Tuesday 10 May 2016

Bind (Donovan Dynasty) by Sierra Cartwright

"Only one man can help her. Is she willing to pay his price?

Faced with the potentially overwhelming loss of her familyís fortune, Lara Bertrand turns to the one man who can help her, the gorgeous and powerful Connor Donovan.

She knows heís dangerous to her on every level. Only desperation would drive her to make such a risky proposition. After all, she knows all about his ruthless nature and relentless determination to succeed.

When the classy, elegant Lara walks into his office with an outrageous proposal, Connor is stunned and more than a little intrigued. Ever since he first met her, heís been attracted to the cool beauty, but sheís more than kept her distance.

Connor is absolutely willing to help her out. For a price. He not only wants her hand in marriage, but also her total submissive surrender."



I cannot compare this to Fifty Shades as I must be one of the only women in the country not to have read it, but the cover states that it is even racier than Fifty Shades.  I cannot argue that it is racy; it will certainly get your pulse racing.

The story itself is actually a great story.  Set in the business world, the plot is intruiging and I was genuinely interested in the characters and where they ended up.  Those characters and the relationship they have, the chemistry between them, is absolutely captivating.  The actual relationship and feelings that are on show in this book are the sort of thing that many people will think only exists in dreams or fairytales, but find the right man and you realise that this kind of thing actually exists in real life.  Whether you're in that place or single and think you might be looking for that place, it will be equally enjoyable to delve into the lives of Lara and Connor and watch as their relationship becomes something which neither of them expected.  A classic "when you least expect it" story.

I also liked the family dynamics that you see throughout this book.  The whole premise is based on relationships and it works incredibly well. 

A captivating read, believable characters that you instantly warm to and some seriously sexy bedroom (or other room) scenes.  A winning combination.

I had not read anything by Sierra Cartwright before but I definitely would again.  This book is the first in a series following the Donovan brothers, however, I'm certain they will work as standalone books.

As a little treat, Sierra has written about 'The Books That Inspire Me' just for you.  I hope you enjoy:

There’s never been a time I didn’t read, but the very first book I remember reading by myself is What Katy Did Next by Susan Coolidge. I can’t honestly remember many of the details, but the feelings the book inspired still linger. I was a young girl in England when I read the novel, and so Katy as an American visiting England was fun for me. I remember raptly following her journey to the Continent. And I certainly hoped she’d end up with Ned. I think the groundwork for being in love with romances goes that far back!

When I moved to the States, I signed up for a library card, and every summer I entered the reading challenge program. As I recall, we received awards for each ten books read. I made it a point to earn more certificates than anyone else. I went through the entire Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew mystery series one year before being turned on to science fiction. I became a fan of Ben Bova. And of course, because I was competitive, I took home anything I could get my hands on. A book that lingers forever, though, was a non-fiction title that has remained with me forever, The Diary of Anne Frank. I think that’s the book that also made me realize that biographies could be every

One Christmas as a pre-teen, my parents bought me an entire collection of Star Trek books. Over the holiday break, I read them. Which meant I devoured more than one novel per day. Those paperback wonders provided the inspiration for the very first big book I penned—a 123-page handwritten tome. Back then, I had no idea it was considered fanfiction. I just knew I was inspired to stay up late at night, drinking coffee, even though my father insisted it would stunt my growth! Since I’m not quite five-feet tall, his dire warnings were quite possibly correct.

From there I moved on to Harlequin novels, little dreaming that I would go on to sell nine books to them. I’ll never forget a Greek pagan Harlequin Presents hero who was described as having a patrician nose. Harlequin and their heroes, one in particular who drove a Mercedes Benz sports car, ruined me for regular men!

One book I fell in love with as a young adult was Whitney, My Love by Judith McNaught. It turns out I was captivated enough that I named my daughter after the heroine. In one memorable scene, I recall Whitney, the heroine, riding standing up on the back of a horse. My Miss Whit, aged two, was caught riding her rocking horse, standing on the top instead of sitting in the saddle. As William Shakespeare famously asked, “What’s in a name?”

I continue to have my breath taken away by some fabulous books. I often read thrillers when I travel. Two auto-buys are Lee Child and Harlan Coben. I’ll read anything they write. I love the way my pulse races as the protagonists race against the clock and unravel a complex mystery. I’ll admit, I do root for Reacher to fall in love, though.

No matter what I reach for in my free time, I know I’m going to be transported to a new world where I’ll fall in love. In some way, I’ll be transformed. And I’ll be a better person for it.

BIND is out NOW and can be purchased here.

Monday 9 May 2016

Resurgence by Kerry Wilkinson (Silver Blackthorn Trilogy, Book #3)

"Following Reckoning and Renegade, Resurgence is the thrilling conclusion to Kerry Wilkinson's heartstopping Silver Blackthorn Trilogy.
'Can I ask you one thing...why does it have to be you?'
My throat is dry but I manage to say the words clearly enough: 'If I don't do it, who else will?'
An entire country has been lied to. Silver Blackthorn was supposed to be one of the privileged few, chosen to serve and help rebuild a shattered nation. Instead she has been forced to become a rebel.
Tales of her defiance have spread throughout the land. King Victor and the Minister Prime want her dead; the resistance groups are desperate for her help.
Silver's friends and family are in dire jeopardy - hiding is no longer an option. As her travels take her into the furthest reaches of an unknown land, she is forced to make new friends and hunt for new allegiances.
Final battle lines are being drawn. The time has come.
And then there's the hardest choice of all: Opie or Imrin?"


Another whole year I had to wait to find out what happens to Silver Blackthorn and her friends and it was totally worth it.  As always with trilogy books, it takes me a little while to settle back in and get my bearings having had to wait for a whole year.  As before, I always think it would be a good idea to read the previous book in the trilogy only to leave it too late and have the newest book arrive and then I can't bring myself to wait any longer.

Once I had settled back into the book, I raced through it, desperate to know what happens.  It really felt like I'd never been away, the storyline and pace picks up just as though it was yesterday that I last read Renegade.  

As expected, fans of Silver Blackthorn will find this book emotional as Silver's path runs far from smoothly.  It is lovely to see all Silver's comrades back, although be prepared to lose some along the way.  

As with the first two books, fans of The Hunger Games will love this.  There are plenty of twists and turns to keep fans guessing what will happen to Silver.

I loved reading the afterword from Kerry Wilkinson and finding out that the ending was the only one ever planned right from the very start.  I love that!

An excellent YA trilogy which was well worth the wait! If you haven't started it yet, I envy you as you'll be able to read all three in one go and I bet you will, as you won't be able to put them down!

Resurgence is out NOW and available to buy here.

And as part of the blog tour, a nice little treat for fans of Kerry Wilkinson who tells us about his five favourite fictional heroines:

DOROTHY GALE
My favourite thing about Dorothy’s escapades in The Wizard of Oz is that she’s clearly the baddie. She starts her killing spree the moment she gets to Oz, her house crushing an innocent ‘witch’ who was going about her business. Probably on the way to Tesco, or something. When interrogated as to whether she’s a witch, Dorothy says she can’t be – because she’s too young and good-looking.
She’s an ageist and massive narcissist who believes attractive people are naturally good, and she celebrates this by having a group of little people – munchkins – put on some sort of weird dance for her. If that’s not enough, she then taunts the (so-called) ‘Wicked’ Witch of the West about killing her sister and steals the dead woman’s shoes.
Instead of returning the shoes, Dorothy later murders the ‘Wicked’ Witch by throwing water on her, which is an over-reaction to say the least. This is family genocide! She then steals the witch’s broomstick just because she can.
She has no control over her dog, endangering the wizard’s return to Kansas because Toto leaps out of the balloon. Dorothy also gets a scarecrow, tin man and lion to do her dirty work. PETA should have a word. After all the chaos she’s created in Oz, she then clicks her heels and sods off home.
There’s something about being an evil psychopath masquerading as a do-gooder that I find intrinsically pleasing.

CJ CREGG
The West Wing is one of my favourite shows of all time – and at its absolute core is perhaps the strongest female lead TV has seen. CJ is consistently the smartest person in a room of very smart people. She doesn’t enrapture the others around her with bimbo-esque giggles and skimpy clothes; she does it through intelligence and wit.
She’s once asked, ‘What are you wearing?’, by a reporter and replies, ‘A dress’. She doesn’t need saving by any of the characters and, instead, is frequently their saviour. The best thing about the character is that she doesn’t need other characters to point at her and say, ‘she’s smart’. This is a conclusion that viewers can figure out for themselves simply by watching. The fact Allison Janney won four Emmys for her portrayal of CJ should give you a clue as to how great both she and the character is. 

JESSICA JONES
Before the success of the Netflix TV show, Jessica was the star of her own very adult-themed comic, named ‘Alias’. She was the hard-drinking, arse-kicking female superhero before it was cool to be any of those things. Beyond that, however, I always enjoyed the smaller stories, specifically the Come Home arc.
It’s set in a small American town, think high-school-where-everyone-knows-everyone-else; a church where they are all judged on a Sunday. There’s a sheriff and a reporter and they’re all looking for a missing teen, suspected of being a mutant. There are other things going on in the town, too – but I love the idea of someone with superpowers being involved in something that’s seemingly so tiny.
For me, the television show never quite got there – but this is my favourite iteration of Jessica. I can go back to that story again and again.

REY
Every list like this needs an up-to-date entry – and I love Rey from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Critics can say it’s a remake of the first movie or whine about other plot points but I DON’T CARE. I saw it on the day it came out in a packed cinema and then again a couple of days later. I’ll keep watching it for many reasons, one of which is that Rey is such a terrific heroine.
I love that she doesn’t need, or want, Finn to save her (‘I know how to run without you holding my hand’; that she can fly the ‘trash’ Millennium Falcon as well as anyone; can wield a lightsaber; scavenge; look after herself – and everything else.
I get that critics say she’s a ‘Mary Sue’ character – an idealised female – but we’ve only seen part of her story so far, so let’s wait and see how it all pans out, yeah? Plus, no one bats an eyelid when male leads are seemingly great at everything . . .

MICHONNE
One of the biggest disappointments of The Walking Dead TV show is that Michonne has been sort of forgotten by the writers. While Carol and Maggie have been given plenty to do, Michonne is on the sidelines, looking badass but rarely getting in on the action.
In the comics, Michonne is the character on whom everyone can rely. I don’t want to spoil much – but she has a better revenge on The Governor than ever happens on-screen, plus she has her own storylines. After 130-odd issues featuring her, she is still a key part of the plot – and long may that continue.