Take the Heat: recommended anthology + giveaway

I'm so happy I could read this anthology of hot novellas. From the very start, I loved the theme and I couldn't resist the temptation ;o)

Totally worth it. This bundle comes full of stories with original plots, interesting characters and steamy scenes that cater to all kinds of naughty but sexy little kinks.

A tiny work of art, this novella by Sky Warren. The Magnolia Hotel is too short, but it's beautifully full of emotion, sensuality and romantic gesture.

I always thought that blackmailing a helpless woman into having illicit intimacy with a man who's not afraid to use his power is wrongfully erotic. Mind you, only if there is no pain involved and if there's love at the end of that twisted tunnel. Fortunately, this story captures the difficult magic of this scenario to perfection. I loved the fact that this couple-in-the-making knew each other form the past, that they share unfinished emotions. 

She's trying to save her idiotic brother from a criminal revenge, he's not against coercing the little heroine into pleasuring him despite her negative opinion of him. Too much heat and angst ensue, and the author manages to be arousing, meaningful and romantic in just a few pages. Really loved it!

A detective is about to be interviewed by a journalist on criminal sexual behaviour in Unlawful Seduction by Pam Godwin. The author plays with the law and delivers a few plot twists that made my eyes go wide. I admit one of those twists cut my mood short but I suppose it could have the opposite effect on others.

Sheri Savill – Slipknot, forceful bondage for a smartass thief with a different ending. I liked the beginning, very exciting.

Cynthia Richards – Captivated, a gorgeous and maddeningly short encounter between a prisoner and his female marshal taking him to a low-security prison. Oh, the things that can happen on the road!

Shoshanna Evers – This Might Hurt A Bit, this was so funny! A robery gone bad or kinky bad or too good to be true but happy about it. You will find a sexy calendar, a brave woman with a practical mind, and a young desperate man who's about to have this butt kicked in a most arousing way.

Candy Quinn – The Bombshell, what is it about a hard, badass prisoner that makes a good woman squirm? Maybe she's not so prim and proper after all because the chemistry in this tale is unlawfully hot. I loved how naughty, perverted it was. Specially because of the ending which deserved a few more sentences to make it more rewarding.

Tamsin Flowers – Playing with Fire, OMG. This is amazing. Again we have this effective ruse of getting two strangers together by blackmail. In this case, Cassandra is helping her sister out of drugs by agreeing to prostitute herself in her place. But oh how she takes control of this horrible situation. I loved it so much that I wished the novella led to a full-length novel.

Elizabeth Coldwell – Disposing of Donnie, such a crafty twist this one is loaded with that I had to laugh at the end. A marriage is always dissolved by death, and sometimes Mike helps bring it along more quickly than nature deems necessary. All for a good price. Hot, quirky and packed with poetic justice. Very nice.

Audrey Lusk – Surprise Witness, two lawyers and a badass prisoner in a small room? This is too wicked to tell, but has it own brand of dirty sexiness that will awe and bewilder many a reader.

Trent Evans – Last Day, a very intense and erotic tale of a dom and his blackmailed submissive. Harsh but fulfilling.

Giselle Renarde – Acquitted, a weird story that walks on the edge of fetish. I wouldn't like to be in the shoes of a naive girl whose boyfriend had been accused of heinous crimes. Despite the weird sensation of not knowing, or perhaps suspecting the truth, it's well written and provokes an eerie sense of intimacy.

Take the Heat

by Skye Warren

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The ultimate bad boys, criminals capture our attention and awaken our darkest desires. Celebrate the illicit in this romantic suspense anthology, where handcuffs are used for more than play. These stories are shocking, sexy, and thought-provoking.

In New York Times Bestselling Author Skye Warren’s Magnolia Hotel, meet the heroine who pays her brother’s debt to a loan shark—who happens to be her childhood crush. Find out if the jury made the right decision in Acquitted by award-winning author Giselle Renarde. Explore a dark and sensual psychology with New York Times Bestselling Author Pam Godwin in Unlawful Seduction.

Ride the edge of desire and see if you can TAKE THE HEAT…

Skye Warren – Magnolia Hotel

Cynthia Richards – Captivated

Pam Godwin – Unlawful Seduction

Sheri Savill – Slipknot

Shoshanna Evers – This Might Hurt A Bit

Candy Quinn – The Bombshell

Tamsin Flowers – Playing with Fire

Elizabeth Coldwell – Disposing of Donnie

Audrey Lusk – Surprise Witness

Trent Evans – Last Day

Giselle Renarde – Acquitted

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EXCERPT

FROM “MAGNOLIA HOTEL” BY SKYE WARREN

Maybe Liam still had that spark of humanity, of compassion, I’d once loved as a child. And even if I knew my brother was partly to blame for his situation, I couldn’t leave him to the wolves. Namely, one wolf. Liam.

I turned to my childhood friend who looked so different now with the glint of scruff on his face, with a bend in his nose where it had been broken. He looked some much more distinguished. In fact, he looked intimidating.

“Please let him go. Even if he… I know what he did. But he’s my brother. I can’t leave here without him. Take the two thousand. I’ll get you more, soon. I promise you. Just don’t hurt him.”

“Do you know how much he owes me, Grace?”

I swallowed. “Five thousand dollars?”

His face pulled into a slight grimace. He sighed. “Fifteen.”

I stood there, stunned. Unable to gasp or even breathe. Fifteen thousand dollars. I would never have that much money, not ever. But he was my brother.

“Please,” I whispered, reduced to begging.

Liam looked away, and for a horrible second I thought it was a refusal. My stomach pitched wildly, in fear and doubt and desperation. How could I fix this? I couldn’t, I couldn’t. My brother was going to be beaten or killed.

Then he turned back to me, a hard glint in his gunmetal eyes. “There is a way you can help. You can be mine, Grace. Mine to do whatever I want with.”

Seconds passed with excruciating slowness as my mind protected me. Then reality slammed into me—all at once. He meant sex. I was almost sure he meant sex. Then I laughed at myself, hollow and jaded. What else would it mean?

I hadn’t thought it possible to hate Liam more, but I did, because he’d setup an impossible choice. For fifteen thousand dollars—and for my brother’s safety—I had to agree.

What did that make me? A prostitute? A sex slave?

I looked at my brother as the offer stood in the air. He wouldn’t meet my eyes. Couldn’t he at least put up a token protest? At least try to protect my honor? But I was getting a clearer picture of Benny than I had our whole lives. Letting himself fall to this level was one thing, but dragging me into it was the last straw. I would do this for him—and that was it.

“Never again,” I whispered.

I would never drain my bank account and come running to help ever again. Never sell my body for him. Never trust my brother again. It was like losing a family member. The only one I had.

Benny nodded, or maybe he was just drifting out of consciousness, his head bobbing slightly. Who knew? I was done. I would do what Liam required of me, and then I would be finished. Finished with family. Finished with criminals.

I’d be alone then.

I nodded grimly. “I’ll do it.”

EDITOR BIO

Skye Warren is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of dark romantic fiction. Her books are raw, sexual and perversely romantic.

Visit Skye’s website for her current booklist:

http://www.skyewarren.com/www.skyewarren.com

Follow Skye Warren on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/skye_warren

Like Skye Warren on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/skyewarren

GIVEAWAY TIME
The author will be awarding a $15 Amazon gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter between this tour and the Book Tour, here.

THE MORE YOU COMMENT, THE MORE CHANCES YOU'LL HAVE TO WIN!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 I hope there is much more like this in the future! :o)