WICKED LOVE (Wicked White #3)

WICKED LOVE                       MICHELLE A. VALENTINE

All Tyler Mercer wanted was to make music—until he met Avery Jenson. The beautiful new girl in town turned his head and struck a chord in his heart. But when their one night of passion results in devastating tragedy, Tyler hits the road, leaving behind his dead-end hometown and the girl he knows he’ll never forget.

After her father was caught embezzling, Avery’s comfortable life in the city was blown to bits. But meeting Tyler helped to pick up the pieces and eased her into country living. She just never expected the handsome musician would add to her heartbreak by walking away without a backward glance.

Now, three years later, rock star Tyler’s come back, hat in hand. He’s found fame and fortune as a member of Wicked White, but it’s all worth nothing without Avery’s love. Can she forgive him for leaving when she needed him most? Or will the ghost of their past keep them apart?

MY REVIEW:
     Avery Jenson seems to be living through what would be called the worst time in a young person’s life.  One, she just caught her now ex-boyfriend out with his ex at the movies.  So, she was in the process of taking a crowbar to the headlights of his red corvette.  But in mid-swing a sexy male voice asked what she was doing.  Which comes to find out is Tyler Mercer.
     Not with a new bystander other than her sorority sisters to egg her on she can’t do it.  They get pissed and leave her standing in the parking lot with Tyler.  He is nice enough to take her to her home.  She couldn’t face the bitchy girls at the dorms.  Bad enough the two that left her but the head bitch is the one that her ex cheated with.
     Now for the second reason, her dad was caught stealing from the company he was working for no jail time, thank goodness.  No one wants a CFO who steals though.  So, they are talking just about everything that they own to pay back has to go.  Including their home.  They get to keep the car and a few personal items.  Even her own mother bailed on them.  Yeah, love works alright.
     Third, just to be a bitch, Charity said, as bitchy, cheating bitches do who have control, that all us at the sorority had to attend.  Then she calls Avery up in front, by the band.  Oh did I mention that Tyler plays in a band and oh yeah he is playing that night?  So she was not wanting to be singled out for sure but what could she do?  Telling her to leave the party she is not welcome anymore since she comes from the family of a man who steals and is now broke.  That with no money she could not be in their sorority anyway they have standards.  She felt instant hurt and shame with Tyler being there since he had been so nice to her the night before. 
     As she runs out who goes out after her but Tyler himself.  He asks if he can help but she is not in a place to accept it.  She holds up in her dorm for two weeks before she sees anyone.  The only one she will talk to is her cousin who goes to the same school but no one knows.  She says word on campus is bad and that Chace her ex had dumped Charity again and has taken up with another new pledge.  Avery tells her cousin she has dropped all her classes and that she and her dad are moving to her grandma’s out in the country.
     Yes, she and her dad pack up what little they have left and move in with her Granny inn Wellston which is out in the country. She has always lived in Columbus a true city girl so she is worried.  But she is so grateful to her Granny for taking them in especially since her dad and her have not really talked since her and her mother got together other than to bring her or things about her.  She finds out when she gets there not only will she have chores but she will sleep on the sofa in the living room.  When she wants to cry she remembers she has a place to stay.
     After a good night’s sleep and breakfast her Granny and her father explain that she has some money set aside and she wants to add on a room for Avery.  So she and her dad go to town to the lumber store.  Avery can’t believe they call it a town it is pretty spars.  As she is waiting for her dad to bring the truck around to have it loaded the guy that comes to load it is none other than…Tyler.   It turns out he lives there but stays in Columbus with a band mate when they have a gig.  Otherwise, he works at the lumberyard to save money to move to the city to work in music full time.  It was a promise he made to his dad as he was dying.
     This is a very endearing story with some very tense scenes.  I found myself tensing up at times having to tell myself to relax and other times I was tearing up and sniffling.  The bond that Avery and Tyler had was a strong one for sure was it a good one?  You will have to read to find out.  Their lack of communication on some levels was to stunted to be good.  Other times it was amazing.  See if these two can make it work or if the lack of communication finds them going without.  I give this 5 stars.  Provided by netgalley.com.  Follow us at:

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NEVER SWEETER (Dark Obsession, #2)

NEVER SWEETER                    CHARLOTTE STEIN

Letty Carmichael can’t believe her eyes when she catches a glimpse of her high school tormenter, wrestling champ Tate Sullivan, on campus. College was supposed to be her escape from Tate’s constant ridicule. Now he’s in her classes again, just waiting for his chance to make her life hell. But when Letty and Tate are partnered up for an assignment—on sex in cinema, of all things—she starts to see a kinder, gentler side of him. And when she realizes Tate knows more about sex than she could ever guess at, he soon starts making her blush in a whole new way.

Tate Sullivan is haunted by regret over his cruelty toward Letty. So when she agrees to work with him, he seizes his chance to make amends. He can’t blame her for not believing he’s for real, but soon Tate starts to break down her wall. She wants to know about passion, desire, lust—topics he is well versed in. And in return she offers the one thing he always wanted: the chance to be more than just a jock.

Letty is shocked by how sensitive Tate can be. Still, desiring him feels ludicrous. Loving him is impossible. Craving him is beyond all reason. So why can’t she stop?
 

MY REVIEW:
     Was a very interesting book of a coming of age couple.  These two went to school together for a long time.  But in high school things were not good at all.  In fact, you could say they were terrible.
     Letty Carmichael has always been a curvy girl and a little unsure of herself and her looks.  So when in high school the class bully singled her out at every turn she would pull into herself even more. Making her trip over her own book bag, following her almost lying in wait, so on the, not of her not attempted murder as they called it or as it ended up being called an accident.  Tate Sullivan, his two friends were present too, Jason and Patrick.  Jason was the one behind the wheel, which gave her hope, thinking he had the most sense.  Well, she was wrong.  But she never thought in a million years he would try and run her over.
     You see her car had broken down and rather than call her dad she had called and left a message for her friends for help.  She wanted to be the responsible senior on the verge of graduation who could handle her own problems.  After all she was going to be going away to college.  So she started walking home.  She left her Camaro on the side of the road and moved toward home.  She had passed the bluffs not too far back where she saw Tate throwing something at Jason.  But now she could hear them coming up behind her.  She knew they were going to pull a stunt on her it was not a good night for her.  She just knew it.
     She tried to walk faster and hide herself by crossing her arms across her middle.  She knew she was too big a target she was a curvy girl with big boobs, butt, and hips.  Her thighs alone rubbed so how would she think she would get her arms to hide her?  When she heard honking and hollering she knew she was in trouble.  They were yelling, “Fatty, thunder thighs, and flabby!”  Then she tried to speed up.  She only jiggled for her trouble not a help.  Then she heard them throw something.  She knew it was Tate since he was always the one who took things too far, always.
     Something inside her knew they were going to run her over, the scared part of her brain said it.  Seeing Jason behind the wheel gave her hope that was misplaced.  Because in her head it would have been Tate doing it or telling him to.  So instead of being scared she got angry.  Just stopping.  No more backing down!  No more going the other way!  She came to a dead stop!  Then she just stared at them.  The three boys who had made high school hell just were looking at her.
     They stopped laughing and hollering.  All she could hear was the wind coming off the bluffs which was behind her, rattle of the trees.  For a minute she thought how nice the quiet was.  When Jason revived the engine twice.  Her warning shot, she knows now.  They were going to do it!  The bullies that had made her miserable because they actually were going to hit her with the truck.  She went over the bluffs to the jagged rocks to a bloody silence.  They tried to kill her and NO ONE COULD EVER TELL HER DIFFERENT.
     Fast forward two years, Letty is finally at tiny Breckenridge College after two years of hospitals, surgeries, and therapy.  She has made it to the other side.  When she thinks she is hallucinating.  She is really hoping it is the lighting in the classroom.  What other explanation can there be for Tate Sullivan to be there when he should be a million miles away?  Like at Stanford?
     There weren’t to many people as big as Tate.  Tate stood at six feet five inches in bare feet and his shoulders were huge.  Her emotions were betraying her as she side glanced him because he was so ugly and handsome at the same time.  His butter soft mouth and brutal jaw at the same time.  Then there were his soft focus blue eyes that should not go with his busted nose.  Then there were his jug ears.  Which made her think of all that he had done to torment her right?  She was scared and torn wanting to be the better person…
     Tate comes to this with his own set of issues which this author gives you the story from his POV also.  There were some things I would have like more clear cut, like why Jason hit her?  What did Tate do for those two years?  Also a prologue would have been nice.

     This is a total coming of sexual age book and a how to manual of how to please your partner.  But also an eye opener if parents are thinking your kids are not having sex by Tate’s answer to being a virgin.  Amazing.  Ladies and gentlemen to you will need your fans for this one but overall a good story.  I give this book 4 stars.  Provided by netgalley.com.  Follow us at:  www.1rad-readerreviews.com.

TO SEDUCE A SEAL : (Sin City SEALs #3)

TO SEDUCE A SEAL                  SARA JANE STONE

U.S. Navy SEAL Dante Raske is all about guarding his heart and serving his country, but now that he’s busted his knee on a mission, he needs something to keep his mind busy. Playing bodyguard for a sexy little country starlet until he’s cleared for duty? Just what the doctor ordered.

Chrissie Tate refuses to be a one-hit wonder. If she’s going to take care of her family, she can’t let herself get distracted—especially not by the hot as hell Navy SEAL hired to be her bodyguard. But when a crazed fan attacks, she changes her tune. She’ll keep Dante around…if he agrees to teach her self-defense.

Except their close-contact lessons quickly become steamy bedroom sessions. And it’s up to this Navy SEAL to save Chrissie’s career—and his heart—before their explosive passion consumes them both…

Each book in the Sin City SEALS series is a standalone, full-length story that can be enjoyed out of order.
Series Order:
Book #1 To Tempt a SEAL
Book #2 To Dare A SEAL
Book #3 To Seduce a SEAL
 

MY REVIEW:
Although they were poor they were close and the loved each other very much.  Chrissie Tate had to grow up much faster than expected because her friend and brother Joe who had joined the Navy had been killed while in service.
     She left the security of stable to the world of unstable the day the men in uniforms showed up at their trailer to deliver the death notice to her parents.  She went from helping her parents around the house with her siblings.  To helping her parents and siblings out by being a cashier to a country singer with a mega hit, about the Navy giving her parents her brother’s death notice and a “Thank You for his service to his country” song.
     Really though it was just words she had written in order for her to cope with Joe’s death.  She missed him and she was afraid for her family because her parents had shut down and she needed to be more than “a one hit wonder.”  The kids, no, the family needed her.  She couldn’t let them down.
     So when she is practicing for her music video at red rock in Vegas with a male backup singer and he becomes over sexed and pressures her and she screams, she has a Navy SEAL to the rescue.  Dante Raske was there with Ronan is friend but also he out ranked Dante.  You see Dante had just had surgery for a torn ACL that he had gotten on a mission that had gone south.  It had already been three months and the doctor said it would be another two weeks before he even considered letting him be cleared for active duty.  He was not happy.  In fact, he was pissed and depressed you could say.  But Ronan had him hooked up to help babysit this country singer while she was on tour.  He wasn’t that happy about it but it was better than sitting home.
     You see Ronan’s girlfriend is a backup singer for Chrissie Fate.  Her manager talked with him saying he could use some SEALS as protection for Chrissie for she has been getting threats.  So far Ronan looks at it as killing two birds with one stone.  You know seeing his girlfriend and guarding Chrissie.  Dante really thinks it’s a lame job but the alternative of going home to California and having his mom coming back out to pamper him again is just awful.  So they were out at Red Rock getting exercise.  When he sees a sexy as all get out woman in funky ugly wig, black at that.  But her body is just screaming fine.  He turns away when he hears a fearful scream.
     Although in great pain to his knee he assesses the situation as he is running to her aide, he gets the man away from her with a few punches thrown.  She explains with a few less words that he could explain away other than fear that they were practicing for a video and the guy got carried away.  She said they were both backup singers for a male country singer.
     The next day when he and Ronan report to duty he and she find out the know each other.  She’s more than he ever thought.  Already she is more like his ex-wife, a liar.  Or is she?  She has a career to protect and a family to support not to mention a mother who had become a prima donna.  She just wants something or someone just for her.  Is Dante it?  Are they each the balm needed to heal each other’s hearts or just a sex toy to pass time with until he is deployed again?
     I enjoyed the banter and the dress-up that Chrissie used to do her role play.  I found it interesting how it empowered her so she found her voice with Dante especially.  Which in turn she found it more comfortable than just being herself.  Interesting how many of us do that with our regular clothing and makeup?  HMM?  I enjoyed how Dante wanted to be this total bad ass Alpha Male but he had such a big heart you saw how he wore it on his sleeve.  The first time for sure with her little sister, Melissa.  I give this 4 stars.  Provided by netgalley.com.  Follow us at: www.1rad-readerreviews.com.

     

HEAT IT UP

HEAT IT UP                         STINA LINDENBLATT

Some games are hotter off the ice…

Sofia Phillips feels cursed. Her father cheated on her mother, her boyfriend cheated on her—she’s done with dating. A summer work-exchange program in Finland is the perfect escape. But instead of gaining experience as an athletic trainer, she’s cleaning toilets. Awesome. The trip is a disaster, and even better, she meets Kyle Bennett. In the sauna. Naked.

Sexy hockey player Kyle was the star right wing for an NHL team. But after an accident killed his wife and left him injured, Kyle has appreciated the “therapeutic” benefits of booze and puck bunnies. Now in Finland for the summer, he’s coaching in an elite hockey-training camp for teens. When Sofia's grandmother decides to set her up with a nice Finnish man, Sofia recruits Kyle as her make-believe boyfriend. Neither expects their first kiss to sizzle. And neither expects, while stranded on an island during a storm, to have a scorching night of passion.

But as their charade, and then their attraction, develops into something deeper, the past comes back, threatening to destroy them. They must decide if their feelings for each other are strong enough to survive—or it will be game over.

MY REVIEW:
     There are times in our lives when events happen that alter our lives.  That make us want to protect ourselves, sometimes body but a lot of times our hearts the most.  Causing us to run as fast and as far as we can.
     Which is exactly the case for Sofia Phillips. She had just received a double blow when it came to her longtime boyfriend from high school Ian.  You see she showed up at a party where she caught him making out with a girl the polar opposite of her.  But as that wasn’t enough he tells her he has been wanting to break up with her for a while but didn’t want to hurt her.  But he needed someone better in bed.
     Ian told her she was boring in bed and that he had been cheating on her for a long time.  She went home and made a decision to do the work exchange program to Finland since her mom was from there.  Plus, her grandma still lives there…
     But when she gets there, she is faced right away with a language problem with her grandmother.  So her grandmother brings her best friend over with her grandson Joni to translate. Or do the sneaky grandmothers have more in mind for these two.  But Sofia tell him she is not in the market looking for a boyfriend.  Being a footballer (Soccer player.)  He is used to a challenge so he does not give up.  She is not even sure he is translating correctly have the time. Things get a little dicey.
     Now there’s Kyle Bennett who is trying to outrun his own demons.  But he has nowhere to direct his anger so he is drinking his life away until he gets offered a job in Finland to coach at a hockey summer camp.  The camp is run by his friend Nik’s uncle so he takes it.
     You see the year before Kyle had been playing NHL hockey with the Minnesota Bears.  He had a beautiful wife Gabby.  But on their way home from a party a drunk driver runs a red light and hits them.  Killing Gabby, the drunk driver and passenger. 
It also killed his NHL career when it crippled his left leg.  His family were trying to help but the memories were choking him.  He needed to get away a new start….
     See how these two go about finding a new way of coping, living, discussing, sharing and loving.  There were some slow points that had my mind wondering because it seemed to drag but other than those couple of places it was a good story.  Joni is a character you want to boo at but in the end you are not sure???  But he just falls away which seems odd.  The rest of the cast give this enough meat to make you want to keep reading.  Nik seems to have real issues so I hope that there will be a book to explain him and what is going on with him.  I give this book 4 stars.  Provided by netgalley.com.  Follow us at:

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