Title:     Twisted

Series title:  Blood and Roses 5

Author:    Callie Hart 

Publisher:    Callie Hart 

Genre:    Contemporary

Heat level: 3 flames (M/F, oral sex, Auto erotic asphyxiation) 

Rating: 5 birds

Buy link:

None - Release Date - 8/19/14

Publisher Blurb:

Sloane

How many times can a person fall down and still get back up? How many times can things go wrong before you just give up?

I’ve lost everything. My home, my job, my purpose in life—everything has been turned upside down. But while life hasn’t exactly turned out the way I would have liked it to, I wouldn’t change a thing. If things were different, I wouldn’t have Lacey. I wouldn’t have Michael.

But most importantly, I wouldn’t have him.

I’ve realized what I feel. He knew it before I did. Only one question remains:

Is he capable of feeling the same way?

Zeth

Secrets are a prison, and I have been behind bars for years. Sloane Romera has been turning keys in all of my locks, throwing light on corners of my mind that I thought would forever be shrouded in darkness. Or at least I had hoped would be.

I have done so many wrongs in this life, and yet this woman has forgiven me. She’s done something I never thought possible—she has learned to understand me, and she hasn’t run. She’s amazed me. She’s saved me. She’s fallen in love with me.

If it’s within my power, I’m about to do the same for her.

Review of book:

You know those books that make you feel good about life, that all is right with the world?  Yeah, this isn't that kind of story.  Twisted, the fifth installment in Callie Hart's Blood and Roses series is as far from feel good as you can get.

And it kicks ass.

I'm being completely serious.  I picked up the first book in the series, Deviant, as a "what the heck" moment.  I like to expose myself to new to me authors, and the plot sounded like it it would be a departure from some of the more romantically themed pieces I'd been reading.  I couldn't put the darn thing down.  I continued to pick up the later installments (Fracture, Burn, and Fallen), convinced that I couldn't possibly like them as much.  

Boy, was I wrong.  In fact, I've finally had to admit to myself that I've not only added Callie Hart to my automatic go to author list, I might be more than a little obsessed with Sloane Romera and Zeth Mayfair.  

Twisted is a story that is, in my mind, equally character and plot driven, which isn't something I find often - and I read a lot.  It's dark and it's raw - gutting you without so much as a look back to see if you're okay - and it was absolutely riveting.   And yeah, more than a little dirty.  Not the kind of dirty that makes you want to find a bar of soap either.  Zeth is at first glance, the anti-hero.  He's on the wrong side of the law, appears emotionally shut off, and violent at the drop of a hat.  Basically the type of guy that will never put the cap back on the milk, and leaves the toilet seat up.  He's also loyal, sexy, smart as a whip (or, if you're from Massachusetts, wicked smaht), and is very emotional - if you know what his tells are.  Sloane is no shrinking violet either, and a perfect match for whatever Zeth dishes out.  Even when they clash, they fit better than some of the most romantic couples I've seen, because they're REAL.  She's given up most, if not all, of her well planned out life to be a part of Zeth's world, and she's not only okay with it, she’s convinced that she's got the better end of the deal.  Sloane has her moments when she's vulnerable, and that made her even more likable to me.  In fact, when I grow up, I want to be Sloane Rivera. (I also want Zeth as my guy, but I think that goes without saying.)

Ms. Hart put together a plot that hooks you from the first word, and slams you into a brick wall at the last.  You’ll never see it coming, but man does that pain feel so good! There's plenty of action and suspense to be had, as well as some major surprises along the way that I could have never anticipated. Twisted was everything I'd hoped it would be, and much, much more.

And for the record, I don't care one bit if Zeth leaves my toilet seat up and never puts the cap back on the milk, as long as that man is in my immediate geographic location.

Title:    You’ll Think of Me

Author:    Wendi Zwaduk 

Publisher:    Total-E-Bound Publishing

Genre:    Contemporary

Publication date: November 22, 2010

ISBN:    978-0-85715-341-8

# Of Pages: 137

Rating: 3.5 birds

Heat: 2 peppers (Oral Sex, Anal Sex, Outdoor Sex

Series:  N/A 

Cover Image URL (133 x 200; Appearance):

 

The man that came home from war wrestling his demons isn’t necessarily the one she remembered as the man of her dreams.

For as long as she can remember, Melanie Roberts has been deeply in love with her best friend.  They took a chance on being lovers in the past but because of their tortured past she’s firmly and mentally placed herself in the “best friend and roommate” category.  The night before he’s to return from his Iraqi deployment, she decides that they’ll have one last night of passion before she moves on with her life.

As Cade Nicholson comes home with a body and soul battered and scarred by his most recent deployment, he’s come to the decision that all he wants is to heal his wounds in Melanie’s arms.  Filled with trepidation at having to bare it all to the woman he loves, he struggles with finding the words that will truly express how he feels about her.

Is it too late for two friends to bravely come together in love, healing their hearts, or will past hurts and insecurities destroy everything between them?

 

You’ll Think of Me was my first glimpse at Wendi Zwaduk’s work and it won’t be the last.  She’s done a superb job revealing the emotional scars that our service men and women experience while fulfilling the call of duty, and how their loved ones struggle to support them.  Cade was flawed – he had extreme difficulties expressing himself emotionally to the one person he really needed to which is hard enough for any man without the complication of PTSD.  Melanie was compassionate and supportive, and at first thought that she was not as strong a woman as she could have been.  She hung around and remained friends with Cade even after a painful break up, relegating herself to a “friend with benefits” type of arrangement.  She did “keep the home fires burning” but at the same time made plans to live her life separate from Cade,  after coming to the realization that her life was becoming stagnant.

There was plenty of emotional dysfunction between the couple – they tended to use sex as a diversionary tactic rather than talk about the issues facing them – but darn was it hot!  There was an added bonus of Cade’s friend Rhett who came home on leave, to add a little splice and help air out the differences the couple experienced.

You’ll Think of Me is a short read, full of love, angst and passion – well done Ms.Zwaduk!

**Review originally published on TwoLipsreviews.com