netgalley review | The Opinionated Woman's Musings

Dead Sexy Dragon (Dragon Heat) ♥♥♥♥

Stig is a dragon but has a human body most of the time. During certain phases, his body morphed into the dragon form. In an effort to control his inner beast, he chains himself in his basement. Cora is the little sister to Stig’s best friend. Although his friend died, Stig still considers Cora to be off limits for a number of reasons.

With her life in danger because of poor decision making on her part, Cora needs Stig’s help and hides out at his remotely located house. She feels safe with Stig. He is the strong silent loner type. While she is attracted to him, she is also frustrated because she seems to be stuck in the friend zone as his best friend’s “little sister”. Meanwhile, Stig is concerned that having Cora in close proximity will test the boundaries of his human control over his inner beast. It seems to be harder and harder to convince his subconscious that getting with Cora is a bad idea.

I loved this book. It was a steamy novella. The story was full of tastefully done love scenes, real and dream sequenced. That was to be expected considering Cora has the hots for him for years and Stig was in beast mode. The novel’s cover created an expectation that the story delivered (I’m a sucker for six pack abs—yum).

Even though it seems to be the popular thing, I do not like any paranormal story with demons, witches, vampires or werewolves. To me, this story’s genre is more of a fantasy romance than paranormal. That being said, I have not read many romances that deal with other worldly creatures because they can be cheesy. I read an alien-woman romance a while back, and it was painful how corny it was. But I digress… I was thoroughly entertained by this story because of the characters and their love connection. Plus, the story was fun.

I totally recommend Dead Sexy Dragon if you want something outside of the normal romance or if you like fantasy romance. I cannot wait to read more dragon series books from this author.

I received ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

The Marriage Bargain (Billionaire Games: Book 1) ♥♥♥♥

Julian is a French billionaire with a complex problem. He needs a wife in-name-only to convince his father why he cannot marry the woman who his father previously picked out for him. Camille is a not-so-successful actress who answers Julian’s ad for the role of her life. If she can convincingly play the part for 6 months, she may not win an Oscar, but she will be $5 million richer. Julian said she was perfect for the part, but Camille is not so sure she can pull it off.

She would have rejected the deal altogether, but circumstances beyond her control put her in a situation where she needs the money. Against her better judgment, she accepts the job because she knows that she does not have any options. Living it up in luxury for 6 months beats waiting tables to make ends meet. The hard part for Camille is reminding herself that none of the charade is real. I think most girls would swoon from a hot guy reading the phone book in French. So I know that Camille probably had stars in her eyes when Julian called her “cheri” and casually touched her affectionately as if it is second nature for him. I am sure the French accent was probably very sexy and charming too.

Meanwhile, Julian’s ex-girlfriend (the reason for the fake marriage in the first place) is in her ear shamelessly telling her that while Camille maybe the wife, SHE will be the mistress taking care of him. Seriously? Since when does mistress status upstage the legal rights of the wife? The ex-girlfriend did not know that Camille held all the cards.

There was a great cast of supporting characters that helped the story along. Besides the meddling father and jealous ex-girlfriend, it was great that Camille found an ally in her mother-in-law. And while I was not sure I would like her best friend, she ended up being a great friend as well.

Overall, I liked the book and the way it ended. Camille had her insecurities and that is what made her adorable. Julian might have got married for the wrong reasons, but he was lucky enough to marry the right woman. The way the book ended was too sweet. I was gushing and saying “Awwwwwwww”!

I have a soft spot for this typical fairy tale romance. It is in no way believable but the story is sweet without being corny. I think we all would like to believe there are uber-rich down-to-earth handsome men out there that fall for lower middle-class women who do not allow wealth to corrupt their outlook on life and how they treat people.

Everyone needs to buy The Marriage Bargain (Billionaire Games: Book 1) ! I like this author 🙂

Received a copy of The Marriage Bargain from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.