If you like Fifty Shades of Gray, then read this

Mar15

In my opinion, these are all one heart stories. I know that other people might have a different view. The main reason why I did not like these stories is because I am not into the extreme dom/sub behavior. I do not understand the desire to be totally controlled, punished, humiliated all in the name of love? It is not that I am totally against soft bondage per se (difference between silk ties and handcuffs) in a storyline, but the dom’s attitude has a lot to do with how it colors the whole story. The commanding do-what-I-tell-you-to-do attitude is a major turn off. In my view, physical violence has no place in a healthy loving relationship.

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Yes, Mr. Collins (Natasha and Mr. Collins) ♥ by Anna Antonia (writing as Charlotte deCorte):

Synopsis from Amazon: Brilliant, yet demanding, billionaire boss Mr. Collins will stop at nothing to get his assistant Natasha Reynolds.

Opinion: Natasha should have sued Mr Collins for creating a hostile work environment and for sexually harassing her. Part of the time, I think he forced her into do things because he was her boss. In some twisted way, the author wants to reader to believe his controlling attitude was supposed to turn her on.

Heidi and the Kaiser (Alpha Boss Secretary Office Romance) ♥ by Selena Kitt:

Synopsis from Amazon: When wanna-be designer Heidi accidentally stains fashion mogul Warren Kaiser’s pants, she gets two things she didn’t expect.

Opinion: Kaiser was a supreme TOOL and JERK. Heidi needs her head examined to be for not filing a law suit. Seriously!?!? Why is she willing to do whatever he asks her to do even when her conscious tells her otherwise? Kaiser became her pimp and she was his number one ho. That is not romance.

What He Wants (A sexy New Adult romance) (My Alpha Billionaire) ♥ by Tawny Taylor

Synopsis from Amazon: Billionaire Shane Trant always gets what he wants. He wants Bristol Deatrich, but only complete possession .

Opinion: I read some other books by Tawny Taylor and I was not prepared for the way the story developed. Thankfully in this book, this was not a boss/employee unhealthy relationship. But it was creepy story to me for other reasons. Shane was a friend of the family years ago. She used to call him “Uncle”. Now that she is “all grown up”, he is going to make a move? But he wants to know if she is trust him enough to be his sub. He has an entire room with devices dedicated to him twisted desires. All that was going through my mind was wondering if he lusted after her before he lost contact with her family. She would have been underage and he would have been a perv.

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Why did I choose these books? I was on a billionaire romance kick, and bought all of these in addition to some others. I was looking for light cheesy romances. These were some of the darker, twisted ones that I skipped through most of the book because I was not entertained. These were more about sex than romance. It is not that I do not like a good, steamy love scene, but I want there to be more to the story than that.

I do realize that other readers (especially those who loved Fifty Shades of Gray) will probably give these 5 hearts for being steamy billionaire romances.

In her shadow is a thriller

Mar5

In Her Shadow ♥♥♥

Synopsis
Claire Fiksen’s parents died on her birthday. She does not like celebrating her birthday because that was the day when she lost both of her parents. So when someone sends her a birthday cake in celebration, she knows someone is toying with her. She cannot understand why someone would intentionally be so cruel.

Meanwhile, the story jumps between Claire and another person who is being held captive.

Opinion:
For most of the book, I wondered how the two stories were going to come together.

What could Claire possibly have in common with this other person?

Additionally, there were parts of Claire’s story told from the point of view of the person who is intent on harming Claire. I was trying to figure out who this twisted person was as well.

With everything that is going on, Claire begins to question her own mental stability. She senses that looking for answers about the death of parents will help her to find peace of mind. The answers she finds will blow you away. With mysteries, I like to try to figure out who is the villain before the author reveals them. I could not guess what was going to happen before it happened. So I think what I am trying to say is that means August did a good job of creating a convincing end-of-my-seat thriller.

I do not usually read thrillers because I like happy endings. With thrillers and so much suspense, there is a chance that the author’s idea of a twist is that the ending will be a cliffhanger or some ironic situation that is frustrating. The ending for In Her Shadow was satisfying to me. When I finished the book, I was like

I was not prepared at all.

In Her Shadow is worth the read, especially if you like thrillers. The story seems disjointed at time because there are a lot of different elements at work. Keep patient and the ending will be worth the time spent.

Perfect fit romance

Feb20

Perfect Fit ♥♥♥

Synopsis:

Gabe was burned by a woman he thought he loved when she left him for her ex-boyfriend. Sage was burned by her father and fiancé on the same day. It was a double whammy. Hence the reason Gabe and Sage are perfect for each: they are both emotionally damaged goods

While Sage has condemned all men as being untrustworthy, Gabe is searching of a woman with no issues. Both are reluctant to begin a relationship. Of course, their attraction to each other is greater than their willpower.

Opinion:

This story was longer than most of the Brenda Jackson books that I have already read. I think it was the most different as well. Most notably, there were not that many steamy love scenes in this book. The focus was mainly on the external forces that created the emotional trust issues for each character.

It especially dealt with Sage’s lack of confidence that a man could be trustworthy. If she was going to fall in love, she was going to have to resolve a lot of issues. In her defense, if my fiancé betrayed my trust like hers did, I would feel like I had been kicked in the stomach. And while reeling from that, her father’s actions were equally debauched. I would be sick, disgusted, and done with men in general.

It seemed that Perfect Fit was the most realistic love story from Brenda Jackson in the sense that the fairy tale element was missing. Two very imperfect characters, with so many trust issues, did not want believe that the other person was sincere. But when they finally opened their hearts to each other, they could be happy ever after.

Over all, Perfect Fit was not the hottest romance, but most true to life.

Click any of the links to buy Perfect Fit on Amazon

Her foolish not wicked ways

Feb15

Her Wicked Ways (Secrets & Scandals) ♥♥♥

Synopsis

Miranda is a bored, spoiled girl from a rich family. Her parents find her misbehavior unbecoming of a young lady and banish her from London to the countryside to stay with her cousin and learn some propriety. She is supposed to stay until she has learned her lesson.

Foxcroft (Fox) is trying to manage a massive house with hundreds of acres and an orphanage using little income. He resorts to illegal means and justifies his spoils since he is like Robin Hood. He needs to marry an heiress to have the funds to support all those in his care.

My Opinion

The book should have been called “Her irresponsible/foolish/imprudent ways”. Curiosity may have killed the cat, but in Miranda’s case, it almost ruined her reputation. There was no explanation into her foolhardy behavior. Since she was determined to do what she was previously told not to do, she had a penchant for getting into sticky situations without thinking about the consequences. Miranda was a self-centered brat that was used to getting her way and hoping that her parents would overlook her indiscretions.

I do not know what to say about Fox. He had noble goals but I think he could have gone about it a different way.

In the end, Miranda was less self-centered due to her interaction at the orphanage. As for the romance, I did not think that Miranda was mature enough to handle a relationship. Fox was a little endearing since he was caring for the orphans, but that is about all he had going for him. Why Fox fell in love for such an immature chit of a girl is beyond me.

Her Wicked Ways was not too long, probably taking about a day to read. The story was okay. Not the best, but not the worst either. Miranda’s character lacks common sense, so that might annoy some readers. A few times, I thought she was an idiot for her behavior. However, if you are looking for a Victorian-era romance, you might like this book.

Catching a Greek Billionaire is easier than expected

Feb10

The Art of Catching a Greek Billionaire by Marian Tee ♥♥

Available on Amazon in Billionaire Bad Boys of Romance Boxed Set (10 Book Bundle)

Synopsis:

Mairi knew from her teenage years that she wanted to marry a Greek billionaire. She decided that she wanted to marry a billionaire, more specifically a Greek one, because her aunts read her Harlequin romance novels as bedtime stories. So that means she is not a gold digger right? More on that later… She gets a job teaching in Greece at an international school so that her Greek billionaire love can find her.

Damen is a deliciously handsome Greek billionaire who is the brother of one of Mairi’s students. He sees Mairi and has to have her. Since there is some serious chemistry and he does not have mistress, he is on the prowl for pretty young body to warm his bed.

My Opinion:

Mairi’s views are the product of unintentional, well-meaning, but irresponsible parenting. Her aunts tried to instill an optimistic view of life and in her ability to succeed in whatever tasks she set to achieve. They neglected to introduce her to realities of life as it relates to men. As a result she is trying to recreate a romance novel as real life (even as I write this I do realize that this story is not real, but I digress). In her mind, it is okay to target a billionaire because that is part of making her dream relationship come to life.

I will admit that there are fairytale-like stories where a super wealthy, uber-hot man might marry a woman of average financial status (google George Lucas new wife- he’s not uber hot but he is super rich). However, if the woman made it her goal to “catch” the aforementioned man partially based on his wealth, she is a GOLD DIGGER! Trying to deny that fact would be like saying Julia Roberts’ character in Pretty Woman was not a prostitute. It does not matter how nice she is or what she plans to do with all that money once she is married. Marry for love and not his bank account. Mairi could be the poster child for the reason rich men need pre-nups.

This book did not have a happy-ever-after ending and I am glad. However, I did not realize that this was the first book in a series. You should know by now my feelings towards authors that drag a story out into multiple books. Ughhh! So probably by the end of the series, Mairi and Damen will probably be a couple. I do not know how I feel about the gold digger potentially coming out on top (no pun intended) and being achieving her goal.

Overall, I probably will not read the rest of the books to finish the story since Mairi annoyed me. She is looking for external forces, more particularly wealth, to bring her happiness. Damen was typical alpa-male that was used to getting what he wanted. As arrogant as he was, I did not dislike him but he was not at the top of my list of favorite heroes either.