Mine to Hold by Cynthia Eden

Mine to Hold (Mine, #3)
Grade-B
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-No Kink
Series-Mine #3
Genre-Romantic Suspense
Reviewed by Kay
265 pages

Claire Kramer is a complex woman. Considered fragile but also cunning. She’s either broken or a calculating seductress. She has lost everything. Her mom and dad, her sister and for a moment, her sanity. After being in an abusive relationship, she found the courage to leave him. This led to the death of her parents by her ex. Then she lost her sister to murder. She doesn’t like to be touched but Noah York wants to touch her, badly.

Noah York is a hotel chain owner, ex-military and a womanizer. He met Claire three months ago and has never forgotten her. He has his own demons to overcome. His own darkness to conquer. He only cares about his two friends and now Claire. She fills this need in him and he can’t explain it. When she is stalked, he takes over her life.

I love this series. It has everything I really love. Suspense, really bad, bad guys, sizzling love scenes and a consuming love story. I have to say it again, please Cynthia Eden, never stop writing romantic suspense. This is totally your genre. These two characters had my interest at the close of her previous book and I was looking forward to their story. Now, I want Drake’s story. Soon!

Sheltered by Charlotte Stein

Sheltered
Grade-C
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-No Kink
Genre-Contemporary
Reviewed by Kay
162 pages

Evie is a girl who has endured living with her abusive, religious nutcase father and her emotionally and mentally checked out mother. She attends a Bible college and tries to be a good girl. She sees herself as fat and too naive. She has these desires to be a normal young woman but lacks the nerve, in the beginning, to really do it.

Van is a punk, at least that’s how Evie sees him at first. He is kind of an artsy guy. He’s really tall, hairy and tattooed. He smokes pot and hangs out with the guy who lives next door to Evie. He notices the shy, reserved girl next door to his friend. As time goes on they talk and a relationship develops. We find out later that he has some money he got from his grandparent that he uses for college and rent.

This is my first book by Charlotte stein and I liked it. It kind of read almost YA except for the sex scenes. They were sweet but explicit. You could really feel the vulnerability of both lead characters. The innocence was precious. The love story touching if a bit rushed. It was short and sweet. I will definitely read more by this author. Thanks to Anne for mentioning this author.

Afterburn by Sylvia Day

Afterburn (Afterburn & Aftershock, #1)
Grade-B
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-No Kink
Series-Afterburn & Aftershock #1
Genre-Contemporary
Reviewed by Kay
99 pages

Warning, this is a cliffhanger. I am disliking those more and more. However, I enjoyed this start to this series, a lot.

Jackson Rutledge is from a very wealthy, politically powerful family. I can’t tell you what he does for a living. I don’t know if it was mentioned but it’s some sort of wheeling and dealing thing. He and Gia had a five week fling a few years ago and he ended by never calling again.

Gianna Rossi is from a restaurant family but she wants something related but different for herself. She and her family are close. She fell hard for Jax years ago and was very hurt by his actions. He shows up with her competition during a business meeting. This starts all sorts of feelings for Gia’s emotions to deal with. Gia’s not the same girl she was years ago and Jax is about to find that out.

Is Jax a changed man? Does he care for Gia or is he using her for inside information? I don’t know yet but I can’t wait to find out. This was a steamy and short read. I really enjoyed it.