Admittedly, there is something about the proper doing wicked things that drew me to this story. With Behind the Red Door, the title alone brings about titillating fantasies. Brothels of the Regency era encourage ideas of marble columns, fine silks in vivid reds or deep purples, and beautiful men and women languidly placed about. The finery of the establishment often a contrast to the intimate acts that occur behind the closed doors seems to be temptation in itself. In Jackie Barbosa’s book, women venture to the high-end brothel, and though acceptable for men, it was unseemly for a female. Would you have had the courage to visit such an establishment?

Behind the Red Door is a collection of three novellas by Jackie Barbosa that all feature an exclusive London brothel named the Red Door. The characters from the stories intermingle with farther glimpses of each as the story progresses.

In Wickedly Ever After Nathaniel St. Clair, the sixth Marquess of Grenville, is well known for his shocking trysts and wicked ways throughout the town. However, little do they know he is the famous scholar Clarence Mathews, a pseudo he fabricated to pursue his love of translating Classical prose. Eleanor Palmer strides into his home one day to confront him regarding a letter penned by her ex-fiancé that implies Nathaniel and she should make a match. Eleanor happens to worship Clarence Mathews and when she finds his work there, she is under the impression Nathaniel is his friend which sets off the beginning of their powerful connection. As Nathaniel tries to lure her into his bed he makes some self-realizations along the way and in the end gets more than the one-night stand he bargained for.

What happens when you try to do a good deed and it takes a decidedly wicked, erotically so, twist? Sounds intriguing? It is. Just ask God-fearing, Christian man, Andrew, whose life is changing when he answers a call for help. AP Miller’s novel, Good Boys Deserves Bad Girls is an erotic adventure featuring the mismatched paring of Andrew and Pathrusim.

Andrew is always ready to help anyone in need. Still, even he is surprised that the woman he rescues is one of the bad girls his pastor always warns against. Despite her scanty clothing and heavy makeup, she stills seems very attractive to Andrew, perhaps too attractive. All the same despite his thundering heart, which must be due to the scuffle he engaged in to protect the woman, he needed to escort the lady home.

Pathrusim knows a ripe one when she sees him, and Andrew is definitely that. The fact that the sweet boy rushed to her rescue is unusual considering he was one of them--those who want to put an end to her kind. Of course, he doesn't know her nature yet, but he will soon, very soon. She can hardly wait to reveal her true nature and release Andrew’s sensuality despite his desire to keep it tamped down and out of sight.

What do you enjoy more from a romantic suspense: heart pounding twists and turns or the smoldering love scenes? I am hard pressed to choose, but luckily with this read I didn’t have to dwell on the thought much. Lise Fuller's Guardian Angel delivers pages full of both!

Business has gone horribly wrong for Marie Taylor. Her business partner is dead and his associates are coming after her. Having no one to turn to and not trusting the law, Marie Taylor finds herself on the run. Needing somewhere to hide, she lands in small town Fort Bridger, Wyoming. Marie takes a job as a waitress at the Chuck Wagon, the local dinner. It's here that she comes face to face with Jake, accidentally spilling coffee into his lap. Although, the erotic tension coming off the two is heating things up far more than the coffee.

Jake Colder, county sheriff in Bridger Valley has been alone for years. He’d slaked his lust a few times with a couple of women here and there, but hasn’t let anyone into his life since his wife left him and his son. Then he meets clumsy, cautious Marie at the local diner and knows she needs help and a place to stay. He also knows something is wrong. Against his better judgment, Jake offers her a place to stay in exchange for housekeeping and babysitting.

Can murder actually lead to love?

Leon Fisher wants revenge on the man who butchered his lover, but when the deed is done, he realizes that revenge didn’t heal his broken heart or make the nightmares go away. The only way to deaden the pain he still feels is to lose himself inside a bottle and immediately he begins a downward slide that turns him into a shell of his former self.

‘The Organization’, Leon’s employer, intervenes by sending him to Alaska to dry out and face his demons. Leon isn’t happy about the order to go to Alaska, but the alternative isn’t something he wants to entertain. Once there, Leon discovers that the fresh air and solitude actually does help to clear his mind. He’s just starting to believe everything will be all right when he nearly loses his life in a bear attack. Saved by Grim, a mysterious young man who is a bit too subservient, Leon quickly embarks on a new journey of love and loss that may have both he and Grim paying the ultimate price.

As this story opens I find myself hurting right along with Leon. Ms. Blue does a fantastic job of conveying his agony to the reader. However, as the story progresses and the pasts of these two men are revealed, I found myself having some moral issues with this work. Now I know that sounds strange considering I chose to read a story involving two gay men. However, everyone’s moral compass is different.

I am a big fan of Delilah Devlin's work, so was eager to review Lockdown. I think the character of a woman's correctional officer is fascinating and not really touched on. Add in the supernatural spin this book contains and you know you're in for a treat.

Gillian Priest is a prison correctional officer with a tough as nails attitude. Her job demands it; working in a prison is hard enough, but being a woman working in an all male prison is ruthless. After surviving an attack in a prison uprising, Gillian is transferred to a new unit. With new faces and a place to start over, she must not let her guard down again. However, things don't start off so smoothly. Gillian is attracted to the sexy prisoner she's just escorted in. She knows it's wrong, but when Gabriel Vlahos starts showing up in her dreams intent on seducing her, she gives into him in sleep, only to be left with an aching desire when she wakes.

Fellow corrections officer Billy Hedron is more than willing to step up to the plate to satisfy Gillian's needs. Once they come together hot times ensue. The problem is that Billy is only at the prison on an undercover assignment. Gabriel is not really a prisoner, but an old friend of Billy's and the other part of the infiltration team. Their task is to find a demon that is believed to be inside the prison. Gabriel is an incubus. Gillian was brought in unknowingly to be his host, but now Billy has become much more attached to her than planned. Billy can't risk telling Gillian his real reasons for being there without the risk of losing her, however, if things go wrong with the assignment they could all end up dead. Will Gillian be able to trust Billy when she finds out the truth? Will they all survive long enough for things to come to the surface?

Sometimes love can only be found in forgiveness.

Brothers Connor and Carson McCain are comfortable in their skin. They’ve always shared everything…including their women. They once thought they’d found the perfect woman to complete their trio, only to have her run away from their relationship. Since that time they've grown cynical about women in general. Then Tara returns, in need of their help.
u8232 Three years have passed since the night Tara Sanders fled town and the two men she loved. Now she returns in need of their help. While both Connor and Carson are willing to help, neither is going to make things easy on Tara. In order to mend old wounds and move forward with her life Tara knows she needs to face the men she loves and tell them the truth. Only then will she know if they can truly forgive and forget.

Enough Love for Two is a great tale that bespeaks of the moral quest for acceptance in a world where a ‘normal’ relationship is defined as one man and one woman. Tara wrestles with her own morality and the love she has for the McCain brothers in an attempt to find some sort of balance. Ms. Casper does a fantastic job of showing the reader the depth of emotion felt by each character, and the sex scenes had me needing to take a cold shower.

What girl hasn’t imagined that her parents didn’t love her or maybe they weren’t even her real parents? Perhaps the girls imagined themselves as a type of Cinderella when they were grounded for some minor infraction such as not cleaning their room. Who hasn’t experienced this? But what if your parents—make that mother and the new stepfather--really didn’t care for you? They didn’t even try to hide their disdain from you. The only thing you were to them was the bait to catch an acceptable husband on the marriage mart and raise their social standing. Quite frankly, you even failed at that. Welcome to Meredith Duncan’s world. Meredith is the gutsy heroine of Diane Whiteside’s newest novel, Kisses Like a Devil.

Merdith isn’t sure when she became unwelcomed baggage to her family. Maybe it was when she didn’t make a brilliant marriage her first season—or the one after that or the one after that. It might have been because she was more interested in books than fashion. It is probably the fact that her stepfather and mother cannot pry open her inheritance to spend as they like. Oh, no. The inheritance left by an eccentric aunt was for education only. Thank God for eccentric aunts.

I do love the tale of a man and woman who are off limits to each other and decide to throw caution to the wind and reap the benefits of their wickedness. Dawn Halliday’s Torrid Tarot entry for the Knight of Cups, Sins of the Knight, is just such a tantalizing tale. 

Elena de Burgh, a lady despite having witch blood in her veins, knew the day was coming that would see her married to a new man. Her summons to court to meet her future intended had arrived from the King in the form of his knight, Stephen de Verre.

Of all the people to arrive at her door, Stephen was the one who could cause the most trouble. A handsome young man when she saw him last, he had grown into a mature knight of incredible strength and handsomeness. She knew though that there was no way they could be together since they were far apart in status, but that wouldn’t stop her from dreaming of him.

One of my favorite things to read on a lonely night is a steamy novella, and boy, did I find one in Anna Evans' Captured. I can honestly say this is the best erotica piece I've read in over a year and I've read a lot of them.

We travel back to Boston in the 1890s and meet Lillian Thomas, a most adventurous novice photographer. Lillian has had her share of scandal in the past that would explain why her father was forced to buy her a husband from his own peers.

Having lost her heart long ago to a young friend of her brother's, Lillian has no desire to marry such an old man. She wants someone to stir her passions and satisfy her hunger for all those things she's read in the naughty books her father thinks she wouldn’t dare touch.

I've been reading Jaci Burton for a long time. Her stories have erotica circulating through them as their life-blood. Her characters find their way on the cusp of a carnal tide, sensually exploring their way through a sybaritic world to find their ultimate partner(s). So it is a bit of a surprise to find Jaci writing what looks at first to be a simple adventure story. (By the way, Jaci, belated congratulations on stepping up to Berkley Heat.) My only question is, what took them so long to find you?