The Hot Mess Library

Thursday, April 23, 2020

New Release: Periculum - Natalie Bennett

RELEASE BLITZ

Title: Periculum

Series: Devil’s Playground: Unus #1

Author: Natalie Bennett

Genre: Dark New Adult Romance

Release Date: April 23, 2020

BLURB

Tragic and twisted fell in love…

Ave Satanas, something wicked this way comes.

It’s time for the reckoning to begin.

Enter the Devil’s Playground wary where you tread, for demons are lurking with trickery up their sleeves.

Here good and bad cease to exist, and not all will make it to the end.

The price of freedom will be revealed only after bloodshed and rapture. A claiming of one and purging of others.

That audio recording played exactly three minutes before the crash.

It was a riddle, a warning, and a promise. But they didn’t know that until it was too late.

Now stranded with two friends and a group of apprehensive strangers, Liliana Serpine must decide who and who not to trust as they navigate their way through hell in the form of an opulent city.

There’s one person who stands out among the others. He’s got a gorgeous face and darkly enigmatic aura. Being drawn to him is inevitable but staying by his side becomes necessary to survive.

When secrets start being revealed in blood, everything changes. From dabbling in the taboo, being tempted by the forbidden, and falling in lust with the carnage.

For those that make it out of this alive, they’ll never be the same people they once were.

GOODREADS LINK: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/47223016-periculum

PURCHASE LINKS

US: https://amzn.to/2TpDRNn
UK: https://amzn.to/39d6XGv
CA: https://amzn.to/32FNmMp
AU: https://amzn.to/39n2xgp

Free in Kindle Unlimited

TRAILER

https://youtu.be/MFKwt3aHSkk

SERIES PLAYLIST

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7hyzcuJk58t421CrNtD93V

Series Pinterest Board: https://www.pinterest.com/authornbennett/devils-playground

AUTHOR BIO

With a penchant for (writing) villainous immoral men, and a tendency to deviate away from traditional happily ever afters, Natalie Bennett is an international bestselling author of twisted and unconventional love stories.

When she's not slaying words she's somewhere in the sunshine state, happily taking life one curve-ball at a time.

AUTHOR LINKS

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NatalieBennettWriter

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Natalie-Bennett/e/B01G8Z4IF8

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/authornbennett

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authornataliebennett

Monday, April 20, 2020

Cover Reveal: Prince of Hearts - L.A. Cotton

COVER REVEAL

Title: Prince of Hearts

Series: Verona Legacy #1

Author: L.A. Cotton

Genre: New Adult Romance

Cover Photo: Michelle Lancaster

Model: Andy Murray

Release Date: June 2, 2020

BLURB

Arianna Capizola is her father’s daughter.

Humble. Hardworking. Honest.

She’d rather spend her days helping at the local shelter than brushing shoulders with her vain and entitled classmates.

Niccolò Marchetti is his father’s son.

Dark. Dangerous. Deceitful.

He’d rather spend his days getting bloody in the ring than attending class and keeping up pretences.

When their paths cross at Montague University neither of them are willing to drop the walls they’ve spent so long building. But he can’t resist the girl with stars in her eyes, and she can’t forget the guy who saved her that night.

There’s only one catch.

Nicco isn’t Arianne’s knight-in-shining armor, he’s the son of her father’s greatest enemy.

He is the enemy.

And their families are at war.

**Prince of Hearts is the first book in Nicco and Ari’s duet. Due to mature content that some readers may find distressing, this book is recommended for readers 18+

GOODREADS LINK: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49932787-prince-of-hearts

PRE-ORDER LINKS – $2.99 for a limited time!

US: https://amzn.to/2UwuX0Y
UK: https://amzn.to/2QFlFii
CA: https://amzn.to/3dm6wvW
AU: https://amzn.to/2Ur33U5
B&N: https://bit.ly/3abD4qx
Kobo: https://bit.ly/2J9h3Nb
Apple Books: https://apple.co/2WuLHIw

TRAILER

https://youtu.be/xeoM3KrDm34

ALSO COMING SOON IN THE DUET

#2 Kings of Souls – Releasing September 2020

GOODREADS LINK: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51077897-king-of-souls

AUTHOR BIO

Author of over thirty mature young adult and new adult novels, L A is happiest writing the kind of books she loves to read: addictive stories full of teenage angst, tension, twists and turns.

Home is a small town in the middle of England where she currently juggles being a full-time writer with being a mother/referee to two little people. In her spare time (and when she’s not camped out in front of the laptop) you’ll most likely find L A immersed in a book, escaping the chaos that is life.

AUTHOR LINKS

Website: http://www.lacotton.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authorlacotton

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/authorlacotton

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/authorlacotton

GIVEAWAY

3 winners will each receive a $10 Amazon gift card + a signed paperback (ARC) of Prince of Hearts (3 winners total, open internationally)

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ba3ffd552555

Review: The Secrets We Hide - Becca Steele

The Secrets We Hide by Becca Steele
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ stars

The Secrets We Hide by Becca Steele starts from the end of book one where we see Winter in danger and Caiden and his brothers trying to find out where she is whilst trying to figure out whether he trusts Winter 100%.

The Four (as we know them) are back and as strong as ever. Caiden (the leader), Weston (his brother and hacker), Cassius (the fun loving one) and Zayden (the dark, broody one). Each one seems to bring something to the story and also to Winter as she navigates not only her relationship with Cade which is rocky at the moment, but also with the others who she sees not only as friends but also family. Winter has also grown a little it seems from the last book in her search for the truth in regards to what happened to her family and what she is going to put up with in regards to Cade and his everlasting mood swings.

The story has a lot of suspense and questions going on as well delve more into the story as well as what role Winter’s mother plays in the whole thing. There is certainly a lot going on in this book and I would recommend that you read the first book: The Lies We Tell so that you understand what is going on. It will also help you to understand the characters more and see how they fit on the chess board!
As with the previous books, there are some steamy scenes between Cade and Winter, but there is also a development of other characters and it will be good to see if they have their own stories later on. As with book one, there is a huge cliff-hanger, but hopefully questions are going to be answered in the end.

If you like strong characters who are a bit mysterious, alphas and a heroine who knows her own mind, the this is the book for you!

ARC received for a fair, honest and sometimes long review 😊

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Sunday, April 19, 2020

Review: Rival - A.J. Macey

Rival by A.J. Macey
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ stars

Rival by A.J. Macey is Book 1 in ‘The Aces’ Series. The book is a reverse style harem/ MC series and focuses on the main character Kiera ‘The Cat’ who is kind of like a cat burglar. Kiera is a fierce woman; she takes no prisoners and lives life by her own rules. Add into that the four guys who she claims and you have a wicked start to a new series. Kiera’s men are all different, we have Brooks (the President of the MC, who knows what he wants form his Kitty), Garrett (her step-brother who is also part of the MC), Stone (another MC member who is totally serious and suspicious of Kiera) and Chase (her side-kick and former assassin).

The story is all about Kiera, her past and bringing down her father but to throw a spanner in the works, the MC also needs her help. There is a lot of threads to this story with different things going on, not only with Kiera but the individual characters so you do have to pay a lot of attention. But to make the book better you have a kind of rivalry going on between all of the men, until they figure out that being together with Keira is better than being apart from her.

The book has a lot of suspense, intrigue, sexy scenes and totally 100% snark from characters which made it really enjoyable. As you learn more about the characters it makes sense about how they have become they way they have and I especially loved the relationship that Kiera has with her step-brother as all is not what it seems from first glance.

This book is definitely set up so that you continue with the series and there is a sort of cliff-hanger on the end which makes you want to go out and get the next book in the series (tally done that!0. If you like your heroines feisty and who don’t need saving and men who are seriously hot! Then this is the book for you!

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Review: Uncaged - L.A. Boles

Uncaged by L.A. Boles
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ stars

Uncaged by L.A. Boles is book one in the Havoc MC series. It is kind of you’re a-typical MC reads, but boy is it entertaining. The book looks at the characters Savy and Diablo. Savy is trying to make ends meet, bringing up her younger sister and working as a bartender in a strip club, she is doing everything she can to stop her past from coming back to haunt her. She believes that the stars are starting to align when bad things start happening again which put her and her sister in danger. Enter Diablo, one look at Savy and he knew that she was it for him. As the President of the MC, he has his own secrets but also has a brotherhood behind him who support his decisions. The book focuses on the relationship that Savy and Diablo are building as well as the background story regarding what Savy has gone through and who is chasing her.

I enjoyed reading this story a lot. Savy is a straight-shooter and when you find out the sacrifices, she has made to help her sister and the things she has been put through in order to survive, you find out how strong a character she is. She doesn’t suffer Diablo lightly and understands the darkness that runs through him. Diablo is a sexy, dominant alpha male, but he does try and let Savy shine and take care of herself. I really liked the strength of both of these characters, especially when they made decisions that society may not necessarily agree with, but they made them un-apologetically.

The story is typical in the sense that it shows the background of the 1% MC and how the brotherhood works. I especially liked the budding relationship we see between Savy’s sister and Skull…it will be interesting to see if a book comes out of that. There are certainly themes of violence, suspense and steamy scenes which I would expect from an MC romance and this one certainly didn’t disappoint in that area. I also liked the 3-character POV as it gave you a highlight into what another character (albeit a psycho) was thinking.

L.A. Boyles is certainly going to be a must-read author for me!

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Friday, April 17, 2020

Review: Royal Bully - Rachel Van Dyken

Royal Bully by Rachel Van Dyken
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ stars

Royal Bully is the precursor to the new Mafia Royals series by Rachel Van Dyken. It focuses on the new generation of Mafia who are going to go to Eagle Elite and who are the children of the original characters in the Eagle Elite series. This is a quick read novella which focuses on the characters Asher Abandonato and Claire Petrov. (If you’ve read the previous series, you’ll understand more about the family lines and who is who). Asher is the executioner for his family and Claire is someone who hasn’t previously been raised in the family.

The story focuses on the intensity of them building a relationship, whilst at the same time figuring out who they are as well as what it means to be part of the ‘Family”. Asher and Claire are just great together, he is intense, dark but also has a huge heart and she is soft yet strongly determined to be who Asher needs her to be, regardless of how difficult that may be. It was interesting to see both characters POV and how accepting/unaccepting they were at times regarding being part of the family. I also enjoyed the introduction to new characters as well as seeing some old faces who haven’t changed but certainly moved up in the world!

This book is just a taster of what is to come and certainly sets the chess board up and leaves us wondering what the next move is going to be and who the main players are! If you’re a fan of mafia style books with some hotness, intrigue and blood thrown in, then this and the previous Eagle Elite series is the one for you!

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