75. Inappropriate by Vi Keeland

listened to audio via Audio Escape
narrated by Sebastian York and Andi Arndt
Unabridged audio (8:01)
2020 C, Scott Publishing
364 pgs.
Adult steamy crf
Finished 5/12/20
Goodreads rating:
My rating: 3.5

First line/s: "God, I feel like crap."

My comments: This was a good one, lots of story, emotional story ... with a little bit of depth.  Lots of the "usual" kind of stuff that comes from an Audio Escape-type book. Perfect for falling asleep....
Ireland & Grant.

Goodreads synopsis:  A new, sexy standalone novel from #1 New York Times Bestseller, Vi Keeland.
     Terminated for inappropriate behavior.
     I couldn’t believe the letter in my hands.
     Nine years. Nine damn years I’d worked my butt off for one of the largest companies in America, and I was fired with a form letter when I returned home from a week in Aruba. 
     All because of a video taken when I was on vacation with my friends—a private video made on my private time. Or so I thought…     
     Pissed off, I cracked open a bottle of wine and wrote my own letter to the gazillionaire CEO telling him what I thought of his company and its practices. 
     I didn’t think he’d actually respond.
     I certainly never thought I’d suddenly become pen pals with the rich jerk.     
     Eventually, he realized I’d been wronged and made sure I got my job back.
     Only…it wasn’t the only thing Grant Lexington wanted to do for me.
     But there was no way I was getting involved with my boss’s boss’s boss. Even if he was ridiculously gorgeous, confident, and charming.
     It would be completely wrong, inappropriate even. 
     Sort of like the video that got me into trouble to begin with.
     Two wrongs don’t make a right.
     But sometimes it’s twice as fun.

56. Indentured Bride by Yamila Abraham

read on my iPhone: free AudibleEscape
narrated by Desiree Dunn
Unabridged audio (1:32)
2016
54 pgs.
Steamy SciFi/Alien Romance
Finished 3/21/2020
Goodreads rating: .3.41 - 199 ratings
My rating: 2

First line/s:  Tabitha cut the ridge of a saccus nut with her laser and then waited for her vision to stop blurring.  She separated the shell as carefully as she could with her trembling fingers.  Then she tried to nudge free the malleable core.  This is when things started going dark.  She closed her eyes and rocked gently in her seat.  If she tired to keep working she'd rupture the core.  She had to wait until the room stopped spinning.

My comments:  My favorites to choose of these free AudioEscape books are the books about aliens, I'm not sure why...and they're all pretty darn BAD.  I keep choosing to read them though.  This one was really just a short story, or perhaps a novella?  An hour and a half long, with the first hour introducing the characters, the setting, what's happened to earth, and a little about its alien invaders.  The protagonist is a slave who works 18 hours a day and also used as a medical guinea pig who has now been given the chance to become a concubine.  The last 20 to 25 minutes of the story is the steamy part, and the story would've been halfway decent without this in-depth explanation.  What really cracks me up is how many of these other galaxy aliens are physically constructed in the same ways as humans.  Maybe that's part of the reason I like Ice Planet Barbarians so much, there are at least a few outward dissimilarities that make it a little more believable.  I read this because it was short and alien-related.

Goodreads synopsis:  Cruel alien masters have oppressed Tabitha for the last ten years. An Alliance observer discovers that she’s been experimented on and pulls her from the slave colony. She’s going to be granted the privilege of becoming an indentured bride.
          Tabitha doesn’t see her new assignment as a privilege. Her duties seem pretty clear cut, and she knows what Hax-Rah aliens are like. The last thing she wants is to be stranded on a moon with one.
          Hex-Lord Jaxil took an isolated mission for a reason, and he never asked for a bride.
          A riveting and scintillating sci-fi romance novella by the author of Bride of the Keil Warriors!

54. The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake

listened to audio on Audible Escape
narrated by Tavia Gilbert (A little over zealous)
Unabridged audio (10:10)
2019 Disney Hyperion
400 pgs.
YA CRF
Finished  3/19/2020
Goodreads rating: 4.00 - 1752 ratings
My rating: 4
Setting:  contemporary coastal Lyric, Maine

First line/s:  "Fun fact: My great-great-great grandmother was the lone survivor of a shipwreck."

My comments:  This book has an excellent storyline and a great cast of characters.  However I found it particularly depressing throughout.  Definitely for older YAs.  S-foot tall Violet, promiscuous since the age of 12, is spending her 16th summer in Maine with her uncle in the home where her mother grew up.  Her brother is spending the summer in a rehabilitation facility in Vermont after a suicide attempt.  Though only 16, Violet has had male and female lovers, dabbled in drugs and alcohol, and been suspended from school already.  She's a mess. The narrator put a little too much feeling into her narration in many parts of the book, making many of those parts difficult to listen to because her emphasis was a lot different than mine would have been if I was reading the book instead of listening.  Boy, she was really into it!

Goodreads synopsis:  The Larkin family isn't just lucky—they persevere. At least that's what Violet and her younger brother, Sam, were always told. When the Lyric sank off the coast of Maine, their great-great-great-grandmother didn't drown like the rest of the passengers. No, Fidelia swam to shore, fell in love, and founded Lyric, Maine, the town Violet and Sam returned to every summer.
          But wrecks seem to run in the family. Tall, funny, musical Violet can't stop partying with the wrong people. And, one beautiful summer day, brilliant, sensitive Sam attempts to take his own life.
          Shipped back to Lyric while Sam is in treatment, Violet is haunted by her family's missing piece - the lost shipwreck she and Sam dreamed of discovering when they were children. Desperate to make amends, Violet embarks on a wildly ambitious mission: locate the Lyric, lain hidden in a watery grave for over a century.
          She finds a fellow wreck hunter in Liv Stone, an amateur local historian whose sparkling intelligence and guarded gray eyes make Violet ache in an exhilarating new way. Whether or not they find the Lyric, the journey Violet takes-and the bridges she builds along the way-may be the start of something like survival.

53. Pleasure in the Stars by Olivia Myers

listened to audio via Audible Escape
narrated by D Rampling (horrid!!!)
Unabridged audio (1:35)
2015 Soft Kiss books
95 pgs.
Adult SciFi Erotica
Finished 3/19/2020
Goodreads rating: 3.24 - 34 ratings
My rating: 1

First line/s:  "Natalie looked at her work friends, Jackie and Moona, and sighed as she gratefully let her suitcase bounce heavily onto the hotel bed."

My comments:  Probably one of the worst narrators I've ever heard in my life, she absolutely ruined the story - the little bit of the story there was.  Blech!  Whenever she spoke as a female she did it in a squeaky high-pitched falsetto voice, and her male voice was unbelievable horrible as well  Whoever hired her needs to find another occupation!

Goodreads synopsis:  An alien race known for pleasure, would she dare.
          Natalie’s work friends have to drag her along to the planet New Saigon’s Pleasure Love Festival, a ten-day party where races from all planets indulge in love, sex, and pleasure. But the lights, the scents, the sounds—everything is too much for Natalie.
          Concerned that she isn’t having as much fun and relaxing as much as she ought to, her well-meaning friends hire a Katarian escort to give Natalie all the fun they think she’s been missing out on. Can Natalie relax enough to enjoy herself with a Katarian who promises nothing but pleasure…and what happens if he’s offering her more than one night?

52. 1001 Dark Nights: Hidden Ink by Carrie Ann Ryan

Listened to audio through Audible Escape
narrated by Gregory Salinas, okay but not great
Unabridged audio (2:57)
2016 Evil Eye Concepts
124 pgs.
Adult Steamy Romance
Finished 3/16/2020
Goodreads rating: 4.25 - 1519 ratings
My rating: Crappy!  1

My comments: I wasn't even going to review this because I hated it so much, but I want to remind myself to never read this author again.  It's sort of like a blah blah blah blah blah blah, the same sort of stupid stuff over and over and over again.  The premise is great - a woman, recovering from breast cancer and double mastectomies and a man scarred badly from an explosion in the Middle East where everyone died except for him and he carries more internal scars than external scars.  However, it's handled in such an unbelievable manner that it made me cringe.  Maybe it's just the mood I'm in, in the middle of this pandemic, but my eyes are rolling, rolling, rolling.....

Goodreads synopsis:  The Montgomery Ink series continues with the long-awaited romance between the café owner next door and the tattoo artist who's loved her from afar.
          Hailey Monroe knows the world isn't always fair, but she's picked herself up from the ashes once before and if she needs to, she'll do it again. It's been years since she first spotted the tattoo artist with a scowl that made her heart skip a beat, but now she's finally gained the courage to approach him. Only it won't be about what their future could bring, but how to finish healing the scars from her past.
          Sloane Gordon lived through the worst kinds of hell yet the temptation next door sends him to another level. He's kept his distance because he knows what kind of man he is versus what kind of man Hailey needs. When she comes to him with a proposition that sends his mind whirling and his soul shattering, he'll do everything in his power to protect the woman he cares for and the secrets he's been forced to keep.

50. Cathian by Laurann Dohner

Vorge Crew Series
listened to Audio on Audible Escape
narrated by Callie Dalton
Unabridged audio (3:19)
2018 self published
138 pg. novella
SciFi Romance
Finished 3/9/2020
Goodreads rating:  3.96 - 2288 ratings
My rating: um....an't really rate

First line/s:  "Nara gripped the cage bars and glared at Derrick."

My comments:  Intergalactic match-ups, always fun.  Outwardly, the people of Cathian's race's only differ is in size, they're quite a bit larger.  It's their reproductive systems that are different - males go into heat every three years and this is the only time they can reproduce.  And, of course, they MUST have a female during that time.  That's what this book is about, how Cathian obtains Nara and what happens thereafter.  Where do people come up with these ideas/  Triple X-rated.

Goodreads synopsis:  *** Notice - This book was previously published as a short story called ‘Captain of Nara’s Heart’ in Something Wicked This Way Comes, Volume 1
. It has been updated and expanded into novella length.
          When Nara Barns and her tiny crew find themselves with a choice between jail or the sex-slave auction block, it’s an easy choice. Especially when they plan to escape their buyers as soon as possible, anyway. Even better, Nara’s buyer wants her for just six days, long enough to get him through his heat until women from his planet can come to his aid.
          Six days and then freedom? Sign her up.
          However, Nara’s completely unprepared for the impact Captain Cathian Vellar has on her body. To survive his heat, the Tryleskian must feed—and Nara is his favorite meal. Her body can barely withstand the rapture. Soon, her heart is just as engaged. But enduring the pinnacle of Cathian’s heat he could kill Nara, and he refuses to risk her life. 

46. Stepbrother Inked by Violet Blaze

listened to audio/Audible Escape
narrated by Angelise Rosewood
Unabridged audio (9:42)
2015 Sarian Royal
346 pgs.
Adult Steamy Romance/CRF
Finished 3/6/2020
Goodreads rating:  3.82 - 2005 ratings
My rating:  2.5

First line/s:  "I set the box down on the counter and eyed Flor's ass as he bent over and set a second, much smaller box on the floor with little care or consideration as to what was inside."

My comments: Although billed as a steamy romance, a lot of the story is about what would happen if two kids raised as siblings but not related by blood fall for each other.  There was definitely a lot of steam - they guy in this was your stereotypical 21 year old bad boy tattoo artist ... who loves cats and his mom ... The gal is an 18 year old who  sometimes acts much younger.  Of course there are the mandatory best friends, I really dislike it when they put too much emphasis on those relationships in these books.  Made me think a lot about different  family situations.

Goodreads synopsis:  Forbidden love shouldn't feel so good.
          It also shouldn't hurt so much.
          How could the one person I can't have be the only person I truly need?
          Florian Harper Riley has my heart and he doesn't even know it. I used to think that was okay, that I'd get over him, but no matter how hard I try, I can't purge his sharp green gaze from my thoughts.
          He's a tattoo artist, the love of my life, the man of my dreams.
          But he's also my stepbrother.
          Fate can be wicked cruel.
          *This is a 98,000 word, full length stand-alone novel from debut author Violet Blaze (and it's hot!)*

44. Assigned a Mate by Grace Goodwin

#1 Interstellar Brides
listened to Audio/ Audio Escape
narrated by B.J. Pottsworth and Audrey Conway
Unabridged audio (4:43)
2016 Stormy Night Publications
156 pgs.
Adult SciFi Steamy Romance
Finished 3/4/2020
Goodreads rating:  3.79 - 1979 ratings
My rating: I forgot to write this down.... 2.5?

First line/s:  "My mind was fuzzy, as if I was just waking up or had too much alcohol in my system."

My comments:  I found it interesting that other than being a little bit taller and larger, all the aliens on Trion are exactly the same as Earth humans.  Hmmmmmm.  Steam factor four our of four and that pretty much says it all.  Shame on me, I listened to the whole thing.

Goodreads synopsis:  When a potential threat against her life forces Eva Daily to seek shelter on another world, she has only one option available to her. She must offer herself to the Interstellar Bride Program. After a deeply humiliating assessment of her suitability, Eva will be assigned a mate and transported to his world to become his bride.
          Upon arriving on the desert planet Trion, Eva soon learns that things are quite different than she is used to on Earth. Her assigned mate, the powerful, handsome High Councilor Tark, makes it clear that she will be expected to submit to him completely, and she quickly discovers that disobedience will earn her a painful, embarrassing spanking on her bare bottom.
          An intimate examination from her new mate leaves Eva blushing crimson, but to her surprise Tark’s mastery of her body arouses her beyond anything she could have ever imagined. Soon enough she finds herself naked, bound, and unable to resist the urge to beg for more as his skillful lovemaking brings her to one shattering climax after another.
         It doesn’t take long, however, for Eva to realize that there is much more to Tark than just a dominant brute who will not hesitate to take his misbehaving wife over his knee and redden her bare bottom thoroughly. But just as her passion for him begins to blossom into love, events back on Earth threaten to tear her away from him forever. Can Eva find a way to remain at Tark’s side and in his bed, or will she be left with nothing but memories of the man who has claimed both her body and her heart?
          Publisher’s Note: Assigned a Mate is an erotic romance novel that includes spankings, sexual scenes, medical play, anal play, elements of BDSM, and more. If such material offends you, please don’t buy this book.   

          (How embarrassing....I can't believe I'm actually posting this on my blog!