Our Book Thoughts and Recommendations 💖 Week of June 13th

 

📚 Our Book Picks for the Week of June 13th

🏒  Keeping Casey by Amy Aislin

🕯️  Midnight Seduction by C.R. Robertson

🗝️  Private Property by Skye Warren

🎭  Mask of Poison by Kathryn Ann Kingsley

🔥  Heart of Fire by Meredith Wild

🗡️  When Hell freezes over by Erin Bedford

See all of our reviews and recommendations

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Keeping Casey by Amy Aislin

Description:

Casey Preston is the guy with the plan. The list-maker. The one who micromanages his own life.

Spontaneously offering to be his best friend’s fake boyfriend to get Ethan’s annoying team captain off his back?

That’s not thinking things through. It’s not even smart given Casey’s been fighting his feelings for Ethan for years.

Ethan Rain just wants to play hockey and get his college degree. Adding a fake boyfriend to the mix? He doesn’t need that complication.

If Casey were his real boyfriend, though? If he got to keep Casey forever? Now we’re talking.

But what if Casey doesn’t want to be kept?

Our Thoughts 💭:

Absolutely adore these two 🥰
Casey is OCD with an energy level that just draws you in
And Ethan he makes me think safe - definitely 🧸 teddy bear status
This is a slow build best friends to lovers romance that touches on many new adult topics
Learning to balance life's demands
Accepting that it is ok to ask for help.
Living with a disability
Just to mention a few
A solid cast of characters with each bringing something special to the story
I do wish we had gotten a little more closure (?) with some of the events as well as maybe a bit more background - but I have always been a touch greedy that way
Overall a sweet slow-paced read that is to follow
I want more from this cast 😍

#keepingcasey #keepinghim #gay #sports #romance #amyaislin

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Midnight Seduction by C.R. Robertson

Description:

The darkness cloaks sinful acts and deadly deeds.

Secrets are the currency, death is the penalty, and pleasure is the ultimate obsession.

Cassandra’s shaded past ensured she lived a life of safety in the legal profession where everything was ordered and regulated. Until the day her best friend coaxed her to take a walk on the wild side and experiment with sex in the Midnight Rooms. Darkness gave anonymity in that underground world because the only rule that existed was that what happened there, stayed there.

Xavier was the handsome, damaged heir of a billionaire by the light of day. At night he owned the Midnight and Twilight Rooms, an elite club for the pursuit of pleasure. He sat at his father’s right hand as a leading member of a secret establishment that ruled supreme in organised crime across the globe.

Opposites attract even in the darkness, but can what they found in secret survive in the light?

Our Thoughts 💭:

"We found each other in the dark. Then discovered each other in the light. All we needed to do was love each other into our future "
- except Midnight Seduction
My heart ❤
I admit when I first started this I was thinking that this was going to be a smexy fluffy piece
🙈 I'm sorry
I was wrong...
So wrong
I don't know how Robertson does it - by the end of the second chapter, I found myself drawn into the story - deeply invested in the characters
Zee is not a good person but the way he cracked open his chest and bled for Cas?
Those moments in the dark?
The rawness?
The devotion?
Be still my beating heart 💓
Then there was Cas
So strong yet so fragile. She was so intelligent and had such a braver persona but she was real - she had those inner demons - She was also tired of her heart being a doormat
Both living duplicitous lives
Both wanting the other
Can they nurture the love between them,
Be true to each other or will their skeletons rip them apart?
This is the first part of their journey -
The groundwork has been laid
Some of the players introduced
Quite a few breadcrumbs laid out to lead and I think possibly misdirect
I can say with all honesty when I came to the final page I kept clicking
I wanted more
This doesn't end on a cliffhanger per se but their story is incomplete This is part of a series

#midnightseduction #midnightdynasty #romance #suspense #billionaire #crrobertson

Amazon   

Private Property by Skye Warren

Description:

When I signed up for the nanny agency, I didn't expect a remote mansion on a windswept isle. Or a brooding billionaire who resents his new role.

His brother's death means he's now in charge of a moody seven year old girl. She's lashing out at the world, but I can handle her. I have to. I need the money to finish my college degree.

As long as I can avoid the boss who alternately mocks me and coaxes me to reveal my darkest secrets.

Our Thoughts 💭:

My heart!
This might actually be one of my favorites reads to date from Warren
There was just something tangible about the characters
Their stories
Beau will have you laughing one minute wanting to comfort him the next and occasionally feeling the need to knock some sense into him
Jane is innocent but not in a worldly way it's hard to describe her
She sees past the walls that have been created to protect the fractured hearts held within
Then there is our little Paige - I just want to wrap her up and tell her it is going to be okay
These two together ❤
Practically perfect for each other
You forget the age gap
I read this in one sitting
The cliffhanger?
Holy fires 🔥of hades
My biggest gripe?
I wish it was longer
#privateproperty #rochestertrilogy #erotic #romance #billionaire #skyewarren

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Mask of Poison by Kathryn Ann Kingsley

Description:

Darkness has come to consume the world, and only Ember knows the true depths of its horror.

As a hunter, Ember’s life was spent saving humanity from the flesh-starved corpses eager to devour them. Then, a fresh evil clawed its way to the surface, leaving Ember feeling she traded one apocalypse for another.

Rxa gave his life to protect his kingdom. But now he’s back, undead and untethered. Craving carnage, he has gathered an army to destroy Under and any who dare stand in his way. His every intention is to leave Ember for last. For even in death, she consumes his every thought.

Can Ember protect her new world after failing the last? Or will Rxa succeed in wiping out Under, a place he deems too cruel to survive?

Our Thoughts 💭:

Yes!!!!
For those who journeyed with Lydia in Masks - Welcome back!
For everyone else?
Buckle up and hold on tight
You are in for one Hades of a journey!
(suggest not eating beforehand)
Ember finds herself dropped (quite literally) into another world
One that is as fraught with as much death and danger as her own but with the added splash of magic and monsters and mayhem (couldn't help it)
Rxa finds himself back in under but it seems he is missing some of himself - most of himself actually. He doesn't understand why he is back after 400 years but he does understand the need for vengeance and it seems he has been reincarnated with a little something special to help him ensure his sense of justice is delivered.
He will destroy Under and the Ancients
This is one of my all-time favorite universes to get lost in
The carnage
The creatures
The magic
The villains you can't help but loathe or love or both
Kingsley has done it again with Mask of Poison
If you enjoy a bit of gore with your goth
Strong heroines that choose themselves
Storylines that capture and keep you
Then Under is the place for you
(I know I ranted a bit but it is just that gooooooddddd)
This is a standalone series that takes place in the world of Under
#maskofpoison #fallofunder #dark #fantasy #horror #romance #kathrynannkingsley

Amazon

Heart of Fire by Meredith Wild

Description:

He’s forged from heaven. She’s promised to hell.

Professor Maximus Kane can no longer deny his passion for his stunning yet mysterious student, Kara Valari. But surrendering to their desires carries more consequences than just violating the Alameda University conduct codes. Kara has defied her destiny. Higher directives have been violated. Now there’s hell to pay.

It’s a crisis for which there seems no solution, until the explosive secrets of Maximus’s bloodline are exposed. Despite all his doubts and fears, Maximus has no choice but to accept help from his enigmatic father, which means coming to terms with his heritage and embracing a bizarre new world of gods and demons. Because somewhere in that world—in the strange and sordid secrets surrounding his past—is the key to protecting Kara’s future. Nothing has ever meant more to him than saving the treasure of her life and the fire of her heart.

While earth’s lower realms seek payback for Kara’s transgressions, Kara finds a new ally in a surprising place: the Valari matriarch herself. Beneath the scrutiny of the world press, Veronica orchestrates a plan to protect her daughter by doing what she does best—shining the spotlight on her. But by her side, Maximus can’t escape the glare of the paparazzi.

Can they buy time and blind their enemies with Kara’s fame? Or will Hollywood’s new “it” couple and their forbidden love incite more vengeance than they’d ever bargained for?

Our Thoughts 💭:

Holy Hades hang in there!
Kara and Maximus are fighting against a stacked deck!
The 'rents, gramps, the extended family, the jealous goddess, and a whole host of other barriers
I am in awe of the depth of their love and belief that they are stronger together -
Yes their love reads like one of those epic romances
We pick up right where book one dropped us -
As the story progresses a lot more "truths" are revealed
and we find Kara and Max leaning more on each other to safely wade through the murky waters
Full of action and intrigue
Betrayal and Sacrifice
Not to mention all of the little breadcrumb trails that lead everywhere and nowhere
This ended on a cliffy that had me white-knuckling and saying all kinds of swear words
and now I have to wait...
Impatiently...
Hoping their love is strong enough that they can come out on top
#heartoffire #bloodofzeus #paranormal #fantasy #mythology #romance 

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When Hell freezes over by Erin Bedford

Description:

Angels good. Demons bad. Things are supposed to be this simple.

If only.

In the midst of an ageless war between the more powerful creatures in the world, Roth should see Lily as a weapon he must hone. If she’s to accomplish his destiny, she’ll have to be placed in harm’s way. But every time they touch, their chemistry drives him mad.

Love or victory. They can’t possibly have both.

In the clutches of the all-powerful ruler of Heaven, Raven has a choice: letting Ash risk his life for hers, or suffering the consequence of her betrayal.

Everyone has lied to Lily, hiding her legacy, her duty. She’s the daughter of Lucifer and Lilith, the rightful heir of Hell, born thousands of years ago. But she also happens to be a twenty-something-year-old with barely enough training to keep herself alive, let alone rule anything.

With her family in dire danger, she has to do whatever it takes to survive—and to protect Hell from Heaven’s wrath.

Even if that means taking the Wicked Crown.

Our Thoughts 💭:

Holy fires 🔥of hades!!!
This ends on a heart-pounding cliffy but book three is fast approaching so you won't have to fret for long
When we left our little motley bunch in book one
Gabriel had Raven
Ash had fled to avoid detection at the same time realizing his mate was an angel and Michaels daughter to boot
Lilly was returning "home" with Roth
and Roth?
Roth was fighting the physical draw he felt for Lilly while trying to train her to defend the realms of He LL
And Now?
Strap your swords on and pick a side
Things are about to go to he🏒🏒 real fast (pun intended)
Ash is trying to rescue Raven - A bit hard when he can't even find her
Lilly is being beaten into the ground - quite literally - as Roth puts her through the paces trying to train her
Not to mention the physical tension between them that Roth has refused to squash
And Gabriel? He is ruthless in his need to acquire Lilly and wipe out He LL
Can Ash save his mate before it's to late?
Will Lilly be strong enough in time to defend her realm?
Can Roth withhold the need to claim his mate?
Can Raven survive Gabriel or will she succumb to his torture?
#whenhellfreezesover #wickedcrown #paranormal #angels #demons #romance #maysage #erinbedford

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FB:

@amy.aislin @CRRobertsonauthor @skyewarren @kathrynannkingsley @meredithwild @erinbedfordwriter

Instagram:

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@amy_aislin @skye_warren @vodriel @wildmeredith @erin_bedford