ARC Review: Confessions of a Girl in the City

Confessions of a Girl in the City 
by Angelina King


This novella is about Toni, a young woman in London who is bucking family convention by pursuing her passion in acting. On Friday nights, she takes an acting class taught by the sexy Marcus. This is a sort of coming of age traditional erotica, told through the diary entries of Toni at the request of Marcus.

This novella should have been easy to zip through, but I didn't feel an instant connection to Toni, and I didn't feel an instant spark of eroticism like I would have expected in a novella. However, there was a slow burn, and once I decided to stick with it, I was rewarded by the experience.

Marcus was complicated and enigmatic and sexy, and yet the reader could still see what he saw in Toni through her musings. She possessed this sexuality that was bold, honest, and not innocent, but not jaded either. Her explorations through the class exercises made her grow as a person - she was a young woman mature enough to know where her experiences leading her, and yet she relished the journey.

At times hot, at times slow, this was still a good read. Fans of traditional erotica will enjoy this novella.

ARC Review: Claimed by Stacey Kennedy

Claimed (Club Sin #1)by Stacey Kennedy 

Presley was always the good girl. For 8 years she was the good girl in a relationship with a jerk who moved her to Las Vegas with him, only to cheat on her.  After moving in with a local friend who was a submissive and saw those same traits in Presley, she decided to give the exclusive Club Sin a chance. Dimitri is a Master Dom at club sin, and from the moment he lays eyes on Presley he knew he would be the one to train her. What they found in each other were the missing puzzle pieces to their lives. 

With this novel being set in a private BDSM club, there could be the opportunity for huge errors or straight out unbelievable situations. However, this book hit a great balance of believability for readers who may have some knowledge of the lifestyle, but not so dark that a novice or newbie couldn't enjoy it. Here the most important aspect of this book is mutual respect, passion, and eventually love between these two. The page never stopped turning for me, and watching both of these characters grow, and their love blossom, was fantastic. In the end, they both had to be brave enough to go for what they wanted.

Since this is Club Sin #1, I assume we will be hearing more about the other Master Doms...I can't wait for that as well.
4.5 stars

True Blood Recap: The Sun

I want to say first of all, great episode. I was obviously feeling ambivalent last week, but I'm glad I stayed with TB this week-great performances all around and a few twists.

However, there are some things that always remain the same. I know I always say that Jason is dumb as a bag of rocks, but it really runs in the family. Sookie meets a hunky injured fae in the woods on the way to work and decides, hey, it will be ok to take him home and care for him. This hunky stranger.  Who says you look like his first girlfriend.

Meanwhile Jason is chasing around Niall, the Stackhouse patriarch and Fairy Godfather (groan.) If I have to hear that all season, might as well turn it into a drinking game. But, it's Rutger Hauer, so whatevs. He teaches Sookie a cool new trick to defeat Warlow but the catch (isn't there always a catch?) is that because she is only half fae, she can only harness the power to do it once. Then she isn't fae anymore. So, there's that.

Can we just give a round of applause to the best babysitter ever, LaLa?

Anyhoo, Sam Merlotte is at work still trying to figure out how to do right by Luna by taking care of Emma. While Lafayette is waiting for him to bring the bacon home, he gets accosted by the nosy and brash Nicole (Jurnee Smollett!) who wants him to come out of the shifter closet. He tells her he ain't buying what she's selling, but she leaves her card anyway. She did a great job, because I really wanted to punch her in the face.

Later on, when Sam gets home and thinks he's safe for the night, Alcide, his bitch, and Martha, Emma's grandmother. They swagger-jack Emma from Sam, Alcide's bitch whoops LaLa's ass for no reason, and Alcide leaves Sam and LaLa in the dust. Did I mention this nosy bitch Nicole and her homies have filmed the whole encounter?

Bad Nicole! Bad Alcide!

Eric decides to meet this new governor face to face and learns a few things-humans have some serious fucking anti-vamp gunpower (as he pulled a UV round out of Tara) and they even have some other things on hand as well-such as glamour resistant contacts. Eric does his recon and flies out of there, because he is a G. 

Then he goes to the governor's daughter's room later on and glamours her. Why do ya'll fuck with Eric?

Also, this fuckwit was still running around with the amazing fae children:

These two really did a great job:

Jessica was freaking out while Bill was catatonic, and having a pow-wow with Lilith. What we know is that Bill is basically a supervamp with freaky powers that make Bill interesting and not what he usually is, which is boring. He scared Jessica to death, and I tell you what, she sold it to me. Her acting in those scenes, the sheer terror and wtf, yet the tenderness she still felt for Bill was all present. Great job! Also, Bill can see in the future. So, that happened.

All in all, I will be checking it out next week, and I'm actually looking forward to it!

Before Jamaica Lane Book Trailer

Complete Me: The Stark Trilogy Finishes Strong (An ARC Review)

Complete Me (Stark Trilogy #3)

by J. Kenner (An ARC Review)

When we left Damien and Nikki in Claim Me, she had followed him to Germany to face murder charges against his old coach and abuser. Their bond stronger than ever, Damien and Nikki are shocked when the charges are unexpectedly dropped due to new evidence submitted anonymously to the court-evidence Damien never wanted anyone to see, and he hopes Nikki never sees. Now starts the mystery-who sent the evidence, and what do they want when they decide to make contact? Is it the same person who has been sending nasty notes to Nikki?

As always, Damien and Nikki absolutely sizzle off the page. He pushes her limits sexually and yet he is so honest about how she affects him in every way. They constantly refer to being in their "bubble" where it is just them, and no outside forces-paparazzi, exes, or evil demons from their pasts can intrude...and boy, do they try.

There are plenty of passionate sex scenes, but not too many where it feels the story isn't progressing. There was a great balance achieved here, and lucky for all of us Damien-ites, we get to see him use his masterful hand as well as lose his carefully structured control.

Jamie and Ollie are around and they are a mess. I would love to see more of Jamie (like with Bad Things by RK Lilley) but I have no idea if that is in the works. She is a great friend, despite all of her personal drama.

Nikki as always struggles with her cutting tendencies, and Damien as always struggles with his need for control and keeping secrets. In the end, they both make the ultimate sacrifices for each other.

Complete Me was a strong finish for a great trilogy. Damien is sexy as sin and Nikki is feisty as ever, and together, they keep you turning the page.  Until you get your hands on this book, follow Damien's advice and "Imagine me, touching you." 5/5 stars.

J.R. Ward Cover Reveal

If you know me, you know that J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood series has been my favorite for years. Every spring, I get my grubby little hands on a BDB book and devour it practically overnight, then re-devour it for good measure.

We learned earlier this year that the subject of the next BDB book will be Wrath and Beth, and that it would be called The King. Yesterday, she revealed the cover!

Wrath looks good on that throne!

So, it's been a few days since the True Blood premier...

Did you care?

The closer we got to the premier date, the less fucks I gave. However, I persevered to watch the show, and it was nice.

It was nice like, "Oh I got laid and it didn't rock my world but it wasn't terrible and at least I got off and got laid" nice.

Rewind: Where were we at the end of season 5 and how did that affect the premiere of season 6?
Well, since True Blood loves a cliffhanger, when we left, Bill was a puddle of resurrected Lilith goo that Eric and Sookie were hauling ass away from. The whole crew got in Eric's pimp van and rolled away, as Bill watched over them:

(Things nobody has time for: GORE all over EVERYONE for the whole damn episode.)

Eric is still being a dick to Pam but she gets some relief in the form of antagonizing Nora:

And some relief in the arms of Tara:

Jessica is painfully summoned by Bill, and the whole crew follows her to...Bill's house. After some posturing Bill assures them he is himself, just a little something...more. And baby vamp Jessica stands by her daddy vamp and tells everyone to take a fucking hike if they don't like it:

Meanwhile Jason is still as dumb as a bag of rocks and hitches a ride with a dangerous stranger:

Yeah, Rutger Hauer seems legit.

Alcide is the new pack master and enjoys the fruits of his labor-and his new girlfriend teaches him the important lesson that if he wants to act like a dog and tomcat around, she is the one that brings the pussy to the party:

THIS NEVER GETS OLD

NEITHER DOES THIS

NOPE THIS ONE EITHER

Anyway......

Sam's girlfriend Luna bit the dust after she pulled off that final skinwalker trick. Now Sam is a single father on the lam and runs into my fave True Blood character, La La:

Story of Lafayette's life...

So, besides these highlights, there was Andy Belfluer's fae-babies turning into fae-toddlers overnight, and some politician (who has cracked down on the vampires via a wicked curfew and business shutdown) working with the True Blood manufacturers to make sure more TB gets on to the streets so people can stop being food.

Will I be tuning in next week? Probably, although I have to say I am interested in the special guests this season-Rutger Hauer and Jurnee Smollet are faves of mine. I'll keep watching for now...but it's kind of sad I'm more excited to watch So You Think You Can Dance every week.

Meet Your New Boyfriend: Tristan Vega

A quick Synopsis from Goodreads:

Bad Things (Tristan & Danika #1)

by R.K. Lilley (Goodreads Author)

4.58 of 5 stars 4.58  ·   rating details  ·  749 ratings  ·  181 reviews

Danika hasn’t had an easy life. Being insanely attracted to bad boys has never helped make it easier.

One look at Tristan, and every brain cell she possessed went up in smoke. This man was trouble with a capital T. It was a given.
She knew better. Bad boys were bad. Especially for her. Considering her history, it was crazy to think otherwise. So why did crazy have to feel so damn fine?

For as long as she could remember, Danika had been focused on the future with single-minded purpose. Tristan came along and taught her everything there was to know about letting go, and living in the present. She fell, hard and deep. Of course, that only made her impact with the ground that much more devastating.

Bad Things is about Tristan and Danika, and their train wreck of a love story. This series can be read as a standalone, or with the Up in the Air series.

My Review from Goodreads:

I love Tristan. Danika is great, too, but that Tristan! Whew! I need the rest of this series. Period.
Tristan and Danika have the most passionate, volatile, heartbreaking, and heartfelt relationship. As a fan of the Up in the Air series I got a quick glimpse of part of their story and was intrigued. This book starts from the very beginning of T and D and can be read independently. I.Am.Hooked. Excellent read.

____________________________________________________________

I have literally read 2 books since I finished Bad Things earlier this week, and I STILL can't get Tristan out of my head. He is smoldering. Tristan and Danika decide to be platonic friends, and that works for a while...until the attraction they have for each other combusts. The rest of the book chronicles the ups and downs of their volatile and passionate relationship.

Some faves from the UitA series that play significant roles here are James "Fucking" Cavendish (as he is constantly referred) and Frankie the lesbian tattoo artist. I'd actually be interested in reading more about her, but who knows if that will ever happen.

This is my Tristan:

 I have seen some other cuties, but Tristan is tatted up, so Adam Von Rothfelder wins(and so do we!)

What makes Tristan so memorable? Besides his intensity and loyalty, his passion and volatile but gentle nature, he also has a dirty, dirty mouth, as this borrowed graphic displays:

This quote is of course memorable, but Tristan has a million of these in the book. He is a big, strong man who can deliver if he promises a fantasy of a lifetime. I cannot wait to catch up with these two in the next book. Until then...

BONUS: Tristan is a great cook!

Kit Rocha's Virtual Fight Night

Fans of the Beyond Shame series by Kit Rocha...

Beyond Shame (Beyond #1)

...are being treated to some fun online Virtual Fight Nights in between books! If you have read the books, then you know who your favorite is. The first bout I voted for Dallas (of course!) and he won (of course!)

Bout #2, I have to go with JASPER. Love. Him.

Join the fun!

Game of Thrones Season Finale: Mhysa

If you are still reeling from the Red Wedding this episode doesn't make you feel better at all. However, there were a few highlights, like Tywin finally clowning Joffrey:

Tyrion got some, too:

And Arya got to kick a little ass in the Stark name:

And Samwell didn't fuck up once!

However, it is GoT so, this happened:

Sigh. These two.

Dany continues her baddest bitch campaign.

So, since we got Theon's dick in the mail, I figure I'll save him.

This one found his way home.

Just downright rude.

But, in looking forward to the future:

See you next year GoT!