5 Heart Review: Rising Freestyle by Vivian Arend

Book Review: Rising, Freestyle (Xtreme Adventures Series)
By: Vivian Arend
Contemporary Romance 
Published by: Samhain
Rating: 5 Heart Review

Stuck between a rock-solid man and a hard place…

Melanie Dixon’s body may have recovered from a horrific climbing accident, but her nerve is long gone. So is the natural enthusiasm for life she took for granted. Tired of being scared, beyond ready to conquer her fears, she pulls up stakes and moves to her brother’s new hometown to start over. Her first step is the most terrifying—to tackle the wall at the local climbing center.

Derrick James is mesmerized by Melanie’s dark beauty, and equally impressed with her climbing abilities and determination. Watching her retune rusty skills spurs a desire to partner with her—on and off the ropes. Melanie’s a compelling mix of wit, sensuality and vulnerability, and it’s his delicious task to convince her the scars on her body are no match for the heat rising between them.

Then a man from Melanie’s past shows up, pushing their relationship to the edge. Nathan King wants photographs for a “where are they now” series, but his side agenda is more personal in nature. A proposal that brings her out of her sensual shell and onto a precarious sexual ledge. Where trust is crucial…and too easily shattered.

Rising, Freestyle is a novella about a woman, Melanie, trying to find and be happy with herself again. She had a rock-climbing accident and was hurt and scarred. She had a lover reject her for her scars and she is not happy with herself anymore. That is until she meets Derrick who is teaching her to rock climb again. Then, enter Melanie’s childhood crush, Nathan King. He is totally into Melanie, but she’s with Derrick.

The story is about Derrick and Nathan healing Melanie. She needs to feel better about her body. She needs to feel beautiful again. Derrick has healed her most of the way, but she needs another man to show her that she is attractive as well. Nathan is that man.

The book has quite a few very well written and steamy sex scenes (of course, it’s Vivian Arend!) I found myself loving the voyeurism scenes; you can feel the passion between all of the characters. There are quite a few scenes leading up to the actual voyeurism, due to Nathan’s photography.

Vivian Arend has a way of telling the story from differing viewpoints so that you don’t dislike Nathan for his role, and so that you understand why he acts the way he does. You certainly won’t feel creeped out by the voyeurism. I think Vivian does a great job of writing voyeurism so that it can appeal to everyone, even people that are not typically into scenes or scenarios that contain it.

Read An Excerpt

Happy Reading!
Cheeky Girl Meagan

Book Review: Cowgirls Don't Cry by Lorelei James

Book Review: Cowgirls Don't Cry
By: Lorelei James
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
4 Heart Review

Cowgirls Don’t Cry is the story of Jessie McKay and her deceased husband’s brother, Brandt. This may seem like an odd pairing, but as I learned while reading, the McKays are a modern day soap opera and this is not very surprising. Jessie is trying to find herself again about the death of her cheating husband, Luke, and Brandt is in love with his brother’s widow. He has been since her met her. Brandt and Jessie come together while they take of Luke’s illegitimate child, Landon, while his mother is in jail.

Cowgirls Don’t Cry by Lorelei James pleasantly surprised me. I expected a sweet romance with a lot of heat and that’s what I got.

As my introduction to this series, I think this book was a very good one. I have never read a western romance before, but let me tell you, Brandt has me wanting to move to Wyoming and become a cowgirl. Brandt is sweet and kind, but also gruff and strong and powerful- everything a woman can hope for in a man. Their romance is one that wasn’t typical because of the family drama surrounding them, but they persevere through it anyway. It was wonderful to see both Brandt and Jessie grow as characters and to help each other through their problems. I don’t want to give too much away, but there are plenty of family problems between the characters that make your heart break but also make you feel strongly for the two main characters.

There are quite a few sex scenes that are quite steamy. From a few of the reviews of her other books, it’s not quite as out there as her other sex scenes. It seems to be pretty vanilla, but they are good either way. One of my favorite thing about the sex scenes in this book was that they were real. None of them felt fake or unrealistic. It was refreshing. Plus, it was lovely to see the connection blossom and deepen between the two lovers.

I would recommend this book for anyone that loves a good romance with steamy sex and amazing characters. I give this a 4/5 Hearts.

Happy Reading!
Cheeky Girl Meagan