Tag: Alisha Rai

Review: The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai

Posted July 5, 2019 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Review: The Right Swipe by Alisha RaiReviewer: Rowena
The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai
Series: Modern Love #1
Publisher: Harper Collins, Avon
Publication Date: July 2, 2019
Format: eARC
Source: Edelweiss
Point-of-View: Alternating Third
Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
Content Warning: View Spoiler »
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 400
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges: Rowena's 2019 GoodReads Challenge
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
three-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Alisha Rai returns with the first book in her sizzling new Modern Love series, in which two rival dating app creators find themselves at odds in the boardroom but in sync in the bedroom.

Rhiannon Hunter may have revolutionized romance in the digital world, but in real life she only swipes right on her career—and the occasional hookup. The cynical dating app creator controls her love life with a few key rules:

- Nude pics are by invitation only

- If someone stands you up, block them with extreme prejudice

- Protect your heart

Only there aren't any rules to govern her attraction to her newest match, former pro-football player Samson Lima. The sexy and seemingly sweet hunk woos her one magical night... and disappears.

Rhi thought she'd buried her hurt over Samson ghosting her, until he suddenly surfaces months later, still big, still beautiful—and in league with a business rival. He says he won't fumble their second chance, but she's wary. A temporary physical partnership is one thing, but a merger of hearts? Surely that’s too high a risk…

The Right Swipe is the first book in Alisha Rai’s Modern Love series but if you’ve read her Forbidden Hearts series then you’ll remember our heroine, Rhiannon, as she is the sister of the hero in Hurts to Love You.

Rhiannon Hunter is raking in the big bucks as founder and CEO of the dating app, Crush. She works really hard to stay on top and though she’s not all that interested in a relationship, she’s not above using her app to find hookups wherever she might be. When she hooks up with Samson Lima, she knows that it’s a night she’ll never forget. They have chemistry in spades and their night together was explosive so when he wants to see her again, she agrees even though she doesn’t usually go back for seconds. But then Samson ghosts her and her pride gets kicked in the teeth. She’s not expecting to see Samson ever again (and not willing to go there again with him anyway) but when she runs into him at a conference and finds out that he’s working for the company she’s hoping to purchase, her life gets all kinds of complicated.

Samson Lima can’t believe his luck when he comes across the woman that he spent a memorable night with. He didn’t mean to disappear on her and when he tried to fix things, she had already moved on and trying to find her proved to be impossible. Seeing Rhiannon again is a stroke of luck that Samson is not going to mess up again. After retiring from football in a most abrupt manner, Samson spent most of his time caring for his sick uncle and now he’s back at work, helping his Aunt with her dating company. Helping his Aunt by being the face of her company has brought Rhiannon back into his life and he’s happy about that but trying to get her to give him another chance is proving to be a tad bit difficult.

This book was a little slow to pick up for me. I wanted to like it from the jump but I found it hard to connect with both Rhiannon and Samson early on. I will say that I loved that they were both diverse characters without race being a plot point of their romance. I absolutely ADORED that Samson was Samoan because I haven’t had a bunch of luck finding romances featuring Polynesian characters. I’d love to see more of my peeps get their happily ever afters told. I’ve tried reading some and couldn’t really get into them so that’s been a bummer for me and I’m always on the lookout for more.

While I understood Rhiannon’s hesitance in giving Samson another shot, there were times when I wanted to hit her with the, “Either you’re in and you have to get over all of the other shit or you’re not and you need to let this guy go” speech because I felt like Samson kept paying for the same mistake over and over again. I also felt like he was paying for shit he had absolutely nothing to do with (mostly the shit with her ex) and though I know that’s not really something Rhiannon could control, I still wasn’t a big fan of it. Then on the flip side, I wanted to smack some sense into Samson too. I felt like he was far too passive where Rhiannon was concerned. I felt like far too often, he let Rhiannon get away with shit because he felt like he had to redeem himself for ghosting her. His character felt like a bit of a pushover and I wasn’t a fan of that.

Overall, I did enjoy the story and I see the promise that’s there for future books. I will definitely be reading more from Alisha Rai because I’m trying to read more diversely and she’s written some pretty solid romances so far but this one wasn’t one of my favorites by her. Still, I’d definitely recommend giving this one a try since most of the stuff that I didn’t care for are personal things. Alisha Rai is a promising talent and shouldn’t be missed.

Grade: 3.5 out of 5

three-half-stars


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Review: Hurts to Love You by Alisha Rai

Posted March 12, 2018 by Rowena in Reviews | 5 Comments

Review: Hurts to Love You by Alisha RaiReviewer: Rowena
Hurts to Love You (Forbidden Hearts, #3) by Alisha Rai
Series: Forbidden Hearts #3
Also in this series: Wrong to Need You (Forbidden Hearts, #2)
Publisher: Harper Collins, Avon
Publication Date: March 27th 2018
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 384
Add It: Goodreads
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Being bad never felt so good, in the third novel in Alisha Rai’s sexy Forbidden Hearts series!

Well-behaved women don’t lust after men who love to misbehave.

Heiress Evangeline Chandler knows how to keep a secret . . . like her life-long crush on the tattooed hottie who just happens to be her big brother’s friend. She’s a Chandler, after all, and Chandlers don’t hook up with the help. Then again, they also don’t disobey their fathers and quit their respectable jobs, so good-girl rules may no longer apply.

Gabriel Hunter hides the pain of his past behind a smile, but he can’t hide his sudden attraction to his friend’s sheltered little sister. Eve is far too sweet to accept anything less than forever and there’s no chance of a future between the son of a housekeeper and the town’s resident princess.

When a wedding party forces Eve and Gabe into tight quarters, keeping their hands off each other will be as hard as keeping their clothes on. The need that draws them together is stronger than the forces that should shove them apart . . . but their sparks may not survive the explosion when long-buried secrets are finally unearthed.

Hurts to Love You by Alisha Rai is the last book in the Forbidden Hearts series and it was another fabulously written book that I really liked. Man, I can’t believe that I just discovered this series last month and it’s already over. That makes me sad because I enjoyed my time with these characters. From the beginning of this book to the end, I was invested in what was going on.

So Hurts to Love You features Eve Chandler and Gabe Hunter as they both crush on each other in secret and then start crushing each other…literally. Ha. In the previous books, we know that Eve is Nicholas’ younger sister and Gabriel is Livvy’s boss but they’re both hiding secrets. Secrets that will change their lives. Eve’s secret is kept from Gabe, whereas Gabe’s secret is kept from…everyone. When Eve and Gabe arrive at Nicholas and Livvy’s wedding party days before everyone else does, Eve starts to take chances with Gabe. She starts putting herself out there and Gabe is unable to stay away even though he feels like he should because he’s so much older than Eve.

The relationship between Gabe and Eve develops organically and I really enjoyed seeing their feelings for one another burn brighter and brighter with each passing day. It’s not easy putting yourself out there and we see them both struggle with where to go once their feelings are made known to each other. Gabe isn’t one for commitment but with Eve, things are much more complicated because of who she is and what Gabe is keeping from everyone.

On top of the romance brewing between Gabe and Eve, there are outside drama’s being brought to the surface and both Gabe and Eve are a part of it. I wasn’t expecting a lot of what drops in this book so I was super surprised when Tani opens her mouth and starts shooting knowledge around the dinner table. Tani, Livvy’s mother is portrayed in the previous books as unlikable and cold but what she’s really doing is holding everything in and when that well bursts free, my heart soared because wow. Just wow.

This was a lovely end to a fantastic series and the romance between Gabe and Eve was the cherry on top of this lovely ice cream sundae. I am super glad that I took a chance on this author, and this series because it’s a good one, one that I know that I’ll probably re-read from time to time in the future. This was a series of forbidden loves that will charm the socks right off of you but make you fall in love with everyone. I can’t wait to see what’s next for Alisha Rai because whatever it is, I’m in.

Forbidden Hearts Series

Grade: 4 out of 5


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Sunday Spotlight: Hurts to Love You by Alisha Rai

Posted March 11, 2018 by Rowena in Features, Giveaways | 2 Comments

Sunday Spotlight is a feature we began in 2016. This year we’re spotlighting our favorite books, old and new. We’ll be raving about the books we love and being total fangirls. You’ve been warned. 🙂

Sunday Spotlight

Hurts to Love You is the third and final book in the Forbidden Hearts series by Alisha Rai. I’m really sad that this book is closing out the series as I have enjoyed each book a great deal. I’m super excited to share an excerpt from this book today because I adored both Gabe and Eve. Their romance was sweet with just the right amount of steam to keep things interesting so you should definitely check this book out when it releases.

Hurts to Love You comes out on Tuesday, March 27th so be sure to pre-order your copy now or enter our giveaway below for a chance to win your own copy on us.

Sunday Spotlight: Hurts to Love You by Alisha RaiHurts to Love You (Forbidden Hearts, #3) by Alisha Rai
Series: Forbidden Hearts #3
Also in this series: Wrong to Need You (Forbidden Hearts, #2), Hurts to Love You (Forbidden Hearts, #3)
Publisher: Harper Collins, Avon
Publication Date: March 27th 2018
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 384
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books

Being bad never felt so good, in the third novel in Alisha Rai’s sexy Forbidden Hearts series!

Well-behaved women don’t lust after men who love to misbehave.

Heiress Evangeline Chandler knows how to keep a secret . . . like her life-long crush on the tattooed hottie who just happens to be her big brother’s friend. She’s a Chandler, after all, and Chandlers don’t hook up with the help. Then again, they also don’t disobey their fathers and quit their respectable jobs, so good-girl rules may no longer apply.

Gabriel Hunter hides the pain of his past behind a smile, but he can’t hide his sudden attraction to his friend’s sheltered little sister. Eve is far too sweet to accept anything less than forever and there’s no chance of a future between the son of a housekeeper and the town’s resident princess.

When a wedding party forces Eve and Gabe into tight quarters, keeping their hands off each other will be as hard as keeping their clothes on. The need that draws them together is stronger than the forces that should shove them apart . . . but their sparks may not survive the explosion when long-buried secrets are finally unearthed.

Order the Book:

AMAZON || BARNES AND NOBLE || KOBO

Excerpt

Gabe placed his napkin on the table, relieved he wouldn’t have to choke down any more sweets. Give him bags of potato chips any day. “No thanks necessary, kiddo.”

“No one’s given you grief over my canceling today’s appointments, have they?”

One girl had yelled at him this morning. Gabe didn’t blame her—Livvy’s specialty was watercolor tattoos, and people traveled from all over to see her. But he wasn’t about to tell the overwhelmed bride that now. “Nope. We have it handled. Feel better.”

Gabe and Eve gathered their belongings, Eve shrugging on a light jacket that blessedly covered her lush arms.

Gabe squinted at the spring sunshine when they came outside. The last frost had passed, and the days were growing longer. The perfect weather for a hike, Paul would have said.

Gabe shoved the pang of grief aside. After almost two years, Paul Kane’s death shouldn’t still feel so sharp, but reminders of his old friend often came when he least expected it. They’d grown especially strong since Livvy and Jackson had moved back home. Paul’s younger siblings were nothing like him, but occasionally Livvy would smile or Jackson would roll his eyes, and Gabe would feel a need to excuse himself for a minute or so.

Eve finished typing something on her phone. “I can’t believe we managed to get Chef Jose on such short notice.”

“Is Jackson peeved he doesn’t get to make the cake?” Jackson had a strong aversion to crowds, which was why Gabe was taking his place at Liv- vy’s side in the wedding party. One of her brides- people, as Livvy called them. A world-renowned chef, Jackson was instead handling the food for the event.

“I think between taking care of his café and his mother and making sure Sadia doesn’t wear herself out with wedding planning, Jackson has his hands more than full. He was the one who asked me if we could outsource this. He’d prefer to concentrate on the wedding dinner menu.” Eve tucked her phone into her purse. “Thanks for coming with. I know this task isn’t in your wheelhouse.”

“Is picking cake in your wheelhouse?” It was a genuine question. Prying details out of Eve about her life was like chipping away at a stone tablet. Time-consuming and a little hypnotic.

He might have been raised on the estate that neighbored the Chandlers, had even been best friends with Nicholas, but he’d been so much older than Eve she’d barely registered on his consciousness when they’d been young.

And then the split between the two rich families had happened. Though they’d lived in the same town, his interactions with the Chandlers had been sporadic at best. He’d seen Eve twice over the years—once when she’d come into his shop with a friend, and a second time when she’d been a drunken coed in a bar. He hadn’t viewed her as anything more than a kid either of those times. A lost, shy, vaguely lonely-looking kid.

When grown-up Eve had been reintroduced into his life a month ago, at a lunch Livvy and Nicholas had hosted, that kid was long gone. Her body was curvy, her face innocent yet erotic, with full lips and sleepy eyes. She was buttoned up inside and out, not a single emotion or spare inch of skin visible.

Lust and desire had hit him instantly, but he was a grown-ass man, and he’d tamped it down. Slowly, over the past few weeks, that desire had grown. And now here he was, salivating at the sight of her bare arms.

Good thing you can’t see her ankles. You might straight up die on the spot from lust.

“I do eat a lot of cake.”

He looked down at Eve. She was so sweetly rounded but so much smaller than him. He’d never been particularly attracted to short women, but he imagined she would fit perfectly under his arm.

Imagine is all you’ll ever do. He made his tone deliberately light. “I eat a lot of burgers. Is there a wedding burger that needs to be chosen?”

Another twitch of her lips. “Please don’t give Livvy any ideas. We’re at capacity on what we can whip together in the next week or so.” Her voice was low and throaty. It skimmed over all of his nerves and senses, promising rough and lusty delights.

“I’ll try not to.”

They stopped at her car, a nicely maintained Acura. It was bland and personality-less. As were her clothes, a brown silk shirt and wine pants. She was like a painting framed with the most mundane of wood, but she’d shine no matter what she wore.

You sound like a smitten fool. You’re too old for this.

Was he? No, probably not. But he was definitely too smart for this.

Forbidden Hearts Series

Giveaway Alert

We’re giving one lucky winner their choice of one of our Sunday Spotlight books. Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter for one of this month’s features.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Are you as excited for this release as we are? Let us know how excited you are and what other books you’re looking forward to this year!

About the Author

Alisha Rai

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | GOODREADS

Alisha Rai has been enthralled with romances since she smuggled her first tattered novel home from the library as a teenager. She writes hot and emotionally complex contemporary romance novels and is frequently sought as a speaker on topics such as love in the digital age, sex positivity, and inclusive representation in romance and media.

She is the first author to have an indie-published book appear on Washington Post’s annual Best Books list. Her books have also won the RT Reviewers Choice Award and have received critical attention and rave reviews from sources such as Library Journal, USA Today, BookRiot, Washington Post, Bitter Empire, NPR, and Smart Bitches Trashy Books. Alisha spends most of her time traveling, reading, dreaming up sexy heroes and heroines, and tweeting.

Alisha adores hearing from readers! Feel free to send an email or @ her on Twitter.


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Review: Wrong to Need You by Alisha Rai

Posted November 28, 2017 by Rowena in Reviews | 3 Comments

Review: Wrong to Need You by Alisha RaiReviewer: Rowena
Wrong to Need You (Forbidden Hearts, #2) by Alisha Rai
Series: Forbidden Hearts #2
Also in this series: Hurts to Love You (Forbidden Hearts, #3)
Publisher: Harper Collins, Avon
Publication Date: November 28th 2017
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 368
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books

He wasn’t supposed to fall in love with his brother’s widow…

Accused of a crime he didn’t commit, Jackson Kane fled his home, his name, and his family. Ten years later, he’s come back to town: older, wiser, richer, tougher—and still helpless to turn away the one woman he could never stop loving, even after she married his brother.

Sadia Ahmed can’t deal with the feelings her mysterious former brother-in-law stirs, but she also can’t turn down his offer of help with the cafe she’s inherited. While he heats up her kitchen, she slowly discovers that the boy she adored has grown into a man she’s simply unable to resist.

An affair is unthinkable, but their desire is undeniable. As secrets and lies are stripped away, Sadia and Jackson must decide if they’re strong enough to face the past...and step into a future together.

Wrong to Need You by Alisha Rai is the second book in her Forbidden Hearts series and it follows the best friend and brother of the heroine from Hate to Want You, Livvy. The heroine of this book also happens to be the heroine from the last book’s sister in law, so yes, that makes her the hero in this book’s sister in law too.

Jackson Kane and Sadia Ahmed have been best friends since they were kids and Jackson used to protect Sadia from the playground bullies. That friendship blossomed into a love that Jackson can’t shake, not even when Sadia grew up and married his brother. Fast forward years and a whole lot of space later, Sadia lost her husband and Jackson lost his brother and he’s back in his hometown to check on his long lost sister and to help Sadia keep the family cafe afloat. He’s grown up a lot in the time that he’s been away. He grew up to be a world-famous chef with pop up restaurant success in different cities all over the globe so when he comes home to cook in his family cafe, Sadia is conflicted because on one hand, she’s pissed that he disappeared from her life without ever acknowledging any of the emails she sent his way over the years but on the other hand, the cafe is his family cafe so he has just as much right to work there as she does.

Jackson left town for a whole lot of years because it was hard for him to live in a town where everyone whispered behind their hands about him. He was arrested for a crime he didn’t commit and even though the charges were later dropped, people had long memories back home and he didn’t want to be around any of that so he took off. He also had a lot of mad going on where his own family was concerned so even though it wasn’t easy, he stayed away. When his brother Paul died, Jackson hurt but there wasn’t anything he could so even though it pissed Sadia off, Jackson stayed away. He missed a lot of things while he was away, too. He missed seeing his mother growing older, he missed getting to know his young nephew and he missed Sadia.

This was a sticky romance, in the sense that Sadia and Jackson are extremely close. Sadia considered Jackson family and muddying those waters wasn’t easy for her. She was married to his brother and that was something that she didn’t take lightly. I thought Rai did a great job of making the reader understand their relationship and root them on toward that happy ending.

I loved Jackson. I loved Sadia and I really loved them together. Seeing them deal with the drama between the two of them, then Jackson’s personal drama and his family drama, plus Sadia’s own insecurities and family drama while trying to find common ground between the two of them, made for an interesting and passionate romance. Kareem was a fantastic addition too. He was so adorable.

All in all, this was another winner for me and I’m really looking forward to Eve and Gabriel’s book next. I’m so thirsty for it. This gets a definite recommendation from me. If you’re in the mood for some drama and a steamy romance, this is a good choice.

Grade: 4.25 out of 5

Forbidden Hearts Series


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Review: Hate to Want You by Alisha Rai

Posted November 17, 2017 by Rowena in Reviews | 4 Comments

Review: Hate to Want You by Alisha RaiReviewer: Rowena
Hate to Want You (Forbidden Hearts, #1) by Alisha Rai
Series: Forbidden Hearts #1
Also in this series: Wrong to Need You (Forbidden Hearts, #2), Hurts to Love You (Forbidden Hearts, #3)
Publisher: Harper Collins, Avon
Publication Date: July 25th 2017
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 371
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars

One night. No one will know.

That was the deal. Every year, Livvy Kane and Nicholas Chandler would share one perfect night of illicit pleasure. The forbidden hours let them forget the tragedy that haunted their pasts-and the last names that made them enemies.

Until the night she didn’t show up.

Now Nicholas has an empire to run. He doesn’t have time for distractions and Livvy’s sudden reappearance in town is a major distraction. She’s the one woman he shouldn’t want…so why can’t he forget how right she feels in his bed?

Livvy didn’t come home for Nicholas, but fate seems determined to remind her of his presence–and their past. Although the passion between them might have once run hot and deep, not even love can overcome the scandal that divided their families.

Being together might be against all the rules…but being apart is impossible.

I’ve been hearing such good things about this book from all over blog land so I’ve been curious about it for a while. I’ve always been a chicken to trying new to me authors so I dragged my feet on getting this book even though some of my most trusted book bloggers adored it. I’m super glad that I finally got around to reading it because I really liked both Nicholas and Livvy.

Nicholas Chandler and Livvy Kane are childhood sweethearts who were ripped apart by a family scandal that changes the course of both of their lives. Nicholas has to live with the havoc that the actions of his father created for the Kane family while dealing with the death of his mother. Livvy, on the other hand, has to deal with not being rich anymore, the death of her father and losing her boyfriend all in one fell swoop. She also has to deal with the fact that her brother was accused of starting the fire that burned down what used to be her family business before her mother sold their family’s portion to her boyfriend’s father.

Their emotional connection to each other has never gone away and because of this, they meet in secret, once a year, for a night of pleasure. They don’t reach out to the other any of the other days of the year but on that one night, they belong to each other.

They kept their arrangement up for ten years and then Livvy stopped contacting Nick and she stopped showing up. Nick wasn’t happy about that and when Livvy comes back to town to help her ailing mother, Nick can’t stay away. He has questions and nobody can answer those questions but Livvy.

Livvy needed a clean break to try to move on from Nick. She needed to be strong in that decision but when her mother gets hurt and Livvy heads home to help her recover, she knew the Nicholas merry go round would swing back her way and while she thought she was prepared to face him, who was she kidding? The Nick and Livvy train has never truly left the station.

The romance between Nick and Livvy was believable and it was filled to the brim with drama. I thought Rai handled that drama well. Between their family drama, there was drama between the two of them that needed to be handled and I enjoyed seeing them both work through their shit to get to that happy ending.

I liked that Rai packed a lot of drama into this one book. Nick had his own share of shit to sort through, same with Livvy and then they both had their shared shit and then their individual family shit, it’s all in here. Some of the drama will be carried on to the other books in this series but there’s a lot here for you to eat up and enjoy. I did. I’m looking forward to the next book.

Oh, you know what I liked about this book and seriously, in this series? How diverse the characters are. I don’t normally notice those things in other books but I liked seeing Livvy’s Japanese and Hawaiian background showcased in this book.

Overall, I’m really glad that I started this series because this first book was a good start to a very promising series. I enjoyed the main couple, the secondary characters and I really enjoyed seeing everything come together. The pacing and Rai’s writing style is easy to fall into it and I just liked the whole thing. I’m totally jumping right into the next book right now. I definitely recommend.

Grade: 4 out of 5

Forbidden Hearts Series

four-stars


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