Love Realized

From Amazon: Jake and Gillian have been friends since high school. As friends, they have supported each other through all the typical life changing events such as marriages, births, divorces and even death. Gillian couldn’t be more thankful for the bond she shares with Jake than she is when all the shameful secrets of her marriage appear front and center, demanding attention. The emotional support she has so freely given to her friend over the years is returned in full force as she nurses the wounds of her failed marriage. But when she starts to notice there might be more to her feelings than just friendship….is she willing to risk what they already have, for what might be???

For Jake, it has always been Gillian. If only she knew she has owned his heart since the day he met her. After watching her fall in love with one of his best friends, he accepted his fate of being one of her closest friends and locked up the deeper emotions he felt for her. So when he watches her marriage fall apart before his very eyes, he knew she would turn to him for support. What he wasn’t prepared for was the return of those emotions he had long ago locked away. It didn’t take long for him to figure out that this was his chance and he wasn’t about to let her slip through his fingers again. He only needed to make her realize, his love for her was real.

What I Thought: At first, I thought- no way is this going to work.
A woman who's been married for 16 years finds out her husband has been cheating on her, then falls in love with the guy she has known practically her whole life all in 400 pages.
That's the thing about the escape from reality that a really good book gives you- it all totally works. I LOVED IT!
One of the things I loved most about this story is how we often our perspective of someone's life who is close to us is skewed by what they let us see.
From the outside Gillian appears to have the perfect life. Mother of 3, wife to a caring husband and she takes care of everyone around her. What all the people who love her most don't see is that she's been hiding the mistakes of her husband for some time.
Jake loved Gillian from the first time her saw her in High School, but when she ended up with his friend, he went on with his life as she did. Always a part of each other's lives, those feelings never really went away.

When the secrets of her husbands indiscretions blow into the open all at once, Jake helps Gillian through the most horrible time of her life and they find that maybe together is where they were always meant to be.

And-- let me just say Oh Swoon! When Jake says "Can I have you, Gillian?" It is one of the most romantic lines I've read recently.

I  also love the title of the book, because throughout the story you can see, before even Gillian does how much she loves Jake and that makes you want to cheer for them.

Geez! Gush much, Amy? I know but I can't help it!

The cast of supporting characters in this story are so much fun and so similar to people you know in real life. This group of friends and family have been there for each other through it all and these relationships really shined through. I have a feeling that we will be seeing more of them and I can't wait!

AND-it's on sale! How cool is that? .99 on Amazon for a limited time!!

My Rating: 

Lightning

From Amazon: In mystic Sleepy Hollow, succubus Lily Night put her prom date, Campbell Jones, into a coma after a night of wild, unbridled sex. She has steered clear of mortals ever since, afraid of damaging them or worse, not to mention the inconvenience of knocking out the power every time they have sex.

Successful architect Campbell Jones has lived with strange powers and a sexy secret since that prom night. He’s buried himself in work to forget the woman who’d dumped him at the ER then vanished from his life without a trace.

Neither Lily nor Campbell have forgotten that night or the love they’d shared. Will a 1Night Stand help them bury their past?

What I Thought: There's something to be said for a short, sexy little novella that knocks you off your feet like this one. This is the first that I have read in the Madame Evangeline 1NS series, but I am really looking forward to reading the rest. Especially the ones written by Taryn! I can't wait to read more about Lily's sisters!

This is the second book I've read by Taryn and I liked it even better than the first!

Lilith is a succubus, and when she was new in her power she nearly killed the love of her life-her prom date Campbell. This scared her enough to swear off her succubus ways and she has stopped having sex with humans entirely ever since THAT night.

Pestered to death by her fellow Succubi sisters Dagney and Zena (who we get to meet in later 1NS stories) Lily gives in and lets them sign her up for Madame Evageline's 1NS dating service. 

Campbell has never forgotten the night he shared with Lily in high school, or the fact that when he woke up from a coma 6 weeks later she had disappeared from his life. He's filled his life since with his job and meaningless sex when he needs it, but nothing compares to his fantasies of Lily. After urging from his brother he signs up for a date with the 1NS dating service.

I am so amazed that in only 40 pages, Taryn is able to develop these characters so well and still fit in earth shattering sex. 

Loved it! I'm sure you will too!!

My Rating: 

Jane's Melody

From Amazon: What boundaries would you cross for love?

That's the question a grieving mother must answer when she takes in her dead daughter's young boyfriend and finds herself falling for him. A touching love story that will have you equally tantalized and in tears, Jane's Melody follows a forty-year-old woman on a romantic journey of rediscovery after years of struggling alone.

Sometimes our greatest gifts come from our greatest pain. And now Jane must decide if it's too late for her to start over, or if true love really knows no age.

What I Thought:  At it's core Jane's Melody is a story of loss and love.
Jane has lost her daughter and is at a place in her life when she feels hopeless and alone. She had been estranged from Melody for some time due to Melody's substance abuse and even though she feels she lost her a long time ago, the finality of her death is all consuming.
The first time Jane sees Caleb, He leaves a silver dollar on Melody's grave and then is gone. Jane finds him again later playing music on the street and ends up taking him into her home and the story develops from there.
Jane's Melody is rich in emotion and the characters are developed so well. It was more real to me because the author addresses the insecurities any 40 year old woman would have with falling in love with a younger man, but he also made it a point to show that Jane is strong in her own right. While also driving home the point that life is fragile and we spend too much time letting fear hold us back from making the choices that are right for ourselves.
There are several other themes and story lines going on in this book as well. The theme of alcohol abuse and addiction in all it's different stages, and it's effects on everyone from the person who is addicted to the people around them is portrayed with great accuracy.
The sex scenes are mild, but spicy.
This is a sweet, contemporary love story that you do not want to miss!

My Rating:

Lick

From Amazon: Waking up in Vegas was never meant to be like this.

Evelyn Thomas's plans for celebrating her twenty-first birthday in Las Vegas were big. Huge. But she sure as hell never meant to wake up on the bathroom floor with a hangover to rival the black plague, a very attractive half-naked tattooed man, and a diamond on her finger large enough to scare King Kong. Now if she could just remember how it all happened.

One thing is for certain, being married to rock and roll's favourite son is sure to be a wild ride.

What I Thought: I would just like to stake my claim on David right now, ok??

At first, I thought this was going to be your typical-"oh shit I went to Vegas and woke up married to a total stranger" story and that is the baseline of the story (which is pretty tried, true and let's face it lots of fun) HOWEVER-it really is so much more than that.

Evelyn goes to Vegas for her 21st birthday with her best friend. We only get glimpses of what actually happened on THAT NIGHT as the book opens with Evelyn waking up on the bathroom floor and discovering she's married. It's not until a while longer that she discovers she's not just married, but married to a Rock God.

Oh Epicballs! How I love a story with Rock Stars!!

I loved Evelyn- She is SO not the girl that gets the guy. She's always been responsible and does the right thing. She's shy, but strong and sticks to her convictions. I love watching her stand up to David and the rest of the guys in the band. 

David- well yes he's a rock star and everything that comes with that but for the first time in Evelyn, he finds someone who doesn't want to use him but just be with him. She's the first person who cares about who he really is-and she doesn't even like his music (she likes country). This is why he's so taken with her and wants to marry her right after meeting her. It's also why he's completely crushed when she wakes up and doesn't remember any of it.

Cross West Coast trips ensue, broken hearts, broken trust, a journey of self discovery and of course- I wasn't sure they would ever get there but- Love makes it all right in the end.

I loved this book- and I can't wait until the rest of the guys get their story!

My Rating:

Blizzard

From Amazon: Mandy Malone ditches her pharmaceutical convention and the married male colleagues hitting on her to hurry home to her waiting family. But she doesn’t bank on the blizzard that forces her off the road and into a deserted rest stop. When she meets another road refugee, their attraction is immediate and molten hot. Suddenly, getting stranded doesn’t seem like such bad luck after all.

Although totally unprepared for Mandy’s unvarnished proposition, Jack is intrigued by the erotic offer of a promising night of no-questions-asked sex. But when he notices the wedding band on Mandy’s finger, will he forego the lure of a torrid clandestine affair, or give in to the fantasy of blazing hot sex on a wintry night?

What I Thought: Alright- This is 23 pages long and there is a WHOLE LOT OF HOTNESS packed in. This is really like reading a short fantasy to get you all heated up to spend time with your husband or ..or your batteries-whichever applies. OR you could read it together... Personally- I wasn't expecting it to be over so quickly and headed straight for my husband. He loves it when I read.

Mandy gets stuck in a blizzard on her way home from a trip. She's bored with married sex and ends up propositioning a guy she runs into at a coffee shop she takes shelter in.

Spoiler Alert!!  Before you get all judgey like I started to-you think this guy is a stranger at first- but - well without giving too much away this hot little story is not what you think it is, there's a great little twist at the end. 
That didn't take anything away from this hot little story though. After all, it definitely scored with me. At only $1.99 it's a small price to pay for a sexy evening with your Hubby.

My Rating: 

4 Chicks!

Ember

From Amazon: What if you knew when someone was going to die? For seventeen-year-old Ember, life is death. With a simple touch, she knows when someone will die. It’s her curse and the reason she secludes herself from the world. The only person who knows her secret is her best friend Raven. Then she meets Asher Morgan. He’s gorgeous, mysterious, and is the only person Ember can't sense death from. So when he pushes into her life, she doesn’t mind. But when unexplained deaths start to haunt her town, Ember starts questioning why she can’t sense Asher's death and what he may be hiding.

What I Thought: Apparently I have a thing for adolescent-ish angels. I really really loved this book. Very original storyline, steamy tension, and a hot Hero. I'm thinking I should just make it a policy to read whatever Jessica writes. Ember can see a person's death whenever they touch her, and so she's spent a lifetime avoiding human touch from anyone. Until she meets Asher who she can touch without sensing anything about him.

There's of course an angsty love triangle here with drool worthy boys-but it's a REALLY good one and the author does a great job of keeping you in the dark on which one of these guys is really the "good guy". Ember is a strong heroine, and you want to root for her.

The author has since edited this story to make a more "New Adult" version with more amped up sex scenes. I read the original Young Adult version first-but then went back and re-read the New Adult version so I could drool over these guys again. Does that make me a Cougar? Whatever-they're HOT!

My Rating:

Soul Stripper

From Amazon: It's called Sin City for a reason. Nowhere else are the temptations so great, the sex so good, and the demons so bad. . .

By day, Monica is a barista in a local café. It doesn't pay a lot but it puts her up close and personal with her sexy boss, Drew. Unfortunately that's as far as a succubus can go unless she wants to take his soul. Monica needs mind blowing sex to sustain her and she finds her victims every night at a local strip club where she's an exotic dancer. But when her powers begin to diminish and her fellow succubi start turning up dead, all bets are off. Monica realizes she's the one immortal who has a chance in hell of making things right. . .

What I Thought: I hadn't heard of this author before, I picked up this book out of cover love. LOVE it when that works out. Here's the thing, I went into it with possibly mediocre expectations at best as lately I've been in a bit of a book funk and nothing is holding my attention for longer than a sex scene or too. I've been angsting over wanting to read something with sex, AND grit- and POOF Katana Collins delivered in spades.

Um..she had me at hello..
Chap 1 Line 1 "The smell of coffee always turns me on."
ME TOO!!
Monica and I are kindred spirits, well except for the whole stripper succubus thing.
Monica is a Succubus who tries to stay below the radar which is hard since she's also a fallen angel. When Succubi start turning up dead around her and her own powers start to diminish she realizes she's going to have to take matters into her own hands.
There is no shortage of Alpha Wattage Male in this book either, and they all want their piece of Monica.
Jules-the angel (literally)
Drew- the boss
Lucien-the stripclub owner and Resident Archdemon
Wills-the dreamy ex
Can you kind of figure out what's going on? Yes. Ok. I could. It didn't take away from the story at all though and that's why I'm giving it 5 stars.
The Heroine is strong, the guys are hot, and the sex is sizzling. I can't wait for the next book!

My Rating: 

4 Chicks