Tag Archives: Charlotte Byrd

Review: Fatal Marriage (Wedlocked #3) by Charlotte Byrd

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Title: Fatal Marriage
Author: Charlotte Byrd
Publisher/Year:  Byrd Books 5/19/20
Length:  186 pages
Series: Wedlocked Trilogy #3

Overview

I was forced into this marriage to save my father’s life and our family’s empire, but my husband has other plans. 

He wants to sell Tate Media for parts and make himself billions in the process. 

The only way I can stop him is to expose his not-so-secret life. 

Franklin Parks is a monster. We have all heard the rumors, but anyone who has dared to stand up to him has been silenced. Now, it’s my turn. 

He is protected by all of the rich and powerful because he protects their secrets in return. 

There’s only person I can trust: Henry Asher, the love of my life. 

I shouldn’t get him involved. It’s too dangerous, but we can’t stay away from each other. 

Can I escape my marriage and save my legacy or will I lose everything and everyone I love in the process?

My Thoughts

Finally we get to the final installment of this series, and it hasn’t come a moment too soon. While I enjoy the idea of what this story has to tell us, it’s not one of my ultimate favs so i’m glad that we’ve resolved things and moved on.

There’s been a lot of drama throughout this series, with Aurora being forced into a situation that isn’t fair to her, and yet the she still feels the need to ‘do the right thing’ since she knows that there’s so much more going on that she’s not aware of.

We spend our time in a few different plot lines.

There’s the one where the marriage is a thing now – she’s stuck with Franklin and she needs to make that her new normal. She’s able to keep him at arms length because she just doesn’t trust him, and she’s got plenty of reasons. She find that he’s cheating on her, walking in on 2 different women with him, and he uses the excuse that since she won’t sleep with him, he has to get it somewhere else.

Then there’s the plot line of Henry and Aurora. They can’t stay away from each other and stop trying. What they have is something real, and once they realized that Franklin was trying to keep them apart, they stop caring and let things take them where they need to go. It’s hot and steamy and yet dangerous at the same time, since for some reason Franklin always knows where she is and this gets dicey.

Add to that, we see a side of Franklin that we didn’t expect. Two actually. There are moments where we actually like frankln – he has these tender and sweet moments and we watch how Aurora wonders if she’s gotten him all wrong. If there’s something worth saving in their ‘relationship’. And then there are the moments that are completely opposite – where he’s hit her and slapped her and then we know that he’s truly evil. How evil? we don’t find out until later.

There are rumors that he’s involved in something that’s quite illegal. They set up a sting and hope that they can catch him without getting caught, and what they find is so much worse. What this does though is takes us on a fast trip to the end of the story.

We lose faith in family and we find hope in the future and what happens to get us to the end of this story makes spending time with these characters worth while. So, on that note, happy to be finished with this series and excited to find something else to read. Enjoy!

Review: Lethal Wedding (Wedlocked #2) by Charlotte Byrd

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Title: Lethal Wedding
Author: Charlotte Byrd
Publisher/Year:  Byrd Books 4/14/20
Length:  175 pages
Series: Wedlocked Trilogy #2

Overview

To save my father’s life and our family’s legacy, I have to marry a cruel man who wants me only as a trophy.

I thought Franklin Parks was a bad man before, but now I know he’s a monster.

To survive, I will have to beat him at his own game. But then Henry Asher, my one and only love, comes back into my life and things get a lot more complicated.

Franklin is not only my fiancé but also Henry’s boss, and he will stop at nothing to get everything he wants…

Henry Asher

I was a fool to let her go. Now, I’ll have to do everything to get her back…

Aurora never thought I could be a rich dirtbag who would do anything to get what he wants but I am proving her wrong.

To help her, I had to teach myself a few things.

To protect her, I had to become my worst enemy.

To save her, I will have to do the unthinkable.

The problem is that she doesn’t want saving. She has her own plans. But the wedding is approaching and time is running out…

My Thoughts

This sad sad story continues and we’re about to see things get not only more complicated but worse. for everyone involved.

So we know that in the end of book 1, the proverbial shit hit the fan when Tate Media was on the verge of despair. Aurora’s father was arrested, and had a heart attack and her mother blames it all on her because she wasn’t willing or eager to marry Franklin. When she realizes that she’s truly got no other choice since it’s not just her family’s livelihood at stake, but everyone who’s worked at the company for years, she has no choice and does what she needs to.

this second installment of this series spends much of our time wondering what’s truly at the core of what’s going on with our characters and what that means in the long run. We know that Franklin is well connected and it comes to our attention that it’s likely not in all the most savory ways as well. Then there’s the fact that Aurora isn’t being true to herself at all, and there’s only so much she’s willing to compromise on her beliefs and her self worth.

Then there’s Henry. He’s in various cities/states working on his podcast and he’s still not willing to let Aurora go. He knows that what happened wasn’t something that he wanted, breaking up with her wasn’t the right move, and then when the news of the engagement to his boss comes up – that forces him to take pause even more since things just don’t add up. Add to that, his mother is incredibly sick and didn’t let him know, so that’s an underlying story for him to cope with.

We go around and around in circles in this story – wondering what it’s going to take for Aurora to either marry Franklin or walk away to deal with the consequences. We don’t know how it’s going to end up, but we know that we’ll likely uncover so many secrets that will turn this series on it’s head again. When we leave off, there are things revealed, and alliances that are formed that we wonder what the ultimate end goal will be. So that means that I of course have to read the next book and so off I go to see this series resolve. Enjoy!

Review: Dangerous Engagement (Wedlocked Trilogy #1) by Charlotte Byrd

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Title: Dangerous Engagement
Author: Charlotte Byrd
Publisher/Year:  Byrd Books 3/17/20
Length:  310 pages
Series: Wedlocked Trilogy #1

Overview

Not long ago, there was nothing I couldn’t have. Now, I don’t even have the choice of whom to marry.

To save my father’s life and our family’s legacy, I have to marry a cruel man who wants me only as a trophy.

Henry Asher was just supposed to be a summer fling, but we fell in love. We thought we would be together forever, but life got in the way. After we broke up, I vowed to never tell Henry the truth about my engagement.

What happens when the lies that were supposed to save me start to drown me?

Henry Asher

I didn’t always have wealth or power. There was even a time when I didn’t want any of that.

Then I met her: Aurora Tate is an heiress to a billion-dollar fortune. She grew up on Park Avenue, had a house in the Hamptons and skied in Aspen. Our first summer together was magical. We were naive enough to think that love was going to be enough.

Now, she’s forced to marry a man she hates to save her father’s life.

To get her back and to make her my wife, I need to become the man she needs me to be.

Can I do it in time?

My Thoughts

The summary doesn’t really do this story justice since it makes you think that we’re going to go in one direction and we go in another. Yes, Aurora and Henry are our leading characters, but they have a very complicated way that they came together and how their relationship progressed.

Aurora is the heiress to the Tate Media empire – a company that was started by her parents, and hopefully would go to her, yet she’s got a different hankering in life, although she doesn’t know what that is. She’s been raised in a life of privilege but that’s not who she is – she struggles to relate to what her friends in that world enjoy and that’s something that Henry alleviates for her.

Enter Henry – a guy who’s working on her father’s boat, but someone that changes her world in an unexpected way. After one meeting at the pool, that continues on to a date and overnight stay, well, Aurorat’s entire path of life has changed. While she’ still following the path of her PhD she’s got a romance that consumes her.

Sadly, that’s not a romance that her family will agree to given the world that they live in. Henry meets her parents, and makes a decent impression, but it’s not an impression that gives them fait that he’s the man for her. He doesn’t have a long term goal, and he’s not able to provide for the kind of life that Aurora is accustomed to, but she’s not willing to listen to reason.

So this first installment takes us on the journey of watching them try to become what they think they could be, yet find all of the obstacles in life taking bits of their enjoyment and romance away. Aurora’s mother gives her an ultimatum which she’s not willing to agree to and stays with Henry. They move to Henry’s apartment which isn’t ideal, and then Henry loses his job. Which means they lose their apartment since it’s subsidized by his job. So their life is in turmoil.

Enter Auroria’s parents, and we see that things are always able to get more complex. There are workings under the radar here – and while they seem to offer a solution to their worries, what happens in the unexpected. They offer Henry a way to get a job now that he’s unemployed, and at the same time, they give Aurora back her apartment. what happens though is the following.

  1. he gets the job, but they grow apart
  2. she gets her PhD but wonders why no one cares
  3. She’s set up with a man that is now employed by Tate Media, and while he’s a predator on her, she’s forced to endure

so we’re left at the end of this story with a romance turned sour, a family in ruins, and the unknown of an arrangement without consent. So of course I have to read on to see where this one goes and how it plays out. On that note, i’m off to the 2nd book since I cannot go to bed without seeing what happens next. Enjoy!

Review: Dark Inheritance (Dark Temptations #5) by Charlotte Byrd

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Title: Dark Inheritance
Author: Charlotte Byrd
Publisher/Year:  Byrd Books 12/26/21
Length:  190 Pages
Series: Dark Intentions #5

Overview

Now that all of our secrets are out in the open, we must live with the choices we made and the truth of who we really are.

Jacqueline has found out the truth about her brother, the secret that I vowed to never reveal. She wants to see him again and doesn’t care that it will endanger not only her life but all of ours.

The thing that I have feared has happened. The worst of the worst men are after us and they only have one goal: to take our lives.

It’s time to RUN.
Darkness descends. Yet hope remains.

The danger that I tried to keep at bay this whole time has come for us with a vengeance.
Will we ever have a happily ever after or will our life together (what’s possibly left of it) continue to teeter on the edge?

My Thoughts

We left book four in the parking garage of the hospital, Lincoln and Marguarite were waiting the impending birth of their baby, Jacqueline and Marguarite were threatened by assassins who were were trying to kill off the entire family since they were in one place, but the girls were able to pay them off a million dollars for them to go away. What happens next though to end the book is crazy. There’s a shooting in the parking garage and it’s Dante’s father who’s in dire straights.

Book five takes us a bit into the future, everyone has scattered around so that there’s no way to get the entire family together anymore. Lincoln and Marguarite are in North Carolina trying to make their life work there. Dante is still always on the road for work – he’s gone around the world and finds his way to various family members to check on them from time to time. Jacqueline, her mother and Michael (who’s now really alive) are in Boston – although Jacqueline lives on her own there – away from her mom and brother. Dante learns that his mother is in Mexico, with his father and that is unsettling in itself.

Jacquline continues to be our focus, watching how she’s reinventing herself as a writer – going back to school and trying to make her life into something worthwhile. She of course misses Dante but doesn’t know if their future is ever meant to be together. When she learns that Michael is in touch with him and that they have plans to meet, that’s something that she’s got to hold on to and we watch how that has the potential to implode – with Jacquline going against what’s smart and tagging along on that trip.

The reason for the trip -a need to take out all the people who have a hit on the family so that they can live their lives more freely. It’s something that they all want since they miss aspects of what they had, friends, comfort, jobs etc. But the outcome here is nothing at all what we expect and yet we should have expected it all along.

There’s another story line happening at the same time – Allison and her fiance are still in their bubble until a plane crash changes the trajectory of things. There’s a small plane crash that happens off of Cape Cod and there are 2 people on that plane that make us take pause. One is her Fiance’s best friend – a man that he’s known for ever, had as a manager, and now who’s passed. The impact that the death has on their relationship is one that has miserable intentions. while initially they cling to each other for support, they find that they are slowly losing the spark and the need to have something with each other. Instead, Richard finds solace with his deceased friends wife, a woman that he had feelings for all those years ago, and it results in an affair. When the affair is uncovered, there are threats made to Jacqueline for her own safety and that leaves an uncertain future all around.

Then there’s the dark underbelly of this story. We know that the family wants to kill all those that have a hit on them, but it’s easier said than done. Dante has a plan that no one wants to listen to, and then there’s a plan that they can’t walk away from once they realize that their safety bubble spread out around the world isn’t so safe. What happens when they corner the assassins, well that’s an entirely different twist of fate, and not everyone that we’ve grown close to in this series makes it out alive.

So, what we end up with in this series finale is closure for sure, a glimpse into the future in some cases, and a curiosity of whether anyone is ever safe and what the motivations are for that. So, on that note, if you haven’t read this story yet, you should (esp since I didn’t realize that book 5 literally just came out days ago), and now i’m off to another cast of characters to enjoy.

Review: Dark Sins (Dark Intentions #3) by Charlotte Byrd

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Title: Dark Sins
Author: Charlotte Byrd
Publisher/Year:  Byrd Books 8/13/21
Length:  190 Pages
Series: Dark Intentions #3

Overview

When I saved her mother’s life, I didn’t do it with my own money. I took out a debt. Now I have to go back to my old life. 

I have certain skills that people are willing to pay a lot of money for. 
Everything has a price, and Jacqueline was worth it.
But what happens when I make mistakes? What happens when the debt I have to pay becomes too great and the darkness that envelops me becomes too much?

A letter arrives. 
It was not an accident. It was murder. 
But who did it? Why? 
The cops think it’s a false lead. There’s no other evidence, but I have to do everything to find out the truth. 
My brother’s death is no longer a tragedy to get over, but a wrong to put right. It becomes my obsession. 
What happens when I start to uncover the lies?

My Thoughts

These characters are digging themselves into far more holes than anyone could even imagine and there are parts to this story that we are still in the dark about. We ended the last book with the idea that Michael’s death wasn’t an accident and we somehow know that Dante was involved, so….this book we hope to get resolution. Well, we do not, but I guess that’s how an author keeps us engaged for the next book!

This third book is a ROLLER COASTER of emotions. We watch how Dante and Jacqueline get closer and how they find their rhythm. And at the same time we know the other shoe will drop. We watch how Jacqueline finds her footing as a woman with a motivation. She’s trying to get a job, she’s back at school, and she’s trying to move on with her life. She and her re-roommate Allison get closer together and have found their own way to make like into something new and great. They end up on a weekend trip to the Hamptons that changes their lives yet again.

Allison find a man that redirects her trajectory and everyone’s skeptical of what this means. We don’t know this man and we don’t know what it’s going to mean for her in the future. Then we see Jacqueline and Dante reunite after going their separate ways, and we see what that means as well. Do they find themselves back in a place where they are happy or are there too many lies between them to get back on track?

Well, we all know that they have a connection that doesn’t make sense, so, we know that they will find their flow. At the detriment to many other things, but oh well.

In this story, we see what Dante has to do to survive. We watch how his mom realizes that he’s taken money from his trust fund and how she wants it back in a month since she’s not one to fool around with money. We learn that he and his brother and father have done less than savory things to make money in the past and Dante is forced back into that life in order to get the money that he needs to return it to his mom. Problem is that once he’s back in that world, he’s going to get pulled in even more and that’s what we see at the end of this book. We don’t know the long term implications, but i’m sure we’ll see it play out in book 4.

While this is all happening, we know that Dante is still uncertain about an investment that he made via his company with Vasko and has this plan to set Jacqueline up as a spy in the company. She gets the job, moves out to Seattle to work there and many many alarm bells go off for us. Vasko digs into her background and realizes that she’s not what she seems so that puts him on alert. Jacqueline reconnects with someone from her past at potentially the worst time that blows things up for her again in her personal life and we’re left upside down again.

What does all this mean for Jacqueline in her life? will she be safe in her new job or does she need to watch her back? are things over for her and Dante forever, and is he even safe with his father and brother? What about Allison and her new man? how does this all factor into the grand scheme of things?

So many questions and so few answers right now. I can’t wait to see what happens next so off I go into the next book. Enjoy!

Review: Dark Redemption (Dark Intentions #2) by Charlotte Byrd

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Title: Dark Redemption
Author: Charlotte Byrd
Publisher/Year:  Byrd Books 7/5/21
Length:  186 Pages
Series: Dark Intentions #2

Overview

He saved my mother’s life. Now, I owe him a debt. But I don’t even know who he is. 

Dante Langston is man of extreme wealth and privilege and just as much darkness. 
Our time together was supposed to be a one night stand. 
No names. No phone numbers. No other way to get in touch. 
But I keep going back to look for him. 
What I don’t yet know is that he already knows me. 
He has been watching and waiting. He needs to stay away to protect his secrets but he can’t. 
Neither can I.
I’m addicted to his lips and his touch. He’s addicted to our shared pain. 
What happens when I find out the debt I owe is to him? 
What happens when I find out the other secrets that he is much more desperate to keep? 

My Thoughts

Again, the summary doesn’t quite tie to the book but you get the gist. This is a couple that can’t be together, but they can’t stay away from each other either. Jacqueline sees something in Dante that’s perfect for her – she truly is addicted but what he did, well that’s not something that she’s ready for yet she doesn’t realize that the lie she learned about who paid for her mother’s treatment isn’t the worst lie.

Dante on the other hand has a mess to get out of and we don’t quite know the full extent just yet. We know that he’s struggling in his business – he’s being forced to agree to something that he doesn’t want, and there’s clearly a tie to Jacqueline’s brother that he’s forced to deal with that we don’t yet know. Then on top of that, he’s bound to Jacqueline – and as much as he tries to walk away, he can’t.

So we watch the roller coaster (train wreck?) unfold. They go their separate ways for the best. We see how life starts to take a new form. Now that Jacquelines mom is on the mend, she’s about jump into the life that she put on hold. She goes back to school and finishes her degree. She gets back on her feet and starts to become more independent. She and Allison. find a rhythm to their friendship and enjoy what it’s like to be in life.

She wants to forget Dante – but she can’t. She wants to get a job and be on her own but she can’t. And when she literally runs into Dante in the park, her life is flipped again.

We start this installment in a dark place, and watch how there’s promise of something more. We hope there’s something good that will come out of everything, but what we see instead are relationships broken as a result of ones that were repaired, and there is still uncertainty looming.

Dante had to borrow money to help out Jacqueline and now the piper wants to be paid. We also see that he’s probably in over his head in a deal with work, a hunch that leads him to believe that he’s been forced to invest in a company that is laundering money in some way and he tries to get Jacqueline to spy / investigate what’s going on. What we all can expect though is that it’s going to come to haunt Dante some how in the future – he’s going to be taken down with the ship instead of looking like the hero . (that’s my guess at least).

The last scene is when we know the story will take a sharp turn. Jacqueline’s mom gets a letter there Michael didn’t die in an accident but instead was murdered. Who did it and why? And of course as the reader, we want to know how Dante is connected. soooooo i’m off to read book 3. Enjoy!

Review: Dark Intentions (Dark Intentions #1) by Charlotte Byrd

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Title: Dark Intentions
Author: Charlotte Byrd
Publisher/Year:  Byrd Books 5/27/21
Length:  200 Pages
Series: Dark Intentions #1

Overview

One debt. One secret. One night.
I have a secret and I’ll do everything in my power to keep it that way.
I’ve been watching her for a long time.
I’ve been following her.
She’s lost a brother. I lost a best friend, but no one could ever know. 
She’s in pain, and so am I.
She deserves so much better than me. I am rotten to the core and if I take this any further, I will pull her into my darkness.
But I can’t stay away. I can’t stop.
What happens when she starts to uncover my lies? What happens if love isn’t enough?

From USA Today Bestselling author Charlotte Byrd comes an intense forbidden mafia romance about debts, lies and secrets and the extent to which people go for love.

I’m not supposed to know his name and he’s not supposed to know mine. But we break that rule. That’s not the only one.

He gives me chills and makes my body ache. He makes my pain go away. He’s just a distraction, but I can’t get enough of him.

What I don’t know yet is that he will help save my mother’s life.
What I don’t know yet is that I’ll owe him a debt.
What I don’t know yet is that he is a man of many secrets. Secrets dark enough to break us both.

My Thoughts

I’m a big fan these days of our author Charlotte Byrd so I was pleased to find this series when I was looking for something new to read. I’m in a bit of a stop gap right now waiting for a few ‘next books’ in series to come out.

This is one of those stories that you already know how it’s going to go, and you’re just along for the ride. Jacqueline is at an interesting point in her life and i’m not entirely sure how she got there. She’s graduated from a really good college, but I don’t think that she’s ever truly worked a job. Her twin brother has recently died and that set her life into a tailspin. Her mother has also been really sick with Cancer and has the opportunity to get into an experimental treatment, but that comes with it’s own risks.

Through all this turmoil, Jacqueline is working to find herself. She uses men to feel something but doesn’t necessarily get what she needs from them. Its’ through her friend Allison (roommate from college) that she learns about Redemption. A series of private clubs that caters to people with unique tastes, unconventional tastes sexually – and it seems like it could be right for her. While she’s not necessarily comfortable there, she meets a man who makes it all worthwhile.

Enter Dante – a man who comes from a distinctly different background, with more means than imaginable, but he is searching for much of the same that Jacqueline is. They meet one night at Redemption and have a night to remember. Then they go their separate ways, and we watch the story unforld.

What we don’t know (or rather what Jacqueline doesn’t know) is that Dante has some sort of connection to her, or at least perhaps her brother – and we don’t know what that line of connection is. What we do know is that he’s been watching her, watching out for her, and while he didn’t know that she would be at Redeption, it’s not a bad thing.

The story from here is a whirlwind. Jacqueline’s mother’s treatment costs a lot more money than she can ever come up with and Dante has that money. Secretly he pays for that treatment and there’s a new lease on life. At the same time, both of these two characters can’t get one another out of their head but since they shared no real information, Jacqueline doesn’t know how to find Dante, until they cross paths again.

When they do, it’s just as intense and deep, and we watch something interesting unfold. He’s there for her while her mother gets her treatment and when things take a turn for the worse. He’s not just a shoulder to cry on, but he’s something more – they both feel it. the challenge of course is that there’s a secret that she doesn’t know – that Dante is linked to her and we all know what will happen when she finds out. And that’s where we are left at the end of the book.

Thankfully I have a few train rides this week that I can try to read on, and see what happens in book 2. I anticipate anger, frustration, lies, and then the hot steamy spark that they shared in the first book. There has to be more to the story than what we’ve seen so i’m off to find out. Enjoy!

Review: Black Limit (Black Edge #5) by Charlotte Byrd

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Title: Black Limit
Author:  Charlotte Byrd
Publisher/Year:  Byrd Books 10/12/18
Length:  205 Pages
Series: Black Edge #5

Overview

Is this the end of us? 

I found a woman I can’t live without. 

We’ve been through so much. We’ve had our set backs. But our love is stronger than ever. 

We are survivors. 

But when they take her from me at the altar, right before she is to become my wife, everything breaks. 

I will do anything to free her. I will do anything to make her mine for good.

My Thoughts

Aiden is hanging on by a thread – in a coma, all because of Blake. Ellie’s distraught and goes home to gather some things, and what happens? Blake. he’s there and he’s got an agenda.

We were left at yet another insane point in the story where we know that Blake’s the cause of everyone’s problems (even though several books before Aiden was convinced that it was all Ellie).

She has to fight for her life since that’s what’s needed to make sure Aiden has a life to come back to. She proves to be just as strong as we knew and that means that we’re seeing Blake’s demise. He broke into her place and attacked her, so this is a cut and dry situation right? We hope so.

The story from here out is a more gentle roller coaster in bits than we’ve seen in the past. What happens though is that we watch Aiden’s parents come and take control of things even though they don’t have a good relationship and they have all these ill sensations towards Ellie. The result is that Aiden is moved to Boston, they won’t give information to Ellie, and so on a scavenger hunt we go.

The remainder of this story takes us to Boston. Watching there be little to no change in Aiden’s case, and the toll that it takes on Ellie. She’s pregnant, sick with those hormones and sick from what’s going on in life. Her sister Brie proves to be a rock for her and that’s something that we would not have expected in previous bits of the story. The distraction that Brie gives us, watching as she discovers who her true self is, well that’s not only really appreciated in the story, but appreciated given the context if current 2021 society.

We have another engagement, a wedding, a realization of what’s true, and an arrest. we were moments away from a happy ending, Aiden is awake, alive and bringing all of the dreams that ellie never knew she had to life. Steps away from the altar and things come crashing down.

The roller coaster takes a sharp turn because from here out we see Ellie fighting for her freedom. There’s evidence that leads the DA to believe Blake’s death was premeditated and that Ellie is behind it all. She’s got lawyers who don’t believe her, her reputation and profession working against her. The start of her. relationship with aiden that makes it hard to empathize with her, and all this added to the fact that there’s nothing that Aiden can do….it’s just a sad sad way to end this series.

All the highest highs don’t prepare us for the path that we go on, and we’ve prepared for the lows throughout knowing that everyone us up against a huge obstacle. Families are brought together to be torn apart. Friendships and relationships are put through trials, and we can only know for sure that if our characters stay true to themselves, then there’s hope that even if things don’t pan out as they want, they can live with the outcomes. I’m sad to see how this series ends, but a lot was crammed into this fifth and final book – leaving me looking for something new to read. So…enjoy the world of Aiden and Ellie and we shall see what’s next….

Review: Black Bounds (Black Edge #3) by Charlotte Byrd

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Title: Black Bounds
Author:  Charlotte Byrd
Publisher/Year:  Byrd Books 10/12/18
Length:  172 Pages
Series: Black Edge #3

Overview

I don’t belong with her. 

Born into darkness, life made me a cynic incapable of love. 

But then Ellie waltzed in. Innocent, optimistic, kind. 

She’s the opposite of what I deserve. 

I bought her, but she she stole my heart.

Now my business is going up in flames. 

I have only one chance to make it right. 

That’s where it happens…something I can never take back. 

I don’t cheat on her. There’s no one else. 

It’s worse than that. Much worse. 

Can we survive this?

My Thoughts

This story really takes us on an uncertain path. We have moments of happiness, and then in the next chapter, things are flipped upside down and we wonder if we’ll ever find a happy solution.

Emotions are all over the place. The future of Owl is looking bleak and that means that Aiden’s future with the company is looking bleak. He has no idea how to get more money to stop the bleeding and that weighs heavily. The news all comments about how it means that the board will kick him out of the company as well and that makes Aiden miserable. The company that he created from scratch in college is going to be taken away from him. How he handles that and how Ellie handles that will show us what this couple is made of.

In this third book, we usually expect to see some type of resolution but there are several more installments to the series. What we get though is a train wreck of sorts. We find that people are not at all what they appeared to be and that those who want the best for our main characters are capable of taking that away in the blink of an eye.

They go to Tom’s engagement party and that ends in a HORRIBLE way. Caroline is there with her new guy Taylor – the one that she met on Aiden’s yacht – but he isn’t a great as he seemed. Caroline finds his flirting with another woman and that leaves her alone. Not for long though as Ellie discovers Caroline unconscious, being taken advantage by someone at the party. Not just someone, but Tom.

So the story is flipped once again here as we watch how this plays out. Caroline sinks into a numbness that’s expected given the experience that she had. Tom’s future in-laws take Tom’s side and that means that all the headway that Aiden made with Carrie’s father to get investment funds for Owl drops to the side.

Ellie and Aiden though seem to be in a good place finally – a united front even though things are going sideways. So great that in fact Aiden proposes. So we’re on a journey watching a couple find their happily ever after.

Until they don’t. Aiden breaks up with her and all on the heels of someone leaking Ellie’s story under her real name and everything that they all worked so hard to keep secret is now out in the open. Aiden tells Ellie that things were all amazing until he met her – and then things started to go awry. He was distracted, he was focused elsewhere and he feels that she’s been the cause of all the scuff ups. So where does that leave us? two heart broken girls, a friend in jail for attempted rape, and a man without his company. A sad place for our story to leave off and it means that I have to dive straight into the next book to see what can be salvaged. Enjoy!

Review: Black Rules (Black Edge #2) by Charlotte Byrd

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Title: Black Rules
Author:  Charlotte Byrd
Publisher/Year:  Byrd Books 10/12/18
Length:  164 Pages
Series: Black Edge #2

Overview

We don’t belong together. 

I should have never seen him again after our first night together. But I crave him. 

I’m addicted to him. He is my dark pleasure. 

Mr. Black is Aiden. Aiden is Mr. Black. Two sides of the same person. 

Aiden is kind and sweet. Mr. Black is demanding and rule-oriented.

When he invites me back to his yacht, I can’t say no. 

Another auction. Another bid. 

I’m supposed to be his. But then everything goes wrong….

My Thoughts

We continue on this weird little merry go round with our characters here – getting teased about a world that we know nothing about and yet wanting to know more. Ellie and Aiden seem to have something that could be real, but there really are a few obstacles in their way. When Aiden invites Ellie and Caroline to another Yacht party – even more questions arise

We start off this second book with Ellie uncertain as to why she’s been invited again and Caroline looking to take full advantage of what she missed out on. Lucky for her, her regrets are short lived since she gets to have a redo.

We know that things can’t go the same way this time around – that would make for a dull and boring story. So what we get at this second party is an interesting situation. Ellie isn’t trying to impress anyone so again she’s in jeans and a shirt. Caroline knows the cocktail hour protocol so she’s looking her best and mingling. She meets everyone and makes an impression and at the same time, Ellie runs into a guy named Blake who made some unnecessary comments to her at the first party. If you remember, he told her that she doesn’t belong there, yet tried to outbid Aiden for a night with her.

Well….he’s just a premonition of what’s to come and we know it can’t be good. We move from the cocktail hour to the pre-auction set up. Caroline and Ellie realize quickly that things aren’t the same as last time. Ellie is the only girl who’s been there before, everyone else is new. The girls are all asked to wear lingerie v. whatever they are comfortable in (remember Ellie wore her dress, while others went full nude). The other strange piece is that instead of seeing the entire audience, there’s a row of mirrors keeping them separate so no one knows who’s bidding on them and that adds for tension. Ellie wasn’t going to participate but she’s told that Aiden really wants her to, so she goes against her gut and does it.

What happens next is very different than the first time around. Ellie raises a bit of money from the auction, not at all like last time, but quickly realizes that it’s not Aiden who’s bid but Blake. the Auctioneer – Lizbeth was uncomfortable starting the auction since Aiden apparently wasn’t there and now we know what happened as a result.

The trajectory of the story is a bad/sad one from here. We know that Blake doesn’t have Ellie’s best interest at heart and Ellie wants nothing to do with him. She only came to the party to be with Aiden and when it’s someone else, she wants out. Blake won’t let that happen, and in turn, Ellie has to fight for her freedom, and Blake gets injured from both Ellie And Aiden who finally comes to her rescue.

There are repercussions to all this of course and we quickly see the impact that it has for Aiden. Blake was the first investor of Aiden’s company and because of this feud, he’s taken his money out and the money of all his friends. Owl is failing, and Aiden doesn’t know how to fix things. Ellie can’t help and that makes the dynamic even harder. We really want some calm time for them to find out what they could be to each other – we know that they’ve both admitted to stronger feelings, but if they aren’t given the chance to cultivate it, then we’ll never know right?

Add to that – Caroline met a decent guy she things from the auction and we watch that relationship evolve- hoping for the best but not really knowing what will happen. We do’t know anything about Taylor so we don’t know if he’s got honest motivations.

There’s also Tom – Ellie’s friend who she used to have a crush on, but who’s also engaged to their boss. They had a falling out if you remember in the first book, and things come to a head even more in this second book. Tom invites Ellie, Caroline and Aiden to his fiance’s family’s house for an engagement party and we really don’t know how this is going to end up.

Aside from all the sexy steamy things that we read about from time to time in here, there’s also the similar undertone from the Tangled series that i see here – a budding writer/author who goes it alone. learns the ropes to self-publishing and tries to make it into something great. I think that it’s lovely that our author Charlotte Byrd is trying to give all of those aspirating authors out there the knowledge and tools to do it themselves and I hope for Ellie that it pans out. On that note, i’m off to book three since i’m really interested in seeing what happens to Owl and what that means for Ellie and Aiden. Enjoy!