Book Review: Nuts by Alice Clayton

Title: Nuts
Series: Hudson Valley, Book 1
Author: Alice Clayton
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romantic Comedy
Sensuality Rating: Sensual
Source: review copy provided via NetGalley
Published: October 20, 2015 Gallery Books

After losing almost all of her clients in one fell swoop following an accident involving whipped cream, private chef to Hollywood’s elite Roxie Callahan gets a call from her flighty mother, saying she’s needed home in upstate New York to run the family diner. Once she's back in the Hudson Valley, local organic farmer Leo delivers Roxie a lovely bunch of walnuts, and soon sparks—and clothing—begin to fly. Leo believes that everything worth doing is worth doing slowly…and how! But will Roxie stay upstate, or will the lure of West Coast redemption tempt her back to Tinseltown?

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Book Review: One Night of Sin by Elle Kennedy

Title: One Night of Sin
Series: After Hours, Book 1
Author: Elle Kennedy
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Sensuality Rating: Steamy
Source: free Kindle book
Published: August 4, 2014 by Entangled Brazen

When it comes to sex, good girl Skyler Thompson always plays it safe, choosing stable and sedate over wild and thrilling. She doesn’t do one-night-stands, but one look at sinfully sexy Gage Holt and she’s willing to reconsider. He makes her want to be bad for once in her life, and she’s prepared to take what she wants.

Danger follows former MMA fighter Gage Holt like a shadow. Despite his successes as part owner of Sin, an exclusive nightclub in Boston, Gage can’t risk getting involved with a woman, especially one as sweet as Skyler. Still, he can’t resist a taste—and it’s so damn good he has to see her again.

As addicted as he is to her, Gage knows there’s no future for him and Skyler—not with his past lurking in the dark corners of an MMA cage. But Skyler’s tougher than she looks, and she’s ready to fight for her man.

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Book Review: Serving Pleasure by Alisha Rai

Title: Serving Pleasure
Series: Pleasure, Book 2
Author: Alisha Rai
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Erotic Romance
Sensuality Rating: Steamy
Source: review copy provided via NetGalley
Published: June 12, 2015 (self-published)

Hungry for a touch…

Rana Malik is over being her family’s resident black sheep. She’s on a mission: ditch the casual hook-ups, revamp her bad-girl image, and fall in love with a proper Mr. Right even her conservative mama can’t find fault with. Not on the menu? The beautiful, brooding Mr. Right Now who lives next door, and all the ways he whets her appetite.

Starving for love…

Artist Micah Hale had it all–women, success, friends and family–until his world changed in a single act of senseless violence. Now struggling to conceal his scars and get his life and career back on track, he knows he has nothing to offer a woman except his body. He’s not looking for love…but he can’t control his craving for the sexy bombshell voyeur he’s caught looking at him.

Just one bite.

Their attraction boils over, and their defenses are stripped off along with their clothes. They promise they’ll walk away if it gets too hot. But it’s hard to do the right thing…when being wrong feels so good.

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Reviewed by: Babs

Book Review: The Secret Prince by Justine Lewis

Title: The Secret Prince
Author: Justine Lewis
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Source: personal shelf
Published: November 4, 2014 by Penguin Australia

Prince Alexander Davros is on the run. From the press, from his bodyguards, and from a secret that threatens his position as heir to his country's throne ...

Journalist Maddie Lawson is determined to prove herself capable of covering hard news. She's fuming when her boss tells her to investigate reports of a European prince holidaying undercover in Sydney. As far as Maddie is concerned, Alexander Davros is a freeloading playboy.

When their accidental meeting results in a media frenzy, Alex is convinced Maddie's just been using him for a story. And Maddie can't believe the cute surfer she kissed was actually royalty. With her professional reputation in tatters, Maddie has no choice but to accept the royal family's offer to travel to Europe to write a profile on the Prince.

While furious that his father has arranged for Maddie to visit, Alex is forced to keep her close or risk having her uncover his secret. And as they spend more time together, the attraction between them grows. But if Maddie discovers the truth, she'll have to choose between the career she's worked so hard for and the man she's just getting to know ...

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Book Review: Anything But Broken by Joelle Knox

Title: Anything But Broken
Series: Hurricane Creek, Book 1
Author: Joelle Knox
Genre: Contemporary Romance, New Adult
Sensuality Rating: Steamy
Source: review copy provided by author
Published: August 25, 2015 (self-published)

After five years, tragedy brings Hannah Casey back to Hurricane Creek to bury what’s left of her family. She’s flunking out of college, haunted by scandal, and the only person who cares is Sean Whitlow, an irresistible bad boy with a soft spot for her. The problem? He’s her dead sister’s ex.

Sean doesn’t bleed red, he bleeds motor oil. During the week, he struggles to turn his auto repair shop into a profitable business. But when Saturday night rolls around, he’s the reigning stock-car king of the local race track. He doesn’t know how to lose–or how to walk away and leave Hannah alone with her grief.

Between her grades and her wealthy family’s dark secrets, Hannah’s barely holding her life together. And the last thing Sean needs is to get tangled up with another Casey girl. As the attraction between them spins out of control, they’ll either find a love with no limits–or go up in flames.

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Reviewed by: Babs

Book Review: Treble Maker by Annabeth Albert

Title: Treble Maker
Series: Perfect Harmony, Book 1
Author: Annabeth Albert
Genre: Contemporary Romance, New Adult Romance, M/M Romance
Sensuality Rating: Erotic
Source: review copy provided via NetGalley
Published: August 4, 2015 by Kensington Lyrical Shine

On Perfect Harmony, the ambitious competitors heat things up on stage and off…

Cody Rivers is determined to be a rock star, but couch-surfing between bar shows gets old fast. Joining an a cappella group for a new singing competition show could be his last chance at real fame—unless the college boy from the heart of the country messes it up for him. Lucas Norwood is everything gothy, glittery Cody is not—conservative, clean-cut, and virginal. But when a twist in the show forces them together, even the sweetest songs get steamy as the attraction between them lights up the stage. Lucas wants to take it slow, but Cody’s singing a different tune—and this time it maybe a love song…

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Reviewed by: Crissy

Book Review: Flirting with Disaster by Victoria Dahl

Title: Flirting with Disaster
Series: Jackson: Girl’s Night Out, Book 2
Author: Victoria Dahl
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Sensuality Rating: Steamy
Source: bought
Published: January 27, 2015 by HQN Books

There's no hiding from sizzling chemistry…

Artist Isabelle West has good reasons for preferring a solitary life. Tucked away in a cabin in the woods, she has everything she needs . . . except a red-hot love life. That is, until a hard-bodied U.S. marshal threatens to unearth secrets she's spent years protecting. But giving in to the sparks flying between them can only lead to one thing…disaster.

Tom Duncan lives by the letter of the law. But no one has tempted him—or confused him—more than free-spirited Isabelle, who arouses his suspicion and his desire. As their connection grows, and their nights get hotter, they find their wild attraction might shake everything he stands for—and expose everything she has to hide

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Reviewed by: Lesley

Book Review: Man On by Liz Crowe

Title: Man On
Series: Black Jack Gentlemen, Book 1
Author: Liz Crowe
Genre: Contemporary Romance, M/M Romance
Sensuality Rating: Erotic
Source: review copy provided via NetGalley
Published: August 10, 2013 by Tri-Destiny Publishing

Bad boy of European football, Nicolas Garza is about to hit American shores with a vengeance. Signed by the Detroit Black Jack Gentlemen as lynch pin for their expansion club, Nicco only half believes he’s making the right move. But with a past full of ghosts and rotten behavior chasing him from his homeland, he has no real choice.

Parker Rollings is a college soccer superstar, but his parents’ plans for their only son do not include professional athletics. When the Black Jacks approach him to finalize their roster, Parker leaps at the chance to keep playing, leaving behind medical school, stability and his first and only college sweetheart.

Nicco and Parker face off as bitter rivals for a coveted starting spot at midfield and are forced to channel their negative energy into something positive for the sake of the group—and themselves.

All eyes are on the fledgling team in its debut season. It’s crucial that the Black Jacks prove all the doubters wrong. They must make a good showing in the league and with new fans. But player drama, club dynamics, and misplaced priorities may tear it apart before it even begins.

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Reviewed by: Crissy

Book Review: Shooting Dirty by Jill Sorenson

Title: Shooting Dirty
Series: Dirty Eleven, Book 2
Author: Jill Sorenson
Genre: Contemporary Romance, MC Romance
Sensuality Rating: Erotic
Source: review copy provided by author
Published: September 21, 2015 by Carina Press

She's his only salvation.

Ace Clemmons has wanted Janelle from the moment he first saw her. Taking her captive while he carried out his last hit as a member of Dirty Eleven nearly broke him. Now that he’s gone straight, he’s back in her life, looking to stake his claim. He can’t erase the past but he’ll do anything to make it up to her.

Janelle Parker needs a new start, far away from the trailer park and the strip club. A down and dirty affair with a tattooed criminal is a step in the wrong direction, but she can’t resist Ace’s deliciously commanding touch, which has haunted her dreams for months. Soon they’re both in too deep, falling hard and fast—until an old feud with a rival motorcycle club explodes into an all-out war. Dirty Eleven's enemies won't hesitate to hurt Janelle to get to Ace. She has to fight to survive… and for the fiercest love she’s ever known.

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Reviewed by: Babs

Book Review: Once Upon a Rose by Laura Florand

Title: Once Upon a Rose
Series: La Vie en Roses, Book 1
Author: Laura Florand
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Sensuality Rating: Sensual
Source: bought
Published: January 26, 2015 (self-published)

She stole his roses.
Fleeing the spotlight, burnt out rock star Layla—“Belle”—Dubois seeks refuge in the south of France. That old, half-forgotten heritage in a valley of roses seems like a good place to soothe a wounded heart. She certainly doesn’t expect the most dangerous threat to her heart to pounce on her as soon as she sets foot on the land.

He wants them back.
Matt didn’t mean to growl at her quite that loudly. But—his roses! She can’t have his roses. Even if she does have all those curls and green eyes and, and, and…what was he growling about again?

Or maybe he just wants her.
When an enemy invades his valley and threatens his home, heart, and livelihood, Matthieu Rosier really knows only one way to defend himself.

It might involve kissing.

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Reviewed by: Lesley

Book Review: The Mistake by Elle Kennedy

Title: The Mistake
Series: Off-Campus, Book 2
Author: Elle Kennedy
Genre: Contemporary Romance, New Adult
Sensuality Rating: Steamy
Source: bought
Published: April 28, 2015

He’s a player in more ways than one…

College junior John Logan can get any girl he wants. For this hockey star, life is a parade of parties and hook-ups, but behind his killer grins and easygoing charm, he hides growing despair about the dead-end road he’ll be forced to walk after graduation. A sexy encounter with freshman Grace Ivers is just the distraction he needs, but when a thoughtless mistake pushes her away, Logan plans to spend his final year proving to her that he’s worth a second chance.

Now he’s going to need to up his game…

After a less than stellar freshman year, Grace is back at Briar University, older, wiser, and so over the arrogant hockey player she nearly handed her V-card to. She’s not a charity case, and she’s not the quiet butterfly she was when they first hooked up. If Logan expects her to roll over and beg like all his other puck bunnies, he can think again. He wants her back? He’ll have to work for it. This time around, she’ll be the one in the driver’s seat…and she plans on driving him wild.

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Reviewed by: Lesley

Book Review: When to Hold Them by G.B. Gordon

Title: When to Hold Them
Series: Bluewater Bay, Book 9
Author: G.B. Gordon
Genre: Contemporary Romance, M/M Romance
Sensuality Rating: Erotic
Source: review copy provided via NetGalley
Published: August 17, 2015 by Riptide

Doran Callaghan doesn't know when to fold ’em. His gambling has landed him in debt and in jail, and now it’s got him stuck in the sticks in a reintegration program. He wants to turn his life around, but old habits come knocking, and some creditors are harder to shake than others.

Xavier Wagner cares more about the National Park he works in than the people around it, until a stranger awakens desires he didn't know he had. Doran's natural submissiveness turns Xavier’s ideas of how to treat a lover upside down. But Doran doesn't seem to know about boundaries — or even to have any — and Xavier’s not sure that Doran will say no if he needs to. Which means someone’s going to get hurt.

While Xavier struggles with his principles, Doran's past comes calling. Trusting each other is suddenly a matter of life or death, but Doran has to decide whether counting on Xavier — or himself — is a gamble he’s willing to take.

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Reviewed by: Crissy

Book Review: Solo by Carol Lynne

Title: Solo
Series: Grave Diggers MC, Book #1
Author: Carol Lynne
Genre: Contemporary Romance, MC Romance, M/M Romance
Sensuality Rating: Erotic
Source: review copy provided by publisher
Published: September 15, 2015 by Pride Publishing

In a club of mean bikers, being gay can get you killed, but love can save any man.

Sam ‘Solo’ Braun lives by one truth, the Grave Diggers Motorcycle Club above all. The creed has served him well, giving him the only real family he’s ever known. He would die for his brothers and them for him, but they don’t know he prefers men over women. Coming out to a group of men who fear no one isn’t high on Solo’s priority list, especially because he’s never indulged in more than one-night stands.

Everything changes after one night with Eric James. For the first time, Solo can’t stop thinking about a single night he’d spent with a man. When fate intervenes, Solo comes face to face with his blue-eyed obsession only to find out Eric is a cop. Solo hates cops, and so do his brothers in the club. However, Solo decides to gamble everything and spend more time with Eric under the guise of getting information.

Falling in love with a cop is a very dangerous proposition for a man in Solo’s position, so why can’t he walk away?

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Reviewed by: J9

Book Review: Truth & Temptation by Riley Edgewood

Title: Truth & Temptation
Series: Summer Love, Book 3
Author: Riley Edgewood
Genre: Contemporary Romance, New Adult
Sensuality Rating: Steamy
Source: review copy provided by author
Published: July 23, 2015 (self-published)

She's a liar. He knows the truth.

Teagan Walker gets around. Ask anyone—hell, ask her. She'll own it with a smile. But beneath that smile is a girl whose parents didn't want her. Whose grandparents raised her without affection. Whose struggle with a burning anger threatens to consume her, though she'd rather punch someone in the face than talk about it. With a new job looming, she's determined to work her way into a better life. When she meets the sexiest guy she's ever seen, she decides to kick it off with a bang. And she makes her move.

But he's got moves of his own, and before the night is out, he strips her of way more than she means to reveal—without removing a single piece of clothing. That comes, too, of course. He's gotten under her skin like nobody before him, and what's the harm in one night with a sexy stranger? Exposed or not, she never has to see him again.

Except she does.

On Monday morning, they come face-to-face. He's the son of her new CEO—and her boss for the summer—and he threatens to bring her entire world crashing down, making her face every lie she's ever told.

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Reviewed by: Sara

Book Review: Outcast Cowboys by Sarah Masters

Title: Outcast Cowboys
Author: Sarah Masters
Genre: Contemporary Romance, M/M Romance
Sensuality Rating: Erotic
Source: review copy provided by publisher
Published: July 21, 2015 by Pride Publishing

Ross decides to start a new life away from the grim belly of London, England, unable to stomach being a cop any longer. He tells himself he’s moving miles away to find himself a bed partner, but he’s lying. He has to. Facing up to the real reason he’s leaving isn’t something he can handle. His last undercover job proved too much—his life was at risk—and if he stays in London he’ll likely end up dead. Nightmares plague him, his subconscious unable to switch the past off. So he moves to a ranch in America, thinking the new surroundings and different lifestyle will help him to heal—and to forget. What he soon realizes is he’s jumping from the frying pan into the fire…

Joe’s passion—that of caring for the horses—is the only thing that keeps him sane. He’s a surly man, and for good reason—a reason he hasn’t told a soul. Folks think he’s mean and unapproachable and suspect him of committing murder. More than once. Locals assume that Joe got let off the hook. Nothing could be further from the truth, but Joe lets people think what they will. He’s done with their speculation and sly looks.

When Ross and Joe meet, tension is rife. The air between them prickles with animosity as well as sexual tension. Both have a past they can’t get over. Both have skeletons in their closets they wish would turn to dust. And both have to make a decision. Can they cast their fears aside and trust each other, or have the terrors they’ve experienced ruined them for love?

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Reviewed by: J9

Book Review: Seduced in Secret by Shiloh Walker

Title: Seduced in Secret
Author: Shiloh Walker
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Sensuality Rating: Steamy
Source: review copy provided via NetGalley
Published: August 4, 2015 (self-published)

Best laid plans…are meant to be broken.

Life laid out, Tessa had everything set. Engaged to marry the perfect man, a rich, great-looking doctor, she was content with her life, or so she thought. Then the gift arrived. Delivered to her office on Valentine’s Day, it was filled with handcuffs, sexy little toys and a suggestive little card.

It wasn’t from her fiancé, either.

When the emails and the phone started coming, she should have been able to brush them off, except the man said something that left her uneasy…and not because he scared her, but because he was right. Your fiancé will never make you happy, Tessa.

Confused, she starts looking at her fiancé, her life…and other things…in a whole new light. One of the things she finds herself considering is her best friend and neighbor, Caleb. He’s always been there. Even when he spent years in the Navy, Caleb was the one she could count on and now isn’t any different. He’s there to listen when she needs an ear and he’s got nice, strong shoulders when she needs one to lean on.

It doesn’t her long to realize that one thing is certain—her fiancé can’t make her happy. But now she doesn’t know whether she wants to take a chance on her sexy secret admirer…or Caleb, the man who’s been there waiting for her all along.

It includes a short bonus story called Don't Walk Away.

Seduced in Secret was previously published as Whipped Cream and Handcuffs. It has been extensively rewritten, revised and expanded.

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Book Review: Tamed by the Outlaw by Michelle Sharp

Title: Tamed by the Outlaw
Series: What Happens in Vegas, Book 6
Author: Michelle Sharp
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Sensuality Rating: Steamy
Source: review copy provided via NetGalley
Published: August 17, 2015 by Entangled Lovestruck

He's taking on the bad girl of romance...

Author Jessie Jameson is the Bad Girl of romance, making a huge name for herself writing love stories with sizzling hot sex scenes. No one needs to know that her real-life inspiration is sexy publishing exec Grayson Reynolds. Or that after the hottest sex of her life, Grayson walked out on her.

Grayson's finally taken the reins of his family's publishing business, and he's determined to sell off the romance division. But Jessie Jameson's contract is complicating things. It's like she's been trying to ruin him ever since the mind-blowing night they shared-the night she walked out on him.

Now the sparks are flying. Heated, sexy sparks. It's a Wild West showdown between Jessie and Grayson. But when Romance ends up in bed with Business, only one can walk away...

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Audiobook Review: Nowhere Ranch by Heidi Cullinan

Title: Nowhere Ranch
Author: Heidi Cullinan
Narrator: Iggy Toma
Genre: Contemporary Romance, M/M Romance
Sensuality Rating: Erotic
Source: review copy provided by author
Published: June 23, 2015 (self-published)

Love will grow through the cracks you leave open.

Ranch hand Roe Davis absolutely never, mixes business with pleasure—until he runs into his boss, Travis Loving, at the only gay bar within two hundred miles.

Getting involved with the ranch owner is a bad idea, but Roe’s and Travis’s bedroom kinks line up against one another like a pair of custom-cut rails. As long as they’re both clear this is sex on the side, no relationship, no interfering with the job, they could make it work.

Shut out by his family years ago, Roe survived by steadfastly refusing to settle into so much as a post office box. As his affair with Travis grows into more than just sex, Roe’s past catches up with him, threatening the thin ray of happiness he’s found, reminding him it’s well past time he went on his way.

But even a loner gets lonely, and at this point, there’s nowhere left to run. The shame and sorrow of what he’s lost will stay with Roe wherever he goes—until he’s ready to let love lead him home.

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Reviewed by: Crissy

Book Review: Crashed by Sherilee Gray

Title: Crashed
Author: Sherilee Gray
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Sensuality Rating: Erotic
Source: review copy provided by publisher
Published: July 14, 2015 by Entangled Indulgence

She swore never to trust him again...

Fiery mechanic Alexandra Franco should have known better. Years ago, her best friends' older brother took her virginity and broke her heart-or rather, doused it with gasoline, lit a match, and then walked away. And Alex definitely should not have indulged in another hot night with him after the fact. He's not the same boy she fell for, and she sure as hell doesn't want anything to do with the wealthy, ruthless man he's become.

Walking away from Alex was the biggest mistake of Deacon West's life. She belongs with him, and if getting her back means playing dirty, so be it. If she'll grant him a three-month, no-strings affair, he won't sell the building Alex and his sisters use for their auto repair business. Hell, he'll even sign it over to them. But will Alex ever entrust her heart to him again, or are they destined to crash and burn?

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Book Review: So Tough to Tame by Victoria Dahl

Title: So Tough to Tame
Series: Jackson Hole, Book 3
Author: Victoria Dahl
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Sensuality Rating: Steamy
Source: bought
Published: September 24, 2013 by Harlequin HQN

Tough to tame, but not too tough to love... Charlie Allington is supposed to be on the fast track to the top-a small-town girl who was making it big in her career. Instead, she's reeling from a scandal that's pretty much burned all her bridges. Now, out of options, she needs a place to lick her wounds and figure out her future. True, working at a ski resort in rugged Jackson Hole, Wyoming, isn't her dream job. But if there's one perk to coming back, it's a certain sexy hometown boy who knows how to make a girl feel welcome. 

Cowboy Walker Pearce never expected a grown-up Charlie to be temptation in tight jeans. She's smart and successful-way out of league for a man like him. But he's not about to let that, or his secrets, get in the way of their blazing-hot attraction. Yet when passion turns to something more, will the truth-about both of them-send her out of his life for good...or into his arms forever?

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Reviewed by: Monica