The Sacrifice, Red Havoc Rogue, and Yearning For Her

The Sacrifice by Shantel Tessier

Standalone
Release - April 6, 2023
Genre - New Adult Contemporary / vengeance, arranged marriage
POV - Dual 1st person
Heat - 5 out of 5 / plenty of BDSM elements
Format - ebook borrowed through Kindle Unlimited
Length - 535 pages

HIS LADY

A Lord is to marry after he graduates from Barrington University, an elite college for the rich. A Lady’s job is to help him fit into a world unaware of his secret society. The Lord does not get to choose who he spends the rest of his life with. But there is always an exception to the rule. And I just so happen to be his.

I VOW. YOU VOW. WE VOW.

I was to wed a Lord of my parents’ choosing. Wealth can’t buy you everything, or I would have had freedom years ago. Instead, my strict parents made sure I lived a dull life in a mansion resembling a prison.

But on my wedding day, I was handed over to another man—an even more ruthless Lord that my family hated.

Tyson Riley Crawford only wanted me for his revenge. I’m nothing more than a debt to be paid. I didn’t have a say in the matter. So when I said my vows before the congregation, I knew I’d break them. Consequences be damned.

Too bad I underestimated my husband and didn’t realize he was more determined to punish me than I was to succeed at escaping. He’ll make me choke on those words I used to bind myself to him.

Yet even he couldn’t have seen what our future held. Ultimately, we’re all just pawns in a game that none of us can win unless you’re willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice … and even that may not be enough.

I gave it 3.25 STARS. I enjoyed the characters, even when I thought the heroine was acting dumb. While Lake acted like she knew it all, she knew very little. Her ignorance is what drove this story though. Tyson had so many secrets and even I was guessing, right to the end, what his motives were and why things were happening the way they were. Honestly, I wanted to rate this book higher because it was hotter and more deceptively devastating than I thought it would be. However, in the end, I felt that things were left dangling a bit.

For starters, why did Whitney hate Lake so much? And Luke, what was his deal? And why were so many people more loyal to Luke than Tyson? What was he offering them? And the father... it was all a bit messy (or a lot).

I think the problem I had was that while the mystery of the plot was interesting and kept me engaged, I wanted a bit more when the mystery was solved. I needed more answers. So while I loved what grew between Tyson and Lake, their volatile and not quite normal relationship, I wanted more.

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Red Havoc Rogue by T.S. Joyce

Standalone - Red Havoc Panthers #1
Release - February 7, 2017
Genre - Paranormal Romance / instalove
POV - Dual 3rd person
Heat - 3 out of 5
Format - ebook purchase from Amazon
Length - 232 pages

Annalise Sutter is a newly Turned shifter determined to get her life back on track. The problem? Her inner panther is a monster that attacks anything that breathes. She’s had to let go of her old life completely to protect the people she loves, and the one thing that has kept her steady through this transition is Jaxon Barns. They’ve been texting for months, but he’s anti-shifter and she can’t tell him what she has become. When a spot on a notoriously private panther crew comes up, she jumps at the opportunity to pledge in desperation to get her animal under control. Too bad that means leaving Jaxon behind, because what human is going to put up with an out of control shifter who lives way out in the boonies?

Jaxon Barns is harboring two things—a massive grizzly in his middle and an equally big chip on his shoulder about being born a shifter. He grew up in the Gray Back Crew, but can’t seem to settle down long enough to stay in one place. The only thing that eases the ache of being a rogue are the text messages that come from Annalise. She feels like the only real thing in his life, and when she disappears mysteriously one day, he knows something has gone really wrong. Now he’ll have to track her to panther territory to save her from herself.

But maybe the panther inside of her isn’t the biggest danger to Annalise’s safety anymore. Perhaps now, the biggest threat to her future…is him.

I gave this 3 STARS. I loved that Jax and Annalise shared a deep connection before they had even met. Not knowing that the other was a shifter, they delved into more intimate topics and became the person the other relied on. So when Annalise knew she had to start over in a remote part of a new town, she was sad to let Jax go. She was having trouble controlling her animal and this new crew was known for taking in broken people. And she was very broken.

Jax wasn't willing to let her go. Known as a wanderer, he had a pack, but loved the open road. So he had no trouble leaving his family and tracking down Annalise. However, when he finds her, the reception from her new pack isn't exactly warm. She's everything he could ever want, he's everything she could ever need, but her pack forbids them to be together.

I loved the way they snuck around, not able to get enough of each other. I found this story to be sweet, funny and sexy. I enjoyed meeting the members of both packs and I hope they feature in some way in other books from the series. I did want more depth in this book, hoping for a little bit more of these two as a happy couple, but I was quite content with the way everything played out.

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Yearning For Her by Tiffany Roberts

Standalone
Release - March 21, 2023
Genre - Paranormal Romance
POV - Dual 3rd person
Heat - 4 out of 5
Format - ebook borrowed from Kindle Unlimited
Length - 396 pages

A wicked incubus. A curvy, delectable human female. One night of passion that changes everything.

Willow Crowley’s world comes crashing down when she discovers her boyfriend has been seeing another woman. The dream she’d held of a life with him is shattered in an instant, leaving her alone with nothing except heartache.

She vows to never open herself to that hurt again…

Until a seductive, otherworldly stranger with white hair, piercings, and icy blue eyes promises her a single night of pleasure. No strings attached.

But that night isn’t enough for him. He wants more, more than she’s ready to give. How can she trust him not to break her heart when he isn’t even human?

Kian has lived promiscuously for four hundred years, feeding on the desire of the humans he and the fae considered prey. But when he locks eyes with a purple-haired female, something inside him shifts irrevocably.

No one else can sate his hunger.

He wants her.
Needs her.
Yearns for her.

Yet she refuses to submit to the carnal delights he promises. She wants more. She wants…love.
Can he mend her broken heart? Can he love a mortal woman?

I gave this 3.25 STARS. I adored Kian and for the first hero I've ever read from this writing duo, color me impressed! He was absolutely swoon-worthy. As an incubus, he'd slept with hundreds of people and he didn't really seem to discriminate. He fed off of their pleasure so I guess he didn't have to be choosy. But there was something different about Willow. After their one night stand, he quickly realized that he couldn't feed from anyone else. She satisfied him in ways he'd never experienced before. And while she might be reluctant to give into him, recently getting over a bad break up and not trusting in what Kian has to offer, he wasn't about to let her go.

There was a lot to love about this story, from Kian's absurd methods of wooing Willow, his refusal to take no for an answer, his obsessive and possessive thoughts and feelings when it came to her, and pretty much everything Kian did. My only issue was how long and hard Willow had him working for it. I got that she had trust issues and I didn't blame her. But she did and said some hurtful things that irked me. So while I could understand her motives, I didn't have to like them.

I also wanted a bit more from the ending. There was this whole underlying plot with a nefarious and villainous incubus and with all the lead up it was resolved quickly. I was hoping to see if there was any fallout. And of all the incubi that Kian knew, why didn't we hear from or meet them? I can only hope there will be another book about another incubus and Kian makes a special guest appearance.