Heart's Paradise - Keeping a secret from the one person you're stranded with...

The idea of living on a deserted island has always appealed to me. I got to experiance that in Olivia Starke's latest release - Heart's Paradise.

I loved this book. It's one of those that I couldn't can't put down. I read the first in the series (The Baby Contract) and was so excited when this one released. You don't need to read book 1 to enjoy this one.

Pheobe and Jonathan have a history that only one of them remembers. They spent one night together and Pheobe ends up pregnant, but never tells Jonathan. He's always in the tabloids and she's watched him for 11 years. It gets interesting when the two are placed on a reality show together--just the two of them on a deserted island. Jonathan has no idea who she is.

This is when the fun starts. As the reader, we know the secret. The chemistry between Pheobe and Jonathan is as strong as it was the night they'd met. He's instantly read to throw away his playboy ways for her because right away, he feels differently for her then any other woman. Pheobe stays strong somehow, never telling her secret that she has been raising their daughter all these years.

The writing is strong. The dialogue is realistic. And the story line is intriguing. I can't wait for the next book in this series.

Lacey's Rating:

About The Book:

Can Phoebe trust Jonathon with her biggest and most precious secret?

Phoebe Heart struggles to keep the bills paid with her survivalist training courses while raising a preteen daughter. When a producer approaches her about starring on the survival show Paradise she's hesitant. Hasn't she spent a lifetime trying to stay out of the spotlight of her famous mother? But the money is too good to pass up, and Phoebe will do anything to provide a stable future for her child.

Billionaire playboy Jonathon Breck is always up for a new adventure. When he's offered a starring role on Paradise he jumps at the chance. In return for spending twenty-five days on a tropical island, using only his wits to survive, he'll receive a nice big check, which he plans to donate to his favorite charity. So with two months training under his belt, he's dropped off on a lush oasis. He knows it'll take skill to find food, water, and shelter on the deceptively beautiful island.

Each of them expect to be on the island alone, so they're shocked when they discover the producers have thrown in a surprising twist. Phoebe and Jonathon find themselves teamed up. Jonathon is intrigued by the sexy woman, but he can't shake the feeling he's met her before. Phoebe is appalled she's paired off with the man she had a drunken college one-night stand with.

Passion ignites while they share in the trials of Paradise, but disaster strikes, leaving them facing life or death. And Jonathon learns the truth that Phoebe desperately hoped to keep hidden from him—they share a child.

Now Jonathon faces the biggest challenge of his life—convincing Phoebe to let him be a part of their daughter's life. Can Phoebe trust the notorious playboy with her young, impressionable daughter's heart? And can she trust the feelings she has for the charismatic billionaire?

Content Warning: contains graphic language and explicit sex

Strong is Sexy Heroine of the Week: Eve

Book: Brave Girl
Author: Kate Baum
Heroine: Eve

I loved writing about Eve. Her story is book two of my series. The series is about four best friends. How is Eve strong? Well, she is nicknamed the "Brave" girl of the group. Eve likes her tough girl image but she has a heart of gold. Unfortunately, she also has an Irish temper. She doesn't tolerate bullying and will always stick up for the underdog. She is full of adventure. She'll try anything. Rock climbing, parachuting, etc. She loves to test herself with her courage and bravery. That's why she doesn't handle it well when she finds she is falling in love. 

Eve is beautiful both inside and out. She has the mane of red hair from her Irish ancestry and vivid green eyes. However, just like it was described above, she is a fiercely loyal friend and, at one part of the book, even put herself in danger to protect a friend. She speaks her mind and regrets it later. She's a school librarian and her passion is getting children to love books. She's a wonderful role model and heroine.

Blurb:

Eve is beyond excitement for her new adventure. Only a truly brave girl could move thousands of miles from home to begin a five year commitment teaching on an American Indian Reservation. As soon as she arrives, she finds that many of the tribe’s people are not very welcoming. They are suspicious of the college students that work and live on the reservation in exchange for free graduate tuition. After a misunderstanding, Eve decides she absolutely despises a certain tribal police officer. Circumstances cause her to keep running into him. 

Lou regrets the awkward situation where he first met Eve. He had been openly distrustful of the college girls who have come to live on the reservation. In the past, some of the girls were disrespectful of the tribe’s culture. There is something different about Eve. He can’t get her out of his head. The more he tries to get to know her, the more she pulls away. What will it take for Lou to convince Eve that their attraction for each other cannot be denied?

Eve has given up on men. She has had unsatisfying sex in the past and decided that men are just not worth the trouble. She’s a modern young woman and decides that using a handy tool is all she needs to relieve her sexual frustration. The problem is……there’s a gorgeous sexy police officer that stirs her blood like no man has ever done before. Eve is tough and strong and brave. She doesn’t like the fact that her legs shake and her voice trembles whenever she crosses paths with him. Maybe if she keeps running from him, she won’t have to face what her body…..or her heart is telling her.

****Warning – for adults only. Contains graphic sex including a group sex scene and a m/m sexual situation.*

Are you an author with a strong heroine in your book? Want to see her featured? Find out how here.

Micah's Island by Shari Copell

I'm not that into erotica. Too much of it focuses on sex, sex, and more sex, and next to no story OR the story is something swiped and decimated from Nora Roberts--done 5,000 times before.

Shari Copell didn't do that. Oh, she has sex, but the story is so unique. I've never read anything like it.

It's like Tarzan and Jane, but Jane is this young girl with an incredible narrative voice who ends up on an island because her uncle wants her dead and the ship of his crony sinks instead...and she ends up on this island with this gorgeous, innocent Tarzan...Micah.

It's very unique and well done with a strong voice. I appreciated her decision to stay on the island, to not go back to a snot-faced society. Haven't we all imaged that at some time or another? I love Micah and it made me think of how wonderful people can be if they were tainted by TV, society, and taught to be...not the themselves.

There's adventure, sex, love, emotion, and intense moments--on the ship, on the island-- and lots of suspense. Will her uncle find her? Will she be kidnapped again?

I had no quibbles until the ending. I thought a mostly smart chick suddenly became stupid (I'm not going to say more than that, as it would ruin the story and be spoiler). I also wondered...well, why not kill the man when he's sleeping? It didn't make sense to me, some of her and Micah's behavior.

But I recommend this. It's a great read when you need an adventurous, sexy quickie with deeper meanings.

I was sent this by the author for an honest review.

Talking Women in the Marines with Heather Long

First and foremost, let me say thank you for having me today. In Retreat Hell! She Just Got Here, I introduced my readers to Jasmine “Jazz” Winters, and in the follow up No Regrets, No Surrender, introduced Jazz’s fellow FET teammates Mary “Stormer” Phillips (Combat Barbie) and Roxanne “Roxy” Cortez—all Marines and Marines who have all seen combat.

On January 25, 2013, the Department of Defense reported that women would no longer be forbidden from front line combat roles, but the truth is women have served in combat since the formation of the first armies in the late 1770s. Where there is war, where women are—women are in combat.

If you do your research, you will find that the Continental Congress awarded a military disability pension to Mary Corbin for the battle of Fort Washington in New York. What did Corbin do? She manned a cannon during the battle and was injured in the line of duty. She only received half the pension that her fellow male soldiers received, but she did get her full ration of rum.

Arguments Against Women in Combat

One of the primary arguments was that women in combat couldn’t perform on the same physical level and that the presence of women in combat would distract the cohesion of the male unit—that men wouldn’t be able to function or not want to protect them at the cost to themselves. Counter arguments point that brothers in combat don’t leave their brothers behind and they go above and beyond to protect their fellow sailors, soldiers, Marines, and airmen.

Women who serve in the military don’t have to be on the front lines to see combat. In October, 2013 Specialist Brittany Gordon was with a team meeting with some local Afghani leaders when a suicide bomber targeted the Afghan and a piece of shrapnel killed her. IEDs do not pay any attention whatsoever to the gender of the target nor does a bullet or a war.

Female Engagement Teams

The roots of the FET teams can be found in Iraq and Afghanistan during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Communicating with the female Muslim populations is extremely important and the culture precludes their contact with foreign males or any male for that matter who is not a member of their immediate families.

Marine Lioness teams in Iraq would search female Iraqis for contraband and concealed weapons and the FET teams developed from there. They provide an invaluable resource not only to their commanders and units, but also to the local communities in a way that had never been managed before.

Female Engagement Teams can interact with women and children in the local populace, report information and provide it. They implement community development programs, and they can gather intelligence without violating cultural standards. The women who serve on these teams are highly skilled and screened and serve their country with distinction.

These are the women that inspired me to create Jazz and Mary in the first place.

Semper fi.

***

Heather Long lives in North Texas with her family and their menagerie of animals. As a child, Heather skipped picture books and enjoyed the Harlequin romance novels by Penny Jordan and Nora Roberts that her grandmother read to her. Heather believes that laughter is as important to life as breathing and that the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus are very real. In the meanwhile, she is hard at work on her next novel.

Second Chance Christmas by Dahlia DeWinters

From one Christmas to the next, it's amazing what can happen, and in this case, the heroine's life changes drastically. Can a second chance Christmas erase the bad memories of the first?

Naomi is house sitting, and she's not 100% recovered from an emotional break down. But when her illegal movie downloading leads to almost frying someone else's computer, she must call a computer service for help, never mind it's Christmas Eve. And a man from her past swoops in to the rescue.

The story is filled with surprising quirks of humor and sarcasm. Loved the way the heroine thought and I smiled more than once at her wit. Zach...is so sweet. I give major thumbs up to this author for NOT doing the overdone to death alpha male. I'm so sick of alpha males. Thank you, Ms. DeWinters!

The sex is sensual and vivid without once ever crossing that fine line from erotica into porn. I felt the love and desire radiating off the page and never once grew uncomfortable or squeamish.

My favorite part is a brief mention about the Japanese, pottery, gold and silver, and cracks. It was awesome, and the message it conveyed was one we would all do well to remember. *I don't wish to ruin the surprise for anyone.*

My quibble: The heroine's emotional breakdown was never made clear to me. I couldn't figure out, really, WHY she did what she did. I never once got the impression she loved the man in the beginning so why did she react as she did? *Again, no spoilers here.*

Four bikes. I received this from the author with no strings attached.

Close Contact by Cassandra Carr, Cindy Carr, and Cristal Ryder

Blurb: Hard-hitting contact sports don't have the only sexy professional athletes. Does the strength and grace of golf, tennis and fencing instructors extend to lustier activities? Find out as they turn these classic sports into full-contact steamy sessions. Featuring stories by Cassandra Carr, Cristal Ryder and Cynthia Carr.

Service Ace by Cassandra Carr

Callum Giovanni's professional tennis career is over. He's trying not to be bitter about it, even though it means teaching women more interested in not messing up their hair and nails than a good service. Then Adriana Macy appears, claiming to be a novice, but Callum knows there's more to her than meets the eye. How far does she want to take their personal match? The ball's in her court. 

Up to the Hilt by Cynthia Carr
Olympic fencing wunderkind Sebastian Como is Rina Rogers’ last resort to find someone who can instruct her toward her own Olympic medal. All her other trainers have balked, saying she is too impulsive, too unmanageable, too everything. Sebastian recognizes her talent and tells her he'll take her all the way. But does that include his bed?

Playing Through by Cristal Ryder
A relationship is the last thing Lexie is looking for, especially one with a hot cowboy wanting golf lessons. It's all she can do to keep her focus on the game and off Jay’s hard muscled body and devilishly sexy face. But the more lessons they have, the farther his sexy drawl gets under her skin. 

Does he feel the attraction too? Mother Nature forces them to seek shelter as the power of nature lets loose around them. Will they go primal and unleash their attraction for one another amidst the rawness of the Rocky Mountains?

***My two cents***

Three erotic romance stories in one, all involving sports in some way.

The first story is about a woman who has had her eye on a pro tennis player for sometime. A severe ankle injury has relegated him to being a coach. Hey, there's a silver lining behind every cloud, right? One of his students happens to have the hots for him and it's lust at first sight and a hot romp. The lust/sex was almost immediate, too immediate for my taste, but at least they used a rubber.

The second story was a golf instructor and her student. They get rained on and seek shelter together. The sex was hot, the writing good, though I felt a big over dramatic with all the sexual awareness.

The last story, Up to the Hilt, was my favorite. Well-written, engaging, and featuring a tough female who wants to be the best fencer she can be. "Fencing needs some fresh blood amongst the stodgy, good old boys network. I'm the one who's going to show them there's a youth movement out there. There are all kinds of moves you can make that no one has dared to perform in competition. I'm going to make them and shock everyone."

She was right up my alley, attitude problem and all. She engages her instructor in real battle, which leads to a battle of a different sort. I also liked  that this story was more STORY than sex. I'll be seeking other work from this author.