Broken at Love - By Lyla Payne *Review*

Whitman University Series - Book 1 | Add to Goodreads
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When a knee injury ends twenty-year-old Quinn Rowland’s pro tennis career, he’s not only dumped by his hot Russian girlfriend but ordered to attend college by his disinterested billionaire father. A rich kid who’s not used to being disappointed by life, Quinn and his sociopathic half-brother Sebastian create a frat house game intended to treat girls how they see them—as simple game pieces to be manipulated for their pleasure.

College sophomore Emilie Swanson knows Quinn’s reputation—after all, he did send one of her sorority sisters into therapy earlier in the semester—but the game and his charm bring them closer together and soon she starts to believe there’s more to Quinn than people think.

But what if the more is something darker than a game of toying with emotions and breaking hearts?

Quinn and Emilie might be falling for each other, but there are secrets he’s not ready to tell—and lifestyle changes he’s reluctant to make. She willingly stepped on the court, but if Emilie finds out she started out as nothing as a pawn in Quinn and Sebastian’s twisted game, she might never forgive him.

To his surprise, Quinn finds that he might finally care about someone more than he cares about himself…even if that means letting Emilie walk away for good.

I feel the need to rename this book "Asshole's Redemption." The first chapter of this book had me in rage mode - think hulk but a 5'7" girl with curly hair = me. Quinn treats girls like shit because his tennis career came to an early end and he has nothing better to do. I'm not joking that's essentially what this idiot does. I'm going to forewarn you I'm a not pulling my review punches. He was a douchebag wallowing in self pity who needed a solid and resounding slap of reality. Quinn's brother is a wanker who should be checked into a psychiatric ward for excessive misogyny and manipulation. I don't think he even has real human emotions. Emilie is a bit of a pitbull, which is great because she refused to let Quinn treat her like all the other girls. Unknowingly of course because she really had no clue HOW much douchebaggery Quinn  was capable of. Typically Emilie is "not like the other girls" and spawns Quinn's self discovery mission to be a better person. They get their happily ever after and Quinn the asshole is redeemed. Buuuuuuut I couldn't feel sorry for Quinn, there wasn't a single part of me that was happy for him. I didn't think Emilie would forgive him because to me what he did was beyond a forgiving chat. I definitely did not like the whole "love will make you a better person." Why couldn't Quinn just grow up and stop acting like a spoiled baby? With or without Emilie there to be his purpose?

I like the way Payne writes and despite hating pretty much every character I still managed to finish the book so there is something to be said about that. 

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Ashes - By Sarah Gilman

Journalist Ambrosia Pellerin accepts an assignment involving the legendary phoenix, expecting, if nothing else, a little entertainment. Instead, she gets pregnant—by a surprisingly human-looking firebird, Reece Bennu.

Ambrosia and Reece struggle to make the best of their predicament, igniting a tentative romance despite Reece’s furious and powerful relatives who resent the mixed-blood child, a violent human out to prove the existence of phoenixes at any cost, and Ambrosia’s forced separation from her family and isolation in her new home.

Reece’s relatives plot murder while Ambrosia’s family faces a dire medical situation and ask her to return. Will the couple survive when Reece denies Ambrosia his trust and her freedom when she needs both more than anything?

"Ashes" is a short, sweet paranormal romance. The love story between Ambrosia and Reece isn't unexplained though the explanation is minimal considering the length. I liked the new take on pheonix as a paranormal shifter. I disliked the name Ambrosia but the character has a good back story and her personality holds true throughout. Reece is amusing as a failed romantic, often putting his foot in his mouth. Pheonix island sounds like paradise but I've always had a thing for tropical islands. I would have liked extra length allowing Gilman to explain scenes that come off as slightly abrupt. Regardless, it's a solid read with a satisfying ending.

4/5
xxx Literary George
Buy: Amazon, Kobo, B&N

Thank you to NetGalley, Sarah Gilman and Entangled Publishing, LLC for the copy.

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Layers Deep - By Lacey Silks

Layers Trilogy - Book 1

He needs her to save a friend.

She needs him to plan her revenge.

Their pasts scar them Layers Deep.

Their passion distracts them...

...and distractions can be fatal.

Tristan Cross is battling emotional demons from the past. He lives in a world where trust is earned, loyalties are tested, and love is impossible. That is, until he meets Allie Green. She’s the only woman who can help him find a kidnapped friend and to top it off, she captivates him. All he has to do now is persuade her to work for Cross Enterprises, his top investigations firm.

Allie Green is a rookie cop seeking revenge and she’s willing to sell her soul to get it. With an opportunity to use Tristan Cross's resources Allie calculates her time for payback. As vengeance boils her blood she can’t keep her mind off her new boss and Allie finds it difficult to keep her employment professional. With the mouth watering Tristan Cross distracting her, she struggles to prioritize an undercover job she’s been assigned and her hunger for revenge.

And when you’re ready to give up your life to save someone else, distractions can be fatal.

First of all I feel the need to mention this is a novel split into parts. They can be viewed as separate novels but this book has a huge cliffhanger at the end lending itself more to a split book. Having gotten that out of the way just let me say - jeeeeeeeez. This novel keeps the hard hits coming, twist after twist, reveal after reveal. I've never met a book that has fit the saying "and so the plot thickens" so perfectly. Silks would be a great poker player, she keeps as much information as possible without effecting the story from the reader. The result left me constantly surprised and they were often good ones. I was on the fence a bit because Tristan and Allie's relationship jumps from strangers to lovers very quickly and while I'm all for love sweeping characters away I had a few qualms with how well these characters actually knew each other.

Heart of the Incubus - By Rosalie Lario

Demons of Infernum Series - Book 3.5

Biochemist Cresso Taylor lives the sort of lifestyle most men would envy—he has wealth, natural incubus charm, and more women than he can handle. But it’s not enough anymore. Not after meeting Genevieve Russell, the sexy scientist who works with him at Elcorp Laboratory. And she wants absolutely nothing to do with him.

After her fiancé broke her heart, Genevieve has had enough of womanizers. She’s determined to steer clear of sexy-as-sin Dr. Taylor, despite the fact that his incubus allure makes her want to rip his clothes off. But when a secret admirer’s affection turns to the macabre with threatening notes and grisly gifts, Cresso appoints himself her protector. As she and Cresso hunt her stalker, she discovers there’s a lot more to the sensual incubus than she ever imagined.

Argh. Genevieve is a judgmental cow. She treats Cresso like crap because of her past experiences with men. I admit I'm not someone with much patience for women who are nasty because they can't get past some idiot who behaved horribly toward them. Usually because he was obviously a dick and women shouldn't let assholes like that ruin their lives. Ahem, anyway. I was willing to give her a bit of leeway because of her ex but lord have mercy she was horrible to him, constantly. I was surprised he stuck around long enough for her to pull her head out of her ass. She insults him and makes no attempt to get to know Cresso or understand what it means to be an incubus. She just judges him and makes horrible, degrading assumptions about his life. Pfffffft. And she's supposed to be an intelligent woman. HA! I really did not like her character at all - half the time she was lashing out at Cresso for no reason and the other half she was being stupid about her own safety.

Hustlin' Texas - By KC Klein

Texas Fever Series - Book 1

Only one person in Oak Groves is happy to see bad girl Nikki Logan back in town…
Oak Groves’ most beloved bachelor, Jett Avery, lives by a simple set of rules. Getting involved with a complicated woman isn’t one of them. He learned that the hard way two years ago when he spent one of the most incredible nights of his life with Nikki Logan. But then she hightailed it out of town, never to be seen again—until now. It might be time to break one of those rules…Picking up the pieces of her life, Nikki is back in Oak Groves, face to face with the one man she’s done her best to forget. But she has her reasons for being here—and they don’t include winding up in bed with Jett. Especially since he’ll never forgive her once he finds out the truth about why she’s back…

This book was a lovely example of how a woman can be both tough and vulnerable. I fell in love with Nikki the girl from the other side of the tracks back in her home town to pay back a debt. Nikki doesn't change who she is for anyone which is refreshing. But she is hurt by her past and shies away from letting people care for her. I loved how Nikki could switch from running away from intimacy to throwing things across a room - just like any other woman. ;)

Beauty Secrets - By Jill Elaine Hughes (#ReadingCram)

Amanda Brown is a high-flying cosmetics executive for Revina Corporation, the oldest and most venerable cosmetics company in America. She comes from a good "old money" family, she went to Swarthmore, and she lives in a beautiful penthouse apartment in NYC’s Meatpacking District. But she's only successful on the surface----like many New Yorkers, she's also financially overextended. Her parents are dead, her trust fund is gone, and when the Great Recession hammers her company, like millions of people across America she suddenly finds her job hanging by a thread.

Enter George Watson, a hedge-fund manager and self-made man from the Midwest who swoops in from Indiana to rebuild Revina Corporation from the ground up. Even if he fired everyone else at the company, he decides to keep Amanda on for her expertise. The two of them are from different worlds, and they can't stand each other. But that doesn’t stop them from having wild no-holds-barred sex on their first meeting----for reasons neither of them fully understand.

But this is no ordinary corporate takeover, and the unlikely romance between George and Amanda is no ordinary love story. It involves corporate greed, undercover investigative reporters, a sleazy reality TV producer who puts George and Amanda's sexual relationship on national television, dark family secrets----and a dog named Botox.

Books about spoiled rich kids who end up broke and unable to cope in the real world as adults should have warning labels so I can avoid them. It's not only because I can't relate to them but also because I have not one iota of sympathy for adults who are can't function in the real world. I'm pretty sure the majority of the population have difficulty caring for a character who mishandles money and then fails to learn practical skills to work themselves out of a slump. Amanda Brown is one of these spoiled rich kids. Initially I thought she was a bitchin' executive who knew what's what and why, only to have her crumble into a spendthrift baby. Argh. It's not that I dislike her because she was rich. I dislike her because when she loses her job and has to rethink her life, she doesn't. She cries and whines and wallows in self-pity. Oh no I can't pay for my thousand dollar a month penthouse. Uh? Move out. Oh no I have no money because I spent my paycheck already. Uh? Sell some stuff. Oh no I'm the only person who still has a job at my company but I get a lower salary. DON'T FRICKEN QUIT!

The amount of times I wanted to slap this woman upside the head was unbelievable. There is a reason I like strong female characters and it's because I want to admire them, I want to be them, I want their actions to motivate me into a better woman. Amanda Brown is everything I don't want.

Temptress - By Lola Dodge (#ReadingCram)

Manhattan Ten - Book 1

Kiss your powers goodbye.

Kidnapping a super-powered suspected felon from a Vegas bachelor party is another day at the office for Jenny Ray, alias Temptress. With one kiss, any naughty supe’s powers are hers. Except this time she’s caught by her mark’s boss, who’s no ordinary superhero. 

It’s Thinktank, leader of the toughest hero crew around. One destroyed men’s room and near-toilet-drowning later, Jenny’s forced to steal an innocent hero’s powers. 

For a super brain, Tank’s feeling pretty idiotic. First, he let Jenny close enough to get to him. Second, he’s helpless against the tide of desire that rises in him every time he kisses her. Which he’s doing a lot, since she’s trying to give him back his power—only it’s not working. As he shadows her on her various freelance casino security jobs, he realizes she’s no she-demon—she’s a time bomb. Her acquired powers are shredding her, body and soul. 

As they give in to desire, a shadowy figure from Jenny’s past surfaces with a kidnapping plan of his own. Jenny will do anything—even level Las Vegas—to rescue the man she loves. But there may not be anything left of her when the dust settles.

Why are there not more books like this?! Am I blind? Have I missed them all? As soon as I read the blurb for these book I was sold. My two favorite things in one book - superheroes and romance - uh YES PLEASE! Dodge had me at hello, I write superhero novels *sigh* and what a novel it is. I think my only grump about this book is that it's too short. I've come to realize I'm greedy with books, if I love it I want MORE MORE MORE MORE. Temptress is no exception. Jenny is a wonderful female lead who puts the rights of others before herself - a true superhero even without the powers. But once you add in the powers she is a hero who isn't out for the glory and would much rather spend her time in front of the television in sweats (honey, wouldn't we all?). I love how she is willing to kick ass at a moments notice but isn't superior or mighty about it, she's totally down to earth. Treating superhero life like a normal job and being happy to make a difference where she can.

Enter Thinktank. Ooooooh honey. I see him as a kind of Professor X meets Wolverine.