Tag: Steamy (Page 7 of 7)

BOOK REVIEW – Shine Not Burn (Shine Not Burn #1) by Elle Casey

BOOK REVIEW – Shine Not Burn (Shine Not Burn #1) by Elle CaseyShine Not Burn (Shine Not Burn #1)
by Elle Casey
Purchase on: AmazoniBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

Andie Marks, known as “Party Girl” in her college days, is now a whip-smart lawyer on the fast track to success. Determined to move on from a bad break-up, she joins her girlfriends for a wild bachelorette weekend in Las Vegas, promising to let her hair down just this once.

Vegas is a blur of cocktails and blackjack, and in the middle of it all she meets Mack, a real-life cowboy with a winning hand and an irresistible body. They get lucky in the casino and luckier back at the hotel, a hot night of passion that was definitely not part of Andie’s life plan.

By dawn Mack is gone and all she has to remember their one-night romance is a hangover and a pile of casino chips. Or so she thinks…

Review:

Holy hot cowboys, I love this book! I laughed A LOT, Mack is sooo sexy, Andie is a hysterical drunk, the chemistry between the two of them is HOT and the story reads as though you are watching a movie. I can’t believe I even thought for a second that I didn’t want to read Shine Not Burn. Back when this was first released I wasn’t a huge fan of romance books. But since I enjoyed some of the author’s other books I thought that I’d give it a shot. Now don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the buildup, the struggles, the tension, the banter, anything and everything that will make me swoon but I only enjoyed that in paranormal, dystopian or fantasy books. I had never read a romance book that I was addicted to, that I couldn’t put down and that I would think about long after I finished the book. Shine Not Burn made me realize that I do love romance books but I just wasn’t reading my type of romance books. I’m so happy I gave this book a try for so many reasons!

Screw second thoughts, screw ex-boyfriends who break up by text message, and screw complications. All I wanted was one night of reckless abandon so I could get all this craziness out of my system and go home with a clean slate, ready to kick ass, take names, and get on with my life.

Andie is a lawyer who is her own worst enemy. She is obsessed with her “life plan” that she created when she was in a horrible situation as a child. It helped her get out and make something of herself. Unfortunately, she still lives and breathes it, even though it forces her to stay with loser boyfriends and not have as much time for her friends or anything that would make her truly happy. Andie has to be convinced to go to Las Vegas for her friend’s bachelorette party and the start of this journey is where the fun begins!

His beauty combined with his slow-talking cowboy sexiness had completely robbed me of any intelligence. The drinks probably weren’t helping.

In Vegas Andie drinks and drinks and drinks and then she runs into Mack. Their interactions made me all giddy and smiley and I kept laughing so hard I cried. Andie is a ridiculously clueless drunk and she reminds me so much of a family member that is sooo smart but when it comes to street smarts welllll heaven help her because she wasn’t gifted in that area! Her internal monologues and what pops out of her mouth is hilarious. I loved her voice, I loved her sassiness and I loved how utterly silly she was. BUT my feelings weren’t all sunshine and rainbows when it came to Andie. The girl was frustrating with clinging onto her annoying life plan. I wanted to shake some common sense into her again and again and tell her to throw that sucker out the window! Luckily, she had so many endearing qualities that I couldn’t help but like her even when she was being an idiot.

I really liked this cowboy. Mack. But I didn’t know a single thing about him other than the fact that he doesn’t wear any underwear and he’s got a big cock-a-doodle doo that he definitely knows how to use. Yee haw.

And Mack….ohh jeez louise that man was hot! He had this ability to say anything and make a smile appear on my face. I loved his loyalty and I loved that he knew exactly what he wanted in life and wasn’t afraid to speak his mind. I loved that he was just a good, honest guy which kinda shocks me because usually my favorite type of BBF is jerky-butthead-turned-loving-while-constantly-being-intoxicating. Nonetheless, I completely fell head over heels for Mack. Andie and Mack together? Wow, they were this crazy ball of raw sexual tension, one-way witty banter lol, and reading about their journey made me so, so, so very happy.

He sounded so sincere, it made my heart skip a beat. How could a guy that good in bed and this gorgeous be so nice? Doesn’t it defy the very laws of Nature? Maybe he was an evolutionary mutant.

I love a book that can make me laugh again and again. I love a book that makes me giddy and constantly smile. And Shine Not Burn definitely made me laugh and be all giddy and smiley. I’m so happy that I read this book a year ago and that it changed my mind in regards to romance novels. I can’t wait to read the sequel for Ian’s story!

Reading Order & Links:
Amazon (click on covers) & Book Depository (click on book #)
shine-not-burn-elle-casey
Shine Not Burn #1
Reviews:

Jen
Chelsea
mackenzie-fire-elle-casey
MacKenzie Fire #2

Reviews:
Jen

BOOK REVIEW – Rule (Marked Men #1) by Jay Crownover

BOOK REVIEW – Rule (Marked Men #1) by Jay CrownoverRule (Marked Men #1)
by Jay Crownover
Purchase on: AmazoniBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

Sometimes opposites don’t just attract – they catch fire and burn the city down

Shaw Landon loved Rule Archer from the moment she laid eyes on him. Rule is everything a straight-A pre-med student like Shaw shouldn’t want – and the only person she’s never tried to please. She isn’t afraid of his scary piercings and tattoos or his wild attitude. Though she knows that Rule is wrong for her, her heart just won’t listen.

To a rebel like Rule Archer, Shaw Landon is a stuck-up, perfect princess – and his dead twin brother’s girl. She lives by other people’s rules; he makes his own. He doesn’t have time for a good girl like Shaw – even if she’s the only one who can see the person he truly is.

But a short skirt, too many birthday cocktails and spilled secrets lead to a night neither can forget. Now, Shaw and Rule have to figure out how a girl like her and a guy like him are supposed to be together without destroying their love…or each other.

Review:

What a sexy, amazing, touching book. I loved everything about it and I was so sad when it ended because I just couldn’t get enough of Rule and Shaw! Rule Archer and Shaw Landon have been friends, errr more like acquaintances, since middle school. She was his twin’s best friend and his family fell head over heels for her. They all loved her as one of their own, well everyone except for Rule. Over the years he more or less ignored or tolerated her. Then one drunken night Rule and Shaw went past the bounds of their ‘friendship’ and are now left struggling where to go from here.

Shaw – You have always been determined to make everyone who cares about you prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt. You’ve never wanted to be easy to love, Rule, and you make damn sure that nobody can ever forget it.
Rule – My mother looked at me with tears in her eyes and stated point-blank, “It should have been you” as they lowered Remy into the ground.

Rule is the epitome of a douche bag, man whore and a charming, sexy bad boy all rolled into one. With his countless hairstyles (gah he makes mohawks so sexy!), body piercings and tatted up body, he is one of those people that oozes sex appeal. He is THAT type of man that everyone shamelessly stares at when he walks into a room. He is THAT type of man that you can’t help but feel magnetically pulled to. But his problem? Oh man, he has baggage. Two enormous issues to be specific. And living this type of douche baggery, man whoring lifestyle helps him cope with those demons. They help to diminish the mind numbing pain of missing his twin and being a constant failure in his parent’s eyes. Rule struggles on a daily basis knowing that not only is his twin dead but that his parent’s constantly throw in his face that he is NOT his twin. Every time they look at him they see everything they lost and everything that he is not. Drowning himself in woman and alcohol helps him feel better, if even for a moment.

Rule – It made me a little nervous that when she didn’t have all of her guards up and all her haughty defense mechanisms in place, she seemed so fallible, so undeniably human, so approachable, and so…attainable.
Shaw – I loved Rule like it was my mission in life. I loved him like it was inevitable, like no matter how many times I was shown what an awful idea it was, what a bad match we were, what a callous asshole he could be, I couldn’t shake it.

Shaw is classy, rich, gorgeous and loyal. She is on her way to becoming a doctor, and has the world at her fingertips. On the outside, Shaw’s life looks absolutely perfect. On the inside she is a mess, a huge mess. She is constantly struggling to live up to everyone else’s expectations. Her actions and choices are not what she wants but what others would expect of her. Unfortunately she shoves her needs and wants under the rug. And what does she want more than anything – Rule. She has been in love with Rule since the moment she first saw him. But loving Rule Archer would never be allowed in her parent’s world. Her parents are cold, calculating and love is irrelevant in their book. Heck, Shaw was solely conceived because she would be a tax deduction. That’s why she feels so eternally grateful to the Archer family. When she became immersed with the Archer’s, she finally understood what a family should be. And because of this, she will do anything to make them happy.

Shaw – All I had ever wanted in life was to affect him, to get him to feel something, anything, other than simple tolerance for me.

Every Sunday Shaw endures the sight of seeing Rule hangover, naked, and with some girl(s) in his bed. She feels as though it is her obligation to gather his discombobulated crazy self and take him to his parent’s house for their weekly dinner while her heart breaks a little more. This is how the book starts and I loved every minute of this twisted, steamy read! Rule and Shaw’s interaction were electrifying and I loved that every other chapter we got to be in either Rule or Shaw’s head. It made me that more attached to the two of them. The other characters in the book were amazing also.  Now I’m off to read Jet’s story, yay!

Reading Order & Links:
Amazon (click on covers), iBooks (click on titles) & Book Depository (click on book #)
***Each book can be read as a standalone, but best enjoyed in order.***
Rule by Jay Crownover
Rule #1
Reviews:
Jen
jet jay crownover
Jet #2
Reviews:
Jen
rome jay crownover
Rome #3
Reviews:

Jen
nash jay crownover
Nash #4
Reviews:
Jen
Rowdy by Jay Crownover
Rowdy #5
Reviews:
Jen
asa jay crownover
Asa #6
Reviews:
Jen

BOOK REVIEW – Reckless (Thoughtless #3) by S.C. Stephens

BOOK REVIEW – Reckless (Thoughtless #3) by S.C. StephensReckless (Thoughtless #3)
by S.C. Stephens
Purchase on: AmazoniBooks
Add to: Goodreads

5++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Stars

Words cannot describe how much I LOVED this final installment of the Thoughtless series. It was everything I hoped it would be and more. I didn’t believe it was possible, but I grew to love Kellan Kyle more and more with each passing page.

I didn’t know what to expect from such a scary title like Reckless, especially after Kiera and Kellan’s tremulous journey through the former two novels in the series. But, the novel exceeded my expectations and I couldn’t have been happier with the way this story was written. The length to which Kellan goes to show his love for Kiera is boundless and touched me at such a deep, emotional level I could barely contain my contented sighs and smiles.

He is everything a husband should be and saying that doesn’t do him one bit of justice. What he feels for Kiera is beautiful and passionate and I love S.C. Stephens for coming up with this fabulous, FABULOUS series that has stolen my heart and found a permanent residence on my favorites shelves-both digitally and paperback. Like I said, there are just no words to describe how much I adored Reckless.

Each and every character got the ending they deserved, and some of the characters even found redemption from their less than stellar actions in the other novels. I was nervous at the beginning when I first started reading that he was going to be such a prominent entity, but I loved the presence of Denny, one of her closest and best friends. I love that we were able to see the progression in Denny’s personal life post-Kiera. It added a sense of peace, contentment, and finality that only added more, you guessed it, love and passion to the story.

While I am sad to see this series come to an end, because it is definitely one of my all time favorites, I am also glad it’s over and K and K got their happily ever after-they freakin’ deserved it. S.C. Stephens, ever the queen of angst, still had me on the edge of my seat, gritting my teeth, and getting angry at many of the secondary characters, one in particular, even though I just knew in my heart this novel had to have a happy ending. Kudos.. So I am excited to say I will not stop talking about Reckless to my friends and family members until they give this series a shot-because no matter how much crap all of these characters went through to get to their HEA’s, the journey you go through is so heartwarming and heartfelt, you will enjoy every, well…almost every, minute until you get to the satisfying and perfect ending for all the characters you have grown to know and adore.

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