Tuesday, November 30, 2021

REVIEW: Rake I'd Like to F

 

       
  RAKE I’D LIKE TO F… Release Date: November 30th   

The follow-up to 2020's USA Today bestselling Duke I'd Like to F..., this anthology is bursting with wicked rakes, searing romance, and a swoon-to-spice ratio guaranteed to make your pulse pound!   
  Authors: Nicola Davidson 
  Adriana Herrera 
  Eva Leigh 
  Joanna Shupe 
  Sierra Simone   
  AVAILABLE NOW!!! Amazon: amzn.to/3zL1jbp 
  Nook: https: bit.ly/NookRILF 
  Kobo: https: bit.ly/KoboRILF 
  Google Play: bit.ly/GoogleRILF        

    
OUR REVIEW:

This anthology is exactly the naughty escape you'd want it to be. Following the lead of the first anthology, this one features a little something for everyone. Each of the authors delivered on the things they do best--each story highlighting their style and flair in writing absolutely rakish men and their lovers. Whether you're looking for a broody artist, a broodier highwayman, a seemingly spoiled duke, a writer looking for his muse, or a most notorious rake, you find it here. Not only are the rakes interesting but their counterparts all provide the most delicious conflicts...and all of this in mere pages. 

It shouldn't be surprising with the all star line up of talent writing these stories, but honestly, I was surprise at how much I wanted each of these shorts to be fully fleshed out novels. Each set of characters were interesting and unique and while I was completely satisfied with every story, I wouldn't mind seeing more of all of them.

Need a quick historical romance fix? Look no more--Rake I'd Like to F is exactly what you need. 
  

  Blurb: He's a legend in the raking...   The Last Crimes of Peregrine Hind - Sierra Simone   Peregrine Hind, known to all as the bloodiest highwayman ever to bedevil the road, seeks only one thing—revenge against the Dartham family. And so when a robbery sends the second Dartham son and notorious rakehell Alexander Dartham tumbling to Peregrine’s feet, it seems like fate has given Peregrine his vengeance at last. Except then Alexander offers him a desperate bargain: to kidnap him instead, so Peregrine can harvest a generous ransom from Alexander’s family first. Peregrine agrees, but he’s in no way prepared for a captive like Alexander, who insists only on the softest beds and the finest wines…and who enjoys being tied up a little too much…   Two Rakes for Mrs. Sparkwell - Eva Leigh   The last thing Mrs. Vivian Sparkwell wants is to tie her life to another stifling husband. But thanks to the surprise terms of her last marriage contract, if she refuses any reasonable offer to wed again, she loses her widow’s portion. What she needs is a thorough and public ruining to make her would-be suitors cry off. Who better to provide the necessary scandal than notorious rake Rushton Cantley? Yet when Rush proposes that his friend, gaming hell bruiser Jack Morgan, join in on the ruination, Vivian can’t decide if she’s shocked—or aroused. How far is too far when infamy is on the line?   A Rake, His Patron, & Their Muse - Nicola Davidson   London playwright and notorious rake Lennox Townsend is renowned for bold melodrama and bolder pleasures. When he loses interest in both, his shy yet devoted patron Lord Jonathan Grant escorts him to a country boarding house managed by repressed widow, Mrs. Viola Prescott. The trio soon surrender to sizzling—and forbidden—passion, made sweeter as each share their deepest secrets and find acceptance of their true self. Yet cold reality is ever ready to intrude, and they know happiness is fleeting. Or is it?   Monsieur X - Adriana Herrera   Joseph Cantor Marshall never imagined reaching the pinnacle of artistic success would be so… uninspiring. Desperate for a spark of excitement he attends the notorious masked soirĂ©e at the most exclusive sex club in Paris. The moment he walks in he’s entranced by the mysterious X, the embodiment of the painter’s darkest fantasies. But X is as slippery as he is tempting, and soon Marshall’s days and nights are consumed by growing desire for his elusive lover. Will falling for X prove to be Marshall’s undoing or his greatest masterpiece?   Sold to the Duke - Joanna Shupe   Though she once lived a life of privilege, Lady Eliza is now destitute and desperate to care for her ill sister. She decides to sell the one thing of value she has left: her virginity. At the auction, a shocked Duke of Blackwood recognizes Eliza and refuses to allow her to fall into the clutches of a depraved bidder. But his role of noble rescuer is upended when the proud beauty insists on giving him his money’s worth… 

    

Monday, November 29, 2021

REVIEW: Bad Girls Never Say Die by Jennifer Mathieu

OUR REVIEW:


True to the blurb, Bad Girls Never Say Die, has that feel of The Outsiders. While the story really centers on Evie and Diane, the other girls in the friend group aren't just flat secondary characters. They all have hidden stories and interesting lives that make the entire novel feel more realistic than fiction.


As a girl from the south (Louisiana) and a teacher of high school students, I really appreciated the attention to detail and the realistic way in which the girls and their surroundings were portrayed. Nothing felt overly dramatized or far off from what it may have felt like to grow up in an oppressive south. 


I also appreciated that while Evie wasn't really sure what she wanted or where she would end up, she knew what she didn't want. She may not have always gone about seeking her independence from what was expected in the most enlightened and proper way, but she was acting exactly like I'd expect a young teen girl to act in that time and place. I liked the strong female voices and that none of our main characters felt like caricatures of the how girls of that time are often portrayed.


I didn't know what to expect with Bad Girls Never Say Die, but I knew that with Jennifer Mathieu behind it, I'd enjoy it and I most certainly did.  

BUY IT: https://amzn.to/3FUJLwt

SYNOPSIS:

From the acclaimed author of Moxie comes a gripping gender-flipped reimagining of The Outsiders that explores the deep bonds of female friendship and what it takes to be a "bad girl."

1964. Houston, Texas.

Evie Barnes is a bad girl. So are all her friends. They’re the sort who wear bold makeup, laugh too loud, and run around with boys. Most of all, they protect their own against the world. So when Evie is saved from a sinister encounter by a good girl from the "right" side of the tracks, every rule she's always lived by is called into question. Now she must redefine what it means to be a bad girl and rethink everything she knew about loyalty.

In this riveting story of murder, secrets, and tragedy, Jennifer Mathieu puts a female twist on S. E. Hinton's The OutsidersBad Girls Never Say Die has all the drama and heartache of that teen classic, but with a feminist take just right for our times.

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