every offer I’ve made and shut every door in my face. If she can’t admit her feelings to herself, how can she commit to me?

The fall…

She’s so close to showing me everything she is. I can feel her need in the fire of her touch, taste it in the connection of our kisses, and glimpse her surrender in the intensity of our passion. Yet I want more. But I can’t be her white knight until she admits she needs saving.

My Thoughts

I think that we’ve finally gotten to the last main supporting character (if that’s a thing) with Taylor’s story. We have known her to be the firecracker of the girls group, the one who’s strong and feisty because she’s hiding from something. We met her match in the last installment in Dr Stone, Mac – when he was saving Fletcher’s life. Seeing how these two dance around reality in this eighth book to the series is intense on so many different levels.

What i’ll start with here is that Taylor is fifty shades of messed up and she’s lucky enough to have found a man who’s strong, powerful, stable and who wants to be there for her, yet that’s something that she’s not willing to allow. She keeps him and all other people at arms length because it’s safe, but she doesn’t need safe.

There’s a new level of intimacy in this installment that we haven’t seen before and it makes this couple’s dynamic so unique to the others. Where we know that Margaux and Michel liked to have a dominant aspect to things, we really see that come to a head here with Mac because that’s his jam. It’s light BDSM but it’s still there and shockingly, it’s exactly the flavor that Taylor needs.

The carnival ride that we’re on here is like the Gravatron – the one that spins around and around pulling you to the outside as a means to control you but as soon as it stops, you have no idea which way is up. That’s what we have here. Every time Mac starts to break through Taylor’s walls, they get thrown around and go right back up making any forward progress almost impossible. When he tells her exactly how he feels about her, she runs, brushes it off and minimizes things as her defense mechanism. He realizes that he’s not enough until she determines that she’s enough for herself and after a series of unfortunate events, that’s where they come to rest.

I”m left wondering what will have to happen to make this relationship work. Taylor is terrified of relationships because of how she was raised, yet that’s not an excuse anymore as she’s established herself as strong and powerful. Mac on the other hand though can only fight so hard for something that’s impossible and we see what that means. the last page – we see something come to life that means the story’s trajectory will change and we don’t yet know what it means for this pair. So….that means i MUST find the next book which i think may be the last in the series. Enjoy!

Review: Boss Man (Boss #2) by Victoria Quinn

Posted on by
Reply

Title: Boss Man
Author:  Victoria Quinn
Publisher/Year:  Createspace Publishing 2/6/18
Length:  179 pages
Series:  Boss #2

Overview

I’ve never made a compromise before.

But I made an exception for Diesel Hunt.

Because he was all man. Because he was everything I needed. Because he would make it worth my while.

Now I’m calling the shots. I’m the one in control. No matter how much I hurt him, he asks for more.

All I can think about is when my turns arrives.

When I’m the one on my knees, wrists bound. 

Completely powerless to this man.

Diesel Hunt…the most powerful man in the world.

My Thoughts

We’re getting in deeper and deeper with this couple, and not just the to the crux of what makes them work together (or not as the case may be) but to better understand what makes them tick, what has shaped them into the person that both Tatum and Deisel are, and we can perhaps understand why this story has to be so complex and intense.

In the first installment, we met each of the billionaires separately, seeing how they win in their world, and how they both seem to want the same thing just not in the same way. When Tatum laid her cards down, Hunt wasn’t willing to give her what she needed, partially because he didn’t believe in giving up all control ever but partially because he felt that she needed to be pushed to a comprise (thank you Thorn for that information).

So when the came to an impasse in book 1, we were left wondering what it would mean for the future. In this second installment, we find ourselves coming to terms with what needs to be mandated in order for each to be comfortable and what comes of this is one of the steamiest stories ever. We see the kink come out that drives Tatum’s life everyday, and how ironically it turns Hunt on more and more.

while we’re playing voyeur and witness to the development of their relationship, friendship, lover situation, we also get to see some of the layers of each as an individual get peeled off. There’s so much more to each of these main characters’ back story that I knew if i gave them time we start to get there.

In this book, we learn more about Hunt than we do about Tatum, but the glimpse that we have of Tatum is enough to quench our thirst right now. We learn of Hunt’s relationship with his family and how it became what it is, we learn about why he has these fears for what Tatum does, and we learn that he’s not just a kind and generous man, but he’s loyal to a fault and supportive to a T.

On the flip side, we were teased with information on Tatum’s past, but we still don’t know what it means. We know that she doesn’t love anyone now and fears love because of a past relationship (information that we got from Hunt’s friend) but we don’t know the story. We see that it’s far more complex and there’s true fear and anxiety about it that keeps Tatum from opening up, and i can’t wait to see what that means. We also at the same time get a better understanding of Thorn and Tatum’s relationship, but personally i think that there’s something else there that we’ll hopefully learn soon that will really change the direction of this story.

So what we’ve come to enjoy here are tradeoffs with power, and the power struggle that results. We see that their chemistry is so hot that they actually don’t need to rely on the kinks that Tatum has relied on for so long, and that’s enough to make them all take pause. We’re left on a cliff when the power and authority now changes hands and the game is entirely new for Tatum. All Bets are OFF and we really don’t know what this will mean for the future. So, happily i can say that i have book 3 in my hands and i’m off to read it. Enjoy!

Review: Buttons & Hate (Buttons #2) by Penelope Sky

Posted on by
Reply

Title: Buttons & Hate
Author:  Penelope Sky
Publisher/Year:  Createspace Publishing 2/7/17
Length:  187 pages
Series:  Buttons #2

Overview

I’m working off my buttons.

But I’m also giving them away.

The more I fall for Crow, the more I want him to do the things that I want. Dinners, dates, and evenings at the beach.

Everything comes at a price, and quickly the hoard of buttons I worked hard to earn are depleted. 
 

Will this go back and forth forever? Or will someone run out of their buttons first?

My Thoughts

This intense story continues down the same path that we saw throughout the first book. Pearl is now in a place where she knows what betrayal truly is, and her faith and trust in anyone is now gone. Once Crow revealed that Jacob was the reason that she was sold into slavery, she lost all will to try to get back to America because she knew that there was no one there waiting for her.

What that means is that we have a girl with a broken spirit, who doesn’t want to be where she is, yet who has no where else to go. This story line takes a turn for Crow though because it forces him to let his wall down a bit and perhaps to thaw. The challenge though is that every time he becomes a bit more human, we see that it costs him a bit of his soul and he’s not willing to let that happen. He closes up faster than he opened and Pearl is left to deal with that.

There’s still the jar of buttons that is the focal point of all that they do – Pearl does what she can to earn more and more, even willing to participate in things that she had no interest in before because of the price tag, and at the same time, Crow isn’t happy that her jar is almost full, and pushes to get her to pay for information that she wants from him.

Part of the motivation of the jar is the ability to really build on the intense chemistry that these two have. Kudos to our author Pene Sky for being able to give us such hot imagery that you know that what they have is really and it makes you a bit jealous. There’s a balanced mix of romance when forced, and BDSM esque stuff since they do love a power struggle.

What happens as a result is that we see a real relationship start to form. Even though Pearl has made it clear that she trusts no one and has no desire to love again, and we know that Crow isn’t capable of love, we see the compromises that they make to one another and it grows into a deeper connection. Pearl forces Crows hand towards being romantic and they see that there’s far more in common than is different. Is there a chance for happiness?

Well, no, because Cane isn’t having any of this, and he breaks into Crows house and beats Pearl to a second of her life. That is the pivotal moment in this story for all that happens in the back half. Pearl now lives in fear, Crown spends his breaths hating Cane, and Cane is trying to get revenge for Vanessa and feels vindicated a bit. At the same time though, everyone knows that Bones is still gunning to get Pearl back, and well, she’s not safe anywhere.

This takes the last few chapters for us on a roller coaster of even bigger proportions. The relationship that Pearl and Crow developed changes its dynamic past repair, the same goes for Crow and Cane. There’s no hope or good feeling between anyone to be frank, and it’s a shame to see how it all came to be. It’s the perfect moment though for Bones to make his move though no? We’re left with a break in, a kidnapping and even darker emotions than ever. The decision has to be made whether it’s even possible to continue to fight, when we know that fighting gets us no where. I guess that’s what we’ll find out in book 3. so enjoy!

Review & Giveaway: Mistress Comes First by Ava Sterling

Posted on by
Reply

Title: Mistress Comes First
Author:  Ava Sterling
Publisher/Year:  Red Lace Publishing 4/28/17
Length:   18 Pages

Overview

When Levi wears his collar, the rest of the world gets a little fuzzy around the edges.

For their six month anniversary, Levi gives his girlfriend, Raleigh, a key to his apartment. Since then, she’s left her soap in his shower and some extra clothes in the back of his dresser. She also added one more item, but it’s one Levi wears…his collar.

Ever since their BDSM lifestyle started, Levi has found a new purpose: pleasing his Mistress. She always took care of him, but most importantly, she always showed him exactly how to please her. 

One night, Raleigh gives her submissive a task before coming home with a treat.

My Thoughts

I enjoy a good BDSM story, especially when the dominant is a Woman, so you can only imagine why i was drawn to this novella initially. We have Raleigh who’s the Mistress in this story – the one who calls all the shots, really driving the story forward. Levi is her pet, and the one who’s completely submissive to her every wish or desire.

Levi understood his part to play in their relationship and knew that there were repercussions if he didn’t obey her requests. The punishments at times were even better than getting what he was originally supposed to receive, but that’s not always the point of these encounters now is it?

To those who really are embedded and knowledgeable of the BDSM lifestyle, there area few tokens that we are grounded in here. The titles, and the notion that Raleigh requires Levi to endear her a certain way. That’s a means of showing respect. Then there’s the notion that he wears a collar for her. That’s not always a requirement in these D/s relationships, but it’s a nice way to show commitment, and since they’ve been together for a while now, it’s a way of showing how she feels about him, even when she won’t move in with Levi after being asked many many times.

It’s a sweet tease into the lifestyle, even though it’s not really getting into the depth and crux of what the lifestyle truly is. We see that it’s about control more than the experience of play which is usually how these stories go within the genre, but i’d imagine that if this were a full length story, we would get there. There’s one thing though that throws me a bit – it’s typically known and understood that the sub is the one with all the control, and that a good dominant knows that giving pleasure and ensuring the submissive happiness is the most important thing. I’ll chalk it up to Levi seeming to be new to the lifestyle and that’s why in his head he feels that she’s got all the control.

All in all, a sweet BDSM story – which is unique in a genre that i never think of as sweet.

On that note – it’s GIVEAWAY time again! Like this post and enter here for a chance to win your own copy! Good luck!

Review: Justify Me (Stark Saga #4.5 / Masters & Mercenaries Crossover) by J Kenner

Posted on by
Reply

Title: Justify Me
Author:  J Kenner
Publisher/Year:  Evil Eye Concepts 4/10/18
Length:   130 Pages
Series:  Stark Saga #4.5 / Masters & Mercenaries Cross Over

Overview

McKay-Taggart operative Riley Blade has no intention of returning to Los Angeles after his brief stint as a consultant on mega-star Lyle Tarpin’s latest action flick. Not even for Natasha Black, Tarpin’s sexy personal assistant who’d gotten under his skin. Why would he, when Tasha made it absolutely clear that–attraction or not–she wasn’t interested in a fling, much less a relationship.

But when Riley learns that someone is stalking her, he races to her side. Determined to not only protect her, but to convince her that–no matter what has hurt her in the past–he’s not only going to fight for her, he’s going to win her heart. Forever.

My Thoughts

I really enjoy when authors are collaborative and not competitive and that’s exactly what we have here in this novella.  J Kenner and Lexi Blake have teamed up and introduced a cross over of sorts to their series.  What also happened here is that i realized that i only read the first book in the Taggart series….so i’ve got even more to catch up on!

Anyhow, what we have here is a sweet story of two people who have history (as they typically do) with a strong attraction, but one that they never acted on.  Riley and Natasha are linked because of Riley’s past of working with Nat’s father, and when he tried to act on what was a mutual attraction years and years ago, she turned him down.  Once her father passed away, she pushed him away further and there grew the wall between them.  Thankfully her boss needed Riley’s help in protecting Nat, and so they have come full circle.

The tension and anxiety in this novella comes from two directions.  First the initial reason for bringing them back together in the hunt for a stalker.  Riley is alpha and needs to protect her and Nat is strong willed and doesn’t want that.  But of course, the fear for her life makes it an easier pill to swallow and so we see security / bodyguard prowess come out in the search for who’s tormenting Natasha.

Top that with chemistry that they both decide they can act on with guardrails – and they combust.  literally.  It’s hot and steamy and what we have here i think is a bit more Lexi than we usually see from J Kenner in the intensity of the BDSM scenes between the pair.  The safety that they find in the club makes it easier to let down their walls, take advantage of what they want, and not feel like it’s crossing lines.  It starts a relationship i in safe place and explodes in a good way from there.

Since this is a novella, we don’t get terribly deep into anything but that’s ok.  We get to the bottom of our roller coaster ride with the stalker fairly quickly and we get to the crux of the issues in the relationship quickly as well and see conclusions that are valid and fair in both.  So…on that note, i’m going to get back into the Taggart family saga since i’ve been remiss.  Enjoy!

Review: Headmaster (Lessons from the RACK #2) by Tara Sue Me

Posted on by
Reply

Title: Headmaster
Author: Tara Sue Me
Publisher/Year:  Penguin Group Publishing 1/16/18
Length:   197 Pages
Series:  Lessons from the RACK #2

Overview

Lennox MacLure, owner of the RACK Academy, has sworn off the Dominant/submissive lifestyle. Years ago, his submissive, Winnie, died in a car accident following a heated argument for which he blames himself. Guilt-ridden and emotionally closed off, Lennox sees the academy as both his punishment and penance for her death.

Mariela, a dance instructor and a natural submissive, was Winnie’s best friend and longs to help Lennox move past his grief. She’s accepted that he will never see her as anything more than a friend, but she still wants to help him acknowledge what he needs. Mariela comes up with a plan of seduction, guaranteed to unleash the Dominant he’s willfully buried—but the passion they unleash could prove to be stronger than they are ready to handle.

My Thoughts

Well i’ll be honest, it’s been a while since i read the first installment to this series so i wasn’t entirely sure what the plot line from book 1 was, however i quickly rectified that getting into the flow of this story at the mention of Andie and Fulton from book 1.  So in this second installment, we have the story of Lennox, the man who created the RACK Academy and Marie, the woman that he’s hired to run the dance portion of things, and also a woman that he’s got a complicated history with.

Throughout this story, what we get is a mix of emotions with the most robust highs and lows that you can expect.  We know that there’s tension between them, we felt it in book 1 (yes i remembered that finally) but as expected from our amazing author, there’s a huge obstacle in the form of a ghost that keeps them even further than arms length apart.

Lennox’s history is that he was with a woman named Winnie for a few years, she was his love and his world revolved around her.  They didn’t have the easiest relationship of course, but they had a good one for a while.  There was an amazing attraction between them, but the challenge was that Winnie wasn’t part of the lifestyle before him and wasn’t truly interested in it after she met him, but she was so drawn to him that she made herself pretend.

Then there’s Marie – who ironically was like a sister to Winnie.  They knew each other from when they were young, and the painful thing here is that Marie saw Lennox first and she was actually part of the lifestyle and truly belonged there, but that didn’t matter to the couple.  she had to grin and bear it while her friend got the life and man that she wanted.

Of course it came crashing down when Winnie and Lennox had to admit to each other that they weren’t right for each other, resulting in Winnie getting into a fatal car accident.  So that leads us to where we are today in the story – seeing how these two have the same ghost in different context and it keeps them from truly holding on and living with their attraction for one another, and instead they have to live with the pain and the fact that they won’t allow their feelings to come to life.

It’s a sweet story though as you read through it.  Both of these main characters are so strong that we know that they have to have a happy ending, but the forces of nature (literally in one chapter) are pushing the apart and the question becomes what will it take to get them together, and will it be enough to hold them?

True to form with Tara Sue Me, we get angst, we get hot sexy romance and we get another near fatal car crash – and similar to book one where there was a boat situation, it takes catastrophe for people to realize that maybe they need to let their baggage go.  What happens here in this story is that it’s not a happy ending for everyone, not in the classic sense, and that sets up the next installment nicely since we get to see how it’s not one of the main characters from the academy that gets a plotline, but someone from the peripheral. Anyhow – it’s hot, it’s steamy and it’s really a well written story.  so i hope you guys check it out and then wait for book 3 i suppose.  Enjoy!

Review: Darker (Fifty Shades of Grey as told by Christian #2) by E.L. James

Posted on by
Reply

Title: Darker
Author: EL James
Publisher/Year:  Knopf Doublbeday Publishing 11/28/17
Length:   560 Pages
Series:  Fifty Shades of Grey as told by Christian #2

Overview

Their scorching, sensual affair ended in heartbreak and recrimination, but Christian Grey cannot get Anastasia Steele out of his mind, or his blood. Determined to win her back, he tries to suppress his darkest desires and his need for complete control, and to love Ana on her own terms.

But the horrors of his childhood still haunt him, and Ana’s scheming boss, Jack Hyde, clearly wants her for himself. Can Christian’s confidant and therapist, Dr. Flynn, help him face down his demons? Or will the possessiveness of Elena, his seducer, and the deranged devotion of Leila, his former submissive, drag Christian down into the past?

And if Christian does win Ana back, can a man so dark and damaged ever hope to keep her?

My Thoughts

It’s been ages since i’ve read the series if i’m honest, but i actually recently came across Fifty Shades Darker on TV so it was nice to have this alternate POV come to life after i’ve seen it on the big screen.  All that being said, we fall right back into the story and world that Ms James crafted for us all those years ago, where we see how the roller coaster of life and romance for Christian and Ana unfolded.

There’s something to be said about getting into the head of Christian and having the story unfold from his POV since we’ve had the fortune to truly grasp it from Ana’s side before.  Where there was so much focus in the past on her innocence and how naive she was both in romance and in work, well we see the flip side of the confident and controlling Christian.  His life outside of her was so different and a mystery before, so we get to see some of what made him tick.

True to form we get a lot of the same romance, but instead of experiencing it like we have in the past we get to see it taken through control and dominance.  The scenes that we had before were from the girl who wanted hearts and flowers and this time we get to see them from the man who needs control and power in his life to thrive.  It gives the story a completely different feeling.

Personally i’m curious if we would ever get another story line from Ms James – something that didn’t revolve around the Fifty series, but i guess that’s likely something that we’ll have to wait on given that there’s still one more installment of the series that hasn’t been written from Christian’s side yet and i’d imagine that i’ts coming.  There’s so much heat and passion left to come out from this couple from Christian’s side of things for sure and i think that we would be lucky to get that culmination to the story since those of you that have read the original trilogy, i’m sure you recall all the craziness that goes on, and there’s bound to be a lot of angst and anxiety wrapped up in it.

On that note – have a happy thursday (a snowy one here at least) and enjoy!

Review: Ours to Love (Wicked Lovers #7) by Shayla Black

Posted on by
Reply

Title: Ours to Love
Author: Shayla Black
Publisher/Year:  Penguin Publishing 5/7/13
Length:   400 Pages
Series:  Wicked Lovers #7

Overview

Between two brothers…

Xander Santiago spent years living it up as a billionaire playboy. Never given a chance to lead his family business in the boardroom, he became a master in the bedroom instead. His older brother, Javier, inherited the company and worked tirelessly to make it an empire. But while cutthroat corporate espionage took its toll on Javier, nothing was as devastating as the seemingly senseless murder of his wife. It propelled him into a year of punishing rage and guilt…until Xander came to his rescue.

Comes an irresistible woman…

Eager to rejuvenate Javier’s life, Xander shanghais him to Louisiana, where they meet beautiful London McLane. After a decade of tragedy and struggle, London is determined to make a fresh start—and these sexy billionaire brothers are more than willing to help. In every way. London is stunned to find herself open to every heated suggestion…and desperately hoping that her love will heal them.

And inescapable danger.

But a killer is watching, on a single-minded mission to destroy everything the Santiago brothers hold dear, especially London. As fear and desire collide, every passionate beat of her heart could be her last.

My Thoughts

Going into this 7th installment, i was wondering how we were going to get deep and meaningful stories for both Xander and Javier but of course our lovely author Ms Black was able to answer all those questions for me.  If you recall, we spend a lot of time with Xander back in the last book when Tyler and Del were getting their stuff sorted and we also got to see a bit of a tease into what’s going on with his brother Javier.  So we see how that all pays out.

We also got the teaser of London, Alyssa’s cousin when the ladies were looking for someone for Tyler to settle down with.  So it’s nice to see how her story unfolds as well.  She’s had a rough life, almost dying in a car accident years ago and living with the scars and trauma of it since then.  she’s trying to get her life back together and finding stability in Lafayette with her cousin and their network of friends who are also family.  She gets independence from her family, and she gets a job and some of her confidence back, and that’s all where the Santiago brothers come into play.

A chance meeting with Xander at Alyssa’s club shows London all that she’s been craving yet she has insecurities about herself and Xander that she’s not able to really make things happen as she wants.  She walks away, and is some how put into Javier’s path, for a job and to watch more sparks fly.

Javier’s trying to cope with the murder of his wife and all that’s going on in his life as well and he’s crashing and burning better than you could imagine.  he’s been taken to Lafayette in the hopes of a detox and restart of his life so that he can get his mind and company back on track.  Someone’s trying to get a hold of information from their secure database and that’s not a good thing at all in their line of business.

So the journey that we are taken on in this book is complicated.  Playboy Xander wants to be tamed, Javier needs to be saved from himself and London learns to stand on her own two feet.  What’s even better is that to go back to my original question – how do we get both stories for the brothers out, well it’s because we find ourselves in another little menage situation.  So, all the kinky and hot passion that you’ve been missing from the past few installments comes back to us fast and hard in this one.

The other bit that keeps things exciting is that we’re trying to sort out the connection to Javier’s wife’s killer and it’s going to much deeper and darker than we ever expected.  There’s so much tied to it that really starts to blow your mind that if you wanted substance outside of heat and passion, well you’ve got that in this book too.  So on that note, i can’t wait to see who’s next – i’m sure Thorpe is due to have his own story since he’s the DOM of the club that these guys seem to all like – so we can see how that plays out.  Enjoy!