Marie Tuhart

In the fourth Desert Destiny series book, Zoey Lacey travels to the small Middle-Eastern country of Bashir to write about the upcoming 300th year celebration of the country’s founding. While in the market, taking pictures, she accidentally draws the attention of a group of young men, who chase after her. Luckily for her, she runs right into the hottest man she’d ever seen—the country’s head of security.
Khalid al-Hakim is also a prince, the youngest of four brothers, and he puts Zoey under his protection whether she likes it or not. Though he’s worried about her and a series of attacks that seems focused on her, he also has to see to the protection of his people and his family from a villain he can’t find.
Zoey and Khalid were wonderful. Her strength and his need to shelter her often clashed, but they worked through it and learned how to work together.
Khalid’s three older brothers and their women were interesting, but I couldn’t really connect with them. I haven’t read the previous books in the series, so sometimes I was confused, but each of those couples had a brief back-story. I would’ve liked to know more.
I enjoyed the plot and the H/h, but the story could use a light edit to clear up a few typos and filter words. Overall, it’s a good story and I’m happy I read it.
4 Stars
-- I received a copy of this from Netgalley… (más)

His for the Weekend is a stand-alone, contemporary, erotic, romance novella. Marcus and Cassie have been working together for a while at Fantasies, Inc., a company devoted to bringing pleasure to its clients. Marcus is in R & D, where he works on the development of new sex toys, while Cassie is the head of the customer service department. They’ve shared an attraction for a while, but Cassie has been fighting it because she fears becoming like her mother, a woman who was so submissive that she ended up being abused by Cassie’s father who wasn’t a proper Dom. Marcus has been persistent in his pursuit of Cassie, and truth be told, Cassie is curious about what it would be like to have Marcus as her lover. When he sends her his latest outrageously sexy gift, she’s about to shut him down, but decides to make a deal with him instead. She’ll give him one no-holds-barred weekend but at the end of that time, he’ll stop pursuing her. Marcus agrees, but he’s so crazy about Cassie, he hopes that when the weekend is over, she’ll change her mind. Slowly and patiently, he works to tear down her walls and get her to open up. Cassie is surprised to find that she’s more comfortable with Marcus and more able to trust him than any man she’s ever been with, and he, in turn, gives her mind-blowing pleasure the likes of which she’s never experienced before. But when their weekend is up, will Cassie be able to be completely honest with Marcus, sharing her most deep-seated fear, and will Marcus be able to accept her as she is?

It can be difficult to develop characters in a short novella format like this, but I thought that the author did a very good job with Cassie and Marcus. When Cassie was old enough to understand the type of relationship her parents had, she started to fear that she might be a submissive like her mother, craving pain to the point of allowing herself to be used and abused. She also fears that all Doms are like her dad who was abusive, in certain ways, to both her and her mom. Instinctively knowing that Marcus is the type of man who likes control, she’s resisted getting involved with him, not wanting to lose herself in a BDSM relationship. But she can’t seem to resist at least giving him a one-time chance. When she finally gives in to his romantic and sexual overtures, she’s surprised to find a man who is nothing like her father and who is intensely focused on her pleasure, which for him goes beyond the bedroom. Marcus is exactly my kind of Dom, sweet and patient, gently pushing Cassie out of her comfort zone. He intuitively knows that she’s harboring fears and takes his time to earn her trust, always respecting her wishes when she uses her safe word. In doing so, he also helps her to face her fears and fully open up to him about what’s holding her back.

As my first read by Marie Tuhart, His for the Weekend turned out to be a very pleasant surprise. I thought that given Cassie’s background, her fears were very relatable, but once she was with a man she felt she could trust, she was finally able to get past them. I adored Marcus for being so gentle and patiently working with Cassie to help her open up. He’s not into pain, only giving pleasure in fun and creative ways, and I love that, for him, it’s not just about the sex, but also about setting a scene, including things like cooking for and bathing his woman. He’s just wonderfully accepting of Cassie and treats her like a precious jewel. As one might expect in a erotic romance, their love scenes are steamy and frequent, and in this case, oh so delicious! Marcus is a dream lover who is everything a woman could want. The only reason I marked the story down half a star is because the writing was a little rough around the edges with a number of typos and some awkwardly worded sentences that could have been smoothed out with better editing/proofreading. Otherwise, His for the Weekend was a thoroughly enjoyable read that has left me eager to try more from this author. Unfortunately it appears that this novella is no longer available for purchase at this time.

Note: This book contains explicit language and sexual content, including bondage and use of sex toys, that could be objectionable to sensitive readers.… (más)

Becca finds her fiance in bed with her boss. She breaks the engagement, calls off the wedding, and goes to the dude ranch that her best friend set up for her. Upon arriving she finds her old college flame, Tyler, working there. She later finds out that it is an adult dude ranch for couples. Can she stay? Will she stay? Will she and Tyler team up for the week she's there? Will she rediscover herself?

I loved this book. I liked that Becca and Tyler remember the past fondly and settle into the present but think of the future. I enjoyed watching Becca rediscover herself and freeing herself from old boyfriends' judgements as well as her mother's. This is so hot! I love how hot it is. For me the more, the better. Becca learns and grows that knowledge throughout the week. I also loved the ending. Perfect!… (más)