Tag Archives: Skye Warren

Review: Silver Lining (Diamond #3) by Skye Warren

Posted on by
Reply

Title: Silver Lining
Author: Skye Warren
Publisher/Year:  Amber Shah 11/17/20
Length:  224 pages
Series: Diamond #3

Overview

Elijah North has survived starvation and torture. Now he faces his darkest challenge: the possibility of life without Holly Frank. The woman he loves hangs in the balance. The family he found mourns in the distance. And the future he built crumbles in the wind.

My Thoughts

Here we come to the final installment of this story – wondering what’s going to happen, who’s going to survive and what the cost is. We left Elijah and Holly at a point in their story when things had been good and then went to crap. There was a shooting, a death and a question of survival. Holly has been shot and Elijah needs to keep her safe while trying to keep her alive. She’s done what he set out to do, kill the colonel but what that means that they are both public enemy #1.

The journey that we go on from here is one of hiding, passion, fear and really fearing the unknown. They realize now that the life that they will have in the future means that they will never be at peace. They will never get to just be together without looking over their shoulder, but as long as they’re together, they are ok with that. Until…of course….they are torn apart.

Torture, lies, deception and never knowing if you’re going to see the person you love is the name of the game for the balance of the book.

There’s also another story here, one with London and Adam. We know that London is getting her head back on straight, trying to change her life and get back to a healthy mindset, away from addiction and to be happy. What she doesn’t know is that Adam is obsessed with her (in a good way of course) and that means that he’s going to protect her, watch her and claim her to be his.

When Holly finds out, of course that won’t be a good thing, but the question becomes in what shape will she be when she finds out and what will it mean to have Adam in her life too.

So….we watch how things play out, we learn the real identity of some of the people that we’ve grown to love in this story and we get to see what that means for the ending of everyone’s story. The finale and the epilogue give us what we need, for some of the characters and leaves us hanging off the edge for others. So….Enjoy!

Review: Gold Mind (Diamond #2) by Skye Warren

Posted on by
Reply

Title: Gold Mine
Author: Skye Warren
Publisher/Year:  Book Beautiful 9/15/20
Length:  314 pages
Series: Diamond #2

Overview

Holly Frank is in trouble. The deadly kind.

She and her sister must evade the authorities and the criminals who want them dead. Including Elijah North. The man who took her heart in Paris, her body in a prison cell, and her trust without remorse.

He’s determined to keep her safe. Even if that means losing her forever.

Adam Bisset has his own dark agenda.

She’s caught between the two men, torn apart with every sensual push and pull. Each touch is a lie, each whispered tenderness a trap-but she can’t resist them.

Their lies are tearing her apart. Her enemies are catching up with her. And when she’s taken captive again, she finds out secrets to unravel it all.

My Thoughts

This is one of those series that you really can’t put down because you know that it’s a roller coaster, a train wreck, and yet it’s still so hot and romantic and exciting. When we left Elijah and Holly at the end of book one, we knew that Elijah was going to deal with some of the people who were hunting them, and Holly was trapped in the house, and she knew it.

London some how managed to get the code to get Holly out of the house and on the run they go. We are then finding ourselves about a year in the future, at least I think it’s a year and there’s so much that has happened. The girls have managed to evade being found. We know that Adam is looking for them. Elijah is looking for them, and who knows who else is…especially since we know that London got herself into trouble with loan sharks etc because of a drug habit.

We find ourselves in Italy, at a party where Holly is trying to trade the value of the diamonds that they still have for the amount of money that London owes one specific man, and that’s when things blow up in their face.

Adam appears, and surprisingly he protects them. Mind you, we learn that he has a thing for London, and through the course of this book, we learn more about him to see that who he is is further intertwined in things. Then, when Adam is trying to get the girls to safety, Elijah shows up, and well…that’s going to cause strife.

So we go on a journey to a ‘safe house’ trying to understand if they are safe, what Elijah wants, and how this is going to end. The irony is that Holly and Elijah never had a chance to be apart from the first moment they met. They are marked on one another, imprinted sort of, and where ever they try to go, they find themselves drawn to each other. That’s a theme in this story, when there’s another kidnapping, a threat or few….shoot outs and questions about who’s going to survive.

We get to spend more time with the North brothers in this story – understanding what they don’t know about each other, what they can do to make each other better and what they can do to protect one another. That also means that perhaps I need to dig up the series about Josh since he’s definitely intriguing.

Anyway, we find relationships growing, then some are torn apart. We learn secrets and we see that secrets are being kept. there’s a main character on the verge of death when we end this second book and that means of course I have to dive into the next to see what happens. Enjoy!

Review: Diamond in the Rough (Diamond #1) by Skye Warren

Posted on by
Reply

Title: Diamond in the Rough
Author: Skye Warren
Publisher/Year:  Book Beautiful 6/7/20
Length:  314 pages
Series: Diamond #1

Overview

I’m stepping off a nine hour flight when it happens.

A white van. A dark hood. Every woman’s worst nightmare.

Now I’m trapped in an abandoned church. The man who took me says I won’t be hurt. The man in the cell next to me says that’s a lie. I’ll fight with every ounce of strength, but there are secrets in these walls. I’ll need every single one of them to survive.

My Thoughts

It took me a moment to realize why I was familiar with the North name, and that’s because I read a later part of an adjacent series featuring Liam – you’ll remember him from a few reviews back. Anyway, in this story, we get the beginning of what you can expect to be a roller coaster with Elijah, and Holland (Holly) as their lives become intertwined years before they even know what’s going to happen.

We start off this book with Holly on a trip with her family, one that is protective for reasons that we don’t quite know, but for reasons that i’m sure will come in handy down the line. Holly is 16 and she’s acknowledged that she’s so different from the rest of her family. not interested in the same things and likely a bit deeper in thought. Her older sister London is the one to get attention, be adventurous and this trip to Paris gives Holly a view into what that life is.

She’s approached by a security guard at the Louvre who is not much older than her, but incredibly sexy. For some reason, this boy, E, he pays attention to Holly and not to London and that’s something that she struggles to wrap her head around. What happens next is that she goes against her families expectations, she sneaks out of the museum to spend time with him, and then sneaks out at night to do the same again. What she learns though after the fact is that she was used partially as a pawn. E wasn’t a security guard only, he was working with thieves who were stealing diamonds from the museum and used Holly to get them off property.

Fast forward 8 years and London has gone missing. Holly returns to Paris in the hopes of finding her since that’s the last known destination she was at, and what happens from there is insanity. Holly meets a man on the airplane who seems like someone out of a romance novel. He isn’t what he seems and we quickly realize that he’s using her as a pawn as sorts as well. He kidnaps her from the airport and she’s thrown into a cell with none other than Elijah.

There’s no end to what we question in this story – how she got pulled into this, what E has to do with it and what do they mean to each other. The man who kidnapped Holly, his name is Adam and he works with Interpol, but there’s a darker side to him. there’s something that we can’t put our finger on and what he makes E and Holly do brings out his true colors. The challenge of course is that it also forces up the emotions and feelings and chemistry that these two shared 8 years ago.

Holly needs Elijah’s help and protection to find her sister, especially once they break out of their prison, but what she learns about what Elijah is doing….how he’s made her his prisoner at the same time, well there’s no way that it’ll end well.

What we get at the very end though is a surprise. Elijah has broken Holly entirely. She wants to escape but has no way out of the house, and then when she least expects it, someone peers through the window, has the code to get out…..and we get more questions than answers. So, now i’m off to the second book since I can’t wait to see how this resolves. Enjoy!

Review: Hiding Places (Rochester Trilogy #4) by Skye Warren

Posted on by
Reply

Title: Hiding Places
Author: Skye Warren
Publisher/Year:  Skye Warren 11/15/22
Length:  225 pages
Series: Rochester Trilogy #4

Overview

Emily Rochester rebuilds her life after being on the run. Her husband is gone. Her daughter is safe. The nightmare is behind her… except someone is watching.

Mateo Garza is everything she doesn’t want. Wealthy. Famous. Gorgeous.

He’s also the only man she trusts.

My Thoughts

When we thought we were finished with this series, along comes a fourth book, a spin off taking us on a journey after all the dust had settled, even when it hadn’t. We knew that Emily was back in Cape Eben, she’s been reunited safely with her daughter and she’s trying to rebuild her life. She’s got a house, and she’s writing the story of her life, all while her brother awaits trial for the murder of her husband.

On the other side of the story, we watch how Beau and Jane’s relationship evolves. He feels like she needs to live the life that a college age person should. attending whatever school she wants, living on campus, going to classes, making friends. But he also wants her around all the time. Jane on the other hand never expected to be able to go to college and wants to spend her time with Beau so it’s a struggle of a dynamic with them.

We watch as she tries to find her footing in the new world, trying to make choices that work for her and for Beau, while also trying to navigate the insanity of the murder trial since she was thrown into it when Joe went after her in one of the previous books.

It’s a roller coaster. We watch as the relationship we knew of grows. We watch as a new one unfolds between Emily and Mateo – a man that grew up with them, that was never on her radar in that sense, but a man that is a successful Hollywood actor, a man who’s goal in life is to protect and a man who’s wanted Emily since high school. Watching the level of trust and security there grow is one of the best parts of this story and then seeing how the entire dynamic shifts as a result is even better.

When lies are spun by Joe and the law, when people’s lives are put in danger and security is hired. When protection isn’t enough and someone is kidnapped – we start to see who’s on the right side of things, both in relationships and the law.

All in all not a long story by any means, but an intense and sweet way to wrap up things that have gone on. I now have to find another world to dive into, so i’m off! Enjoy!

Review: Two for the Show (One for the Money #2) by Skye Warren

Posted on by
Reply

Title: Two for the Show
Author: Skye Warren
Publisher/Year:  Dangerous Press 9/13/22
Length:  200 pages
Series: One for the Money #2

Overview

Pregnant. Alone. And heartbroken. The only thing Eva Morelli knows for sure is that she wants this baby. She learned how to depend only on herself a long time ago.

The father, however? He made his position on marriage and children very clear.

Finn Hughes has fought his fate for years, but it’s finally catching up to him. Duty took away his choices. How can he hope for forever? He already knows how this ends.

There’s only one thing worse than having a family.

Losing them.

My Thoughts

This is one of those stories that you know how it’ll play out, you’ll defeat all the odds, but you’re still so curious to see how it happens. We met this couple when they created a fake relationship to help both of them out. Eva needed a man on her own terms to keep her family at bay since they all wanted her to be protected and cared for, and her mother wanted her to marry well. Finn on the other hand is a playboy that needed a woman to keep everyone else away and to protect his family secret.

They found something wonderful in each other since they both didn’t want anything serious, but some how opened their hearts just enough to let the other in. And of course that got them into trouble. We ended the first book with a breakup and a surprise pregnancy, as we often do in these stories.

So we start this second installment with Eva trying to sort out what that means for her, she knows that she wants the baby and knows that when Finn learns about it, he won’t since he believes there’s no out from the ‘family curse’ so that’s a conundrum. We watch how this plays out whilst also watching her brother go through the traumatic birth of a child and then secrets come out.

There’s a roller coaster in this story – one of emotions and reality. We watch Finn come to terms with what his life is going to be with or without Eva and he realizes that he can’t be without her. He goes about it in the wrong way of course which pushes her even further away. His misguided attempts are part of what makes this story so charming.

Throughout this story, it’s not just their relationship that’s up and down. We see the Hughes industries people begin to question what’s really going on with Finn’s father, and what’s being hidden or covered up. We knew this moment would come so not only are we dealing with personal strife, we have professional struggle as well.

There are secrets to be kept, there are secrets that come out and there is the unknown of the overall impact on the future of just about everything. What we don’t really have in this story is the same deep and insane passion that we’ve had in the previous book, but I think that’s because of the emotional craziness that we’ve gone through instead. That means that i’m sure we’ll return to it with gusto in book three, but in the meantime, knowing there’s the passion and heat will have to get us through. So on that note, enjoy!

Review: Falling for the Beast (A Modern Fairy Tale Duet #2) by Skye Warren

Posted on by
Reply

Title: Falling for the Beast
Author: Skye Warren
Publisher/Year:  Dangerous Press 4/30/19
Length:  200 pages
Series: A Modern Fairy Tale Duet #2

Overview

He can never turn back into a prince…

A troubling revelation puts Blake’s newfound career in jeopardy–and even worse, puts Erin’s impending graduation at risk. He can’t risk her future no matter how much he wants her.

She will never have a happily ever after…

A dark legacy threatens everything they’ve worked to build. When old debt comes between them, both Blake and Erin must fight to protect each other–and their love.

Since their forbidden beginning, Erin and Blake’s relationship has been marked by deep sensuality and intense emotion. The couple is tested at every turn. They’re running out of time. Blake and Erin will have to trust each other to forge their own sexy ending.

My Thoughts

It’s been a roller coaster of sorts as we watched this relationship take shape, evolve and then run into challenges towards the end of the first installment. We knew that they weren’t destined to be together for one reason or another, but the attraction that they have for each other, the desire that they share potentially could allow them to overcome it all.

It’s graduation time for Erin, and we want to see her get all that she’s earned and deserves. The degree, the man, the life, but that doesn’t seem like it’s a given. No matter how hard she tries to prove herself in school, there are people who want to cut her down. And there’s the stigma of the impact Blake has on her, on the people around her and the decision makers for her.

There is also a lot for Blake to overcome in this story – he’s got his own demons, his own past to overcome and the experiences that brought him back to this world that impact who he is and how he reacts.

What confuses me a bit in this story is the history that we start to learn and the connection that we learn about between Erin and Blake that precedes them. The notion that Erin’s mother has history with Blake’s father is confusing and random and explains a lot when we learn of the predisposed opinions, but then there’s the added layer of what no one else knew, and what others involved int he situation knew which implied things were not as they seemed even at the time.

Regardless, what we have is complex, romantic, hot and gives you hope that things can change in the future if you allow yourself to block out the noise of others, and when you choose to listen to the noise, how you can make your own story and path. This may not have been my favorite ‘series’ from our author, but i’ll give her a pass since she’s written many of my favorites. Enjoy!

Review: Beauty and the Professor (A Modern Fairy Tale Duet #1) by Skye Warren

Posted on by
Reply

Title: Beauty and the Professor
Author: Skye Warren
Publisher/Year:  Dangerous Press 4/23/19
Length:  200 pages
Series: A Modern Fairy Tale Duet #1

Overview

Once upon a time there was a beautiful college student…

Erin cleans Mr. Morris’s house twice a week to pay her tuition. The reclusive ex-soldier intimidates her, but she can’t help but feel sympathy for him. Then she walks in on him touching himself, and she has much darker, much more sensual feelings.

And a beastly professor with scars he can’t hide…

Blake Morris knows he’s scarred both inside and out. He’s reclusive and surly. Nowhere near good enough for the smart and beautiful young woman who cleans his house.

He receives an offer to return to his alma mater as an associate professor. This is his chance to reenter the world–and to be worthy of the woman he dreams about. He never expected to see her sitting in his classroom on the first day of the semester.

My Thoughts

The summary gives a certain level of romanticism to this story, and while it’s accurate, there are elements that are a little misleading. We do meet Erin while she’s working as a maid, cleaning Blake’s house. We know that she’s attracted to him even though he feels that he’s scarred and hideous and damaged. It’s all due to being in the army, being tortured and yet that still doesn’t seem to be enough for him. What we learn is that he was engaged prior to the accident and the woman that he was with (ironically another professor at the university), she dumped him QUICKLY when he came back and that;s part of what makes the pain worse.

Erin on the other hand has her own struggles. She’s working to pay tuition, being the first in her family to go to college, and we also learn that her mother forged much of the same path. working as a maid – a profession that’s respectable when you need to feed your family, but what she learned quickly is that there’s a disparity when you’re working for a wealthy family who feels like you have to do all they say since they pay your bills. A lesson that Erin’s mom is afraid she’s going to learn from Blake.

This story takes a turn when we see the feelings that Blake has for Erin when she least expects it. She walks in on him pleasuring himself, and out comes her name. We then get to watch how she takes matters into her own hands, makes him realize that what he feels isn’t one sided and a lovely romance blooms from there.

There’s a bit of risk here knowing that he’s a professor now and she’s a student, although not in his class. they manage to keep things under wraps until a new semester starts and Erin finds herself in the last class she needs to take to graduate and it’s Blake who’s the teacher. They play it cool, but what we learn is that it’s not cool enough. The professor that was engaged to Blake before his accident is stil lat the school and we get to see what happens when she realizes that he’s still perfect and yet he’s moved on. She discovers the truth and that’s where our story nets out. There are threats on him, there are threats to Erin and we don’t know what the outcome will be. Romance is off the table and hearts are broken. Off the cliff we go, until we get into the next installment. Enjoy!

Review: The Escort by Skye Warren

Posted on by
Reply

Title:Escort
Author: Skye Warren
Publisher/Year:  Dangerous Press 3/30/18
Length:  258 pages

Overview

There is no shame in pleasure. And no love in business.

I have a blind date tonight, and I know with 100% certainty that I’m getting lucky. There shouldn’t be any surprises, not for one as jaded as me, but when I walk into the penthouse suite of L’Etoile, everything changes.

1) For one thing, Bea is heartstoppingly gorgeous. Pale green eyes and endless freckles. Curves I want to spend all night exploring, as if her body was made for me.

2) Her innocence makes me want to use my entire inventory of bedroom tricks on her and then invent a few more.

3) Except that… she’s a virgin.

I can initiate her into the world of desire without letting her get attached, can’t I? A few hours of tutoring, and at the end of the night a small fortune will be deposited into my bank account.

Yes, you read that right. There are many words for what I do. After all, mine is the oldest profession. I’m an escort, which means this date is nothing more than a mutually enjoyable transaction.

But once I realize one night with her won’t be enough, I’m the one who’s screwed.

My Thoughts

Well, we all know by now that i’ve read all these books out of order so that means that I know how they’ll end up. Regardless – this peek into what brought Bea and Hugo together is a lovely story.

The summary doesn’t truly open the reader’s eyes to what is going on here, but it’s a good tease. Bea is a young woman who’s had a really rough and traumatic life. She lost her parents at a young age and for some reason that has transferred in her fear for her safety and inability to leave her home, the penthouse of an amazing hotel. She’s the desire of a much older man, who likely only wants her for her money and she thinks that aside from that, she’s desired because she’s a virgin, so she’s working to resolve that. She tries to sort that via men in the hotel and finds that she doesn’t have the nerve and that’s where Hugo comes in.

Hugo is a high end escort – a man who knows how to please a woman and make her feel like the most beautiful thing. He is picky with whom he works, and only works one night a week. His lifestyle as a result of his skill and experience is that of someone who’s got a successful portfolio, so he can compete with all of the high society.

Hugo comes to Bea, uncertain of what he’s getting himself into and realizes quickly that he’s got a challenge on his hands, but something quite special as well. She’s a woman to be treated with care and teased with passion and all the things that she doesn’t know or thinks she wants, and in return, he gets something powerful from her. Eye opening, and life changing. What we also don’t see from the other books in adjacent series is that he’s got a motive to going to this hotel, to take this job. He believes the man that destroyed his mother is the owner of the hotel, and therefore the guardian of Bea. He wants to get his revenge.

The journey throughout this story is one of trust, growth and hope. We know that we want to see happy endings outside of the bedroom for these characters and we know that there is no piece of this journey that is easy. Bea’s fear is so gripping that she can’t even go to the roof of her hotel, and that means that Hugo needs to create a bond that is so true and real that she trusts him. The same time, he needs to make sure that there’s a way to protect her heart when she learns that he’s got other motivations.

We see them grow, we see them thrive and we also get to see Avery/Gabriel, Sutton/Christopher/Harper in this story along with Penny/Damon, so all of the characters that we love and can’t live with out. Pepper in heat, sex, passion…and tension and we have yet another amazing story. So, please….enjoy!

Review: Mating Theory by Skye Warren

Posted on by
Reply

‘

Title:Mating Theory
Author: Skye Warren
Publisher/Year:  Dangerous Press 3/17/20
Length:  234 pages

Overview

Billionaire Sutton Mayfair has nothing left to lose…

My best friend is getting married to the woman I love. They say the nice guy finishes last. So what’s the point of being a goddamn gentleman?

Maybe I should take what I want.

Even that sexy little thing on the street corner.

She needs a hot meal and a place to sleep. Instead I’m taking her home to soothe the savage beast inside me. I was born a bastard, and for the first time in my life I act like one.

Except the more I use her, the more I need her.

I didn’t know I had someone left to lose.

For a single heartbeat, I had her.

My Thoughts

We all met and probably fell in love with Sutton when we dove into the story of Harper and Christopher. Now it’s time to see how his life has gone on (or paused) now that Harper has made her choice once and for all and has gone to Christopher. We knew that was always going to be the outcome, however there was a moment where it seemed like it would be a menage. Too bad that didn’t happen, and we get to see what Sutton’s life looks like after.

We learned a bit about where Sutton came from, how his background was a bit rough and how he struggled to survive, making him into the man that he is now. He’s got a varied family situation, knowing that his father fathered more kids than anyone should….and he’s able to recognize similar traits in others. That’s where the introduction of Ashleigh into his world takes new form.

we don’t know what brought her to the streets, but we know that she doesn’t belong there. (I mean, does anyone really?). She’s a mystery but clearly more damaged than a person on their own should be. She’s got a friend Ky that looks out for her and tries to steer her down a path to survival, but we learn throughout this story that he’s got his own demons.

Anyhow – watching the way that Ashleigh and Sutton come together is a story of someone who’s broken trying to survive using someone else who’s broken. Sutton sees things in Ashleigh that he wants to help, and at the same times, sees that she’s able to help him find himself again.

We watch how she makes him feel more than he has in a long time, for someone that he can perhaps have. We know that the love that he’s had for Harper and Christopher isn’t dead, but we see the sensitive, caring and passionate sides of him come to life with power when she gives herself to him…..although there’s the hitch of her age.

She helps him through the wedding

He helps her get off the streets

they save each other until he tells her that she needs to find herself without him, to live her life because now she’s got all the opportunity in the world. He walks away from something that he knows will be amazing if the circumstances were different, and she gets a new chance at life. What the future holds is anyone’s guess and I think that we can all safely say that we wish for happiness and passion, but I don’t know if that’s on the menu. Enjoy!

Review: The Evolution of Man (The Trust Fund Duet #2) by Skye Warren

Posted on by
Reply

Title:The Evolution of Man
Author: Skye Warren
Publisher/Year:  Dangerous Press 9/25/18
Length:  206 pages
Series: The Trust Fund Duet #2

Overview

Ambitious. Intense. Irresistible.

I never wanted to fall for a man.
And definitely not two men.

They tear me apart until I don’t know how I’ll ever be whole again. Until I’m not sure I want to be. How can I choose between two halves of myself?

My Thoughts

What a complicated place Harper has found herself, loving a man that’s not capable of it and being loved by a man that we’re not sure has her best interests in mind. Sutton and Christopher are mysteries, yet they are so overt in their intentions (sometimes)

In this second book, we are at a point where Harper’s life has changed because her mother is close to the end of her suffering, and Harper has decided that her life’s goal now is to make sure her mom has everything that she wants since so much was kept from her when Harper was growing up. They buy an amazing house where her mom can live out her last days, and at the same time, Harper finds a way to buy the library from the men since that’s something that she feels that she needs for closure.

While making the purchase, Christopher forces her to pay an ungodly amount of 2 BILLION dollars for the building, and from that we learn that Sutton has left the partnership with Christopher, and while he’s made his 50% of the profit, he’s no longer partners with Christopher and he’s separated himself from that mess. What we learn throughout the book though is that there’s so much more to the story and the dynamic there and it’s eye opening.

So instead, we focus on the dysfunctional relationship between Christopher and Harper. She’s come to the realization that the unhealthy love that she has for him is something that she’ll always hold onto even though it’s not healthy for her and she’s never going to get anywhere with it, but it also means that all men are going to be compared and that’s another flaw. The way their love hate, oil and water relationship evolves in this book is one that takes a really long time to see progress, and it’s not until the very end that we see the result of horrible moment bring things to a close.

There are chains of lies and mis-truths throughout this story – and they’re not always to mislead, but instead to protect. Everyone wants to save and protect Harper, knowing what her motivation is with life and with the Library, but to what detriment. What is she going to lose in the long run with everyone who tells her things that aren’t necessarily what she needs to hear.

There’s love, there’s life and there’s death in this story. There is a lot of closure that happens but then some open ended new beginnings that we can hope for. Throughout this story too we see the re-emergence of the Avery/Gabriel saga that we know from the previous series, and we get to experience the sadness that Avery had all over again, at least knowing what the outcome will be.

So all in all, a finale that is warranted and a story that we’re sad to see end but hopeful to see what comes next for Sutton since his story is next. Enjoy!