Empire by Lili St. Germain

Empire by Lili St. Germain

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Writing: ★★★★★
Story: ★★★★★
Characters: ★★★★★

Overall rating: 5.0


OMG! What a ride! Lili hits another one out of the park!

5 star series start to finish!

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Big Sky by Kitty Thomas

Big Sky by Kitty Thomas

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Writing: ★★★★
Story: ★★★★
Characters: ★★★★

Overall rating: 4.0

****Holy (Hu)COW, Cowboy!****

   

Veronica "Ronnie" has a good life... on the outside. She's an advertising executive with a 6 figure salary, living in a beautiful penthouse. But her love of spending soon causes a downward spiral into debt, falling from a penthouse with a view to a small dingy apartment with the view of a brick wall, to living on the streets, and no job.

   

"Give me one week, Ronnie. One week without resistance, doing anything I ask without question or begging or name calling and yelling. One week without fighting me. You might be surprised by how kind I can be, but my favor must be earned."

Luke, a rich ranch owner, watches her though this downward spiral, and feels it's his job to "save" her. By "save her" I mean he kidnaps her and takes her home to his ranch, and enslaves her. It's how she has to pay for this "kindness" that makes this story.

 "You will be her. Or else. You'll make me forget you aren't her. I'm not going back to before I found you. You will love me and obey me and submit to me, and you'll do it with that look of adoration Trish used to give me or I'll never stop making you regret wearing her face."

Luke is obsessed with his past love, Trish, and poor Ronnie is Trish's doppelganger. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, it puts Ronnie right in line to be Luke's next obsession. Arriving at the Ranch Ronnie finds that she is to cook, clean, take care of the outside animals... and give Luke anything he wants. Oh and let's not forget the ranch hands, Robert, Jake, and Will... and Will's wife, Frieda, who Luke decides that Ronnie will pleasure whenever he decides also.

     

Ronnie fights the first few days, until she's branded, strapped to a St. Andrew's Cross, and nearly drowned by Luke, followed by Ronnie's near acceptance of it all. I felt at this point things moved REALLY too fast! She went from being taken against her will to craving him bangin' her like a screen door in a hurricane within a few days.

         

However, things did finally move on, and the whole Hucow/lactation fetish plot line turned out to be pretty hot! I *totally* didn't expect it! And *throwing up my freak flag* I totally enjoyed it!

I really enjoy Kitty Thomas's books and her descriptions of all the wonderfully twisted events throughout this book really did seem to tell a story that I could picture in my head. This story really grew on me. It wasn't a book that I probably would have chosen to read on my own, but was picked for me in a challenge. And I'm really glad it was!

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Tank by Carmen Jenner

Tank by Carmen Jenner

Writing: ★★★★★
Story: ★★★★★
Characters: ★★★★★

Overall rating: 5.0

*****5 "I love you enough to put you on the back of my bike and keep you there for good." Stars*****

Okay. Just. Wow. What a wild ride! I have to say that from book 1, Kick, to this book, the author's writing style grew by leaps and bounds. This book kept me on the edge of my seat, gripping my Kindle, and more than once whispering, "nooooo...!"

"I want her submission. I want her heart. I want her to look at me and not wish I were someone else. More than anything though, I want to rid her of the belief that to love is to hurt to feel pleasure is to hurt."

Tank - a.k.a. Death, a.k.a. Jonah Whitecross, he's not your typical biker that you read about in most MC books. Even though he's a killer, and has no qualms about it. He can be demanding, overbearing, a complete "arsehole" at times... but he can also be gentle, caring, and loving, much to Ivy's surprise and dismay.

Ivy - club whore, junkie, lost girl... victim. And she wants nothing to do with that caring and loving side of Tank. Ivy needs to be abused to "feel"... well anything. She doesn't do "pleasure".

Tank is going to try and show her just how wrong she is on that front. And he does it damn well, too!

Tank has been in love with Ivy since he first met her, but Ivy's not in love with Tank, far from it, and to make matter's worse, he's taken her to his cabin and "held her prisoner"... her words, not his. He's taken her away from the club, away from Kick, and away from any way to get her drugs. He wants to help her get clean and she doesn't want any part of Tank's help.

But she's going to get it, whether she likes it or not!

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Snuffed: Part One by Bonnie Capps

Writing: ★★★★★

Story: ★★★★★

Characters: ★★★★

Overall rating: 4.6

*****5 "Fuckin' Awesome" Stars!*****

"WARNING: This book is not just dark - it’s horrific, depraved and disturbing. If you do not enjoy books containing blood, guts, taboo and more – this book is not for you."

Best thing to do is to believe every word of that warning! But if that warning just makes your spine tingle with anticipation, like it did mine, and you love "Dark taboo", and I do mean dark taboo, then run, don't walk, and Get. This. Book.

We are two beings seemingly attempting to fit into a mold in which we do not belong. His being normalcy and mine being the deadly world that I have no business being a part of.
--Sophia

After reading [book:Snuff|28416348], I could hardly wait for this one to come out! I was like a kid at Christmas.. a very dark and depraved Christmas.. when I woke up to this on my Kindle! I devoured it in one sitting. Couldn't put it down, couldn't look away, no matter how much my mind screamed that I should.

Snuffed: Part One picks up where Snuff leaves off with Sofia and baby Eve right back "home" with Dimitri. Sofia has been there done that, so she knows what to expect when she sees Dimitri, but she also knows that this time is going to be much, much worse.

I am to never question or deny him. I am to dress as he wants me to dress, eat how he wants me to eat, say what he wants me to say, seduce who he wants me to seduce, torment who he wants me to orment ... and kill who he wants me to kill.
--Sophia

I can't go into too much detail in this review, as I don't want to spoil even a second of this book.

As a lover of Dark Taboo, this one ranks right up there at the very tip top in "fucked-uped-ness"! Can't wait to read the next book, due out this fall, and it can't come a second too soon!

First Touch by Laurelin Paige

First Touch by Laurelin Paige

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Writing: ★★★★
Story: ★★★★
Characters: ★★★★★

Overall rating: 4.3

****4 Touch Me Stars!****

I'd Set out to capture him and instead he'd captured me. I couldn't fight it. It was done.

I've had this book on my TBR Shelf for quite some time now. Kept meaning to read it, but just never got to it. Then it came up for one of my challenges on my group, and watching my friends comments, I knew I had to read it. And so I did.

This book was a slow start for me. There was so many characters being introduced, so many background stories being introduced, that it was, at first, hard for me to get into the meat of the story.

But then it happened, that magical moment when a book turns the corner. When it goes from a "meh-fest" to an adrenaline rush. I was wide awake and taking notice.

Reeve and Emily... I had a love/hate relationship with them both. But when they came together (yes, that's a double entendre), it was pretty hot! And explosive! (another double entendre).

When Emily thought to herself, "the dominating bad boy type was my weakness", I could totally get behind that... and it was the turn around for me with Reeve. He was the "bad boy", and he became my "weakness" pretty damn quick!

The scene in the barn... read the book, you'll totally get it... was probably one of my favorite erotic scenes *ever* in a book! Sex scenes, sometimes I feel they are just thrown into a book for the sake of sex. I know that in order for a book to be in a certain genre (erotica in this case), that it has to have... well... sex! in it. And often. But most of the sex in this book was well placed, it made sense, the timing was perfect, and it was hot!

I enjoyed this book and will continue on to Last Kiss.

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Dark Notes by Pam Godwin

Dark Notes by Pam Godwin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Writing: ★★★★★
Story: ★★★★★
Characters: ★★★★

Overall rating: 5.0

  ****5 "Wild and frantic crescendo" Stars****

Oh the emotions this book wrung out of me! It grabbed me in the first few pages and didn't turn me loose until it had completely drained me.

 

I wanted to turn away... Ivory is only 17, and her *teacher* is 10 years her senior. I wanted to be appalled... but it was written so well, and it was mentioned that 17 was the "age of consent", and Ivory isn't your everyday 17 year old. I found her to be so much older, she'd seen so much, been through so much, and lost so much.

So I settled in and enjoyed the ride and Pam Godwin didn't disappoint. She wrote this book with the perfect elements of BDSM, erotica, and (lightly) dark, and dark erotica is one of my favorite genres.

Ivory

 

    "She's a dark portrait of soft curves and chestnut hair with deep golden skin that seems to absorb shadows in the room..."
 
Ivory lost her dad a few years earlier, she was very close to him and with his death came physical abuse from her drugged up brother, her brother's best friend, Lorenzo, (who is a real douchebag, by the way), rapes and sodomizes her, and her mother neglects her chasing her next high. At school she's the "odd girl out"... the girls don't like her, they look at her like she's white trash because of where she comes from, and the boys only want one thing from her.

She tutors... actually she *does* homework for some of the boys... and they take her body for the privilege... and then pay her. Don't be quick to judge though, it's the only way she can "keep the lights on" at home, buy food for her cat, and maybe a little food for herself. She has one friend, Stogie, who owns a run down music store where he lets her work in the summer time for a little money and allows her to practice her piano each night. In turn Ivory cares for him the best way she can.

Even though Ivory and her family are quite poor, her father sacrificed everything before he died to make sure she got into the prestigious and expensive, Le Moyne, a preforming arts high school.

It's there, walking in late to her class on the first day of her senior year that she finds that her beloved teacher has been removed and the devil stands in her place.

Emeric Marceaux

 

    "In the depraved innards of my soul, I thrill at being the thing she fears. I want to claim her apprehension, dread, and uncertainty. I want to take ownership of all of her emotions and be the sole reason she trembles and cries."

Mr. Marceaux is to be not only Ivory's new music teacher, be her private tutor in classical piano. Ivory wants to go to Leopold, but that isn't really why he's there.

His Dominant side is immediately drawn to Ivory, he must possess her, no matter the risks to himself, but he is concerned with the risks to her and her future if he makes a mistake.

Emeric has three rules for Ivory. "Don't question me. Don't lie to me. And never look away from me."

And she won't. She may... "omit" a few things, but that's okay, right?

Emeric & Ivory

 

    "All my disgusting secrets have finally caught up with me. But for the first time in my life, I don't have to face them alone."

Together Emeric and Ivory are a symphony of sexual heat, lust, desire, discipline, caring, trust, want and need, that practically burned right through my Kindle. This author writes a story about 2 people, and intertwines some of the most beautiful sex around them. The sexual scenes in this book are perfectly placed, realistic, and damn hot!

 

    "This brutal man is my home. His hell is my heaven. I'm his Ivory, and he's my darkest note."

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Taint by Tara Dawn

TAINT by Tara Dawn

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Writing: ★★★★★
Story: ★★★★★
Characters: ★★★★★

Overall rating: 5.0


*I was given this book as an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

*****5 "I want more!" Stars*****

This book picks up where Cash, Hazel, Phil, Cady, and Erick left off in Snap. And Author, Tara Dawn, wastes no time getting right to it!

"Phil doesn't deserve a quick death. He deserves what he's done to everyone else and more."

Hazel ends up back in the clutches of Phil.. and one thing about Phil, he lives up to his reputation of being over the top batshit crazy! His form of "love" is some of the most fucked up I've seen. He's not happy unless he is bringing Hazel to the brink of death. He wants to break her body as well as her mind, to completely control her. But, most of all, he wants to keep her away from Cash.

Cash will do anything to get her back. Whatever it takes. I love this character, He's strong, alpha, and isn't afraid to show a little vulnerability. He and Hazel are soulmates that keep getting ripped apart by the most tragic of circumstances.

Cash has told Hazel the worst thing about himself, and even though she's angry, she can't deny that she loves, and craves, him.

There are a lot of characters in this series to keep up with. But each are well placed and have a purpose in the story. I haven't found a single one that made me think, "Hmmm, what's the point?" It's like a finely choreographed chess game with all the pieces moving in sync for a common goal. To get Cash and Hazel back to each other, where they belong.

Taint, like Snap, is dark. I love dark. I crave dark. And Author, Tara Dawn, feeds my craving. She took me, as a reader, right into the book. I felt like I was standing there in the same room with these characters, feeling the pain of loss, and hoping for survival.

It's hard to say much about the story line in this book without giving away any major spoilers.

I want book three. I want it right now. So write fast Tara! I'll be waiting!

Like Snap, Taint ends in a cliffy. I knew this going in but... damn it... it still took my breath away... literally! At the end. I was screaming "NOOOOOO!" at my Kindle... okay and yes, at Tara Dawn too...

I can't even put into words how much I loved this second book in the Snap series. I didn't want it to end, I didn't want to put the book down, I wanted the entire story to keep going until I find out who does what!

But noooo.... Tara has to tease us! Again!

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Raze by Tillie Cole

Raze by Tillie Cole

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Writing: ★★★★
Story: ★★★★
Characters: ★★★★

Overall rating: 4.0

****4 "Revengeful" Stars****

What an amazing story! So intense! I love intense!!

Raze, also known as "818" is a prisoner in the Gulag, where he was taken as a little boy, an underground fighting ring where they fight to the death. Everyday of his life since he arrived there has been kill or be killed.

His past is wiped from his memory from the drugs that are constantly pumped into his body, but the forethought of another fighter had him carving the name of the person who put him there into the wall of his cell. It's the only thing he knows for sure when there is a chance for escape from the prison.

Arriving back in New York, Raze finds who he's looking for in an underground fight club. Alik Durov. He doesn't know how it is that Alik is responsible, but his gut and some vague memories that pop up in his mind at random times, tell him he is.

Kisa recognizes Raze as the boy from her childhood, the boy she was in love with and never got over. But how could it be?

To go any further into it in this review would cause spoilers, so I'm just going to point you to the blurb and then to Amazon and tell you that this is a must read if you enjoy a little bit of darkness in your reads!

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Monster by Jessica Gadziala

Monster by Jessica Gadziala

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Writing: ★★★★
Story: ★★★★
Characters: ★★★★★

Overall rating: 4.3

Breaker has managed a few things in his life. He had rules. He didn't mess with families and did not, under any circumstance, deal in women.

Until Lex.

Until Alex.

Breaker has managed to stay out of Lex's way, take care of his own business and not get caught up in any of Lex's dirty deals.

Until now.

Now he has a woman locked up in an abandoned, gutted, train car. A woman he may have to do everything he's vowed *not* to do to a woman, including killing her.

But Breaker doesn't have a choice. Lex has his best friend, Shooter, and if Breaker doesn't take care of this job, Lex will kill Shooter.

Alex is a strong female lead. I liked her, I liked her smart mouth, attitude, and sass.

Breaker and Alex were great together and their story kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the story.

This book flowed well, I enjoyed it and have found a new author to follow!

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We Were One Once by Willow Madison

We Were One Once by Willow Madison

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Writing: ★★★★★
Story: ★★★★★
Characters: ★★★★★

Overall rating: 5.0

*I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

*****5 "That is INSANE" Stars*****

Willow Madison is a "new to me" author, and has thrown me right into stalkerville! She's good. She's really, really good!

It's hard to review this story without giving too much away, but I'll try!

"She's obviously crazy. Obviously broken."

Grace has been terribly abused in her past, which has left her with many emotional scars. Her only option was to try and outrun all of it.

She is a very unique character to me, I don't think I've read one quite as screwed up as this poor girl is.

"Breaking a woman is easy once you apply simple mindfuck techniques"

Simon takes women, breaks them, trains them, and sells them. It's who he is and he makes no apologies for it. He has spotted Grace, and he wants her, and in his line of work, he always gets what he wants. He's a hard character to get a read on, one minute he excites me, the next I hate him. But all wrapped up around that box of crazy is someone with a story that I want to learn more about.

Miles... now if you think what I've said here about Grace and Simon is crazy, well, just wait until you meet Miles.

"I have a plan for us, my love. A way that we can be together always. Would you like that?"

Miles is the man left behind, and he wants Grace back. She's elusive but he has the money to find her and bring her home.

And that cliffhanger! Damn! Just. Damn. This book is full of the dark and crazy, and I loved it! I can't wait to read We Were One Once Book 2!

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Distorted Hope by Marissa Honeycutt

Distorted Hope by Marissa Honeycutt

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Writing: ★★★
Story: ★
Characters: ★

Overall rating: 1.6

As much as I love Marissa Honeycutt's books, this one was a letdown for me.

I couldn't connect with the characters, Kyra just annoyed me. And if you've been kidnapped by a psycho who works for another psycho, why would you care if they thought you were pretty or not?

"You're gonna be a sex slave." "me? a sex slave? who would want to have sex with me? my body is not attractive!"

Really? *THAT* is what she's worried about? That her body isn't attractive?

It was dialogue such as that that made me want to throw my Kindle across the room, and I'll admit to basically skimming this book from Chapter 9 on. I'd read a few pages and do something else, like read another book, then come back to this one. Thus the reason it took me forever to read.

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