Dirty Angels ( Dirty Angels #1) – Karina Halle

Book Description

**warning: this book contains situations which might be triggers for some people. Please see the bottom of this description to see if this is the kind of book that you’ll love or piss you off**

For Luisa Chavez, a twenty-three year old former beauty queen, a better life has always been just out of her reach. Sure, she’s had men at her feet since she was a young teenager but she’s never had the one thing she’s craved – security. Having grown up in near poverty, her waitressing job in Cabo San Lucas can barely let her take care of herself, let alone her ailing parents. Every day is another unwanted advance, every day is a struggle to survive.

When Salvador Reyes, the depraved leader of a major Mexican cartel, takes an interest in her, Luisa is presented with an opportunity she can’t afford to pass up. She’ll become Salvador’s wife and exchange her freedom and body for a life of riches – riches she can bestow upon her deserving parents. But Luisa quickly finds out that even the finest wines and jewels can’t undo the ugliness in her marriage, nor the never-ending violence that threatens her every move.

Soon, Luisa is looking for an escape, a way out of the carefully controlled life she’s leading. She finally gets her wish in the worst way possible.

As it is, being the wife of Salvador makes her an ideal target for rival cartels and there’s one particular man who needs Luisa as part of his cartel’s expansion. One particular man whose quest for power has destroyed lives, slit throats and gotten him out of an American prison. One particular man who will stop at nothing until he gets what he wants.

That man is Javier Bernal. And he wants Luisa. He wants to take her, keep her, ruin her.

Unless she ruins him first.

***WARNING*** This book deals with drug cartels and as such it contains a lot of sex and violence and some violent sex. It can get pretty ugly, pretty dark and pretty crazy. There is drug use, abuse, a bit of torture and dubious consent. The hero is not a hero and the villains…well, they’re even worse. If this sort of thing bothers you, PLEASE DO NOT READ IT. This ain’t no cupcake farting unicorn kind of book. If you are even a bit squeamish about violence, brutality and rape, this is your warning to stay away from a book that you certainly will not like (and why read books that you know you won’t like?)***

***While this is a spin-off of The Artists Trilogy, prior knowledge of the books is not needed. DIRTY ANGELS is the first in a trilogy, however each book can standalone and follows or introduces different characters***

Divas Thoughts

Just the book I was waiting for! Dirty Angels by Karina Halle is 100% exciting. I had such a fabulous time reading about the mexican cartel and their torturous ways, and I even loved the really fantastic twisted lovestory.

Yes, there were alot of things that would definitely disturb many readers ( such as the brutal torture, all the blood, language, etc…) but let´s be honest here for a moment: You cannot take a mexican drug lord serious if he wears a a mint colored suit and acts like Mother Theresa. I´m not friends with any drug lords from the mexican cartel ( not that I know of ) but I´m sure they´re supposed to be THE most feared people alive ( them and the Russian Mafia ). The author did a splendid job in making me never want to visit Mexico ever again. Lol

There was a lot of detail in this book (which I appreciated). No matter if it was the scenery, the characters, the torture….the vivid images were there. Some were fabulous and some were utterly gruesome. I just loved it.

Characters:

Javier ( hero ) was one cool SOB. I swear…even if he wasn´t displayed as the most beautiful male alive, he was sexy as hell. The way he treated Luisa was twisted but oh soooo good. * sigh *

Luisa ( heroine ) was a tough cookie. Unbelievable things happened to her, yet she was still determined to fight. Her life starts off shitty then turns into hell. Could Luisa´s life get any worse? Of course. And that´s what happened.

I don´t want to give anything away from the story because it´s really worth the read.

If you´re into captivating, brutal, twisted, bloody, abusive, dark lovestories, then you´ll love this one.

The Divas are giving Dirty Angels, by Karina Halle, 5 out of 5 champagne glasses.

 

Monster In His Eyes ( Monster In His Eyes #1) – J. M. Darhower

 

Book Description

 

Ignazio Vitale is not a good man.

I suspect it, the first time I see him, sense the air of danger that surrounds the man. He has a way of commanding attention, of taking control, of knowing what I’m thinking before I even do.

It’s alarming and alluring. It’s dark and deadly. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted but the last thing I truly need. Obsession.

It doesn’t take him long to draw me into his web, charming me into his bed and trapping me in his life, a life I know nothing about until it’s too late. He has secrets, secrets I can’t fathom, secrets that make it so I can’t walk away, no matter how much I beg him to let me go. I see it sometimes in his eyes, a darkness that’s both terrifying and thrilling. He’s a monster, wrapped up in a pretty package, and what I find when I unmask him changes everything.

I want to hate him.

Sometimes, I do.

But it doesn’t stop me from loving him, too.

Divas Thoughts

Jesus, Mary & Joseph! What the…? How the hell..? Where did this book come from? And why in God´s name were we staring at the cover for nearly a week, having doubts about this book?

There are times where we would like to kick ourselves just because we feel we have too. NOW is that time.

This, dear followers / friends, is another wonderful mind screwing novel! No shit. We admit…we haven´t read anything from this author before. And we have another reason to give ourselves a good kick in the ass. The writing style was impeccable and the story was dark, dangerous, and captivating. There was hardly a moment we hoped nothing terrible would happen.

That´s just it! You don´t wait for the big surprise in this book, you hope to God that there isn´t a surprise at all because you want these characters to survive. But survive what?

We´d say this book is semi predictable because a reader knows something will happen from the very beginning. Something that might change the characters feelings, or even their relationship. You can´t really put your finger on it, but you definitely don´t want it or anything to happen…

Karissa Reed is a normal 18 year old college student who lives off of Ramen soup. One day after one of Karissas classes she notices her missing phone and goes back to get it. Right there in the classroom was a man who would change her life forever.

Naz ( Ignazio Vitale ) was a man who had it all ( + some more ). He was handsome as hell and had a frightening attitude to compliment his features. In short: Beneath the pretty shell was something dark.

Funny thing was….through out the complete book a reader gets the good side of Naz. He treats Karissa with so much respect and love, showering her with everything she would ask for. His purpose in life was to make sure Karissa was happy in every way possible. Karissa on the other hand just wanted Naz. * sigh *

Until the moment came…….

The dialogue in this book was kept simple and yet very interesting. There was no beating-around-the-bush. No trying to sugar coat anything. There was no hiding. NADA. Well….not that Karissa was aware of…:-)

We loved how this book had a steady pace and how it kept us guessing when the big BANG would happen.

And the sex…..dear God…..let there be a freezer good enough to cool us down!

This book will shock you in the best way ever. You will be left speechless and you will sure as hell suffer from an awful book-hangover.

We need the second book. There is no other way we can find happiness until we know what will happen to Karissa! So frustrating! We hate it when we have to wait. 

We wish there were more books out there like this one. Monster In His Eyes is a 100% dark suspence romance that will screw with your emotions.

The Divas are giving Monster In His Eyes by J. M. Darhower 5 out of 5 champagne glasses

 

Slow Seduction ( Struck By Lightning #2) – Cecilia Tan

* We received a copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Description

Unforgettable passion . . .

Two months have passed since Karina’s painful departure from James, the mysterious lover who awakened her darkest desires, and she’ll do anything-anything-to locate him and win him back. Her search takes her to London, where she finds herself immersed in the world of fine art and forbidden pleasures. And soon, Karina meets another enigmatic man who promises to help her find James . . . for a price.

Unexpected pleasure . . .

Damon George is rich, gorgeous, and a member of a secret society that caters to the sensual thrills of the wealthy and powerful. Though Karina insists her heart will always belong to James, Damon is determined to have her, body and soul. By the time she finds James, Karina has been “trained” to please another. Will James reject her again . . . or find her more irresistible than ever?

Our Thoughts

Erotic! Is in each and every page, dripping with honey slow and sweet. Slow Seduction was a tasty treat to say the least. I cannot wait to get my hands on book three if you are looking for Erotica stop whatever you are doing and get this book. In Slow Seduction, Cecilia Tan delightfully thrust you into a journey of BDSM  world as Karina is desperate to find her hot Rock God James. We Divas not only recommend that you read these series but it is mandatory that you do you will don’t be disappointed. As for the rating The Divas usually rate Champagne glasses with five champagne glasses being the best but in this case we will do five Floggers!

This book can be purchased on Amazon.com

The Proposition ( The Proposition # 1) – Katie Ashley

* We purchased this copy for our own enjoyment *

Book Description

With her thirtieth birthday looming, Emma Harrison finds her biological clock clanging and the elusive knight in shining armor yet to appear. She’s running out of options, especially after her gay best friend backs out from being her sperm donor. Of course, there’s always a sperm bank, but Emma fears a donor mix-up might impregnate her with the spawn of Satan.

Resident company womanizer, Aidan Fitzgerald, is used to always getting what he wants, especially in the bedroom. When Emma spurns his advances at the company Christmas party, he’s determined to have her no matter what it takes. After Aidan learns of Emma’s predicament, he is quick to offer a proposition that will benefit them both. He will father Emma’s child, but she must conceive it with him naturally. Not one for hook-ups or casual sex, Emma is reluctant to take him up on his offer, but his charm, coupled with her intense desire for motherhood, wins out.

Soon their baby-making sessions become more than just physical. Aidan can’t seem to walk away from her while Emma begins to wonder if Aidan could be the one. But can Aidan leave his past behind to become the man Emma needs him to be?

Our Review

We have seen this book EVERYWHERE! We have heard about this book MANY TIMES! Everywhere we looked we saw the catchy book cover of The Proposition by Katie Ashley and we were dead set on finally ( !!! ) reading this book. What we thought was only a stand-alone turned out to be an actual series. We love series * sigh *. The emotional hangover never ends with a series. ANYWAYS…..After long months ( which felt like 2 years ) we found time * yay!* to start this book.
We´re glad we did!

We loved almost everything about this book. Let´s start with the cover: It´s simple, sensual, and a total eye catcher, and that´s what we love. The Story was far from what we expected it to be, even after reading other reviews, etc, regarding this book. The writing style from the author was also very good. We had no problems at all while reading this book.

The story was unique because we hardly ( okay okay…..we never ) get to read about a woman who is dead set on having a baby, no matter what. All of us divas have children ourselves, so  it was a blessing to read about a character who was 30 and had a realistic dream, namely…..a baby!  Now….don´t start thinking we go all mush when we read about kids. We are all NOT the types to go nuts when a baby is mentioned. It was just really great to read about a subject that didn´t involve abuse, constant sexy ass whipping, or candle wax torture.

We know a few women who never wanted kids in their lives and then one day…BOOM they heard their biological clock ticking. There is hardly anything else to talk about other than babies once the clock starts to tick. So, this subject is kind of desperate and unkind ( or it can be ) We´d like to say that this is maybe one of the toughest issues to cross because there are so many situations that can come out after expressing the wish to have a baby. And let´s just think about the most extreme possibility for a woman with a loud ticking clock: We´ve met women who´s lives were worth nothing to them anymore just because they weren´t able to have a baby, for whatever reason. So, see? It´s a hard subject. But the author did a fantastic job in juggling the matter and that made the story really really good! Even considering the age of Emma. Is it a bad thing that her clock started ticking with 30? Is 30 considered old? haha….Now that´s a subject alot of women can argue over. We believe that when you´re ready to have a baby…then you´re ready. 30 is NOT old. Us divas can´t argue with any ” first-time mother over 30″ anyways because we paid our due´s in our 20´s. So we approached this character neutral. And her reasons for a child were understandable.

And now to the main characters. Emma and Aiden were fantastically displayed. The moment Aiden made Emma the proposition….we felt our faces light up because we knew this book was going to be a ride * nodding all together * What we enjoyed most about these two was that they were pretty normal folks with normal lives. Absolutely realistic characters. Aiden was not anything we all have been reading in other books. Nope. He was just….normal as any good looking ” hubba hubba”, womanizer can be.lol. And Emma…well, we fell in love with her character because after all the downs in her life, she was still standing.

You will most definitely NOT find the typical “Love at first sight” in this book. And these characters will not rocket themselves to the stars and marry after a week. You will get a story about a desperate woman who wants nothing more than a child and a man who offers himself to save the day. The way Aiden and Emma´s relationship developed throughout the book was also just as grand. They actually got to know each other better with time even with the offer Aiden made.

Now….the end has a HUGE WTF moment. We just cannot start to say what we felt when we reached the end. One of us had  the urge to go all Misery on the author, but luckily….there´s a book 2, so no need to kidnap Katie Ashley..:-) All we can say is that we´re 100% positive that the end will knock you out of your knickers! Hell, your knickers will probably turn purple out of pure frustration after this book.

So…if you´re looking for something new ( yeah yeah….we know this book is not a new release ), a story that is refreshing….and if you´re looking for a story that will make you feel all kinds of emotions….GET THIS BOOK!

Would we recommend this book?
– OOOOOOH YEAH! We most definitely would!

Would we re-read this book?
– ABSOLUTELY

The Divas are giving The Propostion ( The Proposition # 1 ) by Katie Ashley 5 out of 5 champagne glasses.