Motorcycle club crack: Cole by Megan O'Brien

Lately I have this new guilty pleasure: reading MC biker romance stories. It started with watching Sons of Anarchy of course, followed by reading some Kristen Ashley novels and from there on I lost control. I’ve now read quite a few different stories and bought even more.
My latest read in this genre is Cole by Megan O’Brien. It’s one that is far less gritty and much tamer than most of the MC stories so far.

The blurb:
For eight years I’d been content with my quiet life. I was safe in the bubble I’d built for myself. But I wasn’t really living.
Until one chance encounter changed it all.
Scarlet Malone has lived quietly for years hiding from her past. Aside from her best friend Kat she doesn’t allow herself to get close to anyone. Then Cole Jackson, Vice President of The Knights MC comes bursting into her life with his gorgeous eyes and fierce determination to have her in his bed and his life.
Scarlet’s letting her walls down for the first time in her life. Could Cole really be her happily ever after?

Lis’ Review of Wild Magic by Poppy Dennison

Poppy Dennison

Wild Magic (Triad, #4)

Dreamspinner Press, September 25, 2013 | 108 pages

Author’s website | Goodreads | Buy book here

Backblurb:
Joseph Anderson was heartbroken when his childhood best friend Dominick Levent moved away. Years later, Joseph is a successful real estate broker with good friends, an easy smile, and a stunning house. When he finds a dying mountain lion who miraculously shifts into Dominick’s sister, Joseph must find Dominick and reunite him with the two young sons she left behind.

Review of All In with the Duke by Ava March

Ava March

All In with the Duke (Gambling on Love #1)

Carina Press | November 11th 2013 | 81,000 words

Author’s website | Goodreads | Buy book here

Backblurb:
London, 1822

Max Arrington, the Duke of Pelham, vows to never again let a handsome face blind him to a man's true intentions. But ten months of celibacy and lonely nights drive him to a decadent brothel, where a beautiful young man arouses his illicit passions as never before.

Review of Trace Evidence by Alexa Snow

Alexa Snow

Trace Evidence

Torquere Press | March 6, 2013 | 99 pages

Author’s website | Goodreads | Buy book here

Backblurb:
Mitch is a police detective with a life that should be smooth sailing; unfortunately, his boyfriend is getting on his nerves, he has a murder to solve, and he has a mysterious stranger telling him details no one but the killer could know. Can Mitch make sense of the chaos before the killer chooses another victim?

Originally published in To Protect and Serve.

Review of Fearless by Tawny Weber

Tawny Weber

Fearless

Cosmo Red Hot Reads by Harlequin | September 15, 2013 | 150 pages

Author’s website | Goodreads | Buy book here

Backblurb:
Promising career: check
Amazing apartment: check
The best of friends: check
Sex life: MIA

There’s just one thing missing from Gia Renyard’s life: sexual adventure. And the one man she’d like to have it with is her hot co-worker, Luke Monroe. If only company rules didn’t prohibit her from asking him out. So Gia comes up with a plan: make herself over into a fantasy seductress, follow Luke to a convention in Sin City, and have her way with him for one erotic weekend. The man will never even know who did him.

Review of Junk by Josephine Myles

Josephine Myles

Junk

Samhain Publishing | August 27, 2013 | 351 pages

Author’s website | Goodreads | Buy book here

Backblurb:
Letting go is the first step to healing…or bringing it all crashing down.
When an avalanche of books cuts off access to his living room, university librarian Jasper Richardson can no longer ignore the truth. His ever-growing piles of books, magazines and newspapers can no longer be classified as a “collection”. It’s a hoard, and he needs professional help.

Review of Cake by Lauren Dane

Lauren Dane

Cake

Harlequin | September 15, 2013 | 85 pages

Author’s website | Goodreads | Buy book here

Backblurb:
She won’t be satisfied with just one bite...
Art student-slash-bike messenger Wren Davis pursues what she wants. And what she wants now is Gregori Ivanov, rock star of the Seattle art scene. With his tattoos, piercings and sensual sneer, Gregori is the ultimate bad boy. Wren’s gotten to know the man beneath the body art, too—and it only makes her crave him more.

Review of Whiskey and Wry by Rhys Ford

Rhys Ford

Whiskey and Wry (Sinners #2)

Dreamspinner Press | August 19, 2013 | 254 pages

Author’s website | Goodreads | Buy book here

Backblurb:
He was dead. And it was murder most foul. If erasing a man’s existence could even be called murder.
When Damien Mitchell wakes, he finds himself without a life or a name. The Montana asylum’s doctors tell him he’s delusional and his memories are all lies: he’s really Stephen Thompson, and he’d gone over the edge, obsessing about a rock star who died in a fiery crash. His chance to escape back to his own life comes when his prison burns, but a gunman is waiting for him, determined that neither Stephen Thompson nor Damien Mitchell will escape.

Review of Reburn by Anne Marsh

Anne Marsh

Reburn (The Hotshots #1)

Kensington Books | July 18, 2013

Author’s website | Goodreads | Buy book here

Backblurb:
Not every man knows how to put out a fire. Fewer know when to keep it burning. . .

He Battles The Flames. . .
Nobody messes with Sam Clayton--or his territory. The big bruising ranger is the last line of defense in forest infernos and he'll go up against anyone who gets in the way of putting them out. Even the FBI tracking a terrorist through the heart of a blaze. But when Sam discovers the agent is ex-lover Olivia Albert, saving himself will be more dangerous than any fire he's faced before. . .

Larissa’s Review of Haffling by Caleb James

Caleb James

Haffling

Dreamspinner Press, July 11, 2013 | 274 pages

Author’s Facebook | Goodreads | Buy book here

Backblurb:
A Harmony Ink Press Young Adult Title
All sixteen-year-old Alex Nevus wants is to be two years older and become his sister Alice’s legal guardian. That, and he’d like his first kiss, preferably with Jerod Haynes, the straight boy with the beautiful girlfriend and the perfect life. Sadly, wanting something and getting it are very different. Strapped with a mentally ill mother, Alex fears for his own sanity. Having a fairy on his shoulder only he can see doesn't help, and his mom's schizophrenia places him and Alice in constant jeopardy of being carted back into foster care.

Review of Making It Last by Ruthie Knox

Ruthie Knox

Making It Last (Camelot #4)

Loveswept | July 15, 2013

Author’s website | Goodreads | Buy book here

Backblurb:
A hotel bar. A sexy stranger. A night of passion. There’s a part of Amber Mazzara that wants those things, wants to have a moment — just one — where life isn’t a complicated tangle of house and husband and kids and careers. Then, after a long, exhausting “vacation” with her family, her husband surprises her with a gift: a few days on the beach . . . alone.
Only she won’t be alone long, because a handsome man just bought her a drink.

Review of Bread, Salt and Wine by Dev Bentham

Dev Bentham

Bread, Salt and Wine (Tarnished Souls #4)

Loose Id | June 11, 2013

Author’s website | Goodreads | Buy book here

Backblurb:
Some wounds never heal. George Zajac grew up in a religious family with a father who beat “the swish” out of him. Now he's a troubled man. At thirty-eight he moves across the country to start a new life in Los Angeles, working as the catering chef for a prestigious French Restaurant.

Review of Absolutely Eric by Erica Pike

Erica Pike

Absolutely Eric (Boston Boys #2)

MLR Press | May 11, 2012

Author’s website | Goodreads | Buy book here

Backblurb:
Eric Wesley is short and snazzy, hot and happy. Or that’s what he thought. After three years of living on the wild side he’s tired of being a playboy and wants to find love.
Eric, however, has never been in love before and doesn’t see that the guy who’s been gazing at him all summer might be Mr. Right. Boring-suit-guy Alexander Centauri isn’t only style-less and clumsy, but also terribly awkward. After a miserable date, Eric plants Alex on another guy’s lap and goes after Mr. Wrong…who looks so right.
When Eric realizes his mistake, it might be too late.

Review of The Winning Season by Alison Packard

Alison Packard

The Winning Season

Carina Press | July 15, 2013 | 241 pages, 95,000 words

Author’s website | Goodreads | Buy book here

Backblurb:
Kelly Maxwell has finally landed her dream job as publicist for the San Francisco Blaze. But the team's newest member, handsome bad boy catcher Matt Scanlon, is refusing every interview. She's got to get him to open up before the season ends, or she may not be back next year. And after everything she overcame to achieve her dream, Kelly's not about to let that happen.

Review of Safeword by A.J. Rose

A.J. Rose

Safeword (Power Exchange #2)

Voodoo Lily Press | June 1, 2013 | 110,000 words, 333 pages

Author’s website | Goodreads | Buy book here

Backblurb:
Everywhere Detective Gavin DeGrassi looks he’s reminded of his attack by the Breath Play Killer. It’s in the house he lives in with his partner and Dom, Ben Haverson. It’s in the sympathetic yet pitying looks he receives from his fellow detectives when he returns to the force after a year-long hiatus. It’s in the suffocating coddling of his entire family, and the relentless reporter demanding an exclusive of his ordeal.

Review of Dangerous Submission by Lori Toland

Lori Toland

Dangerous Submission (Dangerous Affairs #2)

Loose Id | April 23, 2013

Author’s website | Goodreads | Buy book here

Backblurb:
British Agent Drake Steele never thought when he was hired on at the Serious Organised Crime Agency that his job would involve spanking a co-worker. But when the colleague is Lord Robbie Covington, the sexy red-headed computer hacker for SOCA and MI-6, Drake can't agree fast enough to pop Robbie's cherry and pull him into the sensual world of BDSM.

Series spotlighted: The Cole McGinnis Series by Rhys Ford

I've read the Cole McGinnis Series by Rhys Ford back to back; I started with the first of three books and I just couldn't stop reading until I finished the last one. Cole McGinnis stole my heart. He is the narrator of the books in this series and he's an ex-cop turned private investigator in Los Angeles. At the beginning of the first book he meets his (soon to be) lover Kim Jae-Min, when he is investigating the suicide of Jae-Min's cousin. All of Cole's investigations are, from the first book on, taking place in the midst of Korean culture. Jae is Korean and being gay in his culture is a big problem. This is a recurring theme in all the books. It's amazing how much these stories are drenched in Korean culture, without it being too overwhelming. I'm actually surprised at how much it fascinated me.

Review of Empty Net by Toni Aleo

Toni Aleo

Empty Net (Assassins #3)

Loveswept | April 23, 2013 (first published January 1st 2012) | 451 pages

Author’s website | Goodreads | Buy book here

Backblurb:
Definition of an Empty Net: When a team pulls the goalie for an extra attacker, desperately seeking a goal.

Audrey Parker was in a horrible place.
She hated her job, her sister was getting married and moving out, but worst of all, she was in love with a total jerk. No matter what she did, every guy she met hurt her. All she wanted was her happily ever after. Her Prince Charming. Her Lucas Brooks! She didn’t know how to change her life but she knew she needed too.

Review of Bound For Keeps by S.E. Jakes

S.E. Jakes

Bound For Keeps (Men of Honor #5)

Samhain Publishing | February 19, 2013 | 222 pages

Author’s website | Goodreads | Buy book here

Backblurb:
Since losing their beloved third to cancer, Keith Masters and Johnny Lou Reed haven’t thought about filling the void in their lives with anyone else. Until a stormy Christmas Eve, when a half-frozen, newly discharged Army Ranger shows up on their doorstep—with no memory of who he is or how he got there.

Double Review of Herbal Remedy by Megan Derr & Beach Remedy by Sasha L. Miller

Megan Derr

Herbal Remedy

Less Than Three Press, June 12, 2013 | 12,000 words

Author’s website | Goodreads | Buy book here

Backblurb:
Jordan is used to being the butt of every hedge witch joke, painfully aware he's a checklist of clichés, and long resigned to never being as successful as the more favored elemental witches. Then a prestigious magic firm puts out a call for hedge witches, and the chance to prove himself and become more than a joke is impossible to resist—even if he has to put aside all those things he loves for a little while. It's only temporary, the money is great, and it will all be worth it in the end.