Tag Archives: strong-herione

by

Connected by the Sea and Breaking through the Waves, Hawaiian Crush Series, by E. L. Todd

CBTS-2

 Sexy, Gripping and Intense Read!

New Adult Contemporary Romance

This hot and sexy New Adult romance, set in the beautiful island of Hawaii is way more than it first seems. It not only examines love and lust and the importance of trust and friendship, but also delves into the darker issues of loss, guilt, jealousy, violence and abuse.

Book Blurb: Sydney is attending University of Hawaii on Oahu where she’s majoring in Marine Biology. She loves her friends, her job, and her school. Since her ex-boyfriend cheated on her six months ago, she hasn’t moved on to anybody new yet. When Coen catches her eye, she’s immediately attracted to him in a very carnal way. She refuses to let herself feel that way because he’s a heartbreaker just like her ex was. But when she’s called to her professor’s office because she’s asked to tutor someone, she doesn’t realize it’s Coen. Will he convince her that he really is boyfriend material or will he turn out just as she suspects?

Well, this series is one sexy read! The chemistry between Sydney and Coen just sizzles off the page. Early on in20552833 the first novel we see how Sydney is attracted to Coen, who has the reputation of being a player. When they are unexpectedly brought together in the role of tutor and pupil their mutual attraction ignites and they are drawn together in some scorching and  passionate scenes. Coen wants to make their relationship official, but the situation is complicated due to Sydney finally realising that her best friend Henry is deeply  in love with her and she fears that knowing she is with another will destroy him. Added to this complication is Coen’s ex-girlfriend, who is convinced that Coen is hers and wants him back. The first book also hints at issues from Sydney’s past which haunt her and resurface in the second instalment. Can she accept Coen as her one and only before it is too late and can she trust him with her secrets? The road to Sydney and Coen’s HEA is certainly fraught with difficulties.

Sydney is a role model for all young women. She is a star pupil, good at her job and loves the island, the sea and its wildlife. She also values the ties of friendship and is especially concerned about how Henry will react when he finds out about her relationship with Coen. Although she appears strong she has a hidden vulnerability due to events in the past, which we come to comprehend more fully as the series progresses.

Coen is simply drop dead gorgeous! He is an alpha male with a big heart and falls deeply for Sydney, attracted to her beauty inside and out. I really felt his frustration with how Sydney dealt with Henry’s feelings for her and the fact that she concealed their relationship, although I came to understand her own personal reasons for it as the plot unfolded. The love making scenes between Sydney and Coen were super hot, sensual and descriptive (very little being left to the imagination) and make this series definitely for readers over 18. At times the sex fest was such that I had to pause and take a break and catch a breath to calm my racing heart!

The way the author described the characters and their behaviour was realistic overall. The pacing was good as was the story arc and romance. I also liked the element of suspense – what was Sydney afraid of from her past and would it come back to haunt her and would she finally get together with Coen? The secondary characters were also well defined and I enjoyed the descriptions of the island and its wildlife, especially the scenes on the beach and in the sea. The series is a great read any time of the year to bring some sunshine and romance into your life and I recommend it to adult readers, particularly those who love New Adult reads.

PS – Henry gets his own book too in Connected by the Tide. 🙂

Reviewed by Tina Williams

Copies of these books were given to me by the author for he purpose of a fair and honest review.

Connect with the Author:

https://www.facebook.com/ELTodd42

http://eltodd42.blogspot.co.uk/

Purchase Links:

Amazon US

http://www.amazon.com/Connected-Sea-Hawaiian-Crush-1-ebook/dp/B00I4JXQXC/ref=la_B00EO8FWYS_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393436195&sr=1-4 

http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Through-Waves-Hawaiian-Crush-ebook/dp/B00I4FZR56/ref=la_B00EO8FWYS_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393436195&sr=1-3

Amazon UK

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Connected-Sea-Hawaiian-Crush-1-ebook/dp/B00I4JXQXC/ref=la_B00EO8FWYS_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393436511&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Breaking-Through-Waves-Hawaiian-Crush-ebook/dp/B00I4FZR56/ref=la_B00EO8FWYS_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393436511&sr=1-4

by

A Heartless Design, #1 in the Secrets of the Zodiac series, by Elizabeth Cole

PrintFast Paced and Oh So Sexy Regency Romantic Suspense!

A Heartless Design, by Elizabeth Cole, is an absolute delight. It contains a Regency style James Bond  and an unconventional lady of independent means in a raunchy and rambunctious read. It absolutely sizzles with passion and desire and houses secrets that threaten the very security of the country, peppered with danger and deceit. It is guaranteed to entertain and get your heart beating ever faster as the tale develops and reaches its conclusion.

In A Heartless Design Cordelia Bering, a singular young woman who does not always abide by society’s norms, lives in London with her widowed aunt Leona, her parents having died. Cordelia uses practical scientific knowledge, gained from working with her late father, to secure a lucracive income to support her household. To continue her work in this field, Cordelia has many secrets, including one that could endanger her life. Secrets that she is compelled to hide from all, including any prospective suitor, let alone a husband. Cordelia is dubbed ‘heartless’ as she shuns the many marriage offers she continues to have on account of her engaging character and beauty.

Whilst attending a ball with her aunt, Cordelia encounters a mystery man to whom she has not been introduced. Sebastien Thorne, now the Duke of Thornewell, is one of the Crown’s elite secret agents belonging to a group known as the Zodiac. He has been summoned to the ball by his handler to retrieve instructions as to his next mission -preventing a certain piece of technical information leaving Britain and falling into enemy hands, which could give them a significant advantage. Sebastien can afford for nothing to get in his way, not even a woman as beguiling and challenging as Cordelia. However, as Sebastien pursues his leads, it becomes evident that Cordelia is involved and hiding something and he is compelled to employ whatever means necessary to persuade her to reveal her secrets to fulfil his mission and secure the safety of the nation.  However, he did not gamble on his growing feelings for the lady……

Cordelia is a woman in a man’s world, who has to rely on subterfuge and her intelligence to pursue her dream of pursuing the scientific inquiries she loves and  I was quickly drawn to her as a heroine. She is unaware of Sebastien’s work for the Crown and is therefore suspicious of him, although grateful when he proves himself useful to her safety on a number of occasions. Sebastien, for his part, does not conform to society and battles with the conflicting priorities of his title and work as a secret agent. He immediately senses Cordelia’s vulnerability, at the same time being drawn to her unconventional demeanour and kindred spirit. It is clear that they are attracted to each other and have a lot in common – but can a relationship succeed when Cordelia has vowed never to marry and there is so much deceit between them, not to mention those who are out to prise Cordelia’s secrets from her by fair means or foul? The couple must learn to trust one another and  reveal all to one another before it is too late. There is plenty of sexual tension between the main couple and a number of sensual lovemaking scenes which I enjoyed. Both the plot and dialogue were well crafted, believable and full of suspense.

The secondary characters were also a delight to get to know, those making up Cordelia’s household and other members of the Zodiac in particular. I hope to find out more about them in future novels in the series by the author, which I sincerely hope that she plans to write. The bad guys in the story were menacing without being over the top and added sufficient suspense and tension to the plot without detracting from the romance.

I recommend this novel to readers of historical romance, particularly Regency romance, who like suspense with their read and who enjoy unconventional heroines. All in all a rollicking Regency read, which I heartily recommend!

Reviewed by Tina Williams

I received this book for free from Story Cartel in exchange for my unbiased review.

 http://skysparkbooks.com/aheartlessdesign/

https://www.facebook.com/ElizabethColeWrites

http://storycartel.com/

by

Captured (The Captive Series Book 1) by Erica Stevens

 Captured (The Captive, #1)

Captivating Vampire Romance

 My sister recommended this book to me, knowing that I like a good vampire romance and I’m glad that she did as I found it to be a really entertaining read. It has an interesting take on vampires and is a sweet romance, with enough potential for violence and evil to satisfy my darker needs!

The world of Captive, is set in the future where vampires have come out of hiding and have gained supremacy over the humans who are either subservient to them or live on the fringes of society in the woods and caves, forming part of a human resistance. Arianna, daughter of rebel leader, is captured and sold to Prince Braith as a blood slave. Arianna is kept captive in the Prince’s apartment at the palace. Despite her status as blood slave she is treated well by Braith, and they form a friendship, which develops into more, although they both in their own way struggle with their feelings. Relationships between masters and their blood slaves are forbidden and both Braith and Arianna realise that there is no future for them.

Just as they begin to acknowledge their mutual attraction, the return of Braith’s younger brother, Jericho, after an  absence of six years, leads to shocking revelations, impacting on Braith’s and Arianna’s burgeoning relationship and paving the way for Book 2 in the series.

Although Arianna is young, 17, compared to Braith’s 952 years, she is a strong heroine.  Indeed, she was captured whilst saving a small boy from the vampires. When being put on the auctioneer’s platform to be sold, at first she prefers death, to the constant torment of being purchased and used as a blood slave. However, once she discovers that her childhood friend Max has also been captured, she resolves to help him escape. I loved how she was captivated by the beauty of the palace and its gardens, which contain luxuries she has never before experienced. Arianna is at first suspicious of Braith’s motives in being so kind to her, fearing that he plans to gain her trust, only to then cruelly destroy her. She comes to care for the prince against her better judgement.

Braith, the first born prince, has a fearsome reputation and demands respect. I liked the fact that although he was instantly drawn to Arianna and was compelled to purchase her, it was not for the usual reason in vampire romances – he does not immediately desire to mate with her or dominate her sexually for example! Indeed, she is not the type of woman he is usually attracted to. However, she does have a strong physical effect on him, which I will not divulge here as it would spoil the book for those who wish to read it.

He is both protective and possessive of Arianna, although there are scenes where he does dominate her and barely keeps his violence in check. He is also fearful of her being taken away from him if anyone discovers that she is anything more to him than a blood slave. I loved how he became increasingly attracted to Arianna, begining to empathise with her. He does not desire anyone else’s blood but hers, but at the same time will not force his attentions on her. Braith recognises the importance of gaining Arianna’s trust and it is this that he wants in the end more than her blood, which I found to be endearing.

There are many tender scenes between Braith and Arianna in the book. The tale is different from many vampire novels I have read in that the relationship between the hero and heroine is a slow burn, rather than them jumping into bed with each other from the start. However, I did not think that this detracted from the romance and it made it all the more meaningful. For example, I found that the scene where they experienced their first kiss and was very moving. Moreover, the level of heat certainly increases as the plot develops.

The main secondary characters in the book included the human Max, Caleb, Braith’s brother and Jericho, the youngest of his brothers. Max seeks to help Arianna escape. He believes all vampires are evil and his experience of being a blood slave is vastly different from Arianna’s. Caleb is pure evil and suspicious of Braith’s relationship with Arianna and Braith takes special care with how he treats Arianna when he is present. Jericho, who returns after an absence of six years is an interesting character. Whilst Braith is wary of Caleb and his motives, he feels more affinity with Jericho. However, it is Jericho’s actions, not those of Caleb, that have a profound impact on Braith and Arianna’s relationship at the end of the book and set the scene for the next instalment.

I enjoyed the author’s writing style, which was fresh and direct. The story flowed easily and at its core focused on the relationship between the two main characters, which I liked, whilst still making me want to know about the world they inhabited and the other characters. I will certainly be purchasing book 2 in the series very soon as I am eager to learn what happens next. I would recommend this book to readers of all ages from young adult upwards, especially those who enjoy a good vampire romance.

Reviewed by Tina Williams

Author’s website http://ericasteven.blogspot.co.uk

Cover art by www.EbookLaunch.com and image used by kind permission of Erica Stevens