REVIEW - ALL OUT OF LOVE + GUEST BLOG BY LORI WILDE (GIVEAWAY)

TO CUPID WITH LOVE

by Lori Wilde

In Cupid, Texas, the lovelorn write letters to Cupid beseeching his help in matters of the heart. But who is Cupid exactly? And how did he become the messenger of love? Here are some fun facts about the Roman god of love.

1. Cupid’s name originates from the Latin word "cupido" which means desire.
2. Did you know that according to legend, Cupid actually has two types of arrows in his quiver? Gold-tipped for true love. Lead-tipped for sexual desire. Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "lead poisoning," doesn't it?
3. In one fable, Cupid found his own true love, Psyche, after his mother, Venus ( who was jealous of Psyche ) convinced him to slip into Psyche’s bedroom and scratch her with an arrow so she would fall in love with an unworthy being. But in the process, Cupid scratches himself. Talk about a monster-in-law. That must have made for awkward family barbecues.
4. Cupid has wings to illustrate how fleetly one can fall in love.
5. Sometimes Cupid is represented wearing a blindfold to show “love is blind.” Or maybe he was just into some intriguing sex play.

Have you heard other myths and legends about Cupid? Have you ever felt the pierce of Cupid’s arrow, falling in love swiftly and completely? Do you know the name of the Greek equivalent to Cupid? Leave a comment to win a copy of the first book in the Cupid, Texas series, LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT.

"I couldn't have been more in love with All Out of Love! The story was warm, funny and addictive, putting down this book was hard, and I stayed up as long as I could with it - I just couldn't get enough of Lace and Pierce's love story!"

Author: Lori Wilde
Pages: 384 pages
Publisher: Avon Books on June 2013
Form: E-book (from Edelweiss for an honest review)
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Cupid, Texas #2
Amazon: Buy / $5.99 (Kindle) ( EU price, click to see yours )
Barnes & Noble: Buy / $5.69 (Nook)
Excerpt: Chapter 1

"The second book in a dazzling new Cupid, Texas series by Lori Wilde. Welcome to Cupid, where every wish for love comes true…

For years, a small group of women in Cupid, TX, led by Millie Greenway, have taken it upon themselves to keep the Cupid legend alive. Now Millie has roped her four disbelieving granddaughters into joining the cause.

Lace Bettingfield knows for a fact that the Cupid legend is bogus. As a shy sixteen-year-old, she left a letter at the statue and got nothing in return but heaps of embarrassment when her letter ended up printed in the school newspaper. But now the boy she longed for is back in town and Lace can't help wondering...what if?"  ~ From Goodreads

Man you know it's a good story when you tear up in the end. I couldn't have been more in love with All Out of Love! The story was warm, funny and addictive, putting down this book was hard, and I stayed up as long as I could with it - I just couldn't get enough of Lace and Pierce's love story! Lori Wilde isn't a bestselling author for no reason! The writing is excellent, she's got the chops in writing touching stories with fun, reletable characters and sweet and spicy love stories! I mean injured football star comes back to his little home town only to seriously fall for the woman who used to crush after him as teenage girl, but now is sworn him off - I dare you to write something as hot as that!

I fell in love with Pierce and Lace, she had strength, smarts and conviction, he was cocky, sexy and arrogant - but as the story moved forward Pierce got more down to earth, more solid and Lace begun to respond to him differently - where all his pick-up lines failed to light her up it was his vulnerability about his father's mysterious illness and his messed-up relationship with his brother that chipped her armor. Of course realistically if you've crushed on someone for years how long does it take to fall for a drop dead gorgeous charmer who's obviously head over heels with you! ;)

The romance was so hot! I was smiling over half of the book, Pierce had his undeniable chemistry and his charm which made his challenge to get prickly Lace to surrender to him so so so entertaining. It's no secret that I love playboys-reformed stories and this is in there with the best of them, even though Pierce hadn't slept around as much as he probably could have. ;) Of course the fact he was famous and she was bit plus-size had her feeling inadequate to date him if that had even been a choice, with all the models throwing themselves at him she was questioning why he was giving her the time of the day, boredom maybe?

Trust me you're going to want to read this! It's also a very well done stand alone, I never read the first book in the series and it didn't bother me one iota. ;) This comes highly recommended! Oh did I mention he was in full cowboy get up there? No. Just look at the gorgeous cover. ;)

Rating :

LORI WILDE is the New York Times bestselling author of more than sixty books. A former RITA finalist, Lori has received the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, the Holt Medallion, the Booksellers Best, the National Readers’ Choice, and numerous other honors. She lives in Texas, with her husband and a wide assortment of pets. Lori teaches Romance Writing Secrets via the internet through colleges and universities worldwide at www.ed2g.com. Visit her at www.loriwilde.comor @LoriWilde on Twitter.

Lori’s Links: 
www.loriwilde.com
twitter handle is @LoriWilde
https://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/pages/Lori-Wilde/126384860719020?fref=ts

Cupid Texas Series
Love at First Sight Release Date May 28th, 2013
All Out of Love Release Date June 25th, 2013
Goodreads link: http://www.goodreads.com/series/99988-cupid-texas

REVIEW - U.K. KINK

"With a single kiss, Cait went from sweet caretaker to must-have sexual conquest. Oliver wants the voluptuous beauty badly, contracts and clauses be damned. Then one of his mates comes up with a way for Oliver to get his cake while the rest eat too."

Author: Silence O´Shea
Pages: 86 pages
Publisher: Self Published on April 2013
Form: E-book (from the author for an honest review)
Genre: Contemporary Erotic Romance (+18 Only)
Amazon: Buy / $1.99 (Kindle) ( EU price, click to see yours )
Barnes & Noble: Buy / $1.99 (Nook)
Smashwords: Buy / $1.99 (E-book)
Excerpt: First 20%

"Babysitting a British dance troupe isn't one of Caitlin’s career aspirations, but before she can say “male strippers”, she finds herself the newly appointed caretaker for the Fire from Lancashire. Keeping five gorgeous guys on task is hard enough; living under the same roof with the luscious lads is near torture, especially when one begins starring in her naughtiest fantasies. Too bad about that “no fraternization” clause in her contract…

With a single kiss, Cait went from sweet caretaker to must-have sexual conquest. Oliver wants the voluptuous beauty badly, contracts and clauses be damned. Then one of his mates comes up with a way for Oliver to get his cake while the rest eat too. Their employer might fire one man for ravishing Cait...but certainly not all of them. Right? After one taste, Oliver knows she’s definitely worth the risk of finding out."  ~ From Goodreads

Oh how I want this to be a series! U.K. KINK is a great short and sexy summer read sure to make you wanna go visit London! The story of Cait taking care of five rough and rowdy male strippers turns hot quite quick, just the way we like it in erotic romance! The story is light, superbly sexy and entertaining the anticipation spices things up but the main even for once (!) is over shadowed by what goes down... and oh boy do I mean it! Just imagine four sexy as hell, muscled guys making sure your birthday party in bed is unforgettable. I'd ad a snippet here, but I'm afraid it might melt your panties. ;)

I was pleasantly surprised by the caliber of characters, I want to know what happens to each and everyone of these boys! They are fun, entertaining and as sexy as only bad boys can be. Added to that is wit and O'Shea's writing which is top notch! O'Shea manages to take a subject that could be easily cheesy and makes it hot, entertaining and dramatic, and manages to give us a happy ending with these boys... story-wise ladies, again mind off gutter. ;)

The romance was there and oh how well made - we have all the womanly insecurities with Cait and how she thinks she looks, and moments of unabashed pleasure delivered by Olly and rest of his male stripper troupe, tied and wrapped up in a pretty little erotic romance novella that is pound to leave you bit bothered. And if you aren't married you'll need toys. ;) Ahem... who said that?! Okay then... the only way this could have been any hotter is if Olly had gone all the way with Cait on his little obsession, what I mean by this is... well you'll just have to go find yourself a copy to blush with. And with $1.99 this is A FIND!

Rating :

JUST WHAT HE WANTED (GUEST BLOG: Not Every Heroine Is A Size 4)

"A whole lot of delish romance! The plot of slightly chubby Andie coming to a small town to forget about her cheating city ex, catching the eye of ten years her junior country Travis is so yummy it can hardly get better, but it does..."

Author: HelenKay Simon
Pages: 149 pages
Publisher: Carina Press/Harlequin on June 10th 2013
Form: E-book (from the author/publisher for an honest review)
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Halloways #4
Amazon: Buy / $2.99 (Kindle) ( EU price, click to see yours )
Barnes & Noble: Buy / $2.99 (Nook)
All Romance E-books: Buy / $2.99 (E-book)
Excerpt: Chapter 1

"Travis Yardley thought he had everything he needed, but one look at Andrea Patterson shows him he was wrong. Andie is a gorgeous, curvy blonde who moves to town to manage a nearby campground. Seizing the chance to get close to her, Travis volunteers himself as tour guide and "bodyguard.'

After a bad breakup, Andie is looking to start over and determined to put her heart on hiatus. She's working on her self-esteem, and she is not ready for the likes of Travis. He comes on strong, with all the energy of a guy almost ten years her junior, which is exactly what he is.

Even as Travis's troubled past catches up with him, he pulls out all the stops to convince Andie he deserves a chance. And with the spring thaw hitting the Mountain View Resort, Andie discovers her own temperature rising whenever Travis looks her way…"  ~ From Goodreads

Great contemporary romance! You get bit of excitement, bit of suspense, great characters and a whole lot of delish romance! The plot of slightly chubby Andie coming to a small town to forget about her cheating city ex, catching the eye of ten years her junior country Travis is so yummy it can hardly get better, but it does because playboy rep Travis wants her and isn't afraid to remind her despite her excuses of age, work and chubbiness, because it turns out Travis likes his women voluptuous!

Andie I loved, you know me, I love a plus size heroine! Especially one with courage, guts, attitude and a shotgun she knows how to use! Plus her age dilemma with 25 year old hunky guy was quite adorable. Travis was the epitome of small town playboy with family issues a mile wide, great set of shoulders and an ass made for fitted jeans. He was also very protective about Andie which is always such a turn on! Easy on the eyes isn't a bad thing either. ;)

These two fit, the chemistry is believable, tangible and incredibly hot, Shelly Munro knows how to write both expectations and really hot sex! That's not all she can write, the characters are in depth, the story flow perfect and realistic, and sugar at the bottom she knows how to write a plot that keeps you glued to your book!

Love contemporary romance, pick up Just What He Wanted!

Rating :

Not Every Heroine Is A Size 4
by HelenKay Dimon

We can agree beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. We say that all the time when talking about other people but I'm thinking we tend to not be as kind when judging ourselves. And glossy magazines sure can highlight some of our insecurities. When it came time to write Just What He Wanted, the 4th book in my Holloway series for Carina Press, I wanted to explore this idea with my heroine.

I knew my "he understands women and has no trouble finding dates, thank you" hero, Travis, needed a bit of a shock. Because he's a hard-working, down-to-Earth, good-looking country boy, women are attracted to him. Let's just say he doesn't have to work very hard to find dates. Naturally, his perfect heroine couldn't be an easy catch. I didn't want her to be model-perfect and somehow unattainable. I wanted one of the major roadblocks to their relationship to be what was happening in her head.

A few things inspired Andie. The main one was this commercial from years ago. I don’t think it's been on for years, so I'm about to date myself…ready? I can't remember what it was for, something weight loss related I'm guessing, but a woman is swimming laps in a pool and the voiceover says some version of "the voice in our heads that is so hard on our bodies." Basically, the point was that we can be our worst critics. Combine that with a photo I saw on Pinterest of this beautiful woman (here:  http://pinterest.com/pin/3940718395628055/) and my inspiration for Andie was born. 

Now, Travis sees Andie and his brain misfires. That's the point. He sees her without her insecurities getting in his way. Here she is thinking she isn't young enough ( she's almost 10 years older ) or pretty enough ( she just lost a lot of weight and is about a size 12 or 14 but still sees herself at the old weight ) and he's thinking:

"No, thinking about the blonde with the all-woman, all-smoking curvy figure did him in. The big brown eyes, the long, wavy hair…how she knew her way around a gun — one of those, maybe all of them, had his mind sputtering and his words stumbling. Another hour with the steering wheel pressing against his erection while a vivid movie of him stripping that snug T-shirt off her body rolled through his head and he would have needed surgery."

His friends and new business partners, both married, have this discussion about her when trying to figure out why the usually cool Travis seems so messed up for Andie:

“Wait a second.” Mitch held up a hand and stared at Spence. “I haven’t met her yet. What does she look like?”

Spence whistled. “Whoa and damn.”

“Nice,” Mitch said.

“Well, if you like the voluptuous type.”

Mitch shrugged. “Who doesn't?”

Men, sometimes they get it right. When they talk like this, we should listen.

And, in case you’re wondering? In my head Travis pretty much looks like Jensen Ackles (this: http://pinterest.com/pin/3940718394302561/).

       “There’s something between us...” She gulped in a huge breath. “Did I already use the word weird?”

                                                           

       He bit down on her earlobe and felt the shiver run through her. “I suggest a test.”

                                                           

       “You keep jumping around on topics.” Her hand brushed along his chin.

       “Just trying to avoid a conversation where you ‘friend’ me.” God, he felt it coming. He could almost hear it in her tone and see it in her eyes. Even with her hands roaming, she tried to block him. A clear sign that her head and body wanted two very different things from him.

                                                           

       “Back to the test.” He’d been dying to do this since that first morning.

                                                           

       She brushed the back of her hand down his cheek. “You going to see how much wood you can chop in a minute?”

                                                           

       He bit back the dirty thought that came into his head and went with the G-rated version. “I've never really heard it called that before.”

                                                           

       “I don’t know—” Her voice hiccupped when his mouth found the pulse thumping in her neck. “This is exactly what I was talking about. This doesn't make sense. I didn't move here for this.”

                                                           

       “Understood.” He mumbled the word against her soft skin. Inhaling, he drew her sweet scent into his head.

                                                           

       Fingers slipped into his hair. “I didn't plan on meeting someone like you.”

                                                           

       “Feeling is mutual.” He didn't even know what he was saying. All he wanted was to fuse his lips with hers, to lure her in and have her as crazy for him as he was for her.

Award-winning author HelenKay Dimon spent twelve years in the most unromantic career ever - divorce lawyer. After dedicating all of that effort to helping people terminate relationships, she is thrilled to deal in happy endings and write romance novels for a living. Her books have been featured in Cosmopolitan Magazine and E! Online. HelenKay loves hearing from readers, and you can find her at her website at helenkaydimon.com, Goodreads, Facebook and Twitter.

SUGAR ON TOP - GUEST BLOG: DATING SITES AND BITTER ROMANCE

Dating sites and Bitter Romance

by Virginia Nelson

      There are dating sites for everything on the internet today. Whether you’re looking for cowboy romance, a soldier to call your very own or…billionaires…the internet offers sites to cater to your specific desires. Some of these sites are more questionable than others.

      When Lydia Thomkins finds BigBuckBoys.com, a website dedicated to matching sugar daddies with the women who named a price they could be bought for, she is amused and appalled in turns. What kind of woman names the price she is willing to sell her time for? What kind of man doesn't demand more of the woman he plans on filling his days with than a price tag?

      Lydia is recovering from a divorce that left her a little bitter about the idea of love to begin with so she is doubly doubtful when billionaire Chandler Hawk reads a scathing blog she fired off chastising the website and the people who use it. Finding the blog, he then tracked down a profile she created on the billionaire dating site just to leave a scathing piece of her mind. Contacting her, he explains he wants to meet her…

      Can Lydia get past her bitterness to see that Chandler isn’t like the other men on that site—and her ex-husband—and that he only wants a chance at a real love story, with her?

      Find out in my new release, Sugar On Top!

"Books for sale, snark for free..."

Author: Virginia Nelson
Pages: 52 pages
Publisher: Self Published on May 2013
Form: E-book (from tour for an honest review)
Genre: Contemporary Erotic Romance (+18 Only)
Series: Who Wants to Marry a Billionaire #1
Amazon: Buy / $5.58 (Kindle) ( EU price, click to see yours )
Barnes & Noble: Buy / $2.50 (Nook)
Muse It Up: Buy / $2.00 (E-book)
Excerpt: Teaser

"Some people have got to get real…

Lydia Tompkins isn’t looking for love. She’s annoyed. A dating site matching gold diggers with men willing to pay for their time? Thinking it will be a dash of reality in their pipe dreams of Stepford wives, she uploads a picture—and a piece of her mind—and never expects any serious responses.

Some people even want to… 

Chandler Hawk remembers a time before the wealth. Finding the most appalling dating site he’s ever heard of while surfing the net, he clicks on it and finds the most real woman he’s seen in a long time.

A sugar daddy meets a woman who doesn’t need a man to take care of her and sparks fly. Can they find a happily ever after, with Sugar on Top?"  ~ From Goodreads

I was expecting something fun with a blurb like this and on some level there was funny snarkiness and wittiness but perhaps not as much as I expected. I think the premise made this bit unbelievable, point me to a man who read a woman's blog called Witty Bitches... I thought so. Unfortunately after this was said the novella lost most of credibility and believably.

I liked both Chandler and Lydia, and their chemistry especially when things begun to heat up. Loved the kissing game. The sex was hot and the anticipation was great for a short read as this. I liked the fact Lydia was sort of plus size and that Chandler was drawn to her for her realness. In fact I believe this story would have been greater as full length romance where we would have bit more slowly come to know these two so that their personalities could have been developed and would have not been bit hurried and because of that bit overdone.

Rating :

REVIEW - BLAME IT ON TEXAS

"A short sexy story between a model and country singer. Now that can sound all glitz and superficial, which would have been boring, but these two have heart, soul and sizzling chemistry! Plus, I love a plus-size heroine! Standifier again proves she can write, and she can write sexy!"

Author: Allie Standifer
Pages: 65 pages
Publisher: Decadent Publishing on Oct. 2012
Form: E-book (from the publisher for an honest review)
Genre: Contemporary Erotic Romance (+18 Only)
Series: Naughty Sleepover
Decadent Publishing: Buy / $2.99 (E-book)

"Everything's supposed to be bigger and better in Texas, right? Sexy plus-size model Serena Morgan isn't convinced and can't wait to get out of the wild, untamed state.

Local boy and country star Kale Winters has wanted Serena from the moment he looked into her eyes. Too bad she won't have a thing to do with him.

Thanks to the soft heart and matchmaking skills of Serena's agent and his own swift thinking, Kale has one night to prove to Serena that there's more to this cowboy than ropin' and branding. But come morning, will Kale be able to convince Serena he's the real deal or will the stubborn model blame it on Texas?"  ~ From Goodreads

A short sexy story between a model and country singer. Now that can sound all glitz and superficial, which would have been boring, but these two have heart, soul and sizzling chemistry! Plus I love a plus-size heroine! Standifier again proves she can write, and she can write sexy!

Okay so I listen to a LOT of country, so this megastar country singer had me at hello. Plus the tall, dark and handsome didn't hurt either, add in sexual prowess and I fell for Kale. Now Serena I loved! Her disguise, her crush the one she tried so hard to hide, she had a big heart and no eating disorder, nice to read a model who's healthy. Serena was fun to read and even though a model, didn't bug me at all.

The romance started way before the book did, and Serena's manager's involvement was both sweet and funny. I loved how they talked a good while together, Standifier sure knows how to write great dialog and keep us readers interested. Don't get me wrong the sex was hot and heavy, put the dialog made it realistic and believable.

If you like your romance novella with some country, some glamour and whole lot of red hot insatiable desire look up "Blame It On Texas"! You won't regret it!

Rating :