Tag Archives: Opal Carew

Review: Stepbrother, Mine (Stepbrother, Mine #1) by Opal Carew

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No-Brainer

Title:  Stepbrother, Mine
Author: Opal Carew
Publisher/Year: St Martin’s Press 7/28/15
Length:  52 pages
Series:  Stepbrother Mine #1

Overview

Dana’s always had a clear vision of what she wanted out of life. But when her father dies during her final year of college, Dana’s whole world threatens to topple down. In desperate need of money, she comes up with an idea. It’s scandalous. It’s HOT. And it’s got everybody talking. . .Is Dana really going to auction off her own virginity? And at what cost?

My Thoughts

Well Opal Carew is one of my favs, and this is yet another example of what a good story can start out as.  In this first novella installment, we are introduced to our lead, Dana who’s in a tough spot where her mother’s cut her off and she needs to pay for college.  At the same time, we also meet Mason who’s quite successful and a Dom, and is finding himself bored with his many subs.

Where their paths cross, well that’s what Ms Carew does really well.  In this story, we’re getting a bit of past and present in the mix.  We see how their lives are going right now in present day, yet we also get to see how their paths actually intersected in the past and that makes things all that much better.

It’s not until Dana does what her best friend suggests and puts herself up on this site that sells your virginity for $50k, and ironically it’s Mason while he’s bored that browses the site and comes across her profile.  Knowing that he doesn’t want anyone else to deflower her, he buys her contract and that’s where this story takes us .

Since it’s a first installment and novella, we don’t get too far into their relationship, but it’s set up nicely, with an understanding of the basis that Dana’s had a crush on Mason since she was 16, and Mason’s always found her exciting, but won’t really go there.  The question is what is it going to take for them to actually make some progress and who’s going to get hurt while it happens.  Apparently Mason has some relationship ghosts that Dana may know about, and Dana has her own insecurities to deal with.  I think that we’ll get something great here so i’m off to get #2 and continue the story.

Review: Played by the Master (Mastered By #1) by Opal Carew

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Title:  Played by the Master
Author: Opal Carew
Publisher/Year: Smashwords 6/2/15
Length: 56 pages
Series:  Mastered By #1

Overview

From New York Times Bestselling Author Opal Carew comes the first story in her new Mastered By erotic romance series. A story of Domination and submission, where breaking the rules of the game is where the fun begins, when Jacqueline crashes a billionaire’s exclusive poker game in order to seduce him into granting a favor to save her sister, but instead finds herself Played by the Master.

Jacqueline Bell desperately wants to help her sister out of a jam. But to do that, she has to find a way to talk to billionaire entrepreneur Race Danner, and have him drop the charges against her brother-in-law. She discovers he holds an exclusive poker game once a week and finds a way in.

Race Danner is bored with his life, despite his wealth and extreme hobbies. He doesn’t know exactly what he’s looking for, but he’ll know it when he sees it. When Jacqueline Bell walks into his life, he knows she’s it. She wants something from him. And he wants her. A combination made in heaven. In a delicious game of cat and mouse, he will leverage his advantage to lure her into his game. And he fully intends to win.

My Thoughts

This was a rather short little novella but i think that sometimes that’s exactly what i need.  especially when i get home from work late and just need a little something to help me fall asleep.  (don’t take that comment to mean that i found the book to be boring, juts that sometimes it’s really helpful to read if i want to go to sleep).

In any event, what we have here is a nice intro to a new series, where we have a masterful billionaire who clearly knows what he wants in bed and what he wants in a woman, and we have a leading lady who is willing to do whatever she can to help out her family.  In this instance, it’s trying to convince Race to drop charges against her brother in law so that her sister doesn’t have to raise their kids alone.

Suffice it to say, it’s all quite expected – the progression of this story – and the only real issue that i have is that since it’s so short, we just right into things and there’s no build-up of the will they won’t they.  you know that it’s going to happen, and when Race intros things as being erotic and kinky, you know that’s exactly what you’re going to get.  The experience of a lifetime for a girl that’s never really experienced much.

All that in mind, it was enjoyable and i think that there are great things to come in this series – assuming that we get to the crux of what makes each of them tick.  In the meantime, we’ll get some great scening, we’ll get to play in Race’s playroom a bit more i’m sure – and if nothing else happens, we’ll have some chemistry and steam that makes you want to take a cold shower.  On that note – Happy Tuesday all and have a great day!

ARC Review: Perfect Rhythm (His to Claim #6) by Opal Carew

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Title: Perfect Rhythm
Author:  Opal Carew
Publisher/Year:  St Martin Press 7/1/14
Length:  32 Pages
Series: His to Claim #6

Overview

Rafe Ranier was my boss and secret crush. A rock musician by night and head of a billion dollar empire by day, Rafe could have any woman he wanted. But I was just the shy secretary he never noticed. For years I obsessed over him, until I finally realized I had to walk away. I needed to break from the secure life I’d always known to discover who I really was.

I never expected Rafe to follow me.

Now I’m on the road with his band, Savage Kiss, and all my secret fantasies are coming true. But I fear I’ve made a huge mistake, because if I get any more attached to a man I can never truly have, my heart will be broken beyond all repair.

My Thoughts

We left off this series when we just got the news that Rafe/Storm was in an accident while riding his motorcycle at 4am after he felt the need to get away and clear his head from what’s going on with Melanie and what it means for their future.

So, this final installment in the series is really the make or break it point – the questions that need to be answered are whether Melanie and Storm will be together and in what capacity, If storm will stay with the band or choose to go back to the company and take his place and what will be next for Melanie since she’s definitely having a time at finding her footing.

The great thing about this story is that you don’t have to get wrapped up in the stress and tension of the accident since you know how that’s going to net out.  I think that what we instead get out of it is a definition of everyone’s relationships.  The accident brings Dane and Storm back together to talk through what they felt is a fear from what their father did to them, and that’s really what was the block in Melanie and his relationship.

The other good thing is that we see Storm get a hold of his Dom side – we see that he’s confident in the role when he can trust himself, but we don’t quite know how receptive to all that Melanie will be.

We get a bunch of make up sex, and a bit of on the mend sex – while all trying to DTR (thank you MTV for that one) – and well, a nice conclusion to a story with characters that we’ve been so invested in.  I think that the end was expected – but the journey was a nice one – so i’m really glad that i was able to get my hands on the complete series and i can’t wait for what’s next from Ms. Carew.

ARC Review: Breaking Storm (His to Claim #5) by Opal Carew

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Title: Breaking Storm
Author:  Opal Carew
Publisher/Year:  St Martin Press 6/24/14
Length:  31 Pages
Series: His to Claim #5

Overview

Rafe Ranier was my boss and secret crush. A rock musician by night and head of a billion dollar empire by day, Rafe could have any woman he wanted. But I was just the shy secretary he never noticed. For years I obsessed over him, until I finally realized I had to walk away. I needed to break from the secure life I’d always known to discover who I really was.

I never expected Rafe to follow me.

Now I’m on the road with his band, Savage Kiss, and all my secret fantasies are coming true. But I fear I’ve made a huge mistake, because if I get any more attached to a man I can never truly have, my heart will be broken beyond all repair.

My Thoughts

Our journey continues with Rafe/Storm now on tour, but the question is what will happen to this couple now that they are together, yet they have so much temptation – or at least Melanie does.

This installment takes us to a hot place – where we see encounters of passion happen that were never expected and yet so welcome.  The problem though is that it makes thoughts/feelings come up for Rafe that he’s not prepared for and it could be detrimental to the relationship and even his friendship with the band.

Also, what this brings to the forefront is that he and Travis never had it out with each other after Storm left Jessica, so that’s something that we see confronted here as well.  The ending of this 5th – CLIFF HANGER! .  i guess my assumption that it was the final book was wrong – since i see that there’s a 6th – i just don’t have my hands on the ARC yet and it doesn’t come out til July so i don’t know what i’m going to do.  Where Ms. Carew left us is a tense place – someone’s gone missing, there are unsettled feelings among the band and the couple, and i’m not sure what the resolution will be. Enjoy!

ARC Review: Wild Ones (His to Claim #4) by Opal Carew

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Title: Wild Ones
Author:  Opal Carew
Publisher/Year:  St Martin Press 6/17/14
Length:  31 Pages
Series: His to Claim #4

Overview

Rafe Ranier was my boss and secret crush. A rock musician by night and head of a billion dollar empire by day, Rafe could have any woman he wanted. But I was just the shy secretary he never noticed. For years I obsessed over him, until I finally realized I had to walk away. I needed to break from the secure life I’d always known to discover who I really was.

I never expected Rafe to follow me.

Now I’m on the road with his band, Savage Kiss, and all my secret fantasies are coming true. But I fear I’ve made a huge mistake, because if I get any more attached to a man I can never truly have, my heart will be broken beyond all repair.

My Thoughts

so, as we know, Melanie has decided to go on tour and Rafe has stayed in Philly to work on the company.  What will the distance between them mean especially since they left on bad terms?  well your guess is as good as mine.

It’s not just the distance that’s putting a crimp in things.  She now has to deal with her clear sexual attraction with Travis – who doesn’t seem to want to take no for an answer, and Melanie begins to wonder if she shouldn’t say no.  then one night Diego – another bandmade decides to hint at a threesome with her and Travis, so we know what rabbit hole they are about to go down.

This really makes for some tension and passion that’s become a trait of our author Ms. Carew.  I think that it’s something that builds anticipation as we’re nearing the end of a story and I can’t wait to see what it means.  I mean, sometimes it seems like it’s a competition between the guys for Melanie and sometimes i see that Melanie just doesn’t want to have to choose.  She just wants to explore that side of things – the controlling side of sex which all the boys seem to be more than willing to help with – aside from Rafe.

Onto what i think is the finale – book 5 to see if we’re coming to the end of bliss – since a drunken Diego seems to flip the switch on everyone, and the world comes crashing down.

ARC Review: Rock Hard (His to Claim #3) by Opal Carew

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Title: Rock Hard
Author:  Opal Carew
Publisher/Year:  St Martin Press 6/10/14
Length:  31 Pages
Series: His to Claim #3

Overview

Rafe Ranier was my boss and secret crush. A rock musician by night and head of a billion dollar empire by day, Rafe could have any woman he wanted. But I was just the shy secretary he never noticed. For years I obsessed over him, until I finally realized I had to walk away. I needed to break from the secure life I’d always known to discover who I really was.

I never expected Rafe to follow me.

Now I’m on the road with his band, Savage Kiss, and all my secret fantasies are coming true. But I fear I’ve made a huge mistake, because if I get any more attached to a man I can never truly have, my heart will be broken beyond all repair.

My Thoughts

just to preface – the summary above is a bit out of order since Melanie was only offered the roadie job with the band – she hasn’t accepted it yet, but based on where things are going with with her and Rafe, and her and Travis for that matter, it’s easy enough to assume that she’s going to accept.

In this 3rd installment, we see things between Melanie and ‘Storm/Rafe’ heating up in a good way – they are hot for each other and really get into role playing.  where ever they can.  Travis continues to have a role in things, and that makes for an uncertain future.  I guess the question that lies ahead is

1) who will she choose

2) when will Rafe be ready for a relationship since it’s pushing Melanie away

3) what’s next for Melanie since she hates her job and wants to be an artist but doesn’t have the means or confidence.

Off to book 4 🙂

ARC Review: Savage Kiss (His to Claim #2) by Opal Carew

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Title: Savage Kiss
Author:  Opal Carew
Publisher/Year:  St Martin Press / Macmillan 6/3/14
Length:  29 Pages
Series: His to Claim #2

Overview

Rafe Ranier was my boss and secret crush. A rock musician by night and head of a billion dollar empire by day, Rafe could have any woman he wanted. But I was just the shy secretary he never noticed. For years I obsessed over him, until I finally realized I had to walk away. I needed to break from the secure life I’d always known to discover who I really was.

I never expected Rafe to follow me.

Now I’m on the road with his band, Savage Kiss, and all my secret fantasies are coming true. But I fear I’ve made a huge mistake, because if I get any more attached to a man I can never truly have, my heart will be broken beyond all repair.

My Thoughts

The saga continues – with a rock concert, a dive into unknown territory – some heat and passion….and a potential love triangle?  Didn’t expect that one to come along, but i’m not sad that it has.  We welcome Travis, Jessica’s brother and Rafe’s bandmate into the story – and it’ll be interesting to see how things pan out, especially since Travis has no idea that Rafe is a billionaire and the brother to his sister’s fiance, and Rafe has claimed to not want a relationship right now.  where will that put Melanie?  Only the next chapters will tell.

ARC Review: No Strings (His to Claim #1) by Opal Carew

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Title: No Strings
Author:  Opal Carew
Publisher/Year:  St Martin Press / Macmillan 6/3/14
Length:  27 Pages
Series: His to Claim #1

Overview

Rafe Ranier was my boss and secret crush. A rock musician by night and head of a billion dollar empire by day, Rafe could have any woman he wanted. But I was just the shy secretary he never noticed. For years I obsessed over him, until I finally realized I had to walk away. I needed to break from the secure life I’d always known to discover who I really was.

I never expected Rafe to follow me.

Now I’m on the road with his band, Savage Kiss, and all my secret fantasies are coming true. But I fear I’ve made a huge mistake, because if I get any more attached to a man I can never truly have, my heart will be broken beyond all repair.

My Thoughts

It’s been a while since i was involved in this series – or these characters for that matter, so it took a few seconds to jog my memory – but i’m glad that i’ve come across this ARC from Netgalley.

If you’ll remember, we met Melanie, Rafe and his brother Dane and girlfriend Jessica in the last series His to Possess.  Now we get to begin the story of Rafe and Melanie, and that’s where this first novella installment takes us.

Melanie used to work for Rafe but quit her job and is getting a better idea of what it means to be free and independent.  The question that we’ll get to see answered i hope is whether Rafe will be able to help her discover her freedom and inner self and what that will mean for everyone.  at only 25 pages or so, there’s not much that we get to see yet, but at least it’s a nice introduction, all brought together from a tattoo and a motorcycle.  Enjoy!

ARC Review: His to Possess (the whole series 1-6) by Opal Carew

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Title:  His to Possess
Author: Opal Carew
Publisher/Year: St Martin’s Press 3/18/13
Length:  253 pages
Series:  His to Possess (1-6)

Overview

While attending a job fair, Jessica can’t help but notice the tall, dark, and handsome stranger across the conference lobby. Especially since he bears a striking resemblance to her ex, the man who broke her heart when he couldn’t support her dreams. Deciding to take a chance, Jessica invites Dane back to her bed for one night of hot, no strings attached sex in a last effort to finally get over her heartbreak. However, in Opal Carew’s His to Possess, when the night’s over they find that sometimes a casual fling doesn’t end the next morning.

My Thoughts

WOW – so i’m glad that i am part of Netgalley where i’m able to not only get the books that i love by authors that love, but i don’t have to wait any longer for the bits of stories that i love as well.  In this case, i had read #1-3 and then got my hands on the full length story and was SOOOO thrilled.

So as you have probably read through in my previous posts, we are following the torrid affair between Jessica and her boss Dane, and in comes Storm who also happens to be Rafe, the missing brother and co-owner of this billion dollar empire.  Things couldn’t get any dicier could they?

For the remainder of the story, we’re left trying to sort out who is going to end up together and how they will get there, and while i expected the outcome (as far as pairings), i can’t say that i really guessed how they would get there. there’s a bit of twisted brotherly competitive ness going on which is nice but like i said, twisted, and the fulfilling of a few fantasies.  It’s hot and definitely more BDSM than we’ve seen in the past  (enter a bit of leather and chains towards the end) which is different for this story but in line with what we get from this lovely author.

What i really enjoyed here is that we got enough of a teaser of Melanie and her life that i can only guess that she’ll have her own spin-off where she tries to get all that she’s hinted at wanting.  that’ll be nice since i really think that she can have a wild bit of a story in her.

anyhow – i hope that you guys are able to get your hands on the novellas now, and if not waiting until March won’t be such a bad thing since it’ll be worth it.  I was turned on enough in the first 3 installments that it really warranted a quick desire to read the remainder.  I’m still reeling from some of the scening since it wasn’t so unrealistic, yet it was one of those ‘i’m powerful man and i have control and you sexy female will like it’ dynamics that’s exactly what was needed. enjoy!

ARC Review: The Perfect Storm (His to Possess #3) by Opal Carew

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Title:  The Perfect Storm
Author: Opal Carew
Publisher/Year: St Martin’s Press 12/31/13
Length:  30 pages
Series:  His to Possess #3

Overview

When Jessica invited Dane back to her bed for one night of hot, no strings attached sex, she never expected to see him again. However, when the night’s over they find that sometimes a casual fling doesn’t end the next morning.

An office affair was the last thing Jessica ever imagined herself having, but each encounter with Dane is better, hotter, and more sensual than the last. As their relationship deepens, Dane pushes Jessica to discover new desires, testing her limits in ways she’d never considered. But despite their unstoppable passion, Jessica can’t shake the ghost of her past relationship with Storm, the man who broke her heart and refuses to leave her alone.

 My Thoughts

This are just starting to get juicy in this 3rd installment – we know that Jessica has made a few decisions about things in her life which is nice, but we also know that Storm is going to come back at a time that she’s not overly excited about.  When Storm walked out on Jessica, she felt like her heart was breaking, but with her life in Philly going as it is, she’s moving on and is ok with that.  when she learned at the end of book 2 that her father had given him her information on how to reach her, well…we knew that a triangle of sorts was going to pop up and boy did it.  Not only has someone else figured out what Jess has been up to, but Storm reappears at a moment that’s less than ideal  and we’re left off on such a cliff that i can’t wait to see how everyone reacts.