REVIEW: Release Me (Stark Trilogy #1)

Release Me (Stark Trilogy #1), by J. Kenner
Publish Date: January 1, 2013
Publisher: Bantam
Format: audiobook, purchased
Genre: adult contemporary romance
To Buy: Amazon * Barnes & Noble
 
Rating: 4 STARS

(From Goodreads) He was the one man I couldn’t avoid. And the one man I couldn’t resist.

Damien Stark could have his way with any woman. He was sexy, confident, and commanding: Anything he wanted, he got. And what he wanted was me.

Our attraction was unmistakable, almost beyond control, but as much as I ached to be his, I feared the pressures of his demands. Submitting to Damien meant I had to bare the darkest truth about my past—and risk breaking us apart.

But Damien was haunted, too. And as our passion came to obsess us both, his secrets threatened to destroy him—and us—forever.

Release Me is another book that's been on my TBR for an unreasonably long time. I had just finished reading Grey, and then re-reading the entire Fifty Shades series, and the Stark Trilogy is one that many people have told me to try if I enjoyed books like FSOG. Now, I know - most people HATE when others say... "If you liked Fifty Shades of Grey, then you'll love..." I even get why. But, that doesn't take away from the fact that they're probably right. 

Release Me is no FSOG - I'll say that right now. I can definitely see the similarities, but it just didn't have the same feel to me. It's not a bad thing or a good thing. Well, I guess it is a good thing. It means that the Stark Trilogy can stand on its own feet. It has its own merits and flaws and individuality in spite of the correlations that can be drawn between the two series. 

Damien Stark is stupid rich and extremely secretive and enigmatic. And, he's shadowed and a little dark, too. It's all these things that drawn Nikki Fairchild to him like a moth to a flame. I get that - those tall, dark and mysterious types are completely fascinating to we females. Apparently, those characteristics blind her good sense, because their first meeting at a party was anything but above board. Damien was a forward ass to Nikki, and what was intensely frustrating to me was that she allowed it. 

Heroines like that frustrate the hell out of me. I know that we're supposed to understand that Nikki was very affected by this man, and that caused her to perhaps act out of character. But, still. I wanted her to find her lady balls, grab them like a redneck and give Damien the finger. Instead, she sputtered around, feigned indignance, and then proceeded to answer his all-too-personal questions anyway. *rolls eyes* 

Despite my frustration at Nikki, I really did enjoy this book. Damien's secrets are still locked up tight by the end of the book, and those alone would cause me to pick up the next book. It's clear they are doozies, and I'm dying to know what happened to him in his past. 

Nikki's secrets come out in Release Me, and her upbringing and the fall-out from it broke my heart. After everything that happened, I couldn't believe that Nikki still communicated with her mother at all. And, when Damien found out, he was amazing. I fell a little in love with him in that scene. 

Nikki and Damien are definitely a hot couple. Although Nikki resists him for awhile, for her own reasons, it was inevitable that they would eventually give in to their intense attraction to one another. Damien initiates things under the pretense of asking Nikki to sit for a painting for his new house. A nude painting. and everything after that is history. 

At the end, everything is still very much up in the air for Damien and Nikki and for their very fragile peace. I'm sure it will be disturbed again soon. Should be fun.

REVIEW: Wanted (Most Wanted #1)

Wanted (Most Wanted #1), by J. Kenner
Published January 7, 2014
Publisher: Bantam
Format: e-book, obtained from NetGalley
Genre:  adult contemporary/erotic romance
To Buy: Amazon * Barnes & Noble
 
Rating:  4 STARS

(From Goodreads) He is everything I crave, all I desperately want—and he is everything I can’t have.

Evan Black embodies my every fantasy. He is brilliant, fierce, and devastatingly handsome. But he is also headstrong, dangerous, and burdened with secrets.

My family warned me to stay away, that I could never handle Evan’s dark dealings or scarred past. Maybe I should have listened. Maybe I should have run. But our desire is undeniable, and some temptations you just can’t fight.

And from the moment we touch—the passion between us consuming us both—I know that I will never be the same. 

J. Kenner introduces readers to a hot new trio in the first of her new Most Wanted series, Wanted. Evan, Tyler and Cole give new meaning to the phrase "bad boys." Mostly because in many aspects, they really are bad. They've dallied in illegal operations, and their motives in the past have been questionable. The FBI is sniffing around their business ventures and they each keep a lot of secrets. And, they all seem quite unbothered by most of it. Their methods have proven very fruitful - they're living the highlife, not wanting for anything. Except, we find out that Evan Black really does want  something that he thinks he can't have.

Angelina Raine has wanted Evan ever since laying her eyes on him at the tender age of 16. He, Tyler and Cole were her beloved uncle's proteges, and after she started hanging around her uncle a lot following the tragic death of her older sister, Lina spent a lot of time around the three "knights." It made her crush on Evan even more unbearable, especially since all three of them viewed her as a kid sister.

Now, Lina is 23 and spends most of her life pretending. She pretends she's prim, proper and subdued. She pretends she loves politics as much as her sister. She pretends she really likes her boring FBI agent boyfriend. She pretends she doesn't still want Evan more than her next breath.

And, then, she decides she's done pretending. She wants to fly.

There was a rather melancholy tone over the whole book. It begins at a funeral. And both Lina's and Evan's pasts are full of tragic events. The chemistry between these two is palpable, and the constant denial of it is maddening and more than a little sad. The reader feels and knows that if they could just get over their self-deprecation and act on what each of them really wants, they could both find the peace and hapiness that seems to be constantly just out of reach.

I loved the sorta spy-games element that's thrown in. It adds an extra level of suspense and danger. There are twists and turns that made for an exciting final 25%.

I just love that, although J. Kenner writes ridiculously hot and sexy scenes, they don't flood the pages such that we lose the plot or forget the motivations behind what Lina and Evan are doing. There's a good balance of sex and story, and I very much appreciate that.

I am very much looking forward to Tyler's and Cole's stories in the Most Wanted series (and hopefully, updates on Lina and Evan too!).