Book Review: The Wicked City by Beatriz Williams

The Wicked City

by Beatriz Williams

HarperCollins

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

• Hardcover: 384 pages

• Publisher: William Morrow (January 17, 2017)

New York Times bestselling author Beatriz Williams recreates the New York City of A Certain Age in this deliciously spicy adventure that mixes past and present and centers on a Jazz Age love triangle involving a rugged Prohibition agent, a saucy redheaded flapper, and a debonair Princetonian from a wealthy family.

When she discovers her husband cheating, Ella Hawthorne impulsively moves out of their SoHo loft and into a small apartment in an old Greenwich Village building. Her surprisingly attractive new neighbor, Hector, warns her to stay out of the basement at night. Tenants have reported strange noises after midnight—laughter, clinking glasses, jazz piano—even though the space has been empty for decades. Back in the Roaring Twenties, the place hid a speakeasy.

In 1924, Geneva "Gin" Kelly, a smart-mouthed flapper from the hills of western Maryland, is a regular at this Village hideaway known as the Christopher Club. Caught up in a raid, Gin becomes entangled with Prohibition enforcement agent Oliver Anson, who persuades her to help him catch her stepfather Duke Kelly, one of Appalachia’s most notorious bootleggers.

Headstrong and independent, Gin is no weak-kneed fool. So how can she be falling in love with the taciturn, straight-arrow Revenue agent when she’s got Princeton boy Billy Marshall, the dashing son of society doyenne Theresa Marshall, begging to make an honest woman of her? While anything goes in the Roaring Twenties, Gin’s adventures will shake proper Manhattan society to its foundations, exposing secrets that shock even this free-spirited redhead—secrets that will echo from Park Avenue to the hollers of her Southern hometown.

As Ella discovers more about the basement speakeasy, she becomes inspired by the spirit of her exuberant predecessor, and decides to live with abandon in the wicked city too. . . .

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

A first marriage, made for the wrong reasons, or because you didn’t have enough experience to judge the merchandise.  Like a starter home or a starter car.  You trade up.

She’s the kind of woman who carries an air of beauty around her, carefully cultivated, like a waft of rare oil.  Delicate and chiseled.  Skin as marble in the moonlight. 

I realize we old folks aren’t supposed to talk about sex… but believe me, we had it.  Lots of it.  How do you think this country got so damned crowded?

My Review:

The Wicked City was an intriguing and enthralling conundrum.  Written from a dual POV in two distinct timelines spaced 74 years apart and involved the same building in New York City.  I was deeply embroiled in the story and the mystery continued to grow and thicken, I was never sure if, how, or when the two stories were going to sync or mesh together, or even how the characters were going to be related.  Both female characters in the different storylines were experiencing a period of great upheaval and were fraught with distress.  Both storylines featured mounting tension, impending peril, risks, disappointments, betrayals, and treachery.  While reading, I experienced a sense of inner conflict similar to arriving at an accident scene and at once feeling fearful to look yet also pulled by a powerful magnet and unable to look away.  I was quickly hooked by the elaborately detailed and quirky writing style as well as the premise and was instantly sucked down the rabbit hole and remained there, as despite my increasing befuddlement - I could not put my kindle down.  Ms. Williams maintained two tightly written and suspense-filled tales within one book that kept me on edge, curious, totally invested, and completely engaged. 

Empress DJ 

Purchase Links

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

About Beatriz Williams

A graduate of Stanford University with an MBA from Columbia, Beatriz Williams spent several years in New York and London hiding her early attempts at fiction, first on company laptops as a communications strategy consultant, and then as an at-home producer of small persons, before her career as a writer took off. She lives with her husband and four children near the Connecticut shore.

Find out more about Beatriz at her website, and connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Book Review: Driven To Distraction by Olivia Dade

Driven To Distraction

Lovestruck Librarians Series - Book #5

by Olivia Dade

Goodreads

 Amazon

 Barnes & Noble

 Google

 Kobo

 iBooks

Constance Chen is not the demure kind of librarian. Sure, her high-horsepower ride is Big Bertha the Bookmobile, but Con swears a blue streak, does her own home improvement, and wears steel-toed boots. She has a tight circle of friends, a demanding, beloved sprawl of a Chinese-American family, and a strict hookups-only policy when it comes to men. Her life is just how she wants it. Except for one maddeningly sexy footnote.

Sam Wolcott, her friend’s baby brother and the library’s IT star, has been throwing sparks with Con since he moved to town. To everybody else, he’s a thoughtful, sensitive sweetheart. To Con, he’s a cantankerous pedant, because if they don’t fight nonstop their clothes will spontaneously combust. Sam needs a commitment Con won’t—can’t—give. And neither of them will chance their hard-won bonds for pure lust.

Too bad Con and Sam have a whole week in a very tiny, very private space to sustain their dumb arguments. Alone. What happens in the Bookmobile might take their resistance right out of circulation ...

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

Some might argue that women would overestimate penis length because men have lied to them about it for generations. But in my opinion, women have known the truth all along and simply humored their various lovers.

As I understand it, poutine comes from Canada… Are there a lot of Canadian pirates? Wouldn’t they spend all their voyages apologizing instead of looting?

You should lecture your girlfriend about her salty language… and I’ve decided that doctors need to study your penis…All I’m saying is that any man who elicits this kind of trust and affection from Constance Chen… We need to study him. For the sake of science. So drop trou, Wolcott. I’m going in.

Like hell, woman. He’s mine.   No one sees this lumberjack’s mighty oak but me.

I love her dearly. But she wakes us up between five and six every morning, Sam. Usually by shrieking that her stuffed turtle is misbehaving and needs a timeout. If you let me sleep late two weekend mornings in a row, I’ll build a small shrine in your honor.

My Review:

Driven To Distraction was my first trip to the library to read Ms. Dade; I liked it so much I want a lifetime membership at her branch. The plot was unique and entertaining and the characters were adorable, quirky, and highly amusing. I instantly fell in love with Sam and his superhero t-shirts, and Con could be my twin with her creative use of profanity and opinions on family. The writing was humorous, engaging, clever, insightful, and loaded with expletives. The witty and bawdy bantering among the characters and their friends kept a near-constant smirk on my face and often had me barking aloud as well. In addition to my favorite type of mischievous humor, the creatively steamy sensual scenes caused me a bit of difficulty in catching my breath. I need to load up my library card with the rest of her shelf.

Empress DJ

About the Author

While I was growing up, my mother kept a stack of books hidden in her closet. She told me I couldn’t read them. So, naturally, whenever she left me alone for any length of time, I took them out and flipped through them.

Those books raised quite a few questions in my prepubescent brain. Namely: 1) Why were there so many pirates? 2) Where did all the throbbing come from? 3) What was a “manhood”? 4) And why did the hero and heroine seem overcome by images of waves and fireworks every few pages, especially after an episode of mysterious throbbing in the hero’s manhood?

Thirty or so years later, I have a few answers.

1) Because my mom apparently fancied pirates at that time. Now she hoards romances involving cowboys and babies. If a book cover features a shirtless man in a Stetson cradling an infant, her ovaries basically explode and her credit card emerges. I have a similar reaction to romances involving spinsters, governesses, and librarians.

2) His manhood. Also, her womanhood.

3) It’s his “hard length,” sometimes compared in terms of rigidity to iron. I prefer to use other names for it in my own writing. However, I am not picky when it comes to descriptions of iron-hard lengths. At least in romances.

4) Because explaining how an orgasm feels can prove difficult. Or maybe the couples all had sex on New Year’s Eve at Cancun.

During those thirty years, I accomplished a few things. I graduated from Wake Forest University and earned my M.A. in American History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I worked at a variety of jobs that required me to bury my bawdiness and potty mouth under a demure exterior: costumed interpreter at Colonial Williamsburg, high school teacher, and librarian. But I always, always read romances. Funny, filthy, sweet—it didn’t matter. I loved them all.

Now I’m writing my own romances with the encouragement of my husband and daughter. I have my own stack of books in my closet that I’d rather my daughter not read, at least not for a few years. I can swear whenever I want, except around said daughter. And I get to spend all day writing about love and iron-hard lengths.

So thank you, Mom, for perving so hard on pirates during my childhood. I owe you.
If you'd like to chat, please come visitoliviadade.com, find me on Twitter(@OliviaWrites) or Facebook (facebook.com/OliviaDade), or e-mail me (olivia@oliviadade.com).

Bound by Grace: Book 3 of The Gift Series by Barbara Cutrera

Bound by Grace: Book 3 of The Gift Series

by Barbara Cutrera

Goodreads

Amazon

Tabitha, adopted daughter of Jordan and Noah, finds herself kidnapped by slave traders and spirited away from her home country of Amare. Beautiful, gentle, and capable, Tabitha, an artist, is determined not to be sold into slavery. The birthmarks on the back of her left shoulder that resemble Etherea’s two moons might ensure that she’s never purchased, but they might also result in her death.

Arrogant, brilliant, and successful, Alexi is an inventor and businessman who doesn’t approve of slavery. Yet, he’s compelled to buy Tabitha, both to save her and to solve many of his own problems in his home country of Skye. Underestimating Tabitha’s kind heart and inner strength, he refuses to believe that he can ever love or be loved by anyone. Abandoned as a newborn, Alexi is certain of his own abilities but not of his own self-worth.

When Tabitha’s efforts to reach Alexi’s heart result in a tragedy for which he blames himself, their future together seems unlikely. But Tabitha’s capacity to love and forgive the man who can’t forgive himself is crucial when it comes to saving them both. Alexi must realize that he is bound to Tabitha in the most fundamental of ways if they’re to be truly free.

Excerpt

“May I touch?”

“You may,” replied Madam.

He glowered at the slave trader and said imperiously, “I didn’t ask you. I asked her.” Looking back to Tabitha, he repeated formally, “May I touch?”

Unable to speak, she nodded. No buyer had ever addressed her directly when she’d been involved in an auction. She didn’t know if it was a good sign or a foreshadowing of some game the man intended to play with her.

The stranger went to stand behind her and pushed some of her long, blonde hair away from her left shoulder then held it to the side. Using the fingertips of his free hand, he traced the outlines of the birthmarks with a slow, light touch that made Tabitha feel an unfamiliar tingle between her legs and made her nipples harden. Eventually, the man leisurely moved his fingers towards Tabitha’s hair, which he was still grasping with his other hand. He loosened his hold so that the mass hung straight down her back but wove the fingers of both hands through the silken waves.

“Have you always worn your hair this long?” he inquired stiffly.

“No,” she answered in an unsteady voice. “It has always been long, but not this long. It hasn’t been cut since I was taken prisoner.”

“And how long ago was that?”

“Six months.”

“And no one has bought you, despite the beauty of your face, body, and hair.”

“They fear my birthmarks.”

“They are ignorant fools, no matter how educated.” Gently combing his fingers downwards, the man said, “They buy rock when they could have diamonds.”

My Rating:

Favorite Quote:

That was her man.  She could very well be dying, and he’d order her to live. 

My Review:

Bound by Grace is book three in The Gift Series, and while it could be read as a stand-alone volume, the complicated family history would be much easier to unravel if the previous books were read.  I have enjoyed the creativity and thoughtfulness of this series, being unaccustomed to the genres of fantasy, paranormal or even much historical romance.  However, regardless of whatever world people find themselves in, observations of human nature and emotions cross all dimensions.  The two protagonists in this tale were interesting character studies. Tabitha was abducted and eventually sold into slavery after six months of sea travel and various slave actions at every port.  Alexi, a brilliant, driven, and emotionally distant inventor who had a need for female company and no interest in taking in a wife, purchased her before she was to be turned over to a brothel.  Alexi had been a foundling, abandoned at birth in an alley.  The rejection from her parents left Alexi with a sense of detachment and emotional inadequacy.  The storyline was imaginative, yet easy to follow and entertaining.  The primary plot elements were the evolving love story and unraveling Alexi’s parentage, which provided an emotive and sensual tapestry to weave this inspiring and inventive tale. 

Empress DJ

ABOUT BARBARA CUTRERA  

Goodreads

Amazon

Barbara Cutrera is the author of contemporary romance, romantic suspense, paranormal romance, fiction, and mystery novels. She became addicted to reading and creative writing at an early age but didn’t decide to write her first novel until she was in her 30s. Even then, she was unaware that she was destined for a writing career. Barbara, who is visually impaired, was a rehabilitation counselor before she became a full-time author. She believes our minds are only limited by the restrictions we place upon them. Her greatest passions are for writing, reading, spending time with family and friends, listening to music, cooking, and drinking Dr. Pepper. Originally from Louisiana, Barbara, her husband, and their son moved to southwest Florida in 2004 and love the diversity of their coastal community.

To learn more about Barbara and her works, read her blog, and enjoy extra content, go to www.onmywayuponline.com. There, take advantage of the opportunity to subscribe to her monthly newsletter in order to receive updates, participate in giveaways, and read extra content not readily available to nonsubscribers.

Book Review: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO VICKY HOPE'S BACK UP MAN by Laura Kemp

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO VICKY HOPE'S BACK UP MAN

 by Laura Kemp

Goodreads

Amazon US /
 UK / AU/ CA

Kobo / iBooks

Google Play

A tender, funny and haunting coming-of-age novel which asks if the past can ever be part of your future.

Twenty-one and insecure, Vicky Hope comes up with a plan on the eve of traveling the world with her high-flying friend, Kat Lloyd: if she isn't married by the time she's thirty, she'll marry her geeky best mate Mikey Murphy.

Fast-forward eight-and-a-bit years, Vicky, now Vee wakes up on her thirtieth birthday in Brighton, expecting a proposal of marriage from her arty boyfriend Jez. Instead, he tells her their relationship is over and she has no choice but to return to her parents' home.

Devastated and alone in her childhood bedroom, she decides she has nothing to lose and tracks down her two old mates. With shock, she discovers Mikey, now Murphy is a successful app designer driven by his tragic upbringing. Kat, or Kate, never made it – but she hides a devastating secret, which threatens the happiness of all three.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

‘Well, why don’t we make a pact?  You know, if both of us are still single by the time we’re thirty and ancient, we get together.’ … ‘You must be joking!  I’m never getting married.  Not to you nor anyone.  Not even Laura Croft.’

But if she was dissected at this very moment, they’d find she was one hundred percent No Use To Anybody, a composite of devastation, grief, self-loathing, failure and fear.  And they’d find no evidence of water because she’d cried it all out.

I’d started eating meat again when I got back to Mum and Dad’s… I was vegan for years because of Jez, well, apart from my secret cheese stash.  I used to feel terrible about that, but now, well, I wish I’d shoved a salami up his arse.

‘Would you like to play my anger drum?’  he said, earnestly.  Her jaw dropped.  He was weird, she knew that, but she’d never put him down as a pervert… ‘But it helps, having a good bang.  It’s a release.  We can do it quick while the shop’s quiet.’ … There was no way she was standing for this.  Before she could run away, he was back with a huge smile… And a hand drum.  A bloody instrument.  That was what he’d meant!

It was as if they’d unscrewed a bottle marked ‘chemistry’ and sniffed, drunk and bathed in it.  To think it had been there, bubbling under all this time.  Mind you, maybe it was only so intoxicating because they’d waited so long.

The morning after he told her how beautiful she was when she was sleeping.  He’d watched her into the early hours.  She almost died from the romance of it – until he said he’d even found her dribbling cute.

My Review:

I was quickly sucked into this tale and remained entranced and fascinated with each story thread until reaching that oh so satisfying conclusion.  Whatever Happened to Vicky Hope’s Back Up Man was heaving with clever humor, witty banter, heartbreaking misunderstandings, family drama, secrets, and endearingly quirky and complicated characters.  Ms. Kemp’s cleverly entertaining writing style was crisp, refreshing, and so highly amusing that I was smirking, snorting, chuckling, chewing my lip, and cradling my kindle all day.  The storyline was brilliantly crafted and ingeniously well-paced.  I was rapturously engaged, intrigued, and impatient with myself for being a weak human that required bathroom and meal breaks, as well as severely hampered by my need to read every word (I didn’t want to miss a thing) and limited by an inability to read faster, as I couldn’t wait to see what happened next.  Poor Vee, she was expecting to celebrate her thirtieth with a long-awaited marriage proposal from her scruffy boyfriend, only to get a scribbled blow-off containing among other things, two of the sentences no one ever wants to hear.  

Empress DJ

Laura’s previous book, THE LATE BLOSSOMING OF FRANKIE GREEN is available now:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Kobo

iBooks

Google Play

About Laura Kemp

Laura lives in Penarth, Cardiff with her supportive husband, gorgeous son, playful dog and ancient cat. Writing is compulsive to Laura. With 15 years journalistic experience and several successful books to her name, writing is her escape and her love.

Follow Laura

Website: http://www.laura-kemp.com/

Facebook: @LauraKempBooks

Twitter: @laurajanekemp

Instagram: @laurajanekemp

Book Review, Giveaway: White Knuckles by Autumn Jones Lake

Title: White Knuckles

Series: Lost Kings MC #7

Author: Autumn Jones Lake

Genre: MC Romance

Release Date: January 17, 2017

Blurb

TWO TATTERED SOULS

After countless detours, Wrath and Trinity’s wedding is only ten days away. Together they’ve battled their demons and are ready to declare their commitment to each other in front of their entire Lost Kings MC family.

ONE BITTER ENEMY

No one is prepared for the threat that crawls out of the shadows and issues an evil ultimatum. One that places Trinity’s future in danger and jeopardizes the entire club. Trinity’s more than ready to put her life on the line to save the club. For her it’s not a question.

AN IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE

Wrath’s role as protector of the club forces him to choose between the safety of his angel or the future of the Lost Kings MC and all they’ve built together. But Trinity won’t relent. A queen always fights for her king. She’ll risk everything to hold on to the love she shares with Wrath.

FAITH IS STRONGER THAN FEAR

When evil takes her for a ride, will Trinity’s faith in Wrath and her faith in the Lost Kings MC be stronger than her fear?

White Knuckles is the seventh full-length novel in the popular Lost Kings MC series. It is suggested readers have at least read books four through six in the series before reading White Knuckles.

ADD TO GOODREADS

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

I’m sorry.  I promise to keep my commitment cooties away from you.

Find the woman whose demons play nice with yours.  That’s what it’s all about, brother.

I liked my life, before we… figured things out between us.  But everything was in sepia tones.  Nice to look at.  Adequate.  With you… with us together, everything is in vibrant, pulsing color, and I can’t wait to open my eyes every morning and see what’s around me.

And you’re a good-looking guy in his prime… Women’s ovaries start tap-dancing when they see you.

Not that I know what I’m talking about, but I think the key to marriage is not to marry someone you can live with, but to marry the one you can’t live without.

My Review:

Autumn Jones Lake has made my week as she pens my favorite MC series, not that I’m a muffler bunny, but I do enjoy varying my reading genres.  Shortly after picking up the first book, Slow Burn, the Lost Kings quickly became my favorite group of handsome, nasty talking, witty, sexy, and smart-mouthed alpha bad boys - hands down.  They cannot seem to speak without swearing (even when they try) and tease, bicker, prank, and banter 90% of the time.  They may be tatted, tough, and rough around the edges; but they are marshmallows and teddy bears with their women, and also provide after school programs and quietly aid in protecting their community.  Of the books in the series that I have had the pleasure of reading, White Knuckles was the steamiest and sweetest love story of the bunch.  I adored seeing the moody and perpetually cranky Wrath evolving into a sweet and considerate other half with Trinity, which hasn’t always been the case with this couple as he had been such a bitter and nasty buggah to her in previous installments.  Little Trinity has brought the big man to his knees, as she is the only one who ever could have, and despite how vulnerable that makes him, Wrath wouldn’t have it any other way.  Despite having some nail biting scenes due to some bad business the club needed to sort and handle, the storyline was focused on the love story, wedding prep, and relationship issues of the club.  The writing was engaging, amusing, easy to follow, and packed with creative and highly sensual sexcapades, amusing banter, and snarky wit. White Knuckles resides at the top of my list as my all time favorite MC book. All hail the Lost Kings!

Empress DJ

Purchase Links

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU

B&N / KOBO / iBOOKS

Excerpt

Copyright 2017 – All Rights Reserved

“I love being with you,” Wyatt says as if he’d read my thoughts.

I squeeze his hand. “I love being with you, too. We have fun together, right?”

“Always, Trinity.” He stops and glances down at me with a serious expression. “Not just the sex—although, that’s fucking awesome.”

“Fuck yeah, it is,” I tease, jabbing my finger in his gut. That was stupid. His stomach’s like a brick wall. “Ow. I think I broke a nail.”

“Nutty girl.” He tugs me along a faint path through the woods. The trail follows a small stream, and I keep stopping to see if there are any fish.

“We don’t have any poles,” Wyatt says, stopping to check the water with me.

“What, you can’t play Tarzan and catch one with your bare hands for me?”

He busts up laughing. “I can, if that’s what you want.” He stops and pulls me close. “What do you think about owning a cabin up here? Like this one?”

“We just built a house. You want to move here?” Is he suggesting leaving the club? I can’t imagine Wyatt wanting to do that.

“No. A vacation place. To get away from everything when we need to.”

“Oh. Sure,” I say off the cuff, certain he’s not serious, but his next words knock me sideways.

“It would make a nice wedding present for my girl.”

“What? Did you…is it ours?”

“Not yet. I wanted to see if we liked it first. The owner’s had it on the market for a while, so I think we can get it for a good price.”

The way he keeps saying we, even though I haven’t really done anything to contribute to our finances, I don’t know, it does something to me. It’s a silly thing to fixate on at the moment, but I can’t help it.

“I love it here. But I love wherever we go as long as we’re together.”

He gives me a soft smile and kisses my forehead.

“Really, Wyatt. Whatever you want is fine by me.”

“I’ve seen the pictures of your dream house on the beach,” he teases.

“Mmm…a hut in Belize where you can run around in a loin cloth all day would be perfection,” I joke back.

His mouth lifts into a sexy smirk. “That might be a little out of our price range right now.”

“Cabin in the woods works for me, too. I’ll follow you anywhere.”

He takes my hand again. We traipse through the woods together, enjoying the quiet. My stomach growls and I’m about to tell Wyatt I want to head back, when he suddenly stops.

“What?” I giggle and he shushes me.

All the fun is sucked right out of our morning.

Also Available

Books 1 & 2 are on sale for only 99c!

AMAZON US / UK
B&N / KOBO / iBOOKS

Author Bio

Autumn prefers to write her romances on the classy side of dirty, and she's a sucker for a filthy-talking, demanding alpha male hero. The bigger the better. She believes true love stories never end.

Her past lives include baking cookies, slinging shoes, and practicing law. She's an active member of her local chapter of Romance Writers of America.

Autumn was born and raised in upstate New York. She still enjoys all four seasons there with her very own alpha hero and their dogs.

You can easily find Autumn on Facebook, but she also always loves to hear from readers.

Author Links

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

WEBSITE

INSTAGRAM
AMAZON
GOODREADS

Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Review: Torn by C.J. Fallowfield

Torn

by C.J. Fallowfield

Goodreads

Amazon US  UK    CA   AU

B&N

Torn - One will break her trust - One will break her heart - One will kill for her.

"Blown away, floored and left speechless. Torn is a story of love, one that will toy with your heart and emotions - to the max. This one will chew you up and spit you out raw. True to its title, you will be torn, gutted and slayed. 5 'Best. I. Ever. Had.' Stars" - Read & Share Book Reviews.

When Sky’s parents moved from San Francisco to Boulder City in Nevada, she thought her life was over, until she met the Hudson boys. Two years older than her, tattooed bad boy Nate was confident, cocky, good looking, and a straight talker. He was the unattainable guy that all the girls wanted, but the one their fathers warned them to steer clear of. Josh had all of his brother’s looks, but he was the sweet charmer your mother would beg you to marry. Their cousin Billy lacked the brothers’ good looks, so relied on his quick wit to attract the girls.

When all three of them set their sights on Sky, they became competitive, and cracks in their close bond began to form.

Torn between her loyalty to all three, and feelings for one, Sky was faced with a dilemma.

When she made her decision, she had no idea that her choice would set them all on a path that would tear the group apart.

Torn is an Amazon erotic romance, and adult fiction, international bestseller. It's a standalone new adult erotic romance novel, which is heavy on the angst. A box of tissues is likely to be required.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

That redhead’s Billy Hudson, Josh and Nate’s cousin, and what he lacks for in looks, he makes up for in personality.  He can laugh the panties off a nun, that one.

You’re probably the only legal girl under thirty in town that he hasn’t been with.

I opened the door, the sound of Taylor’s squeaky voice assaulting my ears as the harbingers of chlamydia all called my name.

Until your knowledge of sprouts extends beyond a championship belt in farting them out a few hours later, keep your opinions to yourself… I’m lucky I don’t have to wear glasses, Josh has assaulted my eyes with his toxic vapor so much over the years.  His gas would turn litmus paper bright red. 

I heard Ma tell Dad that it was no surprise you chose pitching over batting since you obviously like to fondle balls, judging by all the stains on your sheets when you were a teenager.

I’m swearing like a sailor on shore leave that couldn’t find an open bar.

My Review:

Written from my favorite dual POV, Torn immediately grabbed my attention, kept me enthralled, squeezed my heart, stole my breath, often had me smirking, and frequently left me gasping and cursing my News Years wine-free diet resolution.  Yet I loved every minute of it.  Torn was stellar!  The characters were achingly endearing, as were the sweet and supportive relationships they shared.  This wily author wove a clever tapestry with countless twists and turns and golden threads of misdirection that had my mind skittering off chasing rabbits.  Ms. Fallowfield is a sneaky and gifted scribe.  She broke my heart, gutted me, turned me inside out, and put me back together all while deftly amusing me with an intriguing, alluring, addictive, and unstoppable story that I could not put down.  The writing was clever, well-crafted, engaging, witty, observant, emotive, insightful, and atomically sensual – I think my heart may have stopped a time or three.  This wickedly talented wordsmith currently resides at the top of my list for further research.   

Empress DJ

About the Author

Enough heat to make the pages sizzle, romance to make you swoon, strong characters with depth and emotions to pluck at your heartstrings, and humour to make you laugh out loud. Roll all of that into one novel, or in C.J.'s case a lot of novels, and you have the measure of her books. Unless of course you count the odd twist she likes to throw in to keep readers on their toes. C.J. comes from the United Kingdom and is half-French. She lives in the wonderful countryside of Wales, surrounded by rolling hills, trees and fields full of sheep and cows. She is yet to find her Prince Charming, but lives with her extremely pampered fur baby, Pumpkin, kitten of mass destruction.

C.J Fallowfield. is an Amazon #1 UK and international bestselling author of contemporary humorous erotic romance novels. She released her debut novel in January 2014.

Her alter-ego, Charlotte Fallowfield is an Amazon UK and international bestselling author of sweet, and sex free, romantic comedy novels.

Sign up for her newsletters to be kept up to date on her frequent promotions and giveaways, as well as to get exclusive first looks at covers, teasers, excerpts and her latest releases:

www.cjfallowfield.co.uk
www.charlottefallowfield.co.uk

Goodreads

Amazon