To prove her love and save her man, she has to go above and beyond the call of duty.

Francis McKade is a man in lust. He’s had a crush on his best friend’s little sister for years but he has never acted on it. Besides that fact that she’s Malachi’s sister, he’s a Seal and he learned his lesson with his ex-fiancé. Women do not like being left alone for long months at a time. Still, at a wedding in Hawaii anything can happen—and does. Unfortunately, after the best night of his life, he and Mal are called away to one of their most dangerous missions.

Shannon is blown over by Kade. She’s always had a crush on him and after their night together, it starts to feel a little like love. But, after the mission, Kade never calls or writes and she starts to wonder if it was all a dream. Until one night, her brother Mal drags him into her bar and grill and Shannon gets the shock of her life.

Kade isn’t the man Shannon knew in Hawaii, or even the last few years. Twelve hours of torture changes a man, especially one who had never felt so vulnerable. He still can’t shake the terror that keeps him up at night. Worse, he is realizing that the career he loves just might be over.

Shannon is still mad, but she can’t help but hurt for the man she loves. He is darker, a bit more dangerous, but beneath that, he is the Kade she’s known for so many years. When he pushes her to her limits in the bedroom, Shannon refuses to back down. One way or another, this military man is going to learn there is no walking away from love—not while she still has breath in her body.

Warning: This book contains two infatuated lovers, a hardheaded military man, a determined woman, some old friends, and a little taste of New Orleans. As always, ice water is suggested while reading. It might be the first military Harmless book, but the only thing that has changed is how hot our hero looks in his uniform—not to mention out of it.

Title: INFATUATION
Author: Melissa Schroeder
Series: A Little Military Harmless Romance, book 1
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Military Romance, Erotic Romance
Publisher: Self-Published
Year of release: 2011, November 14
Format: eBook
Source: Received an e-copy from author for review

First line:
The sound of Hawaiian music drifted lightly through the air as Kade took a small sip of his beer.

Memorable Scenes:
- the one (first) night in Hawaii > It was so hot it melted my brain cells
- the scene with the scarves > the action with that one scarf... OMG! *fans self*


INFATUATION is the first book of Melissa Schroeder’s I’ve read for review and the third one in total. I read her first two Harmless books way back when I didn’t even fathom reviewing the romance novels I was reading. So when this book was offered for review I grabbed it with both hands!

And I do not regret the grabbing! With a heroine (Shannon Dupree) who is strong, capable and positively a woman whom any man would want standing in his corner and a Navy Seal hero (Francis ‘Kade’ McKade) who is sexy, quiet and commanding Melissa Schroeder gave me an awesome read.

Melissa Schroeder knows how to crank up the heat in the love scenes. The start of the book set the tone and it didn't let down till the very last page and word. The added subtle hint of BDSM just made it all the more interesting. When sex scenes in a book give me goose-bumps I know I have a scorcher in hand.

And next to the burn-the-pages heat there was so much more to INFATUATION. Starting with the small, subtle military plot of a mission gone FUBAR and the consequences of that to the members of the team. But there was also great characterization and a cast of secondary characters that were intriguing to say the least.

Schroeder has a writing style that I took a liking to from the very first page. She combines heat and emotions with humor, great characters and fabulous dialogues, making this book fast-paced and character-driven. Reading INFATUATION makes me want to go back and start the Harmless series again from the start and review them all.

INFATUATION is an awesome contemporary, erotic and military romance that was such a joy to read, I finished it in 24 hrs while having to work. It was sizzling hot and emotional. The two things I always seek in the erotic romances I read.

Favorite Quotes:
Her sister’s eyes danced with barely suppressed amusement. “It couldn’t be because of one hot Seal with a hint of an Aussie accent, could it?"
Shannon closed her eyes and sighed. “That man gets my temperature up. All he has to do is smile, and I’m ready to strip naked and jump his bones.” She opened her eyes. “Is it that obvious?”

“Now, naughty girl, you can’t move.”
She opened her eyes and frowned at him. When she opened her mouth to respond, he placed one finger against her mouth.
“You’re the one who awoke the beast, so you get to live with the consequences.”
She wanted to tell him to go to hell, but there was something so...sexy about him commanding her, telling her what she could and could not do. Unlike her brother, Chris, she had never been into BDSM, but with Kade, the possibility was titillating. And dammit, arousal deepened his accent. That alone made her toes curl.

She was laughing at something Deke said, and dammit, he couldn’t help the way the air backed up in his lungs.
“Looks like they had a good time,” Mal said.
Indeed it did. Her face glowed with happiness as she looked up at Deke. He leaned closer and said something to her. She laughed, and although it wasn’t loud, he could hear it. It wrapped around his heart and gave a little tug.

Mal shook his head. “Do you know what you’re doing?”
“Yeah, dammit.” He started walking again. “I’m going to get my woman.”

More than the law will be tested when a marshal meets a feisty widow.

Sean Reilly had the bad luck to be assigned the blue marble – the "cursed" marble shunned by the four other marshals in the Arizona Territory. He's sent to take care of a land dispute for a widow named Lucille Quinn. He has no idea just how his life will change because of the dang blue marble.

Lucille Quinn needs help to settle the matter of some missing cattle. The marshal that arrives is unexpected as he is good-looking. Who is she to deny the urge to pleasure herself and him? What she doesn't expect is to find there's more to the man than good looks and broad shoulders.

The meeting is by pure chance, the result is pure magic.

Title: LUCILLE’S LAWMAN
Author: Beth Williamson
Series: standalone
Genre: Historical Romance
Publisher: Self-Published
Year of release: 2011, June 27
Format: eBook
Source: Received an e-copy from author for review

First line:
"That blue marble is cursed."

Memorable Scenes:
- Lucille shooting at Sean > awesome!
- scene at the waterfall > oh my hotness!



QuickScore-Verdict:
A confident, capable U.S. marshal and a feisty, bossy, blunt widow who have a past together make for some main great characters in this ultra-short 25-page story. The humor in this story was perfect! There were many moments where there was a grin on my face. It's too short for depth or romance but who cares, when it was so hot it set the pages on fire!

LUCILLE'S LAWMAN is one hot little number. Though I'm not a big fan of historical westerns I must say this tasty little morsel has definitely whetted my appetite for more.

Favorite Quotes:
Sean’s annoyance notched up quickly. “Hell no. What you think I can’t perform my duties if it’s hot?”
“No, he’s trying to save you from the Black Widow.” Forrest made some kind of odd gesture with his hands.
“I don’t think I need saving. And just what the hell are you doing?” Reilly stared at the man. This was a US Marshal?
“Warding off evil. She’s a witch, you know. She’s the one who put the curse on that marble. She been nagging us for months about some missing cows.” Forrest picked up his hat from the scarred wooden table top. “I’m leaving before the curse gets itchy for someone else.”

“Slowly reach down and pull out your badge, and only your badge.” She took pleasure in watching that tanned, long-fingered hand slide down into his trousers. The movement made her nipples pop, which was a bit embarrassing. He didn’t need to know her traitorous body reacted so strongly.
As he moved slower than Mabel, she almost told him to hurry up. He was being careful, and rightfully so because she would shoot him if need be, but hell, he didn’t have to be that careful. By the time he took the badge out and tossed it in her direction, she couldn’t keep quiet any longer.
“I think a spider spun a web near your boot while you were taking your sweet time.”

“I ain’t gonna stand here with the door open all night. The bugs will think it’s an invite for a feast.” She raised her brows. “You joining me in here or not?”
A small grin played at the corners of his mouth. “Are you inviting me in, Lucy?”
She pursed her lips. “I’m telling you it’s gonna be witch tit cold out there tonight with nothing but coyotes and snakes for company. In here you got a warm woman, a place to lay your head and a night of pleasuring.”

Kane has to convince his best friend Nadine of two things. First, it’s time for her to stop mourning her deceased fiancé. Second – and most importantly – Kane has fallen in love with her.

Nadine knows if she can move past Justin’s death, the tentative feelings she’s denying Kane will blossom. Only she can’t seem to move on. Desperate, she turns to a psychic for help so she can say the final goodbyes she’d been denied years before.

For one night, Kane, Nadine and Justin will face the grief threatening to break down a friendship and turn to a love that will make them whole again.

Title: LETTING GO
Author: Dee Carney
Series: standalone
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Noble Romance Publishing
Year of release: 2009, February 12
Format: eBook
Source: Received an e-copy from author on a dare because I said on Twitter I don’t like romances with ghosts in them.

First line:
He ignored the silence at their table.

Memorable Scenes:
- first chapter > starts off with a nice voyeurism scene
- the love scene > heartbreaking, beautiful and hot at the same time


QuickScore-Verdict:
Dee Carney sent me this book after I was saying on twitter that I don't like romance novels with characters that are ghosts and that even mentions of ghosts in a back cover blurb will stop me from buying or reading a book.

I really liked the opening chapter. It set the stage and immediately gave me a great first look into the main characters and their personalities. I still don't like ghosts in my romance but I have to give it to Dee Carney that she wrote a wonderful story and her approach to the whole ghost plotline seemed quite original. I say seemed because obviously I haven't read enough romances with ghosts in them to be able to make a comparison.

LETTING GO is an emotional coworkers & friends-to-lovers romance that didn’t blow me away but it still worked for me despite the ghost. This says a lot about Dee Carney and her writing skills.

Favorite Quotes:
Nadine forked through fluffy grains of arroz con pollo. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on or not?”
“I’ll catch you up even though the blood is leaving my head to race toother parts of my anatomy unknown to you.”
“Kane!” She could let that last bit slide, but having to hear about a growing erection teased her neglected libido. At the same time, it flummoxed her. The anatomy they discussed belonged to Kane, of all people. His grin widened. “I’m just sayin’, if what I say doesn’t make any sense,you know why.”

Patrick didn’t think it would be a big deal to kiss his best friend Brandon. Hell, they’d done crazier things to avoid a bar fight. He was totally unprepared to be wildly turned on, the kiss opening up new avenues of pleasure he’d never dreamt of—Patrick, after all, was straight, even if Brandon wasn’t.

Destiny’s never been afraid to ask for what she wants. When she sees Patrick and Brandon together, she knows exactly what she wants—the three of them in bed together, preferably with her in the middle of a hot, naked-man sandwich with her two best friends.

When Brandon finds himself hunted by an unknown enemy, the three friends find themselves fighting for their lives—and their hearts.

Title: DESTINY CALLS
Author: Samantha Wayland
Series: standalone (as far as I know)
Genre: Erotic Romance, Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave Publishing
Year of release: 2011, July 6
Format: eBook
Source: Received the ebook for review from author

First line:
He should have just stayed home.

Memorable Scenes:
- Destiny's little experiment with Brandon > my heart broke for Brandon at his realization that he was alone, had no one who was "his"
- the scene at Patrick's house after Brandon's attack > I teared up
- Captain Sullivan's reaction to Patrick's confession about loving both Destiny and Brandon > gotta love that man!

Destiny Matthews is a marketing executive with commitment issues. She’s take-charge, outspoken and tough but she has a soft core and her heart is in the right place.

This ménage has two heroes. First we have Brandon, who is bi-sexual. He’s also restraint, and stubborn but can be volatile when pushed to far.

Second we have Patrick who is straight, or at least he’s always thought he was straight until one kiss turns his world upside down. He’s kind, explosive, and outgoing. He’s also quick-mouthed and only shows his sweet side in private

Brandon and Patrick are both police officers and longtime best friends. Patrick seemed to be the binding factor in this ménage. Both Brandon and Destiny have (secret) crushes on him. Brandon tries to contain his attraction to Patrick and hides his unrequited love in favor of their lifelong friendship. Destiny and Patrick have been lovers off and on but it has always stayed on a sexual level.

While Patrick is the binding factor that brings them together, Destiny is the glue that keeps them together. She's the calming element when the guys' explosive tempers rear their heads. I clicked most with Destiny and Patrick.

This is an emotionally complex and intense story. Three lives with their different individual connections to each other are intricately woven together through some major attraction, explosive chemistry and deeply rooted love. Samantha Wayland has made a very good first impression on me. However there were some things that didn’t completely work for me.

I had a bit of trouble getting into the story but that lasted about a few chapters and had to do with the fact that the story opened with and at first focused on the m/m part of the m/m/f ménage. As known I'm not a m/m romance reader but do enjoy m/m/f romances when the woman is the focal point of the ménage. DESTINY CALLS started with just Brandon and Patrick though and that threw me back for a bit. However once Destiny entered the scene I was completely engaged...And more importantly, the story needed the opening it had as the whole dynamic between the friends and the development of the ménage hinged on it.

I believed in the Destiny/Patrick and Brandon/Patrick sexual and emotional connections, but in the beginning I had trouble believing in the Destiny/Brandon connection since there was no obvious foundation in something past fond friendship, contrary to the foundations that were present between respectively Brandon and Destiny with Patrick.

However sex scene wise I believed it all and gobbled it all up once I accepted that Samantha Wayland was going to tell this story as she saw fit and it wouldn't be conforming to my notions of how a m/m/f ménage should be. And the way she saw fit, was the way to go because that was the only way to let the story run its course towards the HEA that I ultimately what want to see in the end. And whatever I might have found not to my liking in this book, it was never the hot, rife with raw emotions, love scenes.

Next to the intricate and emotionally complex romance there's suspense as well (well duh, Brandon and Patrick are police officers). I started believing it was going to involve the arrest a mob kingpin. But there's also a violent attack on Brandon and this turned out to be the major element in the plot. Though there is a lot happening in this book, the pace was slow and not slow in a bad way, but just not fast-paced compared to everything happening.

Even though I'm still not a fan of too much m/m action and focus in m/m/f ménages and for me there wasn't enough focus on the female in the triad somehow this book still worked for me because of the raw emotions and emotional struggles that the characters went through to accept each other and all the consequences that went with that.

After finishing this book it stayed with me for quite some time as I couldn’t exactly form my final thoughts on it. Even though it had that m/m focus I am not fond of, it still made a big emotional impression on me. She definitely pushed some buttons with me and made me think about what I like and don’t like in ménages and I will definitely be looking for more books by Samantha Wayland.

Favorite Quotes:
God, Brandon tasted good. Familiar and different. The strength of Brandon’s arms, his sheer size, his flavor and texture. It was like Patrick’s first kiss all over again. A world of discovery in one lip-locked moment. Heat poured through him, thrumming with rough need.

She sat watching him [Patrick], her heart filled with compassion, her body humming with desire. His face was a mask of confusion and shock.

Patrick’s tongue stole over his, his lips yielding, responding, working at Brandon’s mouth. Each touch, each parry of Patrick’s tongue sent electric shocks zinging through Brandon’s body. He acquiesced, giving the kiss over while sinking deeper into it. It was so sweet. So good. Patrick ran a thumb over Brandon’s jaw and he let his eyes close, simply losing himself in kissing Patrick.
[...] Three days of jerking off hadn’t even come close to easing the ache. But this. His blood sang on its way south, his head spun from its rapid retreat. Every nerve ending was on full alert, gathering in sensations, swamping him with data.

He stared at her, achingly aware of his need for her, his desire that couldn’t be spent with one orgasm. Especially since he’d come in his pants like a freaking teenager. Jesus. (Brandon)

Brandon wanted to reach out, to shout his denial at the loss of contact, but stopped himself. He couldn’t pressure Patrick, no matter how the need beat at him. He had to let Patrick set the pace, even if Brandon wanted to fall to his knees and beg.
Come to that, if he were to fall to his knees in front of Patrick, there were a few things he’d like to do while he was down there.

She backed toward the door, her hand up. “No. I have to go. Don’t look at me like that! I can’t miss this meeting.” Dropping her hand, she clutched the handle of her briefcase. “I swear to god, Patrick, stop looking at me like that. It’s not fair.”
Brandon covered his mouth with one hand, doing a fairly poor job of hiding his laughter. They both knew what they’d done to her. Jerks. Mouth-watering, hunky, sex-god jerks.

He knew he should say something to make Brandon believe it would all be worth it, but he didn’t have the words. He had never been more acutely aware that being the one with the big mouth wasn’t the same as being the one who knew the right thing to say.

Black Ops, Inc. operative Luke –Doc Holliday– Colter is taking some much needed down-time, making his way across the Peruvian Andes via rail, when banditos attack the moving train in the midnight hours. It soon becomes apparent that robbery is not their intent but the abduction of super model Valentina, who is traveling incognito while recovering from a public scandal involving her ex-husband, high profile US Senator, Marcus Chamberlin.

Luke whisks Valentina off the train in a daring escape but the two of them become the targets of a relentless manhunt. Enlisting the aid of Luke's BOI teammates, they soon discover that Val’s intended abduction is linked to a plot put in play by an international gun smuggling alliance. The BOI team led by Luke, with Val along as a necessary pawn, must race halfway around the world to thwart a ruthless attack that would not only result in a devastating loss of life but destroy a tenuous peace the US and her allies have established in a vastly unstable part of the world.

Title: WITH NO REMORSE
Author: Cindy Gerard
Series: Black Ops Inc., book 6
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Pocket Books
Year of release: 2011, July 19
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Source: Received an ARC from author for review at RWA Nationals in NYC

First line:
Luke Colter's number one rule of self-preservation: Don't ignore the itch.

Memorable Scenes:
- Luke and Val's escape from the bad guy shooters on the mules > I was holding my breath and at the same time thinking 'Doc makes a sexy cowboy'

Luke 'Doc Halliday' Colter is charming, gentle, protective and witty.
Lately he’s been questioning his job, whether he should keep doing what he does (coincidentally Wyatt was thinking the same in the previous book.). Then on the way home from his holiday during his one break per year, he runs into trouble and cannot stop his protective instincts from kicking in.

Hollywood star actress Valentina (Val) is sarcastic, tenacious and sassy. She’s trying not to depend on or need men for her happiness and safety as all they've done is hurt and use her but circumstances drive her right into the arms of knight in shining armor, Luke. Colter Good thing he's a good guy and a former Navy SEAL. When Luke prevents the kidnapping of Valentina during a train ride on one of the last days of his 2-week leave from BOI, they escape to Buenos Aires where the other BOIs join in to find out who is after Val and why.

The love scenes are hot and I love how Cindy Gerard keeps them original and fresh in every installment and how every romance is unique to the main characters at hand. I also liked the element in the romance where Val is the big movie star Luke had a crush on when he was younger. It gave the romance something extra, making it yet again different from the other romances in the series.

In this book there are some introductions of interesting secondary characters that were added to the original BOIs and with this series ending after the next book I'm hoping Cindy Gerard is going to start a new series with these men. My interest was definitely piqued by not only former naval pilot Brown but also the guys assigned to protect Val, Santos in particular.

The plot of WITH NO REMORSE takes us from Peru via Argentina to the USA and Sierra Leone and takes place almost a year after the end of RISK NO SECRETS and within 10 pages I was in the middle of exciting action and ready to enjoy Doc's story to the fullest. If there were things that should be noted in the less positive column of this review it would be that the references to movies/TV shows were cute but I'm not sure it doesn't date the book and Val's constant references to Luke as Indiana Jones started to become bothersome at one point.

Again Cindy Gerard created a different, unique plot for an installment of this great series. I also suspect the plot of the next book has it’s origin in the end of this one and I also think the overall wrapping up of a story line that started in SHOW NO MERCY (book 1) and was deepened out a little bit in the previous book (RISK NO SECRETS), was being geared up in this one for the next book as well. I love that!

Though I'm normally not quick to figure out the plots I must say the one in this book I had my finger on it from the start, knowing who was involved and why. And because I'm not the best at guessing these things in the romantic suspense books I read I think it's safe to say Cindy Gerard took the predictable and easy road there. However, despite the predictability the suspense still kept me at the edge of my seat as reading how the BOIs take down the bad guys is still a sight to behold and in the end there were some twists I didn't totally see coming. Those last 60-80 pages were breathtaking and awesome and totally in line with what I'm used to in this series.

Cindy Gerard writes mesmerizing romantic suspense. The balance in the mix between the suspense and romance is perfectly done and once I start reading a BOI book I just can't stop because when it's not the plot keeping me on the edge of my seat, it's the romance making me keep reading on thinking 'just one more page, one more chapter.'

WITH NO REMORSE is another great installment in this series and I'm sad to know that the next book is the final one. I've truly fallen in love with this series and Cindy Gerard's writing. I'm running out of words to describe how much I love the romantic suspense that Cindy Gerard writes. She blends mind-blowing military stuff with edge-of-your-seat suspense and hot, satisfying romance together so well, her books are highly addictive and impossible to put down once you start them. When I think Romantic Suspense I think Cindy Gerard!

Favorite Quotes:
And when he undid the buttons of his shirt, then whipped it off and handed it to her with a clipped, “Cover up with this”, her argument lost its steam.
That wasn’t all she lost when she was suddenly face to face with the lean, muscled breadth of his chest. Her power of speech took a hike as she sat like a mute and stared.

Luke took a moment to grieve for his balls, which were taking a hammering on the boniest backbone he’d ever had the misfortune to straddle. But when a barrage of automatic weapon fire cracked across the ground beside them, the state of his balls took a backseat to the danger to Valentina’s life.

Luke was going insane.
Break-out-the-anti-psychotic-drugs, dust-off-the-lobotomy-kitts, and lace-up-the-straitjackets insane. All this lush, sexy woman pressed against him was more than he could take.

Well, hell. He wasn’t gone yet. To make certain she understood that, he strode straight to the bed, leaned down, cupped her nape in his palm, and pulled her up to him. Then he kissed her like tomorrow might not come and he wanted to experience every nuance, every sigh, every sweet wanton response from the mouth that he wasn’t sure he could ever get enough of.

He made love to her with a tenderness he hadn’t known he was capable of expressing. With a reverence that he hoped showed her that this wasn’t about sex. This was about communion. This was about seekers who hadn’t even known they’d been searching. About lost souls who had defied fate and found themselves in each other.

Everything had seemed clear in the intimacy of the night, in the heat and intensity of the most profound emotional and sexual experience of Luke’s life.
Then morning, the bitch, showed up and muddied the waters again.

“Now let’s try that again. Ask my wife nice,” Reed ground out, butting his chest against Luke’s, “and maybe I’ll let you sleep in the same bed as your teeth tonight.”

“You’re my heartbeat, Val. You’re my reason for being the man I need to be. With you, anything’s possible. Without you…without you, I’m not the man I want to be.

Just what is a good girl supposed to do, faced with the wicked temptation of not one bad boy, but two?

No matter how hard good girl, Gemma Trent, tries to run from the mistakes of her past, she can't seem to escape the memories of two hard-bodied, hot-blooded rowers, and the shameful things she let them do to her one crazy night five years ago in the college boathouse. Perhaps only by facing up to those mistakes can she prove that she’s no longer that sort of girl, and finally set herself free.

As determined as Gemma seems to be to smother the truth of her passions, Nathan Hunter and Ben Pearce—having already had her slip through their callused fingertips once—are equally committed to fanning the embers and rekindling the fire they suspect still smoulders deep inside. Now that they have her within reach again, all they have to do is convince Gemma to put her own self-imposed prejudices aside, and remind her just how good it feels to share.

Title: DOUBLE STROKES
Author: Kat Black ( I have added this link to the Author’s Blog, since there is also a YA-writing Kat Black and I assume this is not she)
Series: standalone
Genre: Erotic Romance, Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Total-E-Bound Publishing
Year of release: 2011, September 12
Format: eBook, 29 pages
Source: Received an digital copy from the author for review

First line:
In one of the bustling spectators' enclosures set up along the Thames riverbank for the annual Henley Royal Regatta, Nathan Hunter milled with a group of old university rowing club peers, reunited for finals day of the world-famous competition.

Memorable Scenes:
- as the story is extremely short I'd like to qualify it as memorable in its entirety > an ultra-quick and very hot read


QuickScore-Verdict:
From the first sentence I loved Kat Black's writing style that just flows, making this story easy to read and fast-paced. I loved the characters: Ben is playful, smooth and soothing, while Nathan is intense, impulsive and demanding. That leaves Gemma in the middle (literally) who embraces the sexual needs she has underneath her proper and good-girl shell.

DOUBLE STROKES is very short (29 pages), fast and intense. I hope there will be more on these three characters as this short has really whetted my appetite. The ménage scene is hot and well-written and I cant wait to see what Kat Black can do with a bigger page-count and a meatier storyline!

Favorite Quotes:
Always more careful to conceal his emotions than his friend, Nate gave every impression of being engrossed in the reminiscences of the rowdy group. But beneath the smiles and banter, his real focus lay with Ben's every tic and twitch.
That's how he knew the precise moment the blond man's body tensed up, attention snagging on something over Nate's left shoulder. In response, Nate felt his own muscles snap taut, breath stilling with anticipation.

"If we race in and pounce on her like a pair of slavering beasts, all it's likely to do is make her fling up her defenses and start worrying about her reputation all over again–" Ben paused to study Nate's face before raising a wry brow. "And that's assuming one look at you doesn't send her running for cover first. You're projecting the wrong side of caveman right now, mate."

The only reason she'd agreed to come here was so she could finally face up to and bury the mistakes of the past. To prove to herself she'd moved on, grown out of those shameful, confused impulses–matured into someone normal.
Except it was blatantly obvious she'd done no such thing, not when a single look from the dynamic duo was all it took to turn her nipples hard and make her knickers damp.

Nate's voice was a satin-covered dagger, cutting right through her defenses and stabbing into the secret heart of her need. He was right, she had wanted more.

Reduced to nothing more than a quivering bundle, Gemma clung to Ben, letting the movement of his thrusts become her own. Clasping a big palm around her nape, he held her ear to his mouth, pouring a sensual stream of words into it, making her insides quiver.

Wanted: willing apprentice to handle indecently arrogant (but incredibly sexy) tycoon


With her family business in crisis, Polly Prince does her best to keep calm and carry on. But hard work alone can't save her London company from a takeover by the infamously ruthless Damon Doukakis…or her traitorous body from the lethal sensuality of her boss!

As his new apprentice, Polly accompanies Damon to Paris to negotiate the most challenging business deal of her life! Worse still, Polly must at all costs resist Damon in the most dangerously romantic city in the world…

Title: DOUKAKIS’S APPRENTICE
Author: Sarah Morgan
Series: 21st Century Bosses
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Harlequin Books, Harlequin Presents line
Year of release: 2011, September 27
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Source: Received an ARC from the author for review

First line:
"He's here. He's arrived. Damon Doukakis just strode into the building."

Memorable Scenes:
- all the arguments between Polly and Damon > sizzling foreplay, every one of 'em


Polly Prince (not wowed by the name but what’s in a name? The character certainly wowed me) is the executive assistant at her father’s ad agency. She’s a proficient, driven, defiant and very creative workaholic. She’s used to taking care of herself because of an absent father who'd rather chase women half his age then take care of his daughter. When her father’s latest conquest leads to the ad agency taken over by Damon Doukakis, Polly grabs the chance to show what’s she’s worth to the company.

Damon Doukakis is the billionaire media-tycoon who takes over Prince Advertising and his reasons aren’t solely business driven. He has a score to settle with the CEO, Polly’s father. Damon is quiet, calculating and protective of the people he holds dear. He’s volatile under a veneer of calm coolness and he’s ruthless both in the boardroom and outside of it.

After reading and loving A NIGHT OF SCANDAL I was thrilled that Sarah offered me another book of hers to read and my expectations were definitely met with DOUKAKIS'S APPRENTICE.

The twist created by family stuff and something too spoiler-y for me to reveal here as it would take away from the tension between Polly and Damon and the enjoyment of the story offered the base for smoldering chemistry and lots of verbal sparring between them and I loved it. I also loved you see both Damon and Polly fall under each other’s spell, despite their fight against it.

From the first page to the last I was drawn into Sarah Morgan's fast-paced and attention-grabbing writing style and the intriguing premise. This is Harlequin Presents at its best! The tension, the daughter of the enemy-trope, the setting and the emotional back-stories, it all helped turning this book into an awesome read. And the way Sarah Morgan writes kisses? Who needs a full-on sex scene when you're treated to make-out scenes of this caliber! Oh and the full-on sex scenes…they weren't too shabby either ;)

DOUKAKIS’S APPRENTICE was another awesome read! When I read a book in one sitting that says enough. I just couldn't stop reading until I was finished. Sarah Morgan has a knack for great, emotionally layered Harlequin Presents with well-rounded characters that jump off the pages.

Favorite Quotes:
Hauling his gaze away from the seductive curve of her bottom, Damon slammed the lid on that part of him that wanted to flatten her to the boardroom table and indulge in raw, mindless sex.

(Damon wonders when Polly learned to speak French)
Polly flushed. “Just kidding. I promised myself that if a gorgeous Frenchman ever whispered sweet nothings in my ear I wanted to be able to understand him.”
“If he’s whispering nothing it would probably be better not to understand him.” Damon said dryly and his words made her laugh.

The sudden darkening of his beautiful eyes told her he felt it too and rejected the unwanted chemistry as completely as she did. Perversely, that rejection didn’t hurt as much as aggravate. Her emotions spun and suddenly she wanted to press her mouth to his and kiss away the sarcasm and cynicism that flowed from him.

Caught off guard, Polly tumbled headlong into the addictive heat of his kiss, her mouth colliding with his in a fusion of intimacy that was shocking in its intensity. The exploding heat was fierce enough to fuel a nuclear reactor, the hunger so all-consuming it devoured her preconceptions about just how a kiss could feel because this kiss was like no other.

Her sweet mouth seduced his with a slow, sure gentleness that ripped away his defences and sent fire tearing through every part of him.
Balancing on the dangerous knife-edge of a new addiction, he felt his power to control his emotions and actions drain at a frightening rate. The part of his brain warning him to stop this madness right now was eclipsed by the part that reached out greedily for the fulfillment of pleasure.

Watching Damon dance was a sensual feast. Every movement made her think of sex, every glance he sent in her direction was a promise of what was to come.

“I love you.” He spoke the words softly but his eyes were full of passion and heat. “I’ve spent my whole life making sure I didn’t fall in love. Then I met you again and suddenly I didn’t have a choice.”

Naomi gets her high from crowd surfing in her little plaid skirt. She’s got voyeuristic tendencies and with a mosh pit full of people there are infinite sexual possibilities. She’s only got to look to the person next to her for a slamming good time in the sack and out of it.

Alissa is a cougar with a sex addiction and a penchant for stealing her daughter’s clothes. When she comes across a freebie catalog full of her favorite kind of dress up, she just can’t help herself. Out comes the credit cards and in she goes to the nearest single’s bar. It’s time to see what today’s catch of the day is.

In this anthology all it takes is a little scrap of fabric to rule the world. When playing dress-up who doesn’t want to take over the world?

Title: THE LITTLE PLAID SKIRT SAGA (VOL 1&2)
Author: Elise Hepner
Series: not part of a series, as far as I know
Genre: Erotica
Publisher: Excessica
Year of release: 2010, October 29
Format: eBook
Source: received a digital copy for review from author

First line:
VOL1 - Naomi
The rush of the crowd against her thighs as she surfed their open, groping arms made her wet at the seams.
VOL2 - Alissa
I couldn't make up my mind today.



QuickScore-Verdict:

THE LITTLE PLAID SKIRT SAGA is an ultra short novella of the erotica variety. It's not that I was expecting a romance with a HEA but the lack of emotional intensity and the strong lean to non-romantic and more straight sexual need/desire did remind me of why I love to read erotic romance and not so much erotica.

Also because these 2 stories were so very short I never had the chance to really get into the characters and click with them. Even though the stories felt a bit one-dimensional to me, the writing style is promising and I would love to read an erotic romance by this author.

I know there are erotica readers who will really like these stories and I urge them to give Elise Hepner a go as her knack for writing raw sexuality shines through, even for a reader like me who's more into the HEA and the emotional part of erotic romance.

Favorite Quote:
(Vol. 2) I just had to play the good girl until the bad one came out to play.

One spark could burn her world down.
Six years after her husband’s death, Regina Pace is still just going through the motions, her only pleasure a nightly glass (or three) of wine to dull the ache. Tonight is no exception—until a sensual outdoor encounter with her neighbor’s son, freshly home from college. He’s older, wiser, more devastatingly handsome than she remembered. He’s also fifteen years her junior.

Despite her misgivings, it isn’t long before her nightly ritual includes a long, deep drink of Josh Smith. Ogling leads to touching, then the sparks flare into an erotic encounter that feels wickedly right—and deliciously forbidden.
Yet the intense heat can’t burn away the doubt pestering the back of her mind. That the gap between their ages is too large, even for the most determined leap of faith…

Product Warnings
Features a boy-next-door who won’t take no for an answer, more than one sexual fantasy (including some outdoor self-loving!), and a burning romance that proves age is just a number.

Title: KEEPING PACE
Author: Dee Carney
Series: At this moment it’s a standalone and not part of a series (yet)
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Erotic Romance
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Year of release: 2011, June 21
Format: eBook
Source: I received a digital copy for review from author

First line:
I could say some sort of spell kept me transfixed to the spot as I watched my neighbor’s son masturbate, and it would almost be the truth.

Memorable Scenes:
- the roses Josh left every evening > Josh makes me weak in the knees!
- the scene on the stairs > I couldn't breathe...my heart was pounding...I melted into a puddle of aroused goo!
- the sunrise scene > wow!


Quick & Dirty-review:

Ingredients/Summary:
An older woman ready for love, a younger man who is the epitome of romance, sizzling hot sex, slowly developing feelings, an a-hole of a so-called friend, a lot of hesitation and a lovely ending.

Hero:
Josh Smith is the younger guy next door. He’s even-keeled and matured when he’s not drunk. He’s an old soul, passionate, headstrong, impulsive, romantic, candid and frank.

Heroine:
Regina Pace is the older woman and a widow of 6 years. She’s the main character whose POV is the backbone of this story. She’s solitary, strong, confident, stubborn and loyal.

Likes:
- the writing that painted such vivid images in my mind
- the extensive and in-depth characterization
- Josh. Period

Dislikes:
- not having Josh' POV, but this is a very minor dislike as even without it this book was great!
- the Lou part, especially Regina’s reaction to Lou when she’s contemplating considering him over Josh.

Writing:
The first person narrative is not my thing and I think this is the first contemporary erotic romance I've read in 1st person narrative. However, when the writing is good, something like the narrative shouldn’t bother the reader and in this case it definitely didn’t as I love Dee Carney’s writing style and the way she conveys emotions and feelings through the pages.

Verdict:
KEEPING PACE kept me enthralled from start to finish! What an amazing and emotionally rich story full of depth and heat. I loved it so much I wasn't even bothered by the 1st person narrative. If anything it gave me a thorough and in-depth look in Regina's journey back to love.

The very start pulled me right in emotionally. The intensity, Regina's doubts, indecisiveness and hesitation about taking a chance on love with Josh, their fights and tension caused by external elements made this so much more than a breezy and light erotic romance within the cougar trope. The ending left a satisfied smile on my face and I’m now looking forward to my next taste of Dee Carney’s writing.

Favorite Quotes:
I almost took a step back when my brain finally registered what it all meant. A small cry of surprise tried to spill from my lips, but I bit it back in time. Instead, I stood transfixed and watched an amazing specimen of human musculature move with an erotic beauty that took my breath.

Desire swelled within me, and I weakly fought it into submission, though it would not die without a struggle. I saw a hint of lust reflecting in his eyes and prayed I didn’t imagine it.

Damn Josh for shattering my once regimented life and reintroducing me to an existence where I fantasized. As soon as I left the seductive hold of fantasy, reality crashed into me until I couldn’t breathe from the harshness of it.

I wanted his kiss but resisted the temptation to force our mouths to connect. The intimacy of the way we stood now seemed to join us better than any mere kiss could. In our closeness, Josh became the very air I breathed.

I watched his eyes as he revealed me slowly. The amount of want, the anticipation of this moment, bloomed in them. His face became youthful then. One of a boy at Christmas, about to open what he knows will be his favorite present.

“Gina,” he growled. And it was a growl. A low predatory sound sexy enough to make me come right there and then.

“Seriously.” His whispered words held a measure of heat in them. “You’ve got this look… This sultry, seductive, come-hither look.”
“You’re just horny.”

Josh, as always, had impeccable timing. Anyone who looked at him would be able to tell he’d been drinking. Despite the crisp enunciation, his eyelids drooped, and he just had the aura around him. The same kind of aura that put cops on alert when pulling a driver over or nurses disbelieving when they asked exactly how the dildo had become stuck up there.

“Josh!” I cried out. He made me hurt inside, the kind that made my heart swell, and brought me to the edge of a cliff over which I wanted to happily tumble.

A voice in my mind screamed at me. It cried out it did love him. That we both loved him. That when I looked at him, there was more there than youth alone. There was promise and hope for so much more between us. But the voice wasn’t powerful enough to move my mouth, and so I sat in silence when he walked out of my bedroom. The ethereal light from the hallway had somehow become a shadow, embracing him as I would not.

Detective Pale Rysen, an Alpha, is determined to secretly rebuild the Wolf packs from the ashes of genocide. When a killer starts picking off young females looking for sanctuary, it’s his job to protect them. Forced to work with a hated enemy, he fears his cover will be blown.

Jade-Scarlet’s membership in the powerful Order of the Sibile has always been controversial. A half-wolf, Jade’s unstable psychic powers are a disappointment to her mercenary handlers. So when the Oracle commands her to work with Pale, Jade must prove herself…even if it means challenging the enigmatic shifter.

Yet Pale triggers more than her curiosity. He sends her into Heat, and the intense sexual attraction could mean losing control of her gifts—something she can’t allow. As the number of victims rises, so does the danger. A murderous darkness wants them both dead. But even if they stop the killer, how long can they fight each other?

Title: TEMPTING THE ENEMY
Author: Dee Tenorio
Series: Resurrection, book 1
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Carina Press
Year of release: 2010, June 14
Format: eBook
Source: Received a copy for review from author

First line:
Shae trudged through the snowdrifts, her feet sinking nearly to the knee with each step.

Memorable Scenes:
- Jade trying to get Emmitt out of his shock > this scene had me swallowing back my tears, which I barely managed to do...
- the bonding scene > just wow... I have no words to describe what this scene did to me

Jade-Scarlet is an empathic Sibile with the gift of manipulating light and a half-breed Wolf shifter. She’s sarcastic, defiant, giving and loyal.

Pale Rysen is a homicide detective and Wolf shifter. He’s the Alpha of a pack he’s trying to build up after the humans tried to erase the shifters from the face of the Earth. He’s a dominant alpha in every sense of the word, broody and ruthless but also gentle and tender at times.

There are so many reasons Jade and Pale can't be together, yet with their instant and strong chemistry they give the trope of star-crossed lovers a new meaning. Their verbal battles and internal emotional struggles were awesome to read. Jade's defiance triggers Pale's need to dominate and Pale's alphaness grates on Jade's sense of independence, this made for wonderfully explosive interactions that also inadvertently built up the sexual tension between them. The love scenes were sexy and beautiful (I have no other way of describing them) and they matched with the characterization perfectly.

Wolf shifters, witches with special gifts, human law enforcement, a vile serial killer to be stopped and caught, I gobbled it all up! I loved that the world building was clear yet non-intrusive to the plot, characterization or romance. Subtly imbedded into the rest it's set up perfectly, not too much on the forefront and enticing enough to want to know more.

The prologue immediately set the tone. I was fascinated, wondering what was going on and my heart was pounding with excitement. Since I'm terrible at figuring out who the killer is (whether in books, movies or TV shows), this time again I was going back and forth between several characters not homing in on the right on till the very end. As with everything else in this book, I loved the suspense and how it was played out and wrapped up.

Dee Tenorio's writing is intense and packs a tremendous emotional punch. Whether it's character-driven contemporary romance, sizzling erotic romance or dark paranormal romantic suspense, it never fails to keep me enthralled in its emotional grip. I think the intensity also makes Dee Tenorio's books somewhat slow-paced and this is not a bad thing because even though I love reading fast-paced books, the intensity and slower pace give me room to savor her books to the fullest. And savor TEMPTING THE ENEMY I definitely did!

The fact that I added this book to my 2011 favorite reads list immediately after finishing it and the huge amount of favorite quotes I marked (but had to cut as to not make the quotes outnumber the review) should indicate how much I enjoyed this book. I'm so ready for the next installment of Resurrection! And luckily it's waiting for me on my TBR pile and I saw it's Tate's book. I adored the banter between the pack members, especially Tate and Ty caught my attention and I was beyond happy when I found out the next book in this series would Tate’s. He is so much more than met the eye in those short moments he was on the pages...can't wait!

If you're looking for an original and excellently written and refreshing take on paranormal suspense, look no further as TEMPTING THE ENEMY has it all: the heart pounding suspense, the complicated romance, the intriguing world building and the complex, three-dimensional characters. I highly recommend this book to readers who love a strong suspense element in paranormal romance and to readers who love a little (okay, a lot) of dominance in their hero.

Favorite Quotes:
A chair wheeled backward with a squeak, which meant Jorgensen was on the move. A little older than Pale, a lot friendlier and apparently everything women found attractive, Jorgensen rarely had to work to grab a woman’s grateful attention, so Pale knew it wouldn’t take long for this Sibile to become equally captivated. He waited to be relieved. All he felt was a decidedly strong desire to tear out the other detective’s throat and lay it at her feet for a gift.

“I always figured Pale’s mate a girl with as thick a beard as he has,” Tate said, because apparently silence was a fate worse than death. “Never thought he’d find someone as pretty as that.”
“She is pretty,” Ty agreed, “but I always figured his mate would have to be blind. Almost feel bad for her, looking at his ugly ass for the rest of her life. That’s just a damn shame.”

He traced her chin, running his fingers to her throat, watching them wander over the swells of her breasts to the line of the towel. His finger hooked the edge again.
“Pull and I’ll bake you alive.”
A crooked grin revealed one of his fangs. “Strength is a desired trait in a female. Makes a male want to dominate.”
And that grin made her want to be dominated. Her want tightened her throat, because she couldn’t have him knowing what she craved. “Good thing you’re above that kind of stupidity.”

But I have no idea what I am. There’s no magical voice in my head telling me the right thing to do. No idea how to give you what you want.”
“You are what I want.” Did he even know the way his eyes glowed when he watched her? That when his voice was so gruff, she could feel it and all the longing he had in it? That he was stealing parts of her heart with every word? “I want all of you. For always.”
(...)
“Then take me, Pale, because I’ll never want anyone else.”
(...)
He lowered himself onto all fours at the foot of the bed, slowly crawling toward her, gaze locked on hers.
His movements were sinuous, even with his hard angles and broad muscle. He settled on his belly next to her, then leaned onto his side. He set his head on one hand and lay there. Letting her look her fill as he picked up the ends of her hair and twined them through his fingers. His eyes smoldering, he said only two words. “Prove it.”

Sometimes extreme provocation can lead to exactly what you need…
Attracted.
Kelly is focused on the bookstore she manages. Sex is relegated to a list of candidates on her PDA. Only one man pushes all her buttons―her boss.

Fascinated. Spencer is determined to fight his desire for Kelly. For years they’ve bumped heads over the store they both love. But there’s more than one reason a potential relationship is too complicated.

Provoked. When Kelly and Spencer unexpectedly meet up at a sex club, all the rules go out the window. Suddenly there’s only one way this match of wills can end―naked, preferably all night long. In this battle for sexual supremacy, there are two winners—and two losers, when their stubbornness leads to the very thing each dreads most.


Reader Advisory
In a couple of scenes, Kelly and Spencer test “the more the merrier” theory.

Title: PROVOKE ME
Author: Cari Quinn
Series: Unveiled, book 2
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Erotic Romance
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave Publishing
Year of release: 2011, June 22
Format: eBook
Source: Received a digital copy for review from author

First line:
Being called to the boss’s office was never a good thing.

Memorable Scenes:
- Kelly and Spence's first meet in the club > I just overdosed on raw sexual heat and tension. Am I still breathing? I think Cari just killed me...
- the scene working late at the Book Nook > sweet and hot at the same time
- the scene at the club with Paul > *fans self* but it's not helping at all!!


Kelly Crossman is a day manager at one of the Book Nook bookstores.
She’s sweet and giving, yet she knows what she wants and goes for it. Kelly is also smart-mouthed, impulsive and has rebellious streak.

Spencer Galvin is a regional manager for The Book Nook bookstores. He’s controlled and in command, tight-lipped and driven. But he’s also ruthless, honest and has voyeuristic tendencies.

This book is hot beyond words! I'm not ashamed to admit I was in a constant state of arousal throughout the whole thing. But next to the amazing, scorching heat there was also the emotional struggle both Spencer and Kelly go through. Both Spencer and Kelly are far from picture-perfect characters and I really liked that. Their flaws and not so perfect decisions made me like them even more.

Kelly has no trouble acknowledging her feelings for Spencer but she keeps them to herself, afraid to hear Spencer doesn't care to hear them.
Spencer is more complicated. He has feelings for Kelly but his past and need for control prevent him from letting go and going for it. His struggle was torturous to read and there were many moments I just wanted to yell at him to just go for it and stop wasting precious time.

I’m really happy to know that there are quite a few books still coming in this series (4 more if I recall correctly) because the cast of secondary characters was great and offers a lot of possibilities in the future. There was one secondary character I would have loved to punch in the face in this book. Hard! But Cari has assured me she isn’t all evil and she is going to make an effort to redeem her in her own book. I have faith that Cari will make it work, so I’m even looking forward to Diana’s book.

I must admit Cari Quinn pushed me to the edges of my boundaries with the Diana situation. I understood Spencer’s reasoning but still didn't like the direction it was headed in. However, I did like how that particular part of the story was played out in the end and how it contributed to the emotional turmoil in the story.

I think I should just review Cari Quinn's books with an “I love her writing, buy the book!” because I just do. The perfect combination of heat, humor and emotion draw me in every single time and just keep me reading, not wanting to stop for a single minute. Fluent, witty, clean, hot and crisp Cari's voice is one of my top favorites in the erotic romance scene.

I suspected it before but after reading PROVOKE ME, I’m sure. Cari Quinn is trying to kill me with her scorching hot books that are not only sexy but emotional too. Oh well, it’s a great way to go…

Favorite Quotes:
He was brilliant, ruthlessly so. An amazing boss. And his ass was a thing of beauty.

(Alana) “Kel, we’ve been here ten minutes. The line’s getting longer and I’m nowhere near getting any c#ck.” (I just LOVE Alana, if only for this remark of hers)

He wasn’t much better. He was about to suffer c#ck-strangulation from his belt and his sides ached from his rigid stance in the seat. She’d fucking annihilated him with her lips and her hand. Even without sampling that honey-sweet mouth or feeling her bare palm around his erection, he was one tepid fantasy away from coming in his pants.

Every breath he took ravaged his chest. He was on fire, inside and out, his body one massive throbbing nerve. She cried out again, a shrill piercing noise he should’ve worried would wake the neighbors. But there was no room for worry now.

He sounded like a mixture of heaven and hell, wrapped in a thin chocolaty layer of sex-drenched sin.

I

Think a vampire-hunting bloodhound is dangerous? Try threatening his woman.

Wilder Harding is a bloodhound, created by the Guild to hunt down and kill vampires on America’s frontier. His enhanced abilities come with a high price: on the full moon, he becomes capable of savagery beyond telling, while the new moon brings a sexual hunger that borders on madness.

Rescuing a weapons inventor from undead kidnappers is just another assignment, though one with an added complication—keeping his hands off the man’s pretty young apprentice, who insists on tagging along.

At odds with polite society, Satira’s only constant has been the aging weapons inventor who treats her like a daughter. She isn’t going to trust Wilder with Nathaniel’s life, not when the Guild might decide the old man isn’t worth saving. Besides, if there’s one thing she’s learned, it’s that brains are more important than brawn.

As the search stretches far longer than Wilder planned, he finds himself fighting against time. If Satira is still at his side when the new moon comes, nothing will stop him from claiming her. Worse, she seems all too willing. If their passion unlocks the beast inside, no one will be safe. Not even the man they’re fighting to save.

Warning: This book contains a crude, gun-slinging, vampire-hunting hero who howls at the full moon and a smart, stubborn heroine who invents mad-scientist weapons. Also included: wild frontier adventures, brothels, danger, betrayal and a good dose of wicked loving in an alternate Wild West.

Title: WILDER’S MATE
Author: Moira Rogers
Series: Bloodhounds, book 1
Genre: I'm not even going to try :)
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Year of release: 2011, March 8
Format: eBook
Source: received a copy for review from the author

First line:
Satira would have been on a horse and halfway into the sunset by now if the lift from the laboratory hadn’t broken.

Memorable Scenes:
- Wilder's grand entrance scene > way to make a first impression and meet, I might even say exceed, the expectations...
- Wilder and Satira's first love scene > wow...Scorching hot!


Nathaniel, Satira’s mentor and the man who raised her, is missing and vampires are trying to get their hands on a new weapons technology he's invented. Satira teams up with Wilder, a bloodhound with no filter and a dirty mouth and mind to find Nathaniel before the vampires execute their evil plans.

I have to be honest and say that when I read the blurb and an excerpt for WILDER'S MATE I didn't get the urge to stalk Moira Rogers for a review copy of it because I've learned that steampunk-ish books are more miss than hit with me, even from favorite authors whose voices I love. So I just went "nah, let's skip this one and wait patiently for the next Southern Arcana book.

Then a certain author came over for a visit and of course we started talking books and this one came up and she highly recommended it to me. I think she saw my lingering reluctance because then she brought out the big guns and mentioned Wilder being a dirty (talking) hero who doesn't have a filter at all...
People who know me will have probably guessed that after this I harassed her into getting Moira Rogers to send me a review copy of this book and the rest is history.
Why did you have to go and do that Alisha Rai? Why? You’ve seen my bookcases…don’t I have enough to read already? Huh, huh?

It's hard for me to describe why I love Moira Rogers' writing. It's probably the co-writing thing and I must say WILDER'S MATE is the funniest and hottest Moira Rogers book I've read to-date and now I’m craving more.

From the start the characters cracked me up with their dry wit and the banter between them. But it wasn't just the humor. The world building and plot was done very subtly and in a way that enticed you to want to know more. I even liked the steampunk-ish elements but that's probably because they weren't overtly present and were just supporting the PNR vibe the book had.

Next to Satira and Wilder there was a supporting cast that was at least as intriguing and impressive as the primary characters. Ophelia, Archer and Hunter come to mind. At first I didn't get Archer's motivation for his actions and couldn't decide if he was one of the good or bad guys...in the end I've decided to place him with the good guys, but still have my doubts about him.
I also loved Hunter and hope he’ll get his own book in the future as he was an even more intriguing character to me than Archer was. (Reviewer’s note from Pearl: I found out after writing this review that the next book in this series is Hunter’s…YAY!)

A few chapters in I was starting to get curious about the Guild and the Bloodhounds... Back-story, why, how etc. and I hoped there would be more explanations about them. There were but some things stayed unclear to me and I loved the romance, plot and action/fight scenes more than the steampunk-ish elements. The things that remained unclear, I’m sure they’ll be explained more in the upcoming books in the series and I was happy the authors took this route as I wasn’t bombarded with the world building and/or info dumps.

Whether you like paranormal romance, steampunk romance, futuristic, historical or western-ish romance, you’ll like WILDER’S MATE. If you like all of the above AND a dirty talking alpha hero who has no filter whatsoever, you’ll love WILDER’S MATE. I’m happy Alisha Rai talked me into trying this book because I have discovered another series by Moira Rogers that I’ll want to read as soon as the books are available.

Favorite Quotes:
“If you brought me with you intending to have a warm body during the new moon, I’m not unwilling.”
Wilder’s jaw clenched. She didn’t think much of him, if she thought he’d plan to take that sort of liberty without asking. “Takes a damn sight more than ‘not unwilling’ to heat my blood, girl.” He grinned because he knew it would fluster her. “I like my women enthusiastic.”
Color rose in her cheeks, but her eyes glinted with stubborn challenge. “It’s a wonder you find any, unless you take care not to speak to them first.”

She was feverish. Wild. Pleasure twisted inside her, dug into her and tossed her about until she found herself clutching at the iron headboard so she wouldn’t fly away.

He put his tongue on her first, licking the delicate ridge of her collarbone. Tasting her skin. She didn’t fight her shiver or her quiet moan. Let him have no doubts about her willingness or the way her body sang when he touched her.

It was his voice that did it, the low endearment, hoarse and hungry. He wanted her— needed her—and the empty, lonely place inside her vanished. Tension snapped, and every muscle in her body tensed at the same time before pure, clean relief flooded her, riding a wave of tempestuous pleasure.

Underneath the movie star’s good looks is a man battling with the demons of his past. No one knows the real Nathaniel, they only see the pin-up, the man he pretends to be.

Until one night he is forced to rely on Katie Field, an ordinary young woman from a very different world to Nathaniel’s. She may be starstruck but she isn’t blinded by the bright lights of fame. Can Nathaniel trust her enough to reveal the man behind the mask?

Let the seduction begin…

Title: A NIGHT OF SCANDAL
Author: Sarah Morgan
Series: The Notorious Wolfes, book 1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Harlequin Publishing, Harlequin Presents line
Year of release: 2011, June 21
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Source: Received an advanced copy for review from author

First line:
They were waiting for him to fail.

Memorable Scenes:
- Nathaniel opening up to Katie about his family > throat lump moment
- The days in Rio > with its high point: the sexy scene in the lift *fans self*

Nathaniel Wolfe is a big Hollywood actor. He’s broody, sarcastic and guarded, hiding a vulnerable man beneath his outward bluster. He also lives up to his bad boy reputation with his naughty, bold remarks towards Katie.

Katie Field is a costume designer. She’s down-to-earth, realistic and says what she thinks. She’s a real chatterbox, especially when nerves hit her and I really liked her self-deprecating sense of humor.

A NIGHT OF SCANDAL is the first in a multi-authored series brought by HP: The Notorious Wolfes. The series covers the stories of the 8 siblings born from different mothers and all fathered by the horrible William Wolfe. This first book tells the story of Hollywood star Nathaniel Wolfe and costume designer Katie Field. Circumstances force them to spend the night together, in a very platonic way, but once the press gets wind of it, they’re forced to flee to a private island resort and there the platonic side of their relationship is soon forgotten.

The opening paragraphs hooked me like no book has hooked me in a while. The chemistry, banter and the battle of wits between Nathaniel and Katie were a joy to read. The attraction is undeniably there but both try to not give into it. However when they do give in, the sparks fly off the pages. Ms Morgan definitely delivers on the sensual tension she creates.

I really like Sarah Morgan's voice. Her characters have depth to them and she incorporates humor in her writing, always a plus with me. In less than 200 pages she took me on an entertaining, thrilling and emotional rollercoaster ride. From amusement to anger to tears to sizzling sensuality...they all claimed my state of mind at one moment or another while reading. My first encounter with Ms. Morgan's writing has been an awesome reading experience and an unexpected pleasure.

This first installment has most definitely whetted my appetite for all other 7 stories in this series. I need the to read the other Wolfe siblings' stories and if they're half as good as ANOS was I'll be in romance reading heaven. (Meanwhile I’ve read the second book and it was just as good as this one!)

Favorite Quotes:
It was immediately obvious that she’d renewed her make-up and then scrubbed it off, afraid it would look as if she were trying too hard. Nathaniel gave a humourless laugh. She didn’t need to try. Make-up or no make-up, her mouth was still the same full tempting curve that made a man want to dive straight in and sample the flavour.

“If I leave you here they’ll feed on you like sharks attacking raw meat.”
“If I’m the raw meat in that analogy, then it isn’t a very flattering description. No woman wants to think her thighs would provide sufficient food for one shark, let alone sharks in the plural.

“Where are you planning to go?”
“A journalist-free zone. I need to lie low until the Sapphire ceremony. A deserted island. Sun, sea and se–“
“I am not having sex with you.”
A ghost of a smile touched his mouth. “I was going to say seclusion, but sex sounds good to me. You talk when you’re awake and you talk in your sleep. It remains to be seen whether you talk during sex.”

Katie hurried down the steps. Like Cinderella, she thought, running from the ball. Except that she hadn’t lost a shoe. Both shoes were on her feet, but her heart was in pieces.

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