ARC received for honest review

This book deals with sex slaves, violence, illegal activities, and the sex industry, so if these aren't your thing, this maybe is not the book for you.

But above all else, Taming Cross is a love story, and you will be taken on one hell of an adventure.

Taming Cross is the second book in this series (book 1 is Selling Scarlett) however I have not read book one, and this can be read as a stand alone.

And what a story is being told! Ella James had me hooked from the first chapter!

Delving into the dark pasts of Cross and Merri, we ride the highs and lows of their relationship. They both have dark pasts and terrible things have happened to them both, and we go along with them as they learn how much they have both overcome in their young lives, and how much a person can take before they finally snap.

Cross has been through and is still in such physical pain, but he still puts himself out there to do what he knows is right, and to assuage the guilt he feels.

And Merri - what the girl has gone through! I have never been through anything like she is put through, yet she has such internal fortitude that no matter what they do to her, she will not let them break her. I admire her so much for that!

I can only hope to think that I would be half as strong as her in less terrible situations.

I don't want to spoil this for anyone by putting too much information, just know that Taming Cross has a bit of everything in it.

Now, off to buy and read Selling Scarlett.........

ARC RECEIVED VIA NETGALLEY and FOREVER(GRAND CENTRAL PUBLISHING) FOR HONEST REVIEW



Approved for an advanced copy of a Kristen Ashley book - why, thank you so much!

I just love everything that Ms Ashley writes, and her Colorado Mountain series is amongst my favourites.

Emmanuelle "Emme" Holmes and Jacob "Deck" Decker have a history. He dated Emme's best friend for a lot of years, and during that time they became close.

Break ups and lost friendships kept them apart for 9 years, but now a chance encounter brings up all the old feelings.

Deck is an uber-alpha. Strong, sexy as sin. Heart of gold that has always had a soft spot for Emme. Now they are both free he is going to act on it.

Emme has change physically since he last saw her. If it wasn't for her voice, he would not have even recognised her on the street. She was always beautiful but now she is a knockout, and he wants her.

I love Emme and Deck's interactions, their banter is fun as well as sexy. You can feel their history coming through in their story. As complicated as their relationship is, I loved that in typical Ashley-alpha style, it got sorted.

And Deck and Chace - very alpha, very caveman. Sexiness overload.

What I did feel that Kaleidoscope lacked in comparison to her other books was the interaction and the closeness with the women. Sure, they had their "girl posse" but it just didn't have the fun and light-heartedness, or the "in everyones' business" that other books have had.

What it does have though is a great story about reunion, reconnection, love. It also deals with issues such as PTSD and the effects it can have on people years after the fact. I felt that Ms Ashley dealt with these issues in a way that did not trivialise them or sugar coat them at all.


"You think you lost beauty, but you didn’t.Just turn the dial."

I felt that the pacing of Kaleidoscope was also a little off compared to other books in this series. There was a lot of explaining going on especially in the beginning, and it slowed things right down. There was also a bit of jumping back and forth. I also felt that the "ex" problems that Emme was dealing with were pretty much.. I don't know

I guess I am just so used to all the big build up and suspense in Ms Ashley's books, and Kaleidoscope didn't have all that tension? This could just be me though!!





We did also get a bit of a cross over with the boys from her other series, which I really would have missed if it wasn't included (hellllloooo Nightingale!!)

While it did not completely rock my socks off like others in this series, I still loved Kaleidoscope.

ARC received for an honest review - 4.5 stars

If you haven't read Bullet yet, you should probably do that before reading Fully Automatic, but not completely necessary,



I have seen it around traps that Fully Automatic is just Bullet from Brad's POV. And that people aren't reading it for that reason.

This couldn't be further from the truth. While the stories run parallel for a lot of the story, Fully Automatic is much much more.

Fully Automatic is the 4th book in the Bullet series. I really liked Bullet, but damn it drained me emotionally. But even then, I liked Ethan (though he was on my shit list for long time!!)

At the time, Brad, sexy and big hearted as he was, annoyed me the way he was sniffing around Val, knowing she wanted Ethan.

In Fully Automatic, we get into Brad's head, from before he and Ethan met Val, to past the point where Rock Bottom ended.

Oh how my feelings have changed towards Brad. While before his constant hanging around Val, now we get his emotions into it. Raw. Gritty, Painful. He has kept that torch for her alight for so many years. How he could do that at still be her friend, would have broken (worse than he was) a lesser man.

And reading as Ethan is going into that downward spiral, knowing there was nothing he could do - ugh, heartwrenching

Through Bullet we knew what was in Val's heart - even though 99% of the time I wanted to slap some sense into her, get her to see past Ethan's flaws and see what was right in front of her.

I became a big cheerleader for Brad while reading Fully Automatic. We see him for the big part he is in all of the band's lives. He is the motivator, pushing his band mates to be better musicians, songwriters, people. He is their fiercest defender, their harshest critic. He was like the elder statesman of FA. We see how he works his arse of for the band, who are more than friends, they are family. We see the lover hiding behind that tattooed exterior. And the broken heart he is hiding.

We see what he would do, and what he would give up for those he loves.

I love Ms Jamison's writing. She draws me right into the story, right into the lives of the characters she is giving us. There is great character development throughtout their stories, the light and the dark of their lives.

Now, all I need is Zane and Nick's stories, and I will be a happy camper.

ARC Received from the author for an honest review.

Anyone who knows me knows I love my rockers! And Jude is no different, even though this is not so much about his life on the road, but his road back to his first love.

I really enjoyed this story, it flowed well, I became invested in the lives of our hero and heroine, and their rocky road to finding love again.

And the best thing - even though this is the first a series - no cliffhanger!

Now off to read book 2, Alluring Seduction!

ARC Received for an honest review


Finding Me follows on directly from where Finding You ends, so you will definitely need to read it first (but they are both only $1 so totally worth buying!!)

Neva has been kidnapped and beaten. Of course there is the physical pain and that will heal, but the emotional pain caused by the betrayal of the person who has done this to her, now that is going to take some time to get over.

The kidnapping brings to light a lot of things that were brought to the story in Finding you, and formed who Neva is today ~ what really happened when Neva and Tate's father was killed in that car accident all those years ago?

After Neva breaks his heart by choosing Angel, Logan is determined to leave things be, but can he leave her when Neva needs him the most?

Who is Angel and how is he caught up with her past?

The story of Neva, Angel and Logan is an emotional one. It is filled with betrayal, hate, anger, hurt, angst, loss and healing. You feel every single emotion that the characters go through. My heart hurt with them, and soared with them.

Logan - ugh, on one hand I wanted to smack him, on the other I wanted to hug him. His hurt was palpable. I could understand why he did things he did, as much as I was mad at him for doing them. He has been in love with Neva forever, and love like that doesn't die.

"You are my sea, and I am addicted to drowning in you. When I fell in love with you, I went in feet first and I never want to come back up for air."

Neva feels so empty, it was a joy to see her come alive after a decade in her darkness. The fight back out of the darkness is never an easy one, and having a bird eye view as Neva does this is hard but heart warming.

But how much can Logan and Neva take, and can they come back together, where they belong?

Uh uh, for that you are going to have to read for yourself.

I loved the secondary characters, Tate and Low ~~ Neva's brother and best friend. Tate is so torn, as Logan has been his best friend since they were kids, but he can't stand to see his sister hurting.

And Low - wow! Fierce when it comes to protecting her friends. I really want to find out what happens with these two.

After reading Finding Me, I was left wondering what happens to Angel. He was such a big part of the first book and what happens in the beginning of the this book, but he seemed to just fade into the distance. I hope we learn a bit more about him in the next book.

Ms Hartley has given us a wonderful story filled with loveable, broken characters that you can't help but fall in love with. The story is well paced, the characters are believable and you want to know all about them. I liked Finding Me more than Finding You - and I really liked Finding You.

I cannot wait to see how things go with these characters in Finding Us

ARC received from St Martin's Press via Netgalley for honest review.

3.5 sexy stars

Everybody is a bit a voyeur - admit it, it's true!

Tempts me is the first part of a serialised book, with a new part released every couple of week. Take this as a tasty morsel of what it to come.

Simone and Elliott are sexy as. After watching his sexual escapades for months, the has her chance to meet him and takes the bull by the horns.

Elliott doesn't do relationships, knows she is all wrong for him, but can't stop thinking about her.

This is s quick, sexy read, that although not much has happened so far, has me interested and now I need to wait for the rest of the series.

Bring me more!!!

ARC Received from St Martin's Press via Netgalley for an honest review


Episode 2: - because it really is like an episode of a tv show.

Simone and Elliott's complicated "non-relationship" of sorts is continuing. Simone is pushing Elliott out of his comfort zone, and as much as he knows they can't be together, he is drawn to her.

The series is coming into its stride, with us learning more about both Simone and Elliott, their sexual preferences tending towards pain and BDSM.

This edition had a lot more substance than the first one, as the set up was all completed


There is also a bit of a twist at the end that I was not expecting, and am impatiently waiting to see where Ms Hart takes us in the next edition!!

This edition had a lot more substance than the first one, as the set up was all completed

ARC RECEIVED FOR AN HONEST REVIEW - 4.5 stars

We are all running away from or hiding something. And with In The Lyrics, we see that running from something can lead us right to what we have always needed.

Henlsey has been told all her life by her mother not to settle, to use her talent as a singer to get out of this town. She has been been by those around her all her life, so Hensley is determined to jus.t that - get out of there.

Since a family tragedy, Colby's home life has been hell. He still feels the loss like it happened yesterday, and it has ruined his family, perhaps behond repair. When that final straw breaks, he immediately ups and leave the farm, and heads to Nashville

His new life brings him straight into contact with Hensley. It is not her looks that first get his attention, it is her voice as he sees her busking in the street.

Hensley is pretty bitter about things, cynical about life, she has no real friends except for her best friend Dusty. But boy oh boy, when her eyes land on Colby, she feels things she has never before felt. And she is confused.

I immediately liked Colby, from the minute things happen on the farm, to the minute he turns up in Nashville. It is not just because he is the sexy cowboy. It is the Colby on the inside that you will fall in love with ~ thought the fact that he is hot doesn't make it hard to love either!

He is determined to keep the promise he made his brother ~ to make something of himself. But the music that he loves so much, could also be the thing that hurts him the most.

I love the interactions between Colby, Hensley and Dusty. Hensley really is a bitch to begin with when she deals with Colby, but you can kind of understand her reasons for why she acts like she does. And Dusty - we all need a Dusty in our lives. He keeps Hensley on the straight and narrow, calls her out on her BS, but is there for her whenever she needs him.

When they all start making great music together, their careers start to take off. Could this be what they all need to get out of town and become the people they want to be, or will it be the thing that tears them all apart?

I have to say, there was not much to like about most of the secondary characters! Colby's father was an a-hole most of the time, then there are the "friends" Logan and Brittani. Ugh typical spoilt, privileged, mean people, out for whatever they could get for themselves. Booooo don't like you AT ALL!!

Ms Stayton not only took her characters on a roller coaster of a ride, she takes her readers right along with them. I never knew from one chapter to the next what emotion I would be faced with, whether I would be jumping for joy or whether my heart would be ripped right out of my chest. I felt happy and sad, angry, heartbroken, heart lifting.

It is not every book that I get completely immersed in, but I definitely did with In The Lyrics.

I will definitely be reading more of Ms Stayton's work in the future if this is the kind of work she releases.

I love Ms James' writing, and this was no exception.

Selling Scarlett has a bit of everything. Sex. Love. Gambling. Blackmail.

It took me a little while to get right into the swing of things, but once I did, I couldn't wait to see what happened next. And there was a lot of things for our main protaganists to deal with, so many people in their lives and their pasts causing troubles. At times I didn't really feel their connection,but I suppose the circumstances they were in would cause distance.

I loved the secondary characters too - and at times I kind of connected with them a bit more than Hunter and Libby - but this may be because I read book 2 in the series before this one, and knew what happened. You are gonna love what happens with Cross in Taming Cross.

I thoroughly enjoyed Selling Scarlett,and looking forward to book 3 i then the series.