Month: December 2017

Maggie Ryan-Daddy Commands

Maggie Ryan has written some utterly delicious stories. I enjoy reading her stuff. She’s shown up in several anthologies I’ve read and/or own. I also have several of her books in my library. So, today, she had a new one drop, Daddy Commands. And it’s as good as I expect anything I read of Maggie’s. (almost put the wrong book link on there! Yikes! Good thing I always double-check.)

I’m betting that with a title like Daddy Commands that you can tell that it’s a DD/lg book. Although, it’s not the most Daddy Dom book I’ve ever read. In the book, it’s explained that Hannah calls Brett Daddy because as a Major in the Army, he gets called Sir all the time and Daddy would be something special that’s just theirs. I think that makes a lot of sense and it does make the Daddy term have more meaning. When you are called Sir all the time by people around you, I would expect it would lose its impact.

OK, here’s the story, morning glory. Hannah and Brett have been married a year. Brett is a Major in the Army, Hannah is an Army wife. She has jumped into that life with both feet. She’s joined every committee, signed up for every everything, and managed to end up either doing everything on her own or doing all the work anyway. She has a whole bunch of things that are in various levels of doneness. Her house and husband are starting to fall by the wayside. She’s stressed out to the max. Hannah goes to Brett, says oh hey, dear, can you help me? He’s all like yeah, babe, I can totally help you.

Together, they come up with an agreement and enter into a Domestic Discipline relationship. That means that Brett will set out rules and establish consequences. There are also other things when it comes to sex. They also set up a Maintenance Night. Those are nights that happen on the same night each week. Brett will give Hannah a spanking every week, whether or not she’s earned it, to help keep everything working out well.

Anyway, that agreement starts on their anniversary, which happens to be a Friday, which happens to also be their Maintenance Night. When they are out for their wedding anniversary dinner, Hannah is disrespectful to Brett and he tells her to take off her panties. (Hawt, right?) She keeps going and he reminds her of their agreement, and she keeps digging a hole. When they get in the car, Hannah thinks that she’s figured it out, Brett’s just playing a super-sexy game with her. Except… Whoops, he wasn’t. And she figured that out pretty damn quick.

The next morning, she figured out that he was going to make her exercise every day. And I mean, who increases their runs by a 1/2 mile a day? Well, a Major in the Special Forces I guess. Anyway, he got her up and running and exercising daily, and blowjobs if she wasn’t ready on time, so win/win for him?

OK, you know what time it is. I loved Brett and Hannah. He really cared about her so much, and he really wanted her to be all that she could be (in the Arrrmy) (am I the only one who remembers that commercial?), and he pushed her to do that and supported her in her choices. Brett also helped her figure out what she could and couldn’t do and helped her figure out how to delegate and how to see how her actions made others feel. You could tell that everything he did came from a place of very deep love for Hannah. You can see why Hannah is doing all that she is. She’s trying to support Brett and help his career. She figures if she’s the PERFECT ARMY WIFE ™, it will help Brett get further in his career. But… Great story, some fantastic sex scenes, great romance and relationship, and strong characters. Go check it out.

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The whole garden store and gardening adventure is just super cute, super romantic, and in the Garden of Eden, super hot. I swear to heaven, I will NEVER look at zucchini the same way again. Ever.

I have friends who ran a mudder run. I know from them how hard they are, so the fact that Hannah managed to run one with her friends and with Brett is pretty cool. I love how she handled some of the obstacles. I actually laughed loudly about it. My husband asked why, and he just rolled his eyes when I told him why. He’s a silly man. I also loved that Hannah decided to do that on her own, without Brett pushing her, and that she wanted to surprise him with it. The fact that he had helped her get her life more under control let her make friends who could help her with getting ready and the confidence to know that she could. I loved that. You won’t see me on one of those runs, and if you do see me running, be scared because it’s the end of the world, but good for Hannah!

OK, that’s all for today. Really, go read this book. It’s a good book and you will like it.

Amo Jones-Razing Grace

Contrary to what may be popular belief about my blog, I do review more than just ARCs on my humble little blog. What does that have to do with today’s blog? Today’s blog is about a pair of books that I actually bought. The first part of the duet I got as a Christmas freebie but as soon as I read it, I knew that I had, just absolutely had, to buy the next part. It was that good, just so good. So, Razing Grace 1&2 by Amo Jones here we go. (Everyone say thank you to Tyi for introducing me to Amo.)

Before I get into it, I didn’t realize that RG was part of a larger series, The Devil’s Own. I bought the first two of the books and I’ll be reading them this weekend.

Millie is a nun. She has sisters that she loves, and at the wedding of one of them, she gets betrayed and grabbed by some very, very bad guys, and dragged down to a dungeon. She is trapped in the dungeon of one of the bases of The Army, led Kurr. She hears screams of others, smells their deaths, and is left in a cold, dark cell. Except for when THEY visit her.

They are the 6. Six men who each wear a different mask and whose faces she has never seen. All she knows are the names they go by, Executioner, Joker, King, Royal, Soulless, and Angel. Our virginal Sister Millie, who has spent her life being the very good girl and who doesn’t even cuss or drink, is told that she will be visited each night by one of the 6 to be trained, and on the 7th night, they will all have her. They won’t do anything to take her virginity though, since she’s worth more when they sell her as a virgin. She doesn’t know that part of it yet. All she knows is that they are doing things to her that she doesn’t want in her head, but her body seems to want, and each day, it breaks her a little more and makes her a little crazier.

One day, Kurr and a priest come to visit her. The priest wants her. He killed someone in front of Millie, and he wants to handle Millie. He suggests that he’s going to buy her, have fun with her, and be done with her.

Meanwhile, 000, the Executioner, whose real name is Raze, has decided that Millie is HIS. He wants her and he hates what has to happen to her, but only because it’s other guys touching her and that he can’t publicly claim her. There are too many things that he can’t control and too many plans in motion that he can’t upset.

OK, I can only gloss over the second part because to do anything else will mean that I spoil everything. And really, you don’t want me to do that. I don’t want to do that. You may come after me with some horrible thing if I spoil it, and Amo Jones might call me horrible names. So, let’s suffice it to say that Millie still has horrible shit happen to her and she is still the crazy broken person that we came to know and love in the first part. Raze is still the crazy-ass mother fucker who we met in the first one and probably came to love. Well, I came to love, at least.

This series is seriously dark and has some very serious trigger warnings. Heed them. It has heavy doses of non/dub-con, and while I am all for some dark non/dub-con goodness, with heavy doses of kink and mindfuckery, there are people out there who don’t like that kind of thing, and for whom noncon sexual activities can be triggery.

I did really love these books. I seriously couldn’t put it down while I was reading it, and stayed up way too late at night to finish it. It is compelling, well-written, intriguing, and angering. The books left me satisfied and in a book hangover. You get both Millie’s and Raze’s POVs in the books, so you have some idea of what each is thinking, even though we don’t see a whole lot of Raze’s thoughts. He’s much more a doer than a thinker. I’m fine with that. He’s one of those main characters who wouldn’t work so well if we had a window into his inner angst. So, here’s where we part. I’m going to leave you a picture of the lovely Audrey Hepburn as a nun as a spoiler space. In my head, Millie had that Audrey Hepburn-ish kind of thing, so it works well, at least for me. If you have a different pic in your head, please don’t spoil mine for me.

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Beautiful, right? Wasn’t she just graceful and elegant, and all of those things?

I love the title of the series. I am always thrilled with authors who play with words when they title a book. The title Razing Grace does that on so many levels. It’s that kind of cleverness and wit that drags me into a story and makes me want to read it before I even get into it.

In the second book, in the prologue, we get Raze’s POV, and when I read it, I was so scared of what was going to happen because of what happened at the end of the first book. I was both glad that it wasn’t what I thought it was and terribly saddened when I figured out what it was. However, having that be the prologue and epilogue to the book was perfect. And if you think that I’m being vague, you’re absolutely right. I’m being very vague.

The end of book one killed me, completely. The end of book two, I was right there with what happened and why it happened, and I totally support their actions. I found the way Millie handled it to be very appropriate. I would probably have done that too, in her place.

OK, that’s really all I’m going to say about these books. I have the first two in the series to read, and I’m waiting for book 2 of Crowned By Hate, which was the first book of Amo’s that I read, and which is one of the biggest mindfucks I’ve ever read, and we all know that I love to read mindfucks.

Tomorrow, we have a new Daddy Dom book, so look forward to that!

Julia Sykes-War of Hearts Cover Reveal

This dark romance will entice & enrapture you!
War of Hearts by Julia Sykes is releasing on January 30th

CHECK OUT THE COVER!
Genre: Dark Romance Menage

War of Hearts Julia Sykes Cover

PREORDER NOW:

Amazon ➙ http://amzn.to/2CF3Bv9

iBooks ➙ http://apple.co/2hJmBQy

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I met Marco once, before the night he took me. He’d been dark and unquestionably dangerous, and alluring in a way I didn’t allow myself to contemplate. I’d clung to Joseph, looking to my first love to protect me from his intimidating best friend.

Then Joseph left me, alone and broken; vulnerable to enemies I hadn’t known threatened me from the shadows.

But it wasn’t his enemies I should have feared, since his best friend is the monster who abducted me. And when I wake up, taken and trapped, the man I love is by the monster’s side.

Joseph says he can’t let me go. Marco says he won’t let me go.

I’m theirs.

About the Author:

Julia Sykes is the USA Today bestselling author of the Impossible Series. She has always kept dark stories tucked away in her mind, so she was thrilled when she discovered that other people actually want to read them. Her books blend romance, suspense, and BDSM.

You can usually find Julia in Starbucks with a venti iced coffee clutched in her hand (two pumps of mocha, liberal half and half). If she’s not in Starbucks, you will find her with a glass of prosecco in hand, probably reading Harry Potter. Again.

Julia loves connecting with readers! Please feel free to contact her on facebook, through twitter, or email her directly at juliasykes193@gmail.com. You can find out more about Julia’s current and future projects at julia-sykes.com.

Connect with Julia:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorjuliasykes/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JuliaSykes193

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/julia-sykes

Website: http://www.julia-sykes.com/

 

Deep

 

Your next binge read is coming… #TeaserThursday
Deep by M. Malone & Nana Malone releases on January 8th!

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Amazon Alert: http://bit.ly/2zAkxC1
ibooks: http://apple.co/2By4TIs
Nook: http://bit.ly/2AILJCT
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2AHoZmA

I am the ghost that haunts your dreams. I am a liar, a protector…a killer…I am death.

You think you know my story, but you have no idea. My death was just the beginning.

I’m a dead man.

In the years since I escaped the shadow organization that owned me, my vow to protect my family is the only thing that kept me alive.

Until I meet her.

Too bad I need the monster to protect her from the demons of her past.

Too bad she’s not that innocent.

Cliffhanger Warning: I know you want the whole story right now. But that’s not how things went down. And I think you know by now when it comes to ORUS, things don’t always go according to f*cking plan.

(The Deep Duet unfolds over the course of two books. Deep will be followed by Deeper, releasing on January 29th)

Still feeling lazy

The lazy in between the holiday days have a firm grip on me. That means I’m feeling lazy today, and maybe tomorrow too. I’ll be back with fun stuff, I’m sure.

Meanwhile, enjoy this pretty picture and check out my archives.

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Lee Savino-Berserkers

So, yeah, I may or may not have reviewed one or two of Lee’s books here. (Spoiler, definitely did, and more than 2). This time I’m looking at one of her series, or maybe it’s two series, or one total series with two branches. Enh, doesn’t really matter how it’s classified, it’s all about Berserkers anyway.

Way back when, the Vikings had berserker warriors. When these guys went into battle, they were in a kind of trance. They would go into battle without any kind of armor and no one was safe from them and their frenzied fury. There are stories in the various sagas of the berserkers turning into animals during the battle.

Lee has taken the stories and legends of the berserker warriors and turned it into a great set of paranormal romances.

Here’s the basic story. Many years ago, a Viking king wanted to have the best warriors possible. To do that, he had a witch cast a spell over some of his men. The spell that she cast over them turned them into wolves. They also ended up with a 3rd form, the beast. The beast is the berserker form of the Berserkers. When they are in that form, they will rage and kill everyone and everything that is in their view. As they get older, it’s easier for them to fall into being the beast. In order to fight the beast as much as possible, the Berserkers have formed warrior bonds to each other as pairs, inside the larger bonds of the pack. As a pack, they are all connected to each other and they can talk to each other inside their heads. Warriors who have bonded as brothers have a deeper bond and can talk to each other in their heads.

The Berserkers were given information by a witch that if they found a mate, they would be able to control the beast. They were also told what women to look for. The women are called spaewives.

For grins and giggles, I looked up the word spaewives as I was writing this. I wondered if Lee made up the word or not. The word is real, it comes from Scotland and primarily means a prophetess, witch, or fortune teller. Lee also describes them as hedge witches, so that works out well. Makes sense that it comes from Scotland since the stories take place in Alba, which is ancient Scotland.

At the beginning of the Berserker Saga, there are 2 packs. Each pack is ruled by bonded pair of warriors, who are the Alphas. One of the pair is more Alpha than the other. One pack is lead by Samuel and Daegan and the other is ruled by Ragnvald and Maddox. Protip: Hit that link and read the whole saga all at once because there are also bonus extras in it.

The spaewives in the first 5 books are a set of sisters. Brenna, Sabine, Muriel, and Fleur. The sisters have their books in that order. Brenna was attacked by a wolf years before and cannot really speak. Sabine has some skill as a healer.  Muriel and Fleur are twin sisters.

Alright, each sister gets their mate, but that leaves a whole lot of Berserkers without any mates. Because their Alphas are under control, the rest of the pack are more under control, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t need their own mates. Luckily, or maybe not quite so luckily, in Fleur’s story, a convent full of spaewives is found, and all the Berserkers go raid it to get their own mates, which leads to the Berserker Brides series.

In Fleur’s story, we get to find out about that convent because she is chased by the grey men who are minions of the Corpse King, the uber-bad guy. He has been taking the spaewives as necessary to power him up.

The Berserker Bride storyline is all about the various Berserkers getting their brides and fighting for them. Each story has its own HEA, but they are all connected together in a broader sense. I, personally, wouldn’t read any of these books as a stand-alone, and especially not the newest one, Berserker Babies, which is a small look into the lives of the sisters and where they are standing as the fight against the big bad progresses.

I would suggest that you go read them, starting with the box set and go through the Berserker Brides. They are all pretty quick, easy reads, with some seriously hot wolf shifters. The women are all very strong characters in their own right, and nothing causes that to change. They are still strong women even when they are submitting to their mates. The majority of the books are menages, with Fleur’s book having 3 guys, and the first Berserker Bride book only having 1. I reread them fairly often when I’m looking for something that is hot, quick, and dirty. So, go check them out!

Wolf-Magician

Merry Christmas!

Since it’s Christmas and all, I’m taking the 23rd, 24th, and 25th off blogging and spending the days with my family and my books. I hope that everyone has a good day, whatever holiday you happen to celebrate this time of year. 🙂

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Taking a Break 12/22

I’m taking a break today, just been a long few days, so break and naps. Fractured Fairytales tomorrow!

Top Ten Books of 2017 Part 2

Yesterday we had half of my Top Ten books of 2017. Today we are getting to the second half. Keep in mind, these aren’t in any particular order and they may or may not have been published in 2017, just that I read them this year, so no judging me that way. Also, I may have already mentioned them on my blog, but they are the books that affected me the most, in one way or another.

Pet

Isabella Sterling has become one of my favorite authors. She has a beautiful way with words. I would read a tech manual that she wrote. And since she has a beautiful accent, I would listen to her read said tech manual. Anyway, Pet was one of those books that I loved and I cried and I cursed Isabella’s name. I had to wait a couple of days before I could leave a review on it because I had to process all the feelz I got from it. Pet, Stranger, and King have a permanent part of my heart. It’s one of those books that I wanted to reread immediately after reading, but I was devastated by it. I was also elated by it. I haven’t reread it yet, but I will soon. Writing about it has made me want to read it again.

Alpha’s Claim & Alpha’s Control series

I refuse to see using series in a book list as cheating. Especially when they are as good as Addison Cain’s Alpha’s Claim and Alpha’s Control books. These books were pretty much my first real foray into dark romance, and I have never made it out. Addison is a gateway drug. LOL. So, Alpha’s Claim is Born to Be Bound, Born to Be Broken, and Reborn. OK, Alpha’s Claim is the story of Claire and Shepard while they live in Tholos and I can’t even tell you how much it killed me. I read books 2 and 3 back to back in one day. I don’t recommend doing this. I cried. Oh my fucking gods, I cried. Addison completely killed me. My husband still refers to this series as the one that devastated me. I’ve had long conversations about this series. The Alpha’s Control series is just one book so far, Stolen. We got to check in with old friends and met Brenya and Jacques from Bernard Dome. It was like OMG. As intense as the first series was, this one is as intense as all three of them combined. I hate Jacques. I’m going to say that right here and now. I hate him. I can’t wait to see what comes next.

Dollars Series

Pepper Winters has written some great books. The Dollars series is one of them. You lucky reader you, if you haven’t read them yet, since Millions just came out, so you don’t have to wait. The series is Pennies, Dollars, Hundreds, Thousands, and Millions. The story is about Pimlico and Elder. Their story is amazing, and all about love, redemption, and getting away from your past and finding your future. I don’t know if I can even explain the whole series and do it any justice. Pim was kidnapped and sold into sex slavery. Elder rescues her after several years. The whole series is about how they manage to heal each other and fix themselves. Go check it out.

Destruction

Jennifer Bene writes epically dark stories. Destruction is the latest one of her dark stories. It’s dark and gritty and filthy and oh, so very good. This story just gets to you in all the dark places that you didn’t even really know that you had, but now that Jennifer has exposed them to you, you want to know more about them. Of course, I’ve been knowing all of those dark places for a while now, and I like playing in those places. Luckily, I can count on Jennifer Bene to write a story that will let me do that. This is the first book in a new series, so I’m looking forward to the rest of the series and how everything that happened in this one plays out in the next stories. It ought to be interesting. If you like dark and kinky sex, check this one out, for sure.

Comfort Food

Kitty Thomas writes dark too. All of her books are pretty dark, but Comfort Food is the first one of hers I read. Addison Cain posted the link for this book when it was offered for free on King Zon. It is a total mindfuck. I mean, it makes you look differently at what things are really comforting and which aren’t, and how they change. I don’t want to go too far into the story, because really, it’s one that you have to read to understand. But, it had me saying whoa at more than one place because it is just that trippy. I will never, ever look at crackers and chicken noodle soup the same way again.

OK, there we are. My Top Ten books of 2017. Check them out. Tell me what you think of them.

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My Top Ten Books of 2017 Part 1

Today and tomorrow you’re going to get my Top Ten books of 2017. Some I have reviewed here before, some I haven’t. But these are the ones that affected me the most, I liked the most, or there was just something about them. They are mostly in no particular order, generally, because it was hard for me to decide what order they go in. They also may have been published before 2017, but I read them in 2017. And it’s hard to limit my list to just 10.

I’m Sawree

B. B. Blaque has written some truly strange, fucked up, mind fuck books. I’m Sawree is pretty much the mind fuck of the century. I had to message B. B. Blaque when I was done reading it because really, I wanted to know what the fuck she had just done to me. I’m not saying anything about the plot of Sawree, and my blog post doesn’t either. Basically, my blog post was a picture of fluffy kitties, which is what you need when you read this book.

The Day She Cried

I have mad K Webster love.  Mad love like I buy everything I can and then read it immediately. Of course, I’m always sad when I’m done reading her books because I’m done. TDSC gave me all the feelz while I was reading it. I’m reasonably sure that I died at some point, but I was able to come back. The basic story is that Courtney and Raven were texting back and forth, with Raven thinking that Courtney was a boy. Courtney’s nasty-ass friend sent information to Raven that mocked her and she committed suicide. Courtney was tried and sued for her part in it. Rowe is Raven’s twin and he’s bound and determined to get back at Courtney. The entire thing is just beautiful and tragic and so, so, so real. K said that this was a really personal story, and you can tell with every word. Make sure that you have a box of tissues sitting next to you when you read this one.

Whispers and the Roars

This is another K Webster book. It is, hands down, the very best love story that I have ever read. I won’t give any details on it, because this is another one that if you read the reviews, you are going to have more information about the story than you want to have. You have to go into this with an open mind and another box of tissues. Told you that I have the mad K Webster love, right?

Sick Fux

This is a book by Tillie Cole. It’s making its rounds through the various dark reading groups I belong to. The days after it came out there were a lot of us talking about it. There are very good reasons for that. This is a really, truly fucked up story. But, there is also a beauty to it and a lightness. The love between Ellis and Heathen is just… Yeah, I don’t know. If you like Alice in Wonderland, you may have some issues with this one, but it’s one that stayed with me for days afterward. Just as a warning, there are some disturbing subject matters and some serious trigger warnings for abuse of children. If that is an issue for you, please read responsibly.

Life of Anna

Marissa Honeycutt’s serialized book LoA is one that you are just about required to read if you read in the dark thriller/erotica/romance genre, especially if you read Indie authors. Most of the people I know who read that genre have read it, and many of us use it as the ruler to measure all other darkness against. It spans several years and some of the absolute worst things that can ever happen to a person. It gets pitch-black in places. It gets darker than pitch-black in places, if you can actually do that. But, it also stays with you. I dreamt about this book. I had to take a break for a couple of days from it. I read the complete series compendium, so I got it all at once. During that couple day break, I read some much lighter stories, and I dreamt of Alex, Anna, and Devin. There aren’t enough trigger warnings for this one, but there also aren’t enough ways for me to tell you about how good it is.

Alright, here are 5 of my Top Ten books of 2017. Remember, they may not have been published in 2017, that’s just when I read them. Although, I think most of these were published this year. Tune in tomorrow for the other 5.

Here’s a pretty picture I found yesterday while looking for something for Rapunzel.

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