Thursday, April 30, 2020

Random Review: Zero Divergence by Aimee Nicole Walker #Review #Giveaway





Title: Zero Divergence
Series: Zero Hour #3
Not a Standalone
Self Published
Author: Aimee Nicole Walker
Publication Date: March 17, 2020
Length: 295 pages 

Reviewed by Jenn

Synopsis

Zero Divergence, noun: no deviation from a course or standard.

After a key piece of evidence goes missing, a suspected serial rapist and killer evades prosecution. More than Royce Locke’s reputation is on the line when his investigation into the failed chain of custody suggests Franco Humphries might’ve had inside help. There’s no one Royce trusts more than Sawyer Key to help him right a wrong and uncover the traitor in their midst, but can they do it before the Savannah Strangler strikes again?

Relentless plus fearless equals flawless. Sawyer and Royce have come full circle—from hostile strangers to best friends and lovers. Neither a sniper’s bullet nor an arsonist’s fire could keep them apart, but what about a psychopath hell-bent on revenge? The stakes are high, and there’s no turning back now because the zero hour is upon them. Tick tock.

Zero Divergence is the conclusion to the best-selling Zero Hour series, which follows Locke and Key’s investigations and evolving relationship. This is a series you MUST read in order. It contains mature language and sexual content intended for adults 18 and older.

Trigger warning: Part of the storyline involves coming to terms with a friend’s suicide, which may be difficult for some people to read.




Review

Zero Divergence is Book 3 in Aimee Nicole Walker’s Zero Hour series. This book, this series is this author at her best. She blends love, friendship, banter, mystery, and humor like nobody’s business with these guys! Sawyer and Royce are the perfect partners…on and off the job.

With this book we get the culmination of all the clues leading up to putting away the baddest of bad guys and finding out just what Royce’s deceased partner was up to. Locke and Key are at a great place in their personal lives and they’re working together as a team at work pretty seamlessly. All is great, right? Not so fast because Franco Humphries is out of prison due to a missing piece of key evidence. This is a case that Royce and his former partner and best friend worked before Marcus’s suicide. They did everything by the book, the nail should have been pounded into the coffin…so what went wrong? Maybe the question we should ask is…WHO went wrong? This case isn’t just a matter of public safety, it’s also personal for Locke. He has so many questions surrounding the life he didn’t know Marcus was leading and the doubts he’s feeling. Luckily for him, Sawyer is by his side and has his back. Key has given him so much more that someone to love, he’s given him someone to trust completely. They’ll need that trust and each other to take down Franco and to finally understand what Marcus was up to.

Locke and Key have been explosive together from their first meeting and they get better with each book. All the baggage and swagger Royce is carrying around is no match for Sawyer…he can take it and dish out plenty of his own. As much fun as it was watching these two fight their chemistry, watching them revel in it is so much sweeter! Oh the way they love and respect each other is gorgeous. The fun they have, the competition for Bones’s favor (Sawyer’s cat and BFF) is adorable. These two are hard to take your eye off on the page. This is a trilogy, but the author assures is that we’ll see Locke and Key in the future…I cannot wait. Such a great series and very recommended!




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Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Book Tour: Lucien by Silvia Violet #Review #Giveaway

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Happy Release Day Silvia Violet:
Lucien is Out Now!

Lucien Ebook

 

The Marchesi Family, Book 1

 

I never imagined the protector I longed for would be a mob boss who demanded complete control.
I should never have gone to Lucien’s office.
Once I looked into his eyes, I couldn’t leave.
He commanded me to kneel.
Beg.
Obey.
I couldn’t help myself.
One taste, and I craved more.
Lucien vowed to protect me from his enemies…
But who’s going to protect my heart from him?

Lucien is the first book in Silvia's new The Marchesi Family Series and contains BDSM, impact play, questionable consent, scenes of mafia violence. It's not extremely dark, more dark-lite

Universal Link

 

Goodreads

REVIEW 

Lucien has been afraid for as long as he can remember. Ever since the death of his parents when he was fourteen, Lucien knows how to do one thing well—run when he feels the least bit threatened. If it weren’t for his Uncle, Lucien is sure his life would be more like that of his cousin Jimmy—constantly running a scam for some local crime boss. As is, Lucien is stuck working for a temp agency since his job as an administrative assistant fizzled out months ago. Now he’s barely making ends meet, living in a dump and frustrated with most of his assignments. So when Jimmy offers up what sounds like a ‘too good to be true’ job with the Marchesi family, Lucien goes against his better judgment and grabs it. Little does he know that he is about to sign away his life by becoming the plaything of the very wealthy and very dangerous Peter Marchesi and end up not only liking it but falling for the man as well.

Lucien by Silvia Violet marks the first in a new series about the Marchesi Family—a violently ruthless crime mob that includes the de facto boss, Peter, his brother Angelo, their cousin, Devil, and their semi-retired father and aunt Sabrina. Peter has been training to take over his father’s empire for quite some time and has learned to shut off any feelings he may have toward other men because he views it as a weakness—something his father taught him. In fact, Peter hasn’t give n his heart to anyone since he was eighteen and that person left him shortly after to attend college and leave his own family’s not so honest business.

When he sees the young man who has arrived to take the place of his cousin who was to work off a debt he owed to the Marchesi’s, Peter is struck by how gorgeous and submissive the young man appears. He immediately sets out to make Lucien his—and what Peter wants he always gets. Before long he has moved a dazed and lust-struck Lucien into his home and makes good on his pronouncement that he now owns Lucien—something Lucien craves not only for the unimaginably incredible sex but also for the comfort and safety Peter offers. But Lucien worries that he is just a flavor of the month, so to speak, and Peter will eventually tire of him. Plus, he’s not sure he can handle the casual violence (read murder) that Peter metes out to enemies of the Marchesi family. Both men grapple with their emotions which continue to deepen no matter how much they remind themselves that to fall in love could spell disaster.

If you like your sex with a side of light BDSM then this novel is surely for you. Don’t look for any kind of real dom/sub relationship though—safe words, contracts, etc. are never mentioned. The most that happens here is Lucien is given the opportunity to leave Peter once—knowing that by not doing so Peter will own him body and soul. From that point Peter can demand anything from Lucien and expects it to be done, no questions asked or punishment ensues. I actually thought their unique agreement was done well—I never felt that Peter put Lucien in danger physically or pushed him beyond his limits—not at all.

I wish I could say that the other aspects of this novel were as well done—instead I felt there were some real plot gaps here including more backstory on Peter’s former lover whose relatives play a big part later in the novel seeking revenge. That criticism actually stands for most of the characters in this novel. It felt as though I should somehow know who these key players were but missed the former novel introducing them all and how they fit together. I realize that as far as Angelo, Peter’s brother, and Devil, (not his real name) their cousin, will be more fleshed out in future stories but still Devil, in particular, could have really benefited from more back story as well.

Without a more solid view of where these men came from, including Lucien, the story became more about the sex than the plot for me—something I usually don’t enjoy as much. I would like to read the next one in this series just to get more of an idea about this group of men—I think they will be a fascinating family and that makes me desire to learn more about them.
 


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Giveaway & Tour Running from April 24-30th:

For a chance to win a $10 Amazon Gift Card, simply follow @Silvia.Violet on Instagram & Comment on any of the host photos lists here with the hashtag #Lucien.
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About Silvia:

Silvia writes erotic romance in a variety of genres including contemporary, paranormal, and historical. She can often be found haunting coffee shops looking for the darkest, strongest cup of coffee she can find. Once equipped with the needed fuel, she can happily sit for hours pounding away at her laptop. Silvia typically leaves home disguised as a suburban stay-at-home-mom, and other coffee shop patrons tend to ask her hilarious questions like “Do you write children’s books?” She loves watching the looks on their faces when they learn what she’s actually up to. When not writing, Silvia enjoys baking sinful chocolate treats, exploring new styles of cooking, and reading children’s books to her wickedly smart offspring.

You can email Silvia at silviaviolet@gmail.com

Silvia enjoys chatting with fans in her Facebook group, Silvia’s Salon and on her Facebook timeline: http://facebook.com/silvia.violet.



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New Release Blitz: A Family Affair by Rob Loveless #Excerpt #Giveaway


Title: A Family Affair
Author: Rob Loveless
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: April 27, 2020
Heat Level: 3 - Some Sex
Pairing: Male/Male
Length: 50100
Genre: Contemporary, bisexual, college, gay, HFN, holiday season, jealousy, new adult, revenge, unrequited love

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Synopsis


It’s been said that if you love someone, set them free. If they come back they’re yours; if they don’t they never were. But what does it mean when they come back into your life—as your sibling’s significant other?

At twenty-five years old, Cal Adams has only ever truly loved one man, the one who broke his heart three years earlier—Andrew Hall. Since then, he has searched for meaningful relationships but cannot smolder the flames of the past his family remains unaware of.

As the holiday season approaches, Cal’s younger sister, Claire, brings her boyfriend home to meet the family. When she arrives, Cal is shocked to meet her boyfriend, who is none other than Andrew. In a darkly humorous tale, Cal decides to show his ex what he missed out on.

Excerpt


A Family Affair
Rob Loveless © 2020
All Rights Reserved

Cal Adams sat at his desk and shuffled through some papers as he eyed the clock: 5:47 p.m. A mixture of excitement and anxiety churned uneasily in his stomach as the seconds hand ticked away. In thirteen minutes, he would relinquish his work responsibilities and prepare for what was sure to be a big night. A few days earlier, Cal’s parents had called to invite him to dinner Friday night for a special occasion—his baby sister would be home from college for the weekend.

Claire Adams was a senior in college and only three and a half years younger than Cal, yet he couldn’t help but refer to her as his baby sister; perhaps that was part of being a big brother. As Claire’s older brother and only sibling, Cal was a bit on edge about that night’s family dinner. After all, Claire wasn’t just coming home to visit; she was bringing along her new boyfriend to meet the family.

Cal tuned out the clinking of weight machines and the grunts of fatigued gym patrons as he sat in his office and concentrated on the circumstance at hand. His sister hadn’t had a boyfriend meet their parents since her junior year of high school, which meant this was serious. Cal and Claire had become very close in recent years, but he had not heard much about this boyfriend, including his name. Claire had always been one to maintain a low profile on social media, and only acknowledged she was “in a relationship” a month or so ago—without posting any photos. From what Cal had been able to gather from his phone calls with her, Claire and her boyfriend had only been seeing each other for about six months. So they hadn’t been together that long. Still, this was serious, which worried Cal a bit.

Being the big brother, Cal was somewhat protective of his sister, but he was happy for Claire, and he was sure he’d love her boyfriend. After all, Claire had a good head on her shoulders. However, this whole situation made Cal uneasy since it made him reflect on his own lack of success in the relationship department.

As the eldest sibling, Cal had always anticipated he would be the first to settle down. However, being twenty-five years old and never having been in a serious relationship, he often felt frustrated and unfulfilled—like something was missing in his life.

It wasn’t that Cal was undateable. On the contrary, he was quite attractive, with medium-length, dark-brown hair, piercing gray eyes, sharp features, and a lean build. He was successful, independent, and had an easygoing, fun-loving personality. In fact, he went on plenty of dates, but nothing ever seemed to pan out. Either the chemistry wasn’t there or things just didn’t advance. Cal hadn’t experienced genuine feelings for anyone since—

“Hey,” a friendly voice chimed, which snapped Cal’s attention back to work. A petite young woman with a pretty, freckled face and long, ginger tresses appeared at his office door.

“Hi, Sophie,” Cal greeted. “Getting ready to head out?”

“Yeah, my six o’clock canceled on me,” she informed him.

Sophie was a personal trainer at the gym Cal managed and also one of his closest friends. Sophie was a year his senior, and the two had been friends since childhood. They knew everything about each other’s lives: the good, the not-so-good, and the bad.

Cal glanced at the clock: nearly six now. “I’ll be leaving in a few too.”

“Any fun weekend plans?” Sophie asked.

“Well, I have that family dinner tonight, but I’m not sure if I would call it fun.”

“Ohh, that’s right!” she said. “Claire’s bringing home the boyfriend. What do you know about him?”

“Nothing,” Cal replied. “Honestly, I don’t even think my parents know much about him.”

“So this is a pretty big deal,” Sophie stated. “It sounds serious.”

“Yeah, it does,” he sighed with a lack of enthusiasm before he shut off his computer.

“Uh oh, sounds like someone’s big brother senses are tingling,” she teased.

“It’s not that. I’m sure this guy is great. And I’m happy for Claire, I really am. But I’m twenty-five years old and—”

“Cal, you can’t keep thinking like that. You’re young, and you’ll find someone.”

“That’s what all my friends say, but you guys are all in relationships,” Cal countered. “You and Rich have been together for years.”

“Believe me, you’re gonna find someone. Soon. I’m sure of it,” Sophie reassured him as she gave his arm a squeeze. “By the way, I forgot to ask, how did the date go with that guy last night?”

“Eh, it was fine…at first.”

“At first?” she questioned.

“Yeah, I mean, he was cute. We just grabbed a coffee. And he seemed to have a good personality.”

“So what happened?”

“He started talking about how he loves popping molly.”

“No!”

“Oh yeah. And then he told me Lana Del Rey’s music makes him horny. Those were his exact words.”

“What!” Sophie gasped in disbelief. “He did not!”

“I’m telling you I can’t make this stuff up,” Cal chuckled as he shook his head in disbelief. “And really, Lana Del Rey? I didn’t know melancholic songs could get someone all hot and bothered.”

“You’re such a normal guy. How come you always find these crazies?”

“I don’t know, I guess they’re drawn to me,” he joked. “But, in all seriousness, I hate these stupid dating apps. I wish I didn’t have to use them, but I don’t know how else to meet someone. Every time I do meet someone from the apps though, they’re crazy or—”

“Or you don’t feel the spark.”

“No. At least not like I had with—”

“Hey”—Sophie interrupted in a soft voice—“it’s been over three years.”

“I know. I know,” Cal stated. He stood from his desk and grabbed his charcoal peacoat. “And I’m over it—believe me—I am. I just get scared that—”

“Don’t be. You’ll have those feelings again. You’ll find that spark.”

“Yeah, I know,” he sighed with a slight shrug before he hit the lights and left his office with Sophie. The two exited the gym in silence and were soon embraced by the crisp air of late November.

Purchase

NineStar Press | Amazon | Smashwords | Barnes & Noble

Meet the Author

Rob Loveless is a corporate communications professional, and currently resides in Pittsburgh, PA. He has been an avid reader and writer from a young age, being influenced by authors like J.K. Rowling and Dan Brown. When he’s not working or writing, Rob enjoys being active, exploring what the Steel City has to offer, and traveling.

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