Tag: Stephanie Julian

Review: Strings Attached by Stephanie Julian

Posted January 12, 2016 by Holly in Reviews | 0 Comments

Review: Strings Attached by Stephanie JulianStrings Attached by Stephanie Julian
Series: Baseline Sins #1
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: November 17th 2015
Genres: Fiction, Erotica
Pages: 183
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The first novel in a steamy spin-off series from the national bestselling author of the Salon Games novels...
On the surface, Sebastian "Baz" Valenti is a rock god with the lifestyle to match. With his drop-dead gorgeous looks and his band, Baseline Sins, at the top of the charts, he can have any woman he wants. But the constant touring and recording has taken its toll. Now he’s turned to scoring films, a gig that has introduced him to the one woman he really wants but can’t have...
Trudeau Morrison is all business all the time. As the managing director of ManDown Films, it’s her job to keep Baz focused on business too. It’s not an easy task, considering Baz has made no secret of his desire for her. But Tru doesn’t want to get involved with a rock star, even if he is the hottest man she’s ever met.
Trouble is, once Baz gets an erotic taste of Tru, he’s not going to give her up. Now he just has to show her that rock-steady is nothing compared to rock and roll...
Praise for the Salon Games novels"An erotic romance that shines."—Romance Novel News
“Stephanie Julian know[s] how to write seriously hot, melt your e-reader sex scenes. I really think they’re some of the hottest I’ve ever read...really delicious, almost dreamlike ménage scenes. It’s an incredibly sensual, deeply seductive read.”—Sinfully Sexy Book Reviews

This is the first book in the Baseline Sins series, which features the members of the band Baseline Sins. It’s a spinoff of another series that I didn’t read. I feel like I missed out on quite a bit by not reading the first series.

There were a lot of continuity issues I had a hard time overlooking. I liked the basic feel of the story, but things kept coming out of nowhere and throwing me off. For example, there’s a sex club of some sort that’s introduced halfway through the book out of nowhere. Neither the hero or heroine indulge or visit it, so I’m not sure why it was included. I get the impression it was to tie this series to the previous one, which apparently features the club, but it made little sense in the context of this book.

That said, I did like the two main characters and how they connected. Tru made me laugh with her temper and insults, and I liked that Baz was struggling to come back to himself and that wasn’t glossed over or brushed aside. He’d had a rough year and needed to come to terms with his past actions and the way he’d disappointed the rest of the band. I enjoyed his renewed relationship with his best friend from the bad, though I wish that relationship had been explored further. There was clearly something between them, but it was glossed over.

The chemistry between the main characters and the personal journey of the hero kept me glued to the pages. Though I experienced some frustration and confusion having come to this series late in the game, I can’t deny I enjoyed it and look forward to more. I may read the original series to see if this one makes more sense after.

3 out of 5

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What I Read Last Week

Posted July 23, 2012 by Tracy in Features | 3 Comments

Hey guys,
Well it was an interesting week last week. It never seemed like there was that much time to read but yet I did a fair amount of it.
This weekend was a very sad one. On Saturday morning my nephew’s girlfriend died. They went hiking and she collapsed from heat exhaustion. Apparently it was too severe and her organs started shutting down and she passed away. She was just 22 years old. She and my nephew had been dating for years – planning to get married after she got out of college and of course he’s just devastated. I don’t know her family but I’m sure they are as well. If you’re the praying kind I ask that you add them to your list that they can find some peace in their grief.
On a happier note I’m only working 2 days this week as I took the last part of the week off for RWA. On Wednesday I’ll head down to Anaheim for the book signing – which will be wonderful I’m sure – and then on to a blogger get together in the bar afterward. Yay. I’ll go back down to Anaheim on Friday and stay for the weekend and make as much trouble as I can. Kidding. I’m kidding. Trouble is Holly’s job. lol
So on to what I read this past week:
First up was Murphy’s Law by Sandy James. This story is about a rich spoiled man whose father dies and leaves some strange and annoying stipulations to his will that the man is NOT happy about. You can read my review here. 4.25 out of 5
Next was a novella in the Elder Races series called Devil’s Gate by Thea Harrison. The story was about Seremela who is a medusae and is taking time off work to go retrieve her wayward niece once again. Duncan is a vampire and works for the same employers (Rune and Carling from Serpent’s Kiss). He’s got a thing for Seremela – not that she knows that – and volunteers to go with her to get the niece. The story is short but really good and I loved the experiences that Serrie and Duncan have along with their romance. Good stuff. 4 out of 5
Next up was The Warrior Laird by Margo Maguire. The story connects two people – Laird Dugan MacMillan who is looking for French gold to save his clan from eviction from their lands – and Lady Maura Duncanson who is being shipped off to marry an old man just so her family can get rid of her. The pair meet when Maura steals Dugan’s map to the gold and they end up looking for it together – kind of. The story was good but not too terribly exciting. This was more of a get to know each other while traveling type book and while a decent read just didn’t rock my socks off. Read for Book Binge. 3.25 out of 5
Forever and a Day by Jill Shalvis was next and while I read some really good books this week this one just was the absolute highlight. I’ll post my review on Wednesday.
My Tracy’s TBR Challenge read for the week (yes, I’ve been sucking on my own challenge lately!) was Moonlight Temptation by Stephanie Julian – Lucani Lovers series #4. The story is about Evie who was kidnapped in a previous book and now she’s trying to deal with the ramifications of the kidnapping as well as finding out that she has powers she never knew about. Dane is a doctor and while his mother wants him to only marry pure Lucani blood he’s got it bad for Evie. He calls his friend Ryan in to be a buffer, thinking that he can keep his feelings hidden if Ryan is there. What ends up happening is that they all fall in love but not before Evie is kidnapped again. It was a good novella with a quick and sexy love story. I wish the story was longer but what I got was very good. 3.75 out of 5
Because of You by Jessica Scott is a military romance that is so good. The story has to do with a soldier that is hurt in the line of duty and blames himself for every injury and death on his team. His nurse is a woman who has survived breast cancer and ends up being there to help him in so many ways. My review will post on Thursday so keep your eyes open. 🙂
A Sticky Situation by Kay Jaybee was an erotic novella that I read for Book Binge. The story is about a woman who does NOT like the new employee who is oh so close with the boss. She finds out that she’ll be heading to a conference with the guy. She’s more than a bit clumsy and though that aggravates the hell out of him it doesn’t stop him from wanting to lick all the food off of her chest. While they have their differences and arguments they still end up in bed together. It was a cute story but the heroine and her anger kind of rubbed me the wrong way at times. She was also getting notes from the hero (not signed) but yet thought they were from anyone but him – which seemed kinda ditzy to me. IDK – it was just an ok read. 2.5 out of 5
I went on a bit of a manga binge yesterday when I started the Yakuza in Love series by Shiuko Kano. Volume 1 is about a guy who is ends up working as a Yakuza (Japanese gangster) and quickly saves the boss’s life. He gets assigned to an underboss who is just getting out of prison and ends up having feelings for the underboss. On top of that there’s a lot of in-fighting between the boss and underboss. Good story, well drawn but a bit confusing as to which character was talking. That definitely could have been a lot clearer. 3 out of 5
Yakuza in Love Volume 2 shows us more from the characters in book 2 but deals more with the main character, Ichimura and his relationship with the underboss but also tells us more of a relationship between some other characters. Again, well drawn and definitely a lot more clear as to who is saying what. 3.5 out of 5
Last for the week was Yakuza in Love Volume 3 where all of the love/romance/sex and Yakuza infighting comes to a head. Things are worked out but I was still left with a thought that all was not as solid as it should have been for the end of the series. Very good though. 4 out of 5
My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
*crickets chirping*
Happy Reading!

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Guest Review: Moonlight Menage by Stephanie Julian

Posted June 13, 2010 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 1 Comment

Tracy’s review of Moonlight Menage (Lucani Lovers #2) by Stephanie Julian

For eight years, Etruscan witch Tira Belludi has longed to give herself, body and soul, to the two shifter men who hold her heart. But visions of death and fears for her sanity have forced her to keep her distance.

Nic Rocca and Duke Ducati are brothers in everything but blood and partners who have each other’s backs. They share a home, a job and had planned to share their life with Tira between them…until the night she saw their future and built a fortress around her heart.

Now danger and death stalk Nic and Duke. And Tira must make a choice—grab love while she has the chance or watch Nic die from afar and lose Duke forever.

8 Years ago Tira kissed one of the men she knew was her mate and loved it. Only at the same time she saw his death. She refused, for several years, to even touch him as touch is how she gets her visions. The next time was the same and so Tira decided that not being with the men she loved was better than seeing one die over and over. In her frustration Tira decides to seek a god’s help and her seeing powers are removed for 24 hours.

Duke and Nic are ecstatic when Tira comes to them and they can be the threesome that they’ve envisioned for all these years. They’ve hated being away from her but understood that Tira couldn’t see Nic’s death time and time again. But after hours of making love their time together is interrupted. Tira’s father, who she’s never met, has shown up and wants to meet her.

After seeing her mother and father together and realizing that her mother can still have a wonderful life Tira makes a decision – accept her role as seeing in the Etruscan community – which means taking her mother’s seeing powers as well. When Tira does this she has a vision about the woman who has been kidnapping Etruscan’s and latent humans. Warriors are gathered and they go to search for the woman – but is this when Nic is supposed to be killed? And if not, will Tira ever get to be with her mates permanently.

Again, another great story from Stephanie Julian. This being a ménage story adds the depth of one more character into the relationship. I loved how Julian let us see into everyone’s heads. Since it was told in the 3rd person we got to see things from Tira’s pov, as well as Nic’s and Duke’s. I really loved the three of them together – in bed and out of it. lol Julian does write great sex scenes, I can’t deny it.

Besides the relationships – in both of the books in this series so far – there’s been an unknown villain. Why is she kidnapping these people and what does she hope to accomplish by doing it? The answers to those questions will keep me reading, that’s for sure.

Rating: 4 out of 5

This book is available from Ellora’s Cave. You can buy it here in e-format.

You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place

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Guest Review: Edge of Moonlight by Stephanie Julian

Posted June 12, 2010 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 2 Comments

Tracy’s review of Edge of Moonlight (Lucan Lovers #3) by Stephanie Julian

Etruscan wolf shifter Kaine Giliati has longed for John Simmons since he willingly agreed to wipe all memory of her from his mind. The pain in her heart is only magnified by terror—the inability to call her wolf appears to have deserted her, as well.

For months after he and his sister escaped a crazed kidnapper, John has been dreaming about a beautiful woman he’s never met but who seems so familiar. A woman he’s shocked to find in a dark bar one night. A woman who agrees to come back to his apartment for raw, passionate sex.

One erotic, stolen night reopens old wounds, uncovers buried memories and sets Kaine and John on a path filled with danger, magic and potential heartbreak.

In the previous book Kaine and John formed a sort of connection. But John and his sister decided that they would have their memories wiped and now Kaine is left with painful longing and yearning for John. Not only that but she discovers that she can’t shift into her wolf any longer.

After talking to an Etruscan friend about her shifting issues Kaine heads to a bar – that John is at. He approaches her with the feeling that they know each other (and he’s dreamed about her) and Kaine decides to go for the gusto. She agrees to go home with him for one night of passion and then she will give him up. They are so good together but she knows afterwards that she must leave. Only when she’s trying to leave the apartment John’s sister, Evie, walks in the door. In Evie’s fear magical things start happening – that aren’t supposed to happen because Evie supposedly has no magic. Kaine resigns herself to the fact that she’s not getting away from the issues, and John, quite as easily as she’d originally thought.

Kaine and John end up teaming together – after his memories are restored – to find the woman who had originally kidnapped Evie to find out why she’d done it and what spells she’d put on Evie. While together John realizes that Kaine is someone he never wants to forget again.

This was a great book. From the start of the book I was totally into Kaine and John’s relationship. My heart hurt for Kaine knowing that her mate was gone and that he wasn’t ever going to remember her. The torture! I completely didn’t blame Kaine for having her one night with John and only wanting them to get together. I thought they made a great pair and they played off of each other so well. The characters – main and secondary – in this book were all great and I loved the sense of camaraderie that the Etruscan community had.

I very much have enjoyed Julian’s Lucani series and hope to read more in the future – hopefully we’ll find out why this woman – the villain – is doing what she’s doing! If you like good shifter books then the Lucani series is not to be missed.

Rating: 4 out of 5

This book is available from Ellora’s Cave. You can buy it here in e-format.

You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place

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What I Read Last Week

Posted May 17, 2010 by Tracy in Features | 14 Comments

It’s Monday again! I can’t believe the weekend went by so quickly but I guess that’s how it always is when you have days off.
This weekend was a bit crazy with kids. I took my oldest to get her 6th grade graduation/promotion pictures. These were actually retakes because when she had them done at school she had worn a t-shirt that said center of attention. lol They were pretty funny lookin. Anyway, we dressed her in the dress she’d planned on wearing for graduation – we bought it a month ago – and yeah, it was TOO SMALL! Well, we got it zipped enough to take the picture but there’s no way she’ll fit in it in another month. That girl really needs to stop growing. We then shopped for yet another dress – oy.
Then my youngest had to go to the doctor as well so we heaped that on the pile of weekend activities. She’s much better now though so it’s all good.
Other than the weekend the rest of the week was relatively quiet so that was nice.
All right – on to what I read…
First up was Big Bad Wolf by Christine Warren.  A rewritten and expanded version of Warren’s Fur Factor.  The book was just as good as the first time but it had a lot of editing issues which were annoying. You can read my review for The Book Binge here.  4 out of 5

Next up was Love Means…No Shame by Andrew Grey.  This was the story of Geoff who takes over his family farm after his father dies.  While there he meets Eli who is an Amish man who is taking a year away from the community.  Eli and Geoff start a relationship but Eli is concerned about his family and them being shunned if the community finds out he’s gay.  This was an incredibly good story.  I really liked Grey’s writing and his characters – they felt like old friends. I’ve already bought the other two in this series and plan on reading them soon. 4.5 out of 5

In and Out by LB Gregg was my next read and boy did I love this one.  You can read my thoughts here. 5 out of 5

I read the three books that are in the Lucani Lovers seris by Stephanie Julian for The Book Binge (I did a lot of TBB reading this week and plan to do more next week to catch my ass up!).  The first book was Kiss of Moonlight, the second was Moonlight Menage and the third was Edge of Moonlight.  All four books I found to be very good.  4 out of 5 for all the books.  I’ll let you know when my reviews post.
My Tracy’s TBR Challenge Read for the week was The Love Affair of an English Lord by Jillian Hunter.  I had a very hard time getting into the book and actually debated not finishing it – but I’m glad I stuck with it.  The story was about Dominic who was stabbed and thought dead.  He’s actually quite alive and after being chased ends up climbing in a window at his neighbors house and ends up in the closet in the trunk of her unmentionables.  Chloe Boscastle finds Dominic in the closet and is persuaded by him to not tell anyone he’s there. This begins a clandestine relationship that is very sweet and romantic.  I very much enjoyed the story and will look into seeing about reading about the rest of the Boscastle family. 4 out of 5
Next was Delicious by Shayla Black.  I really like Black as well as her alter ego, Shelley Bradley, but this book was not a favorite.  I met Luc in the previous story and expected him to be at least similar in personality.  This book showed him in a whole new light and frankly I didn’t like him very much at all.  I read this one for The Book Binge so will let you know when my review posts. 2.5 out of 5

Last book for the week was Highland Surrender by Dawn Halliday.  This was Cam’s story.  We met Cam in Highland Obsession and he was a little crazed.  This story showed him bringing his new English betrothed home to Scotland. They are set upon by Highwaymen and Cam is shot.  He is found by Ceana who is a healer and she takes care of him.  This is Cam and Ceana’s story as well as Rob (Cam’s half brother) and Elizabeth’s (the English lady) story.  I liked it.  Read this one for The Book Binge so I’ll let you know when my review posts. 4 out of 5
My Book Binge review that have posted this week (besides the one above)
Happy Reading!

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