Josefina's Sin by Claudia H Long

Title: Josefina’s Sin
Author: Claudia H. Long
Series: Tendrils of the Inquisition Book 1
Genre: Historical Fiction/ Historical Romance
Publisher: Five Directions Press
Release Date: Aug 9 2011
Editions/Formats: 1st Edition ~ Formats eBook & Print
Blurb/Synopsis:
A thrilling and passionate debut about a sheltered landowner’s wife whose life is turned upside down when she visits the royal court in seventeenth-century Mexico.
When Josefina accepts an invitation from the Marquessa to come stay and socialize with the intellectual and cultural elite in her royal court, she is overwhelmed by the Court’s complicated world. She finds herself having to fight off aggressive advances from the Marquessa’s husband, but is ultimately unable to stay true to her marriage vows when she becomes involved in a secret affair with the local bishop that leaves her pregnant.
Amidst this drama, Josefina finds herself unexpectedly drawn to the intellectual nuns who study and write poetry at the risk of persecution by the Spanish Inquisition that is overtaking Mexico. One nun in particular, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, teaches Josefina about poetry, writing, critical thinking, the nature and consequences of love, and the threats of the Holy Office. She is Josefina’s mentor and lynchpin for her tumultuous passage from grounded wife and mother to woman of this treacherous, confusing, and ultimately physically and intellectually fulfilling world.

Review Blue Velvet by Linnea May

Title: Blue Velvet
Author: Linnea May
Series: A Dark Billionaire Romance (Velvet Rooms)
Genre: Dark Romance, Contemporary, Lite BDSM, Billionaires, Military
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: April 16 2018
Edition: 1st ~ Format: Kindle eBook
Source: Purchased
Rating:
Blurb/Synopsis:

Filthy rich and dripping with power – but the army left me a broken man. A dangerous man.

I should stay clear of her. She's too fragile, too broken herself - and too beautiful to resist.

Worst of all: She wants to join my dark solitude.
But where she seeks solace, I seek sanity.

The Velvet Rooms provide our sanctuary. A place of safety, bliss and unbridled play, untainted by the clamor of reality.

Here, there is no sight.
There is no sound.
Only skin against skin.
Testing. Claiming.

But as much as I want her - she can never be mine.

Because the madness always finds me. Even in the darkness.
And this time it may be too late to stop the beast from destroying everything.

Full length standalone with guaranteed HEA.

Review Black Velvet by Linnea May

Title: Black Velvet
Author: Linnea May
Series: A Dark Billionaire Romance (Velvet Rooms)
Genre: Dark Romance, Billionaires, Contemporary, Lite BDSM
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: Mar 1 2018
Edition: 1st ~ Format: Kindle eBook
Source: Purchased
Rating:
Blurb/Synopsis:

A dark billionaire. A disillusioned beauty.

...and the twisted game of seduction she can't resist.

The Velvet Rooms welcome you.

She is paid to lie and seduce – but I don’t want her insincere moans and fake smiles.
My investment in the elusive Velvet Rooms holds a promise for more.

And I always get what I want. Always.

No man ever made her scream and beg for release. A release that remained unattainable for her.
She claims I’m asking for the impossible. I will prove her wrong.
Because I know it’s not her body that needs to be conquered – it’s her mind.

But our relationship rests on unsound footing, a contract and nothing more.
And when my actions turn reckless, the vulnerable agreement may be our undoing...

Full length standalone Dark Billionaire Romances with guaranteed HEA.

Flash Fiction Friday ~ Claimed Part 2 by Dawn Kirby

Part 2

Chains of Silver by Claudia H. Long w/ #Giveaway

Title: Chains of Silver
Author: Claudia H. Long
Series: Tendrils of the Inquisition Book 3
Genre: Historical Fiction/ Historical Romance
Publisher: Five Directions Press
Release Date: Mar 15 2018
Editions/Formats: 1st Edition ~ Formats eBook & Print
Blurb/Synopsis:
Crypto-Jews, secret Jews of Spain and Mexico, are still very much in danger in 1721. Fourteen-year-old Marcela Leon's parents are dragged away to face the last auto-da-fé of the Inquisition in colonial Mexico. Although her parents survive, Marcela’s life is forever changed. Sent to the Castillo hacienda for her protection, Marcela has difficulty grasping that safety requires silence about her beliefs. Her forthright speech and budding sexuality lead her into situations beyond her comprehension, ending with her exile to the northern silver-mining town of Zacatecas, where she becomes housekeeper to a Catholic priest.

Marcela grows up to be one of the richest, most powerful women in Zacatecas, adjusting to her separation from her mother and the loss of her religion. But she can neither understand nor forgive her mother’s obstinacy and abandonment. Her husband's death unleashes a new cascade of disasters, and Marcela at last recognizes and appreciates the source of her mother's power, and her own.

Redeeming the Stepbrother by Andrew Grey w/ #Giveaway

Title: Redeeming the Stepbrother

Author: Andrew Grey

Series: A Tale from St. Giles Book 2

Genre:  M/M Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Release Date: April 10 2018

Edition/Formats Available In: eBook & Print

Blurb/Synopsis:

Family can be a blessing and a curse, but for artist Florian, it’s a nightmare he longs to escape.
As chief designer for Bartholomew Artist Porcelain, Florian specializes in painting birds. He also watches them in the wild to distract himself from his short-tempered mother, at least temporarily. Florian’s heart is too soft to leave his stepsister, Ella, to suffer alone. Still, he can’t help dreaming about one day finding happiness and love.
When Count Dieter von Hollenbach arrives in town to visit a friend and present an award, he isn’t looking for romance. Then again, he doesn’t expect someone as perfect as Florian to come into his life. To make sure Florian is all he seems and that their connection is genuine, Dieter keeps his title to himself.
But he isn’t the only one with a secret.
At a masquerade ball to celebrate the award, some of the masks fall away, but those that remain in place could destroy the love beginning to grow between them.

Flash Fiction Friday ~ Claimed Part 1 by Dawn Kirby

Part 1