Tag Archives: S.I.N.

Review: Sweetest Taboo (S.I.N. #3) by J Kenner

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no-brainer

Title: Sweetest Taboo
Author: J Kenner
Publisher/Year:  Random House 10/4/16
Length:   240 Pages
Series:  S.I.N. #3

Overview

In this irresistible Stark International Novel, J. Kenner ups the ante on Dirtiest Secret and Hottest Mess, proving once again with the S.I.N. series that she “may very well have cornered the market on sinfully attractive, dominant antiheroes and the women who swoon for them” (RT Book Reviews).

All eyes are on us . . . and there’s nowhere to run.
 
Everyone has their own ideas about Dallas Sykes: He’s a reckless billionaire, a devilish playboy, a man who gets whatever he wants the minute he wants it. But I know the real Dallas behind the money, bravado, and power—and he’s completely, blissfully mine.

We carefully guarded our secrets, and in each other’s arms we sought refuge from our dark past. Our pain became our pleasure, our control within the chaos. But we could only hide from the truth for so long.

Now we’ve let loose our inhibitions and are ready to face the future. And no matter what people think or say, coming clean is its own sweet reward.

My Thoughts

Well, we know that Dallas and Jane are out in the open now with their relationship, their parents don’t understand and have cut them off, they have become fuel to the media so that everyone’s interested in passing judgement and well, Jane’s found herself abducted AGAIN after a fight with Dallas.  That’s where we’ve found ourselves at the beginning of this book.  classic great J Kenner – ending on a note in book 2 that you’re so anxious and picking up right in the throes of it.

As expected, we know that there’s so much turmoil going on in this final installment.  There’s the lingering question around their kidnapping when they were kids, and while they are certain now that Colin was involved, they still don’t know who the ‘Woman’ is/was and well, we can assume that she’s not letting up any time soon in her torment.  And that’s exactly what we see here.

The Woman not only has kidnapped Jane, but she’s making threats to Dallas in terms of what she’s going to release to the public and then actually does it.  After Jane’s found (because of course we know that Dallas will always find her), they leave for LA to try to get away.  All the while, leaving Deliverance to try to get information out of Colin and to also to get information from him on who the Woman is.

Things start to settle down, and we see what J Kenner does best in their steamy scenes together.  There’s such passion and emotion between these two as it’s a romance that started over 17 years ago and it’s sweet.  You get lulled into a sense of security seeing how well they blend that when the Woman pops up again you get so angry.

Mind you – i figured out who she was very early on, and i’m sure that a lot of you did too – but it was nice to see how the story laid it all out – and how we got to the conclusion of who she was.  Of course, there was more abduction and death happening, and of course some horrible stuff that keeps you on the edge of your seat.  People who shouldn’t have been harmed are hurt, and there’s the lingering question at the end of who will survive.  So, all in all, a nicely rounded trilogy that gives us the full story of Dallas. I’m both really pleased and really sad that it’s over since i kind of like the dirty naughty boy that he is.  Oh well.  Have a great day all!

Review: Hot Mess (S.I.N. #2) by J Kenner

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No-Brainer

Title: Hot Mess
Author: J Kenner
Publisher/Year:  Random House 7/12/16
Length:   240 Pages
Series:  S.I.N. #2

Overview

The S.I.N. series continues with the seductive follow-up to the Stark International Novel Dirtiest Secret, from the New York Times bestselling author of “red-hot and angsty” fiction that “keeps readers guessing” (Publishers Weekly, on Under My Skin).

No one can know about our love—and hiding only makes it hotter.
 
Dallas Sykes has a reputation. He is known for his parties, his money, and the countless women on his arm. Yet the Dallas I know is a different man—darker, smarter, and unbearably sexy. Just one look from him can leave me breathless; the anticipation of his touch can make me lose control.

Inextricably bound by our past, we keep each other’s secrets. And while there are people who have the power to hurt us, it’s the truth that threatens us most of all.

Dallas can be mine only behind closed doors, our passion as searing as it is forbidden. Yet nothing in this world has ever felt so desperately, deliciously right.

My Thoughts

I really enjoy Dallas and the reputation that he has, but what’s even more – i love the goal he’s set out for himself – to find who kidnapped him and Jane and make life right again.

While that’s the goal here – similar as it was in book 1, there’s also the face that he and Jane are so involved with each other that it causes problems in itself.  See, they acknowledge that they belong to each other, but know that they can only be together in private to uphold what people expect of them.  The other bit of this story is that there are still so many secrets that it’ll rip them apart when Dallas’s search for the kidnappers require even more secrets to be kept.

So there you have it – in a nutshell.  What’s nice here is that our author – J Kenner is still able to give us what we need and want from her.  The passion and chemistry between Dallas and Jane is so intense that they can’t keep their hands off each other, and it puts great images in the reader’s mind.  They are sooo naughty and steamy, especially knowing what Dallas needs, that hot isn’t even a good enough word.

The other bit of the story that’s classic Kenner is that there’s so much unknown in the search for kidnappers and where the path is leading.  Deliverance is still hot on the train, uncovering information that perhaps they didn’t know – while at the same time, Jane’s ex husband is also working with/for the FBI and they are also drawing the same conclusions.  So, the question isn’t so much as when they are all going to discover who’s behind it all, it’s who’s going to find out first and what will that cause in terms of pain and suffering since we know that there are some things that MUST remain secret.

Mind you, as i’ve read this 2nd installment, i’ve picked up on a lot of hints, and i’m beginning to think that it was The Woman that was behind it all and not the Jailer, and that I think i know who the Woman is – which will cause even more problems.  There’s so much unknown and so much that i’m dying to find out.

Where we are left off at the end of this though is that the Woman has somehow surfaced again and has Jane.  where she is and what’s going to happen to her is anyone’s guess and i’m sure that’s where we’ll pick up the next installment – on such a great cliffhanger.  so….on that note, i wish book 3 were out already, but i’ll try to be patient waiting.  Have a great day all!

Review: Dirtiest Secret (S.I.N. #1) by J Kenner

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No-Brainer

Title: Dirtiest Secret
Author: J Kenner
Publisher/Year:  Random House Publishing 4/19/16
Length:   320 pages
Series:  S.I.N. #1

Overview

From the New York Times bestselling author of such “sizzling Stark novels” (RT Book Reviews) asRelease Me and Say My Name comes a Stark International Novel featuring provocative bad boy Dallas Sykes—the first in a new trilogy in the S.I.N. series.

It was wrong for us to be together, but it was even harder to be apart.
 
The memory of Dallas Sykes burns inside of me.

Everyone knows him as a notorious playboy, a man for whom women and money are no object. But to me, he’s still the one man I desperately crave—yet the one I can never have.

Dallas knows me better than anyone else. We bear the same scars, the same darkness in our past. I thought I could move on by staying away, but now that we’re drawn together once more, I can’t fight the force of our attraction or the temptation to make him mine.

We’ve tried to maintain control, not letting ourselves give in to desire. And for so long we’ve told ourselves no—but now it’s finally time to say yes.

My Thoughts

We’ve gotten hints and glimpses into the man that’s Dallas but i think that no one had any real idea what his past was made up of, and how horrible it was.  It’s his driving force in everything that he does now in life, and it’s understandable.

Being kidnapped at the age of 17 really does a number on someone, especially when there’s torture and especially when you’re sister (not blood) / lover / best friend is kidnapped with you and tortured along side you.  The remainder of his life has been set towards finding out who was behind the deed and what their motive was.

The sister, Jane comes to us as a new character entirely, never hinted at in the series that we read with Damian or Jackson.  It’s nice to have a new person, especially since we only knew of Dallas as a womanizer and nothing more.  Jane was there with him during the kidnapping for the most part, and has had to deal with the issues and challenges that come from it.

The path that this story takes is an interesting one.  The first is the constant fight between these 2, they know that there’s a draw and connection and sadly, the only way that Dallas feels that he can deal is to push her away. It’s taken years for Jane to stand up for what she wants, and well, it’s not necessarily giving her the outcome that she hoped for.

Alongside this story line, we get the search that Dallas’s vigilante organization has going to find out who his captors were, ‘The Jailer’ and ‘The Woman’ since they were the 2 that really made his life horrible, and well, he’s closing in on someone, and then finds that he’s killed himself.  (sure…..).  On top of that, his organization is sooo covert, that when it comes to light that someone’s outed them slightly, in outing their code name, things begin to get complicated.  Jane’s got her own agenda in this sense as well as it’s been her job now writing stories about kidnapings and now writing a story about the vigilante side of things which makes Dallas uncomfortable along with his partners, and then there’s the complete uncertainty that we don’t know what will happen if they are outed.

Throughout this story, i have had my suspicions on who was involved and we see a bit of headway coming through.  whether i’m right or wrong is still to be determined but we’re left on a cliffhanger as the people that are being named aren’t those that you’d really want to see included.

There’s also the Dom (BDSM) side of things that we see Jane branching out to since that’s the kind of control that we know that Dallas needs now, and that’s going to cause plenty of challenges in the story line.  Where that goes, well i think we’ll need more of the story to take us there.  the great thing is that J Kenner has this amazing ability to really take us deeper into a scene and feel the passion and heat leaping from the pages to keep us engaged.  I don’t know about anyone else who’s read this, but there are times when these 2 come together that it’s so hot it’s explosive.

And on that note – have a great night everyone and i’ll be back around soon!