Beth Kery

Make Me is the standalone, or its all books in the serial of "Make Me". I read all of it together, so technically it could still count as a standalone.

Make Me was such a fascinating erotic romance and I had a blast with this one. Beth Kery is an author I recently started reading, and every time I pick up one of her books I am always stunned by how well written her books are. I am not sure what took me so long in the reading of this author as I have heard about her for quite a few years now. show more But she is just stunning in how she captivates the reader. Now this is what I would term "Erotic Romance" Its going to be a bit different than regular contemporary although just as beautiful and heartfelt as some of her more contemporary leaning books.

Make Me is a story that revolves around our two protagonists: Jake and Harper. Now there are two timelines that we are introduced to, the current tense with Jake and Harper. And then we have a timeline for when Jake and Harper were young teenagers. We see their journey as kids, and then also as adults. Harper doesn't recognize Jake from her childhood, even though he knows who she is. But as they are neighbors, they connect and start a casual relationship, with it only being exploring physical intimacy between them. Jake is into BDSM and it turns out that it works for Harper as well. But as they explore each other physically, more builds between them. But can Jake trust adult Harper as she is now a journalist? Will their past resurface? And what future holds for Jake and Harper?

This was one of the most unique second chance romances. I am not sure why Harper didn't recognize Jake, but when you learn about her journey you see a reason for it. But I did love seeing both of them grow in this story, seeing how they connect, the way the intimacy between them is built. I have found that Beth Kery handles erotic romance so so well. It just has such a classy elegant feel to them while also working on relationship building even if its not apparent on the surface. Beth Kery did an amazing job with this one. I was so in tune with these two and just wanted them to reach their HEA. I definitely was hooked in this story and I think if you love audio narrations, you definitely should check it out, although fair warning that its super long.

I think what made this book so special though is seeing them grow in their relationship as adults and seeing how slowly Harper comes to the realization of why Jake is so familar to her. And yes she does come into the truth on her own, and I did LOVE that. I love that she realized it without Jake having to tell her. And man poor Jake, I felt so hard for him. But he is so understanding of Harper and his love is so true for her and I just couldn't get enough of his pining.

Overall I found Make Me to be delicious treat for this romance reader, it built so slowly in the intimacy in a profound way that had me on edge of my seat all the way through! AN ADDICTING JEWEL! show less

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: Fifty Shades of Grey with a surprising twist.

Opening Sentence: “Alice Reed was used to hiding her nerves.”

The Review:

Okay, I admit when I started this I was thinking Fifty Shades of Grey or Crossfire (Sylvia Day) for sure. I did not know how I was going to feel about the book at all. Once I got started it was clear that Alice Reed was our female main character and Dylan Fall was the man. Alice is doing an interview for a position at Camp show more Durand. Now you see why I thought Fifty Shades of Grey! Alice had snark and wit and I love a strong female character with those qualities, and the sex vibe wasn’t overwhelming. It was there, but they conducted themselves like adults and zero drippy panties and I want to sex you up ensued during the interview.

Now I will say that sexy time doesn’t happen right away, we get some build up (not between our lovers but other characters) and we get some kind of background on Alice. Once the dinner party happens and we get the second interaction between Dylan and Alice I began to wonder if there was some kind of paranormal vibe happening in the book. Alice hears a gong (like a dinner gong) but no else seems to know what she heard. Sexy time hits strong when the author gets there, unlike romance novels there isn’t a major build up or strong emotions other than lust when the two get down and dirty. If you have ever read straight romance novels you know what I mean, contemporary romance can get to business quickly. That makes me feel a little old fashioned, not that I am prude but I don’t think sex equals love nor does it always lead to love, so I prefer the relationship get established first. That being said, Beth Kery really can write some fantastic sex scenes.

I am not an uber fan of just sex books, so I will say I enjoyed this one. There was enough other stuff going on that I didn’t feel like I was reading a smut book. And that is just my personal opinion on what I like and don’t like in a book. There is an element of mystery that did not turn out to be paranormal as I suspected earlier in the book, but “spoilers” I am not going to tell you that mystery because it’s key to the story. I will say it’s definitely not paranormal but a good old fashioned mystery filled with kidnapping, and a lost girl.

I really liked this book, it was a good fast read with just enough of everything to keep me reading and wanting more. Ha — there are more books coming out and I for one have to know what happens next.

Notable Scene:

Normally I would throw in some quotes from the book here, but there was a scene in the book that I thought was just awesome and empowering. Alice is counseling Judith who is a young troubled teenager about being a leader and protecting her team. That scene was golden and totally stuck with me throughout the rest of the book.

“Yeah, in part,” Alice agreed. “As you probably know, the counselors are expected to choose a student team leader this weekend.”

“So?”

“After watching you with Jill all week, and after seeing how you managed to get past your pride last night and say something meaningful to Darcy, I was considering making you team leader. The kids respect you, grudgingly at times, given your attitude, but they do. They’d follow you.”

FTC Advisory: Berkley/Penguin provided me with a copy of Glimmer. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. show less

4.5 "Glimmer, Beacon or Boatload of Fireworks?" Stars

Wow, Glimmer is a scorcher in the heat department, which I was expecting based on the blurb, but what totally caught me off guard, and perhaps I loved the most, was the unexpected intensity of the suspense of this well developed read. Reminding me of a cross between E.L. James' Fifty Shades of Grey and Karen Robards' Dr. Charlotte Stone Series, Glimmer has a little bit of something for nearly every type of romance reader. Glimmer, however, show more does end in a cliffhanger, so if you want to know the full story, you will need to commit to reading Glow, book 2 in the Glimmer and Glow Series, which is scheduled to be released in December of 2015.

Alice Reed never dreamed that she, a student at a run of the mill business school, would be recruited to participate in the world renowned, summer program at Camp Durand. Given that an internship at Camp Durand could lead to an executive position at Durand, Inc., one of the US's top fortune 200 companies, the nation's top elite MBA students typically fight it out to fill the precious few spots.

As soon as Alice arrives, she realizes just how different she is from the typical candidate, which only causes her to further wonder why Dylan Fall, Durand's CEO, would have taken a chance on her. It doesn't take long, however, for Alice to feel the passionate chemistry that unites them, confirming her unique assets. Rather than fight it, Alice dives head first into the intense and erotic world that Dylan insists on introducing Alice to.

However, after a short while, it becomes clear that Dylan has been less than truthful with her, leaving her to question just what deep dark secrets Dylan is hiding and just what demons from the past Alice may need to battle if she is truly determined to try and seek a rightful place in Dylan's future.

However, just when you think you have the plot figured out, think again, because there is much more depth to this story than just your typical erotic, controlling billionaire with past issues. I loved the intensity of the interactions between Dylan and Alice, but also enjoyed sleuthing the clues that Beth Kery sprinkled throughout the story. Pay close attention because these little nuggets ultimately lead up to the reveal of one wallop of a secret which will completely change the playing field.

I, for one, can't wait to continue Dylan's and Alice's story in Glow! I'm sure more secrets, and lots of boundary pushing erotic episodes, await!

Source: Review copy provided in exchange for an honest review. show less

3.5 stars, rounded up.Sexy short story about a blind man who knows what to do with his hands (and his mouth). Rowr. John Corcoran is holidaying in his cabin in the woods. Out for a walk, he hears Hollywood actress/singer Jennifer Turner singing as she hikes. Knowing there are sinkholes off the trail, he follows. Both of them fall into a sinkhole and are stuck there overnight until rescue can arrive. Jennifer (for reasons which are explained later in the story) has a pathological fear of the show more dark and John helps keep her, ahem, occupied. Mandi from Smexybooks recommended and I picked it up after hearing from her that this was a dirty story about filling dirty holes :Dwww.kaetrinsmusings.blogspot.com show less