Wasn't sure if I'd get one of these posts done in October. But, since a few of the ebooks I've read this month were for specific tours, I decided to go ahead and do a post with just these six.
First Night (Seductive Nights #0.5) by Lauren Blakely:
*Note: This is a free prequel to the NYT and USA Today Bestselling full-length sexy romance novel NIGHT AFTER NIGHT now available on Amazon. It was only supposed to be one night…
When the sinfully handsome man walks into her bar in San Francisco, Julia Bell simply wants a break from the troubles that keep chasing her. That escape comes in the form of sexy, confident and commanding Clay Nichols, who captivates her mind AND turns her inside out with pleasure. The attraction is electric and they share one scorchingly hot night together, but they also discover there is more than just off-the-charts chemistry; the connection between them runs deep. Clay never thought he’d return to New York with this woman still on his mind. But he can’t get her out of his system, and he needs more of her…He wants more than just the first night…
My rating: 3 stars
A quick, easy read. Nothing too different. I might read on in the series at some point. No rush at the moment.
The Write Stuff by Tiffany King:
Twenty-two-year-old historical romance writer Nicole Blake, or N.S. Blake to her readers, hasn't taken an official poll, mind you, but she is convinced she may be the only romance author on the planet who is still a card-carrying member of the virgin club.Not that she hasn't tried to end her membership. Life just keeps finding pesky ways to interfere. With no prospects on the horizon, Nicole begins to feel like the closest she will ever get to experiencing a man is within her own stories.
Opportunity presents itself in the form of hot-as-sin-on-a-lollipop-stick bartender/premed student Alec Petropoulos, who agrees to be the cover model for her upcoming book. Sparks fly instantly between them, and Nicole begins to entertain the possibility that she's finally found the right guy to hand over her tattered V-card. Alec has all the makings for a perfect one-night-stand candidate except, much to Nicole's surprise, he seems to be the only man in existence not interested in bagging a virgin.
Stuck between a rock and a stubborn male, what's a virgin to do? Seduce him, of course. How hard could it be? If it works for the characters in her stories, why wouldn't it work for her? After all, what happens under the cover…stays under the cover.
My Rating: 5 stars
I LOVED this book! It was one I could barely put down to do anything! At first Nicole isn't quite sure about the guy, thinking he might be kind of a jerk, and not the kind of guy that would be interested in her. Then, when it seems he is, and things start to get hot and heavy, it all comes to a screeching halt when he finds out she is a virgin. He doesn't get with virgins anymore. Soon though, he will see that he misses her, and when Nicole finds out what his reasoning is behind his "ban" on virgins, things will take some talking out, but they will be able to figure out what to do. I guess this is part of a series, I still need to get the second one. I'm also very excited to meet this author at Apollycon in March!
Six of Hearts (Hearts #1) by L.H. Cosway:
Step right up and meet Jay Fields: Illusionist. Mentalist. Trickster. I think in triangles. You think in straight lines.
I show you a table and make you believe it’s a chair.
Smoke and mirrors, sleight of hand, misdirection. I trick and deceive.
But most of all, I put on a good show.
The world thinks I killed a man, but I didn’t. Bear with me. It’s all a part of the plan.
Revenge is what I want. I want it for me and I want it for her.
I want it for all six of us.
She doesn’t remember me, but she’s the reason for everything. She’ll be my prize at the end of all this – if I can hold onto my willpower, that is. Maybe I’ll slip up a little, have a taste, just a small one.
So go ahead and pick a card. Come inside and see the show. Look at my hands, look so closely that you can’t see what’s happening while you’re so focused on looking. I’ll be destroying your world from right here in the spotlight.
You’ll never see me coming until it’s too late.
I’ve only got one heart, and after I’ve pulled off my grand deception I’ll hand it right to her.
So, sit back, relax, and let my girl tell you our story. You’re in for one hell of a ride.
My rating: 5 stars
I downloaded this as a free book, and started reading as a favorite author of mine (Samantha Young) was going on about this being one of her favorite authors as she read a book further on in the series. And when I picked this up, I was in love! The love interest, Jay, was definitely very swoon-worthy. But the main character, Matilda, I totally got where she came from. Of course the "mystery" about who Jay was, well that was apparent right away, even if Matilda didn't get it. But the twist in why Jay was going to the extremes with the person he was suing, that was definitely a twist that I didn't get until it began to unravel in the story. I loved it, it had some very steamy scenes, and I can't wait to read on in the series!
Royal Rock: A Bad Boy Royal Romance by B.B. Hamel:
I won’t kneel for anyone, especially not that filthy prince.
It was like a dream when the crown prince of Starkland flew me and my family out to his castle. We thought it was just another vacation, but of course the prince had other plans.
He goes by Trip, and he’s one filthy a-hole. He’s a notorious bad boy and jaw-droppingly handsome, as much as I hate to admit it.
And I slapped him across the face the first time we met.
Just because he’s royalty, doesn’t mean he can whisper dirty things in my ear!
I don’t want anything to do with that cocky jerk. He talks to me like I’m a servant, and it drives me crazy. He wants me to be his princess and demands I wear nothing but his crown.
Now I’m stuck, practically a prisoner in his castle. Who knows if I’ll ever get home.
Or if I really want to leave . . .
My rating: 4 stars
This was another really quick read, and it had some very steamy parts. The interactions between the two main characters was very fun. I haven't read a lot of stories with "royalty" that weren't also either YA or dystopian or fantasy. So some of this was a little weird to read to deal with someone actually in charge of a country/kingdom. A real monarch situation. In the end I did really enjoy it. I will probably read more by this author in the future.
Candy Boys by Jo Raven:
Joel and Jethro. Roommates. Total hunks. Inseparable friends. Hot as hell.
Meet my fantasy boyfriends. Aren’t they just the sexiest, cutest thing? I know, right? They totally are. They are hot, too hot for a quiet – and obsessed with them – girl working in a bookshop.
That’d be me, by the way.
There’s also the tiny problem of Joel wanting another girl. And as for Jethro, well… he doesn’t do girls. Or maybe he doesn’t do relationships. He certainly doesn’t do boys, so he isn’t doing his best and very male friend… right? Much less his male friend and me at the same time.
So it’s fine to crush on them. And write a serial story on my blog in which we have tantric sex in every possible position.
All three of us. Together. Touching, and licking, and sucking, and screwing.
Whew.
I mean, it’s okay. It’s perfectly safe. They’ll never even know I exist, much less find out about my blog and my secret fantasy about them.
Right?
Yeah, that’s what I thought, too.
My rating: 4 stars
Okay, so I'm not sure that I enjoy the two guy part of the story, but the rest of this was pretty hot. I don't have a problem with the two guys together, it's just not what is my type of read in a romance/erotic story. But, I do have to admit that at times, the whole story all together worked. I think it was just the relationships between all of them, and how it worked. I liked the characters, they all had their own issues. The whole online story part was very interesting to add into the story, and made for some good tension at certain points in the story. It was another fast read for sure. And I did enjoy it overall.
Insta-Hate (Instant Gratification #1) by CL Bond:
When Alexandria Ray’s romance series becomes an overnight sensation, the world and its demands close in on her. After years of struggling to maintain the pace her publisher, agent and the world expects, she needs a break. Enrolling as a student at Columbia University is step one to finding herself again. Finding Arsen Daniel was not on her list.
Arsen Daniel, along with his best friend, built an empire in the form of an exclusive, psychology-based dating service. When an old friend invites him to teach a course at Columbia, he accepts. The course? The Psychology of Love. Sounds simple enough and the publicity alone will make it worth his time.
Arsen didn’t expect to meet his match in the form of a sarcastic blonde, hell bent on holding to her belief that true love doesn’t actually exist. After all, what woman, especially a world-renowned romance writer, doesn’t believe in happily ever after?
Something in Alexandria’s eyes tortures him. She reminds him of someone from his past and that is a very bad thing.
My rating: 4 stars
I liked this one, although I did have a few issues with the relationship. I could totally see the connection between Arsen and Alexandria. I didn't quite see the twist coming, and it was a very interesting one. But the way Arsen reacted, well I felt it was a little extreme, and his refusal to give in, and to compromise or see Alexandria's side when the truth all comes out, it really irritated me. Especially how quickly he seemed to turn around at the point that he did. Before that happened though, i was definitely really enjoying it and would have finished it much quicker had I not had other review books I had to get finished during the time I'd started this one. A good read, I recommend it, and now will just have to decide if I will read on in the series, although I know I would read other stories by this same author for sure.
Island of Exiles (The Ryogan Chronicles, #1) 
About the Author:
After a lifelong obsession with books, Erica Cameron spent her college years getting credit for reading and learning how to make stories of her own. Erica graduated with a double major in psychology and creative writing from Florida State University and began pursuing a career as an author.
Erica is many things but most notably the following: writer, reader, editor, asexual, dance fan, choreographer, singer, lover of musical theater, movie obsessed, sucker for romance, Florida resident, and quasi-recluse. She loves the beach but hates the heat, has equal passion for the art of Salvador Dali and Venetian Carnival masks, has a penchant for unique jewelry and sun/moon décor pieces, and a desire to travel the entire world on a cruise ship. Or a private yacht. You know, whatever works.
Her debut novel, Sing Sweet Nightingale, released March 2014 and it was the first volume of The Dream War Saga. In May 2015, Erica and her co-author Lani Woodland launched the Laguna Tides series with Taken by Chance. Riptide’s new YA imprint Triton Books will release both books in the Assassins series, Discord and Nemesis, in 2016. The Ryogan Chronicles, a fantasy trilogy set to launch through Entangled Teen, will launch in 2017 with Island of Exiles.
