Three, Two, One (321): (A Dark Suspense)

Julie freaking Huss. Gotta love this woman people. She earned herself a devotion page recently. I have authors I love and no matter what people say I will always read their work. JAH is one of them.

I'd seen all of the promo stuff about this book and so I was really looking forward to reading this on release day.

Three, Two, One

ONE GIRL
Battered, barefoot, and huddled under a bookstore awning in the pouring rain, Blue only knows one thing. After fifteen months of captivity, finally... she is free.

TWO FRIENDS
Self-made millionaires JD and Ark are not out to save anyone when they stumble upon a wet and shivering girl one early Sunday morning. But when you sell sex for a living and salvation rings your bell... you answer the call.

THREE SOULMATES
After years of searching, love lifts the veil of darkness, and three people--with three very big secrets--find themselves bound together in a relationship that defies the odds.

Or does it?

Love. Lust. Sex.

This trinity might be perfection... but not everything should come in 3's.

Book Links

UK Link Three, Two, One (321): (A Dark Suspense)
US Link Three, Two, One (321): (A Dark Suspense)

Rachel's Review

Okay, so I'm a little late to the plate with getting my review out but who cares? I'm posting it anyway.

I had issues at the start of this book. I just wasn't getting it. I thought I must have been sipping the idiot juice to not like a JA Huss book. But as I warmed to the characters I started to love it and couldn't put it down.

I'm all for dark erotica. I don't read a lot of it and I don't normally actively seek it out. I've also read some M/F/M books before but certainly not like this. Julie's brain must have had fun writing this book. In case you haven't cottoned on its a filthy dirty steamy book also :-)

Its complex, dirty, passionate, different and overall a really good read. Actually, I'd like to add emotional on to that list also. In fact emotional roller-coaster should be used.

Rachel's Rating.

4 stars ****

A Fine Profession & A Fine Pursuit (Chambermaid Series) - Sarah Michelle Lynch

After purchasing tickets to the March 2014 Orchard Book Club Author Event I picked some authors at random to read and get to know,

This first one I randomly chose was Sarah Michelle Lynch,

I am so damn well pleased I picked her books up and read them. I even now possess a shiny new and SIGNED copy of A fine Pursuit. (waves hands in the air!).

Her books are amazing and she's the loveliest lady ever in real life. Im looking forward to reading and reviewing her other books in the future.

A Fine Profession Synopsis 


Charlotte “Lottie” Taylor survived childhood cancer and then spent years feeling at odds with who she was and where her life was heading. A chambermaid at a run-of-the-mill hotel chain, she found escape in her imagination and eventually discovered expression in a sideline dominating men.

She spent nights disciplining her “initiates” and delivering a service their wives often ordered on their behalf. What she didn’t expect was to fall in love when a chance encounter put her in the arms of Noah Yeardley, a man with a history as interesting as her own. The only man to ever dominate Lottie, together they explored their fantasies.

Yet the fantasy broke down and Lottie was forced to revisit past issues.

Charlotte’s erotic tale is one of sexual awakening and self fulfilment—a human story of making mistakes, learning to love yourself and finding true love with another.

Book Links

UK Link  A Fine Profession (Chambermaid Series Book 1)
US Link A Fine Profession (Chambermaid Series Book 1)

A Fine Pursuit Synopsis

In the sequel to A Fine Profession…

They were two souls wandering aimlessly until they met; their collision instant, categorical and unforgettable. Yet, their powerful sexual chemistry was still not enough to bind them together. Lottie provided her version of the story, now Noah gives us his…

Noah Yeardley, the inimitable investment banker who captured the Chambermaid's heart, is a man misunderstood and wronged. With their love story circulating, he feels raw and useless. As he comes to terms with the death of his father and all that passed on with him, he knows The Pursuit is something he has a fine grasp of ‒ and is determined to do whatever it takes to bring back the only woman to truly sink herself into his heart.

When he is presented with a second chance, a long summer of hot dream dates, devastating confessions and shocking revelations await – but is the fantasy about to become a reality, or will Noah's past make it impossible for him to forge a new life with Charlotte?

Books Links


UK Link A Fine Pursuit (Chambermaid Series Book 2)
US Link A Fine Pursuit (Chambermaid Series Book 2)

Rachel's Review

Honestly? I loved these books. (At the afore mentioned Author Event I made a beeline to Sarah's table to tell her so!)

These are not your standard erotica books. They've got a superb and thought provoking story lines.

I loved both central characters very much and the books explore both their personalities in ways no other erotic book would.

The writing is fantastic and great detail was paid to each character, even the sub characters. I love that A Fine Profession was written from Charlotte's POV and A Fine Pursuit from Noah's. (PS There's nothing I've said there that isn't in the synopsis so no spoiler).

I also loved that these books were local to me, In fact I'm just 6 miles from the village the character grew up in and drive through it regularly.

A shocking, fabulous, different (very), well-written and addictive read.

Looking forward to reading more from SML.

Rachel's rating 

5 stars *****

Hush Hush - Annelise Vandell #1

Good afternoon folks. After attending an author event in Peterborough, UK this weekend and connecting with authors and other bloggers, I've realised I really need to set aside extra time on my blog.

It's already had a redesign recently and an extra page added so I need to find extra time in my hectic life to post more reviews.

Anyway.... Next book up is Hush Hush by Anneliese Vandell. Another author requested read for an honest review.

Hush Hush

 Synopsis

Something terrible happened to April Morrison when she was eleven years old. When she returns home to New Orleans fourteen years later as “Sophia,” she has only one word on her mind: revenge. She’s got her eye on Charles and Barbara Hawthorne, the crowning jewel of New Orleans’ elite and the ones responsible for turning her life upside down.

Enter Liam Hawthorne, the couple’s successful, strikingly handsome, and irresistibly dominant thirty-two year old son. When Liam makes a provocative proposal, it occurs to April that he may be just the “in” she needs. But what she doesn't bargain for is Liam's insatiable—and thrilling—sexual appetite. And as Liam begins to test April’s limits, she realizes that appearances are not what they seem.

Book Links

UK Link Hush Hush #1
US Link Hush Hush #1

Rachel's Review

This is such a hard review to write. I both liked the book and felt annoyed at the same time.

I loved the premise of the book. I always love a good revenge storyline, I was well thought out and I will read the next one when its out. The storyline did grab me and now I NEED to know what happens.

I felt annoyed at the length on the book, I felt it was too short, but i think this is mainly because I wanted to know what happens. I also didn't like the main female character. I don't know why she grates on me, maybe she's too naive and immature for my liking.

Don't get me wrong this is a good book and I'd recommend it, it just niggled at me a little.

Rachel's Rating

3-3.5 stars ***

The inevitable Fifty Shades of Grey (movie) review

So before I go through what I felt about the movie I thought I'd share a few other things first. (be aware I'm a ranter)

1. Its not about wife beating - I mean how naive can you be. If anyone thinking its about wife beating the you haven't read the books or done your research. a D/s relationship is about it being safe, sane and CONSENSUAL. That last word, consensual, is giving the power to the submissive to allow their Dom to pleasurable them, control them and if it calls for it punish them. This is their lifestyle choice. That last word again, choice, means they get to choose how they go about their lives. There are such narrow minded people out there.

2. Read the books - Whether this is after the film or before it. It doesn't matter. I feel you need to get the whole picture,

3. FSOG was the first book I read in the romance genre - Since reading FSOG I have now read over 400 other romance books and when I have time I blog about them :-) Had it not been for these books I would have discovered authors such as Kristen Ashley, JA Huss and Jodi Ellen Malpas. People bad mouth this book and say its terribly written, etc but had it not been for FSOG some of us wouldn't be die hard fans of other romance books/authors. PLUS with the publicity its got, its given indie authors a helping hand in marketing their books and there's now less stigma attached to both writing and reading them.

So mini rant over...............

The film. I thought it was brilliant. I really enjoyed it.

Yes, there was a lot not in the film that I thought should have been, but what do you expect? Its a 2 hour film!

Yes, I thought Jamie Dornan did not look like MY Christian Grey BUT he's not mine, he's EL James's. I did think Dakota Johnson looked more like my Ana though.

Mr Ignored took me on Valentines Day, mainly because it fit our schedule not because he's romantic, I wanted him to see it so he understands what kind of books I read. He tends to think I read porn (a common misconception). The two things he said as we were leaving the cinema was 1. Thank F*** that's over (a typical man statement) 2. That was not as raunchy as I thought it was going to be! Which just proves my point about the common misconceptions people have when you tell them you read erotica and contemporary romances. When people read romance books there's going to be some element of sexual activity. After all when you're in a romantic relationship in real life its going to be somewhat sexual, otherwise how boring would that be!

Finally, I didn't have the time to re-read the books before the film (I had done a re-read about 6 months ago though!) as I have a humongous TBR list, but watching the film made me fall in love with the books all over again and made me want to re-read it straight after I came out of the cinema.

All in all? Yeah I loved it. I will be owning the DVD shortly :)