ARC Review: One Wild Night by Magan Vernon

One Wild Night is the first portion of a six part serial by Magan Vernon. I was originally drawn to this story by its beautiful cover. I absolutely loved it! But after reading the blurb, I really wanted to read this one because it sounded like a really fun read. I haven't really read many serials, because the thought of being left in the middle of something and having to wait for each installment is almost enough to kill me. But after reading this first installment, I am glad that I gave this one a shot and I am looking forward to seeing where Magan Vernon takes Wes and Valerie.

Valerie Wilder is in Vegas for her job as a PR assistant. When the girls she works with get some tickets to a contest for the best abs in Vegas, Valerie is looking forward to spending the night checking out some hot guys. But when Valerie and her friends end up judging the contest she comes face to face with the hot stripper and contestant Wild Wild Wes. Wes ends up winning the contest and everyone goes to celebrate after. Wes and Valerie end up spending some time together while drinking and the next thing they know, they are running off to get married. Valerie wakes the next morning and at first doesn't remember what happened, but after she finally does she is determined to get a quickie divorce. But since neither her nor Wes are residents of Nevada, they are forced to go to either state they are from in order to file. Valerie and Wes decide to head to Valerie's home in Illinois in order to get it taken care of. Valerie is convinced that a marriage to Wes will never work. Wes however seems to be more optimistic. What will happen when they get to Illinois and start living together? Will they end up getting the divorce, or will their quickie marriage end up becoming real?

I liked Wes a lot. Even though he is a stripper, he was really only doing it to make money after his parents kicked him out of the house. He wants to pursue a career as a musician and was just briefly stopping in Vegas on his way to LA. I liked that he was nice and sweet to not only Valerie, but to everyone he seemed to interact with. He was extremely charming and seemed like a down to earth good southern guy. I am not quite sure where I stand as far as Valerie goes yet. I liked her at times, but then at other times I had some issues with her. I think that she seems like she is a little too uptight, but then at other times she seems to just let go and have some fun. I understand that waking up married was a huge shock for her and that she was struggling with that, but at times she was a little bit mean and degrading to Wes. I didn't care for that side of her, but I do understand that part of that is just because of her situation. Wes and Valerie do have good chemistry together though. Even though there wasn't a ton of physical interaction, I enjoyed the ones there were and thought that they were steamy. I feel like we don't really get to know either Wes or Valerie very much since this part is so short, but I am excited to see more of them as their story progresses.

Overall, I thought that this was definitely a promising start to this serial. I am looking forward to reading more about Wes and Valerie and I can't wait to find out what happens with them. I hope that as we get more into this story that Valerie changes a bit and stops treating Wes the way she did in this one. One minute she is bitchy to him and about him and the next she is taking advantage of how hot he is and the fact that they are married. I also hope that she stops with her constant mentioning of the fact that no guys have ever wanted more than sex from her because she is a "thick girl". I like that she is real and that she is not model thin. I know that there are guys out there who judge things like that, but there are also plenty of guys out there who like a woman for who she is and not her body type. Wes seems to like her as she is, and I hope that she realizes that sooner rather than later. I recommend giving this serial a shot if you are looking for a fun romance read. I am looking forward to the next portion of this serial and can't wait to see what Valerie and Wes are up to next.

**ARC provided by Inkslinger PR**

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Fighting a Duel...with Jillian Stone and Giveaway

Fighting a Duel on Christmas Eve - Jillian Stone

Jillian Stone is author of the gaslight romantic suspense series, The Gentlemen of Scotland Yard and the steamy steampunk series Phaeton Black, Paranormal Investigator. She is currently working on several contemporary erotic romance novels, as well as the Gentlemen of Scotland Yard spin-off, CODENAME: DRAGON.

Places to find Jillian:

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ARC Review: What Not to Bare by Megan Frampton

Most romance novels are written with a certain familiar flow to the story, but every now and then we encounter a book that seems to be marching to a different drummer. Sometimes that can be because of inconsistent writing or poor pacing, but other times it is because the writer truly has a unique style. What Not to Bare is a quirky, delightful story brought to life through interesting characters. It took me just a little while to get into the unusual rhythm of the writing, but once I did, it was all fun and enjoyment. Megan Frampton places us most of the time in the mind of the heroine whose thoughts are fast, curious and somewhat jumbled. It was almost like stream-of-consciousness writing. Definitely different than the usual Regency, very quick and funny.

Lady Charlotte Jepstow is reasonably attractive with a large dowry, but she is barely tolerating her third season, hoping her parents will give up on her and allow her to live a quiet, spinster life. She dresses in outlandish clothing partly because she likes them and partly as a challenge to get others to really see who she is. She has been dubbed “The Abomination.” Lord David Marchston has recently returned from his beloved India because of a scandal. His superior (also Charlotte’s uncle) asks him to court Charlotte in an attempt to make other gentlemen interested in her. David is so attractive that he was dubbed “Mr. Gorgeous” in India, but he really wants to be valued for his usefulness, not his looks. Charlotte is quite surprised when the best looking guy in London pays attention to her and David is surprised to discover that he enjoys Charlotte’s unique personality. Complications and conflicts make it difficult for Charlotte and David to reach their very satisfying Happily Ever After.

After reading hundreds of historical romances it is a delicious pleasure to come across an occasional book that is engaging because it is different. It is such fun to be inside Charlotte’s mind. She is sharp, curious, and impulsive, often blurting out questions that others would not dare to ask. It was also great fun to see the usually cool and collected David become befuddled by Charlotte’s unusual questions and antics, causing him to say ridiculous things, like that she was “not ugly.” This is a thoroughly engaging romance with lovely steamy bits. It has some wonderful messages about not judging people by their exteriors and that real self-esteem is deeper than our surfaces. Charlotte and David would never have seemed to go together to the casual observer, but they found that they had much in common and it was enough to build a solid relationship. Charlotte clearly sees all of her faults, but David helps her appreciate her unique qualities. Charlotte helps David engage his finer aspirations. What Not to Bare was a joy to read. I highly recommend it.

**ARC provided by NetGalley**

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A Drunken Escapade...with Christie Kelley and Giveaway

A Drunken Escapade on Christmas Eve - Christie Kelley

Award winning author, Christie Kelley was born and raised in upstate New York. After seventeen years working for financial institutions in software development, she started writing her first book. She currently writes regency historicals for Kensington. Christie now lives in Maryland with her two sons.

Places to find Christie:

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ARC Review: Remy by Katy Evans

I have to admit that I am a huge fan of books and/or series where the author gives us not only the heroine's point of view, but also the hero's. I especially love when they give us a whole book or novella with that alternate point of view. I feel like it really allows the reader to connect with the book and also the characters on a level that is deeper than you usually get with only one point of view. So when I heard about Remy by Katy Evans, I absolutely had to read it. I was really intrigued not only because I love his character so much, but also because I thought that it would be really interesting to see his thoughts and feelings when he was black as well as when he was blue.

If you haven't read Real and Mine, you are going to want to read both of those books before starting Remy and also beware of spoilers in this review. In Remy, we get to see things from Remy's point of view that happen in Real and Mine. We also get some new things as well though. Remy starts in the present with Remy and Brooke getting ready for their wedding. This is their second wedding, not the first one that they did at city hall. We then alternate between the past and present for the rest of the story. We get to see many scenes from Real and Mine as we never saw them before. Experiencing them as Remy does. Although Remy does not give us a ton of new material, we are left with Brooke and Remy in a very satisfying spot.

I continue to love Remy. He is definitely one of my favorite book heroes that I have ever read. It was really nice to see some of his thoughts and feelings. I feel like we get to know Remy better than we did before. It was really nice to see how he experienced many of the big events in his and Brooke's relationship. You could really tell just how far he was willing to go for Brooke and how deeply he cared for her. He was totally alpha and I love how absolutely possessive he is of Brooke. He would do anything to protect her. But he is also really vulnerable and because of his past, he struggles with accepting that he deserves happiness. It really added so much to this series to see exactly how low he got and at other times how high he would go. I think the reader was able to understand so much more of why he did and said the things he did because of getting this insight into him. It was also nice to see more of all our favorite characters in this series, and begin to see where Katy Evans is taking them in the future.

I did however have a few problems that kept me from being able to rate this one higher. I felt like Remy was like Mine when it came to the problem of repetition. There was just so much that was said and done multiple times that it really took away from the story. It really made me want to skip over parts because I just didn't want to keep reading the same things over and over. I also thought that there were times that Remy's thoughts and feelings sounded the same or very similar to Brooke's from the previous books. It just seemed as though they were written the exact same way, and there wasn't much to differentiate between the two different POVs. Besides the repetition and the similar POVs though, I also felt like there really wasn't a lot of new material. I realize that this was never meant to be a complete new story, and that we were mostly getting his POV of the previous books. But I was hoping to get a bit more new and original content than we got. I think that fans of this series will enjoy seeing more of Remy and some new material. This does add to the series and despite the problems I had, I am glad that I read it. Remy absolutely makes it worth it. I am interested to read the next couple of books in this series though, and I am excited that we will be getting more of different characters. It will be nice to get some new and fresh material while hopefully still getting to see some of our favorites.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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