Review: Common Ground by Lex Valentine

Title: Common Ground
Author: Lex Valentine
Series: Tales of the Darkworld #5
Published: July 8, 2010
Publisher: Pink Petal Books
Source: Publisher
Format: Kindle
Genre: Paranormal
Characters: Sair McCallan, Marius Granville, Keir Randall, Weyln Randall
My Rating:

Heat Level: 5/5
Synopsis:

Werewolf Sair McCallan escapes the confines of her brother’s pack with the help of a mated werewolf couple who believe in open sexuality and relationships. With Weylyn and Keir Randall, Sair experiences freedom in all things for the first time in her life. When she meets her mate, she’s shocked to find he’s a boring, broody vampire. Uptight Marius Granville has his staid and orderly life completely shattered by the arrival of his bloodmate, a beautiful werewolf who steals his heart and expects him to join in her kinky play with the Randalls. Marius is forced out of his hum drum existence and opens himself to new sexual experiences to please Sair. As her new mate strives to give her everything she needs, Sair battles internal demons that threaten their fragile new relationship.

Sair McCallan flees her homeland with the aid of Weylyn and Keir Randall and moves to sunny California. In the California, she meets her sexy, although uptight mate, Marius Granville. While Sair is somewhat a free-spirit, she doesn't think a relationship with uptight Marius will work out.

Marius is immediately attracted to the young woman who frequents his family’s cemetery, who unbeknownst to him is his mate. He’s never had such a strong pull to a woman like this before and doesn’t quite understand it. He leads a mundane unhappy life and feels that a mate just isn’t in the cards for him.

Weylyn and Keir are an integral part of Marius and Sair’s relationship. They are not just responsible for the two of them meeting, but also helping them open up sexually. When Sair and Marius get together sexually, they are extremely hot. And when all four of them get together, they set the pages on fire.

Marius and his concerns about his relationship with Sair, without the Randall’s, were very valid and well executed. I found myself having those same concerns he was having about Sair. She wasn’t always forthcoming with him and tended to shut him out at times.

Overall it was a good read. Although, I did feel that it ended somewhat abruptly. The epilogue sets you up for the next book in the series. This book is a part of a series, but can be read as a stand-alone.

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Waiting on Wednesday: Volume 1 Issue 20

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine. It is showcases upcoming releases of books that I'm looking forward to. It is somewhat similar to one of my previous posts, Anxiously Awaiting.

Title: No Place to Run

Author: Maya Banks
Release Date: December 7, 2010

Sam Kelly was her first love.

The last person Sam Kelly expected to save was Sophie Lundgren. Once they shared a brief, intense affair while Sam was undercover and then she vanished. She's spent the last few months on the run, knowing that any mistake would cost her both her life and that of their unborn child. Now she's resurfaced with a warning for Sam: this time, he's the one in danger.

Now he's her last chance.

Sam has too many questions to let her slip away again—like why she disappeared in the first place. This time he vows not to be seduced. But one look in her eyes, and the passion burns again, and Sam knows he’ll do anything to keep her and his child safe. However, Sophie’s dark past is more dangerous than he imagines, and the only way for either to survive it is to outrun it.

Teaser Tuesday: Sugar Creek by Toni Blake

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB @ Should Be Reading. To participate, all you have to do is the following:

• Grab your current/upcoming read
• Open to a random page
• Share 2-3 "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• Be careful not to include spoilers! (You do not want to ruin the book for others.)
• Share the title & author so that others who enjoy your "teaser" may add the book to their TBL pile.

"I just remembered something I need to tell you. Something that might yank you right out of nice mode, quicker than orchard talk"

Rachel let out a weary sigh. "Oh brother. What is it, Romo?"

"We forgot to use a condom earlier."

Oops. She bit her lip, then murmured, "I knew something had felt extra good about that."

page 198; Sugar Creek by Toni Blake

Review: Love Under Siege by Samantha Kane

Title: Love Under Siege
Author: Samantha Kane
Series: Brothers in Arms, #2
Published: November 8, 2006
Publisher: Ellora's Cave
Source: Personal Library
Format: Kindle
Genre: Erotica, Historical, LGBT
Characters: Maggie Trueheart, Phillip Neville, Jonathan Overton
My Rating:

Heat Level: 5/5
Synopsis:

Phillip Neville and Jonathan Overton have been best friends since childhood. When they return to England as veterans of the Napoleonic Wars, they enter the marriage market. It doesn't take long for them both to fall deeply in love with shy, awkward, beautiful Maggie Trueheart. Phillip and Maggie marry, but Phillip and Jonathan do not tell her about the menage a trois marriage the two men hope to have. When Maggie finds out, it takes the persuasive power of both men to convince her that this threesome was meant to be.

In the process of helping Maggie discover the sexually aggressive woman inside herself, Phillip and Jonathan realize their love for one another is more than friendship. Before the two men can consummate their relationship, however, a brutal attack on Maggie and Jonathan's self-recriminations drive the lovers apart. It will take all the love and determination the three possess to achieve their happily ever after.

"I've gone about it all wrong," Phillip Neville said in frustration as he ran his hand roughly through his burnished blond hair.

Phillip and Maggie have been living as husband and wife for a few short months before Jonathan arrives to live with them. Before Maggie and Phillip wed, she was unsure of which of the two men were courting her. Unbeknownst to Maggie, they both were.

What I really enjoyed about this book was the fact that Maggie was hesitant to become involved in a menage relationship. She needs time to really think about it and the repercussions that the relationship could cause. In other menage stories, you don't tend to find that. Everyone involved tends to fall into a menage relationship as if it's a normal everyday occurrence.

The sex between these three was extremely hot. Although Phillip and Jonathan did not start out being intimate with each other, you could tell that they wanted to be. The author did a really great job expressing their sexual tension. The flow of the story was good, but it just didn't seem to hold my focus.

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In My Mailbox: Volume 1 Issue 23

In My Mailbox (IMM) is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren. Every week I'll post what books I've received either by mailbox/library/store.

I'll try to post an entry of IMM every Sunday that I receive books by mail of that week.

Listed below are the books I received this week.

Books via Half Price Books

Hot Finish by Erin McCarthy

Corralled by Lorelei James

Books via Borders

The Darkest Lie by Gena Showalter

The Darkest Hour by Maya Banks

Books via Wal-Mart

Midnight Crystal by Jayne Castle

Books via Star Book Tours

Halo by Alexandra Adornetto

18 & Over Tag-Along: September 24-26, 2010

A new tag-along for the adult crowd!! It's being hosted by Laurie @ Bitten by Paranormal Romance.

Here's the Rules

This is a tag along for a specific group. In order to do tag along you have to primarily have a book blog that reviews and post adult content. In other words, if you read books like erotic and adult romance and have adult pic., then you can play tag along. Sorry YA readers, but if you read both (I know some of you do) you can tag along also. Just make sure you have both YA and adult romance on your blog.

Review: Seducing the Sheik by Carol Lynne

Title: Seducing the Sheik
Author: Carol Lynne
Series: Bodyguards in Love #5
Published: July 12, 2010
Publisher: Total-E-Bound
Source: Publisher
Format: Kindle
Genre: LGBT
Characters: Gavin Burk, Ali Zahar
My Rating:

Heat Level: 2/5
Synopsis:

It's a daily battle for Prince Ali Zahar to hold power of Jurru. After two men from Three Partner's Protection are injured while guarding him, there's only one man left who will take on the challenge, Gavin Burk.

With no friends or family, Gavin lives his life volunteering for dangerous missions. He's learned not to get close to anyone and as a result leads a very solitary life, but the passion stirred by Prince Zahar threatens the control Gavin has worked so hard to maintain.

Before Gavin has a chance to come to terms with his desires, he and the prince are forced to take shelter alone, in a hidden fortress, deep in the desert. There, Gavin's control is tested and fails. Life will never be the same for the ruler and his bodyguard.

Browning Automatic Rifle in hand, Gavin Burk slowed his breathing.

Gavin Burk has been living as a recluse in the Alaskan mountains until his friend and Three Partners operative, Jack, comes to ask a favor of him. There has been an attempt made on the life of the Sheik of Jerru and Gavin is the only man who can save him. He immediately heads out to the island of Jerru and is instantly attracted to Sheik Ali upon seeing him smile. But Gavin is there to do a job, and that is to protect Ali not to become involved with him. He has to keep his mind on saving Ali's life, not on ways to convince Ali to become a part of his.

Ali and Gavin's relationship progresses rather quickly. Within a day or two of meeting each other, they had already become intimate with one another. They both discover they are in love with one another very early on, but neither of them discloses this information to the other. I didn’t really find there was any time for a true connection to form between Ali and Gavin, due to the relationship happening so quickly.

Seducing the Sheik, is lighter on the sex and heavier on the action compared to the previous books in this series. Although that is to be expected, since it is indeed a series about bodyguards, but it did lack some of the "in love" that is also a part of the series.

Overall it was just a good read. I got to peek in on some of the characters from the previous books in the series, which is always a plus. It provided lots of detail of the island of Jerru and the mountains of Alaska. But what it didn't provide a lot of was steam.

Waiting on Wednesday: Volume 1 Issue 19

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine. It is showcases upcoming releases of books that I'm looking forward to. It is somewhat similar to one of my previous posts, Anxiously Awaiting.

Title: Call Me Irresistible

Author: Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Release Date: January 18, 2011

Lucy Jorik is the daughter of the former President of the United States.

Meg Koranda is the offspring of legends.

One of them is about to marry Mr. Irresistible—Ted Beaudine, the favorite son of Wynette, Texas. The other is not happy about it and is determined to save her friend from a mess of heartache.

But even though Meg knows breaking up her best friend’s wedding is the right thing to do, no one else seems to agree. Faster than Lucy can say, “I don’t,” Meg becomes the most hated woman in town. A town where she’s stuck with a dead car, an empty wallet, and a very angry bridegroom. Broke, stranded, and without her famous parents at her back, Meg is sure she can survive on her own wits. What’s the worst that can happen? Lose her heart to the one and only Mr. Irresistible? Not likely. Not likely at all ...

Call Me Irresistible is the book Susan Elizabeth Phillips' readers have long awaited. Ted, better known as “little Teddy,” the nine-year-old heartbreak kid from Phillips’ first bestseller, Fancy Pants, and as “young Teddy,” the hunky new college graduate in Lady Be Good, is all grown up now—along with Lucy from First Lady and Meg from Glitter Baby—and ready to take center stage in an addictive tale fans are sure to love.

Teaser Tuesday: Mad, Bad, and Blonde by Cathie Linz

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB @ Should Be Reading. To participate, all you have to do is the following:

• Grab your current/upcoming read

• Open to a random page
• Share 2-3 "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• Be careful not to include spoilers! (You do not want to ruin the book for others.)
• Share the title & author so that others who enjoy your "teaser" may add the book to their TBL pile.

Sure, she'd refused to have sex in his car, but what did that really prove? That she still had some remnants of common sense and self-discipline left? So what?

page 209; Mad, Bad and Blonde by Cathie Linz

Review: The Spy Who Saved Christmas by Dana Marton

Title: The Spy Who Saved Christmas
Author: Dana Marton
Published: October 12, 2010
Publisher: Harlequin
Source: Publisher
Format: Kindle
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Characters: Lara Jordan, Reid Graham
My Rating:

Heat Level: 2/5
Synopsis:

Single mom Lara Jordan is shocked when her first love comes back from the dead. Then bullets fly, and her sons are kidnapped. She’ll do anything to get them back by Christmas – even if it means working with the man who betrayed her, the supposedly dead father of her children.

Undercover agent Reid Graham’s impossible mission just became tougher. For the first time, he has something to lose: the twin sons he never met, and the only woman he’ll never forget.

His hands were stained and rough-skinned.

Lara Jordan, a single mother of twins, finally agrees to a date with a nice, although boring, man after the death of her first love two years prior. While out on this date she comes face to face with the man she believed was dead, Reid, who just so happens to be the father of her two year old twin boys. Over the course of the night things go from bad to worse when their twins are kidnapped. From that point forward, Lara and Reid are on a mission to save the twins.

The Spy Who Saved Christmas is a fast-paced, action packed romance. There didn't seem to be a single second when there wasn't some sort of action going on. This is not one of those so-called romantic suspense's where the action seems like it's an afterthought. The action in this book stayed front and center.

Reid is your tortured romantic lead who doesn't believe he's deserving of love or a family because of things in his past. Lara is your strong devoted single mother who will do whatever it takes to get her sons back. I felt that neither of them ever stopping loving the other, although neither would admit to it. What I really enjoyed about this story was the fact that it kept you turning the pages just to see what would happen next. I liked Lara and Reid together, although I didn't always agree with some of the stunts Lara pulled in trying to get her sons back. I still feel that they were well written characters. Even one of the secondary characters, Cade, was so well written that I found myself wanting to know more about him and his story.

Overall it's a good well-paced suspense just in time for the holidays.

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In My Mailbox: Volume 1 Issue 22

In My Mailbox (IMM) is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren. Every week I'll post what books I've received either by mailbox/library/store.

I'll try to post an entry of IMM every Sunday that I receive books by mail of that week.

Listed below are the books I received this week.

Books via Public Library

Strange Neighbors by Ashlyn Chase

Sugar Creek by Toni Blake

Mad, Bad, and Blonde by Cathie Linz

Dark Peril by Christine Feehan

Beautiful Malice by Rebecca James

Carnal Sin by Allison Brennan

Orchard Valley Brides by Debbie Macomber

Books via Half Price Books

I Love This Bar by Carolyn Brown

My Deepest Love: Zack by Marie Rochelle

Knock Me for a Loop by Heidi Betts

Running Wild by Sarah McCarty

Wild Instinct by Sarah McCarty

Books via Harlequin Ambassadors

Her Best Friend by Sarah Mayberry