Full review to come closer to the publication date, but what a start to a new series! Darkly wicked, full of vengeance, regret, and sultry romance, you'll need to lock yourself into the hero's ice cavern to cool down after reading this one!

Bravo to MacLean for making me totally into rings on a guy. *fans self*

**Free copy received from Avon in exchange for a fair review**

Isn't it the best when you find a new to you author and you immediately fall in love? I've been hearing about Kate Clayborn on Twitter for a while now, and I finally picked up the audio for Beginner's Luck on Hoopla (yay libraries) and it sucked me in from the first chapter. Carly Robins and Will Dameron did an exceptional job narrating, completely bringing to life this romance between a head hunter and a materials scientist.

Clayborn's attention to details, the secondary characters, and the EMOTIONS she can bring from writing a glance between the two lovebirds was just, ugh. I die. I did spend a lot of this book yearning for that first kiss, that first lovemaking scene, that happily ever after. Definitely a slow-burn, but not one where the heat was absent.

I cannot wait to listen to the next books in the series, in fact I checked out Luck of the Draw immediately after finishing this one.

Highly recommend.

Tell a girl you love her dress and the first thing she'll tell you is "it has pockets!"

Well, if the dress has them!

Maya Rodale's Duchess by Design imagines a dressmaker looking to make her mark on the fashion scene of Gilded Age New York City. She wants to create dresses for women that allow them to flout tradition, and she'll do it one pocket at a time.

Nothing will get in her way except for just maybe, a slightly old-fashioned Duke with marriage on the mind.

Super fun historical for those looking for a different time period and setting and for those looking for women taking names and smashing patriarchal standards.

Recommended to me by a friend, I enjoyed this comic strip series collected into one volume. Subversive and laugh out loud funny.

The Serve series isn't my favorite of Bailey's, and honestly for a series set in a BDSM club the sex, while not exactly tame, isn't as wild as some of the other things I've read.

That said, Bailey is the master of the emotional, and I just love when a uptight character is brought, literally, to her knees after judging someone for something she didn't understand.

After sharing one night of the best sex of their lives, Ian dumped Veronica "Flash" Redding, an act that left her seething mad. So mad she welded a pair of truck nuts to his truck bumper and has made it her mission to terrify him whenever their paths cross at work.
Now welder and metal artist Flash is quitting, meaning Ian is no longer her boss. And now that Ian is no longer in power to hire or fire her, he can share why he had to end their barely started relationship all those months ago.
With the past hurt sorted, Ian and Flash rekindle their hot romance, but both are afraid to admit their feelings are real and they both want forever. With a little bit of holiday magic, some beautiful art, and the blessing of family, blood and found, Ian and Flash may just find their HEA after all.

This was so much fun! I loved Flash, a bisexual welder/artist, who is confident, kind of intimidating in the best ways, and knows what she wants. I loved the description her 88 year old best friend, a delightful Jewish grandmother, gave for flash - a crab with a hard shell and a soft center. Flash is my hero.

Ian was also delightful. After clearing up the misunderstanding from the beginning, and his reasons for keeping Flash at arms length, I really appreciated how much he worships Flash. Just is gaga for her.

I hope Tiffany Reisz publishes more of these naughty contemporaries.

Looking for a delightfully wicked and fulfilling revenge story?
Jane Doe by Victoria Helen Stone features a cat-admiring sociopath who is playing a deadly game with an unknowing man, a man who very much deserves the punishment Jane is out to give.

Victoria Helen Stone is a pen name of the author I know and love as Victoria Dahl who writes fiercely feminist romance novels. She stays true to her roots in this story!

Hello Jenny Holiday, thank you for making my day! *hugs book to chest*

Jane Denning, YA author, eternal good girl, mother hen, and most dependable of her group of girlfriends, is given the task of making sure her best-friend's future brother-in-law doesn't mess up her wedding.

Taking the kind of bridezilla-y behavior in stride, Jane takes on the task, and is shocked when she discovers Cameron MacKinnon is going to be a far more difficult challenge then hand-waving table-runners out of sea grass.

Cameron, recently kicked out of the Canadian Armed Forces for reasons, is out to live up his unexpected freedom and return from deployment. Being saddle with a nerdy, good-girl baby-sitter was not on his list of things to do. Until he realizes Jane is exactly what he wants, maybe even needs, to do.

They may be perfect for each other, but they have their own hangups to conquer before they can be each other's one and only.

Gah. I am so happy after reading this book. Cameron, tattooed muscle-y ex-soldier with a heart of gold, a "fallen angel," is my new favorite book boyfriend. Everything about the conflict in this story felt realistic. There is witty banter, SUPER sexy times that Holiday makes you want long before you get them, and super great geek moments.

I also adore that Jane's gal pals are true friends. Even Elise, the "bridezilla," isn't really a bridezilla. She's obsessed with her wedding, but she isn't awful. And her friends take her to task, but also love her and go with her dreams. <3

Excellent, can't wait to read Wendy's book.

The 2nd book in "His Fair Assassins" trilogy. This time the plot centers on Sybella, another of the awesome assassins trained by killer nuns who owe allegiance to Mortain, or death himself. Sybella has had a tough go of life, including a sociopathic father (who is the same one trying to usurp the Duchess of Brittany) and an incestuous brother. Pretty dark stuff. While she was able to escape this life for awhile at the sisterhood, she is forced to return to take down her evil father.

The medieval setting is very authentic and exhaustively researched. Great historical fiction here. I also thoroughly enjoyed the kick ass women who are not afraid to fight for what they believe in and are not simpering damsels in distress. When Sybella pulls off the rescue of a huge behemoth of man, you just want to stand up and go "Girl Power"!

Damn, this series guts me. Be cautious going in, you'll want to be somewhere safe to emote a bit.
I'm sad about the hiatus that looms, but thank you to Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples! Take your break and come back when you are ready.