Blog Tour/Review: Surviving Ice (Burying Water # 4) By: K.A. Tucker

I just want to send a huge thank you to not only K.A. Tucker for writing such an amazing book, but to also to Atria for sending me a review copy of this book, and also the amazing team over at InkSlinger for putting this tour together and getting all the materials and review copies sent out as well. Ya'll work so hard and really make being a blogger an great experience.

We are absolutely thrilled to bring you the Review & Excerpt Tour for K.A. Tucker’s SURVIVING ICE! SURVIVING ICE is a standalone romantic suspense novel and is the fourth book in K.A. Tucker’s Burying Water Series, published by Atria, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. SURVIVING ICE is releasing on Tuesday, October 27^th! Grab your copy today!

   

Amazon ** Barnes and Noble ** iBooks ** Kobo ** IndieBound

     

SURVIVING ICE – Review & Excerpt Tour Schedule:

October 19^th

Booklovers For Life – Excerpt

Works of Fiction – Review & Excerpt

Melissa's Book Obsession – Review & Excerpt

Britt's Book Blog – Review & Excerpt

Ficwishes – Review & Excerpt

October 20^th

Four Chicks Flipping Pages – Review & Excerpt

Latte Nights Reviews – Review & Excerpt

Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf – Review & Excerpt

Once Upon a Twilight – Review & Excerpt

October 21^st

TSK TSK What to Read – Review & Excerpt

Krista's Dust Jacket – Review & Excerpt

Milky Way of Books – Review & Excerpt

Nose Stuck In A Book – Review & Excerpt

Read, Write, Ripley – Review & Excerpt

October 22^nd

Reading Between the Wines Book Club – Excerpt

Bittersweet Reads – Review & Excerpt

thebookdragon – Review & Excerpt

Bookish Things & More – Review & Excerpt

October 23^rd

grownupfangirl // oh the book feels – Excerpt

Desert Divas – Review & Excerpt

Read more sleep less – Review & Excerpt

Renee Entress's Blog – Excerpt

October 24^th

Globug Needs a Book – Review & Excerpt

I Read Indie – Review & Excerpt

Love N Books – Review & Excerpt

Zili in the Sky – Review & Excerpt

October 25^th

The Consummate Reader – Review & Excerpt

Connected by Books – Review & Excerpt

Cocktails and Books – Review & Excerpt

pbc – Review & Excerpt

October 26^th

Little Read Riding Hood – Review & Excerpt

Book Bitches Blog – Review & Excerpt

Will Read for Feels – Review & Excerpt

Books BooksBooks – Review & Excerpt

October 27^th

Collector of book boyfriends – Review & Excerpt

Nerdy Soul – Review & Excerpt

Book Bite Reviews – Review & Excerpt

Short and Sassy Book Blurbs – Review & Excerpt

October 28^th

Reading is Sexy – Review & Excerpt

Book Starlets – Review & Excerpt

Feeding My Addiction Book Reviews – Review & Excerpt

In Between The Pages – Review & Excerpt

October 29^th

Lost in Literature – Review & Excerpt

Chapter by Chapter – Review & Excerpt

LuLo Fangirl – Review & Excerpt

Nicely Phrased – Review & Excerpt

October 30^th

The Book Avenue – Review & Excerpt

Typical Distractions – Review & Excerpt

A Life Bound By Books – Review & Excerpt

The Cover Contessa – Excerpt

The USA TODAY bestselling author of the Ten Tiny Breaths series and Burying Water—which Kirkus Reviews called “a sexy, romantic, gangster-tinged page-turner”—returns with a new novel packed with romance, plot twists, and psychological suspense.

Ivy Lee, a talented tattoo artist who spent the early part of her twenties on the move, is looking for a place to call home. She thinks she might have finally found it working in her uncle’s tattoo shop in San Francisco. But all that changes when a robbery turns deadly, compelling her to pack up her things yet again. When they need the best, they call him. That’s why Sebastian Riker is back in California, cleaning up the mess made after a tattoo shop owner with a penchant for blackmail got himself shot. But it’s impossible to get the answers he needs from a dead body, leaving him to look elsewhere. Namely, to the twenty-something-year-old niece who believes this was a random attack. Who needs to keep believing that until Sebastian finds what he’s searching for. Ivy has one foot out of San Francisco when a chance encounter with a stranger stalls her departure. She’s always been drawn to intense men, so it’s no wonder that she now finds a reason to stay after all, quickly intoxicated by his dark smile, his intimidating strength, and his quiet control. That is, until Ivy discovers that their encounter was no accident—and that their attraction could be her undoing.  

OH-EM-GEE ya'll. I have to tell you this is probably by far my favorite K.A. Tucker to date. It just really brought everything you could want in a book. I loved the characters so much and really just enjoyed this story in general. I have to say though the one negative thing I have issues with is that this is the last book in the series. I NEED more!!!!!!!

But no really, I have a hard tie putting into words how I feel about books that I really like sometimes. Which I'm sure you're just like what??? but you write reviews, how can it be hard to write a positive one?

And it's really more that I get myself really jumbled up trying to explain how much I like it and repeat the same phrases at least three times and sound like a ten year old writing a review on their favorite dinosaur toy instead of a generally amazing book. So just bear with me through this one, and if I repeat the same phrases or anything crazy like  raptor running through the review just shake your head and keep reading hehe.

Also this is the 2nd time writing this review after Blogger decided to have a melt down and delete a few reviews so I'm playing remember what I originally said too. Not that that will make this review bad, it just means that I'm a bit more frazzled than usual.

Ok so back to the reason I'm even writing this. SURVIVING ICE.

Like I said before my tangent. I really truly loved this one. It's faced paced and just one of those books that draws you in from the start. K.A. has a way of writing characters that you would never think of pairing together, but once you see how they fit together you can't separate them no matter how hard you may want to try. 

I think one of my favorite quotes from the whole book is right at the beginning:

"Ice is beautiful and enticing:

cold and hard and uncompromising" 

I think this is a good representation of things in the book, and not gonna lie here, images of the title sequence from Frozen my have popped into my head reading it ;)

See? I have a focus issue today. But I assume I always kinda have that problem when writing, and you like it, so that's why you keep reading these reviews I put out there.

Ok so I'm just going to dive into characters for a bit, and talk a little more about plot later on, before I wind up telling you I loved the book again (That makes what 4 times now? I have a problem)

Ok so I'm gonna start with Ivy.

I really really liked her. She has been one of my favorite female characters in a while that wasn't from a Rom Com type of book. She's smart and actually pretty funny, and one of those people that you just kinda bond with. You see the struggles she has and want her to be able to keep pushing on and be happy. I think something else that I like, and I'm sure I'm contradicting myself here is that she also is vulnerable. While she is a very strong female lead shes also got this thing about her that makes her want to flee. She's the kind of person that wants to be taken care of but won't admit it, and hum that sounds oddly familiar to my own personality and maybe that's why I like her so much. 

Also I like the whole tattoo artist thing. I am a total sucker for that, even though it's not the main thing about her you should probably focus on.

Also I want to talk about her relationship with her uncle. While his character is a bit on the sketchy side, her relationship was quite funny and adorable. Here is this aging tattoo artist who uh is in some shady dealing? I guess that's a good way to put it. He's also the reason Ivy even meets Sebastian.

But I think the kind of light hearted teasing Ivy and Ned (The Uncle) had going on was fun. I was actually kinda sad to see that end so quickly. And yes I know it's kinda the plot of the story him falling into uh a bad situation (This is me trying not to giveaway things, even if they are pretty much in the description. I know sometimes I don't read those before starting a book and I'll try not to spoil anything for you rebels not reading the synopsis)

Pretty much I could read more about Ivy any time and truly adored her character. Even when Sebastian does show up in the story and you start to see that relationship kinda blossom. Ok blossom may not be the word I want, but it's all I got today hehe.

Her and Sebastian just go good together, and I really truly liked how Ivy's character meshed with him. She liked how he could be kinda controlling and dominating (I cannot use that word without my head going straight to the black hole that is smutty romance anymore. It is so bad haha) But she also holds her own. I like characters like that. I like the balance. I tend to get kinda preachy when a female character is too soft, and I had no problems with Ivy in this book though.

Let's move onto Sebastian now.

He really truly intrigued me. I mean I like that whole mysterious thing in general, but like Ivy he just sort of pulled me into the book. Right from the start you learn that his character is obviously fighting some nasty demons, and using his work to hide from it, he's sort of vulnerable if he let's himself but masks it well. Especially when a new job presents itself.

He was the kind of person I wanted to dissect right away. Peel back all the road blocks he puts up and really see what happened to him to make him the way he is.

My first thought when reading him was not really sympathy but maybe something close to it. But I'm also a fixer (Yes, even to fictional characters) so I was ready to try and guess a million ways to make his character whole and happy again, instead of so distant from everything and everyone.

In reality Sebastian is kind of a scary character too. All that stuff I just talked about makes him one of those calm and calculating types, and that can be dangerous. He is in a dangerous line of work in general, and when you mix those to types of dangerous it can end intensely.

But something else I really liked about him is how he was with Ivy. here we have this closed off guy who obviously avoids any sort of closeness with people, especially when a job is involved, and yet he meets her and gets to know her for the purpose of his job. But it doesn't end there.

To reference my Frozen again, #NotSorry he sort of starts to thaw. Ha I just made a joke there, but if you haven't read this book yet you won't get it I guess (His code thingy for jobs is ICE) so hew thawed like ice would. Get it huh huh? No, ok. Probably not as funny as it seemed in my head.

Moving on.

I just really liked his character and I think he may be one of favorites lately much like Ivy became.

The only kind of books I've been reading lately have been sports romances, and really intense security/military type books (Shayla Black, Maya Banks)

And while this book had a little of that feel with Sebastian's job it was kind of a refreshing thing reading something away from that writing style (Not that I don't love those other books. I've just had a real hard time reading anything outside of them, so this was a needed change to pull me out of my funk) While that whole security/military thing is what Sebastian does, it is just such a different way of using that job in this book, that I didn't have the same experience reading about it. I was more invested in Sebastian himself than why he was there and his job, even though it is the main reason for the story (Have I totally confused you yet? I think I just confused myself :/ )

But I think it comes down to is each book is written by a different author and in this case K.A. just gave me a more toned down version. And it was really something that I needed rather than those intense BDSM ones. like I said book slumps suck :(

So I told you I would come back to plot and really I only have a few things to add.

I just really think that this story brought a good level of dimension. Does that make sense? Like I think it was dynamic enough to keep you guessing what would happen, while somethings could be predicted. I liked the twists and turns it took and the development of the characters and between them. Both characters had flaws, and strengths that played well with each other. And the story flowed so well. I seriously didn't want to put it down. Sleep be danged when I get a story like this one.

I seriously think that this one was a great way to end this amazing series. I just really wish there would be more.

Based on my previous reviews for the books in this series I'm sure you can tell I love them, but I really can't explain to you how drawn in I became with this one. It was just so good, and pulled together so many things I look for in a book and I am so excited for K.A. on this release and hope that I convinced one of you to go grab a copy of this book. (You don't have to read the others in the series to read this one either. These make great stand alone's so feel free to pick it up if you haven't had the chance to read the others)

I give Surviving Ice without a doubt: *****5 Stars*****

Excerpt:

“We’re closed!” I yell, whipping my head around, my anger at myself for not locking it launched.

 A man I’ve never seen before stands motionless in front of me, amusement in his eyes as he stares. Nothing else about him betrays his thoughts, though. His stance is still and relaxed, his angular face perfectly composed.

My heart begins to race with unease.

“I’d like some work done.” His voice is deep, almost gravelly, his tone even and calm.

I climb to my feet, because I don’t like anyone towering over me. And because his piercing eyes unsettle me. Unlike the two-hundred-and-fifty-pound biker who just left, this guy makes me nervous. The wrench is still in my fist, and I grip it tightly now. “I’m not working today.”

“Tomorrow.”

“I’m not working tomorrow either.” The corner of his mouth twitches as we face off against each other. “When will you be working again, then?”

He’s patient. It’s annoying. But he also seems very interested in this tattoo, which makes it less likely that he’s here to hurt me. I relax my grip on the wrench. “I won’t be. Not here, anyway. Black Rabbit is closed for good, or at least until it opens under new ownership.”

He pauses, his shrewd gaze weighing so heavily on me that I finally have to look away from him. I feel like a sophomore year science class dissection—the unfortunate amphibian donated in the name of education. “That’s a shame.”

Either he’s not from around here or he hasn’t read the news. Or he’s one of those sickos who gets a kick out of crime scenes. “It is.” What’s really a shame is that this guy didn’t come a few weeks ago, because I gladly would have agreed to mark his entire body with my hands then.

On first-glance impression, he actually reminds me of Jesse Welles, the love of my teenage life, though I’d never admit that to anyone. This guy’s eyes are lighter—a cool chocolate rather than near-black—but they have that same intensity; a similar smirk sits atop his full lips. He, too, has dark hair coating his hard, masculine jaw; it’s just sculpted to a perfect short beard. He’s taller and broader than Jesse. Harder looking, not just by a few years of age but as if by life itself. That’s a little concerning, given the kind of life that Jesse Welles has already lived.

But there’s something distinctly different about this guy, too. I can’t quite place it, but I can feel it. Something slightly “off.” Or maybe it’s just this place that’s making everything in my life feel off—after all, my mind is still in a haze over Ned’s death. The last thing I should be thinking about right now is this guy or Jesse or getting laid.

And don’t miss the previous titles in the Burying Water Series!

BURYING WATER:

Amazon ** Barnes & Noble ** iBooks ** Kobo ** IndieBound

BECOMING RAIN

Amazon ** Barnes & Noble ** iBooks ** Kobo ** IndieBound

CHASING RIVER

Amazon ** Barnes & Noble ** iBooks ** Kobo ** IndieBound

       
About K.A. Tucker:
Born in small-town Ontario, K.A. Tucker published her first book at the age of six with the help of her elementary school librarian and a box of crayons. She currently resides in a quaint town outside of Toronto with her husband, two beautiful girls, and an exhausting brood of four-legged creatures.          

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Pucked Up (Pucked #2) By: Helena Hunting

I just want to take a minute to say thank you so much to Helena and her crew for sending me out this amazing ARC.

I absolutely loved Pucked and couldn't wait to get my hands on Buck and Sunny's story.

And let me tell you, this one did not disappoint :)

Miller “Buck” Butterson has been banging his way through life ever since a puck to the face fixed his messed up front teeth, and he was drafted into the NHL during his first year of college. After five years of deflecting goals on the ice and scoring them with puck bunnies across the Continental US and parts of Canada, Miller is ready for a girlfriend. A real girlfriend of the non-bunny variety. One he takes on dates and doesn’t jump into bed with after five seconds of conversation.

Miller thinks he’s found that woman in his teammate’s sister. Except, unlike Alex Waters, center, team captain and all round nice guy—who happens to be dating his step-sister—Miller’s manwhore reputation is well earned, and not blown out of proportion by the media. Beyond that minor detail, Miller doesn’t know the first thing about having a girlfriend. But he’s determined to make it happen.

What he doesn’t take into account is the amount of time and effort relationships require, or that constantly letting bunnies take selfies with him to post all over social media isn’t going to win him any points in the boyfriend department. Miller learns—not so quickly—that if he wants to make Sunshine “Sunny” Waters fall for him, he going to have to do a whole lot more than show her his stick skills in the bedroom.

Ok I just want to give everyone fair warning before you dive into this one. I had one of my favorite reviews I have ever written done for this book, and Blogger deleted it *GRRRRRRR, so thats why it's taken so long to write, and it was even supposedly saved so *DOUBLE GRRRRRRR. So this is my second review of the book, and while I still hope you enjoy it, I just want to warn you that it also is never as good when you have to go back and re-write something. Plus I am seriously running on like no sleep and it's already 2 AM as I finish this baby up and move on to the other 2 reviews I need to have done.

Just please bear with me through this one, and I really hope you enjoy it (I tried, I was just so mad after the first one got deleted and I mean I really think it was one of the most fun reviews I had written and then it was all gone and I just got depressed even thinking about having to do it again, but I really hope I can convince you to go grab a copy of Pucked Up, because it is a truly funny and good book and ya'll will love it)

Like I said at the beginning. I absolutely loved Pucked and couldn't wait for Pucked Up to be here. Helena has this awesome way of writing that will leave you laughing hysterically and have you connecting with her amazing characters from page one.

We got to meet Miller "Buck" back in Pucked. He's Violet's step brother and well if you've read the book you know that him and Vi are pretty close and she overshares most things with him. He was one of those characters that gets painted in a particular way and as the books go on you start to see more depth too. Back in Pucked we're introduced to him as this Puck Bunny lover that jumps from girl to girl not really caring who it effects. It even gets him traded to Chicago after he has a uh short lived bunking of his old coaches niece. But as this story goes we start to see that Miller isn't just this dumb manwhoring hockey player everyone makes him out to be. There really is a lot more to him than we saw back in Pucked and I loved how Helena made me like him so much as this book went.

It wasn't that I didn't like him back in Pucked, but the way he was portrayed made him one of those characters you kinda just don't know if you should like or not. He has a revolving door of woman in his life, and seems kinda careless how any of that will effect his life. He's a good guy, but that gets over shadowed by all the bad press.

But I'll get to all that here in a bit.

What or rather who I want to talk about now is Sunny.

She is one of those characters that I am going to admit I really didn't like most of this book.

Please don't take it the wrong way, she is a good character and I understand why she was written the way she was, but I spent a good amount of the book very character slap happy. Just the way she lets everyone boss her around and influence her drove me batty. Plus her lack of trust for Buck was something I had a heard time with. I know a book has to have some sort of confrontation, but lord this girl was really one that just brought so much drama into things. Things that really didn't need to have that much drama.

And I know, I probably sound like I'm being mean here, I really don't mean to be that way. I'm obviously giving this book 5 stars so there can't be too many bad things I can say here.

And there are some great qualities about Sunny, like how much she cares for her family and how passionate she is about her yoga classes and work at the animal shelter and stuff, and oh gosh her fashion. I loved it, she has this laid back easy going feel a lot of the time with the things she dresses in and such. And one thing that really had me laughing, and more out of a personal joke was her wearing the Birkenstocks (I had this chorus teacher in high school who was this real hippy type and she wore those dang shoes everywhere. She even had this pair with sparkles on them that she would wear to our competitions when formal wear was required. The amount of jokes that we dumb adolescents made at her and her shoes expense bordered on the obscene really. There were many the Jesus sandal references in those jokes too)

Sunny is a sweet girl, and while she does have her flaws I think she is a good fit for Buck when it's all said and done.

See I can be nice hehe

I also want to mention that Sunny's BFF is kinda a witch. She is a big part of the problems I had with Sunny I think, and while she did redeem herself as the book went, and we get to see this nicer more understanding side, I could have smacked her too lol

Although by the end I was ok with her, I will say that. I just had to get through all the Buck hating she brought to the story. (Here I go again, being all downer over here. Sorry ya'll)

She was a nice addition though to some more relevant things that will happen in the future and I was happy with how she wound up in the end like I said.

And now I want to talk about Buck. Again. hehe

He is just the kind of guy that you want to love. He has a terrible reputation but under all that garbage is the most loving caring man there could be.

He does a lot for charity, cares about his oversharing stepsister, and tries to change everything about himself for the woman he wants to be with and dare I say maybe LOVE.

Bucks biggest problem is he has the words worst luck. I mean seriously, the man has the worst case of wrong place wrong time I have ever seen. and not only that but some of the funniest mishaps I have ever read. And not just him, Sunny has her fair share too. And I have to say I have never felt more bad for a fictional person in my life.

And all of these mishaps lead to why there are so many problems between him and Sunny. While extremely funny, they do bring to light the things that come with dating a professional hockey player. Especially one as well known and with an inflated reputation as Bucks.

I mean let's face it, if any of us happened to score a super famous hockey player we would all probably have some issues to work out. They're faces are all over sports news, puck bunnies fall all over them. they are pretty hot and built. There is a whole lot to deal with when dating one, at least I assume, considering I have no experience when it comes to dating hot hockey players hehe. But I do know that if Ben Bishop ever decided he wanted to have a relationship with me I would jump on that ride so fast *SWOON

But back to Buck

He really does try hard to get things changed around, but his need to not want to show all the good things he does leads to not many people seeing just how amazing he really is. 

Did I say that already? Pretty sure I'm just repeating myself now. As much as I want to tell you I love Buck I just don't think I have anymore left to say without it just being more of the same thing. As said before, this is me re-writing my review (which was perfect before Blogger decided to be a butt and delete it, and now it's 2 AM and my brain has just given up the trying to be witty and entertaining thing.

So moving on.

I just want to say how much I loved the interaction between Violet and Buck in this one. The Yeti jokes (So many Yeti jokes) were hilarious and I really enjoyed seeing how much farther their relationship had come between books. With them both dating siblings it makes for kind of this fun entertainment where a whole lot of personal stuff gets shared. And I mean Violet shares EVERYTHING. Which is hysterical and I am warning you don't read this book at night with everyone asleep like I did because you will spend the whole time trying to muffle your uncontrollable laughter and your family will not be happy with you in the morning ;) (love you adoring family)

I also just liked seeing these bits and pieces on how Alex and Violet in general were doing with their relationship and all that fun stuff. Alex is still a total hot head and there were some epic him and buck show down moments.

It's always fun though to see how characters you invest your time reading are doing though. I've said it in past reviews, but I use to hate that style of writing and now it's something I look forward too. I like getting the continuation of the story I loved while also building this entire fictional world that has so many characters and so much depth to it. And Helena definitely gives us that. I also want to add that because of her I officially want to plan a trip to Canada now. I've always wanted to go, but I think now would be the perfect time. Someone find me a good looking sweetheart that will show me around there and I will be set hehe

So if you haven't guessed it. I really did love this book, despite y Sunny ranting and all. It had a good mix of characters and a hilariously funny story line. Plus the romance stuff is always really good.

Helena writes the most amazing books and I hope you go not only pick up copies of this series but her other ones too. They are just as good and I'm telling you, ya'll will love them.

I give Pucked Up: *****5 Stars*****

Blog Tour/Review: Wicked For You (Wicked Lovers #10) By: Shayla Black

I am so excited to get to be apart of this awesome blog tour today.

Shayla Black writes some amazing books, and I just want to give a huge thanks to her and Once Upon An Alpha for getting my ARC sent out. I really did love this book and hope that all of you lovely people will go pick up a copy of Wicked For You today :)

Ever since he rescued her from a dangerous kidnapper, Mystery Mullins has wanted Axel Dillon. When he returned her to her Hollywood father and tabloid life, she was grateful…and a little in love. Mystery wasn’t ready to let Axel go, even after the soldier gently turned her away because, at nineteen, she was too young. Now, six years later, Mystery is grown, with a flourishing career and a full life—but she’s still stuck on Axel. Disguised, she propositions him in a bar, and the night they spend together is beyond her wildest dreams. Mystery steels herself to walk away—except the sheets are barely cold when her past comes back to haunt her. Once he realizes Mystery isn’t the stranger he thought, Axel is incensed and intrigued. But when it’s clear she’s in danger, he doesn’t hesitate to become her protector—and her lover—again. And as the two uncover a secret someone is willing to kill for, Axel is determined to claim Mystery’s heart before a murderer silences her for good.

To give you a little background at my experience with these books, and well the whole kinky BDSM style books...

I know I'm behind the curve but I only really got into this series back when His To Take was releasing. I got on the blog tour and was introduced to the books And while they aren't my go to genre (Don't get me wrong, I love sexy steamy romances) I really fell for Shayla's books. Like most out there these days I jumped on the Fifty Shades bandwagon a couple years ago (While had read erotic type books before that, they never really caught my attention. We were talking the short free books on Nook, and lets just say there was a whole lot of bang (ing) involved and very little story telling, which just didn't do it for my mushy romance seeking 18-20 year old soul) So here I was, 20 now and picking up book 1 in that series. My best friend had already read it and had been pushing it in my direction for a while at that point and I finally caved. I was curious what all the hype was and well a little intrigued at that sort of life style (fictional or not). So I bought the series on my Nook and got started. And while yes there was all that kinky red room stuff I actually found myself enjoying the plot and characters and devoured the books in a few days.

So with that introducing me into this whole new world of books (I expect all of you to be braking out in your Aladdin songs at this point hehe) and from there I started branching out in to other series. Take a guess at which ones I chose. There was definitely some Sylvia Day, some Maya Banks, Christina Lauren later on down the road and presently, and Kyra Davis, and H.M Ward to name a few. But then there was Shayla Black. And being a book nerd in the book world I had heard a lot about her books. Everyone seemed to love them so why not give them a chance too?

So I signed up for the tour and BAM!!!! smack dab in the middle of The Wicked Lovers world. And I actually could say I loved the book by the time I was done. It had a great story line, hot steamy scenes, great characters... What more could I want? But it also to me is a much better representation of what that world is all about that we as a society seem so enamored with right now. 

And while her books can be read as standalone's I was now intrigued with all these characters that had obviously been introduced in the past and found myself scoping out her books in the sale shelves every time I went into a book store. (I even found a signed one at B&N on my birthday this past summer) and while I haven't finished them all just yet I'm making my way through them.

I love how every one of the books in the series is different though. She gives each character their own life and problems and I really liked that. I don't want 15 books of different people just rehashing the same problem 15 different ways (Yes I have read books that did that. Anyone got some brain bleach possibly?) 

So back to Wicked For You.

I really liked this latest installment. Axel is one of those characters we've seen pop up and never really known much about. But like any good character that does that, he became one I wanted to know more about. Well wish granted I guess (Thank you Shayla Genie) and what a wish it was. 

This book really had some great scenes in it. There were the hot steamy oh my goodness gracious ones. There were the oh crap someone is in big trouble parts. The "I know who the killer is, I know who the killer is" parts (Those are my favorite lol). The oh man this book is getting so intense, situation and character chemistry both. And then there are the suspenseful ones. 

Let's talk characters here for a bit. 

Like I said, We are finally getting to see Axel's story. The first time I remember seeing him was in the book before this one, but as I talked about before he could have popped up before that and I just haven't gotten to those books yet. I've been kinda bouncy with the ones I've read and haven't read so far.

But anyways, Axel is just one of those people you find intriguing. We're first introduced to him in this book when Mystery visits him in a bar while disguised and although we don't know their history yet he seems like the sort of quite brooding kind.

As the story goes though and we start to see how he and Mystery met and I have to say that whole bit was an exciting adventure on it's own. We get to really see what he's like though. Him and Mystery are thrown into this crazy scary situation and he has to be the strong one that goes in and saves her while also not overstepping any boundaries any savior of a 19 year old in a bad situation should. No matter how strong the attraction. The amount of self control he shows awes me and I have to say a big muscular ex military medic can come rescue me any day hehe.

The other thing I want to say about Axel though is that while intimidating and a bit (I use the word bit lightly) controlling is also sort of a sweet heart. He has the best intentions in mind, and really cares about the people in his life no matter what role they may have in it. He is extremely protective and loyal and I really like that he can be that way despite his history. It shows the kind of person he is and that he is willing to give things a chance when they are worth it. 

Plus the man is a beast in the bedroom and has that whole dominant thing going on. And while I still am not sure how I feel about his brand of kink it made for some steamy scenes.

I want to talk about Mystery some too. While She isn't one of my favorite characters of Shayla's (My favorites consisting of Callie, Bailey and Kata) I did like her spunk and spirit. Mystery has a way of making you like her in a way. As the kid of a rich Hollywood director you would think she is going to be one of those spoiled little rich kids. But she isn't, she's smart and resourceful and actually pretty down to earth. Now while I said she hasn't been one of my favorites that doesn't mean I didn't like her. I actually did. She was a fun character to read about, and the way her and Axel just sort of bond makes for in interesting dynamic between the two. That whole soft and hard thing really fits the two of them. But I think the thing that kinda puts me off about her was her constant fear to wind up in this repeating her parents mistakes thing. It made her always weary of Axel and caused a lot of problems. There were multiple times where I would have been all to happy to reach into the book and give her a good NCIS head thwacking Gibbs style.

But other than that I really did enjoy her story. Like I said she defiantly was never a damsel in distress and i have to give any character props when they don't freak out and turn into the ball of fear females that are scared stiff and don't help a situation. She was the kind that jumps head first and while she may be scared just keeps pushing through and does what she needs to do.

I really have nothing but good things to tell you about this book. It has lot's of mystery, suspense, romance, and kink to it. And is written in a stunning way. Not to much over the top stuff, but just enough to intrigue you and keep you begging for the next characters stories.

I can't wait to see what Shayla has planned next for her Wicked World, and you can bet I will be very very impatiently waiting haha.

I give Wicked For You: *****5 Stars*****

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**** WICKED LOVERS SERIES ****

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Kindle * Kindle UK * Nook * iBooks * Kobo * Google Play * All Romance

Kindle * Kindle UK * Nook * iBooks * Kobo * Google Play * All Romance

Kindle * Kindle UK * Nook * iBooks * Kobo * Google Play * All Romance

Kindle * Kindle UK

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Shayla Black is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than forty novels. For over fifteen years, she’s written contemporary, erotic, paranormal, and historical romances via traditional, independent, foreign, and audio publishers. Her books have sold well over a million copies and been published in a dozen languages.

Raised an only child, Shayla occupied herself with lots of daydreaming, much to the chagrin of her teachers. In college, she found her love for reading and realized that she could have a career publishing the stories spinning in her imagination. Though she graduated with a degree in Marketing/Advertising and embarked on a stint in corporate America to pay the bills, her heart has always been with her characters. She’s thrilled that she’s been living her dream as a full-time author for the past seven years.

Shayla currently lives in North Texas with her wonderfully supportive husband, her teenage daughter, and a very spoiled cat. In her “free” time, she enjoys reality TV, reading, and listening to an eclectic blend of music.

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