4.5 Smooches

Synopsis

From the moment Lev Leokov spots the young woman hiding behind her hair in the middle of the gentleman’s club, he can’t take his eyes off of her.
For the very first time in his life, he is affected. Having been told his entire life that he can’t process or understand emotion, he considers it a big deal.

When Mina Harris gets caught red-handed with a wallet that isn’t hers, she falls apart. She’s tired, lonely and hasn’t eaten in days.

Lev offers her an ultimatum… A nice warm bed, a hot meal and a job, or the cops.

Mina takes her chances with Lev.
After all, a person with nothing has nothing left to lose.

***This book enters the world of the extended Leokov family which are introduced in Friend-Zoned, however, is unrelated**

Review

“They say penguins mate for life.”  He reached up again and jerked hard at his tie. “And I want to be your penguin.”

The cover, the blurb, the name, the RUSSIANS, there were so many things that had me dying to start this new book by one of my favorite authors the moment it hit my kindle and lucky for me it lived up to all of them. Delightfully written Lev was an easy read full of wit, action and heart. Unable to put it down I spent a whole day lost in the world of the Leokov family.

‘Mouse? Why mouse? Why not call me what I am. A street rat.’

 It is a well documented fact that I love a man with a disability and/or social disorder and Lev in all his standoffishness and awkward coldness fits into the later category. A tragic childhood has left him closed off and unable to understand and truly express love. He cares deeply for his family and daughter and would die for them but he doesn’t understand that what he feels is love and is convinced he will never be able to. Then he meets his little homes mouse, Mina. Mina’s had a hard life that had her living on the streets hungry and defenseless for years. That is until one night desperate to eat Lev catchers her stealing a wallet in her club. Instead of turning her in to the police he takes her home and both their lives are forever changed.

‘Lev could not be fixed. And I didn’t want to repair the broken part of him. He was perfectly imperfect, and I was his heart and soul.’

Belle has an incredible way with words that hooks me from the beginning and delivers the entire way through. So much of this story worked beautifully for me. I adored Lev and Mina but I am desperate, repeat DESPERATE for Nas’s story. She was both hilarious and sad and I can already tell that her story is going to break me and build me up again and I can’t wait!

~miranda

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4.5 Smooches

Synopsis

As the only female firefighter at Engine Co. 6, Alexandra Dempsey gets it from all sides: the male coworkers who think she can’t do the job, the wives and girlfriends who see her as a threat to their firefighter men, and her overprotective foster brothers who want to shelter their baby sister at all costs. So when she single-handedly saves the life of Eli Cooper, Chicago’s devastatingly handsome mayor, she assumes the respect she’s longed for will finally come her way. But it seems Mr. Mayor has other ideas…

Eli Cooper’s mayoral ratings are plummeting, his chances at reelection dead in the water. When a sexy, curvaceous firefighter gives him the kiss of life, she does more than bring him back to the land of the living—she also breathes vitality into his campaign. Riding the wave of their feel-good story might prop up Eli’s flagging political fortunes, but the sizzling attraction between them can go nowhere; he’s her boss, and there are rules that must be obeyed. But you know what they say about rules: they’re made to be broken…

Review

“Kissing her was like falling into madness.”

Sexy firefighters, ex military men and enough wit and steam to keep me turning pages, Flirting With Fire is everything I look for in a fast and fun read. The Dempsey clan is a group of foster kids turned firefighters and each one of this cast of characters has an intriguing backstory and each one I read I fall more and more in love with this family.

“Anytime you want to sin with this sinner honey, you just let me know.”

Alexandra was snarky and straight forward. Tough on the outside but all girl where it matters she comes off as a tomboy and I was worried I wouldn’t find her appealing as a female lead but when it matters she is feminine and sweet. Alex’s desire to succeed as a female firefighter and Eli’s stance as mayor that women cannot make good firefighters quickly turns the heat these two feel into a passion to prove the  other wrong. Constant bickering and opposing opinions keeps the story vibrant and moving quickly. But the moments that they put their differences aside and give into the passion they clearly feel for the other are explosive and hot as all!

“Eli Cooper might not have her vote this time around, but he had something far more valuable. Her heart. The wily, manipulative bastard.”

Kate Meader always delivers a supremely sexy and intriguing story. I was hooked with Eli’s domineering personality and Alex’s ability to put him in his place just sealed the deal. Contemporary Romance lovers should definitely give this standalone novel in the Hot In Chicago series a read!

~miranda

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4.5 Smooches

Synopsis

Cuddle up by the fire with the irresistible prequel to Kate Meader’s smokin’ Hot in Chicago series—originally published in the sizzling holiday anthology Baby, It’s Cold Outside—a superhot e-novella that will warm you from your head to your heart and all the way to your toes!

Chicago firefighter Beck Rivera always knew his destiny would be defined by two things: his dream to follow in the footsteps of his legendary foster father Sean Dempsey and his teenage passion for heiress Darcy Cochrane, the one girl who could both stoke and cool his fire. Loving her meant setting her free and breaking her heart—and his. But when a chance reunion at his family’s bar, sparked by a drunk Santa, places her in his path again, destiny can no longer be denied.

The last thing heiress-turned-tattoo-artist Darcy Cochrane needs is the rollercoaster of emotion stirred up by her first love: sexy, gorgeous man-on-fire Beck Rivera. But he always had such talented hands. And more talented lips. And…maybe one time can’t hurt. Then she’ll send him packing like he did to her all those years ago. But Darcy and Beck soon discover that nothing ignites holiday flames like rekindling a lost love…

Review

Rekindle The Flame by Kate Meader is a novella that was originally in the Baby, It’s Cold Outside anthology and it was how I personally first discovered Kate’s books and when I fell in love with this crew of foster kids turned firefighters that are sexily single handedly saving Chicago from the perils of flames.

This fast, fun and sexy read centers around a second chance romance between Darcy, society girl turned tattoo artist, and Beck, a drool worthy firefighter who doubted when they were younger if his blue collar job and foster kid background would be enough for the high class girl he loved. But Darcy is back in Chicago and sporting a new hot tattooed look along with the attitude to go with it and Beck is more into her than ever. He is determined to make her his again, no matter what.

For a short read, Rekindle The Flame was packed full of exciting story lines, memorable characters and smoking hot sex. The novella stood out to me even in an anthology full of more well known authors and had me hunting Kate down and begging her to let me read the rest of the series too. I highly recommend this story and hope you fall for Dacy, Beck and the rest of the Dempsey clan just like I did.

~miranda

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3.5 Smooches

Synopsis

How were they supposed to know that one night would change everything?

Devyn has life all mapped out. She just needs to accomplish one more thing before graduating college and becoming a full-fledged adult—lose her virginity. And who better to assist her than her best friend, Riley?

Riley is the self-proclaimed king of fling. His college years have been filled with meaningless hookups until the one night that ruined him for all other women. The one night he spends with his best friend, Devyn. Right before he screws it all up.

Balls to the wall, baby!

Now five years later, Riley is determined to atone for his mistakes and prove that he can be the man that Devyn deserves. Little does he know that Devyn’s been keeping a secret from him all these years. A big secret. Now he has to figure out how to win back the only girl he’s ever loved while navigating the pitfalls of her unexpected revelation.

Deal Breakers is filled with lots of laughs, a sexy romance, and an overflowing swear jar.

Review

I really wanted to like this book. I say that about every book I go into but after reading the synopsis for this one, I really did. It seemed perfect for me and even after reading through the college years I was still completely invested and interested but the hero let me down badly. I understand that to make certain stories dramatic you need to have the big ‘issue’ that comes along to disrupt the equilibrium but in Deal Breakers it all just fell rather flat. For a majority of the first half Riley is infatuated with Devyn, she’s smart, beautiful and down-to-earth but due to certain circumstances she and Riley remain in the friend zone, dating other people and enjoying college life however when Devyn makes advances towards Riley wanting to feel something for once and as neither are in relationships they spend one uncomplicated no-strings attached night together. It’s here that the whole story went sour for me. Riley transforms right before our very eyes into the biggest douche bag around. This is how he treats his best friend, someone he has loved and admired for an age, someone that he should respect and cherish, however the morning after the night before turns into not only poor Devyn’s worst nightmare but also the readers.

As the story progresses to the future I still found it difficult to reconnect with the Riley we were first introduced to. I understand he was oblivious to certain things and wanted to make up for lost time, but I felt that after five years of an absence that it was all very rushed and much too coincidental that he ended up where he was and with whom he was with. I don’t like being negative about any piece of writing because I fully comprehend this is someone’s baby, it took blood, sweat and tears to produce but I feel Deal Breakers would have benefitted with a bit more fleshing out and slowing the timeline down a bit and maybe toning down the hero’s ahole behaviour. I will say however that Riley began to turn things round a bit in the last quarter as he started to fight for those he wanted.

I grab it from her and throw it on the floor. ‘“I didn’t want the fucking number! I don’t want anyone else’s fucking number!”

“Then what do you want, Rye? What the hell do you want?”

“YOU!” All I’ve ever wanted since the day we met was you!”’

It is a story that will appeal vastly to others but it just didn’t grab me in this instance, however I would certainly give Laura Lee another go with a different book as her dialogue was very good and realistic and the passion and talent are there, it was the storyline that didn’t mesh with me.

~Nicole

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