Saucy Southern Readers

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Serial Review: The Love Trials Vol. 1 – Vol. 3

Posted on 07/13/2014 by shellbellereads

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Synopsis for Part One

New hot, sexy and suspenseful serial from the New York Times Bestselling Author of The Ex Games and The Private Club. The Love Trials is a three part contemporary romance serial.

She thought she knew what was between the sheets, but she really had no idea.

I thought I knew what I was getting into when I received the invitation from the lovers academy. I thought I was going for love. I had no idea that the lovers academy cared more about what happened between the sheets than it did a meeting of the minds and souls.

This isn’t your regular love story. My Prince Charming didn’t ride up on a white horse and come and save me. In fact, he warned me to stay away from him. Of course, I didn’t listen. Why would I? There’s something so exciting about going after someone you shouldn’t have.

However, I never thought it would be like this. I’ve never felt so conflicted in my life. No one told me that being bad could feel so good. No one told me that when the big bad wolf tells you to run away and hide, you should listen.

If I’d only known just how far from charming my prince was, I would have ignored the invitation.

Readers of this serial should be prepared for a wild sexy ride. They should also be above 18 years of age due to sexy situations.

* 4 Stars for the complete Love Trials Serial*

Michel’s Review

The Love Trials serial by J. S. Cooper is an addition to the ongoing story introduced in the The Ex Games serial and The Private Club serial. The dynamic characters, their stories of deceit, lust, and wrong doing will have the readers intrigued. The Love Trials is the story of Nancy and Jaxon. We met Nancy in The Private Club and her place in the series surprised us all. Now we get to see what Nancy does now that she has found her place in the intriguing world J. S. Cooper has created.

*4 Stars * for The Love Trial Serial

Individual Ratings for each volume below:

The Love Trials Vol. 1

4.5 Stars…..

Another great serial romance by J. S. Cooper

Were you addicted to The Ex Games serial and The Private Club serial by J. S. Cooper? I know I was. I just couldn’t get enough. As both series ended there were characters that I wanted to know more about. I wanted them to have their own story. I was curious on how their lives would turn out. One of those characters was Nancy.

Nancy turned out to be a complete surprise in The Private Club series. Her connections with the owners of the Private Club were much deeper than the readers anticipated. She became a major player in this ongoing saga. The Love Trials is her story.

Nancy has been in love with an older man for years. He was her teacher and mentor. She truly thought they were to be destined soulmates. Once she became an adult and a legal age, she decided she was going to go after her dream. After a lengthy research, she finds her former teacher is now teaching at the Lovers’ Academy. It is not your ordinary school. It is a school that teaches women the art of seduction and the power of sex.

Nancy enrolled and was accepted into the Lovers’ Academy. She sees this as her opportunity to reunite with her beloved Hunter. She knows that once she gets there, they will be able to pursue a relationship without the boundaries of society, family, and friends. They can be together now that she is legal. They can have the forever love they were destined to have.

Things didn’t turn out exactly as Nancy planned once she arrived at the Lovers’ Academy. Hunter didn’t regconize or acknowledge her. She was assigned a different teacher. The actual curriculum of the Lovers’ Academy is quite different from her expectations. It is not lectures, demonstrations, and book reading. It is hands on. She will learn the art of love making with her new instructor in a very personal manner. Is she up to it? If it will land her Hunter, she will go the mile.

Her instructor has her heart racing, her desire escalating, and her complete attention. He is strong, sexy, knowledgeable, and mysterious. He has the right kind of curriculum to have Nancy striving to be a star student.

As the lessons begin, Nancy will discover secrets about herself she never thought she had. She will start falling into her instructor, Jaxon’s web, and will find that Hunter may not be what she thought he was. In fact, it appears Hunter has an agenda of his own that might not be good for Nancy. We won’t know until The Love Trials Vol. 2.

What is Hunter’s agenda?

Why has Jaxon chosen Nancy as his student?

Are there secrets lying beneath the surface at the Lovers’ Academy?

What is Nancy’s next assignment?

J. S. Cooper has delivered another sensual, intriguing, suspenseful new serial. It is the spin off of The Ex Games and The Private Club. It is starting out just as thrilling. I can’t wait to read more.

I would give this story a five star rating for the plot, characters, story flow, and pacing. Five stars for entertainment value, I could not put it down. The only thing that kept The Love Trials Vol. 1 from being a five star rating is that there were several editing errors in the 48 pages. As a reader and reviewer I expect better editing.

Buy Links: Amazon / Barnes and Noble

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The Love Trials Vol. 2

5 Stars!

The Love Trials 2 by J. S. Cooper picks up right were the Love Trials 1 left off. Nancy confronts Jaxon about the disturbing conversation she has overheard. His explanations leave her reeling with all kinds of confusion. Despite her inner instincts to cut her losses and run far away from the Love Academy she choses to stick it out. After all there is a mystery to solve, facts to be found, feelings to be explored, choices over which man to chose, and a profound need for self preservation.

The longer she remains at the Lovers Academy, more questions begin to build a fragile reason to hang on to her original motivations for attending the Lovers Academy in the first place. She has learned that Jaxon and his father have a vendetta against her newly found father, Brandon. The more she learns, the more she questions her newfound relationship with her father and her place in the family unit. She also begins to question her feelings about Hunter. The more she learns, the more twisted it becomes. Hunter is not all she thought he was. He also has an agenda.

Jaxon, on the other hand is not playing his hand completely. On one hand he seems to care about her as a person and as a student. On the hand, he also has a vendetta that could very well destroy her and her family. The only thing that makes him different from Hunter and his father is his honesty about his involvement. She knows he is involved but not the whole story. She has to make a choice on whether to trust him or cut her losses.

Just as things start surfacing, new questions lead the story down another path. It ends with a startling cliffhanger that has your jaw on the floor! I cannot wait for The Love Trials 3.

J. S. Cooper has mastered the art of writing a serial romance. She creates intrigue, mystery, and hair raising scenes. She adds red hot sexual tension loaded with passion. She creates a line up of dynamic characters and brings characters from the former Ex Games & Private Club into play. It is like reading an ongoing saga that features different characters in each serial but blends the former serial with a perfect balance in their world.

I must say the editing and flow of the story was perfection.

Buy Links: Amazon / Barnes and Noble

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The Love Trials Vol. 3

* 3 Stars *

The Love Trials has reached it’s conclusion. Secrets have been revealed, the final hand has been played, a murder has been solved, players have switched sides, and road to vengeance has been traveled.

Everything that happened in the final episode of this serial surprised me. At times I felt like the story was rushed and some scenes didn’t have enough “meat” to make them work in the story. At other times I found scenes that had too much “meat” , that made it feel like the words were just fillers. The ending was good and the characters found their HEA, however again it was too rushed.

The overall series was good but I do think the final episode was the weakest contribution. I felt the story was rushed, a times the character motivations did not seem realistic, and I found quite a few editing errors. The Love Trials serial is a good contribution to the overall story that has played out in The Ex Games serial and Private Club serial. I would recommend all three serial’s because J. S. Cooper has created some fascinating characters in a world that is beyond our imagination.

Buy Link: Amazon / Barnes and Noble

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Author Bio:

J. S. Cooper is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. She is a true romantic that is in love with love. The J. S. stands for Jaimie Suzi. She just thought J. S. sounded cooler! J. S. was born in London, England and moved to the States at age 17. She studied history in college and then went to law school and then decided to follow her writing dreams. J. S. writes ‘New Adult’ contemporary romance books because that is what she also loves to read.

Available Books: The Last Boyfriend, The Last Husband, Before Lucky, The Other Side of Love, Zane & Lucky’s First Christmas, Crazy Beautiful Love, Scarred, and Healed.

Upcoming books: Finding My Prince Charming, If Only Once (The Martelli Brothers), Everlasting Sin, The Rebel Next Door and Hot Prof.

Please join J. S. Cooper on her facebook page if you enjoy her books here: https://www.facebook.com/J.S.Cooperauthor. If you wish to get in contact, please email her at Jscooperauthor@gmail.com.

Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Goodreads

Review: Little Black Book by Tabatha Vargo & Melissa Andrea

Posted on 07/12/2014 by shellbellereads

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Synopsis

My name’s Sebastian Black, and I want to buy you. I could have any woman I want, but I choose you.

NO RELATIONSHIP, JUST SEX.

Here’s my offer…

I’ll put your name in my LITTLE BLACK BOOK, and when I want you, I’ll call you. When I call, you’re going to come, in more ways than one. It will be mutually pleasurable for both of us.

There are only two rules:

DON’T EVER DENY ME.

DON’T FALL IN LOVE.

If you do either, I’ll remove you from my book and payment stops.

Do we have an understanding?

“This book was amazing, super sexy, heart breaking, stomach in knots kind of awesome.” ~ Eye Candy Bookstore

“From the very first scene, it grabbed my attention – who knew a threesome could be so deliciously hot. This book set my little finger on fire – I couldn’t flip the pages on my kindle fast enough.” ~ Deliciously Wicked Books

Buy Links: Amazon / Barnes and Noble

Michel’s Review

Little Black Book had me from page one. It was one of those books that kept the reader intrigued and guessing what was going to come next. When all the pieces of the puzzle come together the reader’s will be floored.

Sebastian Black is one of those men you love to hate and hate to love. He is a pig when it comes to women. He has no regard for their feelings and simply uses them until he has no further use for them. Basically he buys them for his sexual pleasure. Their names go into his little black book. If a woman’s name is in the book they are at his beck and call until he draws a line through their name. He never gets personal and always controls their time spent together.

When the new waitress at his club catches his eye, he has to have her. He is ruthless with his actions in order to obtain her. He uses her weaknesses against her and plays on her misfortunes. The more he pushes, the more she pushes back. Sure he may of paid for her to warm his bed but he didn’t pay for her soul.

Rosslyn proves what a strong woman she is. She will soon turn the tables on Mr. Black. She will touch his soul that he buried many years ago.

It may be a soul that will destroy her very essence.

The authors created an intriguing story. The word play was very well thought out. I loved the analogies with cartoon characters and what they meant to Mr. Black. I loved that the authors allowed Rosslyn to be a strong woman that held onto her convictions no matter what. I loved the twisted and complicated plots throughout the book.

I hope that Tabatha Vargo and Melissa Andrea team up to write more books. They have formed a championship team.

I highly recommend this book. It will not disappoint.

About The Authors:

Tabatha is a USA TODAY bestselling author, but mostly she’s a sweet tea sippin’, front porch sittin’ kind of girl from South Carolina. She loves old, historical anything, wind chimes, and all things romantic. She’s the mother of an 8 y/o rockstar/princess and the wife of her very own Prince Charming. When she isn’t writing, she’s texting book ideas to herself. Tabatha is represented by Jane Dystel of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.

Website ~ Goodreads ~ Facebook ~Twitter

New York Times & USA Today Bestselling author, Melissa Andrea- I find it hard to sum up my life in a paragraph, but I’ll try. Reading has always been a passion for me, and writing as instinctive as breathing. Every inhale is an idea; every exhale a creation. Flutter will be my debut release, and I couldn’t be more excited about it! The only thing I do better than writing you ask? Making beautiful girls. My daughter’s will always be my greatest accomplishment. I was born in Denver, Colorado -but I will always think of sunny Arizona as my home. I don’t have a big family, but I’m close with my sister, brother & my mom. My mom is my hero, my inspiration, and I couldn’t have asked for a more amazing person to be raised by. 4 things you should know about me: I’m very girly, but I can get down and dirty with the best of them. I adore the color pink, I love things that sparkle (including vampires) and I like even numbers (hence 4 things about me, not 5)

Website ~Goodreads~ Facebook ~ Twitter

Review: Beyond The Velvet Rope by Tiffany Ashley

Posted on 07/12/2014 by shellbellereads

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SYNOPSIS:

Welcome to Club Babylon: where the A-list VIPs come to play

Scoring a gig at Miami’s Club Babylon is a fantasy come true for New York promoter Thandie Shaw. The hottest club on the strip is a magnet for major South Beach movers and shakers. And Thandie’s about to meet the biggest player of them all.

Babylon owner Elliot Richards is macho, arrogant, sexist—everything Thandie doesn’t want in a boss or lover. Elliot is also the most erotic man who’s ever wanted to take her to bed. But Thandie’s no fool. Even as he tries to seduce her into a world of intense and shocking passion, she knows it’s too good to last…especially after she uncovers Elliot’s explosive secrets.

Thandie’s going down a dangerous road, and she’s risking a lot more than her career. Torn between doubt and desire, will she have to pay the ultimate price?

Darkly sensual and deeply moving, Beyond the Velvet Rope takes you into a world of uncontrollable desire and unexpected consequences.

Amazon US | B&N

Tracey’s Review

* * *

3 STARS

Thandie Shaw is a strong, independent, successful woman. She is good at what she does, which is publicity. She has connections, and she knows how to use them. When Thandie has the opportunity to go to Miami to help with the grand reopening of Club Babylon, she jumps at the chance, thinking it will make her career.

Club owner Elliot Richards is sexy as sin, and he knows it. He is alpha to the nth degree; when he wants something, he gets it, and what he wants is Thandie. She is determined to keep the relationship strictly professional, but soon finds herself in over her head, losing herself as her affair with Elliot heats up and takes over her life.

‘Beyond the Velvet Rope’ has a story line that drew me in very quickly, and characters that are well-written, quirky, and interesting (I would say likeable, but not all of them are). I did have a bit of problem with the language, which switched from what I would call the ‘norm’ for erotic fiction to more sort of stilted and formal, which caused a bit of problem with flow for me. At one point I was reading along and suddenly stopped and asked myself, ‘What the heck just happened?’, and not in a good way.

I enjoyed the plot, both the main arc, as well as the several back stories, and am interested to see how Tiffany Ashley moves forward with the series. But because Thandie’s character really just devolved into almost the opposite of who she was at the beginning of the book, coupled with the odd language, I am giving this book 3.5 stars. I remain hopeful that the next installment will be a book that ‘does it’ more for me.

Tiffany Ashley
As a child, Tiffany always dreamed of writing her own novels. Having possessed a passion for books, her desire to become a published author is now a reality. Her first novel, Love Script, released in 2007, received rave reviews. Known for her steamy and sometimes emotionally exhausting interracial romances, Tiffany looks forward to a long and adventurous career. Tiffany lives in Dallas, Texas where she continues to write her novels.

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