L. Steele loves to tame alphaholes. She writes romance stories with possessive growly men who meet their match in sassy, curvy, spitfire women 🙂 She also writes dark sexy paranormal romance as NY Times bestseller Laxmi Hariharan.
Married to a man who cooks as well as he talks. She lives in London.
Running the Spark House, a hotel/event space that has been in her family for years, has been Avery Spark’s lifelong dream. After years of working hard and making personal sacrifices, Avery and her two younger sisters have turned the Spark House into the premier destination in Colorado Springs. Avery is living her best life—she works with her sisters and loves every minute of it, she has a great group of friends, and she lives in a fantastic condo with her best friend Declan. She might not have any love in her life, but she’s happy.
But everything comes to a screeching halt when Avery is in a car accident, leaving her immobile for weeks. After nearly losing Avery, Declan insists that he will be the one to take care of her while she recovers. However, as Declan becomes Avery’s caretaker, lines begin to blur.
Avery and Declan have been best friends since college and always had an attraction to one another, but when she ended up dating his best friend, Sam, they successfully stamped down any feelings they may have ever had for one another. Now, as Declan and Avery spend more time together, they each begin to wonder what would’ve happened if she’d dated him instead of Sam. What starts as a friend helping out another friend turns into foreplay and, before they realize it, they recognize how deeply they care for one another. But when things get serious their past threatens to destroy everything they have built.
When Sparks Fly by Helena Hunting is a light-hearted and fun-filled romance that hides some surprisingly deep moments. Avery is the sporty, athletic, always on the run kind of girl – so when a car accident takes her out of commission, it’s quite a blow. And emotionally, her sisters are also hit emotionally as their parents died in a car accident years ago.
Avery’s roommate and long-time friend, Declan, volunteers to help take care of Avery as she recovers. What no one really expects is for them to realize they’ve fallen for each other. And it’s not a good time for that to happen. Both are dealing with some pretty heavy emotional burdens that sabotage their budding relationship every step of the way. Some of Declan’s threw out some red flag alerts for me, but don’t worry, the author does a great job confronting those and not just letting them slip around without resolution.
There are a lot of hilarious scenes that definitely balance out the more serious scenes and brought the story back into the feel-good romcom territory. The relationship between Avery and her sisters made me wish I wasn’t an only child. They are everything to each other and are perfect at annoying each other and lifting each other up at the same time. Declan’s tenderness with Avery after her accident really showcases how much he cares for her (just hadn’t realized it yet), and I was so excited to see them get a happily ever after.
Title: Unchain My Heart Author: Nadia Blair Series: Mephisto #2 Genre: Contemporary Rock Star Romance
What’s a bad girl to do when the world won’t let her be good …
With her thirtieth birthday looming, actress Natasha Bernard wants to reinvent herself as something other than Hollywood’s favorite villainess. When she hears rumors that a tell-all exposé reveals details of her love life with her rockstar ex, she decides to put a stop to it. Even if that means confronting his bandmate, Richard Mac—the man who let the world brand her with a scarlet ‘A.’
She’s his nemesis … his secret obsession … and the only woman who can incinerate his life …
Guitarist Richard Mac is a control freak, whether he’s working on a new album or using his custom leather toys in the bedroom. When “Hurricane” Natasha storms back into his life, he risks everything to claim her. But he can’t risk losing control and letting her guess his darkest secret … that she’s the one woman he’s always wanted and could never have …
She blinked at him. “Since when do you allow a woman to take charge?”
“I don’t.” His simple admission made her light-headed. A keen, giddy ache blossomed deep in her chest.
Hardly believing her own daring, Natasha caressed his cheek. He stood motionless as she traced her fingers along his jaw, savoring the scrape of his stubble, the fine-grained heat of his skin. In the clouded dark, his expression was unreadable. But she felt a low quiver run through him as she stroked his brow.
“Impossible man.” Inexplicably, her eyes stung. I want to hate you. But I don’t. Not even a little bit. How insane is that?
Her heart was thrumming in her chest as she brushed her lips across his. He tasted of cinnamon and whiskey. She kissed him hungrily, sucking on his tongue, nipping at his lower lip when he might have pulled back.
He cupped the back of her head, holding her captive as he deepened the kiss. His other hand caressed her neck, the line of her collarbone. He was solid heat, hard muscle, pressing against her from her breasts to her hips.
Scorching, sweet, he explored her mouth, his hand curled around her nape. He kissed her thoroughly, as if learning her. His teeth grazed her lower lip before he soothed his tongue across it. His fingers sifted through her hair.
It was heady, glorious, and yet … it wasn’t enough. She grabbed his T-shirt to tug him closer.
“No,” he growled into her mouth. “Hands on the car or I’ll stop.”
She splayed her hands on the car door. Once more, he claimed her lips, devastating her with each glide of lips, each flick of tongue, stealing every panted breath. She fought a need to haul him closer. Couldn’t touch him. He’d ordered her to stay still.
He pressed her into the side of the SUV, one hand gripping her hip, the other tangled in her hair. Trapped. Helpless. And yet, if she said the safe word, she knew he’d stop. No questions. No pressuring her into anything. He might be a bastard. But he was a man of his word.
She leaned into him, gasping as her sensitized breasts brushed his chest.
His fingers teased the strip of bare flesh between her bustier and jeans, his thumb trailing toward her navel.
Nadia Blair writes steamy contemporary romance featuring outrageous bad boys and gutsy girls who give as good as they get. She has a thing for snappy dialog, humorous situations, and swoon-worthy happily-ever-afters.
When she’s not having conversations with fictional people, she enjoys summer thunderstorms, top-shelf whiskey, and rockin’ out to a classic guitar solo.
