REVIEW: No Contest by Tara Wyatt

*Thanks to Netgalley and Pocket Star for an ARC in exchange for a review*

Expected publication: January 29, 2018

The third book in the Blood and Glory series reveals that sometimes, the power of temptation is stronger than the pull of a championship belt. This is a sexy read full of intensity, unexpected romance and its fair share of intrigue.  Perfect for fans of Katy Evans!

Publisher's Summary:
Leandro Oliveira—hunky MMA fighter, playboy billionaire, and newly crowned champ of the World Fighting Championship’s light heavyweight division—is used to getting his way. But when his party lifestyle threatens to cost the WFC sponsors, he has to clean up his act or he’ll be stripped of his contract. Forced to give up late nights of booze and women, Leandro resents having to change his behavior—until he lays eyes on the sexy publicist hired to manage his image. He plans to seduce her to regain control of the situation, but falling for her wasn’t supposed to be part of the deal.

Freelance publicist Ashylynn Fields has never taken on a client she wasn’t certain she could handle. But her latest project might just be the guy who kills her perfect record. Between his sex tape, his exploits at strip clubs, and his nights spent street racing expensive sports cars—not to mention his smoldering good looks and near constant flirting—Leandro might prove to be impossible. But with a full-time position with the WFC on the line, Ashlynn is more determined than ever to ignore his good looks and charm, and get this bad boy on the straight and narrow. 

No Contest was a quick, steamy read and my first exposure to the series. However, I have definite plans to seek out the other titles.  Author Tara Wyatt follows a successful formula to build suspense.  Not only is there electric sexual tension between protagonists, but there is just enough extra plot outside of their growing attraction to add to the overall narrative. On downside, for me, was that many of the added characterizations of secondary players was all to stereotypical/predictable.  I guessed what would happen very early on but I didn't really have too many complaints since this is what I look for in this type of romance.

Overall, very enjoyable.  

Final rating: 4 out of 5 stars

REVIEW: The Trouble with Twelfth Grave by Darynda Jones

*Thanks to Netgalley & St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for a review*

Ever since Reyes escaped from a hell dimension in which Charley accidentally trapped him, the son of Satan has been brimstone-bent on destroying the world his heavenly Brother created. His volatile tendencies have put Charley in a bit of a pickle. But that’s not the only briny vegetable on her plate. While trying to domesticate the feral being that used to be her husband, she also has to deal with her everyday life of annoying all manner of beings—some corporeal, some not so much—as she struggles to right the wrongs of society. Only this time she’s not uncovering a murder. This time she’s covering one up.

Throw in helping Cookie's daughter Amber and Quiten's start-up P.I. business and keeping the Vatican from snooping into the existence and whereabouts of Charley and Reyes' daughter. But when someone starts attacking humans who are sensitive to the supernatural world, Charley knows it’s time to let loose her razor sharp claws. Then again, her number one suspect is the dark entity she’s loved for centuries.

Can Charley bring Reyes back from the brink? Can she discover the killer in time? Can she recover from breaking the unforgivable rule????

The Trouble with Twelfth Grave is another wickedly funny and hot fantasy ride with plenty of intrigue, characters we love and great storytelling. Narrator Lorelei King does another stellar job with the audiobook. You'll laugh, you'll cry!

Quite possibly the best moment of the entire series is homeless 'stripper' Cookie. I laughed so hard!

The ending had me reeling and waiting with anticipation for the next book!

Final rating: 5 out of 5 stars

REVIEW: Honor (The Breaking Point #1) by Jay Crownover

Nassir is another of Crownover's Point badboys that is oh so bad, but oh so good.  He doesn't make excuses for his past, present or future. With an upbringing forged in Hell on Earth, the Point is the perfect place for him to build an empire with a beautiful, worthy woman by his side.

“I probably have never done it right, but I have always loved you, Keelyn Foster.” 

He's has wanted "Honor", Keeyln Foster since the moment he laid eyes on her; however, he waited perhaps too long since she skipped town.  He's determined to find her, bring her back and convince her to be a part of his business and his life.

Keeyln is on the run from her past life until her beautiful devil finds her, sparking a desire not just to return home to the Point but to embrace her past, present and future as the one and only woman in Nassir's life.  It is a tough rough and equally challenging for her to admit her feelings but once they do it is so hot that Hell just might have a new zip code.

“He would always be something sharp and deadly on the inside, something that could be used to destroy, but every blade needs a sheath and every gun needs a holster to protect it. I had no problem offering myself up as the thing that kept this particular weapon secure.” 

I've been waiting ages for this book and Crownover certainly didn't disappoint.  It's dark, seedy, sexy and violent but at the center of it all are two people forged in fire and pretty much perfect for each other.  I love that neither character has to apologize for what they want and who they are.

The audiobook read by Youssif Kamall and Sloane Carson is just phenomenal.  I slayed this book (a whole 10+ hours of audio) in barely a day, staying up until the wee hours to listen to 'just one more chapter.'  I adored the little Marked Men series nod by the subtle addition of Royal and a few other fan favs.

Final rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Follow the author on Twitter: @JayCrownover



#Honor #LOVENASSIR #NASSIR #TheBreakingPoint #romance #suspense #erotic #audiobook

NEW RELEASE: Honor by Jay Crownover

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Jay Crownover returns with her most complicated hero yet, in the first book in the romantic suspense series The Breaking Point. 

Don’t be fooled.

Don’t make excuses for me.

I am not a good man.

I’ve seen things no one should, done things no one should talk about. Honor and conscience have no place in my life. But I’ve fought and I’ve survived. I’ve had to.

The first time I saw her dancing on that seedy stage in that second rate club, I felt my heart pulse for the first time. Keelyn Foster was too young, too vibrant for this place, and I knew in an instant that I would make her mine. But first I had to climb my way to the top. I had to have something more to offer her.

I’m here now, money is no object and I have no equal. Except for her. She's disappeared. But don’t worry, I will find her and claim her. She will be mine.

Like I said, don’t be fooled. I am not the devil in disguise... I’m the one standing front and center.

Excerpt

NASSIR

I was in the Point for less than a day when I got word that the man that ran the streets wanted to see me. I like to lay low. I liked to blend in, but here it didn’t see like that was an option. Instead of desert sand, the battleground here was asphalt and concrete, and as soon as my presence was known, it was as if this place recognized the fight lying dormant inside of me. This city called to it. I don’t know why I instantly felt like I fit, but I did. So I went to see the man in charge, fully expecting to offer him the last of my cash in order to gain a foothold in the desolate kingdom. I was a survivor. I could do without money for a little bit. No man was more resourceful than I was.

I walked into a disgustingly gaudy strip club, offended by its crass ugliness. I was expecting to meet the ruler of the land, state my intentions, and let him know I would bow to no man here or anywhere else ever again. I was expecting a shakedown and maybe some strong-arming since I was obviously foreign and undocumented. I was technically legal since my mother had been an American citizen before she fell in love with an extremist, but I hadn’t really existed on paper since she handed me over to killers and radicals when I was just a kid. Mossad didn’t want me to be anything other than their trained attack dog, so they hadn’t offered up any proof of identity for me during my time at the end of their string. What I wasn’t expecting was that my cause, my reason, my purpose for living, and my something to believe in would be dancing nearly naked on a horrifically ugly stage, looking like she was going to cry at any second. She was so much more than freedom.

She was Honor.

She was beautiful, young, innocent, and so obviously resigned to her fate. It pulled at a heart I was stunned to find I still had buried somewhere deep underneath the brutal history that filled up the inside of me. It was the first time I felt it beat, and the pulse of its yearning scared and electrified me in equal measure.

I started to move toward her like all those invisible gods I spent my life killing for were leading me directly to her when suddenly a man twice her age and triple her size leaped from his seat next to the stage and hurled himself up onto the platform directly at the girl. In the blink of an eye he was on top of her, rough hands all over her naked flesh. I heard her scream. I saw her long limbs flail and thrash under him. A red haze filled my vision and I forgot all about staying quiet and laying low. I forgot all about being a ghost, and realized that I could channel the fight that had been forged into my very soul, the fight that was slumbering restlessly inside me at that moment, into protecting something so innocent. She woke the fight up and she kept it alive.

Order HONOR in ebook or paperback, releasing 10/18/16

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/299l3OR

Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/1RPuEYT 

iBooks: http://apple.co/1S1smlV 

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1Yq4Oeq

Amazon UK: http://tinyurl.com/zjma85y

Amazon Canada: http://tinyurl.com/z2pawsw

Amazon Australia: http://tinyurl.com/hgq76ml

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REVIEW: Kill Switch by Jonathan Maberry

Expected publication: April 26, 2016

Jonathan Maberry provides readers and Joe Ledger legionnaires with another action packed and gripping adventure in the eighth installment to this bestselling series. 

It's just another day at the office for Ledger and his DMS Echo Team, or is it?   Terrorists have acquired a terrifying new weapon that can crash any power grid, rip planes from the sky and effectively plunge America into literal darkness and despair. And in that darkness a deadly plague will be released.

The DMS is down on its luck after a number of unsuccessful missions.  During the crisis, the intelligence services are being torn apart from the inside and it is difficult to judge who to trust. Time is literally running out for Ledger and his team to battle a new kind of foe who have the ability to take over any person, turning even the most innocent into killers.

Kill Switch is amazing and filled with the pulse pounding action and complex storytelling Maberry readers adore.  I will not add major spoilers because this is too much of a mind bending thrill ride to ruin it. Safe to say fans are in store for twists, turns, and plenty of double crossing, spectacular fights, mind controlling epic villains and yes, killer giant albino penguins!

I can't give the novel or Maberry enough praise. He's a spectacular writer and having gotten to speak with him on several occasions, a wickedly cool dude all around.  I read Kill Switch slowly because I wanted to savor it.  The only downside to an ARC from Netgalley was missing the audiobook experience but I plan to re-read it as soon as that is available!  I laughed, I cried and I found myself disaster planning for this very plausible threat.  I can't wait until the next book!!!

Final rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Follow the author on Twitter: @JonathanMaberry


#KillSwitch #JoeLedger #thriller #terrorism #science #bookreview #netgalley