Feature: Too Hot to Handle by Tessa Bailey

When rescue looks like a whole lot of trouble…

The road trip was definitely a bad idea. Having already flambéed her culinary career beyond recognition, Rita Clarkson is now stranded in God-Knows-Where, New Mexico, with a busted-ass car and her three temperamental siblings, who she hasn't seen in years. When rescue shows up—six-feet-plus of hot, charming sex on a motorcycle—Rita's pretty certain she's gone from the frying pan right into the fire…

Jasper Ellis has a bad boy reputation in this town, and he loathes it. The moment he sees Rita, though, Jasper knows he's about to be sorely tempted. There's something real between them. Something raw. And Jasper has only a few days to show Rita that he isn't just for tonight—he's forever.

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ARC Review: The Northman’s Bride by Sandra Lake

This was my first Sandra Lake book, I was afraid that not reading the first two books in the series would be a problem but nope. The previous characters are there but their stories are each stand-alone, like this one. I had a hard time getting into the story, not to any fault of the author or story I was preoccupied at the time and it couldn’t keep my attention, but once I was able to get into the meat of the story I was hooked. This book takes place during a time in the Scandinavian countries of civil war all the ruling Kings and Jarls were constantly fighting and making peace treaties and then finding something to go to war again. I love how Sovia was educated and smart enough to realize this.

Sovia is merely a pawn in her father’s political power plays. When she accidentally seduces the wrong brother her father, the manipulative bastard he is, quickly changes tactics from marrying Sovia to the oldest to blackmailing them into an agreement. Hök fell in love with Sovia at first sight and when he learned her original intent he was heartbroken. Seven years later Sovia is accused of treason and is going to be put to death. Hök can’t let her die and does the only thing he can think of he offers to marry her and he does. Sovia is her father’s only daughter and she is the granddaughter of a Norwegian royalty and has a great land holding and Sovia only wants to go back home. Hök uses this information and holds it over her head. Sovia will do everything in her power to get back home.

Sovia is a hard character to like at the start but you quickly realize the situation she has been forced into. Hök you feel sorry for but he really shows just how fine the line is between love and hate really is. The harder he tries to show Sovia that he hates her is really just much he still loves her. That’s one thing I had to keep reminding myself was that he was just posturing, because through three fourths of the book he’s an ass and it seems like a sudden turn around when he finally does start to show his true emotion but he always loved her he just didn’t want to let himself love her again. The political manipulations doesn’t stop with Hök’s marriage it only complicates matters when the Rus that they were previously fighting makes a play for Sovia and no way is Hök or his family going to give in easily.

Overall, the ending really payed off. It’s a historical drama romance, very emotional. You really want to hate Hök throughout most of the book.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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ARC Review: Turn it Up by Kim Karr

Turn it Up is the second installment in the Detroit Love Duet by Kim Karr. This book is not a standalone and should only be read if you have already read Set the Pace. I couldn't wait to get my hands on this one after that cliffhanger, and I pretty much devoured this book! I really love Kim Karr's writing style, and she is one of those authors that I just really enjoy reading each book she writes. While I definitely have my favorites of hers, I have really liked everything that I have read from her. 

Turn it Up picks up right where Set the Pace left off. Jasper Storm and Charlotte Lane were brought back together after life got in the way of their friendship. Now that they have moved past everything that tore them apart, they are growing closer than they ever were before. But Jasper has been arrested for two murders and their past is once again threatening to tear them apart. But can they move forward together or will life and their past once again prevent them from having a future together? 

I really love these characters. Jasper and Charlotte are so easy to like and relate to. They have each been through so much, and yet their connection truly went away. I felt like they were meant to be together in the first book, and that was really solidified in this book. We really got to see more character development here in this book, and I enjoyed that a lot, especially when it came to Charlotte. The love between these characters and the growing relationships between Charlotte and Jasper's friends were so interesting. I really love the secondary characters here almost as much as I do Charlotte and Jasper, and I especially loved Jake. I just couldn't get enough of all of them and had such a good time seeing how everything would play out!

I will say that the beginning of this book started off a bit slow for me, but like with any Kim Karr book I knew the action would come. This book really started to take off after about half way through and I couldn't put it down. Though I really love Kim Karr's books and River and Dahlia will always be my favorites, I have to say that Charlotte and Jasper are right up there as well. I highly recommend this duet, and I think fans of Kim Karr's will love these books as much as I did. If you haven't read the first book yet, make sure you start there. But if you already read Set the Pace, Turn it Up is a must read! I am already anxious to find out what Kim Karr will write next, and I know whatever it is I will be reading it!

**ARC Provided by Social Butterfly PR**

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Feature and Giveaway: Charged by Jay Crownover

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Marked Men books comes the second installment in the Saints of Denver series featuring a bad girl and a by the book attorney who could be her salvation...or her ruin.

Avett Walker and Quaid Jackson’s worlds have no reason to collide. Ever. Quaid is a high powered criminal attorney as slick as he is handsome. Avett is a pink-haired troublemaker with a bad attitude and a history of picking the wrong men.

When Avett lands in a sea of hot water because of one terrible mistake, the only person who can get her out of it is the insanely sexy lawyer. The last thing on earth she wants to do is rely on the no-nonsense attorney who thinks of her as nothing more than a nuisance. He literally has her fate in his hands. Yet there is something about him that makes her want to convince him to loosen his tie and have a little fun…with her.

Quaid never takes on clients like the impulsive young woman with a Technicolor dye job. She could stand to learn a hard lesson or two, but something about her guileless hazel eyes intrigues him. Still, he’s determined to keep their relationship strictly business. But doing so is becoming more impossible with each day he spends with her.

As they work side-by-side, they’ll have to figure out a way to get along and keep their hands off each other—because the chemistry between them is beyond charged.

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Check out the Saints of Denver series:

 

Avett

I blew out a breath and felt that bottom I had careened onto reach up to embrace me even tighter. “It is what it is. I’ve let both my folks down a lot over the last few years but getting caught up with a guy that would rob the bar, a guy who could threaten my dad’s people.” I shook my head. “I deserve to rot.”

I was being overly dramatic but that’s how I felt. I deserved to sit in jail and so much worse than that. Self-pity was good company down here at rock bottom and I wasn’t ready to let go of the warmth it provided just yet.

He gave me a look I couldn’t read and headed for the door. “I’ll call your parents for you and see if we can have something in place before tomorrow. Working on your case will be a lot easier for both of us if you aren’t incarcerated. Remember, you need to listen to me, Ms. Walker. That’s the first rule in all of this.”

Panic hit me like a truck. What if he called my dad and my dad told him he’d had enough of his problematic daughter and her endless nonsense? What if he couldn’t love me anymore? Jail I could survive; losing my father for good, well, it would be the end of me.

Without thinking I jumped to my feet, which had the chains on both my hands and my legs rattling loudly, and two uniformed officers hurried into the room. I was about to make maybe the worst decision to date but I couldn’t stop the words from sliding off my tongue.

“Don’t call my dad!” Recklessness, thy name was Avett Walker.

The attorney turned around and looked at me like I had grown a second head. He didn’t say anything as the officers moved to either side of me and told me to calm down.

“You can’t call my dad.” The words sounded as panicked and as desperate as I felt on the inside.

His broad shoulders lifted and fell in a shrug like he really couldn’t give a shit that he was about to ruin my life…which was saying a hell of a lot considering where I was.

“I have to.” He sounded bored and impatient with my outburst.

I narrowed my eyes at him, and that vortex of awful, which I always seemed to be smack dab in the center of, started to spin faster and faster around me.

“Then you’re fired.” I saw the cops exchange a look and my rushed words had the blond man turning fully back around to look at me. “I don’t want your help. I don’t want anything from you.”

Finally, there was something other than indifference in his gaze. There was surprise, maybe a hint of admiration colliding with a huge splash of humor in the pale depths.

“Sorry, Ms. Walker, but you didn’t hire me, so that means you don’t get to fire me.” That grin of his, which should be registered as a deadly weapon, flashed across his face again as he watched me, and then he was gone.

Jay Crownover is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Marked Men and The Point series. Like her characters, she is a big fan of tattoos. She loves music and wishes she could be a rock star, but since she has no aptitude for singing or instrument playing, she'll settle for writing stories with interesting characters that make the reader feel something. She lives in Colorado with her three dogs.

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ARC Review: Charged by Jay Crownover

Charged is the second novel in the Saints of Denver series by Jay Crownover. I will admit that after reading Built, my favorite book of Jay's ever, that I was both anxious and a bit nervous for Charged. While I loved the set up for Quaid and Avett in Built, Avett was not my favorite character and I have to say that Quaid wasn't either. But right from the start of Charged, these two both won me over and I really ended up enjoying their story!

When Avett Walker finds herself in her biggest mess yet, she is determined to suffer the consequences. She has let her family down too many times to count and she refuses to involve them again. But when the sexy Quaid Jackson shows up and says that he has been hired as her lawyer, she has no option but to let him help her out. Though these two are total opposites, Quaid finds himself drawn to her in a way he has never been to a client or woman before. Soon they both realize that though their lives might appear as different as can be, they have more in common than you might expect.

I was surprised just how much I ended up loving these two. Avett has come off as a selfish brat that never thinks anything through before, and I really loved her attitude here. She was determined to stand on her own two feet, and I really liked that she was willing to accept what she had done and not try to pass blame off on others. In fact she even went too far and blamed herself at times for things that absolutely weren't her fault, but it was really nice to see that she wasn't what you might first think based on what we have seen of her past. Quaid came off in Built as a bit arrogant, thinking that he could get anything he wanted and almost seeming like he was a bit entitled. But very early on here we learn some of his past and what he has been through, and he was so different than I was expecting. I really felt for both of these characters, and I thought that they were perfect for one another. They were great together, had smoking hot chemistry, and they understood each other in a way that was surprising yet completely genuine.

I will say that after reading Built, I had expected this to be a bit more of an enemies to lovers story. The sparks were flying in that book, and the vibes they were giving off said they definitely weren't each other's biggest fans though the attraction was there. But while there was a bit of that here, this one was definitely sweeter than I had been expecting. I really enjoyed it and thought that the story was good, it was just different than I had thought going in. Overall though, this book was really great and I loved getting to see some familiar faces. I am super excite for the next book in the series, Riveted, which will feature Dixie and Church. If you are a fan of Jay Crownover's this book is not to be missed! If you are new to her books, this is a great place to start and I highly recommend checking out her Marked Men series where it all started for these characters in the Saints of Denver series.

**ARC Provided by Inkslinger PR**

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