Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Crashing the Net by Cheyenne Meadows


Breaking barriers on the ice is just the start for a woman who craves so much more.

Ranger Deacon can’t believe the team’s bad luck. First, their season falls into a steep slump, then their number one goalie goes down with a knee injury. Morale is in the dumps and the coach springs one outrageous development on them—a woman would be joining the team to finish out the remainder of the games. He’s skeptical until he sees her play and loses a piece of his jaded heart in the process.

Piper Darrow is a hockey prodigy, a goalie at the top of her game in the women’s professional league. She just finished a stellar year when the opportunity of a lifetime presents itself—becoming the first woman to play in the men’s professional league. Plenty of obstacles stand in Piper’s way, including acceptance from the fans, the players and even her own teammates. That, along with some hard hits from opponents, she can handle. It’s the fierce desire she feels for Ranger that throws her for a loop.

Playing in a man-dominated sport is difficult enough without the additional challenge of falling for the captain of the team. Piper knows the score, is determined to get the job done, but can't help but wonder if there's more to Ranger than excellence on the ice.

Reader Advisory: This book contains references to domestic abuse, child abuse and some hockey-related violence.

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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Sarah☆☆☆☆
The story of the NHL’s first female player fighting to prove herself in one of the world’s most brutal professional sports is an exciting read. Piper is both fierce and funny, and I loved her strength and resilience.

I loved the sports action in this book. I was fully invested in Piper’s struggles on an underdog team. Even though I can still remember Manon Rhéaume as the first female NHL player in 1992, I believed in Piper’s struggle to be accepted by her teammates and respected by her opponents. Piper has to be tougher than any male goalie and she has to take more abuse from hockey fans, management, and opposing teammates. She has the cleanest mouth of any hockey player I’ve ever met – male or female – but I loved her grit.

I do have some reservations about the romance in this book which stops me from awarding a full five stars. Piper (the fierce professional hockey player) is a virgin. Really? Seriously? And after all sorts of infantilizing, possessive, chauvinistic posturing, Ranger takes her virginity and makes Piper his. Urgh. This is why I have pretty much stopped reading m/f romance. Even when the female character is a worthy heroine, we still get the virginity nonsense.

Beyond the sex, I did like Ranger and Piper’s relationship. It starts with respect, then friendship before they become intimate. Ranger probably would’ve/should’ve been benched for playing protective boyfriend during professional hockey games but for the most part, he does respect Piper’s skill and strength. I enjoyed Piper’s family and I loved their teammates.

Aside from the whole virgin subplot, I enjoyed this. I loved the hockey action and I enjoyed much of the romance.


Lee’Anne☆☆☆☆
I really enjoyed this unique sports read.

Piper Darrow has been playing hockey most of her life, and when she’s offered the chance to become the first female NHL player, she jumps on the chance. Piper knows going in it’s going to be tough to prove herself in the male dominated world of the NHL, but she lets her talent speak for itself. Piper sets out to not only be accepted by her own team, but by the other teams and fans as well. Ranger Deacon is the captain of his NHL team that’s having a bout of bad luck and he thinks it’s continuing when they wind up with a new female goalie… until he sees her play.

Ranger and Piper’s story is sweet. but I found the whole Piper being a virgin thing a bit of a reach. Other than that though, it’s a great read, definitely fast paced and the characters are all interesting, I hope the author does more from the other players. I loved Piper’s fierceness, loyalty, and all around great attitude – that’s rare to see in a sports read like this and I found it refreshing. I look forward to reading more from this author!



Growing up in the Midwest, I began reading romance novels in high school, immediately falling in love with the genre, to the point where I decided to write professionally for a career. However, that dream splattered against a brick wall, resulting in a quick death in my first writing class in college when my professor told me bluntly that I wasn't any good at it. I shifted gears quickly, and left my writing dreams behind, eventually settling on becoming a nurse.

A few years back, I stumbled across a fan-fiction writing site on a favorite author's webpage. I began to read stories others wrote, not only making some wonderful close friends from the experience, but also, really learning to write for the very first time. Here I was able to share short stories, practice my writing skills, and truly develop into a writer. More than that, the experience allowed me to revitalize my dream, as I rediscovered joy in writing. Now, I spend my days off with my alpha male characters, quick witted heroines, and see how much trouble everyone can get into.

When I'm not working or writing, I enjoy working in the garden, canning, and seeing my backyard as a living canvas for my whimsical landscaping, and, of course, reading romance novels.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Crashing the Net by Cheyenne Meadows to read and review.

Faking It by Kait Gamble


One last job…

The patrons of Totally Five Star Chamonix would be stunned to find out that beautiful, sophisticated and elegant Ana Meier is not there for the social event of the year. Once a thief, she has been forced back into the life for one final mission.

Unexpected…

When Rhys Stone lays eyes on Ana again, there’s no doubt in his mind that the fire between them still smolders. He’s willing to do just about everything to convince her that they’re good together…except tell her the truth about what he’s been doing during their time apart.

Inevitable…

Seeing the love of her life alive and being faced with all the lies between them aren’t complications she anticipated, but Ana isn’t going to let him get in her way. Not when the success of this job means saving the son Rhys knows nothing about.

Even loving Rhys isn’t going to stop her from going through him if she must.

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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Ruthie☆☆☆☆
I have read many of the books in the series, and enjoyed them all. This one is quite different as the Hotel is a setting, but really nothing more than that. The leads are guests there, not otherwise associated with the Total brand.

It is a really rather good romantic suspense, which has an interesting twist. I was minded to think of bits of Entrapment, but it was much richer than that in its romantic elements and ethical stance. Ana has good reason not to trust people, and it turns out that Rhys maybe should not be trusted ever again. However, he works hard to prove himself worthy of her, and a future together. He uses every tool he can to seduce and convince her.

Definitely a good story, and the perfect length.



Kait was born and raised in the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest and started writing to entertain herself during the long winters as a child. Insatiably curious with a love of learning new things, she’s picked up many random skills including three languages and two martial arts. After travelling three continents (the other four are on her bucket list), she settled in England with her family where she spends most of her time cultivating her daughter’s love of reading and writing, scribbling ideas on every available scrap of paper, and trying out dialogue on her cat.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Faking It by Kait Gamble to read and review.

New Eyes by TK Paige


Sometimes, all it takes to find what you need is to look closely at what has been there all along.

Roommates Jed and Doyle have been best friends since meeting in college. They have supported each other through all their ups and downs. Now that they've graduated and are starting new jobs, they have no intentions of letting that change anything. Doyle is everything Jed isn't—smart, cute and active at the LGTB center. Jed has always looked out for his friend and been there for him. They have plans and an amazing friendship, everything planned out to the smallest degree.

Any changes could make it all go off the rails. So why can't Jed get over how annoying he finds Doyle's ex turned friend, who seems to be around way too often? Why can't he stop noticing Doyle in new ways?

If Jed doesn't take a risk, he could miss what's been there all along.

Publisher's Note: This book has previously been released elsewhere. It has been revised and re-edited for re-release with Pride Publishing.

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Pride Publishing



Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica☆☆☆
New Eyes is a length between Novella and Short Story (expanded and edited from its earlier edition), featuring a best-friends-to-lovers premise, with no lusty scenes shown on the pages. Doyle is in love with his best friend, but Jed is too blind to see it, which lends a healthy dose of angsty deliciousness.

As a lover of a well-written novella, I couldn't wait to sink my teeth into this story. While there was plenty of chemistry between Doyle and Jed, the tension I need within a book, due to the page-length, it barely gets started before the book is over.

In all honesty, I had a difficult time reading this novella, connecting with the characters, and digesting the story due to the writing style and length. While the premise was a good one, the execution didn't satisfy me.

I felt as if this book was a slow beginning to a full-length novel, which quickly tied up the story just as it began. I was left feeling dissatisfied, needing more.

I look forward to trying another book by the author, but sadly this one didn't work for me.



T.K. Paige picked up her first book to read around the age of four and hasn’t stopped since. She discovered the M/M genre in August of 2012 and an addict was hooked.

If you see her and she is not reading, then she is thinking about the books that live in her head. It doesn’t matter what else she is doing, it is guaranteed half her brain has a plot running through it.

A stay at home mom for more years than she would like to think about, she is lucky enough to be married to a wonderful guy who encouraged her to write throughout their years together. Then when she finally did it and she told him what she was writing, he turned only slightly green and asked “Do I have to read it?” Apparently, he had dreams of her being the next Urban Fantasy sensation with her taste in movies… We won’t tell him what she watches when she is alone all day folding laundry.

Connect with T.K.

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https://www.pride-publishing.com


Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of New Eyes by TK Paige to read and review.

Saturday, December 24, 2016

Happy Holidays from Wicked Reads!


The Wicked Reads Team would like to wish you a Happy Holiday season.

The blog will be closed from December 23rd to December 26th.
On December 27th, we will have reviews for a few new releases.
We will then close again from December 28th to January 2nd.

So stop by on December 27th and come hang out with us again on January 3rd.

During the holiday break, we will have the occasional post on Facebook as well as the unveiling of our reviewers' Top Reads of 2016. 
So please join us on Facebook.

On a final note, we want to thank our followers for another great year. 
We're glad that you love books as much as we do. 
We hope you'll join us in 2017 to see what the world of writing, our favorite authors, and the soon-to-be discovered authors have in store for us.

Thursday, December 22, 2016

Lady Claire Is All That by Maya Rodale Blog Tour


In the third installment of Maya Rodale’s captivating, witty series, a marquess finds his fair lady—but must figure out how to keep her

Her Brains

Claire Cavendish is in search of a duke, but not for the usual reasons. The man she seeks is a mathematician; the man she unwittingly finds is Lord Fox: dynamic, athletic, and as bored by the equations Claire adores as she is by the social whirl upon which he thrives. As attractive as Fox is, he’s of no use to Claire... or is he?

Plus His Brawn

Fox’s male pride has been bruised ever since his fiancée jilted him. One way to recover: win a bet that he can transform Lady Claire, Society’s roughest diamond, into its most prized jewel. But Claire has other ideas—shockingly steamy ones...

Equals a Study in Seduction

By Claire’s calculations, Fox is the perfect man to satisfy her sensual curiosity. In Fox’s estimation, Claire is the perfect woman to prove his mastery of the ton. But the one thing neither of them counted on is love...


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Book 3
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London, 1824
Lord and Lady Chesham’s ballroom

It was a truth universally acknowledged that Maximilian Frederick DeVere, Lord Fox, was God’s gift to the ladies of London. He was taller and brawnier than his peers and in possession of the sort of chiseled good looks—above and below the neck—that were more often found in works of classical art. By all accounts he was charming and universally liked by men and women alike, though for different reasons, of course. He won at two things, always: women and sport.

Fox strolled through the ballroom as if he owned the place. He nodded at friends and acquaintances—Carlyle, with whom he occasionally fenced, Fitzwalter, who he had soundly thrashed at boxing last week, and Willoughby, who was always game for a curricle race.

Fox flashed his famous grin as he heard the ladies’ usual comments when he strolled past.

“I think he just smiled at me.”

“I think I’m going to swoon.”

“God, Arabella Vaughn is one lucky woman.”

“Was,” someone corrected. “Didn’t you see the report in The London Weekly this morning?”

Fox’s grin faltered.

That was when Mr. Rupert Wright and Lord Mowbray found him. Their friendship stretched all the way back to their early days at Eton.

“We heard the news, Fox,” Rupert said grimly, clapping a hand on his shoulder.

“I daresay everyone has heard the news,” Fox replied dryly.

It didn’t escape his notice that the guests nearby had fallen silent. It was the first time he’d appeared in public since the news broke in the paper this morning, though Arabella had so kindly left him a note the day prior. Everyone was watching him to see how he would react, what he would say, if he would cry.

“Who would have thought we’d see this day?” Mowbray mused. “Miss Arabella Vaughn, darling of the haute ton, running off with an actor.”

“That alone would be scandalous,” Rupert said, adding, “Never mind that she has ditched Fox. Who is, apparently, considered a catch. What with his lofty title, wealth, and not hideous face.”

Fox’s Male Pride bristled. It’d been bristling and seething and enraged ever since the news broke that his beautiful, popular betrothed had left him to elope with some plebian actor.

Not just any actor, either, but Lucien Kemble. Yes, he was the current sensation among the haute ton, lighting up the stage each night in his role as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet. Covent Garden theater was sold out for the rest of the season. The gossip columns loved him, given his flair for dramatics both onstage and off—everything from tantrums to torrid love affairs to fits over his artistry. Women adored him; they may have sighed and swooned over Lucien Kemble as much as Fox.

To lose a woman to any other man was insupportable—and, until recently, not something that ever happened to him—but to lose her to someone who made his living prancing around onstage in tights? It was intolerable.

“Just who does she think she is?” Fox wondered aloud.

“She’s Arabella Vaughn. Beautiful. Popular. Enviable. Every young lady here aspires to be her. Every man here would like a shot with her,” Mowbray answered.

“She’s you, but in petticoats,” Rupert said, laughing.

It was true. He and Arabella were perfect together.

Like most men, he’d fallen for her at first sight after catching a glimpse of her across a crowded ballroom. She was beautiful in every possible way: a tall, lithe figure with full breasts; a mouth made for kissing and other things that gentlemen didn’t mention in polite company; blue eyes fringed in dark lashes; honey gold hair that fell in waves; a complexion that begged comparisons to cream and milk and moonlight.

Fox had taken one look at her and thought: mine.

They were a perfect match in beauty, wealth, social standing, all that. They both enjoyed taking the ton by storm. He remembered the pride he felt as they strolled through a ballroom arm in arm and the feeling of everyone’s eyes on them as they waltzed so elegantly.

They were great together.

They belonged together.

Fox also remembered the more private moments—so many stolen kisses, the intimacy of gently pushing aside a wayward strand of her golden hair, promises for their future as man and wife. They would have perfect children, and entertain the best of society, and generally live a life of wealth and pleasure and perfection, together.

Fox remembered his heart racing—nerves!—when he proposed because this beautiful girl he adored was going to be his.

And then she had eloped. With an actor.

It burned, that. Ever since he’d heard the news, Fox had stormed around in high dudgeon. He was not accustomed to losing.

“Take away her flattering gowns and face paint and she’s just like any other woman here,” Fox said, wanting it to be true so he wouldn’t feel the loss so keenly. “Look at her, for example.”

Rupert and Mowbray both glanced at the woman he pointed out—a short, frumpy young lady nervously sipping lemonade. She spilled some down the front of her bodice when she caught three men staring at her.

“If one were to offer her guidance on supportive undergarments and current fashions and get a maid to properly style her coiffure, why, she could be the reigning queen of the haute ton,” Fox pointed out.

Both men stared at him, slack jawed.

“You’ve never been known for being the sharpest tool in the shed, Fox, but now I think you’re really cracked,” Mowbray said. “You cannot just give a girl a new dress and make her popular.”

“Well, Mowbray, maybe you couldn’t. But I could.”

“Gentlemen...” Rupert cut in. “I don’t care for the direction of this conversation.”

“You honestly think you can do it,” Mowbray said, awed.

He turned to face Mowbray and drew himself up to his full height, something he did when he wanted to be imposing. His Male Pride had been wounded and his competitive spirit—always used to winning—was spoiling for an opportunity to triumph.

“I know I can,” Fox said with the confidence of a man who won pretty much everything he put his mind to—as long as it involved sport, or women. Arabella had been his first, his only, loss. A fluke, surely.

“Well, that calls for a wager,” Mowbray said.

The two gentlemen stood eye to eye, the tension thick. Rupert groaned.

“Name your terms,” Fox said.

“I pick the girl.”

“Fine.”

“This is a terrible idea,” Rupert said. He was probably right, but he was definitely ignored.

“Let me see... who shall I pick?” Mowbray made a dramatic show of looking around the ballroom at all the ladies nearby. There were at least a dozen of varying degrees of pretty and pretty hopeless.

Then Mowbray’s attentions fixed on one particular woman. Fox followed his gaze, and when he saw who his friend had in mind, his stomach dropped.

“No.”

“Yes,” Mowbray said, a cocky grin stretching across his features.

“Unfortunately dressed I can handle. Shy, stuttering English miss who at least knows the rules of society? Sure. But one of the Americans?”

Fox let the question hang there. The Cavendish family had A Reputation the minute the news broke that the new Duke of Durham was none other than a lowly horse trainer from the former colonies. He and his sisters were scandalous before they even set foot in London. Since their debut in society, they hadn’t exactly managed to win over the haute ton, either, to put it politely.

“Now, they’re not all bad,” Rupert said. “I quite like Lady Bridget...”

But Fox was still in shock and Mowbray was enjoying it too much to pay any mind to Rupert’s defense of the Americans.

“The bluestocking?”

That was the thing: Mowbray hadn’t picked just any American, but the one who already had a reputation for being insufferably intelligent, without style or charm to make herself more appealing to the gentlemen of the ton. She was known to bore a gentleman to tears by discussing not the weather, or hair ribbons, or gossip of mutual acquaintances, but math.

Lady Claire Cavendish seemed destined to be a hopeless spinster and social pariah.

Even the legendary Duchess of Durham, aunt to the new duke and his sisters, hadn’t yet been able to successfully launch them into society and she’d already had weeks to prepare them! It seemed insane that Fox should succeed where the duchess failed.

But Fox and his Male Pride had never, not once, backed away from a challenge, especially not when the stakes had never been higher. He knew two truths about himself: he won at women and he won at sport.

He was a winner.

And he was not in the mood for soul searching or crafting a new identity when the old one suited him quite well. Given this nonsense with Arabella, he had to redeem himself in the eyes of the ton, not to mention his own. It was an impossible task, but one that Fox would simply have to win.

“Her family is hosting a ball in a fortnight,” Mowbray said. “I expect you to be there—with Lady Claire on your arm as the most desirable and popular woman in London.”




Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica☆☆☆
As a fan of the series and the author, I have to be honest and say this book didn't work for me. Be it my mood, perhaps. But, if I were to sum up the book in a single word, Tedious would be what I would choose.

No insult to the author or her work, but sometimes a book just doesn't resonate with a reader. It happens. Usually there is a reason, and in this case, the narrators were the cause.

I've enjoyed the slightly zany storylines of past books in the series – the spitfire sisters who took the ton by storm. USA meets London.

I see myself as a cerebral being, an introvert who is introspective and intellectual, so I thought for sure Lady Claire and I would be a great fit. But as she droned on about how no one accepted her as a female scholar, wanting acceptance for who she is, she herself thought down upon those who didn't find mathematics the 'end all, be all.'

The thing about acceptance... if you wish to be accepted, then you in turn must provide the same. Lady Claire reminded me of people who had to 'tell' you how important/intelligent/rich/powerful they were, which usually is a sign of just how lacking they are. To be truly intelligent means you don't have to tell anyone – it's obvious in your behavior, interactions, and actions. In dialogue and monologue, I felt Claire's worth was tied to whether or not everyone knew she was smart, and they in turn weren't.

I guess my problem was that I found both narrators to be vapid in the opposite of the spectrum. Fox was all about competitiveness – sport and women. Claire found him too simple-minded. But Claire was so hyper-focused on her needs and wants, seeing them as more worthy pursuits, she was not a well-rounded character. Sport and women is most certainly seen as vapid. But just because Claire was an intellectual doesn't mean she had any depth.

Brain vs Brawn – opposites attract.

I felt Claire insulting to Fox, with Fox merely pretending to find Claire intriguing as he was bored out of his skull. A couple must be equals, yet this was unbalanced, with Claire finding herself far superior to Fox. So their opposite-ness never truly met in the middle.

As a historical romance, the storyline is filled with balls, women being restricted, angst with past loves, characters driving a wedge as the conflict, so it hits those notes perfectly. As I stated above – perhaps it was my mood, as I did enjoy the other books. But, as I read, I too felt as if I was sitting through a mathematical lecture.

Fox had a one-track mind, win at any cost. With a bet, and a premise to mirror one of my favorite teen movies from the 1990s, She's All That, I thought this would be a winner for me as well. But amid the nonstop inner monologues about how Fox was always a winner in sport and women, as was his reply dozens of times in the book, and his pining for a woman who jilted him, the story was lost among the repetition.

There was another narrator in the mix, adding the conflict of the storyline, and I'm not sure how to voice my thoughts on his part, so I won't go there.

I didn't know the characters, other than Fox's never losing and Claire's one-track mathematical mind. I wasn't sure how they met in the middle, other than the author telling the reader they did.

For me, it felt as if the author forced the characters into one another's orbit, into interactions, and told the readers they were a good fit, but I didn't feel it because it wasn't organic.

I don't wish to spiral down the rabbit hole where I turn overly critical as a way to vent my frustrations. I voiced what I did above for those who read as I do (maybe take a pass), and for those who don't (buy the book, as you're sure to love it). If you're a fan of the series, I suggest reading this installment, regardless.

I will say I enjoy the author, the series, and the previous books, but this didn't work for me at all. Simply put, I found the story itself tedious to wade through, the narrators rubbed me the wrong way, and I struggled to finish the book.

However, I do look forward to more in the series, as there are characters I am curious to read more about.


Also Available in the Keeping Up with the Cavendishes Series

Book 1
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For reviews & more info, check out our stop on the Lady Bridget’s Diary Blog Tour.


Book 2
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For reviews & more info, check out our stop on the Chasing Lady Amelia Blog Tour.




Maya Rodale began reading romance novels in college at her mother’s insistence and it wasn’t long before she was writing her own. Maya is now the author of multiple Regency historical romances. She lives in New York City with her darling dog and a rogue of her own.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Lady Claire Is All That (Keeping Up with the Cavendishes #3) by Maya Rodale to read and review for this tour.

Dylan by Melissa Foster Blog Tour


Everything's naughtier after dark...

Sinfully sexy bar owner Dylan Bad has a thing for needy women. He's a savior, a knight in shining armor, and his mighty talented sword has no trouble bringing damsels in distress to their knees. Enter Tiffany Winters, a gorgeous cutthroat sports agent who looks like sex on legs, f**ks like she's passion personified, and wouldn't let a man help her if she were dangling from a ledge and he was her only hope. One night and too much tequila might change their lives forever. The question is, will either one survive?

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With her phone pressed to her ear, Tiffany Winters ducked out of the rain and into the Kiss, an eclectic Manhattan bar, to return calls and take care of a mountain of text messages that had piled up during her dinner meeting. She listened to her client’s wife explain why she didn’t want her husband traveling too often to endorse a hotel chain Tiffany was planning on pitching to him next week. Her client had already nixed any mention of his family in the advertisements, and reducing his travel would make it an even harder sell.

“I hear your concern, Allison,” she said as she sat on a barstool. “If you and Matt decide this isn’t the right thing for your family, we’ll turn our efforts in another direction.” As a sports agent, dealing with significant others was part of the job, a part Tiffany enjoyed and other agents rued. Sure, some wives assumed their husband’s success granted them the power to be overly demanding. Ass kissing was part of the game. Sometimes she wished she could give the meeker wives lessons in how to be tough. Teach them to have balls as big as their husbands’ and come right out and say what they meant instead of beating around the bush with bullshit hypotheticals. She reminded herself often that not every woman grew up in a testosterone-laden house with two competitive older brothers and a father who won the Heisman in college and went on to play pro sports—a house where mincing words didn’t cut the mustard.

“You missed the wedding.”

The deep male voice drew Tiffany’s attention from her phone call to the fine specimen of a man standing behind the bar. He looked like he’d just stepped off a Hot Guys in Suits Pinterest page. His tie hung loosely around the collar of his white dress shirt, which was open three buttons deep, revealing a smattering of dark chest hair, a rarity nowadays, when so many men manscaped every inch of their bodies. Tiffany preferred a man to look like a man, which included hair in all the right places. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, exposing heavily corded forearms, and his jacket hung casually from two fingers over his left shoulder. Her fingers itched to send the last few buttons—and that jacket—flying to the floor. The guy’s chiseled jaw and dark eyes were movie-star classic, and his dark hair was thick enough to hang on to. She’d had a long, hard day, and he looked like he could provide a long, hard, pleasure-filled night.

Perfect.

Holding his gaze, she spoke into the phone as he laid his jacket across the bar, giving her the impression he wasn’t the bartender, but rather a guest who’d happened to wander back there. “Allison, I’ll see what else I can come up with and get back to you. Right. Okay, hon. Thank you.” After ending the call, she responded to the stud behind the bar. “Wedding? Who gets married at a bar?”

“My brother, for one.” He nodded across the room to a group of men and women who were holding their glasses up in a toast.

She zeroed in on one she recognized as her tall, dark colleague. “Mick Bad is married?” The high-powered attorney was a workaholic like her, and he’d been unattached two months earlier, when they’d worked together on a deal for one of her clients. She’d never understand couples who claimed to fall in love practically overnight. Love was a crutch for weak people who needed someone else to lean on. Except Mick Bad had never needed anyone to lean on. She wondered if his new bride was pregnant.

“The one and only.” Hot guy’s eyes took a long, luxurious stroll down her body, lingered on her breasts, then roamed north, hovering around her mouth, before finally meeting her gaze. He flashed a wolfish grin full of sinful promises.

“Dylan Bad at your service.”

Pushing thoughts of her newly married colleague’s expedient nuptials aside, she focused on his very available brother. A definite player, which was fine with her. She had no time—or interest—in anything but a quick hookup, and the six-two or -three stud had already shot to the top of tonight’s fantasy list.

“What’s your pleasure?” he asked with more than a hint of innuendo.

You. Naked, with your head buried between my legs, to start.

“Surprise me.” She watched him turn to prepare her drink and checked out the way his dark slacks hugged his perfect ass. It had been a long time since she’d found a man this attractive. But Mick Bad’s brother? That spelled trouble.






Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Mary☆☆☆☆
First, I have to say that this story did not pull me in and keep my attention as well as the first book with Mick did. It is a good story and I loved Dylan, but there seemed to be something missing for me. I love Melissa Foster and her stories usually have me hanging on every page, but this one didn't until closer to the end. I gave it four stars because to me, the ending was the best part and the sexual tension between Dylan and Tiffany was undeniable and hot, but for the most part, it was a 3.5 star story.

Dylan Bad owns Night Caps, a local club, and is one of the four Bad brothers. When he sees a woman he wants, he goes after her. He has a few demons in his past that will pull at your heart. When he sees Tiffany, he knows he wants her, but his brother Mick warns him that she is a ball buster and he needs to steer clear of her. But Dylan is up for the challenge.

Tiffany Winters is a sports agent and she is good at her job because she doesn't take time for anything else. She gets what her clients want and is available to them 24/7. When she slips into Night Caps to answer a phone call, she doesn't realize that she is instantly put on Dylan's radar.

She tries to talk him in to a one-night stand, but Dylan wants more. Because he knows she needs a little free time.

Can Dylan make Tiffany see that she can do her job and have a personal life at the same time? Will Tiffany push him away when he sees the determination she has for her job? Can they both help each other heal from the pain of the past?

As I said, I love Melissa Foster and I can't wait for Carson's story, brother #3.


Ruthie☆☆☆☆
This is the second in the series and is the perfect complement to Mick and Amanda's story. You could read this as a standalone – but as any Melissa Foster reader would know, all her books have references to other books and series, so if you want a full experience, just keep reading them all to get the fullest picture!

I really enjoyed this book, because it is firmly rooted in real life – okay, the real life of two not very ordinary people, but still... We get to see them just being; in Tiffany's case, something that she has been avoiding since childhood. Watching her unwind, and accept Dylan into her life is a very pleasing experience. Between them, they really get to realise more about themselves than anything else, and translate it into their honesty with each other. They are also incredibly attracted to each other physically, which can lead to some very sexy interludes. Do not, however, think this is all heat and smiles, oh no, I had to resort to a tissue a couple of times, but it was absolutely worth it. Some super funny scenes too – which gave it balance and had me reading long into the night.

This is one of those books which just provides a lovely, real story, and pulls out all the emotions of laughter, tears, and plenty of sighs, both dreamy and of frustration! Thank you Ms. Foster, for once again pulling it out of the bag.


Lee'Anne☆☆☆
This was a good read, not nearly as great as the previous book in the series, but it kept me sucked in and had an interesting storyline.

Dylan Bad isn’t your typical “Bad” boy. He’s looking for his one and only and when he meets Tiffany, he thinks he’s found the one. Tiffany is looking for nothing more than a one-night stand and thinks she’s found just the man when she runs into Dylan. Though the two have similar pasts they’re complete opposites, Dylan being super open and Tiffany closed off. Dylan sets out to tear down her walls and Tiffany tries her best to allow it; there is one scene where Tiffany truly steps outside her comfort-zone with a surprise for Dylan, and I had to stop reading to wipe my eyes I laughed so hard.

I really enjoyed that this book had a fast pace, a good amount of steam, and had me laughing. The storyline, though good, was a bit cliché and the storyline progresses, but sometimes I found myself skimming more than absorbing. I look forward to seeing where Melissa Foster takes the next book.




Also Available in the Bad Boys After Dark Series

Book 1
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For reviews & more info, check out our stop on the Mick Blog Tour.




Melissa Foster is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling and award-winning author. She writes sexy and heartwarming contemporary romance, new adult romance, and women's fiction with emotionally compelling characters that stay with you long after you turn the last page. Melissa's emotional journeys are lovingly erotic, perfect beach reads, and always family oriented.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Dylan (Bad Boys After Dark #2) by Melissa Foster to read and review for this tour.

When the Dust Settles by Mary Calmes


Glenn Holloway’s predictable life ended the day he confessed his homosexuality to his family. As if that wasn’t enough, he then poured salt in the wound by walking away from the ranch he’d grown up on, to open the restaurant he’d always dreamed of. Without support from his father and brother, and too proud to accept assistance from anyone else, he had to start from scratch. Over time things worked out: Glenn successfully built a strong business, created a new home, and forged a life he could be proud of.

Despite his success, his estrangement from the Holloways is still a sore spot he can’t quite heal, and a called-in favor becomes Glenn’s worst nightmare. Caught in a promise, Glenn returns to his roots to deal with Rand Holloway and comes face-to-face with Mac Gentry, a man far too appealing for Glenn’s own good. It could all lead to disaster—disaster for his tenuous reconnection with his family and for the desire he didn’t know he held in his heart.

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Book 3
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Dreamspinner Press



Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Ruthie☆☆☆☆
This is the third book in the series – and really does need you to have read the first two to understand just where Glenn is at, at the start of the book. He has built a new future for himself, outside the family unit, yet near enough to see how well they are getting on without him, and feel ever more alienated. I think that Ms Calmes hints at the fact that his views may well be partly paranoia gained from his steroid intake. Now he is clean and his natural build, he is undoubtedly healthier, but those feelings of insecurity in the light of his brothers' successes are difficult to leave behind. His restaurant is also successful and he has a tangle of friends as his family.

Removed from that security he has built up, we see him paying back a favour and spending time with his brothers. Their employee Mac, who has always caught his eye, pays him more attention than he expected, and the disjointedness of the story goes to give us some of his frame of mind as things unfold. Whilst the narrative was odd at times, I did feel that it reflected how Glenn was feeling, and gave him a chance to come to terms with how his brothers really felt, rather than what he believed. Mac also gives him the freedom to discover what he wants out of a relationship too.


Also Available in the Timing Series

Book 1
Buy Links

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ARe  ~  B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo
Dreamspinner Press

For reviews & more info, check out our Timing post.



MARY CALMES lives in Lexington, Kentucky, with her husband and two children and loves all the seasons except summer. She graduated from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, with a bachelor’s degree in English literature. Due to the fact that it is English lit and not English grammar, do not ask her to point out a clause for you, as it will so not happen. She loves writing, becoming immersed in the process, and believes without question in happily ever afters, and writes those for each and every one of her characters.

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https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com


Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of When the Dust Settles (Timing #3) by Mary Calmes to read and review.