ARC Review: Love Betrayal (Angels & Devils MC #2)

Love Betrayal (Angels & Devils MC #2)

Chantal Fernando

Blurb:

In a world of monsters, falling in love requires sacrifice.

River

I'm VP of Devils MC, and every decision I make is to protect the Club. I’m the one they call when things go south. That means getting my hands dirty—a lot. Outsiders think I’m a monster. I agreed. Until Bella. She was able to look past the violence and see…me. I never thought love was in the cards, but now she’s mine. I’ll protect her. No matter the cost.

Bella

It was supposed to be a fling—a way for us both to scratch an itch. But River wasn’t what I expected. I’ve seen monsters, and River isn’t one. Our relationship isn’t all rainbows and butterflies—but it’s real. I’d never betray him, even when my ex-boyfriend threatens to destroy me if I don’t. I’m not a damsel in distress. I can solve this problem without sacrificing the man I love.

Even if it costs me everything.

Themes:  Contemporary

Rating:  4.25 stars

Heat Rating: 

Review:

 I love when an author decides to take something like the old fairy tales we all grew up and completely reimagine them in a modern way and with a dirty and imaginative twist. Chantal Fernando has done exactly that with her new series and the second installment takes us on a departure from the tale of Beauty and the Beast that will leave you hot and bothered and wondering if you really missed out as a kid with the original. While book one was definitely a retelling of Romeo and Juliet, I loved how we got a different story to enjoy, even with the time overlap and the fact that we jumped into River and Bella’s relationship a full year into it, after the timeline of the first book. While technically each of these books can be read alone, I highly recommend you read the full series, because otherwise you will be left out of a lot of the subplots, subterfuge, and you’ll feel a little bit confused.  This story is filled with drama, emotional turmoil, love, lose, danger, and pain, but in the end is a story of two people having to come to terms with their own natures and the nature of the one they have fallen in love with to decide if they can make a life together.  I am dying for the next book in the series and I have high suspicions about who that one will star, even if we haven’t been told for sure.

Bella Callisto never realized that when she followed her cousin Juliana into a bar one night that she’d not only be met with their sworn enemies, but with her future in the form of the sexiest beast shed ever seen.  River is the second in command to his cousin who is running two MCs in concert with his new wife now that they have combined and the results have been rocky.  He takes on a lot of the dirty work in order to keep his club safe and clean and he never wants Bella to see him as that monster, but in hiding that side of himself he is keeping Bella in the dark in a love of ways and she feels that deeply.  The more real their relationship gets, the more Bella demands from him and the more he has to decide how deep he wants her to get in his life, but when a darkness from their past threatens the rocky peace they are all working toward, Bella and River both have to get a little dirty in order to protect one another and those they both love.  Bella has to prove that she isn’t as pure as her best thinks she is and that she will always take River just has he comes if they have any chance at not only defeating their enemies, but at having their HEA.

I truly enjoyed their story, though there were a few moments that I were afraid were going to get bogged down in the emotional drama of a couple that was close to breaking.  Bella knows that she wants River, but she isn’t sure she actually knows him, and being a strong woman, she begins to push him for the full truth.  But soon she starts to question if she can really handle the truth, which just made me frustrated with her a bit—thankfully she got over that pretty quickly when outside danger threatened those she considered under her protection.  I could definitely see that she is MD to the core and despite being light to River’s dark, she is a dangerous woman to get on the ropes.  River has always lived on the opposite side of the light, protecting his family and club at the expense of his own happiness and soul, but when he takes Bella for himself he knows that he won’t be letting her go.  His strength, calm, danger, and darkness never worried me because it was tempered with sweetness, love, caring, and calm so I knew that he wasn’t a psycho that would be a danger to those around him.  I loved seeing him finally come to the conclusions that the others knew that he was a good man, despite the “bad” things he’d down in the past to protect his people.  I loved seeing him kicking ass and showing Bella that she could give him her heart and trust and he would never let her down. They were obviously meant to be together from the beginning, even if it took them a little bit to realize it.

This story definitely needed to be told, even if it wasn’t the one I was expecting.  I truly expected we’d be reading Bela and River’s story from the beginning and all the way through their courtship, instead we jump right into a full developed relationship where two people in love are trying to figure out how to deepen their relationship and last in a world that wants to pull them apart.  I loved watching the grow, both individually and as a couple because there really is no truer challenge of a love story than two people, in love, and faced with the hard challenges of day-to-day life and the drama of continuous attacks to their future.  Bella’s reservations and fears as she tried to get River to truly open himself to her, the fact that she finally came to understand her own lack of openness, and the drama she brought to their relationship was fascinating and watching her find her way through that maze into the woman she needed to be to win those fights was amazing.  River has his own qualms about their future, but he never doubts she is his woman, not from the first moment, and he will fight everyone to keep her—even Bella herself.  The passion between these two can be somewhat dark at times as their jealousy and fear lead them around, but it never waned and I don’t imagine it ever will.  I am really looking forward to the third story in this series and cannot imagine all the excitement that the couple in that one will lead us on in the adventure of their love story to come.  Chantal Fernando has a way with her biker romance, but this new bent on old fairy tales with a dark upgrade is beyond awesome!

*eARC provided by author for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.

ARC Review: Blaze (Ghost Ops #1)

Blaze (Ghost Ops #1)

Lynn Raye Harris

Blurb:

Dead to their pasts. Ghosts. No family ties. No connections.

Six men with a top-secret mission move to a small town where they have to navigate local life, protect their secret, and, above all, stay single.

Former Hostile Operations Team soldier Blaze "Shadow" Connolly knows what it’s like to lose everything. He’s got nobody except his job and his team and that’s the way he likes it.

But when he walks into a gas station during a robbery and locks eyes with Emma Grace Sutton, he knows he’ll do anything to protect the pretty girl with the blue glasses.

ER doctor Emma had a bright future until her ex-boyfriend became the kind of nightmare she was certain could never happen to her. With her self-esteem shattered and her confidence in ruins, she left a promising career and returned to her hometown to take over her dad's small family practice. It's not what she wants, but it's what she needs to rebuild her life.

Until she gets that prickly feeling she's being watched again. Did her ex follow her to Sutton's Creek or is she's imagining things? Is she in danger or is it PTSD? She doesn't know, but she knows a man with the skills to find out. The ruggedly handsome sexy protector who saved her from a bullet once before.

Blaze isn’t supposed to get involved. Doing so could put the mission at risk. But how can he turn Emma away when the desperation in her eyes hints at even darker secrets? He can’t — and that might just be the final nail in his coffin.

Themes:  Contemporary, Military

Rating: 4.25 stars

Heat Rating: 

Review:

For longtime readers of the HOT Operations series, we have been waiting for this book for a long time now.  The new Ghost Ops spinoff, where our favorite colonel Alex “Ghost” Bishop takes his own team of HOT operators off the books and into the dark for a truly top-secret mission.  This series is destined to be a good one, but the first book involved a lot of set-up and prep for the rest of the series, so it was a bit of a different flow than a lot of the recent HOT stories. I loved the book and it had so much going on that the plot and anticipation was just twisty enough to intriguing, even if I guessed the bad guy well before the end. ;)  For those new to this series, you’ll love the way this story takes a sexy alpha male that knows he shouldn’t be pursuing a relationship but can’t resist the draw of a sweet woman into the arms of a doctor that can’t resist the sexy protector that saves her life again and again.  I am dying for more of this series, and I know that the Ghost Ops series will just get better and better as each of the guys finds himself sunk and falling in love, even when they know better. Book one, takes us with the guys to their new home in small town Alabama where Blaze finds himself in the crosshairs of a stalker when his new neighbor moves across the hall and the woman comes with all kinds of dangers and a sweetness he cannot resist, even though he tries.  Lynn Raye Harris never fails to draw me into the lives of her operator and blow my mind as they go on a crazy adventure and deal with some dangerous enemy while they fall in love despite their best efforts to resist cupid’s pull.

Blaze “Shadow” Connolly is just getting himself settled in his new home in Sutton’s Creek, AL, when he stumbles into a robbery in progress at the local mini-mart.  He knows he shouldn’t interfere, but seeing two women at gunpoint and doing nothing to stop it just isn’t in his operator-DNA, so when the robber starts shooting, he steps in and brings the guy down before he can do any real damage. Emma Grace Sutton was sure she was done for when she stopped in at the mini-mart for lunch on her way back into town at the end of her escape from Chicago and her old life, but when the big sexy badass steps in and saves them all she knows he is a good guy. And imagine her surprise when she learns he is her across the hall neighbor, and soon he is rescuing her again when her past catches up to her.   A dangerous predator is after her, one she didn’t realize she barely escaped with her life, and the only one that can protect her is Blaze and his friends, but being under his protection brings up a lot of emotions.  Soon Emma and Blaze find themselves living together and the connection between them seems like a magnetic force they can’t resist. But the closer they get, the more deadly the danger as Emma’s stalker is watching and not happy that they are growing so close.  Can they find a way to be together and survive the danger around them, not to mention their own issues, in order to build a relationship that can last?

I can honestly say that I havent read a story of two people so in need of one another in a long time. Blaze has so much baggage and pain in his past that he truly needed someone to just offer him love and the solace he needed to come to terms with his past. He has never found a way to let go of the guilt and pain of the past and being with Emma finally gives him the impetus to heal and understand that he did all he could, and he isn’t to blame. His strength and intelligence made him a perfect match to the vulnerabilities that Emma had in her moments of fear, but at the same time, he had his own moments of fear when his past reared its head, and she was able to give him just what he needed in those moments.  Emma was a strong, sassy, smart southern woman, even if she’d forgotten it for a while, and seeing her find her strength again as she battled her way back to herself was great. She obviously cares deeply about those she lets into her heart, her family and friends, and the town that she cares for, but those that threaten her she will fight to the death to protect.  I enjoyed seeing her fight her way back to her power with Blaze’s help, and even when she stood up to him when he was being a jerk.  The two of them has so many issues, but when they finally opened their hearts, it was obviously they were so perfectly matched they were yin to own another’s yang, and there really is no better experience than watching two people like that find love.

Blaze truly was a story of two people coming together under extreme circumstances but finding love despite both of them fighting it tooth and nail.  I loved seeing how hard they fought the pull and against one another to just keep everything on the level of friendship and protector/protectee, but resistance truly was futile for these two.  Blaze was a sexy alpha with painful guilt-laden memories eating him alive, but when he finally begins to let them go, he lightens up and becomes a sweet and loving mate for Emma that will become a perfect southern gentleman.  Emma Grace is a strong and sassy southern lady, with a kickass streak of protectiveness, that has forgotten her inner core of steel and she just needed a good reminder of her own strength.  Once she is challenged and forced to find her power again, Emma fights for herself and those she loves, against forces both internal and external until she gets life and love the way she wants it and the man she wants in her arms and her heart. I loved the passionate fire that flowed between these two from the very beginning, but once they finally lets loose the fire, it became an out-of-control raging fire (yes, I said it, sorry not sorry).  I am dying for the rest of the Ghost ops guys to get their stories as Harris takes us on this journey through the mission that was so top secret that the guys had to go even more off the books than they were with HOT, because it’s bound to be an adventure for the ages.

*eARC provided by author for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.

ARC Review: Restraint (Stingrays Hockey #1)

Restraint (Stingrays Hockey #1)

Mari Carr

Blurb:

Girlfriend…without benefits?

Hometown hockey hero, Blake has life completely figured out. He’s footloose and fancy free with the world’s coolest job and an endless parade of puck bunnies ready to help him celebrate his victories. The status quo is working for him, so why does he agree to co-parent a stray puppy with his too-serious, workaholic neighbor, Erika? And why is he so annoyed when she suddenly starts dating some tool named Doug? And why can’t he stop finding excuses to see her and touch her and kiss her and… She’s not his girlfriend, right?

Erika has enough on her plate as an ER doctor without adding any more stress to her life. So adopting a dog with Blake, the fun-loving, never-take-anything-serious, commitment-phobe across the hall is a stupid idea, right? Of course, she also probably shouldn’t be his plus-one for charity galas either. Or seeking comfort from him during a thunderstorm. Or kissing his five-for-fighting boo-boos better. Or letting him teach her how to “reduce stress” with her personal toy collection. After all, he’s not her boyfriend. Is he?

So what happens when two people reluctant to commit find love where they least expect it… Right across the hall.

Themes:  Contemporary

Rating: 4.5 stars

Heat Rating: 

Review:

I always love when a favorite author gives me a new series, I can sink my teeth into, and Mari has definitely done that with this first story about a sexy Hocky player and the gorgeous no-nonsense neighbor that steal his heart. The humor, passion, and beauty that drives this romance will keep you not only laughing but wondering if these two so difference characters can come to understand that they are truly made for one another. Mari Carr is one of those authors that loves to have readers on the edge of their seats, wondering if they are going to get that HEA or not, right up until the very end, but that tension and anticipation is what makes it great. I loved every moment of this story from the tears to the growth of two people that truly come to learn so much about themselves as they open their eye and their hearts to the perfect mate that was right in front of them all along. Because sometimes we find our mates in the most unlikely of places and realizing it is the hard part of the equation.

Blake Wright is a hockey hottie, with no interest in settling for one woman in his bed when he can enjoy all the flavors of the rainbow, so to speak.  But he enjoys spending time with his neighbor, uptight ER doctor Erika Nelson, one of those women that is definitely looking for a forever kind of guy. While she is hot, he knows that there is no way that he can give her what she needs, but the more time he spends with her, teasing her about her atrocious dates, and rescuing her, the more he feels a deeper connection to her.  Erika has been attracted to the sexy hockey player next door since she moved in, but she isn’t a one-night stand kind of woman, and she won’t be just another notch on his headboard, but when they rescue a puppy and become coparents, they are soon spending so much time together that resisting him his futile.  Maybe giving in to their attraction, just for a little while won’t destroy their friendship, after all they are adults and can handle a fling without losing their heads and hearts, can’t they? Because two people that so obviously want two different things out of life can’t have a future together, unless they were wrong about what they need—and maybe they just need one another.

I cannot tell you how much I loved these two characters, especially Erika. Blake was your typical bachelor playboy, with some redeeming qualities that come to light as he learns more about his own wants from life and opens his heart to Erika.  He’s obviously exquisitely handsome, a little dangerous, a little reckless, and alpha, but he’s also caring, sweet, and loving to those that he lets into his inner circle.  Once he began to see Erika as his friend, he took time to make sure she always has what she needs to make life easier, improve her life, even when they are just friends, before they began their relationship. He understands the value of friendship and caring, even though he didn’t realize how important that was as a foundation for the relationship he was building with Erika. Once his eyes were opened to the fact that he had been in love with Erika for a long time, admitting it to himself, he becomes and even better guy.  And lets just put out there that this guy is obsessed and sweet as hell with a cute little chihuahua puppy—doesn’t get much cuter than that. Erika on the other hand is one of those women that we all want to be.  She’s a badass at her job, brave enough to be friends with a group of sexy hickey player, keeping them in line and not falling prey to their charms, despite them being beyond HOTT.  She is smart, sweet, caring, and just the whole package, even though she seems to not understand the idea of dating, since she has been in a relationship without the good stuff for far too long. She is also smart and snarky enough to keep you laughing with she is playing with Blake, while so many doctor heroines are very staid and serious, which gives her another layer of cool.

Mari Carr’s new series about a kick-ass team of hockey players is shaping up to be awesome.  Restraint kicks off with a bang as two people that never imagined they would ever move out of the friend-zone find love together—and adopt a furbaby. Playboy Blake learns that love can come in all forms, even from the friendship of a woman that he never imagined would steal his heart.  He is the perfect character to show us all that sometimes all it takes for these guys to grow up is the love and dedication of the right woman. Erika never imagines that the best friend she ever had would be the man who steal her heart, but he slowly wears her down and proves to her that their relationship is worth risking it all for, and that they can have so much more together if they both just open their hearts. I loved every word of this story, the passion was an undercurrent even when they were both pretending it was “just friends”, but once they admitted it was more, watch out because the fire was unleashed.  I am dying for more of these hot hockey guys and look forward to seeing the woman that bring them down. Mari has struck gold again with the Stingrays Hockey series for sure.

*eARC provided by author for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.