I'm over at Caught in a Fab Romance with my guest review of Joey W Hill's Bound By The Vampire Queen.

My two Fab Quotes for this story are:

Jacob:

“My lady,” he said again, and this time instead of an honorific, he was saying it as it was meant. My lady. His love, his heart. His temptress, his tormentor.

Jacob:

Meeting her gaze, a rueful smile on his lips, he hooked the hose, skinned them down his legs, took them off with his boots and put it all aside, bracing his feet to stand before her completely bare of everything except the cross brand, the lashes on his back, and that third servant mark. He knew it always did something to her, seeing him stripped of everything but those three things. Her servant. Her slave. Her lover, bound to her for eternity.

Jacob is one of those intense men I can't help but utterly fall for. Even in his third romance story with his queen, Lyssa, he has the ability to woe me ;)

This week a cold front has decided to move over the Netherlands and bring -10 to -15 degrees Celsius at night. If you need to cycle to work at 6.45 AM I can tell you that is effing cold!!! At kiddie daycare the talk of each day was; when can we skate on the ponds and when does the snow finally get here. Well, Friday snow came and in 5 minutes flat I was outside with the kids. Of course the boys wanted a snowball fight while the girls wanted to make a snowman. As the fun in the snow commenced there were also the inevitable tears of a lost snowball impacting a face, icy fingers and rosy cheeks. We got warm again over some hot cocoa inside and at closing I had to cycle back home. Did they clear the bicycle paths? Hell no! I slithered my way home where on a few occasions I almost found out my street value. I felt like I was a survival of the fittest champion the moment I got home unharmed. But the next morning it was Saturday, I woke up to a spectacular winter morning and I soaked in the peaceful moment. Cause I knew, with the three ponds behind my apartment, that in an hour or so dads and grandpa’s would be outside with the young un’s teaching them how to skate.




I, on the other hand volunteered to have my parents shitsoe puppy for the day. I was counting the weeks until Noa aka The Energizer Bunny was going to spend a day and night with us. What was I thinking??!! My dogs have reached senior status a few years back and all they do is sleep. I need to go back in my memory, like 13 years, to remember them being pups. Noa is this larger than life doggie personality who thinks the whole world is her playground and everyone in it is there to serve her. So she immediately demanded Queen Furry and Lady Bug to play with her. Well, Queen Furry put that idea out of her head pretty quickly. But did Noa listen, aaahhh the exuberance of the young un’s. My ears are still ringing of the barking conversations between Energizer Bunny, Lady Bug and Queen Furry. Noa also came with an overnight bag containing a plethora of toys…all squeakers *headdesk* There was a doggy coat too so Noa remained warm outside and she has a leash with sparklies…I kid you not!! I call it how I see it; spoiled doggy!!!

Here are a few pics I took along the day:







In a few hours Noa will be picked up and I have the rest of the day to read! Lucian from Eternal Captive is mine today!! I’ve already read the first hundred pages and it is already so good. The overall major and minor plotlines intrigue the daylights outta me but Lucian and Bronwyn…their attraction is a live wire of love and hate. *hearts*

Picture me on the couch with a blanket over my legs and sipping on some hot coca while reading Eternal Captive. I’m not going to stop until I read; The End!

Happy Sunday everyone ;)

Format: ebook
Genre: Kink/BDSM, Red Hots!!!, Ménage & More, Gay Contemporary
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Publication Date: 08-02-2011
Length: Plus Novel
ISBN: 978-1-60928-507-4
Read from my personal library

Cover Summary:
He’ll bend for them. But they may break over him.
For twelve years, Dom lovers Ryan “Angel” Morgan and Dante James have run a successful photography business, and satisfied their need for a submissive with the occasional sizzling three-way. On a wedding job, they both zero in on the bride’s beautiful brother, but as professionals, they keep their attraction on the down-low—for now.

Jordan Steele has no trouble establishing mastery over his stallions. When he hires Angel and Dante to shoot promotional photos for his stable, though, there’s something about them that calls to his inner submissive. After a little flirtation and a photo session that gets almost too hot to handle, Angel and Dante are happy to show him the ropes. And the whip.

Once they break the ice, their sexual chemistry burns hotter than a macro flash. Everyone gets what they need…until emotions come into play. Their power could develop into something permanent, throw everything off balance—leaving one of them the odd man out.

Product Warnings - Contains lots of sarcasm, a double helping of steamy erotic photography, and two dominants having their way with one very enthusiastic submissive.

Review:

Now that I’ve finished Out Of Focus I can tell you the emotional punch is in the tail of the story. For the first hundred and fifty pages I met and got to know three energetic and personable men. Jordan Steele, Dante James and Ryan “Angel” Morgan have a body language that emanated sexuality. The concept of two Doms and a submissive piqued my curiosity. How would this work in the bedroom and ultimately, in a relationship? The beginning confused me however as the author alternated between the three characters point of view in each new chapter. This subsided gradually as I read along but never completely vanished either. It could’ve been so easily solved by just marking each chapter with their name. A simple solution but it would’ve enhanced the pleasure of reading this story!

When Jordan, Dante and Angel meet the attraction is palpable. Jordan wants a photo shoot of his horses but finds out Dante and Angel also do more provocative shoots which titillates him to no end. This interest culminates in to a photo shoot that set my blood ablaze and made me squirm in my seat. While nothing overly sexual happens the erotic tension is superbly translated by the author. L.A. Witt presented me with three fascinating men to get to know, an appealing storyline and she could make me absorb the sexy-as-hell magnetism directly from the pages. I was so ready for more.

But all I got more of was the sexual connection between the three men and plenty of banter. At over a hundred pages I started to wonder where the conflicts were – and I got more sex play. Where were the challenges and character development and all I got were more sexy scenes. I also wondered, while there is a good dose of eroticism there are no intricate Dominant/submissive scenes. Angel and Dante ask permission for every little thing and there is very little exploring of Jordan’s boundaries as a submissive. There could’ve been such emotional depth in a good D/s scene but all I got was more wicked banter.

Now I have no objections to wicked, wild and wanton with fast-paced dialogues so I settled for the fact the set-up of this ménage had a casual angle. At some point though, since this was an erotic romance, I wondered when the romantic development would occur. Well, I found my answer in the last quarter of the story when love was coming in to play. In one moment the emotion caught fire and with it came the believable doubts, fears and a whole set of feelings that made their arrangement that much more complicated. I liked it. It was real! The dilemma presented was an edgy one and something that truly grabbed me. In this portion of the book the point of view from each man is the clearest. L.A. Witt gave wonderful insight in Jordan, Angel and Dante’s emotions, reasoning, the doubts and also the love they felt.

All in all the balance of story vs romance development was off for me and the D/s scenes remained on the surface. However, the characters were amazing, the interaction dynamic and the sensuality so good my body temperature rose while reading it. The latter made Out Of Focus a story I could enjoy!

3.5 stars

L.A. Witt on the www:
website | Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter | Buy @ Samhain

These days I look forward to my Sundays. It means time to read, to watch a movie, to play some World of Warcraft and more time to read. I also have this innate need to keep you guys in the loop of what is going on in my corner of this Realm. This is why I came up with my Sunday’s brunch blogpost. In a laid back way I want to have a moment to catch up with you guys and today I’m kicking off.

One thing that got my panties in a – good – twist was the fact that last week the Midnight Breed series sang its siren song to me and I couldn’t refuse. I left Regin and Lothaire standing in the cold wind of my disregard – for now that is. Yes, I was in shock myself! The IAD series is one that I love to the ninth degree but for some unfathomable reason I had to open up Lara Adrian’s Kiss Of Midnight. I read the first chapter and was hooked, line and sinker. There was no way this story was letting me go but then again; did I want it to? Hell no! :)) My review will be up in the next week or so. I can safely say that I’m glad I still have nine books to go in the Midnight Breed series. If the opening story is any indicator, it will be one fantastic ride. And can I say; Tegan *heart*

I also read the third story of Lyssa and Jacob in Joey W Hill’s Vampire Queen series titled; Bound By The Vampire Queen. Oh men, it floored me again! My guest review will appear on Patti’s; Caught In A Fab Romance blog and is already up on Goodreads. I love this series something fierce and can’t wait to read Gideon, Anwyn and Daegan’s story! From what I got in Bound By The Vampire Queen I’m going to gobble it all up!

This weekend I’m reading Kele Moon’s novella; Packing Heat and boy oh boy, the title does the story justice! I’m also going to start in a book I highly anticipated. Lucian from Laura Wright’s Eternal Captive has been on my radar since Eternal Hunger! He and Bronwyn are a magnetic force that sizzles like no tomorrow *want*

Last week there was also a 50-60% off sale at fictionwise and I was so ready for some retail therapy but again I shocked myself and didn’t buy one single book. I was almost getting frustrated until I found a must pre-order note on my iPad. It contained four titles which I immediately pre-ordered at BookDepo:

Something About Witches
By Joey W. Hill

Lover Reborn
By J R Ward

Fever
By Joan Swan

Wicked as They Come
By Delilah S Dawson

So I have a few books coming in the mail *YAY* and a few more Sunday’s spend reading LOL.
I also tend to read tweets as I have dinner and catch up on what’s going on in blogworld. Sometimes you have the most pleasurable tweets to find and I backtracked a convo which originated from Jaci Burton. Can you guess? She got her fourth cover of her Play By Play series and dang, my not so sekrit cover hussy identity was purring in joy.


As I got the cover enlarged and took a close look instead of ravenously taking the picture in I noticed, and perhaps this is my durty side talking, but where’s the bulge in his pants?! I mean, with such tight pants there must be some form of…bump going on? Right?! Still, the sight of these four covers side by side is one of the most scintillating visuals I ever did see. And what a celebrating of the male form – hot, hot, hot!!

Coming up this week for me is a visit from Pearl, making banana bread with the group of 4-6 year olds at the kiddie daycare and spending some quality time with a 4 month old Buddha baby who charms me with rare smiles. He had me with the first one :) I will take Lucian to bed with me until I’ve finished his story, which I think he won’t mind *wink*

Publisher: Total E-Bound
ISBN: 978-1-906328-50-4
Genre: Contemporary/Gay/Ménage à trois
Book Length: Novel
Erotic Rating: Total-e-burning
Book one in the Cattle Valley Series
Read from my personal e-shelves

Cover Summary:

When a three man partnership becomes too much for their small Texas town, Ryan Blackfeather knows it’s time to head for greener pastures. With a new job awaiting him in Cattle Valley, Wyoming, he convinces his men, Nate and Rio to make the move.

A community built on tolerance, Cattle Valley’s one of the few places in the country where the residents won’t bat an eyelash at the threesomes relationship. Nate, Rio and Ryan fit right in. However, with Ryan busy in his new job as town Sheriff, Rio and Nate are left to wonder how they’re supposed to make a living. What use are a highly trained mercenary and a private detective in a peaceful community the size of Cattle Valley?

Review:

I was baffled by the speed of the romance development as I read on page 17:

The threesome landed in a pile of arms, legs, tongues and teeth. Nate couldn't get enough of these men. "Love you," Nate said, looking Ryan in the eyes. He then turned toward Rio, "I love you."
Ryan and Rio wrapped their arms and legs around Nate. "We love you. You're a part of us now," Ryan said.

And that was it. They were a threesome in love. Can I say; huh? How did that happen??!! Only to find out on page eighteen that Rio and Nate were on the road to meet Ryan at their new home in Cattle Valley. This was all moving very fast for me as I’m a reader who wants to witness a certain progress where the attraction develops in to love. The romance between these three men wasn’t very believable but for some reason the entertainment level while reading the pages was very good. It was largely due to the voices of the three men, a bit over the top but still they are very likeable. So I kept on reading.

Rio, Nate and Ryan move in to a house in Cattle Valley and it is a setting that made me smile. Like a utopia for gay people; Just about everyone is gay there and felt very idyllic. The author provided just enough information for me to conjure a picture in my mind how the town looked like and who the people were inhabiting it. I could definitely read the signals for future stories and that this would be a series.

Rio and Nate are very touchy-feely with each other and when they aren’t horny they are pulling pranks like a cherry bomb (blowing up a mailbox). Nate felt very young adult in comparison with Ryan and Rio, who were the established couple at the beginning of this story. When Ryan chastises Nate it feels very much like a grown up setting boundaries for an adventurous teenager. The chemistry and dialogues between the three was effortlessly flowing and while I wasn’t emotionally involved they did appeal to my playful, wicked side.

The eroticism is off the chart hot. The libido of this trio is more than healthy and is set ablaze by the instant attraction they feel. The pages are filled with sexual heat, light-hearted dialogues and a touch of humor and it juices up the story in a good way. Even though there was a certain degree of entertainment to All Play And No Work there was also nothing present for me to sink my teeth in. From early on the relationship was established and there was nothing really challenging that relationship. So the first half of book one in the Cattle Valley series reads like a fluffy erotic romance that gives a slice of life from three likable characters. The author didn’t really add depth, layers or much conflict to the relationship. Halfway through I wondered if anything would happen that would present any form of a challenge when a minor plot came in to play. It provided a bit of much needed intrigue and excitement.

As an erotic story, All Play And No Work is enjoyable but the romance is shallow at best. What worked in the end was the charismatic threesome with their animated dialogues and combustive sexiness as they set up house in a utopian town to satiate their ravenous appetite.

2.5 stars

Quote:

Rio glanced over and winked. "First place I find, I promise we'll stop for a little R and R."
"Rest and relaxation, that's not exactly what I had in mind," Nate said, trying to tuck his hard shaft back into his pants.
Rio chuckled, "Well, I was thinking more along the lines of rimming and riding."
"Oh fuck, I like that idea a lot better."

Carol Lynne on the www:
website | Cattle Valley website | Goodreads | Twitter | Buy @ Total E-Bound