Start Crossed 18+

The following review is for 18+ readers.

 

 Heavyweight MMA fighter, Romeo Wellings comes from the hard streets of New York where his family ties to the mafia cause him nothing but pain. His life takes a surprising detour when he crosses paths with the twin sister of his long time enemy. After a steamy one-night stand, he faces the fight of his life, but it’s not in the cage. The secret relationship that blooms between Romeo and his real life Juliet has him battling his family and a dark past rather than let her go. 


The only lawyer in her hometown of Garnet, Jules Conner is also a volunteer Sheriff’s deputy and co-owner of a successful MMA training center. Strong and dependable, Jules is always there for those who need her. Until one forbidden night in Las Vegas with Romeo leaves her feeling so alive she can’t stop reaching out to the sexy, bad boy of MMA, even knowing the forbidden love affair could jeopardize everything.


As the tide rises against them and the people they love work at keeping them apart, Romeo and Jules hold onto a dream for a better life together and vow to go down fighting rather than accept a tragic ending.

Review

This is the second book of Kele Moon's Battered Hearts Series.
I really enjoyed the first book with all It's sweet sugary goodness, but let me tell you it truly pales in comparison to this modern day Romeo and Juliet tale.
Romeo is a wonderful man, and outsider , considered apart of the wrong family. Having to practically raise his half brothers who just so happen to have the father from hell, son of a New York Mafia head. He has done what he could to keep his brothers safe, and I just loved him for it. I have to admit that I loved Nova more, something about Mafia boys, there is a reason that Michael Corleone is one of my favorite book hero's ever!! But that is another tragic tale. Tino was adorable and I really hope those two boys get their own books.
I did truly love this tale, the two opposing families, Mafia vs the law, how Romeo and Juliet just couldn't seem to stop falling in love anyway.
The sexy steaminess of it all, I said it in my updates but I will say it again, I don't think I have ever been turned on with the idea phone sex, but this book surely did it for me, whoooeeeee! Romeo's and Juliets sex talk was awesome and amusing. Loved the scene with the big boy condoms, that made me laugh out loud, all in all I just wanted to lick Romeo all over and maybe let him lick me too:-)
So I am now eagerly awaiting the next book in this series to be released because this series is awesome.
Also this is just what I was needing, like I said I love books with Mafia boys, family crime, but with a bit of romance thrown in there. That's what I thought I was getting when I started 12 Rounds just recently. But that book just finished when the going was getting good, so this one filled the void really well and since it's still a while before I can get my hands on Ren and Ali's story from KA it will have to hold me over, and I think it will:-)

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Kristen Ashley

 

About the Author

Kristen Ashley was born in Gary, Indiana, USA. She nearly killed her mother and herself making it into the world, seeing as she had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck (already attempting to accessorise and she hadn't taken her first breath!).  Kristen grew up in Brownsburg, Indiana but has lived in Denver, Colorado and the West Country of England. Thus she has been blessed to have friends and family around the globe. Her posse is loopy (to say the least) but loopy is good when you want to write. Kristen was raised in a house with a large and multi-generational family. They lived on a very small farm in a small town in the heartland and existed amongst the strains of Glenn Miller, The Everly Brothers, REO Speedwagon and Whitesnake (and the wardrobes that matched). Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music, clothes and love was a good way to grow up.  And as she keeps growing up, it keeps getting better.   

Where to Find Kristen          

Goodreads  Kristen Ashley  Facebook  Twitter  

Books

Based in Denver, the Rock Chick Series is eight books that take you on the wild ride of the courtships of the Rock Chicks and the Hot Bunch.

    Rock Chick 8, Not Yet Released

Dream Man 

 

Colorado Mountain Series 

 The Colorado Mountain Series takes place in two fictional Colorado towns situated close to each other, Gnaw Bone and Carnal. This series that will be six novels follows the stories of six connected men on their rocky road to second chances.

The 'Burg Series

 Based in my hometown of Brownsburg, Indiana, The 'Burg Series will be six books following the interweaving tales of friends, family, love and crime in a small town.
 

Unfinished Hero Series

The Unfinished Hero Series is very new (first book published in April 2012) and as yet, I have not quite decided how many books will make up this series. At the very least, it will be three. Perhaps five. However, these stories will be interweaving. They are also not my usual steamy romances, they are erotic romances. Not erotica, as such, but the sex in these books, starting with Knight is quite explicit and explores the intricacies of love and trust in a relationship including sexually. As the tales unfold, I don't know how this will continue. However, as it stands in my head, this series will continue to explore these themes however they come about for my characters. That said, these are love stories. It isn't about sex, it is about happily ever after. As always. And last, one final warning, the heroes of these books are anti-heroes. They are good men who do bad things. They have their reasons. They have their own codes. They may seek (and find) redemption. Or they may not. They simply are who they are, do what they do and find love along the way

 

Ghosts and Reincarnation Series

An important FYI: Three books in my Ghosts and Reincarnation Series take place in my favorite National Trust properties. Penmort Castle is based on Dunster Castle. Sommersgate House takes place in a property based on Tyntesfield. And Lacybourne Manor in one based on Clevedon Court. If you ever have the opportunity, my strong recommendation is to see these beautiful properties and hopefully, one day, you can read these books that fictionally take place in them. To learn more about The National Trust, go to: www.nationaltrust.org.uk(less)
 

Fantasyland Series

The Fantasyland Series will be a series of five novels that take place in our world and a parellel universe where fantasies are true... but perhaps not all you would expect.

 

The Three Series

The Three Series will be a trilogy which follow the three couples, mixtures of immortal and mortal, prophesied to save humanity. We start with a vampire and a human. We move onto werewolves. And after that... surprise!

 

Heaven and Hell Series

  

Mathilda's Book of Shadows Series

 

Books not in series

 

 

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Beautifully Damaged 18+

The following review is for 18+ readers

 

  

Ember Walsh was always the quiet one, enjoying a book and a glass of wine over the noise and crowds of a club, but when her best friend asks her to come out and meet the boy she likes Ember's world is turned upside down. He appears like a mythical avenging angel, inked, gorgeous and completely out of her league but one look and Ember no longer wants the quiet, she wants him.

Trace Montgomery has buried his damaged past with women and fighting until one day he meets an angel and suddenly he wants more, he wants her. For her, he's determined to overcome his demons but will the dark secret that links their pasts bring them closer or will it tear them apart.

Review

Ember had a pretty good childhood, despite her mother dying when she was young; she had a wonderful father and his friends to raise her. She moves to New York to become a writer, gets a job at a restaurant while rooming with her best friend Lena. One night she goes to a club to meet Lenas new boyfriend and ends up meeting Trace Montgomery. Trace is a big, tattooed, rich guy who fights in a gym to help him control his rage. Trace had a really bad childhood, he has a strict moral code and he doesn't do relationships. I am so incredibly in love with Beautifully Damaged. Ember is such a sweet girl, she is oblivious to how truly beautiful she is outside as well as in. She has a really messed up best friend, but she is still loyal to her to a fault. Trace, any words that I use to describe him will not do justice to this wonderfully broken man. He hurts himself and does things to Ember that are so wrong, yet he is doing them because he thinks that it is the right thing to do. Lena, Embers roommate/best friend, is a self centered, jealous slut; she puts Ember down to make herself feel better. She puts Ember in bad situations which result in Ember gaining a stalker/psychopath/would-be-rapist.  Rafe who is Traces best friend is a tough guy with a heart of gold, he has been friends with Trace a long time and he tries everything he can to keep the two together. Trent works at the restaurant with Ember and ends up becoming a great friend and ally to Ember. Ember also finds an unlikely ally when she goes on a date with Lucien, he gives her advice and they become good friends as well. Ember and Traces story is not a hearts and flowers story, its a honest, gritty, dark tale of two people with tragic pasts, self-destructive tendencies and dangerous obsessions trying find a way to get past everything and finally be able to just be happy and love each other.

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Soul Walker

  

I need to get you to the hospital." He was taking responsibility for me. Only my parents had that job. I stretched my hand out in protest, but the lack of depth perception had my trembling fingers grazing his overheated neck. I swore his whole body shook.
When five-year-old Anna Pierce is offered a chance to have nightmare-free nights for the small price of her voice, she jumps at it. Silence has to be better than all-consuming dreams about blood and death and fangy monsters. The bargain she strikes comes with a secondary benefit, visions of a person's future potential. The combination of visions and silence changes her very nature and soon she's diagnosed with autism. Twelve years of living in her head comes to a screeching halt the moment Peter Davis pulls her out of an icy river.
Her new life has her twirling, tiptoeing, and crashing through unfamiliar territory, one filled with a cranky grandma, a knocked up cousin, an unpleasant cousin, a bunch of mostly good vampires, and the boy who rescued her.
To top it all off, the deal she made at five is no more. Anna is expected to talk, to figure out her resurfacing nightmares, and to control her ever-growing powers. And she'd better get it done soon because if the good vamps want a piece of a living, breathing Touched girl, the evil ones simply want. They'll take Anna for their very own.

Review

****I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review****

When Anna was a young girl she had horrific nightmares, at five years old she is given a deal, no more nightmares if she stops talking. Anna keeps her end of the deal; she doesn't talk not even when her parents die on a rafting trip with her. She is rescued by a mysterious boy named Peter and has to move in with her Grandmother. Her nightmares come back, she has to start talking, deal with an off the wall family, finds out vampires do exist and they come in shades of gray. I really enjoyed this book and respect Robyn for inserting accurate and uncomfortable information in a book could have been just another YA vampire book. Anna is genuinely autistic, her parents have always been there to protect her and when they die she is left trying to find a way fit into society. You can tell that her Grandmother is uncomfortable and doesn't know how to react to Anna and while her cousin Betsy can have her catty moments her and Sara show that they love Anna. The rest of the characters in the story are mysterious, funny or just downright scary. The storyline was original and heartfelt. The writing itself was very good, the scenes fit together perfectly and the pace of the book was just right. My only problem with the book was some of the wording and terms used, it just didn't sit right with me and brought it from a solid five stars to four. Soul Walker is an original book that stands out in the growing sea of YA vampire books.

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Oxford Shadows Cover Reveal

 

(Trailer on the Right)

Title: Oxford Shadows (The Oxford Trilogy, # 2)

Author: Marion Croslydon

Expected release date: May 6^th, 2013

Age Group/Genre: New Adult Paranormal

Cover Designer: Phat Puppy Art, Photography by Teresa Yeh

Book trailer by: Studio22 Production

Goodreads: (Insert Goodreads badge and link to: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16270093-oxford-shadows)

Book Description:

When death is a new beginning and love an old curse.

Still recovering from her last tango with the afterlife, Louisiana-born Madison LeBon struggles not only with her life as an Oxford postgrad but also with her budding love for Rupert Vance, aristocrat extraordinaire. One thing is certain, though: she won’t run away from her powers anymore. From now on she’ll face the music …

… literally!

When a sixteenth-century ghost makes an appearance during a classical concert Madison attends and threatens her boyfriend’s family, she sets out to explore the dark mysteries of the Tudors, even if that means confronting their most royal and homicidal character.

Her plans take an unexpected turn when her voodoo heritage catches up with her. With horror, she understands what her fate was always meant to be.

The question now is: Can Rupert be part of it?

 

 

About the author

In addition to being an author, I work as an entrepreneur, wife and mother-of-one but spend a good deal of time with books, DVDs and listening to my mp3 player; all for the sake of inspiration, of course.

My debut series, The Oxford Trilogy, has been a blast to write because I can indulge in my favorite types of music: Country and English rock.

My main goal as a writer is to make readers dream bigger and cause their hearts to beat a little faster.

Since my writing is all about sharing dreams and stories, I love connecting with fellow readers and authors.

Marion Croslydon  Twitter Facebook