Review: Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh

Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh

Series: Psy-Changling #1

Publication date: September 5th, 2006

Pages:

Synopsis (according to Goodreads):

Dive into a world torn apart by a powerful race with phenomenal powers of the mind--and none of the heart...

In a world that denies emotions, where the ruling Psy punish any sign of desire, Sascha Duncan must conceal the feelings that brand her as flawed. To reveal them would be to sentence herself to the horror of "rehabilitation"--the complete psychic erasure of everything she ever was...

Both human and animal, Lucas Hunter is a Changeling hungry for the very sensations the Psy disdain. After centuries of uneasy co-existence, these two races are now on the verge of war over the brutal murders of several Changeling women. Lucas is determined to find the Psy killer who butchered his packmate, and Sascha is his ticket into their closely guarded society. But he soon discovers that this ice-cold Psy is very capable of passion--and that the animal in him is fascinated by her. Caught between their conflicting worlds, Lucas and Sascha must remain bound to their identities--or sacrifice everything for a taste of darkest temptation...

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review:

I bought this book from my local used bookstore for Books, Food, Friends (B.F.F.'s) Book Club.

When our book club was trying to decide what book to read next, Nalini Singh's name came up quit a bit. It seems that almost everyone in the group had read something but her and had fallen in love with the worlds she has created. It was an obvious no-brainer from that point forth. I was curious how a race of non-feeling robotic psychics could ever find any sort of common ground with shifters, or changelings as this world calls them. How could one forge a loving relationship with an inability to feel. I was anxious to see how this all played out...

Sascha Duncan is flawed. She's different and that difference is something that must be hidden every moment of her life. Thoroughly skilled at shielding her defects, Sascha continues her daily routine working for the Duncan family. It is she who is chosen to work closely with the leopard changelings in a business venture to create changeling houses to be sold for an obscene profit. Sascha only has one problem and it comes int he form of the devastatingly handsome, Lucas Hunter.

Lucas has goals. He is not only determined to work efficiently in his business with the Duncan corporation, but also to weasel his way into finding out who the Psy murderer is who has been taking changeling women and murdering them heartlessly. Lucas knows that the only way to find out who is behind the gruesome murders is to get in bed with the enemy... possibly even literally. Lucas sees Sascha as an opportunity to find a killer at large and exact revenge. But there is also some sort of draw his animal side cannot ignore. Sascha makes the black panther beneath his skin purr and growl for more, but he can't understand why. What is it about this supposed robot of a woman that makes him feel more than ever before.

While Sascha battles her overwhelming attraction to Lucas, he nurtures it. Both are risking their hearts and lives as they try to understand the differences in their races and the love that is starting to bloom between two unlikely lovers.

I now fully understand why so many people are in love with Nalini Singh's writing. She is eloquent with her wording, her romance flows, and the obstacles put before her protagonists are believable. Sascha completely pulled at my heartstrings. She so desperately wanted to belong... to anyone really. She was always told she was a disappointment and an outsider. To watch her finally find a home with the help of Lucas made my stomach flip-flop in joy. Everyone feels like an outsider at times and finally finding a place that simply fits who you are is monumental. It is fascinating that the author took such a prevalent social dynamic and twisted it to fit a paranormal world.

Slave to Sensation is the extravagant introduction to a world here cold calculation and passionate loyalty coexist and come together in hot sex appeal and everlasting love.

Review: Jase by M.J. Fields

Jase by M.J. Fields

Series: Men of Steel #1

Publication date: July 13th, 2013

Pages:

Synopsis (according to Goodreads):

I sat in my room at our family's tattoo parlor, Forever Steel staring at the phone. I hadn't stopped looking at the picture of this crazy, quirky, insanely beautiful blonde haired, blue eyed siren that invaded the Jersey Shore a month ago.

Carly Smythe was not my type at all. She was a twenty year old student at Stanford University in California, smart as hell, and funny. The shit kicker was she was so awkwardly unaware of what any man with pulse could see, and that was that she was a damn heartbreaker with a body that made me hard the very first time I saw her.

She made me crazy, she snuck out to see me, and then avoided any sexual advances I made on her, until I finally kissed her, and I didn't wait for an invitation either: I took those pouty little lips and made them mine.

Carly was also an avid reader of those books, you know "Mommy Porn." So my game had to be stepped up. Who the hell am I kidding? She could see through my game immediately, and it didn't have the same effect it did on every other girl I hooked up with. And she didn't go running for the hills, either. I fell hard... and fast.

Abe (her cousin) knew all the shit that had gone down in my life for the past five and a half years and in order to make this work, which I wanted it to... I needed to set the record straight, put it all on the line, give her the 411, and let her decide if after everything, she still wanted to give it up to a guy like me. A tattooed, pierced, f-up, with a past that was sure to send any girl into a tail spin. She was not any girl, she was... different.

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Review:

I received an e-copy of this book from publishers in exchange for an honest review.

What immediately drew me to this book was the cover. The bright blue text with a sexy tattooed man on the front. I had just fallen into a book hangover from the Marked Men series written by Jay Crownover and was looking for another new adult series that was reminiscent of the books that had stolen my heart. I figured I would give Jase a try. That coupled with the fact that I got to experience a new author for the first time. Always a bonus in my book.

Jase opens with Carly, a nineteen-year-old college student who is visiting her father over summer break in New Jersey. While bumming around town with her cousin, Abe, she gets dragged to a couple beach parties. There she meets a dimpled sex god of a man, Jase. Despite her better judgment Carly starts hanging out with Jase. As she gets to know more and more about him she starts to develop feelings for him without even realizing it as first. It is only after Jase gets wind that Carly is turning their fun "fake dates" into possibly more in her mind, that he tries to sever ties. Not long after that, he realizes what a stupid mistake that is and runs back to Carly Carly tries to resist, knowing that she is going back to college and her mother soon. She knows having a long distance relationship of any kind with a playboy like Jase Steel is nothing but a pipe dream. Irregardless, she can't seem to keep distance between her and the illustrious Jase.

So starts a whirlwind romance that features a damaged boy just looking to no longer be deemed the loser of Jersey Shore and a naive girl who has no clue what love and heartache are until she is beaten over the head with them.

This book was kind of all over the place. The writing was almost immature at times (what with the use of "who-who" in the place of other, more well used terms for female genitalia), but after completing the book, I realized that was just Fields's way of emphasizing the innocence of Carly. It was a little hard to get through the first little bit of the book because Carly was almost child-like in a lot of her mannerisms. It made the sexual tension a bit uncomfortable.

This is not to say that there were not redeeming qualities of the book. I did like the switching perspectives. Often stories are a bit one-sided, especially when written in first person narrative. Both characters were pretty introverted about certain situations so it was nice to gain a little insight each way. Unfortunately, that is probably the only thing I liked about the book sad as it is to say.

Really this book was just not my cup of tea. I can see where the author was going with certain aspects of her writing, but I just couldn't find any sort of connection with the characters. I didn't feel drawn into the story and when that happens it makes reading become more of a chore. I really wanted to like the book but sadly it was a swing and a miss for me personally.

Review: Hard As It Gets by Laura Kaye

Hard as It Gets by Laura Kaye

Series: Hard Ink #1

Publication date: November 26th, 2013

Pages: 368

Synopsis (according to Goodreads):

Tall, dark, and lethal...

Trouble just walked into Nicholas Rixey's tattoo parlor. Becca Merritt is warm, sexy, wholesome--pure temptation to a very jaded Nick. He's left his military life behind to become co-owner of Hard Ink Tattoo, but Becca is his ex-commander's daughter. Loyalty won't let him turn her away. Lust has plenty to do with it too.

With her brother presumed kidnapped, Becca needs Nick. She just wasn't expecting to want him so much. As their investigation turns into all-out war with an organized crime ring, only Nick can protect her. And only Becca can heal the scars no one else sees.

Desire is the easy part. Love is as hard as it gets. Good thing Nick is always up for a challenge...

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Review:

I purchased the book on a whim from Barnes & Noble as I was on my way to the checkout. I had heard a few good things about the book, but was curious to branch out of the paranormal genre and start reading a bit more romantic suspense or contemporary. This fit both of those genres and featured one of my favorite subject matters. Tattooed men. I hadn't sat down to read the book until I was presented with an opportunity to read the second book in the series for a book blitz. Of course, I had to read the first one before the second. It was not time ill spent.

Nick was still reeling from his less than stellar dismissal from the military and the loss of some of his military brothers in an ambush in Afghanistan. He also has not let go of the anger and betrayal that his commanding officer had unleashed on him and his team. So when the ghost from his past's daughter comes to his place of business at Hard Ink Tattoo, Nick's immediate reaction is to send her away. And he does so, but he can't shake the draw he felt for the blonde haired, blue eyed beauty nor could he shake the gut reaction that helping her could ultimately change his life for the better.

Becca did not know why her missing brother's last message had told her to seek out Nick Rixey, her father's second in command, but a part of her was glad. Nick was a whole lot of yummy and despite his no nonsense persona, she could see that he was a war-hardened hero capable of finding and returning her brother to her safety. Reluctantly, Nick comes around to helping her and so starts a very confusing hunt for her computer savvy hacker brother.

Along the way, the couple learns that Becca's brother, Charlie's, disappearance may have something to do with the situation with their father that ruined Nick and his surviving teammate's lives. Now, not only is it vital to find Charlie for Becca's sake but also to find out what Charlie may know about possibly clearing Nick and his teammates' names. Add to that a budding romance between the spawn of the man Nick hates with every fiber of his being and the wounded soldier Becca only knows as someone her father trusted and you have the makings for a world of mystery, intrigue, and hot, hot romance.

Hard As It Gets was even more "suspense-y" than I first thought it would be. I normally gravitate towards fluff pieces in contemporary that features only a very minute dramatic situation and absolutely zero conspiracy theories. This one was not that. This was more action-packed than I would have imagined or liked, but surprisingly, it worked for me. I loved Nick and Becca and their connection to each other. I liked the fact the book featured not only tattooed men but military men. Be still my heart. To my overwhelming amazement, I actually liked the cliffhanger the book left off on. I usually loathe cliffhangers.

To sum it up, Hard As It Gets is a thrilling ride of hot men, thought provoking mystery, predominant intrigue, and sexy romance all rolled into a 368-page work of art worthy of Hard Ink Tattoo.

Review: Be With Me by J. Lynn

Be With Me by J. Lynn

Series: Wait For You #2

Publication date: February 4th, 2014

Pages: 365

Synopsis (according to Goodreads):

Teresa Hamilton is having a rough year--she's in love with her big brother's best friend, but he hasn't spoken to her since they shared a truly amazing, mind-blowing, change-your-life kiss. She got out of a terrible relationship. And now an injury is threatening to end her dance career for good. It's time for Plan B--college. And maybe a chance to convince Jase that what they have together is real.

Jase Winstead has a huge secret that he's not telling anyone. Especially not his best friend's incredibly beautiful sister. Even though he and Teresa shared the hottest kiss of his life, he knows that his responsibilities must take priority. He certainly doesn't have time for a relationship. But it doesn't help that all he can think about kissing the one girl who could ruin everything for him.

As they're thrown together more and more, Jase and Tess can't keep denying their feelings for each other. But a familiar danger looms and tragedy strikes. As the campus recovers, the star-crossed couple must decide what they're willing to risk to be together, and what they're willing to lose if they're not...

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Review:

I received an ARC of this book from the publishers for participation in a blog tour and in exchange for an honest review.

I read Wait For You, the first installment in this series, and fell in love with the characters. I am not ashamed to admit that most of the reason I wanted to read this book was to see what happened to Cam and Avery from the first book. I hadn't really known much about Jase and Teresa from the first book, so I was just so-so about reading about them. I was hoping I would come to like them as much as I did the first set of characters.

Teresa has suffered an injury to her knee that has forced her into a break from professional dancing. Struggling to find something to do with her time and keep her mind active, she decides to return to college. But not just any college. The college her brother and his sinfully sexy best friend, Jase, attends. She has had a crush on Jase for years and after a surprising kiss a year ago she is hoping for a chance to explore that avenue. But Jase seems put off by the fact that she is Cam's sister, so she must continue to nurse her crush in silence. That all changes when the more time they spend together, the more apparent their attraction for each other shows through. Teresa knows that Jase has some sort of baggage but isn't sure what it is or how she can possibly get beyond his built-up walls to possibly find love with him.

Teresa is still dealing with the aftermath of surviving an abusive relationship. She has come through it relatively unscathed. She doesn't blame herself for her ex's vicious behavior, but she does feel a monumental amount of guilt for her situation dragging her brother into the middle and almost ruining his life. As she starts to notice telling signs of her roommate suffering the same type of relationship she had with her ex, Teresa struggles with her decision to speak up or stay silent. With the sociopathic air that surrounds her roommate's boyfriend, speaking up may just get Teresa into an even tougher situation than ever before.

I have a major book author crush on J. Lynn (aka Jennifer L. Armentrout). I love everything she writes. I read Wait For You and absolutely adored it. I was anxious to see what happened next. This book, while not as astonishingly breathtaking as the first one was just as well written and engaging. I loved Teresa's character. She was so incredibly strong and went through so much that I couldn't even imagine having to deal with. She was the type of woman I would admire in reality and found myself almost worshiping with every page turn.

Jase on the other hand, was a bit too hot and cold for me. I know that if he was just gung-ho for their relationship from start to finish it wouldn't make the book heartbreaking (as all New Adult books seem to be), but his constant "you deserve better" and "you don't want to be involved with me and all my baggage" stuff was a bit annoying. I just wanted to shake him and tell him to stop wussing out. It was a vast difference from Cam and Avery where Cam was the one determined to see the relationship through and Avery was the one running away at every turn.

All in all, I did enjoy, Be With Me. I think it was fundamentally next step in the cast for the sequel. I have to wonder who the next book will feature. Ollie, maybe?