Beauty and the Feast

Beauty and the Feast by Julia Barrett

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I enjoyed this book immensely.
Eva Raines works for a company that makes life easier for others, her specialty is creating amazing food. She has worked for several restaurants in the San Francisco area but likes the feel of working for this start-up company in the Napa Valley. Eva’s joy in life is making wonderful food for others and did not like working where she felt unappreciated and could not showoff her talents.

Gabriel Abbott is a wealthy business owner who grew up on the mean streets of Chicago. He is a self made millionaire and enjoys the finer things in life including a beautiful woman that will accompany him to events. He does not stay with the same woman very long, although many women want to be the one he selects for a lifetime. He has his eye on a lovely wealthy lawyer named Stephanie and decides to entertain her with an exquisite meal and a night at his cottage at the vineyard he owns.

Gabriel’s assistant hires a new company called All Things to All People to cater the evening. Since he wants to impress this new woman, he personally calls the chef to settle on the details of the dinner. While on the phone with Eva, he becomes intrigued with her manner and voice and wants to know more about her. As the day approaches all he can think about is how to get out of the evening with Stephanie and meet Eva. Eva is prepared to give this new client everything needed for an evening meant to seduce, she goes over early, takes a tour of his home and meets the caretaker to get extra details. That night while she is imagining how well they are enjoying the evening, Gabriel is driving Stephanie home without getting out of the car. His excuse at the time much is to say he does not want to expand on the relationship now. Not wanting to waste the wonderful dinner, he sits down to enjoy the meal while thoughts of Eva go through his mind.

Eva and Gabriel meet soon after the dinner and the chemistry is instant. Gabriel wants to know everything about Eva and she is very interested in him. As their relationship progresses Gabriel has some family issues deal with and Eva seems to have an enemy that wants to destroy everything she has gained. The story is fun and flirty and the characters are interesting and you want to find out what happens to them. I also enjoyed reading about the food Eva prepares and loved the recipes and notes about some of the ingredients at the end. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would look forward to reading other stories by Julia Barrett.




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The Cursed Clan: Callum

The Cursed Clan: Callum by Melissa Schroeder

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A very enjoyable start to a new series.

Callum Lennon is an enigmatic leader of his family’s business and also the Laird of his clan. He works closely with several cousins to oversee the welfare of the family. Phoebe Chilton is an expert on archeology and languages that is hired by the Lennon family to help with an unnamed artifact.



Callum and family are hesitant to trust Phoebe with the artifact without her signing a contract and Phoebe insists she never signs contracts, so a stalemate seems to doom the project before it has started. Finally Phoebe convinces Callum that even though she is unwilling to sign anything, she can help the family with what is needed. Callum reveals that the artifact is an old diary believed to be owned by witches several centuries ago.



Phoebe has taken this job as a sideline to what she normally does, which is work with her parents (and in the past, her deceased husband) traveling all around the world on various archeological digs. She has decided to break free from her parents, much to their dismay, and follow a passion she has for Celtic legends. She has been promised a chance at an impressive grant from a Kenneth McWalter, a man she has never met. While dealing with McWalter, Phoebe gets an uneasy feeling and tries to find more information about him through her former assistant, Izzy.



As she translates the diary, Phoebe finds herself in close quarters with Callum. The initial attraction they felt only intensifies as they struggle to ignore and resist their feelings. As she learns the secrets of the diary she is also learning the secrets the Lennon family has been keeping for years, the curse that could one day destroy them or set them free.



An old enemy threatens the clan from outside and dishonesty threatens the clan from inside as Callum finds it hard to trust Phoebe. Twists and turns keep you guessing until the end and sets things up for future books involving the rest of the cousins.





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Impact

Impact by Cassandra Carr

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Great start to the Buckin' Bull Riders series. Loved this one.



Conner Raub is a successful bull rider who has a secret. He is a Dom and is afraid that if those in the straight lace rodeo world find out about him they will condemn him for his choices. Jessica Talbot is a stock contractor liaison working with the NBT and has noticed Conner at various times while working on the tour. Jessica has decided she would like to explore a more interesting sexual side of her life and visits a local BDSM club where she watches Conner at work and immediately wants him for herself.



Since she is attracted to Conner, Jessica asks him to train her as a submissive while they travel together, however he does not want to get involved with someone who is new to the lifestyle. Conner believes he will not find anyone who can live the way he wants while on tour and thinks he will only find someone after he returns home to his local club.



As Conner fights the attraction for Jessica they find that outside forces are making decisions that will change their lives.



A great book with a lot of sexual fun and a love story too!



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Caught

Caught by Cassandra Carr

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A wonderful short story about love and trust.



Callie is back in town for a few weeks over Christmas. While enjoying a holiday party, she sees Jack for the first time in 3 years. Several years ago Jack and Callie had a dom/sub relationship and while her feelings were intense, she ran from the connection they had believing Jack did not feel the same. When they see each other they immediately fall back into the same roles as before however they do not talk about what happened 3 years ago.



Jack is an intense Dom and although Callie sometimes pushes back, she is a true sub and wants only to please Jack. As they pick up where they left off Callie notices that Jack seems different this time, he seems to have changed in the way he treats Callie, almost like a boyfriend instead of just the dom/sub relationship they had before.



As their time grows short and Callie starts to think about going back home she realizes she has fallen in love with him again - or never stopped loving him however still believes he has not changed. It is not until he shows her how much he loves her that she finally believes.



A great story about love, trust and communicating your feelings with a little (a lot) of kink.





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A Little Harmless Submission

A Little Harmless Submission by Melissa Schroeder

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A Little Harmless Submission is book six of the ALH series and is as great as all the others
Maria Callahan is an FBI agent who looks like she has everything going for her, at least that is what she projects to the outside world. She is trying to prove to all that she can live up to her famous father, a man who raised her as they traipsed all over the country solving various crimes for the FBI. Maria has been called to Hawaii to help solve a murder mystery since she has been investigating other similar murders they believe "The Dom" is responsible for - a serial killer who targets BDSM clubs and women that frequent them.
Rome Carino is cop working in Hawaii who belongs to the most popular BDSM club on the island and who just happens to be a Dom himself. When Maria and Rome meet there is instant chemistry however each are not sure if this is a good thing or not, Maria is just here for the case and Rome only wants someone who lives "the lifestyle".
As they discuss ways to investigate, Maria comes up with a plan to bait the killer by posing as a couple at the Rough n’ Ready BDSM club. Everyone believes this may work however Rome becomes uncharacteristically furious at the plan as his protective side comes out with Maria and he does not want her hurt. The mystery keeps you going until the end along with the blossoming relationship that both Rome and Maria fight. They clearly enjoy each and secretly do not want this to end although they will not admit it, even to themselves.
The story gets hot and steamy as they take their relationship to the next level. Although they are pretending to live the lifestyle at the club, it has crossed over into their personal life and Maria decides that maybe she likes this lifestyle after all.
As with the others books we get to visit many of the regulars at the Rough n’ Ready club, the owners and their soon to be wives that we met in previous books. I love seeing how their stories are evolving.
A Little Harmless Submission is a great story with characters that are both strong and intelligent and grow together as they face the dangers associated with their jobs.



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Highlander for the Holidays

Highlander for the Holidays by Janet Chapman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A fun magical story.

I received this book as an ARC from Goodreads and enjoyed it immensely. This is the eighth in the Highlander series so I was worried I would be lost. I have this series on a TBR list however just have not started it. I was not lost at all. Although the story is about a large highland family from the past and present I was able to enjoy this story without all the backstory.

Jessie is a scared and scarred women who has selected Pine Creek as her healing place. The magical community helps her come to terms with a brutal attack that left her body scarred however she is determined to get her life back. She meets Ian MacKeage who has his own demons to get over as he decided if he will step into the life he is destine for. With the help of a long lost relative who is as mysterious as he is strange, Jessie and Ian find what they are looking for.

A wonderful romance. I will be reading the others.





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Entwined

Entwined by Elisabeth Naughton

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Zander is very old and tired of outliving all the other Eternal Guardians. He had already found and lost his soul mate and the only enjoyment he gets out of life is fighting.

When he steps in for his "brother" to marry the King's daughter he is hailed a hero.

Callie is a powerful healer for the King and although Zander and her have a past she is determined to ignore it and just do her job.

Zander and Callie have wonderful chemistry and I love their story. They both have pasts to overcome and many misconceptions to get through. Also there are secrets yet to be revealed as they fight the enemy that is trying to destroy their world.

Great book and I am excited to read the next one.






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