ARC Review: Claim Me (Stark Trilogy #2) by J. Kenner

Claim Me

Stark Trilogy #2

by J. Kenner

Erotic Romance / Light BDSM

Expected Publication: April 23, 2013 by Batam

*ARC Ebook obtained via NetGalley in 

exchange for an honest review*

Synopsis via Goodreads:

For Damien, our obsession is a game. For me, it is fiercely, blindingly, real.

Damien Stark’s need is palpable—his need for pleasure, his need for control, his need for me. Beautiful and brilliant yet tortured at his core, he is in every way my match.

I have agreed to be his alone, and now I want him to be fully mine. I want us to possess each other beyond the sweetest edge of our ecstasy, into the deepest desires of our souls. To let the fire that burns between us consume us both.

But there are dark places within Damien that not even our wildest passion can touch. I yearn to know his secrets, yearn for him to surrender to me as I have surrendered to him. But our troubled pasts will either bind us close . . . or shatter us completely.

Release Me is an erotic romance intended for mature audiences.

  

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About the Author:

J. Kenner spent more than ten years as a litigator in Southern California and Central Texas, using her rare free time to indulge her passion for writing. California born, she now lives—and writes—in Texas, with her husband and daughters.


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My Review:

Oh my, my, my.... I just can't get enough of Damien Stark.

Let me start out by saying that for most readers, you either like this type of novel (erotica with BDSM) or you don't. I like them... a lot.

With that being said, I won't go into detail about the actual erotic fun in this novel but I will say that Kenner didn't disappoint. Great scenes and high emotion throughout them.

Now, the rest of the deets...

I adore the characters in this novel. They seem to me to have more depth than other popular erotica novel characters do. If you read book 1, Release Me, and you enjoyed it, this novel doesn't disappoint. I will say that the first nearly half of the novel is a tad slow... great scenes, but as far as the plot unfolding, it's a tad slow. Now, I'm not saying I didn't enjoy the first half... but compared to the rest of the novel, it wasn't nearly as eventful.

All of a sudden, the novel seems to take off - it's one thing after another. You learn more about Damien's past, which breaks your heart even more for this man, and you also continue to see Nikki struggle with trying to keep herself from turning to cutting to ground her. Slowly, Damien begins to open up little by little but there's still so many mysteries yet to be unveiled. It leaves the reader on their toes waiting for "what's next?!"

The drama constantly had me biting my nails and wanting to jump through the novel. Nikki's mom - UG! - that woman makes me want to hurl... better yet, I want to punch her in her face! >_<

Now.... the ending.... jeewiz... I can't believe that Julie left us hanging where she does! Now don't get me wrong, the ending is perfect... but the events that are beginning to unfold! I wanted to scream at the book when I reached the last page! LoL I can't wait to see how this trilogy ends - I'm crossing my fingers that things work out the way I want them too ^_^


Overall Rating: 4 Stars
Cover Rating: 4 Stars --> ahh that scarf! Love that they used this as the cover image.
Characters: 4.5 Stars
Plot: 4 Stars
Climax: 4.5 Stars
Ending: 5 Stars

ARC Review: Platinum by Jeffe Kennedy

Platinum

by Jeffe Kennedy

Adult Erotica / Light BDSM

Expected Publication Date - Feb 25, 2013

Published by Carina Press

 

*ARC obtained via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review*

Synopsis via Goodreads:

Althea Grant's Charleston gallery might be suffering from the bad economy, and her artistic aspirations have gone nowhere, but she's doing just fine, thank you. When bad-boy sculptor Steel rides up on his motorcycle looking to rent studio space, his infusion of cash is more than welcome. But his art is raw, visceral, sexual—and completely inappropriate for her pastel world of watercolor landscapes.

Steel, fascinated by Althea's rare albino coloring, sees in her the key to his next piece: a metal satyr designed for bondage games. Moving into her gallery basement is the first step; seducing the cool Southern belle into modeling for him is the second.

As Steel peels away her careful manners and tasteful outfits, Althea begins to realize her life isn't just fine at all—it's as pale and washed-out as the watercolor paintings she's failing to sell. Can she transform her life and accept her most secret desires?

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About the Author:

Jeffe took the crooked road to writing, stopping off at neurobiology, religious studies and environmental consulting before her creative writing began appearing in places like Redbook, Puerto del Sol, Wyoming Wildlife, Under the Sun and Aeon. An erotic novella, Petals and Thorns, came out under her pen name of Jennifer Paris in 2010, heralding yet another branch of her path, into erotica and romantic fantasy fiction. Since then, an erotic short, Feeding the Vampire, and another erotic novella, Sapphire, have hit the shelves. Her contemporary fantasy novel, Rogue’s Pawn, will be published in July, 2012. Jeffe lives in Santa Fe, with two Maine coon cats, a border collie, plentiful free-range lizards and frequently serves as a guinea pig for an acupuncturist-in-training.

 

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My Review:

I enjoyed this quick, hot read. It was a journey of finding and accepting one’s self and true personality.

The characters seemed more like real people rather than our fantasy/dream/billionaire characters we've grown to love & fantasize about. Okay - yea so Steel is totally my hot biker fantasy but not my billionaire CEO fantasy type. LoL

You have Althea - owner of her own art gallery that's doing quite poorly, family who obviously has money but raised her to be a "proper young lady" who follows all of society's rules. She never steps out of line. She holds herself as a completely poised, elegant woman who appears smooth as glass on the outside. She's obviously has no idea who she really is deep down - she's who she was raised to be. Due to her complexion & hair color (albino), she always wears pastel colored clothes and light colored makeup. Enter Steel - hot, rough around the edges biker, sexy, tattoos, nipple ring, and did I mention he is a completely brilliant artist. And a total Dom.

The way that Steel owns his life choices and is completely comfortable with himself is very appealing. He obviously had a not-so-great life when he was younger but with help from social workers, etc., he puts his emotions out there through his art. He's able to slowly guide Althea into realizing HER true nature & feelings. He helps her understand that it's perfectly acceptable to NOT be who everyone expects you to be. Live the way you want to live. Think the way you want to think. Throw "Society's rules" to the wind I guess I should say. He opens her eyes to primal, sexual urges in human nature. Althea has a hard time accepting it because it goes against everything that she's ever been told was proper.

Overall, great hot read of self-exploration & acceptance. I really enjoyed it. It only took a few hours to read but I didn't really feel like it was too short. This story is focused on Althea's self-exploration so it doesn't delve into the other character's reasons for why they are who they are. You only get a few glimpses but it works. You're constantly drawn back to Althea.

 

Overall Rating: 4 Stars

Cover Rating: 4.5 Stars - It really is beautiful

Characters: 5 Stars

Plot: 4 Stars

Climax: 4 Stars - Loved the charity ball

Ending: 4 Stars - I'm very happy with the ending