ARC Review: For Maggie's Sake by Lora Leigh

Look, I'm going to be honest with you, I give almost any Lora Leigh book 5 stars for erotic content.  The stories are usually more on the 2-3 star side but when I roll it all together, I come out with 4 stars.  This book I thought was particularly deserving of the higher rating because I really enjoyed the mystery/suspense aspect that was interwoven into the plot.

Joe is a DEA Agent, Maggie is his ex-lover who married his best friend and partner.  When the book opens, Joe is watching Maggie be interrogated.  Maggie has been implicated is some drug cartel thing. Here's the kicker, she was implicated by her husband, Joe's former partner/best friend and dead scum bag.  Joe wants to believe that the woman he used to be close to and still can't get out of his system would never do the things she is accused of doing but the bottom line is that Joe doesn't really trust anyone. And that also kind of explains why Joe and Maggies relationship didn't work out on the first go round.  

Maggie is in danger because whether or not she was involved in the drug business, everybody thinks she was and everybody thinks she knows where her dead husband hid something (drugs or money or something, I can't recall at the moment).  Joe, being the upstanding DEA agent he is, volunteers to take Maggie into kind of a bootleg witness protection program where he is going to protect her.  Now at first, I was like ok, Maggs is kinda a slut bag for marrying her exes best friend.  We find out pretty quickly that is totally not what it seems.  Joe's former friend basically tricked Maggie into marrying him.  From that point on, the marriage was not real and Maggie had been miserable.

As for Joe, he's kind of a jerk to Maggie. He vacillates as to whether to believe she is innocent and when he is not doing that he is making inappropriate comments and trying to get her in bed.  Apparently Joe's investigative strategy was to use his intimate knowledge of Maggie to get her to "open up to him" literally and figuratively.  Joe believes that Maggie knows something about her ex husband even if she is not consciously aware of knowing it. Right from the beginning, the chemistry between these two is sizziling hot.  Maggie tries to deny her feelings because the way things ended between her and Joe was not cool but it's difficult to really deny what is obvious.  I wanted these two together and I enjoyed the super fast pace of this pretty short book.  I just felt like Maggie was a little weak and Joe was a little pushy.  I still think this book is highly entertaining, sexy and a fun read. This is something that should add a little spice to your holiday season.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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ARC Review: Dirty Little Lies by Lora Leigh

I went back and checked, this is the 3rd book in this series. It is marketed as a standalone. Maybe it is but I couldn't tell. There were so many characters in this book and such a complex plot, that I really don't recommend you try to follow it without reading the first two books in the series. I didn't start the series at the beginning, I started with this book and I spent nearly the entire book trying to sort everything out. I couldn't even follow all the terminology being used because I was so busy trying to sort out who was trying to kill who and who was on whose side.

So here is what I can tell you: The couple in this book are Zack and Grace. Zack and Grace have known one another for years but both have hidden who they really are from each other. They have really been hiding their identities from every one around them to protect family secrets and alliances. Because of something her Mother did, Grace finds herself in grave danger. The only way Zack can protect her is to reveal who he really is. The problem is that who Zack really is turns out to be a grade A jerk.

Grace has gotten by and remained safe by pretending to be weak and innocent. In reality, Grace is well trained in self defense, is highly intelligent and is the inner circle of the government funded militia run by her family. Grace has had to deal with people assuming she is weak her entire life. She does not take too kindly at all to getting that treatment from Zack. Zack believes he needs to protect Grace. He is partially correct but he doesn't appreciate Grace's own abilities. The two wind up being enemies with an intense attraction to one another that is constantly boiling over.

I think there is a good story in here somewhere. But for me, I felt perpetually lost in all the intrigue and emerging plots. I'm actually going to try to read the series from the beginning, I suggest you do the same.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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ARC Review: Wicked Pleasure: Part Two by Lora Leigh

I'm an erotic romance fan so it's hard to lose my adoration as a reader when that is what the author is serving up. In fact, I didn't exactly love part 1 of this series but I came back for part 2 because the erotic content was good and there was potential for the development of a good plot. After this installment though, I give up.

This book picks up precisely where part 1 leaves off. Cam still wants Jaci all to himself but won't take her without an assist by his brother. Jaci is still frustrated by Cam's bossiness and slightly perplexed by his intimacy issues. In this book we get more information about the Roberts and find out that Jaci has a plan to deal with them (sort of) with some help by another of their "victims."

There are just so many things that I did not like. First, I didn't feel like the relationship between Cam and Jaci progressed enough. There was too much repetitive introspection regarding Cam and Jaci's feelings. The same thing happened in part 1 but I thought things would move further in this book. I was disappointed to find both Cam and Jaci internally obsessing about the same stuff from part 1. In related news, the rotating POVs without warning finally really got on my nerves. I don't want to spend a whole page figuring out whose head I'm inside.

I also feel like I missed something about Cam and Jaci. As far as I can tell there was no public declaration of their affection. So how did everyone know Cam had claimed Jaci? I just felt like something was missing in the plot development.

We did get a greater insight into what accounted for Cam's intimacy issues. Honestly, by the time things were revealed, I had kind of checked out on the story. There is just something about the writing that is imprecise. Not in a purposeful way though, more in a way that made me feel like the actual plot of the book needed more attention.

The sex is still great but like in any relationship, I just need more than that to stay committed. This is far from bad, I was just frustrated by the writing and characters so this one is not on my greatest hits list.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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ARC Review: Wicked Pleasure: Part One by Lora Leigh

Let me first start by telling you that this is a menage romance. If you don't do trios, this is not going to be the book for you. I am not typically a menage romance girl but I've found that if a relationship begins as a trio, I'm ok with it. I don't like a monogamous relationship that later adds another party. So if you've written off trio romance but want to try again, I recommend a book like this where the trio is there from the beginning.

I'm just not sure how to feel about this specific book. I really struggled to come up with an accurate rating. I like erotic romance and this book is definitely that. The erotic content is creative and thorough and I appreciate that. The problem for me was the plot....or the lack thereof. When I started this book, I thought I was going to be reading the story of Jaci and Cam. I think Cam thought she was going to be living the story of Jaci and Cam but that isn't how it worked out. Cam ONLY sleeps with women with his twin brother Chase. There is some really deep reason for that but that's the situation. The thing that gets me almost immediately when Cam hooks up with Jaci is that he wants her fiercely to himself but it's not a choice he can even make. He feels like he CAN'T be with Jaci without his brother being present. It gets even weirder because he has lots of inner conversation with himself about how he wants Jaci all to himself and will have her some day but then he can't or he won't.

The problem with this for me is that it made Cam seem weak. Like, you can't be the dominating alpha male if you can't bang your girl without assistance from your brother. I just was not feeling that at all. As for Jaci's part, she gets that Cam has some issue preventing him from being with her without Chase so she pretty much just goes along with it. In that way, this isn't truly a trio relationship. It's a two person relationship with a mandatory third for sexual encounters only. And that is weird as it sounds. It's almost like Chase is a sex toy that they clean off and pull out of the drawer when it's time to get it on. That's extremely weird because Chase happens to be an actual human being.

The author builds some back story for Jaci involving a scandal that has landed her in the position of needing to take the job that lands her back in Cam's world. I was interested to hear more about the scandal but the story never really develops in this book. There is also the issue of the super secret sex club that Jaci signs up to work for. I thought that was going to be a part of this book but beyond being mentioned, it's not actually a part of this installment. So, there really isn't much to this book but a constantly repeating scene between Jaci and Cam with a guest staring role by Cam. Cam wants Jaci and tells himself that one day he will have her to himself. He then decides that day is not today. Chase comes in right in time so they can both bang Jaci's brain out. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

My writing was somewhere between two and three stars. I tilt towards two because the first time Cam is with Jaci makes absolutely no sense in the real world and it just irritated me (I'm not spoiling it, you have to read that part for yourself). I lean towards three stars because I did enjoy all the super hot steam. I'm going with three stars because there are pieces in this book that make me think the series could improve. I just think this first installment could have been better.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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