ARC Review: The Other Brother Part 3: Illicit by Lauren Hawkeye and Tawny Stokes

Illicit is the third and final installment in The Other Brother serial by Lauren Hawkeye and Tawny Stokes. As with the previous installments, these need to be read in order as this picks up right where Taboo left off. When Theo answered Allegra's phone, Seth knew he had to get to her. He knows that she isn't safe as long as Theo is around, but convincing Allegra and her father that Theo is a danger to her is harder than he thought it would be. When Seth shows up on their doorstep, Allegra's dad is shocked to see him, but it quickly becomes clear to him that not only did Allegra know he was back but that there is something going on between them. Seth must convince Allegra and her dad that Theo is a threat to her before it's too late. But will he be able to show them that his actions all those years ago were justified and that blood isn't always thicker than water? 

Allegra and Seth are finally starting to fully realize what is happening between them. They know that they shouldn't be together and that their relationship is unconventional and yet they can't stay away from each other. The feelings and attraction are too much for them to continue to fight. While Seth struggles with how to keep Allegra safe, he also has to convince her and her father that Theo isn't the person that they think he is. Allegra knows that what she feels for Seth is real, but yet she still finds it hard to believe everything that he is telling her about her brother. Theo makes her uneasy, but she still isn't convinced that Seth is right about him. Seth wants to protect her and has a tendency to tell her what to do, but Allegra is only okay with that when it comes to sex. She is strong and independent, and is dead set on doing what she wants. I liked that she had a mind of her own, but I think that she should have trusted her connection to Seth more. She knew that he cared about her, and I wanted her to realize that he was trying to do right by her rather than just control her. These two really were great for one another, and they fit together so well. But I wish that we had seen more of them together rather than just fighting against what they felt.

Overall, this serial was different than the other step-brother romances that I have read. I wasn't expecting where the authors took this story, and I was glad that they went in a different direction. I never could have predicted how things would play out, and I am glad that I took a chance on this one. I will say that I was completely creeped out by Theo from the very start, and he was truly messed up. I knew that there was something going on there, and I was glad that Allegra had Seth. My complaint with this installment was that while I liked the ending, it felt rushed and abrupt. After everything played out I wanted a bit more. I wanted to see Allegra and Seth together without all the drama that had always been surrounding them. I also felt like there were a few things that could have been dealt with that weren't. I wanted to see if anything happened between Allegra's dad and Seth's mom. I felt like even if they never got back together that they could have been given some closure, and I really wanted to see that. After everything that had happened, I felt like the truth needed to be revealed to everyone. I have to say that I liked Seth's friends Gavin and Tristan, and I would be interested to get their stories. I found Tristan especially interesting and I really liked that he had a connection to both Seth and Allegra. I think that if you are looking for some short and steamy reads with some suspense that you should give this serial a shot. I enjoyed each installment, and they kept me interested from start to finish. I will definitely be interested to read more from Lauren and Tawny in the future.

**ARC Provided by Inkslinger PR**

Purchase: | Amazon | B&N | 

ARC Review: The Other Brother Part 2: Taboo by Lauren Hawkeye and Tawny Stokes

Taboo is the second installment in The Other Brother Serial by Lauren Hawkeye and Tawny Stokes. These have to be read in order, as Taboo picks up right where Forbidden left off. Theo has just been released from prison and Seth is back after being gone for years. Allegra feels uneasy around Theo and has no idea why. She knows that he has changed, but can't figure out what is going on with him. Allegra is also struggling with her feelings for Seth. She has always been drawn to him and that hasn't changed, but she knows that she should hate him for destroying their family. She wants to know what happened all those years ago and why Seth almost killed her brother Theo. Seth wants to keep Allegra safe, but he also wants her more than he has ever wanted anyone. He knows that he should stay away from her, but the passion between them is more than either of them can fight. 

The chemistry between Allegra and Seth continued to get stronger in this installment. Even with so much history between them and the time apart, there is a pull between them that neither of them can fight. These two click on so many levels, and their desires are a perfect match for one another. While Seth wants to keep Allegra safe, he also doesn't want to tell her the entire truth of what happened so many years ago. It was clear to see how much he wanted to protect her, and part of that was keeping the truth about Theo from her. She was so much more than just a former step-sister to him, and it was easy to see how much he cares about her. Allegra has had her ups and downs, and we got to see more of her in this installment. After everything that happened years ago, she had some really tough times. She had set herself on a destructive path, and was finally starting to put her life back together. You could really tell how much she wanted to hate Seth, but she also couldn't help but feel as though he had to have had a good reason for his actions. She had always felt a connection to him and he was exactly what she needed. I love that we get to see both of their POV's, and I think that it really helps the reader feel invested in these two.

I have to say that Theo absolutely creeps me out. The more we see of him, the more I dislike him. I don't necessarily agree with Seth's approach when it came to how he dealt with Theo, but I do understand his motivation. Theo is clearly sick and disturbed, and I really hope that Seth is able to protect Allegra. These two have such a strong connection, and I think that Seth would do absolutely anything for her. I hope that they are able to figure things out. Since this is the second part of three, this does end with a cliffhanger. Part three is already out though, so don't let that stop you from reading these. I am really curious to see where this goes next, and I couldn't put this one down. Each installment is short and filled with tons of action and steamy scenes. I am enjoying this serial so far, and there hasn't been a single slow part yet. I can't wait to read the final part and see what Lauren and Tawny have in store for us next.

**ARC Provided by Inkslinger PR**

Purchase: | Amazon | B&N | 

ARC Review: The Other Brother Part 1: Forbidden by Lauren Hawkeye and Tawny Stokes

Forbidden is part one of The Other Brother Serial by Lauren Hawkeye and Tawny Stokes. This story was so much different than I expected, and I have to admit that I had no idea where this one was headed. The blurb gave me an idea of some of this story, but the rest took a completely different twist that surprised me. I am really intrigued to see where this one goes from here. 

Allegra was always the good girl, but after her father got remarried her stepbrother Seth came to live with them. Seth was the opposite of her, he was darker and broody. She tried to get him to open up to her, but all he did was push her away. Allegra found herself wanting to be with him, but knowing that he didn't look at her the same way. Then one night changed everything, and she didn't see him again. After everything that happened that night, she hated Seth. But now years later, Seth is back and things are more complicated than ever. 

With this being the first installment of three, this book was really short. Although we did get to know some about these characters, we are really only seeing part of who they are. Seth was hot and complicated. He was protective of Allegra and yet she really didn't have a clue how much he actually did for her. He kept his feelings secret and did what he could to make sure that she never found out things that he didn't want her to know. Allegra started off as the naive good girl, but after everything that had happened and with the time that had passed she changed. She had grown into a strong woman who was physically capable of protecting herself, yet she was able to accept her desires for someone to take control in the bedroom. I liked that she wasn't ashamed of herself and what she wanted. I felt the chemistry between Seth and Allegra from the start, but I was glad that things didn't happen between them when they were so young. While the four year age difference wasn't a big deal when they were older, it was something that would have bothered me when she was 14. 

I have to say that I really don't know what to make of her real brother Theo. He is so creepy, and I have no idea where the author's are going with his character. All I know is that I instantly disliked him, and all that we learned about him in this installment only made me more wary of him. There is something clearly wrong there, and I really hope that they are careful with how they proceed when it comes to him. I loved how this story was told from both Allegra and Seth's POV. This being the first part of three, there are a lot of things left up in the air and it does end with a cliffhanger. Luckily the other parts have been released, so you don't have to wait for them. I liked this installment and it definitely left me wanting to read more. The passion between Seth and Allegra is just starting to be explored and I am curious to see what will happen after where this one left off.

**ARC Provided by Inkslinger PR**

Purchase: | Amazon | B&N |

ARC Review: Fling: A BDSM Erotica Anthology by Sara Fawkes, Cathryn Fox and Lauren Hawkeye

Fling is an anthology comprised of three different novellas.

Take Me - Sara Fawkes

After being dumped by text message days before her wedding, Kate decides to go ahead and take the vacation that should have been her honeymoon. She shows up at the hotel that her fiance had booked only to discover that her room has been given to someone else and that the hotel is currently hosting a fetish week! The sexy manager of the hotel Alexander is immediately attracted to Kate and goes out of his way to make sure that she stays. Alexander thinks Kate will be the perfect sub to get him back in the action after losing the sub he thought that he would spend his life with. As Kate and Alexander go through the different scenes and activities at the hotel they begin to feel a strong connection to each other that goes beyond just sex.

I really liked both Kate and Alexander. They had great chemistry and their scenes together were hot. The author did a great job of showing the attraction they felt to each other. I was hoping to get a little more to their story though. It would have been nice to see them not just during the quick falling for each other phase, but also see some of their relationship as it was really starting to grow. Their falling in love felt pretty rushed to me considering only a week had passed during the story and they had been complete strangers before meeting at the hotel. But overall I enjoyed Kate and Alexander's story. I really enjoy the heat that Sara Fawkes always brings to her stories, and this one was no exception.

Teach Me - Cathryn Fox

After her entire office gets food poisoning, Josie is the only person left to try and convince Luca Mancusi that he should carry her boss's lingerie in his resort. She arrives at his yacht and the attraction between the two is instant. Luca knows that he wants to take this business meeting with Josie and make it more personal. He whisks her off to his resort, which is currently hosting fetish week. Luca knows that Josie would make a great sub to his Dom, but convincing her of that will take a little time and he knows he needs to ease her into it. As the two of them begin to negotiate the terms of a business contract, things get steamy! Luca and his business partner/best friend show Josie just how pleasurable they can make this experience. But soon Luca no longer wants to share Josie and decides that he needs to make Antonio and Josie see that what started out as a quick fling is actually the relationship and family he didn't know he was looking for.

Because this is a novella and it is so short, everything about this story felt a bit rushed to me. Especially since it started as a fling and was a threesome with Luca's friend Antonio. Josie and Luca were enjoyable to read about and they had amazing chemistry. But I just thought that their connection would have been more believable had it just been about the two of them. I really didn't feel their connection so much as the attraction between them. The scenes between Luca and Josie are really hot, and I found myself wanting more of them!

Tame Me - Lauren Hawkeye

Ever since they shared a moment at a party, Marco cannot get Ariel out of his mind. He knows that she would be the perfect front woman for his new line of malls as well as a perfect sub to his Dom. After trying to meet with her several different times, and her no-showing for them all he decides its time to track her down. Ariel has just hopped a flight to Rome and ends up at the Mancusi resort rather than the hotel she had originally planned to stay at. After Marco shows up and tells her that they will be having their meeting, she agrees to stay and discuss his proposal about the malls and nothing else. As the meeting goes on things quickly turn from business to personal. Ariel is not used to people telling her what to do, but with Marco she discovers that she enjoys giving up control when it comes to her personal life.

I thought that Marco and Ariel were both great! Marco was confident and sexy. I loved that he wanted to take care of Ariel to the point that he would deny himself to show her that he was about more than just being with her because of her high profile career in the music industry. Ariel was feisty and fun, often times being sassy before submitting. Even though their relationship progressed quickly due to this being a novella, I really felt the connection between the two of them. Not only was the emotion there, but the physical action was scorching hot! These two really burned up the pages, and I loved the chemistry between them!

Overall

Overall, this anthology was a quick and hot read for me. I loved that even though these were all separate stories they went together. It was nice to catch little glimpses of the characters throughout all three stories. All of these stories center around fetish week and submitting, but I felt like these were about more than just the typical BDSM stories you usually find and the characters were really enjoyable. I would recommend this book if you enjoy dominating males and steamy scenes!

**ARC provided by Publisher**

Purchase: | Amazon | Barnes & Noble |

Weekly Winners

Below is a list of all of the winners from the past week.

Natasha
The Guilty Innocent by DN Simmonds

Amber
Seduced by the Gladiator by Lauren Hawkeye

Maureen
Kissing Kendall by Jennifer Shirk

Beckey
Highland Heart by Heather McCollum

Pingle
$10 Amazon Gift Card courtesy of Lois Greiman

Amber
Checkmate, My Lord by Tracey Devlyn

Donna
Between by Kerry Schafer

Lori
Can't Buy Me Love + Can't Hurry Love by Molly O'Keefe

All winners have been notified via email. Thank you to everyone that stopped by and entered. =)

Guest Post with Author Lauren Hawkeye and Giveaway

Today I would like to welcome back to RFTC author Lauren Hawkeye. Lauren is celebrating the upcoming release of her book Seduced by the Gladiator and she has stopped by to chat. Please give Lauren a warm welcome.

Lauren Hawkeye/Lauren Jameson is a writer, yoga newbie, knitting aficionado and animal lover who lives in the shadows of the great Rocky Mountains of Alberta, Canada. She's older than she looks--really--and younger than she feels--most of the time--and she loves to explore the journeys that take women through life in her stories. Hawkeye's stories include erotic historical, steamy paranormal, and hot contemporary. Make sure to check out her work as Lauren Jameson, where her erotic romances take a walk on the wild side.

Places to find Lauren:

| Site | Facebook | Twitter | 

Feature: My Wicked Gladiators by Lauren Hawkeye

Alba has spent her entire life pleasing others.

As an upper-class plebeian woman in Ancient Rome, that is her place in life. But when her husband Lucius, the owner of aprestigious gladiatorial school, uses her body as a bargaining tool to increase his fortunes, she is faced with doing as he demands, or finding herself on the street.

Forced to lay with masked gladiators chosen by Lucius, Alba is surprised to discover pleasure in being powerless. Only in the forbidden arms of Caius and Marcus does she find comfort, however temporary it may be.

But with Lucius’ demands looming and the threat of death for her gladiators ever-present, will Alba’s fleeting pleasures be enough? Or will Alba finally grab hold of her happily ever after, no matter the consequences?

Places to Purchase:

| Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | 

Let Me In Winner

Congratulations to

June M

On winning an eBook copy of Let Me In by Lauren Hawkeye

Winner has been contacted via email. Thank you to all that entered. =)

Guest Post with Author Lauren Hawkeye and Giveaway

Today I would like to welcome author Lauren Hawkeye to the blog. Lauren is currently on tour promoting the release Let Me In, which I loved. You can see my review for Let Me In here. So please everyone give a warm welcome to Lauren.

To: dr_anderson@marriagespecialists.com
Subject: SERVICES NO LONGER NEED
From: imogen@hotmail.com
Date: Sun, 2 Aug 2011 11:51:40 -0500

Dear Dr. Anderson,
Thank you for your quick reply to my query about marriage counselling. I do not regret to inform you that my husband Ty and I are no longer in need of your services. You probably don’t care, since we’ve never actually had a session with you, but I’m going to tell you anyway, because I am so happy. This weekend Ty and I went to a wedding. We met another couple there—Hannah and Cal—and though that we would try swinging. Though it never actually happened, the excitement sparked some serious intimacy between hubs and I, and it seemed like that was what we needed to break through our barriers. So we won’t be booking an appointment, and I hope that you’re not one of those doctors who has his staff do a million follow up calls trying to get us to book an appointment. I’m telling you now—I’ve got my husband back, and I’m never letting him go again!
Sincerely,
Imogen

ARC Review: Let Me In by Lauren Hawkeye

I have adored the previous shorts in Lauren Hawkeye's Erotic Me series and Let Me In definitely does ends this series on a bang. But unlike the stories prior to this one, Let Me In is a bit more on the serious side and and packs a lot of story in a short amount of space. Let Me In, continues with the wedding theme and we are introduced to Imogen. Imogen and her husband have not had sex in over a year. Both love and care for one another but there is something lacking in the bedroom with them. When they overhear another couple at the wedding talking about finding a couple to hook up and have some fun with, Imogen finds herself turned on. Is it the prospect of sleeping with another man, or just being able to sleep with her husband again?

Let Me In was about so much more than a couple trying new things with others. It was about a husband and wife who seem to care and love one another breaking down the walls they have erected and coming together in a rather explosive way. I really enjoyed this story and I found myself pulling for Imogen and her husband. I wanted them to find a way to come together and I definitely was not disappointed.

As a whole, I have enjoyed all of the Erotic Me stories and I have definitely moved Lauren Hawkeye to my 'Must Buy' list. Her stories are very sexy and leave the reader clamoring for more.

**ARC copy provided by Bewitching Book Tours**

RATING:

Lead Me On Winner

Congratulations to

Maria D

On winning a copy of Lead Me On

Winner has been contacted via email. Thank you to everyone that entered. 

Guest Post with Author Lauren Hawkeye and Giveaway

Today I would like to welcome to the blog author Lauren Hawkeye. Lauren in currently on tour promoting the release of Lead Me On, which by the way is awesome! You can check out my review for it here. So here's Lauren...

Thanks for having me!

I was recently asked if I have been given any good advice since I started writing. Well, I have received a lot of advice in the four years since I first picked up that pen-- some of it good, some not so much. It seems that everyone has an opinion. However, there are two comments that have stuck in my mind, each given by a great woman and a fabulous writer, people that I respect and admire greatly.

ARC Review: Lead Me On by Lauren Hawkeye

I cannot express how much I am loving these Spice Briefs books by Lauren Hawkeye. Seriously, if you have about twenty minutes to kill I seriously suggest picking up one of these books. So far I've read the first three in the Erotic Me series and they are all awesome! Lead Me One, is book three and it involves a very spicy ménage between Linda, her old college flame Eric and his friend Nick. This story was so hot that I seriously needed a cold shower afterwards. Lauren just has a way of packing so much excitement and tension in all of her shorts. I love them because they leave me satisfied, but I hate them because I just wish there was so much more! I love the common wedding theme that is running through all of the stories. I think it's very creative to see the night through so many different points of view. I am really looking forward to reading Lauren's last book in the Erotic Me series Let Me In. If it's anything like the rest of the series it's going to be one yummy read. 


**ARC copy provided by Bewitching Blog Tours**

RATING:

ARC Review: Tie Me Up by Lauren Hawkeye and Giveaway

**Review**

Tie Me Up is another great short by Lauren Hawkeye. Seriously, if you have 15 or 20 minutes I suggest picking up this book. It was just so hot! Lauren just has a way with being able to pack just enough in her stories to leave me feeling fulfilled yet wanting more. I am also really enjoying the common thread of the wedding going through all of the shorts. It's interesting to see certain events through more than one persons eyes. I definitely will be on the lookout for more stories from Lauren Hawkeye.

RATING:

TIE ME UP
By Lauren Hawkeye
Pub date: October 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-426-88547-1
Book two of the Erotic Me series


Barbara always thought of Ethan as her little brother’s annoying best friend, and she was sure he just considered her his friend’s nerdy big sister. Until the hot night after her brother’s wedding. Alone in the heat, it’s clear Ethan sees her in a way she never saw herself: as a sexy, sensual woman. And for the first time, Barbara feels ready to break free from the painful memories that have haunted her for too long—by exploring her passion for Ethan…

**Author Info**

Lauren Hawkeye is a writer, theatre enthusiast, knitting aficionado and animal lover who lives in the shadows of the great Rocky Mountains of Alberta, Canada. 

She’s older than she looks—really—and younger than she feels—most of the time—and she loves to explore the journeys that take women through life in her stories.
http://www.LaurenHawkeye.com

**Giveaway**

Lauren is offering a tour wide giveaway.

One winner will be chosen in mid December after all of the tour stops have been completed. To be eligible you must answer all four questions on the form and have a US or Canada shipping address. 

Up for grabs-

A Prize Basket filled with a bag of Kicking Horse Coffee, Le Chocolatier chocolates, Rocky Mountain Soap Co. items, and several other items. 

So what are you waiting for? Fill out the FORM and good luck.