Two brothers, Cristiano de la Rosa and Diego de la Rosa, who are taken in by the Cruz Cartel after Costa Cruz killed their parents for going against a longstanding agreement, have different loyalties and they will be tested and discovered in Violent Delights.

Cristiano de la Rosa will have to rediscover his life after being betrayed and a bounty being put on his head. He’s not who everyone thinks he is, but he will have to prove himself to everyone.

Diego de la Rosa the youngest of the de la Rosa brothers is the quiet one and the one who will create more danger for the Cruz family with a deal he’s made. He has the trust of Natalia Cruz as well as her adoration. However, he can’t gain the full trust of her father Costa Cruz, the Don of the Cruz Cartel.

Natalia Cruz is the Cruz Cartel Princess. She doesn’t want to live the life of the Cartel any longer and tries to convince her father that letting Diego move to California with her and live their lives peacefully is the best idea.

I really liked the twists in this book and found the story to be very well written. I love the characters, and it sucked me right in from the very beginning of the story until the very end. The surprises in the story and the twists were well done. I wanted to shake Natalia and tell her to wake up and stop being a spoiled princess. This story shows that you can’t always trust those in your close circle. Loyalty can be switched in an instant, but it can also be tricked.

I give this story a 4-star review and recommend it to any reader that enjoys reading Organized Crime, suspense, and stories of young love. The characters in this story were strong and powerful. I look forward to more in the series. This was my first read of Jessica Hawkins’ books, but it won’t be my last.

 

Another awesome book by Bry Ann! This story is so dark, but so well written.

Tobias has such a dark past and has no family but Anatoli. Anatoli saved Tobias when he was a teenager and has been with him ever since. They work together and are as close as brothers, they’re both assassins. Albeit, they aren’t what you would normally think of when you think of assassins, at least Anatoli isn’t, he has a conscience. Tobias feels the need for closure on his past and he needs to find a way to get to the men who destroyed him as a child. He’s bored with the way things currently are in his life and is looking for something to occupy his mind. His past made him a man who needs pain and chaos in his life to keep him sane.

Scarlett, a young woman who was orphaned at the age of 17. Her whole family is taken away from her during her Senior year of high school. This one incident changed her, and she now lives her life on her own terms. She’s had a rough few years since her family died and she is all alone. She lives life on the edge and is unapologetic about how she lives her life. She needs the edge to feel like she’s alive. The only person who seems to care about her is the bar tender at the local bar she hangs out at. He’s like a surrogate big brother who watches out for when he can.

Tobias’ need for closure and vengeance will put Scarlett in danger. He’ll find the heart that he thinks he doesn’t have, and his life will change a lot after he meets Scarlett. Her life will change as well, but they both have to learn to trust and care before they can find their HEA.

I loved Tobias and Scarlett’s story. I was so angry at Tobias for most of this book though and wanted to punch him in the face. The characters in this book are characters from Bry Ann’s Saving Her Series.

I loved the way that Scarlett and Tobias fight the attraction they have for each other so hard, but they don’t have a chance. They are both damaged and both have their demons and nightmares, but together they can find some peace.

I love the first paragraph of the Epilogue, “I don’t think our story ends in a happily ever after. I wouldn’t call this that. Our starts were way too fucked up to ever end up happy. Life’s a ruthless game”. I love so much of the epilogue because it really shows who Scarlett is. She knows that life isn’t perfect and that even though she has found someone to share her life with she won’t be healed, but she will be cared for and fulfilled by that one person who gets her.

I give this story a 5-star review and am so looking forward to Anatoli’s story. Please hurry with this one, I absolutely love Anatoli and cannot wait to read his story. I highly recommend this story to any reader who likes dark, depraved stories with just a touch of sweet to make you fall in love with the Hero and a sassy heroine who knows who she is and doesn’t apologize for her actions.

A powerful man

Axel McKee abandoned his musical career years ago in favor of becoming a power player on the music scene. His dreams of the spotlight are over—and he’s better off for it. Working with his Haven brothers and building their empire is enough for him.

One who commanded attention with nothing more than a look

And then came Lizzy. A dynamic, beautiful powerhouse of a performer unlike any he’s seen or heard before. Her presence leaps off stage and into the heart of anyone who watches her sing. Axel wants her. Wants to help her and collaborate with her… But more than anything, he wants to be with her.

And every ounce of his attention was locked on her

I absolutely loved this book. I am not sure why I haven’t read any of the other books in the series yet, but that will be remedied soon. The characters in this book are so loyal, demanding, powerful, and sassy that I don’t know what’s not to love. Lizzy is a woman who has been hurt in the past, and has to learn to trust again, but when she meets Axel’s family there is no way she can get around them. They will burrow right through her armor and open her heart right up.

I love the characters in the story and all that they each bring to the story. Their passion and love shine through more than anything. I give this book at 5-star review and look forward to going back to read the other books in the series before Down & Dirty. I highly recommend this book to readers who like a sassy heroine, a powerful Hero who demands control, and the humor that comes along with a group of sassy women who live to keep the men in their lives on their toes at all time.

Savannah Fields a woman who made the wrong choice in men. She finds herself needing to move without letting the man who has hounded her for a few years know where she’s moving to. They aren’t even romantically involved, but he thinks he owns her and controls her. Butch is a member of the Devils Dominion MC, and he’s trying to show the President that he is officer material in the Club. He’s sent to Washington DC to check out another MC to see if they will fit into the Devils Dominion MC as a charter club. Devils Dominion MC is a 1%er MC and Butch is not a nice guy. He pushes Savannah around all the time and acts jealous, but he isn’t romantically involved with her anymore. Savannah wants to get away from him, but he threatens all of her friends and her family’s lives, so she stays and takes the abuse for as long as she can. Savannah is forced to go with Butch to Washington DC, but it could be the best thing for her. She meets Karen who becomes her best friend.

Nick Tucker, a DEA agent goes undercover to bring the Devils Dominion down, but he has to fight his innate nature of good vs bad and stand by while the MC carries on business as usual. He’s not sure he will be able to do it for long. Once Nick is able to bring down the MC, he returns to Washington DC to take some time to decompress after being undercover for two years and awaits the trial that will punish the MC members for their crimes. He happens upon Savannah in a coffee shop that she likes to frequent and his conscious won’t let him stand by while Butch abuses her in the coffee shop. Nick becomes her protector and the man who will take Butch down as well.

I am so happy that I read this book. It was a great mix of suspense, romance, danger, and humor. I had tears in my eyes at times and other times, I was laughing at the sassiness of Savannah. For a woman who was beaten down, both literally and figuratively, she is able to find herself and again and come out stronger, smarter, and still full of love. The twists in this story were surprising, but interesting. I loved how Savannah and Nick were able to bring each other out of their darkness to find life again and to be able to carry on their lives. I give this book a 5-star review and highly recommend it to readers who enjoy reading stories about MC’s, Ex-Military men, men who uphold the law, and women who regain their strength, humor, and lives after tragic events in their lives and after bad relationships find them in trouble. There was really so much more to this story, but to avoid spoilers, I don’t want to say too much about it other than you really should buy it and read it. I am so looking forward to the next book in the series to come out, Blurred Line.

I just loved so much about this book. Karen and Spencer are great characters and they fit so well with Savannah and Nick.

Persephone “Penny” Sapphire Kipos is a young woman with secrets. She is an executive at the family business Kipos International, but she is also a woman who runs her own business as well, but not too many people know she is the person behind the popular whiskey of PSK Distilleries. While she wants to keep Kipos International going, it is not her passion. She is a resourceful woman who is stronger than she lets on, and only a small handful of people know that she is attracted to a man that she grew up with but has been forbidden to associate with, Hagen Lykaios.

Hagan Lykaios is a dark man who has a past but is a powerful business man. He is obsessed with Sapphire, his name for her. He has been for years, but he feels that he is not good enough for her and that he should stay away from her, but he can’t. Hagan wants Sapphire and he wants to corrupt her, little does he know that she is not as innocent as he thinks she is. She is innocent in some ways, but her secrets show that she is more than a beautiful business woman. She is also very smart and resourceful.

I loved this story. It has a wonderful group of characters and the heroine is a sexy, smart, beautiful, rich woman who knows how to take care of herself, and hates to have someone take care of her. She also has a hard time giving that job to anyone other than her group of women that she travels with. Hagan is a sexy, alpha who believes that he is better off alone, but he learns that once he has had Penny he can’t let her go. The chemistry between these two is off the charts hot and so sexy.

I give this story a 5-star review and recommend it to readers who like to read about sexy business women who know how to make a man kneel at their feet and be their everything. I look forward to more about the Lykaios brothers and Penny’s brother Adrian. I have a feeling these men are going to fall hard, just like Hagan did.

Eleanor Laing finds herself in a situation where she needs to find a place to stay. She needs to leave her live in boyfriend or she will not be around any longer to be able to live a happy healthy life. Her best friend and boss, Zak has suggested that she go to stay with her best friend in the United States for a while to recover and get back on her feet. Eleanor’s family lived in the Kansas for a few years where she met Sandy and her family. They became best friends and still keep in touch regularly. Eleanor’s family moved back to England when she was a teen, but the connection between Eleanor and Sandy was too strong to end. Eleanor always looked at Sandy’s family as her second family and felt that she would be able to heal being surrounded by them. Not only does tragedy strike Eleanor at home, but her best friend Sandy goes through a tragic time as well, and Eleanor goes back to Kansas to be there for Sandy.

Ben, Sandy’s older brother was always around when the girls were younger and they both always looked up to him. He is a kindhearted man who even now that he is in a famous country band, is still kind and down to earth. Eleanor and Ben will put in a situation where their friendship starts to change. Ben has his own relationship issues, and is not in the market for a new relationship.

This was a story of two people who have to overcome issues to find their true future and happily ever after. Their paths will cross multiple times before they figure out that they are meant to be. Even with the rough parts of relationships that they encounter, this is a sweet story of two people who move from friendship to love.

I liked the book. This was my first book by Maxine Morrey. I found the story to be a wordy and hard to keep interested at times. It seemed to have a long stretch of time before the couple found themselves together. They spent years away from each other but there didn’t seem to be much about what they were doing during that time. I give the book a 3.5-star review and would recommend it to readers who enjoy sweet contemporary romance, although there is a little darkness in the beginning.

Kelly Roth, a profiler for the FBI Behavioral Science Unit. She is called in on a case in her home state of NY in the same area she grew up. She left NY after she was attacked just before going to college. She lives a solitaire life in Virginia working for the FBI. She likes her life where she keeps to herself and does her job. She hasn’t been in the field much and this case will give her that experience as well as bring her back home.  Kelly meets up with the area police that are working the cases in the three different counties where women were murdered and left to be found by whomever might stumble upon them in local parks near their homes.

As Kelly begins to create her profile and meet with the investigators on the cases, she has to prove her theories to the investigators. She is the only FBI agent on the case after three deaths and the media tagging the murders as the Park Killer victims. When a fourth victim is found still breathing, Kelly calls her boss and asks for help and a larger team to find the killer.

The only way these cases seem to be connected are due to the way the victims have been killed, the victims are women and one child. One of the women is pregnant, but the women or families are not known to each other. Kelly has to figure out how the victims are selected.

The was the first book I’ve read by T. J. Brearton. It was full of suspense and a twist at the end. I really liked it and was surprised at who the killer was and how he acted. I give this story a 4.5-star review and recommend it to any reader who likes police procedural, suspense, crime, or detective stories, and stories with a twist at the end. It was a great story and sucked me in from the first page and wouldn’t let go until I finished the final chapter. I love a story that will pull in so quickly and keep me there.

Wow! Talk about a story with intense heat!

This was my first book by Fiona Murphy, but I’m pretty sure it won’t by my last. A story of intense heat between Cesare Sabatini and Alicia Jeffries. Two people from different lives, but the same.

Cesare Sabatini (pronounced Chezeray), is now a real estate tycoon, but he came from a struggling family. He is the old of three boys that were on their own from a young teenage life. He raised his brothers and they made billions in real estate and own most of Chicago now. After the tragedy of his parent’s deaths he has sworn off marriage and commitment. The first time he saw Alicia there was heat from first sight.

Alicia Jeffries came from a tough childhood too. She is not a petite woman and she has settled into being alone for life. She works as a secretary and takes on making quilts to sell to help support her and her sister. She gets the opportunity for a job that will help her with her support she gives her sister Bethany for college. She’s offered a position as a personal assistant to Dante Sabatini, Cesare’s younger brother. She’s a little warry of taking the position, but she figures it will help her financially.

Cesare and Alicia fight their attraction for a while, but after Alicia makes a decision that could get her into a lot of trouble to help out her sister, Bethany, Cesare decides that it is an opportunity for him to make her his. Alicia is regretful that she made the decision, but she is happy it finally made Cesare take the chance she has been wanting since the first time she saw him.

I loved this story and hated to put it down to go to bed or do anything. It is an intensely hot story between these two. Alicia brings out the soft side of Cesare and he finds happiness in life again. I am already excited for the next book. I give this book a 4.5-star review and highly recommend it to readers who like stories about Alpha men who are brought to their knees by one woman.

Bronson Warner is a PI who works mostly on cases pro-bono. A retired special forces guy, his goal in life now is to serve and protect those who can protect themselves or who need that person who can give them the support they need. He is over encumbered with cases, but he hates to refuse anyone who comes to him looking for his help. He has a small circle of friends and a twin brother that are his family, but he doesn’t let people in easily. A result of his father’s serial marriages and lack of care for the kids he fathered with each wife. His latest case could be the case that changes his life and brings chaos to his life.

Becca Galbraith is a young woman who has skated through life without a care in the world. She was born rich and has never had to work for anything in her life. She was always daddy’s little girl and knew that anything she wanted she could have. She is spoiled and entitled, but the disappearance of her father and a death in his inner circle causes her to question her entire life and family. She needs answers and will go as far as she can to find them. She hires Bronson and they concoct a scheme to get answers, but their scheme could back fire on them.

I liked this book. It was suspenseful and a great story of two people who will go to the ends of the earth to protect the ones they love and to find out the truth of what is going on. Bronson and Becca bring out the best parts of each other and they’re a great team.

This was a new writing trope for Jami Davenport, as most of her stories are sports romance, sexy contemporary, or new adult. Gone Missing is her new series and her foray into Romantic Suspense. She has done a great job with it. The pages turned easily and quickly in this story and kept my interest all the way through. I give Gone Missing a 4-star review and highly recommend it to readers who enjoy Romantic Suspense, alpha males who will do anything to protect the ones he loves, and women who are sassy, classy and strong.

A tragic love story of two people who have been in each other’s lives forever, but they can’t seem to find a way to keep the love that they both feel for each other.

Jimmy “James” Crawford grew up on a mountain side in Virginia and had to fight for everything he had. A rough childhood for him and his best friend creates a strong bond, but the struggles of childhood for his best friend, Lilah, are too much for her to bear. Jimmy did what he could to help Lilah when they were children, and he continues to take care of her now that they are adults, but her destructive behavior can ruin them. Jimmy has the chance to make his life better. His life has taken a path of fame now that he is an actor and has just been signed on as the lead for a big movie. He is now headed on the A-List of actors, but Lilah’s destructive behavior and her troubles could ruin it all for him.

Lilah is a model now, but she is spinning out of control and her future as a model does not look for her. She needs to numb herself daily to keep the demons of her childhood suppressed. She’ll have to hit bottom before she can find herself and begin to come out of the dust and have a good life. She keeps hurting Jimmy, but she hates to let him go because he’s all she has left in her life that is good. She wants to be her best and she finally realizes her love for Jimmy, but the world that they live in can be destructive and cruel.

I was crushed by this story. The love of Jimmy and Lilah is strong, but their troubled childhood and the world of Hollywood glam is working against them and destroying their lives further. I wanted to crawl into the book and kick butt at the end. I am ready for the next book to find out how their lives will turn out and hope that Jimmy will give Lilah a chance to explain. I also hope that Lilah doesn’t go back to old ways because she is crushed again. I give this story a 4-star review and look forward to more of Jimmy and Lilah’s story. If you like a tragic love story this is a story for you to read, just have tissues nearby.