Marriage Games (The Games Duet Book 1) ~ CD Reiss

Amazon US

THIRTY DAYS

That’s all Adam Steinbeck demands of his wife.

Thirty days in a remote cottage, doing everything he demands. After that, he’ll sign her divorce papers and give her complete ownership of their company.

THIRTY DAYS

That’s how long he has to rediscover the man he once was. The Dominant Master he hid when he fell in love with her five years ago. 

THIRTY DAYS

She wants the business they built badly enough to go to the cottage for a month. Cut off ties to the world and do his bidding. She can submit to him with her body, but her heart will never yield.

She thinks this is his pathetic attempt to repair their marriage.

She’s wrong.

This was a new spin on a wife asking for a divorce and the husband making certain stipulations for the divorce to go through. Even though Diana feels that this 30 day request from Adam is an attempt to have her fall back in love with him, Adam has other intentions.

While the sex and BDSM scenes were hot, I had a hard time getting in to their dynamic. I felt like Adam kept saying he loved his wife, but I couldn’t feel it. As the story went on, I did see why he kept her away from this lifestyle and in his mind, why the two had to be separate.

Unfortunately, Diana never really had a choice of which side she would fall on. During the 30 days, her eyes and mind open up to different avenues, but it almost seemed like it was too late for them, despite Adam loving Diana so fiercely.   

Preppy: The Life & Death of Samuel Clearwater PART ONE (KING Book 5) ~T.M. Frazier

Samuel Clearwater, A.K.A Preppy, likes bowties, pancakes, suspenders, good friends, good times, good drugs, and a good f*ck. 

He’s worked his way out from beneath a hellish childhood and is living the life he’s always imagined for himself. When he meets a girl, a junkie on the verge of ending it all, he’s torn between his feelings for her and the crippling fear that she could be the one to end the life he loves. 

Andrea ‘Dre’ Capulet is strung out and tired. 

Tired of living for her next fix. Tired of doing things that make her stomach turn. Tired of looking in the mirror at the reflection of the person she’s become. Just when she decides to end it all, she meets a man who will change the course of both their lives forever. 

And their deaths. 

For most people, death is the end of their story.

For Preppy and Dre, death was only the beginning. 

This is the fifth book in the King Series and it's meant to be read after Soulless.

I have to admit. I was one of the people who was not expecting this story to begin where it did, but I totally get why TM started it where she did. In an effort to not give too much away, we needed to see where Dre comes from and we also got to understand Preppy a little bit more.

Preppy is still his sarcastic, funny, crazy self and I found myself laughing at a lot of things he would say, but at the same time, I could see the cold, scary man that lurks just beneath the surface.  We get to see why Preppy is the way he is and now everything makes sense. Well, almost. 

I also liked that we got to learn of Preppy’s love interest, Dre. We didn’t hear much about her in the first part of the King series, so it’s great to see the woman who captures Preppy’s heart. She’s troubled, haunted, but strong and determined too. They make the perfect, crazy couple that don’t back down from each other. I was definitely proud of Dre in a few scenes where she called Preppy’s bluff.

TM is an awesome writer. She is one of my fav authors and when anything of hers comes out, I have to get it. Her writing is fluid and even with flash backs; we always know where we are in the story. And with this cliffy, I need the next book ASAP!!!

Between Here and the Horizon ~ Callie Hart

AmazonUS/Amazon UK

“You think you know me. You think you want to know me. But trust me, Miss Lang. Pursuing me will be the worst mistake you ever make. I’m broken beyond repair…

…and I take great pleasure in breaking everyone else around me.”

Ophelia Lang needs money, and she needs it bad. Her parent’s restaurant is going under, and ever since she lost her job teaching third grade elementary, scraping enough cash together to pay the bills has proven almost impossible. Her parents are on the brink of losing their home. The vultures are circling overhead. So when Ophelia is offered an interview for a well-paid private tutoring gig in New York, how can she possibly say no?

Ronan Fletcher is far from the overweight, balding businessman Ophelia expected him to be. He’s young, handsome, and wealthy beyond all reason. He’s also perhaps the coldest, rudest person she’s ever met, and has a mean streak in him a mile and a half wide. A hundred grand is a lot of money, however, and if tolerating his frosty temperament, his erratic mood swings and whatever else he throws at her means she’ll get paid, then that is what Ophelia will do.

Her new boss is keeping secrets, though. Awful, terrible secrets.

The ghosts of Ronan Fletcher’s past are about to turn Ophelia’s future upside down, and she can’t even see it coming.

OMG! What a phenomenal book!! I was already a Callie Hart fan, so I instantly had to get BHATH!! I didn’t even read the blurb, so I was floored, shocked and enthralled with in the first few chapters.

To not give anything away, I will say, I was at about chapter 5, reading along and loving it, when something happens. You know that something that happens when you go back a few pages to say, wait, that really didn’t happen, right? Jaw was on the floor. 

And then the story continued to grow and get better.

If that wasn’t enough, sure enough 80% in, wha-bam! Another twist! While I had my suspicions, I didn’t get the whole story, but Callie laid it out and made me feel all warm and fuzzy.

I loved these characters, this story and Callie’s writing. Her stories always have a smooth, understandable flow, even if there are flashbacks. You always know where you are and what’s going on. I cannot say enough amazing things about this book. One of my top reads of 2016!!

"So...don't walk away for good. I get it if you have to walk away for now. But make sure you come back, okay? This isn't done yet and you know it."
~ Sully

Hat Trick ~ Kristen Hope Mazzola

Amazon US/Amazon UK

One accident - a freaking car crash.

That’s all it took to send my brother’s and my life into a tailspin with no end in sight. I was going to be something. I was going to be the best. I had the Olympics in my sights. And it all went to shit in one flash. Brayden wasn’t ready to raise a younger sister when I was thrown into his lap. He had his life and everything going for him. Thankfully, he was still drafted to his dream hockey team. The same one dad played for when we were growing up.

It took time, but I started to get better, started to open up, started skating and even dating again. I even thought I found the perfect guy for me.

Isn’t it funny how guys hit on you when they know you’re not available, but when you’re single they won’t give you the freaking time of day? I guess the game is more fun that way. And for the captain of my brother’s team, that’s exactly what I was. A hat trick is three goals in hockey. Some say three is a crowd and they might be right.

I was Gavin Hayes' unobtainable goal.

*A No Cheating Standalone*

 I really enjoyed Hat Trick and the athletic hotties that were running rampant in this story. Forbidden love story with your teammate’s baby sister…..a must read.

Brayden and Myla definitely had a messed up hand dealt to them. The accident that took away their last parent and nearly destroyed Myla, ends up bringing the two closer together. Brayden steps up to the plate and not only becomes the big brother he needs to be, but the person Myla leans on while recovering from the accident.

Gavin is a hit-it and quit-it kind of guy. No woman makes it more than one night with him. It’s his MO, until he sees Myla out on a date with a complete douche. More and more, he tries to find a way to be with her, but it’s also his teammate’s baby sister. Myla is not like every other girl to him, she’s special and he wants only her.

This was a quick and fun read. I would have loved to see more of what Brayden went though with his sister’s relationship with Gavin as well as his own relationship with a special lady that helped them during some of their troubled times. Gavin and Myla were cute, sweet and super fun. I really liked this book. 

Touchdown (Game Day #1) ~ T.S. McKinney

Amazon US

Alexander Bryant has lived his entire life making everyone else happy. After meeting Lincoln, will he have the courage to finally do what makes him happy?

Alexander – I like to imagine myself a rebel – an ass-kicker that takes what he wants regardless of what others think. I make my own path and flip off the people who don’t agree. I laugh in the face of conflict. Nobody tells me what to do.

In reality, everything about me is a lie – past, present, and future. The Bryant name requires certain things and all my decisions are based on those requirements. I like football, but the family name demands I love it. I want to be an artist, but the family name demands I be a lawyer. The family demands I fall in love with a nice girl, but I’m falling for, well, the opposite of nice AND girl. I’m a coward and a liar.

Lincoln – I like to imagine myself a loner – a cold heartless bastard that takes what he wants. I lived the biggest part of my life with parents that were ashamed of me for more reasons that one could begin to count, so I trust no one.

I have a low tolerance for bullshit and hate liars.

So why did I go and fall in love with the biggest liar of them all?

So, this was my first T.S. McKinney book and I loved it. I was in the mood for a good M/M romance and Touchdown surpassed my expectations. I loved the characters and the emotional turmoil that both went through. Their desires and pre-destined futures are constantly question for what they are supposed to do and what they truly want to do.

Alexander is exactly what the blurb describes, a young man who follows his family’s rules, wants and traditions to the letter….even if it is the furthest from what he wants to do. He plays football like his father and grandfather did and he’s being groomed to go to law school and be a lawyer….just like his father and grandfather. He feels he’s living a lie, which just multiplies when he meets Lincoln. He’s confused by the attraction and the feelings that Lincoln stirs, but he can’t stop thinking about him.

Lincoln is completely enamored with Alexander, the star quarterback for the local college, from the moment he sees him. Not that Lincoln watches football, but he loved Alexander’s sexy body and his responsiveness... Even though Lincoln can tell that Alexander is fighting all his feelings. Lincoln can see the turmoil in Alexander’s eyes and as much as he knows he should walk away, he can’t.

There was some super hot scene’s between these two and some super over bearing family members that get involved. The whole façade that Alexander has perfected starts to crumble and he has to decide what he is going to stand up for. I was really surprised and proud by his decision, but also really surprised by Lincoln’s reaction as well. I loved their dynamic and their story. I would definitely read another T.S. McKinney book. Instant favorite.