Riding Steele (Ready to Ride #3) by Opal Carew

 Being kidnapped by bikers is a harrowing experience, but for some reason, Laurie doesn’t feel as terrified as she should.  The leader’s steely eyes soften when he looks at her, and the others in his gang clearly know she’s hands off.  But does that include Steele's hands?  Her brain resists him, but her body insists she wants those big hands all over her.

Steele doesn’t know how he wound up in this mess—with a kidnapped woman on his hands and the police hot on their trail.  Now he and Laurie are in hiding at an isolated cabin, and Steele has to figure out how to extricate himself...and steer clear of his accidental captive whose tight, slinky clubbing attire is making him think all kinds of dangerous thoughts…

Laura has been kidnapped by bikers.  Big, mean, smelly bikers. Kidnapping tends to change your life a bit, but not how Laura thought it would.  Not when she meets the sexy leady Steele.  Will the captor fall for the captive?

This is a short story that is part of a six-part series.  It is pure and absolute fantasy because I can’t imagine this scenario working out in real life on any level at all.  But, for what it is I found it to be intriguing.  It’s a sexy book with a lot of very sexy scenes that really pushes the vanilla envelop.  I don’t think this book is for the faint of heart because this a pretty hard core story that has some, um, wild sex acts involved in it.  But it’s also a story of a woman’s self-discovery, which is an interesting layer to the story.

I’ll just put it out there that I am not a fan of serials.  This has nothing to do with the quality of the story, but I feel like it’s just a marketing ploy.  I don’t understand why it can’t just be one book or even two.  That always annoys me. 

I had some issues with the pace of the story, but with such a limited amount of space to work with I suppose it’s unavoidable.  The MC in this book didn’t really seem very realistic to me either.  Of course, my expertise is limited to other MC books I read, but the lines in this club were very blurred between who was supposed to be in charge and the other members.  Not very gang like.

Overall, I did like this book but I had some issues with it.  I have to give it 3 stars.

Wow! This was a HOT and fun read!! Steele and his MC gang are recruited to kidnap a friend’s sister to protect her from her sketchy boyfriend. Donovan, the boyfriend, is controlling, manipulative, and abusive to Laurie and shows his true colors when confronted by Wild Card (one of the gang). Steele just wanted to keep an eye on the girl, but Wild Card has no choice but to save her from further abuse and takes her to a deserted cabin the guys are all staying at.  She tries to escape multiple times to no avail.

Steele comes home from celebrating his birthday and thinks the girl in his bed is his present. But, no, it’s Laurie and she is handcuffed and scared to be alone in the room with the big, sexy biker. The sexual tension between the two is off the charts!! Steele tries to prove that he is not going to hurt Laurie, but she doesn’t believe him.  On one of her escape attempts, she goes to the swimming hole where Raven, Rip’s girlfriend (but everyone is allowed to play with her) and thinks Raven is being attacked by 2 men. She runs to Steele for help and the scene turns SPICY! LOVE that particular scene the most in this book!

Steele has to keep Laurie safe until her brother gets back to town. While, this may seem like a typical good girl/bad boy love story, their chemistry is off the charts and they eventually have some fun while waiting.

This is a fantastic read! I recommend it to anyone that loves a quick, spicy, fun story! 

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Captive (Captive #1) by Brighton Walsh

 He’s the most dangerous man she’s ever met…and she’s falling in love with him.

Madison Frost is desperate to escape her life. Daughter of a prominent businessman, she has everything a girl could ask for. Except for a family who’s present in her life, and anyone to talk to outside the four walls of the prison she calls home. Madison dreams of one day leaving her life behind. She never thought being kidnapped is how it would happen.

Now she’s being held captive by a man who’s as frightening as he is sinfully gorgeous. Enormous, muscular, and filled with secrets, the man they call Ghost is an enigmatic mercenary, and Madison is trapped with him. She doesn’t know who hired him or why, but the more time she spends at his mercy, the more she realizes he’s not what he seems. Beneath his rough exterior lies an unexpected gentleness and a heart as broken and battered as her own.

But as Madison lets down her walls, Ghost holds tight to his, hiding secrets that could destroy everything.

Dark romance books are, in my opinion, a difficult genre to do well.  They can really go into “too much” territory when it comes to violence and that I am not a fan of.  When done well, though, they can make you sympathetic towards a character that you have every reason to hate and that is when the genre really shines.

Madison is from a wealthy family, and she seems to have it all.  But really, she’s lonely and in a gilded cage.  Her father is a workaholic, her mother is an alcoholic and Madison is at rock bottom.  Then she gets kidnapped and it changes her whole world.  She is taken to a cabin in the middle of nowhere by a man named Ghost.  He’s a professional criminal and is doing this job just for the dough, but this job turns into more than he could have anticipated.

Ghost has some surprising redeeming qualities.  He’s a criminal, sure, but kidnapping women has never been something he was willing to do…until now.  He and Madison find that they have a lot in common and what I really liked about Ghost was just how incredibly real he came across.  These kinds of books have a really tendency to go way far out into lala land when it comes to the leading men, but I found Ghost to be troubled, sure, but he’s not actually a bad guy.

I also really liked the buildup between Ghost and Madison.  It was slow and it really worked for me.  It built anticipation and overall I thought this was a fantastic read and a great addition to the captor/captive dark romance.  Give it a try! 4 stars.

As the popularity of captive-theme books have been on the rise the past few years, I wasn’t sure what to expect from Captive – a dark romance, a Stockholm syndrome romance, a romantic suspense, or a poorly executed story because the author couldn’t pick a direction. Ms. Walsh had no problem with her execution of Captive and delivered a well-written new adult romance that actually showed how two people can be trapped in similar situations despite huge disparities in their socioeconomic status. Captive is not a dark romance nor is the relationship that develops between Madison and Gage (aka Ghost) the result of Stockholm syndrome, and while there is a bit of suspense regarding who is behind Madison’s kidnapping, it is ultimately a romance.

From the outside, it looks as though Maddie leads a charmed life as the daughter of a wealthy businessman. But the reader learns almost immediately that Maddie’s life is not as perfect as it appears when she discovers her mother passed out drunk on the bathroom floor and it’s clear it’s not the first time Maddie has faced the prospect that her mother didn’t survive her night of drinking. As his corporation is more important than his family, Maddie’s father is of no help and she must call on Sylvia, their housekeeper, to help with her mother. Despite her family’s wealth, the only person in Maddie’s life that cares about her is Sylvia and she’s paid to be there, and that just made me feel sad for Maddie. I must admit that even knowing that Maddie was going to be kidnapped, I really didn’t expect it to occur so soon in the book. After all, the girl had a craptastic morning and to have her day end with being kidnapped just seemed to be too much for anyone to have to deal with. But I will say she handled it far better than I would have expected, especially when faced with the outright intimidating Ghost, particularly when she attempted to escape.

One of the things I enjoyed about Captive is that it is told from both Maddie and Gage’s points of view and having access to Gage’s inner thoughts helped a LOT because knowing that he had no interest in harming her made it easier to enjoy watching the romance unfold. Because we’re looking at a captor-captive relationship, there are no grand gestures or slow seductions that we would see in a typical romance, but rather it is the simple acts of human kindness on Gage’s part that leads the affection-starved Maddie to look beyond the tattoos, muscles, and cold eyes to the man inside – the man whose actions cause her to feel safe. I appreciated that there were no proclamations of love from either party after being together for only a few days; rather they spoke of connections, feeling safe, and feeling protected. There is a definite suspense element to the storyline as Gage refuses to tell Maddie who is behind her kidnapping but it is not the driving theme of the book and although I didn’t consider it predictable, I did have a very strong suspicion as to who the responsible party was before the reveal confirmed it. Captive is a fast-paced read with a bit of action, a bit of suspense, just the right amount of sexy fun times, and a whole lot of romance. It was a very enjoyable read and I’m looking forward to the sequel, Exposed, for Riley’s story.

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Royal Mates: Love's Diamond 1 & 2 by Lyssa Samuels

 Merek Sorenson is a king with a problem. His world is in unrest, and the Legari warriors are hunting him and his brothers for extermination.

Vance Morrow is a mechanic who spends his Saturdays with his buddies playing baseball. Meeting Merek has raised hope within his heart. He feels an incredible pull to the loving man who has brought kindness, happiness, and downright need back into his life.

Merek has waited for his aheri, his destined mate, his entire life. The love Merek has for Vance is soul deep. He knows he must reveal who he is and the danger that follows him. He prays Vance will want to bond with him and will be open to the fact that the men of Merek’s world can become pregnant. He aches to hold Vance in his arms forever, bring him home to rule beside him on Sanzel, and create children with him that they can nurture and love.

 

 

 

This story was one that caught me completely off guard with how much I loved the story.  For me to cry while reading a book, shows a lot of how great of a story it is.  And trust me, I cried like a baby in this story.

Not bad crying, but good crying. The type of crying that a person has when they are sooooo happy and pleased, which was totally the case with this story. I thought that the characters that Ms. Samuels created were so well thought out, and so individual, I just couldn’t get enough of them.

And it wasn’t even the main characters, but also the secondary characters as well.  They were all so amazing and Ms. Samuels leaves you enough hints as to what to expect in the future books.

Overall, I think that this was a great start to a new series, and I can’t wait to start the next book and find out what happens there!

 

This book has several characters that all play an important role by the two main MC’s are Merek, King of Sanzel, who has come to earth with his brothers to find their mates. And Vance, a mechanic that has lived in the same small town his whole like, just waiting for the right man to come into his life to love him as much as he knows he wants and deserves.  Every Saturday Vance and his best friends play baseball and for the last few weeks he has noticed a very handsome guy watching him. Finally this guy starts wondering past the auto shop and they start a conversation. Slowly, Merek starts wooing Vance in a way that Vance has never been treated before. But can this be real? Can Vance really believe? And can Merek trust his aheri, to listen, love and want the same things that he wants?

This is my first time reading this author and WOW was I hooked. The old world charm that Merek pulls out to woo Vance swoon, brining him food, drink at work so he will stay nourished. The undying faith that Vance has to have not only to believe in Merek, but to believe in himself, that he deserves this chance at happiness, finally. The chemistry between these two, you can feel coming off the pages.  The way Vance automatically wants to protect Merek even without understanding way. All makes for an amazing read. Jumping into book 2.

 

 

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Prince Magnus Sorenson is a warrior who is used to the isolated life of a soldier. He is responsible for the safety of his royal family and their subjects and is haunted by his failure to protect his parents. Magnus never expected to find his aheri—his beloved mate. He didn’t deserve him.

Archer Stockton is a humble carpenter who plays baseball with his buddies on the weekends. Archie is a gentle giant with a pure heart who was beaten by his father for being gay, causing him to have to learn to talk, read, and walk again. He knew he wasn’t much of a catch. Mag deserved better.

Magnus knows Archer is perfect for him. Archer brings love and gentleness into his life. Miraculously, Archer can see through the glamour of Mag’s world. He also sees the beauty of their future and the babies they will have together. Magnus is a soldier who is afraid. Afraid to hope.

****WARNING****

BE SURE TO HAVE LOTS OF TISSUES WHILE READING THIS BOOK!

Archie.  Sweet amazing Archie.  If I had to say one reason, and only one reason to read this book, I would say that it has to be because of Archie.  That man is everything that a person hopes for in a partner, and in a friend.

This book was so packed with emotion, and love that I just couldn’t get enough of it.  This book has become one of my favorite books that I have read so far this year, and it will take a lot to top this book because of the emotions that Ms. Samuels was able to pack into the story, and the love as well, it was just great.

I did like that we were still able to catch up with Merek and Vance as well in this book.  Their story didn’t overtake the story between Archie and Magnus by any means, but it was nice to find out what they were up too.

Overall, this is another great book in this series and I just can’t wait to start reading book 3! 

This is the second in the series, and should be read in order.

Prince Magnus is a warrior, the best and although he was also sent to Earth he knows he will not find he’s mate and he doesn’t deserve to even if he does. Being a soldier, he has done some things that are unforgivable and feels that no mate should be saddled with someone as unwanted or as undesirable as himself. Archer, Archie, is a simple man. At a young age he came out to his father and that man beat him it an inch of his life. That beating left Archie, with brain damage with makes him learn a little slower, forget things but also makes him very sensitive to himself and the world around him. A big man by nature and carpenter by trade he is a big man, so has found men like the size but that’s all, no one wants to bother with slow, dumb, jock. This has lead him to turn into himself and his friends for company and stay away from intimate relationships.  Until he meets Magnus, One look and he knows that Magnus is his. Know he just has to convince the name he is worthily or is he convincing himself?

I think I’m still crying this book should be sold with virtual tissues. Archie is an amazing character. It’s been a long time since I’ve read a MC that has affected me that way. If I could find his hatful father, I would also… well anyway. And Magnus such guilt, such pain, the way these two heal each other and the people around them. The way these two just complement each other, and the way that everyone around Archie just falls under his spell. I know I sure did.

 It’s a great second in what appears is going to be a magical series.

 

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