Leila’s years on the carnie circuit were certainly an education. What she didn’t learn: how to be a vampire, or how to be married to the most famous vampire of them all. Adjusting to both has Leila teetering on a knife edge between passion and peril, and now the real danger is about to begin…
Vlad must battle with a centuries-old enemy whose reach stretches across continents and whose strength equals his own. It isn’t like Vlad to feel fear, but he does…for Leila, because his enemy knows she is Vlad’s greatest weakness. As friend and foe alike align against him—and his overprotectiveness drives Leila away—Vlad’s love for his new bride could be the very thing that dooms them both…
Vampire romances naturally trend toward the darker side – you inevitably have blood and carnage before the couple walks happily off into the starlight. But Bound by Flames really takes it to another level. There’s torture and what comes close to sexual assault – so that’s your warning if you don’t want to read that.
Leila and Vlad’s relationship really grew in Bound by Flames, but I feel like a lot of the story was a little too damsel in distress. Leila being kidnapped and needing to be rescued – it seems a little overdone. Now, Jeaniene Frost did add some nice twists and turns to make it feel a little more unique, but I really wanted to see the tables reversed for a change.
There is A LOT of emotion in this one. Be prepared to go on a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. And it isn’t all between Leila and Vlad. The crew I’ve come to love has some incredible moments that let you see just how much Vlad really does care (even though he would never admit it).
I really hope that Vlad and Leila can find a sort of peaceful ending – where they’re able to settle down and relax some. They definitely deserve it after this book.
Title: Hawk Author: Harley Wylde Series: Reckless Kings MC #2 Genre: Contemporary MC Romance
Hayley – Having both a father and brother who are in law enforcement, and over protective, doesn’t make it easy to date. Which is why I was still a virgin at eighteen and had never had a serious boyfriend. If I’d realized chasing Cuddles through the biker compound would result in the hottest night of my life, I might have fixed my hair and dressed a little better. Not that Hawk seemed to mind. He made my knees weak and blew my mind. I just didn’t realize the night would end with a free gift with purchase – one that’s an eighteen year long commitment.
Hawk – Never thought I’d make it to the age of forty without ever finding someone special. But I did. Then I met Hayley. She’s the last woman I should fall for, but I can’t seem to help myself. Too bad I figured it out after she disappeared. If I’d known our one night had repercussions, I’d have tried harder to find her. Finding out I have a daughter is the best and scariest thing, but it means I get what I want most. A family.
I leaned against the back of the Dixie Reapers’ clubhouse, enjoying a cigarette and a little alone time. We’d been here two days with Beast and his woman. I understood the reason behind the trip to Alabama, but I was ready to get back home. Nothing against the Reapers, but the men with old ladies only wanted to do family-oriented sh*t and the single ones were all about the free p**sy in the clubhouse. I’d have preferred the middle of the road. Or maybe I was getting old. The women in the clubhouse only wanted to sink their teeth into someone in hopes of getting claimed.
Nothing against the club wh*res, but they didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting claimed by me. I wanted a woman who looked like an angel on the outside, but clawed my back and screamed my name in the bedroom. Someone respectable to the outside world who only showed that devilish side in private. I was starting to think she was a damn unicorn and I’d never find her.
I inhaled another lungful of nicotine before letting it out. Beast had mostly given up smoking since he’d found out Lyssa was pregnant. Before that, he’d have been out here with me. I had no problem with his priorities changing, as long as he focused on the club when we needed him. But I sometimes felt like I’d lost my brother. He wasn’t down to party like he’d been before, even though he’d slowed down a bit even before Lyssa showed up.
I heard something rustling through the grass and a muttered “I’m going to kill you when I find you.” Definitely a woman’s voice. Since I doubted it was a club wh*re, it had to be one of the old ladies or some other family member of the Dixie Reapers. Which meant I needed to give her a wide berth.
A fat raccoon went waddling by me wearing a harness and dragging a leash. I stared at it, wondering if I’d had more to drink than I thought or if I’d gone crazy. Who the f*ck leashed a raccoon?
A moment later a goddess stepped into the moonlight. Cut-off shorts clung to her like a second skin, and the tank she had on left little to the imagination. Her long, blonde hair fell in curls nearly to her waist.
“I swear to God, Cuddles, I’m going to turn you into a fur muff when I catch you.”
I nearly choked as I tried to hold back a laugh. Cuddles? She might be beautiful, but she was damn sure peculiar if she’d made a pet of that raccoon and named it something so ridiculous. Oddly, I found her intriguing, even if she was crazy as a bedbug.
I watched her stomp past me, mesmerized by the sway of her ass. The shorts barely covered her ass cheeks, and f*ck if I wasn’t jealous of them for getting to cup the tempting globes. I reached down to adjust myself, my c*ck getting uncomfortably hard.
“Cuddles? Cuddles! Goddamnit! We’re not supposed to be in here to begin with. Are you trying to get me killed?” She huffed and stamped her foot.
“Need some help, beautiful?” I asked, pushing away from the wall and stepping out of the shadows.
She whirled to face me, hand at her throat, and her blue eyes wide. “Who are you?”
“Name’s Hawk. My club is here visiting the Dixie Reapers. I think the question is who are you?”
She folded her arms, like she was trying to hold herself together. Her lips pressed together, and she glanced away. It was clear she didn’t want to give me her name, which made me want to know even more.
“Guess I should go get Tank,” I said. “I’m sure he can spare a few men to help you find your pet.”
She jolted. “No! Wait, I… I’m not supposed to be inside the gates, but Cuddles took off and I needed to find him.”
Now we were getting somewhere.
“I’ll help you find Cuddles, on one condition.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“Your name, for one.”
She licked her lips and shifted on her feet. “Hayley. Hayley Daniels.”
Harley Wylde is the International Bestselling Author of the Dixie Reapers MC, Devil’s Boneyard MC, and Hades Abyss MC series. When Harley’s writing, her motto is the hotter the better — off the charts sex, commanding men, and the women who can’t deny them. If you want men who talk dirty, are sexy as hell, and take what they want, then you’ve come to the right place. She doesn’t shy away from the dangers and nastiness in the world, bringing those realities to the pages of her books, but always gives her characters a happily-ever-after and makes sure the bad guys get what they deserve.
The times Harley isn’t writing, she’s thinking up naughty things to do to her husband, drinking copious amounts of Starbucks, and reading. She loves to read and devours a book a day, sometimes more. She’s also fond of TV shows and movies from the 1980’s, as well as paranormal shows from the 1990’s to today, even though she’d much rather be reading or writing.
You can find out more about Harley or enter her monthly giveaway on her website. Be sure to join her newsletter while you’re there to learn more about discounts, signing events, and other goodies!
My life has never been easy. Not from the day I took my first breath until now. Only days old, I was placed in a laundry basket and left in front of a firehouse. I never knew who my parents were before being shuffled around from one bad foster home to another. Until the day I arrived at Kerrighan House.
My safe haven.
My home.
I was welcomed with open arms into a world where love and sisterhood were the rule, not the exception. From that moment on, I believed I was safe. That nothing bad could touch me.
I was so wrong.
Neither my success as a full-figured lingerie and fashion model nor my street smarts as a born and bred Chicago native, safeguarded me against walking into the clutches of a monster.
As I try to pull my life back together, I’m brought face to face with a man whose wounds mirror my own. Under his protection, I’m gifted the opportunity to find beauty where there has only ever been pain. And yet, danger lurks, as a new evil threatens to bring me to my knees.
Can my savior protect me, or has my fate been sealed?
Killian came over to me and stopped a couple feet away. “You doin’ okay?”
I nodded and pushed a lock of hair behind my ear suddenly feeling shy. “Everything is a little awkward but I’m rolling with it. Thank you for sharing your space and willingly shooting in your home. This can’t be fun for you.”
He smiled softly. “Why wouldn’t having something unearthly beautiful to photograph in my home not be fun for me?”
I bit down on my bottom lip and looked at the floor, trying to hide how much his compliment lifted my confidence.
“I’m still scared.”
“Of the guy who hurt that girl?” He clarified.
I shook my head. “No…actually, yeah, that too. It’s just… This is my first shoot back after the other thing and now it’s blowing up again. I just want to apologize in advance if I randomly I stare off into space or have one of my moments.”
He stepped so close I could almost feel the heat of his larger frame cocooning mine, reminding me that there was someone perfectly capable of protecting me. Him.
“Last time when you paused during the shoot, you went somewhere. What happened then?” he asked.
“I…uh, went back to that horrible place where I was kept. The guy, he took pictures and video of me. Sometimes the sound of the flash or a picture being taken can send me back there.”
He lifted up a finger. “I’ve got an idea. What if we drown out the sound?”
I tilted my head. “How so?”
“Music, of course. What do you like?”
I shrugged. “Most everything, but I’m really into Lana Del Rey right now.”
“She’s awesome. Why don’t you go get your hair and makeup done while I set up and get some music on? I need to choose the first outfit and props to see what we’re working with.”
Without any preamble, I closed the space between us and wrapped my arms around his neck. I lifted up onto my toes so I could whisper against his ear while hugging him. “Thank you. For making me feel safe. For giving me a private space. For understanding my issues…”
He wrapped his arms around my body, bringing me flush against his hard frame. I relaxed into his return hug.
“When I say it’s my pleasure, I really mean it, Addy. There’s something about you. About your beauty. About your body. About your entire package that calls to me, unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before. I have to capture your beauty on film. It feels…important somehow.”
I trembled in his hold, not because I was afraid, but because the things he said turned my insides to mush and my body to nothing but liquid desire.
I wanted him.
Badly.
“We’re going to break all the rules about models and photographers getting mixed up with one another, aren’t we?” I whispered against his thick, manly neck where I scented a light cologne mixed with a heady, earthy musk that had to be all Killian. “I sure as hell hope so.” He ran his hand up my back and cupped my cheek, his thumb tracing my bottom lip in a feather-light caress. His gaze seared straight through to the heart of me.
Audrey Carlan is a #1 New York Times and International bestselling author. Her titles have appeared on USA Today and the Wall Street Journal. Audrey writes wicked hot love stories that have been translated in over thirty different languages across the globe. She is best known for the world-wide bestselling series Calendar Girl and Trinity. She lives in the California Valley where she enjoys her two children and the love of her life. When she’s not writing, you can find her teaching yoga, sipping wine with her “soul sisters,” or with her nose stuck in a steamy romance novel.
