Tuesday

Review: Torrent by Gemma James


TorrentEbook 

Torrent

Author: Gemma James
Genre: New Adult/Dark Erotic Romance
Release Date: July 22, 2014

SYNOPSIS:

I’ve been obsessed with Rafe Mason since I was thirteen. The messed up part about this story is that I still want him, even now.

Now that he’s holding me captive on an island.

Rafe has his reasons for doing what he’s doing, and if I’m honest, I can’t blame him; I’m the girl who sent him to prison for a heinous crime he didn’t commit.

But now he’s free and the tables have turned…now he’s the one driven by obsession.

Review:
 
First off, this is not my first time reading this kind of novel, and I will say that I don’t usually swear or curse in my reviews but, these kind of books are an exception. Plus I will be reviewing this in two forms instead of the usual one: base on my overall reaction and based on how well I thought the author told the story.

So this is my first read of Gemma James aka Christina Jean Michaels work.

This will not be a great read for those of you with the faint of heart. It’s dark and gritty and can really get you messed up in the head as Gemma is hoping for. There are some serious topic and themes that are talked about in this book that can be very taboo and disturbing. i.e. captor/captive, torture, rape, physical and mentally humiliation, etc…

Also, this is book #1 to a series/serial so beware of cliffhangers. This book is also told in first person alternating from Alex to Rafe’s point of view with each chapter.

I won’t get much into it since the synopsis says what this is all about, but it’s basically about Rafe returning after 8 years to give vengeance and revenge on Alex for sending him to prison for something they both knew he didn’t do. Rape

You see, Rafe is 6 years Alex’s senior and was the best friend of her step- brother. He was on his way to making it big in the UFC untill he was accused of that unspoken word and sent to do 8 years when he was just 21, Alex being just 15.

And so during those years he had never forgotten about Alex and what she has taken from him. So he wanted her to pay in the form of taking her as his prisoner. Or as he termed it, “his piece of ash”. Plus, he wasn’t worried “excatly”, because she has always wanted him and now he has his chance to get what he has always wanted but didn’t act upon it then since she was a minor and the sister of his best friend.

So all I got to say is that both of these characters have some major f-ed up lives shall I say. Alex has this huge secret that prevented her from doing anything in her life the way she wanted it, and was the reason why Rafe got sent away, while Rafe has this huge issue of holding in his urge to fight and his dark sexual needs, plus adding the fact Alex did him wrong, he has issue with getting back at Alex for lying.

One thing is apparent though, they really need to be more open with eachother and have better commmunitcaiton skills. I mean Rafe is all in for the truth and wants to know why Alex lied but Alex on the other hand is not complying. She fears the truth and is willing to accept the punishment Rafe is giving her but man can she really get on my nerves!

Alex just asks too much question and isn’t willing to comply to answer Rafe’s questions and that just makes me angry with her. Like girl, he just freakin wants to know the truth. You could at least give him that for sending him to prison for 8 freakin years of his life! I don’t know, she’s like TSTL!!! I would have just killed myself if I was in her position! Like many times ago! But she could have stopped the situation from the beginning of she could have just spoken up. Yes I understand the position she’s in can make it difficult but Rafe did ask for honesty and if she couldn’t tell it to the world he would have been the next best thing. But who am I kidding, there wouldn’t be a story to work on and begin with then right?

Anyways, I liked Rafe. Yes he was an ash and I understood his reason to torture and torment Alex, which she deserved every bit despite her situation, but he still had a heart. He still cared for her and I liked that about him. He still thought about her and regretted some of the things he did to pain her but he did it to teach her, or punish her. I’m not all in to the methods he used and put her through but we still saw a side of him that thought through if he should or shouldn’t and if it was right or not. So he was humane, a little, but just more in a form of humiliating her. Plus he was only evil towards Alex because he wasn’t like that when he met with others of his acquaintance. He was more normal.

But I got to say, these two are f-ed up. Like really. They get turned on doing BDSM stuff! Being paddled, whipped, even choked! I’m not saying I dislike reading about BDSM because I have read many of them and really enjoyed them but this, this was just up a notch from the BDSM I’ve read.
I’m also not sure if I’ll say this had some sexy sex scenes, though Gemma can write some great stuff, it really didn’t turn me on. More like they made me feel uncomfortable and freaked me out and got me yelling, “run for your life! Abusive relationship here!”

I mean their relationship is explosive! It’s a love hate situation and even if the sexual attraction is there, there’s a lot of tension between them. It’s like hardcore stuff. Death can be involved you know. Plus, they get super wet and off with just one look at eachother. *eye brows raising….*

And then getting to the revelation part of the story took some time and I just didn’t care much for it afterwards. I really felt for Rafe though. His was very sad and I felt like he was more of the victim in all this crap. The angst worked okay but I felt like it was rushed and forgiven a bit too quickly on Rafe’s part, although he didn’t actually forgive Alex. He was more sympathetic because he really did care for her, like truely he did, he was just so angry that she lied, that’s all.

Any ways, I thought Rafe had the most potential to grow and change as the story progressed and he did so he was the most liked out of the two for me. I also found myself rooting for him at the end, which was a cliffhanger, and you know how I hate cliffhangers! Hate them!!! But I’ll have to wait and see how much more he’ll grow in the next book.

Yup, I might have to give the next book a try to see how that goes. There will be a lot more angst on that part because of what happened at the end of this book that’s for sure! So I’m not sure how I feel about that but I am hoping the series either finishes in the next book or the third. I’m not a fan of long serials that go over three books or maybe four, so yeah…..

Over all this book was good. It didn’t make me want to throw it against the the wall like others so that’s a good sign. Got me cringing, disturbed, uncomfortable, and not liking what was going on but it was what I was expecting from a captive/captor erotic novel. The author did a great job giving us what she told us she’ll give us. How she did it wasn’t what I expected how it’ll go about but it worked for the most part. I just, I don’t know. I kind of wanted more from the characters but I’ll have to find that out in book 2.

So, if you can handle the kidnapped and captive/captor stories with erotica and bondage, do check it out; not a typical book I’ll recommend but you can give it a go if these are books you enjoy. Even if they aren’t, try it out anyways for its something new.

If your faint at heart and a softie, DO NOT read this book. You can just pass this because you will not make it past maybe even the first chapter. You can give it a go if you want, but Be Warned!

My rating: 3
Storywise: 3
Overall Rating: 3.5 out 5

Review: Flash Bang by Meghan March

FINAL Flash Bang Cover
Flash Bang
Genre: Erotica
Release Date: June 30th

Synopsis:

Flash Bang Teaser 3Rowan Callahan is a career-climbing slut. At least according to the vicious-and false-rumor that is destroying her professional life. But a little thing like her career as an attorney ceases to matter when a plane crashes in downtown Chicago and the entire city goes dark. Her unconventional upbringing makes her suspect the worst: she’s just witnessed the kick-off to the apocalypse. Armed with a backpack of supplies, she leaves Chicago, intent on resetting her skewed priorities and seeking shelter at the family farm with her father and sister. She’s injured and running for her life when she stumbles directly in the crosshairs of two men who just might be her salvation . . . and her greatest temptation.
Muscular  GuyGraham Buchanan and Zachariah Sawyer are best friends and brothers-in-arms who have been indulging in ménages since before their Force Recon team served in Iraq and Afghanistan. They’ve hung up their uniforms to build a new life for themselves and their team at Castle Creek Whitetail Ranch-a rustic deer hunting preserve that covertly doubles as a doomsday prepper’s paradise. They thought they were prepared for anything until Rowan comes crashing into their lives. Graham and Zach are convinced she’s the one woman who can handle them both, but she has no intention of deviating from her carefully laid plans for longer than it takes her to recover from her injuries. So they propose a deal: they’ll provide her an armed escort home, and in exchange, she’s theirs until they part ways.
It was the perfect plan; except once they’ve had her, they can’t let her go . . .

Buy links:

Review: (A very long and thorough review) **Spoilers Alert!!!!

Okay, You got to read this. You really got to pick this book up! I’m going to say it right now up front. I recommend this book!

I’ve read many menage novels before and really liked them, and can say that this is another one I really, really, — REALLY loved! If I can I would so make a video review so you can tell how much I enjoyed this book and see all my quirky stupidity over this book.

This is Meghan March’s debut book and I was hooked right from the start — and I mean the start, like when I first read the synopsis when it was up for a Book blast and review tour, I knew I had to read it. And so here I am finished reading it and now reviewing it for y’all.

Oh my gosh I can not tell you how much I love this! I mean I don’t want to reiterate the synopsis but man it’s hard not to do. Teeheehee~ hard.

But anyways, the world is like basically heading into a hectic apocalypse, no zombies, just out of electricity, a blackout of sort, reminds me of the TV show Revolution (which is now cancelled by the way) when a plane crashes down in Chicago. We then have Rowan, or Ro, packing up the instant the madness hit and finding her way back home to join her father and sister. Unfortunately she got herself into a bit of a scramble, literally, and is on the run from some mad rapist hillbillies. Of course she gets herself injured by tripping and then rescued by a hunky and intimidating, Conan the barbarian. She gets brought to the safety of his camp and finds herself surrounded by other hunks. Dream come true right? *wink wink*

So yeah, things got down and banter flies within the moment she’s safe inside the in-caged barrier, she did not want to be there. And even though there’s two hunky men that makes her tingle in excitement, she’s hell bent determined to get the heck out of there and reunite with her family.

Okay, now on to the good stuff. I really liked Ro. She was heck of a heroine and I just couldn’t not like her. She had never placed her family first on her list because she was such a workaholic that once the apocalypse hit, it made her regret not having spent more time with them. But then her father did prepare her for something of this like so she was shocked that his craziness didn’t hit far from the truth. She was determined as heck to reach her family and also hell bent on doing things her way. Even to the point of defying the hottie hunky Conan the barbarian, Graham, again and again.  She was strong-minded, stubborn, independent, infuriating, and a not so small of a girl with a size 8 waist. Yup, I liked her. But man can she be full of surprises!  Not just can she argue and ignore the over protectiveness of these men but she can really pull something over their heads, and dare them to sack her. She’s a heck of a troublemaker for these ex-Marines. Dang! And I like her so much!

And then the two hunks. Graham, Conan the barbarian –from what Ro likes to call him because he likes to man handle her, in a very good and protective way—, and Zach the gorgeous friendly one. But yes these two are my absolute favorites! I mean they are the heroes but I can’t tell you who I liked best, gosh! I just wish they were one whole person! But of course they have to be two separate characters and in personalities which works just fine by me, but they are down right sexy. But I got to warn you, these two are just tortured. They’re both not perfect and had a rough childhood with parents that were just, not there when they need them so they really had a background and trust issues.

Graham is the absolute Alpha male every girl who reads romances super love. He’s the one who likes to take control and is the leader of the pack, so of course he likes control and likes to take control of the situation; which therefore made it difficult for him to handle when Ro was always disobeying his orders. He is the one with the most trust issues because of his childhood and so doesn’t like to be attached  to people, most likely women so he’s never into the relationship thing. He can be very tenacious when he finds something that he wants, in the situation it’s Ro. And he can be very intimidating and can also be very aloof and detached if something emotional gets in the way. Very doubting you know. He’s the bad boy with all the problems but is very broken inside and sweet and you just want to hug and make everything better for his sake.

Zach on the other hand is the total opposite of Graham. He’s what we would call the Beta hero, but then he’s not actually the beta neither. But compared to Graham, he would be the beta. And you know me, I super love my Beta heroes! Just saying. But Zach can be very forthcoming and open about what he likes and can really take control of thing if he felt he needed too. He’s very friendly and flirtatious, I call him the pretty boy type because he knows he oozes everything sex. He’s the more approachable type and he doesn’t judge you right off the top and is more trusting and compassionate. He’s also more in touch with his feelings, which I loved about him because he doesn’t hide it. He too had a hard childhood but he tend to hide that and see only the good things in life. He’s the more rational one between him and Graham, while Graham is more action.

As I read this though, I felt that Graham had, or seem more of the “true” Hero in this book. I felt that he had more parts and we got to understand and see more side of his character, personality, and past than we did Zack. Zach felt like he was just the motivation to bring Graham up to pace with his feelings, although we also saw Zach’s personality and his role in their relationship he was more, to me, the wing-man.

As for the story I really loved how it was written. It wasn’t written in only one person’s point of view but in all three, and wasn’t in first person either which I really liked because I enjoyed reading this kind of story and setting in third person. The interactions between these three were super strong. I was surprised that I wasn’t turned off by this relationship. I know I had trouble with this kind of genre-ish because I would want each of them to find their own HEA. This is why I like separate books for these two different types of heroes because then I won’t have to choose who I liked best out of the book because I would know that the other one might get to have their own book and find their own HEA. Butas for this case, they all found it and I liked it.

Their interactions were very enjoyable to read and see move along as their relationship grew. Although it grew within a short space of time, like not even within 24 hours —of course an apocalypse would do that to you I believe— I was really invested in it. It had me on the edge of my seat and heart racing with every bit of action it gave me. And it had every good bit of action down from man handling to fearing for the lives of peoples and just, fire arms, guns, and lots of action.

Oh yeah, every banter and argument Ro and Graham had either got me laughing or thinking of what would happen next. They most definitely got me thinking of what Ro would do next to vex Graham because I just loved vexing him. I super loved it. I also super love how Zach is always reassuring Ro and asking her permission before he does things with and to her. I thought that was very sweet and caring of him to think of her personally first before himself. And he to likes to reassure himself by asking her those questions and to tell him verbally so that he hears it from her mouth what he can and what she wants him to do to her. Getting permission from her, you know, very gentlemanly of him. Whoa~ is he turning out to be a submissive? That just got me thinking. But anyways the sex.

Can I just say the sex was amazingly heart stoppingly panty wetting. Oh my gosh, that dang first sexual scene! Ugh~ I’m not sure why I’m feeling so vexed but that scene really got me frustrated because I needed some—thing! I had to skim over the the last sex scene because I couldn’t deal it with. It was too dang amazingly written I….errrr…..I wanted to finish reading before I exploded! Yup, that’s what it did to me. I’m giving y’all Too Much Information but I’m sorry, it just….. I can’t even come up with the words. My mind just poofed~ Those scenes just sucked every rational thought out of my head and left me feeling naughty and needy. Tsk tsk tsk~ I can’t believe it you know. I’m still reeling. Even after my shower. *sighs*

Moving on, Loved the secondary characters of brother in arms at the camp along with the wife and little girl of a brother in arms there. How the story ended was great. I wasn’t sure how the author was going to pull it off because it was so complicated! Especally with Ro’s determination to reunite with her family and the dangers that lurked outside the camp walls. But the ending was good, they got a HEA and I was happy. All was good, I didn’t care what happen next because they were good and that was all that mattered. Apocalypse be damned.

Then I read the epilogue. It stared off good because I really wanted an answer to a surprising situation and then, I didn’t get it but I wish I hadn’t read it. It just left me hanging with lots of questions and I wasn’t sure if the author was going to have a sequel or something, but I was already hoping for a sequel for the rest of the other hunky brothers in arms so that they could each find their own HEAs, but no. It just got messed up and Ugh~ So frustrated! I loved it so much and then, Bam! *sighs*
I loved it though. Despite the epilogue which I loved and hated, I still recommend this. Like really highly recommend this.

This lovely ARC was provided by the author for a honest review.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Review: Invitation by Christina Hoffman

Invitation 7 
Invitation by Christina Hoffman 
Self-Published  
Pages: 187  
Genre: Contemporary Romance  
Format: Paperback/Kindle

Synopsis:

Madison Spencer is a serious medical student, focused only on work and hiding her beauty and her once-passionate spirit behind a quiet plain-Jane facade. Since she was drugged, stripped, assaulted and photographed by a vengeful ex, she has stayed away from men and kept her heart and body safe.

But when heart-stoppingly gorgeous Dr. Liam Mason walks into her world, she knows she’s in trouble. After finding out about her devastating past, Liam offers to bring her back to life with physical passion. Madison thinks she should be repelled, but she’s intrigued and can’t turn him away.

Together they explore days and nights of pleasure, and slowly develop into something more than bedmates. Deep inside they each wonder if they’ve found their perfect match. But with Liam’s fear of being dragged down by commitment, and Madison’s fear of being hurt by another man threatening to destroy the world they’ve built together, will they each be strong enough and brave enough to risk their hearts to have it all?
Purchase your copy:

  Review:

This is my first book by Christina Hoffman and I really enjoyed it. First off, I really liked the fact that Christina put a disclaimer at the beginning of the book about what we were getting ourselves into and of the reasons why certain precautions were heeded, if I’m making any sense:

…In the interests of the story, I have left safe sex practices out of the lives of these characters. In your own life, though, please remember to always protect yourself and others when enjoying intimate company.
–Christina Hoffman

I know many readers that get turned off by the “no protection” side of safe sex so I really liked that she added that at the beginning, but if you didn’t read the first couple of pages, eg. the dedications and table of contents, then you may have missed it. So it’s always good to read everything so that you know what’s up and not make a fool of yourself while reading and reviewing a book.
But yes, Invitation. As the blurb says there are many boundaries that is holding Madison back. 

Having been through a very traumatic relationship she can’t imagine going through another relationship ever again. She has shut herself to the people around her, most definitely to the opposite sex and hides behind the quiet plain Jane facade using her smarts to mask her once passionate personality. She’s actually really nice and is just trying to get her life back together slowly at a time. With her panic attacks when she’s around men, that would make it difficult but with her friend always looking after her she has nothing to worry about. That is once she spots Liam, it made things even more difficult because she knows she’s attracted to him and I love it that she didn’t push him away. But then she has insecurities that is holding her from truly being herself but with Liam, he brings out the best in her and make her feel at ease so they fit perfectly.

And Liam, ahhh Liam Hemsworth….. Okay not Liam Hemsworth but that’s who I pictured when I read Liam…… But yes, Liam Mason, he’s just amazing! He kept me smiling right for the beginning because he was so clumsy. Not in person but in how he was trying to pick Madison up, flirt with her, that I knew I was going to really like him. I also loved that he gave her time and cared for her personally and didn’t let Madison’s overreactions get to him or stop him from liking her. He’s also very forward in what he says, a good thing because we don’t have to try to figure him out but can also be off putting for others. And despite him not being sure about a serious relationship he was great and I couldn’t dislike him. Plus, he saw through her disguise of being the plain ugly Jane so that definitely says something about him.

I just got to say I really love how Christina pushed us right into the romance from the start. Well, not the romance but the intense attraction that Madison has for this Liam dude. It really made everything go quick and moving that I couldn’t help but smile right along as I read. The witty dialogue the two of them have were fabulously written and got me aww-ing. Gosh they were just too cute! I’m talking about the conversations so that has to say something about Christina’s writing!

So yes, I really like how Christina wrote this story. It’s in first POV from Madison which I don’t mind at all, with only the exception that I really wanted to be in Liam’s head but it worked just fine without his POV because it made him even more heart stoppingly gorgeous and mysterious but still, am I asking for too much? Anyways, how she wrote this just really engaged me. I felt like we were having a conversation of sorts and Madison was telling me all her secrets and love story. Plus, it made me think of how I sometimes write and talk to myself. Hahaha I know, weird and funny but this way of writing really connected with me and I really enjoyed it. 

The sex and how it went about was absolutely fine. I love how they went at it slow and then build it up once Madison was starting to relax. I also loved that Liam gave her control so that she could stop when she wanted and understood that I may take her awhile to trust him with the control. Do I need to say any more? Christina can really write sexy sex scenes I’ll tell you that. 

The only thing that kind of bothered me were how short the chapters were and how quick they got together! Especially for Madison. I felt like sometimes the many chapters weren’t needed to give that break inbetween the changes in scenery. I felt like a break space or the star signs could have done the job just fine to indicate a change of scenes. As for how fast they got together, it was quick. It may seem like it has been a while for the two in the story but they barely knew eachother other than having this strong attraction and working at the same place, but maybe it’s just me. 

All in all, do I recommend this? Heck yes I recommend this! It’s a short read under 200 pages so that’s pretty amazing. Its sweet and loving dialogue will keep you engaged and smiling throughout the entire book and making you root for Liam and Madison’s romance. Of course you can always just root for Liam….. Heeheehee 

This book was provided by the publisher for an honest review. 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5