Spanksgiving Sale! @Amazon Books On The Cheap.

Nine Fabulous Spanking Books. 99 Cents Each. November 29-30 & December 1.

Don't miss this great opportunity to get some good spanks at a bargain price.

CLICK THE BOOK TITLE TO GO TO AMAZON AND PURCHASE.

Hold My Hand by Paloma Beck
A story about Aubrey, a young woman filled with hurt, and William, a man who can't walk away. They're navigating through a relationship that may have too many hurdles... or perhaps not, as long as she can hold his hand.

Aubrey has been hurt in the past, discouraged and degraded by a heartless father. Still, William sees something in her that won't allow him to walk away. Instantly drawn to her but intuitive enough to take it slowly, he courts her. Then he bargains, persuades and seduces until Aubrey becomes ensnared by his commanding nature.

Despite the fight she puts up in accepting William's lifestyle, the bonds he places on Aubrey give her a freedom she desperately needs. And together, they heal old wounds and find their perfect love.
Also Available on Discount at All Romance eBooks.

Touch My Heart By Paloma Beck
William knows exactly what he wants. He saw what his parents had and he plans to have that kind of love for himself. He just has to convince Aubrey she’s perfect for him. He attempts to take it slowly, cautious of her weariness and his own preoccupations. Then he bargains, persuades and seduces until Aubrey agrees to be his. That’s where the rest of his life begins…

… even while another part of his life begins to crumble. He finds the foundation of his own family rocked. With William’s future not in his control anymore, he needs Aubrey as much as she needs him. There’s solace in knowing you don’t have to go through life’s heartache alone.
Also Available on Discount at All Romance eBooks.

Michael And Jenna's Christian Domestic Discipline Marriage by Leena Darling 
Michael and Jenna’s Christian Domestic Discipline Marriage features all the stories in the Christian Domestic Discipline Marriage series:

Jenna’s Punishment Spanking (Christian Domestic Discipline Marriage #1) – During a disagreement, Jenna storms out of the house without telling her husband where she's going. Michael is worried sick over his wife's whereabouts, and he's determined to put a stop to her irresponsible behavior. He's a Christian man who believes it's his right to discipline his wife, and when Jenna returns they have a reckoning - with Jenna bent over the bed, her bottom bared, and Michael giving her a taste of his thick leather belt. Will Michael's decision to spank bring peace to their marriage?

Jenna’s Reminder Spanking (Christian Domestic Discipline Marriage #2) – Until now, Michael has only given Jenna punishment spankings. He’s going out of town for the weekend though, and he wants to make sure his wife is on her best behavior. She’s resistant to the idea of a ‘reminder spanking’ and tries to talk her way out of it. Michael remains firm and takes her over his lap despite her protests. Will Jenna continue to resist him? And how will she react when he spreads her bottom cheeks and punishes her in a new, intimate way?

Jenna’s Hairbrush Spanking (Christian Domestic Discipline Marriage #3) – When Michael tells Jenna he’s going to spank her on her birthday, she panics. Until now, he’s only given her punishment and reminder spankings, and those hurt. So she lies. She tells her husband she’s not feeling well in hopes of escaping her birthday spanking. This turns out to be a big mistake. He unbuttons the drop seat of her footie pajamas and takes her temperature . . . the old-fashioned way! Then he announces she’s getting a hard, over the knee, bare bottom spanking with a hairbrush. Will this disobedient wife learn her lesson?

Jenna’s Bathtime Spanking (Christian Domestic Discipline Marriage #4) – Michael forbids Jenna from dining at one of her favorite restaurants due to a string of muggings in the area. She promises to obey, but one night her friends talk her into having dinner there. She thinks she’s gotten away with it, but the restaurant calls to say she left her bank card on the table, and her husband intercepts the phone call. Michael confronts Jenna while she’s taking a bath and decides to punish her on the spot. Will Jenna be able to hold still and accept her punishment, even when he applies the bath brush to her wet, soapy bottom?

Little & Loved by Leena Darling 
Kelly fled her hometown years ago after her father died, but now she's back and living with her father's best friend, a man she's always called Uncle David. He's kind enough to give her a place to stay and a job, but she soon finds out he has plans for her - plans that include spankings when she's naughty, and not allowing her to wear the grownup clothes she'd worn while living in the city. He explains that his feelings for her have changed and he wants her to be his little girl. Kelly loves this new attention from Uncle David, and she agrees to his terms - terms he promises to enforce with a bare bottom spanking each and every time she misbehaves. But Kelly is used to her plans going awry, and she worries constantly that Uncle David will grow tired of her. Can Uncle David convince her that when he says forever, he means forever?
Note: Little and Loved is an age play erotic romance with spanking and other adult content.

Spanking the Naughty Bride by Leena Darling 
Spanking the Naughty Bride features all the short stories in the Naughty Bride series:
Wedding Night Spanking (Naughty Bride #1) - Rick has always told Sara she would be a spanked wife once they got married. She never expected he would actually spank her for disobedience, but she soon finds out he's a man of his word. On their wedding night, no less!

Honeymoon Spanking (Naughty Bride #2) - Rick and Sara are a week into their honeymoon. She's still a little shocked (and sore!) from the spanking he gave her on their wedding night. She's vowed to love, honor, and obey, but...um...that last one is giving her some trouble. It isn't long before she's back over her husband's knee. Rick is determined to start their marriage off right, even if it means using a wooden spoon on his wife's naughty bottom.

Newlywed Spanking (Naughty Bride #3) - Rick takes his job as head of household seriously. When his new bride, Sara, is in need of correction, he responds by giving her a good spanking. So when she disobeys him a week after they return from their honeymoon, he takes her over his knee for a hard, bare bottom spanking and anal punishment. Will Sara finally learn her lesson?

Anniversary Spanking (Naughty Bride #4) - Sara ends up in hot water with Rick while on a vacation in celebration of their one year anniversary. Not only does she fail to pack her oak hairbrush – on purpose! – but she lies about it too. And that’s not all she’s in trouble for. Rick metes out a punishment more severe than any he’s given her before, complete with figging and another taste of that dreaded wooden spoon.

Note: This book contains the spanking of adult women, figging, and other erotic content.

Underwear Probation by Celeste Jones
Daisy is very successful at work. At home, however, she has trouble remembering to follow the rules.

 
Reece loves his wife and wants to guide her to better behavior and takes his duties as Head of Household seriously. When spanking doesn't get the point across, he declares a day of Underwear Probation for Daisy.

Daisy learns that getting through the day without underwear isn't nearly as hard as learning to trust her husband and his leadership as the Head of Household.

Her Birthday Spanking by Celeste Jones
All alone on her fortieth birthday, Mimi jams a candle into a frozen cupcake and wishes for a sexy night with a man who knows how to take her in hand and give her the birthday spanking she always dreamed of. She finds herself whisked away to the home of the super sexy and attentive Paolo who makes all her dreams, and a few she hadn't thought of, come true.

Author's Note: This story contains spankings between an adult man and woman. as well as sexual content. 

The novella is approximately 14,000 words/45 pages
Note: This book was previously published under the titles The Birthday Wish and Wishing For A Spanking.

Spanking Ms. Whitman by Kate Richards
Mona Whitman is in for it. Her boss has promised severe punishment the very next time she arrives late for work and the hour she spent fantasizing about him has put her job in jeopardy. 

If only she could come up with an alternative to firing…a punishment they might both enjoy…

Randolph Marks, business tycoon by day, dungeon Dom by night, is in a quandary. His favorite employeeis late for work again and he must go through with his threat of retribution. But how to go about it without crossing a line and violating good business practices? He couldn’t possibly get away with spanking Miss Whitman.

Switch (The Trainer) by Kate Richards
Esme Stone’s marriage is on the rocks. Her husband, Rick, has Peter Pan Syndrome to the extreme, partying till all hours and spending every dime he makes. She cooks, cleans, earns the money for their expenses, and takes responsibility for paying the bills. In short, everything. How can she start a family when her husband is a big kid himself? Heart breaking, she considers divorce.One step from walking out, she meets a woman online, then others, who swear a Domestic Discipline agreement saved their marriages. That putting their husbands in charge helped them grow up. In hopeful desperation, Esme approaches Rick with an ultimatum.
Take charge or take a hike.

They jump in with both feet and then come up against a wall. Rick needs help with the discipline elements he must employ. Spank Esme?

Status Update @MariCarr #Review

Some things never change. Others never stay the same. Thank God.

Status Update, Mari Carr

Second Chances, Book 3

Laura Sanders thought post-divorce life would be simple. What a rude awakening to realize that after too many years as a wife and mother, she’s stuck in a rut so deep she’s forgotten how to have fun.

Determined that this year will be different, she sets a New Year’s goal to rediscover the woman she used to be—the one who loved to dance, to laugh, to kiss.

When Bryan Sinclair spots his best friend from high school in the Blue Moon bar, he wonders how the hell he failed to notice her beauty and vitality all those years ago. Laura’s confession that she plans to experience lost opportunities tempts him into joining her on the journey.

Together they make up for lost time, in and out of the bedroom. But there’s one area in which Laura has no plans to change the status quo—her heart. And Bryan has his work cut out convincing her to take another chance. On him. On forever.

Warning: This story contains sex at Rocky Horror, sex at a Jimmy Buffett concert, sex on the stairs, sex on the dining-room table, sex on the dance floor, and even sex in a bed.

  

Review:

Mari Carr writes the kind of story that makes you ditch Black Friday sales and stay curled up in front of the fire!  If you think a series can't possibly be consistently good each and every installment, take a pause and check this Second Chances series.  Book three in the series, Status Update feels like a juicy re-connection with old friends - catching up on the happenings of each woman's personal New Year's resolution.  With this latest addition, Carr once again dares to ask and answer another oldie but a goodie, "What would you do over, if you could have a do-over?"

Laura Sanders has to be one of my favorite characters of all time, for the simple reason that she is so damned relatable.  Her resolution to "find herself" doesn't spawn from some shallow recreate-your-youth wish but an honest yearning for those simple things that bring joy and passion to a desperately lacking life.  How many women wake up and realize they have lost the ability to live?  For Laura, just going out with her girlfriends, dancing and flirting with an old friend are enough to light a spark.  And everyone knows sparks lead to flames!

Bryan Sinclair may not be her old flame, but he sure makes up for lost time. And who wouldn't want a man who loves his daughter, his job and his woman?  The way Bryan sees Laura as a sexy, vibrant woman who is so much more than the girl of his youth - now that's the way a gal wants to be envisioned!  Theirs is a fun romance, a sexy romance, a truly steamy romance.  Watching Laura blossom, reconnect with her children and establish a new relationship post-divorce and garner the respect of her daughter who has frozen her out and her son who has just grown too busy makes the whole picture perfect.  

The frosting on this cake, of course, comes with the continued snippets of the other five women's stories.  From Shelly's physical transformation to Kristen's bickerfest with law partner Jason, the reader becomes completely invested in the family these women create for one another.  And, of course, no family gathering can be complete without a bottle of wine...or three!  Full of frisky frolicking and passionate kisses, Status Update makes you want to pull out your yearbook and find out who YOU left behind!

RATING: Five Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries and the prized Ultimate Indulgence book award!

BUY LINKS: 

Samhain Publishing

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Howling Good Time @MariCarr #REVIEW

Mari Carr has given us a non-furry reason to howl for the Full Moon!

Full Moon, Mari Carr, Samhain Publishing
Second Chances #2
Sometimes it’s not just the tide that rises…
In the two years since her divorce was finalized, Josie Jacobson’s life has become one long, boring routine. Work, home, repeat. She has her hands full as a single parent, and while she’s not looking for a serious relationship, she sure wouldn’t mind getting laid.

When her friend, Zoey, challenges her to make a New Year’s resolution for a second chance at happiness, Josie goes one better and creates the “Howl List”. Every full moon, she will indulge in a different sexual fantasy. Right at the top? Sex without strings.

Fate leads her to the Blue Moon bar in January. After all, what better place to howl? And when she meets Jake Stewart, the sexy bartender, and engages in some red-hot sex with a stranger, her year seems to be off to a great start
At least, until Jake declares he wants all her full moons…

Warning: This is NOT the shifter story you are looking for. While the heroine howls during the full moon, she does it in naked, human-form only. Sorry—no wolves, but there is a really sexy bartender and lots of red-hot fantasies.


REVIEW:
It's New Years Eve and the Wine Girls decide to shake things up a little from their normal Thursday. This year they are making resolutions. Well for divorced mother Josie, that means getting back out there while she is still young enough and flexible enough to get her kink on. She's looking for a little full moon action, her resolution involves a no strings attached sexual encounter each month that she calls her Howl list. What she isn't looking for is love, but Jake may have something to say about that.

Full Moon is a fun sexy story that made me laugh and sweat at the same time. The author takes you on a sexual romp that will leave you breathless. Jake takes control from the first full moon and Josie couldn't be in better hands. Jake's controlling nature really worked for me. Josie's list was a little vague and I liked the way that he made it his while making it all about her.

The Wine Girls remind me so much of my friends and I think that is one of the most appealing things about these stories, they could be anyone, anywhere. The relationships between the ladies is believable and the way that they support each other is great to read.

Ms. Carr has a winning premise here and with her story telling skills I only expect the series to get better with each book. I for one cannot wait for Shelly's book, and I am hoping my girl loses it in a BIG way!

Do yourself a favor and pick-up the Second Chances series and a bottle of wine and spend the day with some great gals!


BUY LINKS
SAMHAIN PUBLISHING
AMAZON
B&N
ALL ROMANCE EBOOKS

RATING: 5 Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries.
 

Fix You #REVIEW

Fix You (Second Chances #1) by Mari Carr is a sweet romance.

What if love can’t heal all wounds?
After too many years of secretly loving her best friend, Zoey realizes she’s been shortchanging herself. It’s time to take action. This New Year’s Eve heralds the year she’s going to tell Rob the truth. Even if he is on the road, reaching for musical stardom with his band.

Her plan is derailed when she discovers a lump in her breast—and it’s not “nothing to worry about”. How can she ask Rob to take a chance on love when her future is so uncertain?

Rob has spent his entire life chasing his dream, but the moment he hears Zoey’s voice on the phone, he realizes he’s been running the wrong race. Zoey never sounds like she’s been crying. Ever. Without a second thought, he books a flight for home, determined to give her everything she needs. A shoulder to cry on, a hand to hold…and nights of intensely emotional, passionate sex.

His biggest challenge, though, is convincing his best friend that he’s in it for the long haul. Because he finally knows what he wants, and it’s not fame and fortune. It’s her—and her love.

Product Warnings
This book runs the emotional gamut between scorching-hot passion and the pain and fear associated with cancer. Keep a box of tissues next to your glass of ice water.

REVIEW
Fix You is a sweet love story that dips into the waters of friendship and love ever so gently. The characters are likable, each set up in the prologue for their own book in the series. The flow was smooth, making the book a quick read. The main characters obviously have a deep connection so it felt right that they finally got together and the flashbacks helped build their relationship.

Since I'm more of a jump-into-the-rough-waters reader girl, I was disappointed by the level of emotion. There was so much potential to go deeper, to dig down into all that gripping reality of their situation, that was just skimmed over. Fix You was good, don't get me wrong - readers will enjoy the book and likely want to continue reading the series.

Fix You is a good read.


RATING
3 Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries
This book was given to us by the author. Many thanks.

Just Friends My Foot

Fix You by Mari Carr

What if love can’t heal all wounds?

Second Chances, Book 1

After too many years of secretly loving her best friend, Zoey realizes she’s been shortchanging herself. It’s time to take action. This New Year’s Eve heralds the year she’s going to tell Rob the truth. Even if he is on the road, reaching for musical stardom with his band.

Her plan is derailed when she discovers a lump in her breast—and it’s not “nothing to worry about”. How can she ask Rob to take a chance on love when her future is so uncertain?

Rob has spent his entire life chasing his dream, but the moment he hears Zoey’s voice on the phone, he realizes he’s been running the wrong race. Zoey never sounds like she’s been crying. Ever. Without a second thought, he books a flight for home, determined to give her everything she needs. A shoulder to cry on, a hand to hold…and nights of intensely emotional, passionate sex.

His biggest challenge, though, is convincing his best friend that he’s in it for the long haul. Because he finally knows what he wants, and it’s not fame and fortune. It’s her—and her love.

Wow! What an amazing love story. I think these two give new meaning to love is right under your nose. It's one thing to finally find love with a co worker you have worked with for a couple of years or someone you went to elementry school with but to have been BEST friends with this person since elementrary school and then been room mates is a whole knew level. I can't even imagin what one would go thru having to face the person you love everyday and they not know. Mind you Rob was on the road but still..... he hadn't always been away.

Another plus to this book was Zoey's wine girls. I look forward to their stories as well,

I give this book 3 chocolate dipped strrawberries and a bottle of wine of course:)

November book club selection - @MariCarr #Fix You # Review

This month's book club selection came to us - literally.  Several Indulgent Bloggers attended Lora Leigh's RAW again this year and one of our favorite events was something a little new and different.  Part Speed Dating, part Round Table discussion - attendees were seated at tables and the authors rotated in five minute spots throughout the room.  Mari Carr plopped down in our empty chair and started chatting with us like long lost friends.  How can you not love that?  Even better was the premise of her latest series: Second Chances.  The story of six women who live in the same apartment complex and their dedication to their wild range of New Year's resolutions. But the deal was sealed when the author told us she had modeled these characters after her best friends - giving them each the happily ever after she would wish for them.  Sigh!  

Fix You

Second Chances, Book 1

What if love can’t heal all wounds?

After too many years of secretly loving her best friend, Zoey realizes she’s been shortchanging herself. It’s time to take action. This New Year’s Eve heralds the year she’s going to tell Rob the truth. Even if he is on the road, reaching for musical stardom with his band.

Her plan is derailed when she discovers a lump in her breast—and it’s not “nothing to worry about”. How can she ask Rob to take a chance on love when her future is so uncertain?

Rob has spent his entire life chasing his dream, but the moment he hears Zoey’s voice on the phone, he realizes he’s been running the wrong race. Zoey never sounds like she’s been crying. Ever. Without a second thought, he books a flight for home, determined to give her everything she needs. A shoulder to cry on, a hand to hold…and nights of intensely emotional, passionate sex.

His biggest challenge, though, is convincing his best friend that he’s in it for the long haul. Because he finally knows what he wants, and it’s not fame and fortune. It’s her—and her love.

Warning: This book runs the emotional gamut between scorching-hot passion and the pain and fear associated with cancer. Keep a box of tissues next to your glass of ice water.

Review:

Mari Carr has ruined me for all other contemporary romance writers!  Completely sold on the premise of the Second Chances series just from the blurb, Fix You kicks off a true emotional roller coaster of a love story.  Gritty and real, so real in fact that parts are actually painful to read through, Carr creates a cast of characters that every reader will want to have over for weekly wine and girls' night!

Zoey's New Year's resolution, like many of her girlfriend's, was to get healthy and take charge of her life. Putting those pesky doctor's appointments off was a critical error.  The lump she finds kicks off every woman's greatest fear and the journey she undertakes is portrayed with sensitivity and stark reality.  

Rob, her rocker roommate, has been around for years, popping in and out of her life. However, when the chips are down, he drops everything to be her rock.  They stumble their way into a scorching, passionate romance that neither was prepared for.  But life is like that - sugar and spice, bitter and sweet - and Carr dares to ask and answer the age old question "Is there ever a good time to fall in love?"

The best part of Carr's characters are their amazing realness - these are no twenty- something virgins with overly dramatized lives.  These women are Everywoman - so easily identifiable: divorced or single parenting, married too young or waited too long, they struggle with weight or money or insecurity.   Their battles are both external and internal.  But more than the love stories provided to them are the moments of friendship and solidarity, support and empowerment they provide to one another.

Lest you think this tale merely a maudlin Terms of Endearment take off - just stop right there!  The intense romance between Rob and Zoey burns hot enough to singe your fingers as you turn from page to page  Amazingly well written, this story grabs the reader by the hand and drags them headfirst into the kind of wild ride that keeps the lights on long past bedtime. Bring tissues and feel free to take a break if necessary but read on because with a simple turn of the page, the fog in your eyes becomes steam on your glasses!  

RATING: Five Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries and the prized Ultimate Indulgence book award!

BUY LINKS: 

Samhain Publishing

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

All Romance eBooks

Kobo

AudioBook #REVIEW: Rock Hard @OliviaCunning

Rock Hard (Sinners on Tour #2) by Olivia Cunning exposes the love story -and a whole lot more- of two people willing to take chances.

An ultimatum can break your heart....

Every night lead singer, Sed Lionheart whips thousands of women into a frenzy with his voice alone. But the stage is the only place Sed feels any passion since he lost Jessica...

If you’re not willing to break all the rules...

It shattered her heart, but law student Jessica broke off her engagement to Sed, determined to be successful on her own terms. But no other man can ever hold a candle to Sed...

Then a chance meeting and tortuously close quarters lead to uncontrollable flares of passion and rediscovery of their unique penchant for public encounters. Now, in addition to the risk of mutual heartbreak every time they get together, they’re in danger of truly scandalous public exposure...

See BACKSTAGE PASS, book #1, REVIEW here.

REVIEW
Oh, the places they can have sex... a restaurant, wave pool, the Eiffel Tower, and more. This book definitely has variety. Sed and Jessica are creative and explosive together. And as much as I didn't much like Sed in the first book, he redeems himself in Rock Hard. Once you learn what makes him click, he's much more lovable. And Jessica is the perfect match for a man like him.

We get to see more interactions of the Sinners with realistic and engaging dialogue that connects readers to the characters. Including them in each book builds the anticipation for their books and develops their rock star world.

Once again, the narrator nailed it. If she doesn't enjoy her job, I don't know who does. Seriously, you have to hear Justine O'Keef read this series... just grab your vibe and don't try listening while running on a treadmill - it could be hazardous to your health.

BOOK RATING
4 Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries

NARRATOR RATING
5 Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries

AudioBook #REVIEW: Backstage Pass @OliviaCunning

Backstage Pass (Sinners on Tour #1) by Olivia Cunning rocks out the beginning of a promising series.

Five stunning guys, one hot woman, and a feverish romance...

For him, life is all music and no play...

When Brian Sinclair, lead songwriter and guitarist of the hottest metal band on the scene, loses his creative spark, it will take nights of downright sinful passion to release his pent-up genius...

She's the one to call the tune...

When sexy psychologist Myrna Evans goes on tour with the Sinners, every boy in the band tries to seduce her. But Brian is the only one she wants to get her hands on...

Then the two lovers' wildly shocking behavior sparks the whole band to new heights of glory... and sin...

REVIEW
Listening to this on audio was almost too much. Where are my oven mitts?? ...because my iPod was smoking during some of these scenes. Not only was the story hot but the narrator got into the story and delivered it as it was meant to be told. Holy Hotness!

The story might sound similar to other rock star romances but the difference is in the characters who break all the stereotypes. The stage has been set for a fabulous series to come. While I'm sure this book would be a good read, I strongly recommend it on audio.

**There were some multiple partner sex scenes but the focus remained on the couple.**

STORY RATING
4 Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries

NARRATION RATING
4 Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries

Fruit Fight Friday

Finally! The mocking has ended. I no longer have to turn my Kindle on and see this series laughing at me because I haven't had time to start it yet. It took me a bit to get into it but once I got started I enjoyed it. I was expecting the story to be more mythology based but I enjoyed it none the less. I am over half way thru the second book in this series and it is completely different from the first one. Stay tuned for that review.


Heart of a Dragon by Gena Showalter

Grace Carlyle's world was about to change . . .

Deep in the jungle on the trail of her missing brother, Grace never expected to find a secret world populated by mythological monsters -- nor guarded by a sword-wielding being whose beauty put mortal men to shame.

Darius en Kragin belongs to a race of shape-shifting warriors sworn to guard Atlantis and kill all travelers who stray within its boundaries. Yet when Grace stumbles into his realm, he finds himself tempted to betray his centuries-old vow.

Now their forbidden love will either bring their worlds together -- or tear them both apart.



I give this book 3 chocolate dipped strawberries this piece of advice that I got from this book.... never take advice from someone who wears leopard print spandex and socializes with mailmen and strippers.
PEACE

#REVIEW: The Beautiful Bastard Series

The Beautiful Bastard series by Christina Lauren is sexy, witty and a complete indulgence. These books aren't a deep emotional story - they're light and fun reads. I enjoyed them on audio (Shout out to Audible.com!) and they were so entertaining.

Beautiful Bastard (Beautiful Bastard, #1)
An ambitious intern. A perfectionist executive. And a whole lot of name calling.

Whip-smart, hardworking, and on her way to an MBA, Chloe Mills has only one problem: her boss, Bennett Ryan. He's exacting, blunt, inconsiderate--and completely irresistible. A Beautiful Bastard.

Bennett has returned to Chicago from France to take a vital role in his family's massive media business. He never expected that the assistant who'd been helping him from abroad was the gorgeous, innocently provocative--completely infuriating--creature he now has to see every day. Despite the rumors, he's never been one for a workplace hookup. But Chloe's so tempting he's willing to bend the rules--or outright smash them--if it means he can have her. All over the office.

As their appetites for one another increase to a breaking point, Bennett and Chloe must decide exactly what they're willing to lose in order to win each other.

Beautiful Bitch (Beautiful Bastard, #1.5)
Picking up where Beautiful Bastard left off, Chloe Mills and Bennett Ryan continue their steamy, combative
relationship.

Just when Chloe’s career starts to take off, Bennett wishes it would all slow down long enough to spend a wild night alone with his girlfriend. But after he refuses to take no for an answer, Chloe and Bennett find themselves with two plane tickets, one French Villa, and a surprising conversation that, predictably, leaves them wrestling under the covers.

Beautiful Stranger (Beautiful Bastard, #2)
A charming British Playboy. A girl determined to finally live. And a secret liaison revealed in all too vivid color. Book two in the NYT Bestselling series.

Escaping a cheating ex, finance whiz Sara Dillon's moved to New York City and is looking for excitement

without a lot of strings attached. So meeting the irresistible, sexy Brit at a dance club should have meant nothing more than a night's fun. But the manner--and speed--with which he melts her inhibitions turns him from a one-time hookup and into her Beautiful Stranger.

The whole city knows Max Stella loves women, not that he's ever found one he particularly wants to keep around. Despite pulling in plenty with his Wall Street bad boy charm, it's not until Sara--and the wild photos she lets him take of her--that he starts wondering if there's someone for him outside of the bedroom.

Hooking up in places where anybody could catch them, the only thing scarier for Sara than getting caught in public is having Max get too close in private.

Beautiful Bombshell (Beautiful Bastard, #2.5)
The gentlemen from Beautiful Bastard, Beautiful Stranger, and Beautiful Player are out for a wild night on The Strip.

When Max, Henry, and Will steal Bennett away for a weekend of shenanigans and strippers in Vegas, the first stop of the night doesn’t go at all as planned. With their scheme for a Guys Weekend completely derailed anyway, Max and Bennett begin to play a wild game of stealth and secrecy in order to have their bombshells all over Sin City.


Beautiful Player (Beautiful Bastard, #3)
A bombshell bookworm. A chronic Casanova. And a lesson in chemistry too scandalous for school.

When Hanna Bergstrom receives a lecture from her overprotective brother about neglecting her social life and burying herself in grad school, she’s determined to tackle his implied assignment: get out, make friends, start dating. And who better to turn her into the sultry siren every man wants than her brother’s gorgeous best friend, Will Sumner, venture capitalist and unapologetic playboy?

Will takes risks for a living, but he’s skeptical about this challenge of Hanna’s…until the wild night his innocently seductive pupil tempts him into bed- and teaches him a thing or two about being with a woman he can’t forget. Now that Hanna’s discovered the power of her own sex appeal, it’s up to Will to prove he’s the only man she’ll ever need.

Beautiful Beginning (Beautiful Bastard, #3.5)
Back when not being able to stand each other also meant not being able to keep their hands off each other in Beautiful Bastard, neither Bennett nor Chloe could have seen this day coming.

An exasperated bride who just wants to elope. A determined groom whose only focus is getting to the wedding night. And—of course—a whole lot of name calling.




SERIES REVIEW
While I liked some of the books more than others, they were all so entertaining and fun. And I mean, laugh out loud fun. These characters are written so well - they're completely charming and likable. Maybe its the fact that its two authors writing together that makes the story so tight but it seems as if there is not a single extra unnecessary word. The flow of the story keeps the reader moving effortlessly towards each conclusion.

I hope these authors give us more - perhaps another series - because I need books like this to lighten my busy, crazy and serious world.

SERIES RATING
5 Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries

Humpday Hello @Gena Showalter, #Wicked Nights

Greetings and salutations my humpday nation! Half way through the week, halfway through the month - and we survived another full moon madness!


Here's to hoping your holidays are planned, your shopping started and plenty of guilty indulgences....indulged in!


In fact, let's indulge in a bit of eye candy, shall we? Mmmmmm, calorie free and so delish!

Gena Showalter, Wicked Nights (Angels of the Dark, #1), Harlequin HQN, June 2012

Leader of the most powerful army in the heavens, Zacharel has been deemed too dangerous, too ruthless, and if he isn't careful, he'll lose his wings. But this warrior with a heart of ice will not be deterred...until a vulnerable human tempts him with a carnal pleasure he's never known before... Accused of a crime she did not commit, Annabelle Miller has spent four years in an institution for the criminally insane. Demons track her every move, and their king will stop at nothing to have her. Zacharel is her only hope for survival, but is the brutal angel with a touch as hot as hell her salvation- or her ultimate damnation?

Gena Showalter has rocked the paranormal romance world for years with her Lords of the Underworld, Atlantis and Alien Huntress series. This new spin off finds readers whisked into the world of Angel warriors and the evil Demon hordes they battle to keep humanity safe.  Dark and gritty, this fast paced thrill ride of a novel guarantees readers burning up the pages!

Annabelle Miller has spent the last four years in a literal and figurative hell - incarcerated in a psychiatric hospital for the crime of killing her parents.  Worse than being unjustly accused, she is molested by her jailers and care providers and all while battling demons no one by she can see.  Her salvation arrives in the form of Zacharel, an angel who leads a band of warrior angels on their last chance at salvation.  Together they battle demons, trying to unravel the mystery of who marked her to become a demon consort.  On the run, they also battle the ever growing attraction between them.  Will they save or damn one another?  

The characters are complex and their back stories are tortured and painful.  The emotional connections the reader makes helps to keep the pages turning while Annabelle and Zacharel work their way through battles both internal and external, dancing around their attraction and all the while trying to solve the mystery of Annabelle's parents murder and her demon marking. The story is well written, intricately crafted and requires some attention to all the small details, as do many of Showalter's stories.  Having the band of warriors reconnect with several of the Lords of the Underworld and their mates throughout the story really gave it another dimension and made for some great snarky moments!  

The romance begins quite slowly and, while sexy, doesn't cross into erotic for a good while. It makes sense though if you consider that Zacharel has been a celibate angel for millenia and Annabelle has been incarcerated since she was sixteen and was abused during her hospitalization.  In fact, for all their obstacles, the romance aspect is emotionally very rich and compelling - they are truly deserving of those moments of happiness and bliss.  

If you like your angels to have a sensual side and your heroines to kick ass, Wicked Nights will have you staying up past your bedtime and completely unrepentant the next day!  (While you do not have to read the entire Lords of the Underworld series to start this one - several of the character connections and interactions will mean more if you do - and considering how smokin' those Demon filledpossessed hotties are, why wouldn't you would be the question!)

RATING: Four Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries and a chocolate chip cookie fed to you by one wicked hot angel!


                                                              

#REVIEW: Breaking The Storm

Breaking the Storm (Credence Curse #1) by Sedona Venez mixes the supernatural, rock stars and sexy sex in a delicious combination.

I wanted Knox. There was no need to deny that fact.

Knox was the type of guy you gravitated to, who stood out in the crowd. It wasn't just his classically good-looking features and perpetual five o’clock shadow. It was his raw energy that entranced me, that made me feel like a giggly, fumbling high school girl, happy to be in his presence.

Yes, there’s no denying it, front man Knox Gunner was a sexy badass.

It didn't matter that he initially thought I was some bored, rich girl trying to live out some wild fantasy of being with a starving musician. It was uncomplicated and that's what we both wanted. At least that's what I convinced myself. I wasn't ready to admit to myself that my feelings for Knox were getting dangerously deep—waiting to lay siege on my heart. I was falling for him… and this was dangerous. The rules were clear: falling in love would obligate me to expose what I truly was, setting in motion his slow march to death.

**Mature Content Warning**

18+ for language, and adult situations.

REVIEW
Breaking The Storm was a good story with a unique premise. The plot moved swiftly and grabbed me right from the start. The lore that was intertwined into the plot kept me interested, wondering just how it was going to play out for Knox and Stormy. What I couldn't figure out though was how she, given all her fae powers, didn't know he was also an Other. There were a few little quirks like this in the book that just made me wonder if pieces of the story could've been sorted a bit more.

My major concern with the book was the introduction of BDSM. It really wasn't necessary and didn't play any role in the book. I love dirty talk (like any red-blooded American woman) but the talk in this book was a turn-off. It just came out as mean-spirited. The scenes also bothered me in that, given Stormy's profession, she should've known protocol better than she exhibited.

Readers will enjoy the nice, tidy ending and the HEA. Knox and Stormy were definitely a magnetic coupling.

RATING
3 Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries
This book was provided through NetGalley. Many thanks.

Friend of Fashion Friday

I'm extremely cold! Ok now that I have shared that I can move on. This week I enjoyed having only only one sport to keep up with. Of course I felt like I was forgetting something and I had this stuff called free time in the evening. What's that??? I guess there is a plus to cold weather. It means the beginning of the holiday season, movie watching (did you go see Mortal Instruments back in August?) and book reading. The following would be a great book series to start with........




Vampires, Scones and Edmund Herondale (#3 The Bane Chronicles) by Cassandra Clare
When immortal warlock Magnus Bane attends preliminary peace talks between the Shadowhunters and the Downworlders in Victorian London, he is charmed by two very different people: the vampire Camille Belcourt and the young Shadowhunter, Edmund Herondale. Will winning hearts mean choosing sides?













Once again number 3 in this series was a complete joy to read. Made my day laying on the couch more awesome. I'm loving Magnus's eye for fashion. I would love to just sit and people watch with him. The next time I see a fashion faux pas I'm going to follow Magnus's line of thought...."I am prepared to charitably believe your were drunk when you got dressed". Which goes along with my favorite piece of fashion advice "Just because they make it in your size doesn't mean you should wear it". I can't tell you how many times I've bought something got it home and put it on and then thought to myself this is not a good idea! Magnus also shares his rules to live by and Edmund shares his view on marriage..."Why have just one bonbon when you can have the whole box". Wise words from wise men? Maybe,maybe not.

I give this book 4 chocolate dipped strawberries and a latte to go with the scone.

PEACE

Ten Tiny Breaths... Seize them. Feel them. Love them. #REVIEW it.

Ten Tiny Breaths (Ten Tiny Breaths #1) by K.A. Tucker squeezes your heart and shows you the meaning of hope.

Ten tiny breaths….Seize them. Feel them. Love them.

Kacey Cleary’s whole life imploded four years ago in a drunk-driving accident. Now she’s working hard to

bury the pieces left behind—all but one. Her little sister, Livie. Kacey can swallow the constant disapproval from her born-again aunt Darla over her self-destructive lifestyle; she can stop herself from going kick-boxer crazy on Uncle Raymond when he loses the girls’ college funds at a blackjack table. She just needs to keep it together until Livie is no longer a minor, and then they can get the hell out of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

But when Uncle Raymond slides into bed next to Livie one night, Kacey decides it’s time to run. Armed with two bus tickets and dreams of living near the coast, Kacey and Livie start their new lives in a Miami apartment complex, complete with a grumpy landlord, a pervert upstairs, and a neighbor with a stage name perfectly matched to her chosen “profession.” But Kacey’s not worried. She can handle all of them. What she can’t handle is Trent Emerson in apartment 1D.

Kacey doesn’t want to feel. She doesn’t. It’s safer that way. For everyone. But sexy Trent finds a way into her numb heart, reigniting her ability to love again. She starts to believe that maybe she can leave the past where it belongs and start over. Maybe she’s not beyond repair.

But Kacey isn’t the only one who’s broken. Seemingly perfect Trent has an unforgiveable past of his own; one that, when discovered, will shatter Kacey’s newly constructed life and send her back into suffocating darkness.

Breathe, I hear my mother’s voice say.
Ten tiny breaths.
It doesn’t help.
It never fucking helps, dammit!
I’m shaking all over as I sink further and further into the dark abyss where I go when people I care about die.
I can’t seem to get out of it.
I’m drowning under the weight of it.

REVIEW
The story is raw and emotional, from the beginning until the very end. With so much drama, the pacing in the beginning is slow but the details are necessary to set the stage. Torn between feeling sympathy for Kacey and being frustrated by her, the story is heart-wrenching and then shocking and then gut-wrenching and then finally hopeful. This is a beautifully written story about a young woman in the midst of overcoming the ultimate loss and betrayal.

It won't be for everyone because it's not sweet and cute and wrapped up with a little bow. It's real and raw and will most definitely leave you pondering it for days after you finish reading the final page.

RATING
4 Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries
This book was provided through NetGalley.

Humpday hello #Lost in You

He’s faced down every demon…except one fast-talking Southern girl.

Petal, Georgia, Book 2

It hasn’t been easy for Joe Harris to live down his not-so-honorable past, but the military made him a better man. He’s determined to make up for past mistakes, starting with coming home to care for his ailing father.

Things are going as planned until his best friend’s little sister comes barreling into his life. Funny, quick talking, smart, beautiful, she’s a temptation he tries—and fails—to resist.

When Beth Murphy hears Joe is back in town, she makes sure she’s the first on his welcoming committee. Though he tries to pretend he’s gruff and unworthy of her, she sees the man who spoils his dog, who touches her like she’s precious. Cherished. But there’s one wall she can’t break down—the truth about what’s happening at home.

On the night the nature of his father’s illness becomes painfully, publicly apparent, Joe does the right thing—push Beth as far away as possible. But if he thought she’d go away quietly, he’s about to learn she’s made of sterner stuff.

REVIEW:

Take me back to Petal, Georgia. I will always make time for a trip to read about the Chase boys and their family and friends! Lauren Dane has mastered the art of creating compelling characters - not only central but secondary ones who's tales beg to be told. And when she does, it's magic - a tale that is passionate and emotionally captivating, well written and wholly satisfying. 

Lost in You finds Beth Murphy setting her sights on the newly returned Joe Harris. He's less than perfect, sullen and gruff, hardened by his upbringing and military service. His return home to be near his family and his soft spot for his pooch speak volumes about the kind of male he really is - the kind Beth really wants. And when the Chases know love is in the air, there's no stopping the meddling and maneuvering available to make it happen!

The honest portrayal of Joe's father's illness, his cognitive decline and his family's need to cover was sensitive and much appreciated. That sense of community and support that readers find in returning to Dane's world of Petal, GA factors in on why we come back for more.The sexy romance and emotional highs and lows are precisely what we expect from Lauren Dane stories - and thankfully, blissfully we are never disappointed! 

Another great addition to a series I highly recommend be read in it's entirety (you will fall so deeply in love with Petal you wont be able to read them out of order)! For those who like a brawny hero who's good with his hands, loves his country, his family and his dog and a heroine who knows how to fight fair and fight dirty, come get Lost In You! 

RATING: Four Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries.

Hidden Passions @EMMAHOLLY1 #REVIEW

Long Live the Queen....All Hail Queen Emma!!

Hidden Passions, Emma Holly
Hidden #7
Sexy fireman Chris Savoy has been closeted all his life. He’s a weretiger in Resurrection, and no shifters are more macho than that city’s. Due to a terrible tragedy in his past, Chris resigned himself to hiding what he is—a resolve that’s threatened the night he lays eyes on cute gay werecop Tony Lupone.

Tony might be a wolf, but he wakes longings Chris finds difficult to deny. When a threat to the city throws these heroes together, not giving in seems impossible. Following their hearts, however, means risking everything...





Review:
It's no secret that I am a fan of Emma Holly, I have professed my love for her books on this blog a few times, but seriously they are just that damn good! The world that she has created in the Hidden series has just enough mundane things in it to feel real but the otherworldly creatures are what give it it's originality.

To say that I have been waiting patiently for Tony's book would be a flat out lie! I have been hoping for the hottie cop to find his forever guy since I finished book one. I really thought after some things that happened in Hidden Crimes that we might be getting a Tony/Liam hook-up but that is not the way things played out. But that's OK, because that means that I still have Liam's book to look forward to.

Were-tiger Chris was grrrreat! He was so completely sexy and the first time that he and Tony hooked up I loved the way that he took care of Tony. I hated that he felt so afraid to come out and be his true self.

I liked that Tony was laid back and didn't seem to let it bother him when people made comments, but when push came to shove he stepped up in a big way. Every book that I have read in this series that Tony has been in, he has always seemed to be the heart of the team.

I think it's important when you have a series like this that you have a strong cast of secondary characters, some old and some new. Ms. Holly has a special gift of being able to blend these characters into the story line adding complexity in the simplest of ways. With each book that passes the characters become more real because of the addition of family and children, so we the reader feel like we are part of their lives and are watching them grow. For me, I know it adds to my anticipation for the next book and keeps me invested in the series as a whole.

I am eagerly looking forward to the next book in the Hidden series and hope we get to spend some time under the sea, if not the the were-seals then with a new species. I also hope we get to spend more time with the dragons!

I highly recommend this book if you are a lover of great stories that have some HEAT!



BUY LINKS:
Smashwords
All Romance Ebooks
Amazon
B&N

RATING: 5 Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries.  This book was given to us by the author. Many thanks. 

Trouble in High Heels, Christina Dodd

Description:

New York Times bestselling author Christina Dodd delivers her unique brand of romantic suspense in this smoldering tale of a man who’s not what he seems and a woman who’s all trouble…

Brandi Michaels moved to Chicago to be with her fiancé—only to discover he’d hopped a flight to Vegas to marry his new girlfriend. So she pawns her engagement ring, buys herself a ridiculously expensive pair of shoes, and spends one sultry night in the arms of a gorgeous Italian stranger named Roberto Bartolini, convinced she’s found the perfect revenge…

But when Brandi returns home, she’s shocked to discover that her apartment’s been ransacked and she’s the mark for a killer. Just as troubling, she realizes her new lover is more a stranger than she thought. Finding herself entangled in a web of danger, Brandi has no choice but to turn to Roberto—a man who’s destined to be either her savior or her downfall. But one thing’s for sure: she’s not going down without a fight…

TROUBLE IN HIGH HEELS won the Waldenbooks Award for Bestselling Romantic Suspense!

Review:

The description above is good but it doesn't do the story justice.  I have listened to this book on Audible multiple times because I enjoyed it so much.  Roberto is a Italian Count and is a very intriguing character.  Brandi is the product of a broken and home and a desire to prove that she is not the dumb blond her father perceives her to be.  At the start of the story she is beginning a new job at a law firm having recently graduated.  It is this job that complicates her one night stand as she is placed as part of the council defending Roberto from charges as a International Jewel Thief.  Her life quickly spins out of control when the judge places Roberto under house arrest with her as his guard.  Forced to spend every minute together and work through life's challenges their one night stand quickly blooms into more.  The chemistry between them is off the charts but the challenges they both face to make the relationship work are equally high.  Between the charges against him, the ethical concerns about their relationship and Brandi's past relationship pain's, they have a great deal to overcome.  The thrill is that they are both strong characters and the challenges are half the fun.  This is one for the keep and read/listen to again shelf!  Happy Reading.

Excerpt:

TROUBLE IN HIGH HEELS is the start of the exciting contemporary series, the Fortune Hunter series -- and a romantic suspense about a crazy family, a wild affair … and the jewel heist of the century.



If Brandi's caller ID had been working, she would never have picked up the phone.

But it wasn't, and she did, and that just figured, because it had been one hell of a week.

Not that Brandi hadn't expected it. Anybody with a lick of sense could predict that moving from Nashville to Chicago in the dead of winter would be difficult, and Brandi prided herself on her good sense.

But she'd picked the coldest weather Chicago had seen for a century, which made the pipes in her apartment building freeze, which meant that her movers had had nothing to drink, not that that had stopped them from using her toilet, which for the lack of water didn't flush, and using it with such typical male abandon that she didn't dare sit on it even in the most dire circumstances because there was no way to clean the seat. And one guy caught her talking to herself while she tried to wipe the seat with a wadded-up Kleenex out of her purse, and the son-of-a-bitch had the gall to inch away as if she were crazy.

She didn't know anybody in this town except Alan and Mr. McGrath -- for years now she'd called him by the honorary title of Uncle Charles -- but where were they while she crammed her entire life into a one-bedroom apartment?

In a lovely piece of irony, the icy roads had sent the truck carrying her new oversized sofa and armchair careening into an empty Marble Slab Ice Cream Shop. The delivery men wrestled the oversized furniture up to her four floor apartment by tilting it sideways in the freight elevator, a maneuver that made her cover her eyes and pray to the gods of furniture placement.

Her entreaties must have worked, because they planted the sofa and the chair in front of the small propane fireplace, put the ottoman between them, and moved her end tables into place. The sofa wasn't damaged. The colors and fabrics were the way she ordered them. It was only later that night when she stopped unpacking long enough to drop into the chair, put her feet up on the ottoman and look, really look at the furniture, that she realized the sofa was eighteen inches too short.

She'd received the love seat, not the full-sized sofa she'd ordered. Now she had to wait another six weeks until the furniture she had actually ordered arrived, and for a few minutes it seemed as if that sucked more than anything else that had happened in this horrific, endless week.

Until the phone call she picked up because she thought, honestly thought, Alan was calling to tell her he was coming over at last.

Instead, it was her mother. "Well? How did the move go?" As always, Mother sounded like a cheerleader bolstering her team's spirits before the big game.

Brandi stared around at the endless parade of boxes. Empty boxes piled catawampus against the wall. Flattened boxes stacked by the door. Boxes, far too many boxes, still taped shut and scratched with black magic marker. An endless supply of boxes, no stereo system in sight, and pizza for dinner again. "I've been unpacking for a day and a half and I haven't seen Alan. Not once."

"Now, sweetheart, I'm sure he's busy. After all, he is a physician." Mother's Tennessee accent sounded soft and tender.

Brandi didn't know why she'd bothered to complain. It was pure exhaustion and loneliness that made her give into her irritation and criticism her fiancé to, of all people, her mother. "He's not a physician. He's a resident."

"That poor boy. I saw on Sixty Minutes how those hospital administrators work their residents ninety-six hours at a time."

For once, Brandi wished her mother would take her side. About anything. "He hasn't called, either. He may have emailed, but I don't get connected to the internet until next week."

"I hope you didn't call him. A nagging woman is an unpleasant creature." Tiffany was the personification of nineteen-fifty's Southern womanhood.

"Yes, Mother, I know, although if he'd remember me, I wouldn't be seized by this overwhelming desire to nag him." Brandi scratched her nails against the grain of the fabric on the couch, watched as the brocade rose in four welts, and wondered which one of them she wanted to scratch -- her mother or her fiancé. "But I'd like to point out that I'm a lawyer who relocated from a lovely, soft, warm city to be close to my fiancé. I'm about to start my first full-time job at a major Chicago law firm and I'm going to be working all the time. He could at least call to see if I've frozen to the side of the dumpster taking out my trash."

Mother's voice took on that pious tone that made Brandi want to shriek. "To keep her man, a woman always has to give one hundred and ten percent."

"How did that work out for you?"

The sound of her mother's shocked inhalation brought Brandi to her senses. She loved her mother, she really did, but Mother had been Daddy's first trophy wife and he'd left her and the quietly anguished eleven-year-old Brandi for his twenty-three year old secretary and a new baby, a son guaranteed to give him what he needed -- a football-uniformed mirror image of his youthful self.

"I'm sorry, Mother. I'm a bitch."

"No, you're not."

"I'm pretty sure I am." Not always a bad thing, in Brandi's opinion. "Let's face it, Daddy has proved he doesn't know what he wants. Not in a wife. Not in his kids."

"Your father is a good man." No matter how much Daddy screwed Tiffany over, she never said a nasty word about him.

That was why Brandi had gotten engaged to Alan. He might not be a man of fire and passion, but he was steady and dependable -- or he had been until she needed him.

And Mother was right about that, too. He probably had a whopper of an excuse. But Brandi -- who'd broken a fingernail down to the quick, whose deodorant had failed hours ago, who was dehydrated and didn't dare drink her bottled water because she couldn't flush -- wasn't in the mood to hear it right now.

"Alan'll be by soon." Mother used a conciliatory tone. "Maybe he'll come tonight to take you out to dinner."

"I don't want him to take me out. I want him to help me unpack." Yep. Definitely bitchy.

"No, go out! You should seize every chance for a good time right now while you're young." About this, Tiffany sounded fierce.

And that made Brandi squirm with guilt. The reason Tiffany hadn't been out there kicking up her heels was because she'd been trying -- not succeeding, but trying -- to make a living for Brandi. "Mother, you're not exactly old. You're not even fifty. You could get out there and have a good time."

"Men my age want women your age, and men who want women my age are too old to have a good time. In every way." Tiffany's voice was droll. "But actually, I've been thinking …"

"What?"

Tiffany hesitated.

"What?" It wasn't like her mother to be coy. Quite the opposite.

"I wish I could be there to help you!" Tiffany burst out. "I miss you!"

Brandi would have sworn that wasn't what Tiffany intended to say. But she was too tired, too dirty, too disheveled to dig for the truth. "I haven't lived at home for seven years. You can't miss me that much."

"I know, but it's different with you so far away. When you were at Vanderbilt you were right across town. Now …"

"I'm okay, Mother. Really. I'm good at taking care of myself." A lot better than you are at taking care of yourself.

"I know. You are capable. I'm proud of you." But Tiffany sounded fretful. "I just wish Alan was there. He's so reliable."

Except now. "Tomorrow night, he's going to take me to a party at Uncle Charles's." And if he did this disappearing act and didn't show for that, she didn't care what excuse he came up with, she was going to kill him.

"A party?" Tiffany inhaled with excitement. "At Charles's home? Oh, that is a showcase. He recently had the foyer remodeled. I wish I could see it! Do you like Charles?"

Her mother's leaps from one subject to another made Brandi blink. "Sure. I've liked Uncle Charles since he used his legal expertise to wring child support out of Daddy."

"Your father was confused by that woman he married."

"So we're hoping he's pussy whipped instead of morally corrupt?"

"Don't use that term, Brandi. It's not at all attractive in a young woman."

"Yes, ma'am." Interesting that when Tiffany got motherly, Brandi felt more secure.

"Tell me all about the party."

"It's a charity ball to raise money for the museum. There'll be a silent auction and I'm sitting at the McGrath and Lindoberth corporate table." Of course she was. She might be new, but she'd earned straight A's out of Vanderbilt Law and that was no small feat. She'd won this job fair and square.

"What are you wearing?" Tiffany asked.

Uh-oh. "That black sheath I bought for parties at the law school."

Tiffany didn't say Oh, but you bought it at Ann Taylor or, But that's two years old. Instead she said, "Darling, black? That's so New York. Show those Chicago lawyers how good a Southern girl can look! Wear red. Men adore red."

"I don't care what men adore," Brandi snapped, then took a long breath. Tiffany had never changed her mind. She'd lived through fourteen years of miserable existence and she still thought a man was a woman's best friend -- a man and the gifts she could get from him.

"But the sheath doesn't show off your figure."

"Thank God. Do you know how hard it is to dress for business with a chest like mine?"

"Women pay good money every day for a chest like yours. Marilyn Monroe made a fortune with a chest like yours. With a figure like yours!" Tiffany laughed, that kind of throaty purr that said she knew a lot about how men and women played.

Unwillingly, Brandi laughed, too. It was true. If she hadn't become a lawyer, she could have been a Las Vegas showgirl. She was all hourglass figure. During interviews, she'd mashed down her bosom so the women wouldn't immediately hate her and the guys would look at her face. "I can't afford a new dress right now. I bought furniture" -- furniture that was the wrong damned size -- "and paid first and last month's rent on the apartment. And starting this month I'm paying Daddy back for my student loans." Before Tiffany could object again, Brandi added, "Besides, with Alan there I don't need to worry about catching a man."

"No, but you need to make sure his gaze is riveted to you and he never leaves your side for fear that the other men will whisk you off!"

Brandi laughed again, but wryly. "Alan's stable. He's professional. He knows he can depend on me. He's just not the jealous type."

"Given the right incentive, every man is that type."

No use arguing. Tiffany did know her men. "But I don't want that type. I consider marriage a meshing of equals, a … a calm in the midst of the storm of modern life." Brandi's modern life -- a life whose touchstones are good sense, moderation in all things, and a logical progression toward her goals of not being like her mother, proving her father wrong, paying back her debt, and being a model citizen. She wanted nothing about Desperate Housewives to taint her.

"Good heavens," Mother said blankly. "You don't mean that you and Alan are calm in bed?"

"No, don't be ridiculous." Although since Alan had entered medical school he was brief and businesslike and lately, on the infrequent weekends he managed to get off, too tired to perform at all. "We have our moments. But there's no shrieking fights or huge dramas."

"You're annoyed with him now, but you're not going to shriek at him?"

"How often have you seen me shriek?"

"Never." In a tone that indicated total cluelessness, Mother said, "You were almost frighteningly calm, even as a child."

Because her parents were playing out the big dramas. "When I see Alan I'm going to explain that he needs to be more sensitive to my needs." Brandi injected humor into her voice. "You can't have it both ways, Mother. I can't be sensible enough to know that he probably is too busy to remember that I moved this week and cherish such a huge passion for him I can't survive without his very presence."

"No, I … no, I suppose not. It's just that those first few years when your father and I got together in bed we erupted into flames --"

Brandi pulled the phone away from her ear. "Euw, Mother, don't tell me that!"

"It seems so early in your relationship to be so cavalier." Tiffany's voice brightened. "And that's why you need a new dress!"

Brandi sighed deeply. "I'll think about it." For about three seconds.

"Get your hair highlighted, too, honey. You've gone a kind of mousy brown."

"I'd call it dishwater blonde." Brandi fingered the split ends -- Tiffany would have a spasm.

"Dishwater blonde is just as attractive as it sounds. Get highlights."

Then, for once in his life, Alan came to the rescue. He beeped in and Brandi got to say, "Let me take this call, Mother. This could be him!" She cut Tiffany off in the middle of her goodbyes and said to Alan, "Where have you been? I've been worried about you!" Which sounded better than I've been irritated at you.

"I'm in Las Vegas." His normally flat Massachusetts accent vibrated some violent emotion.

"Las Vegas?" She was so dumb. She didn't suspect a thing. "What happened? Is someone sick or something?"

"Sick? Is that your best guess?" So much for the calm in the storm. Alan was shouting. "My girlfriend's pregnant. I just got married. And this is all your fault."

RATING: 5 Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries. Many thanks.