Erotica - Novel
TBR reviewer: B.H.

Quinn Ross: He's not a nice guy, and he can't seem to get his life together. He only has one good thing left in his life; his little brother Jack. Jack has managed to stay decent and uncorrupted, despite the fact that his oldest brother is an ex-convict who was only able to
kick his drug addiction because he was serving time in prison. Quinn has never been able to understand why Jack idolizes him; in fact, he secretly wishes he was more like the man Jack is. 

When Quinn plans another robbery, Jack wants in on it, and things go bad. With his little brother bleeding in the backseat, Quinn is desperate. In a last ditch effort to save him, Quinn abducts a nurse from the hospital's parking lot. Tragically, the young girl he grabbed isn't a nurse, and Jack has lost too much blood. Now Quinn must not only deal with the guilt and grief of losing his little brother, he has to decide what to do with the girl he brought home in the trunk of the car. 

Mayree Jacobs is the girl who was kidnapped. She never thought she was pretty. Shy and
without friends, always the awkward fat girl who wished she was invisible. Mayree has spent her whole life wishing she was someone else, someone pretty. An ordinary night turns into a night of terror, when she is kidnapped, and watches a young man die before her eyes. At first she is afraid the huge man who abducted her plans to kill her, but then something else happens; a strange attraction develops between Quinn and Mayree.

Mayree has always considered herself a fat, ugly virgin. After she’s kidnapped, she learns differently. Being chained and at Quinn’s mercy, feelings begin to develop. Could the man of her dreams really be the criminal bastard that kidnapped her with a gun to her head? I really connected with her at the beginning. We’ve all been through that stage in life where we hate ourselves. Most of us anyway. She constantly blamed the bad on her weight and how ugly she was. Over and over, throughout the whole book. It became an annoying whine that really made me dislike her character.

Quinn kidnaps Mayree thinking she’s a nurse, his wounded brother dies and he’s left with a problem, the only witness, Mayree. He can’t kill her despite being a criminal. At first I understood Quinn’s head space but as the book progressed I liked him less and less. His feelings for Mayree were clouded by something dark and perverse. 

There’s a thin line between greatness and being offensive, this book was on that edge. As I came toward the middle, it changed. After some thought, I pinpointed exactly why this book turned south. There are a LOT of sex scenes, I like erotica, but they dominated the story elements and with Quinn being so brutal it took the tenderness growing between them and twisted it into something...well...ugly. 
 
For me, this was right in the middle of a 2 and 3 star rating. The ending with Penny and the happily ever after was what pushed it to a 3.

Thriller, Horror, Romance - Novel
TBR reviewer: B.H.

Imprisoned by a sadistic tyrant Shandie has all but given up on the idea of escape or rescue. After the epidemic, the only people left alive that she has encountered have been evil. They are the takers. Human beings, without conscience, who take what they need, or what they
want, including women.

Easygoing Vaughn, and his adopted son Nicky, happen upon the trailer where Shandie is being kept. Wanting a woman for themselves, they don’t take their plan of getting her all that seriously until Nicky is critically wounded.

With food running out and no medicine, to Vaughn, the situation doesn’t seem like it could get much worse- except that Shandie keeps insisting that there is something evil in the woods. Vaughn has seen the signs that she’s right, but he refuses to believe it.

When they all come face to face with that evil they find themselves in a sick world where
women are slaves, and the men are something far, far worse…

I reviewed the first book in this series and was beyond disappointed. It was a book I wish I hadn’t bothered to read. Now, why would I read the second? I  had already accepted both in the series and so I was stuck reading both. 

Best decision I ever made!

A virus hits, kills most and there are only a few women left on earth. We first meet Vaughn and Nicky. They talk excitedly about seeing a woman for the first time in months. Shandie is in hell with a cruel owner named Toad. Women are nothing but sex slaves and these men want her for themselves. They go to rescue her and a series of events unfold that will keep you glued to the screen, on the edge of seat and biting your nails off. (Yes, I did that.) So our handsome guys start to have feelings toward her, can they actually love her? Shandie is
distrusting and fighting the attraction to Vaughn, from the description I would lose the battle too. That is a yummy man. 

As they explore this strange new relationship another twist, there’s something in the woods. Let me tell you, it’s fucking creepy, (Pardon my language) but shit! Ms. Harlow had me sleeping with the lights on. I could hear the horror music in the background as I read toward the morning hours. Then there’s the downed trees and evidence, I could go on but I will not ruin the surprise for you.

When Shandie finally gets sexual with Vaughn I wanted to scream, Hallelujah! The build up and release was so perfectly laid out. When he finally sunk inside her, I literally quivered and clenched my thighs. I became so emotionally invested in these characters the sex was so much deeper. Then there’s Gary, he’s pure evil. When Vaughn faced him, the battle was epic and I cheered him on as I read. His ending was so freakin’ satisfying.

I must add I haven’t read a book with titled chapters in a while. It was an entertaining treat. I’m also sharing my favorite line because it still makes me smile foolishly, ‘It had taken the end of the world to find the one he was supposed to be with.’ Romantic with a capital R. 

I can’t believe the difference between book one and two in this series. It’s shocking. With the right plot Ms. Harlow is a genius with the pen and can really knock out a fantastic read. So, stop reading this review. Click the ‘purchase here’ link below and prepare to be swept into a dark world where love is a spark of light that just might save humanity.