ARC REVIEW: Seven Sins [Anthology]

Title: Seven Sins (Anthology)
Author(s): Natalie Anderson, Amy Andrews, Michele de Winton, Robin Covington, Avery Flynn, Carmen Falcone & Talia Hunter
Published: October 19th 2015
Format: eARC | Pages: 423
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Erotica
Source: Author (Talia Hunter)
★★★  (3/5) Stars!

Seven Sins: Seven Sizzling Stories! Bikers, Stepbrothers, Bosses, Baseball, BDSM and more!

Can't get enough of hot contemporary romance? For a LIMITED time buy this sexy, EXCLUSIVE anthology with seven ALL NEW stories from top authors, including USA Today Bestsellers, and discover your favorite sin today!

I received a copy of this book, from one of the authors, in exchange for an honest review. In no way did this sway either my review or my rating!

Big thanks to Talia Hunter first of all for the opportunity to read and review this book. As an all around average for the entire book I'd give it a 3 star rating. However each individual story inside I had very different feelings for. So for the rest of this review I'll give as brief of a summary of my feelings for each one and what I would have rated it if it were an individual novella!

Envy

Blaze for Me by Natalie Anderson

★★★ 3 Stars!
When Austin Tate busts Nicoletta Valeri in a blistering moment of voyeuristic orgasm-envy, it’s the perfect chance for some payback, but instead she’s lit a fire than can be extinguished by only one thing…

So this opening story definitely gave me a crash course for what to expect within this book. The opening scene was this incredibly hot voyeuristic scene that kind of shocked me at first. There was no slowly breaking into it, it just happened on page one. It was fun in a naughty sort of way though.. As for the rest of the story, well, I liked it and enjoyed it but the dialogue very nearly ruined it for me. That and the couple was very immature at times. I probably would have enjoyed it a whole lot more if that dialogue had backed up the fun and steamy storyline.

Gluttony

Glutton for Punishment by Amy Andrews

★★★★ 4 Stars!
With a sudden hankering to be spanked, Darcy Henderson figures Mitch Callaghan is the man for the job. But is she woman enough to take it?

This story was everything I've grown to love and expect from Amy Andrews. Lots of steamy, characters you can instantly love and plenty of humorous funny moments. I think my favorite part of the whole thing was Darcy's grandmother and her friends from the retirement community. They had err...some very surprising sides...to not give anything away. They were so dang funny! I think my biggest complaint about this one would be that it was a shame it was a short story because I would have loved to spend more time with Darcy and Mitch!! Over way too soon!

Lust

Burned by Lust by Michele de Winton

★ 1 Star (DNF)
Biker, Hade Corban is set to take over the Raising Hellfire Gang and love isn’t on his agenda, but lusty goodtime girl Lee Delevinge is hell bent on burning up his heart.

To be perfectly honest...I only read about 5 pages of this one tops before I had to DNF it. You either know or you don't if you're going to like something. And it wasn't because this was about an MC because I've been reading one that I love. I guess what happened was, at least from what I could tell, one of the new guys in the gang had taken a couple of girls upstairs to try and "prove something" to the rest of the guys but was so wasted he passed out so when Hade goes upstairs because of all the banging going on up there one of the naked "ladies" on the bed catches his eye. I lost interest before they said a word to each other. No thanks. Done.

Wrath

Sleeping with the Enemy by Robin Covington

★★★ 3 Stars!
All’s fair in love and baseball…but when Kat Carter, the newly-minted GM for the Virginia Venom, is determined to recruit rival superstar shortstop (and former lover) Derek Foxx the last thing she expects is a sexy ultimatum… Best-selling author Robin Covington proves that rivalry outside the bedroom leads to sparks between the sheets.

This one was really cute and fun and even made me tear up a bit. I really loved getting to know Kat and Derek especially since I'm such a sucker for a really good second chance at love story. And this was one of them, even as short as it was. I feel like the reason my rating for this one was on the lower side was because of the abundance of the word "tits" used even by Kat at times. I have no idea why this word always bugs me so much but it there were points where it made me want to cringe. Still though I pretty much adored this one and it was probably one of my favorite of the seven.

Sloth

Princess Sin by Avery Flynn

★★✩ 2.5 Stars
There’s trouble on the horizon when Cynthia Aston, who the tabloids have nicknamed Princess Cyn for her slacker party girl ways, stows away on a yacht that belongs to workaholic billionaire Hunter McKenney, her older brother’s sexy best friend.

Not counting the story I didn't even make it through, I'd have to say this one was my least favorite. I feel like any one of the seven sins, most especially sloth, would be very easy to convey eitehr through characters or storyline without having to spell it out. However, more times than I cared to count the word sloth or slothful was thrown around to describe Cyn. It really bothered me. To me it just felt like a lack of creativity if you have to use the word sloth repeatedly to try to prove to me that this is what your story was about. But not only that the dialogue was lackluster as well. I mean there was other stuff that put me off about it too but just so I'm not completely Negative Nancy about this story I will say that there was one shining, bright moment in the book. At the end Hunter gives the perfect best man speech/grand gesture that would have had me swooning and tears if it were me. I wish the rest of the book could've been like that speech!

Pride

Accidentally Sinful  by Carmen Falcone

★★★✩ 3.5 Stars!
Stranded due to a snowstorm, Santiago Cruz must let go of his pride and acknowledge forbidden feelings for the woman he loves but can’t forgive—his stepsister.

What is it about these stepbrother stories that always makes me want to love them? The very beginning of this one was actually hard to follow and understand what was going on. But once things became more clear, the reasons for the rift between them and so on, I actually kinda liked this story. It wasn't perfect I mean it resolved way, way too quickly, almost got whiplash it snapped into place so fast, but nonetheless very enjoyable. Plus Santiago was pretty yummy!

Greed

How to Seduce a CEO by Talia Hunter

★★★ 3 Stars!

Hot shot CEO Marcus Bolton’s decided who to hire for the top job, and it’s not Angel Moore, no matter how temping she might be. But Angel will do whatever it takes to land the job of her dreams—even seduce the boss.

So I'm guessing that this was probably a novella in Talia's series The Rich List, which I read the first book in and loved. Angel isn't normally the type of female character I'm drawn to. She's almost overly driven and will do basically anything to get what she's after career wise. I didn't like a lot of the choices she made nor the fact that it really felt as if she was using her sexuality and her budding relationship with Marcus to get him on her side and to get him to fight for her for a huge promotion. But it really was hard to not like her or respect drive and ambition in a very male driven job and environment that she was in. And to feel bad for her for being so much better at what she does than most of the guys combined at her company but because it was so much a good ol' boys club she was overlooked. A lot. I probably would've gone 4 stars on this one but towards the end I lost quite a bit of respect for Angel and how she treated Marcus when things weren't going her way. Overall I liked it but I wavered for a second at the end there.

***

Sorry this was so long but I felt like trying to convey all my thoughts on the book as a whole would have been too hard since my feelings were really all over the place for each story. I had more fun than not reading this book and I feel like the majority of the novellas really made reading this book worth it and are worth getting it for. Lots of steamy, naughty and super fun times to be had!

ARC REVIEW: How to Master a Millionaire (Rich List #1) by Talia Hunter

Title/Series: How to Master a Millionaire | Rich List #1
Author: Talia Hunter
Publisher: Talia Hunter
Published: March 9th 2015
Format: eARC | Pages: 181
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Erotica, Romance
Source: Author
★★★★ (4/5) Stars!

Talia Hunter | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

She’ll learn to tame him… 

When he scores the lead role in a feature film, millionaire model-turned-actor Max Oberon won’t let anything mess up his big break. But there’s a problem. His character’s submissive relationship is a big part of the movie, and Max can’t seem to make it convincing. Solution? Five days with a dominatrix should help him overcome his need for total control.

Ally’s life is one hot mess. A broke blogger, this story could be her chance to get back on her feet. If Ally can pass herself off as a dominatrix, she can publish a tell-all article and get the money she needs to keep from losing everything. So what if she’s clueless about anything kinky, and her abusive ex left her with a self-confidence problem?

Although Ally can’t give orders and Max hates taking them, together they discover new ways of commanding pleasure. But will Ally’s deception destroy their one chance at love?

I received a copy of this book, from the author, in exchange for an honest review. In no way did this sway either my review or my rating!

When Talia Hunter contacted me about reading her upcoming book I felt two things, the first of which was excited. I had read her other book, Her Hot Number, last year around the time of it's release and loved it and it left me looking forward to reading more from her. My second feeling was a slight bit of nervousness. When I got to the part about hiring a dominatrix I wasn't quite sure how I felt about that. Sure I've read other books set in the world of BDSM but I'm a girl who loves her alpha males. Though I figured since he was needing help to overcome his controlling side that maybe, hopefully, Max would still be alpha enough to keep my interest and not be so willing to submit.  Plus with Ally actually not really being a dominatrix in the first place...I figured this book had fun written all over it. Boy was I right!

Ally's character is what really made this story for me. The thing about Ally is that she was the furthest thing from a confident, powerful, dominatrix type. Instead she is very insecure, fragile and in a sense weak. She had an ex who really did a number to her self-esteem. Plus she was very disorganized and chaotic. I loved watching her empower herself and she also made for some very humorous moments. And then Max was just...just wow. Not only is he controlled, powerful and very alpha but he's got all these other unexpected quirks that I found very endearing. He's neat, organized and plans everything in a very obsessive-compulsive manner. I mean Max would make a list to schedule their days; when to wake up, when to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, his morning workout. It was very detailed.

The thing is even as different as Max and Ally were, and we're talking complete polar opposites here, I felt like they complimented each other so well and just seemed to fit together. She helps him to go from completely rigid and controlled to learning how to loosen up a bit. Oversleep once in a while, be spontaneous. And in turn just being in his presence makes her realize how chaotic and messy her life is and inspires her to take control and become better. They make each other better and it was the sweetest thing.

Holy chemistry Batman, Max and Ally are overflowing with it! I mean it's explosive from the beginning, from the very first minute they were alone, and I knew that I could expect some very intense scenes. It was fun to watch insecure and inexperienced Ally pretend to be bold, comfortable in her own skin and in control when on the inside she was anything but. And in turn to see Max fight to keep all the power and yet slowly relinquish his control over time as he grew to trust her. Even see him trust her period. They make for a very steamy and incredibly sweet pair!

Overall this book was so much fun. It was funny and awkward at times (and I only say awkward to mean poor Ally's transformation from timid librarian type to total sex kitten), heartbreaking at others and the rest it bounced back and forth between sweet and very sexy. I'm hooked and can't wait for the next book in the series! Even though it may take me a bit to warm up to Ally's sister Geena whom I believe it said the next book is about. I will say I wasn't very happy at all with the way both Geena and Ally's partner Lacey treated her towards the end. Though my disappointment leaned mostly towards Lacey. I'm still looking forward to what will happen with Geena though. I mean the girl owns an adult toy store for goodness sake. Her story is just screaming fun!

Thank you so much Talia for the opportunity to read and review this book!!

ARC REVIEW: Her Hot Number by Talia Hunter

Title/Series: Her Hot Number
Author: Talia Hunter
Publisher: Entangled Indulgence
Published: October 20th 2014
Format: eARC | Pages: 185
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Source: Publisher
★★★★ (4/5) Stars!

Talia Hunter | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

One bad boy billionaire plus one sexy geek equals one hot fling.

It's a travel nightmare for mathematician Caylee Reynolds. It's bad enough that her luggage was lost en route to her conference, but when she arrives at the Australian resort and learns that she's also lost her reservation, Caylee’s ready to break down. Then things get even worse. The resort is owned by Blake Sampson―the bad boy who once took everything from her...

Blake thought he’d left his troubled past far behind him. Then the sexy-but-proper math guru he’s never been able to forget walks into his lobby. Hoping to show Caylee he’s changed, he offers to share his suite. Except the attraction between them only grows in such close quarters―exponentially.

Even though Blake’s incredibly successful—and hot—Caylee’s not sure she can risk her heart again. Not after the way he destroyed her trust when he disappeared years ago. But if she's wrong in her calculations, she could lose everything...

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. In no way did this sway either my review or my rating!

Her Hot Number was sweet, full of sexual tension, steamy and such a fun but short read. I gobbled it up in no time at all and before I knew it I was at the end of the epilogue and sighing. Not quite ready for it to be finished! Out of all the books I got from Entangled this month I think this is the one that I was most looking forward to and I wasn't disappointed.

I love nerdy/geeky female characters that don't quite realize just how great they are because I love to watch them on their road to discovering who they really are underneath it all. Caylee is a brilliant mathematician and when it comes to areas of numbers and her research she is brimming with confidence. But I feel like she's got it so much in her head that she wants to be taken seriously in her field and she doesn't think that will happen if she's traipsing around in high heels, with her hair let down from it's rigidly tight braid. I found her absolutely adorable and it was fun to watch her start to let loose and actually have fun doing it, even if she was at war within herself over everything. She was feisty and full of spirit, especially when Blake was pushing her buttons. Something that came naturally to him since they were kids.

Speaking of Blake...he stole my heart instantly. Blake starts off being a sort of knight in shining armor for Caylee and he did so even when she was flat out cold towards him. Their impromptu reunion in his resort lobby was not all smiles and sunshine to say the least. Yet he took it all in stride and still went out of his way to help her it was so sweet. But that was just the type of character Blake was, thoughtful, caring and generous. And, of course, I can't forget sexy and confident and funny and...well you get the idea. But behind all that confidence and swagger is a guy who comes from a very troubled childhood that doesn't quite feel good enough, worthy enough, for anything. Most especially Caylee. It was just the right chink in the armor to make him feel more real and flawed. 

For such a short book these two do not make it easy on each other with the trust and trying to get over their past together. There's so much for both of them to get past that right up to the very end I almost felt like maybe there wasn't going to be a happy ending. It wasn't over the top or too much it was just the right amount of tension and issues that had me flipping page after page wondering now that one issue was fixed what would be in store on the next page to throw things off course this time? It was truly a fun, sexy and short but sweet read!

Thank you Entangled for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book!