Feature and Giveaway: Once Upon a Player by Christina Phillips

Falling for the player was never part of the plan…

Violet

When my mum gets sick, I volunteer to fill in for her and clean some hot jock’s penthouse. I’ve heard all the rumors about him, so the plan is get in, clean some toilet bowls, and get out. After my last experience with a “sports hero,” I’m done with that sort of guy.

But Lucas Carter is full of surprises. He wants to help me clean and is nothing like the toad the press has made him out to be. Resistance may be futile for some girls, but not me. Then he asks me to help him with the interior design of his new place. I can’t say, no. It’s going to look great on my resume.

Unfortunately, spending time with Lucas is dangerous. He’s so charming and sweet, but I can’t let myself forget––once a player, always a player.

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A Naughty New Year with Christina Phillips

Christina Phillips is addicted to good coffee, expensive chocolate and bad boy heroes. She writes on the sizzling side of naughty, and loves bringing her tough biker heroes to their knees (her heroines enjoy this, too ☺)

She is also owned by three gorgeous cats who are convinced the universe revolves around their needs. They are not wrong.

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Feature and Giveaway: Payback by Christina Phillips

Gage…

I don't fuck girls who work for me, but as soon as Amelia turns those big green eyes on me I know she's trouble. I can't keep my hands off her, and the almost-but-not-quite-sex we share in the kitchen is the hottest thing I've ever had. Except she calls it quits, before we've even started.

Instead of moving on, she’s all I can think about and that's bad news. I'm breaking all my rules for her, and don't even care.

Until I find out who she is and what she really wants. She's after payback, but there's no way she's going to get it. No way in hell...

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ARC Review: Hooked by Christina Phillips

This is the first book in the Viking Bastards MC series. I am an MC romance fan (motorcycle club romance for all you newbies). It doesn't take much to get me "hooked" on a book with a dirty biker and his future 'ol lady.' For all you MC romance readers, I would warn you that this book is very light on the stuff you typically see in MC books. Besides referring to the fact that Zach is in a MC and is gruff and bossy, there isn't really information about the MC or MC life in the book. In fact, Grace never even goes to Zach's clubhouse in the book.  Because an MC is usually so important to the members in these books, a lot of the romance between Zach and Grace seemed completely unrealistic. There is just no way in 98% of MC books a club member will consider a relationship with a woman before making sure she fits with his club.

Grace is super rich an happens to meet Zach in a dive MC bar when her car breaks down. Zach offers to fix it but he winds up fixing Grace. Within minutes of meeting her, Grace is spread out on a pool table living her wildest fantasies. Turns out Zach didn't even really think her car had broken down. He thought she was some rich chick just looking for a good time. After the pool table shenanigans Zach winds up deciding he is not quite ready to give Grace up. He brings her home where even his wild sister notices that Zach is different with Grace.  After that, things keep escalating between the couple. Eventually Zach has to deal with his demons and Grace has to decide that she is going to break free of her family expectations.  There is a brief conflict and then a HEA.

So here's the thing- I have no problem with unlikely couples hooking up.  But there comes a point when things just stop making sense and I think we reached it in this book. First there is a vast socio-economic difference between Zach and Grace. Grace is from old and very big money. Zach and his sister were basically orphans. Because Zach is into Grace he accompanies her into her world and everyone magically loves him. This includes Grace's wealthy Mother who before meeting Zach wanted Grace to get back with her rich ex. None of this made any sense to me. These people would not have loved someone like Zach and Zach would not have loved them. This book could have only made sense if Grace had made the decision to separate herself from her old life and start over.  That was not the case. Instead, we get a book of two people who have absolutely nothing in common on the outside or inside falling madly in love. I know it happens all the time in these books and we go along with it.  In this book, however, I needed something more to connect these two characters.

Despite the lack of credibility, I read this book pretty fast and can say that I honestly enjoyed it. I like Phillips' writing style and I look forward to reading books by her in the future.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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ARC Review: Hold Me Until Forever by Christina Phillips

Hold Me Until Forever is the third book in the Grayson Brothers Series. If you read the first two books in the series, you know that the two younger Graysons were featured in their own books and have already found their loves. Alex is the oldest sibling and the last one to find his true love. If you haven't read the first two books in the series, you don't need to, you can start right here. There might be some very mild spoilers from the first two books but nothing that should really prevent you from reading out of order.

This book is Alex and Ella's story. This is a "little sister of my best friend" novel with a side of BDSM. I think you will like this book but there isn't much about it that will distinguish it from similar books with the 'off limits' little sister theme. Alex has been pining away for Ella for years. As his attraction to her grows so do his efforts to hide it. Of course what happens with that is that Alex goes too far in the wrong direction and basically ignores Ella. Ella spends the very first part of the book thinking that Alex either doesn't notice her or doesn't like her. In an interesting twist, Ella is Alex's assistant at work and she recognizes her attraction to Alex. Ella finally gives up on Alex and decides to take a job somewhere else so she can move on with her life, and that's where the story really starts.

Alex is (randomly) part owner of a sex club and regularly participates in BDSM kink at the club. Ella develops a plan to visit the club in an effort to get Alex's attention. It works, instantly and Alex and Ella embark on a kinky relationship. The hook up between Alex and Ella was sort of hot and pretty interesting but there wasn't enough build up to it. At the point when we enter the story, Alex rapidly moves from viewing Ella as off limits to having her in every compromising position you can imagine. I was really confused by how rapidly things moved between the couple or why there was suddenly no issue with Alex hooking up with Ella. The BDSM elements in the book are really light weight, the relationship is fun and the plot moves rapidly forward even though it's a little bit predictable. I think you'll enjoy this book but it probably won't go on your memorable read list.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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ARC Review: Hold Me Until Morning by Christina Phillips

Hold Me Until Morning is the second book in the Grayson Brothers series by Christina Philips. Each book can be read as a standalone story though, so don't worry if you haven't read the first one. This was my first book by Christina Phillips and there was a lot to enjoy here. It was short and sexy, and had its really sweet moments too. I liked this book and Christina Phillips is a really great writer. I would read more from her again after reading this one.

When Cooper Grayson's best friend Scott asks him to look after his little sister for a week, he just knows that it is going to be a pain. Paris O'Connell is used to only the fine things in life, after being a famous soap star for the last several years. But when Paris arrives at the remote mountain cabin, he is surprised to find that Paris isn't what he had been expecting at all. Neither of them are like the person they remember growing up around, and the attraction between them is instant. But Cooper finds himself struggling with his feelings since she is Scott's little sister. The more time they spend together though, the closer they become and soon they can't fight what is between them. But when they are forced to face the real world, will they lose everything that they are building?

I liked Cooper and Paris. I thought that they had great chemistry, and I loved that they had some history between them. They had grown up around one another, and knew each other before Paris was famous. Paris was far from the typical Hollywood starlet, and I really liked that she had a mind of her own. She had her own wants and wasn't what people thought she was. I did think that she had let her mother push her around for far too long, but I was glad that she was able to think for herself. She had issues from her past that she was able to overcome and I really admired that. Cooper was really great for her as well, and I liked that he was supportive of her. He treated her like she was normal right from the start here, and that was something that not many people did. He was able to see beneath the facade and really cared about her and what she wanted. 

I will say that I thought that while the first half was great, the second half lost me a bit. I didn't care for her mother and how much she had to do with Paris and her life. I also was really loving the tension and build-up between Cooper and Paris, and it seemed to get a bit lost in the second half as it felt like they just jumped ahead a few steps. Things were suddenly more serious and it didn't feel as natural or smooth as I would have liked. While I liked the chemistry between them, I didn't really feel as invested in their relationship as I would have liked. The first half of the book was really enjoyable, but the second half sort of fizzled out and fell flat. I will still read more from Christina Phillips in the future, this one just had a lot of promise that I felt didn't quite deliver in the end.

**ARC Provided by Publisher**

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Interview with Author Christina Phillips and Giveaway

Meet Christina Phillips author of Meet Me Until Morning.

Christina Phillips is an ex-pat Brit who now lives in sunny Western Australia with her high school sweetheart and their family. She enjoys writing paranormal, historical and contemporary romance where the stories sizzle and the heroine brings her hero to his knees.

She is addicted to good coffee, expensive chocolate and bad boy heroes. She's also owned by three gorgeous cats who are convinced the universe revolves around their needs. They are not wrong.

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ARC Review: Hold Me Until Midnight by Christina Phillips

Ok if you are brand new to romance and have never ever read a girl meets bodyguard, needs bodyguard services, has hot monkey sex with bodyguard and falls in love with bodyguard story, this may be really fresh and exciting plot for you. For the rest of us, it’s a very familiar story. This is an exception to the rule that familiarity breeds contempt, however, because this is still an enjoyable book.

Scarlett needs a bodyguard for a seriously dubious reason- like, I completely don’t get it. Jackson happens to be a bodyguard and answers the call. Scarlett is from a wealthy family and Jackson, not so much. Despite the vast distance between their socio-economic status’ they are instantly attracted to one another. They proceed to have what I like to call 4 star sex involving many interesting surfaces (some vertical).

Despite the predictability of the book, I seriously enjoyed the character depiction. Scarlett was interesting and nuanced and not just some rich socialite. She was strong, not overly angsty and funny at times. I particularly liked the fact that Scarlett was fed up with trying to please her emotionally distant Father and was venturing away from the beaten good girl path for the first time. Interestingly, Jackson has his own Daddy issues that have shaped the choices he’s made in life. The parallel between the vastly different fathers the main characters had was well done and added a lot of depth to the relationship in the story.

Jackson was also my kinda alpha male. He grew up in a tough environment and had the battle scars to prove it. As you might expect, he didn’t “do” relationships but instantly wants to destroy any man who looks in Scarlett’s direction.

Aside from the kind of predictable storyline the only other thing that could be a drawback in this book was the family drama…on both sides of the relationship. There was a lot going on in Jackson and Scarlett’s family and sometimes the drama threatened to overshadow the relationship. On the other hand, it alleviated some of the predictability of the plot line and gave the story some depth so it’s not all bad.

In summary: I recommend this book because it is well written, intelligent and funny with some great sex. You might feel a little ho-hum about the plot but hey think of it like a familiar face in a crowd of books.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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Feature and Giveaway: Tainted by Christina Phillips

A dangerous love that Rome will never allow…

Driven by the knowledge he failed to protect his king and embittered at losing the woman he loves, Celtic warrior Gawain despises the lust he feels for the beautiful Roman patrician, Antonia. She is everything he’s never wanted in a woman, yet she ignites his passion like no other. Despite the danger of discovery he embarks on an illicit liaison with her, determined to uncover the reason for the infinite sorrow that haunts her eyes.

Newly arrived in Britannia from Rome, Antonia is inexplicably drawn to the cold, tough Celt whose touch stirs a desire she long thought died at the hands of her brutal former husband. With Gawain she learns the pleasure of sex and his unexpected tenderness thaws her frozen heart. But she hides a deadly secret that could be her undoing, and knows her growing feelings for him can lead nowhere. Yet when a shadow from her past threatens her future Antonia is torn between the Empire of her birth and betraying Gawain, the man she’s grown to love.

Inside Scoop: This medieval romance dabbles a wee bit in the paranormal.

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