Series: Shattered Promises #1
Author: Lisa Renee Jones
Publish Date: 10.28.14
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Gallery Books
Category /Genre: Erotica, Romance
Recommended
for: 18+ due to sexual content
Received from: Simon & Schuster (in exchange for an honest review)
Date completed: 06.14.15
Description from the publisher:
Life
is hard. Life leaves you beaten, broken…alone. Then one day, a stranger touches
your hand and you feel something intense, unforgettable, but yet, you want to
forget. You need to forget. It’s safer than believing in things you've decided
don’t exist. You know all about shattered promises and lost hope. You know them
so much better than you know this excited, warm, wonderful feeling, and it
scares you. He scares you, but he also makes you feel alive again. He makes you
realize you haven’t really been living. You’re surviving and you fear he’s the
one who’ll make you forget how to keep doing it. But what if he’s the one who
changes everything?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’m one of those people who adores
novellas. I love the little taste with a
promise for more. Usually I read them
between larger books as a mental rest. A
literary petit four, if you will. Lisa
Renee Jones is the master chef in creating these delicious delicacies.
Danielle “Danny” Woods is
conscientious, studious, and organized.
She has plans for a bigger career and the determination and drive to
make her dreams come true. What she does
not have scheduled is meeting a man like Jensen Miller in the bar of the hotel
where she works in the management/corporate offices.
I loved how Danny fought the
attraction in the beginning and continued to worry about the safety of her own
heart throughout. This is a woman who
will not be taken advantage. That worry
and self-protection led to some jumping to conclusions. Jensen is a driven man willing to take on the
worry and offer his protection, even when Danny is fighting it. He reads her emotions so well and tries to
give her space when she demands it, but the attraction is just so strong that
he knows that he can’t let her run.
* “I told you, if you run, I’ll come after
you.” * sigh!!!
I will admit that as much as I do
love novellas, I did cry when I reached the end of this one. I just wanted more pages!! I had to take a good breath and remind myself
that Lisa Renee Jones always delivers (in her own time). I just don’t know which of her series I
should be begging for next – I want them all!
Grammar/editing: ungraded – book
received as an unedited ARC / errors excused
Other Books from Lisa Renee
Jones: Please visit her website at: www.lisareneejones.com/ to locate a printable book list.
1,001
Dark Nights Series
1.
Forever Wicked by Shayla Black
(Wicked Lovers #7.8)
2.
Crimson Twilight by Heather Graham
(Krewe of Hunters #11.5)
3.
Captured in Surrender by Liliana
Hart
(1001 Dark Nights #10.5)
4.
Silent Bite: A Scanguards Wedding by
Tina Folsom
(Scanguards #8.5)
5.
Dungeon Games by Lexi Blake
(Masters and Mercenaries #6.5)
6.
Azagoth by Larissa Ione
(Deominca #10.5; Lords of
Deliverance #5.5)
7.
Need You Now by Lisa Renee Jones
(Shattered Promises #1)
8.
Show Me, Baby by Cherise Sinclaire
(Masters of the Shadowlands #9)
9.
Roped In by Lorelei James
(Blacktop Cowboys #6.5)
10.
Tempted by Midnight by Lara Adrian
(Midnight Breed #12.5)
11.
The Flame by Christopher Rice
(Desire Exchange #0.5)
12.
Caress of Darkness by Julie Kenner
(Dark Pleasures #0.5)
13.
Wicked Wolf by Carrie Ann Ryan
(Redwood Pack #8)
14.
When Iris Eyes Are Haunting by
Heather Graham
(Krewe of Hunters #14.5)
15.
Easy with You by Kristen Proby
(With Me in Seattle #8.5)
16.
Master of Freedom by Cherise
Sinclair
(Mountain Masters Novella)
17.
Adored by Lexi Blake
(Masters and Mercenaries #8.5)
18.
Hades by Larissa Ione
(Deominca #11.5; Lords of
Deliverance #6.5)
19.
Ravaged by Elisabeth Naughton
(Eternal Guardians #7.5)
20.
Dream of You by J. Lynn
(Wait for You #4.5)
21.
Stripped Down by Lorelei James
(Blacktop Cowboys Novella)
22.
Rage/Killian by Alexandra Ivy
(Bayou Heat #17-18)
23.
Dragon King by Donna Grant
(Dark Kings #6.25)
24.
Pure Wicked by Shayla Black
(Wicked Lovers #9.5)
25.
Hard as Steel by Laura Kaye
(Hard Ink #4.5)
26.
Stroke of Midnight by Lara Adrian
(Midnight Breed #13.5)
27.
Kiss the Flame by Christopher Rice
(Desire Exchange #1.5)
28.
Daring Her Love by Melissa Foster
(A Bradens Novella)
29.
Teased by Rebecca Zanetti
(Dark Protectors #7.5)
30.
The Promise of Surrender by Liliana
Hart
(A MacKenzie Family Novella)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He releases me and begins to move,
leaving me cold where I was warm only seconds before. I don’t think. I react,
grabbing his arm. His leg pins the door, his gaze colliding with mine, his eyes
darkening with a mix of what I think is satisfaction and conquest, but smartly
he doesn’t speak, as if he knows that if he says the wrong thing, I’ll bolt.
He draws my hand into his, his
fingers lacing with mine in what feels far more intimate than it logically is,
but then I’ve just proven logic has no room in encounter number two with this
man. I am lost to him and in the promise lacing the air with something
unfamiliar and wicked, something I have never experienced before. Nerves
flutter in my stomach, but they do not win, not when heat licks at all the
places I want to feel this man. And not when I crave the freedom to simply
experience the moment I never allow myself.
Allowing him to lead me into the hallway, I am relieved when he doesn’t push me in front of him. He seems to get me without even knowing me, holding onto me, but still leading, going first down the hallway, as if he’s aware of the vulnerable, exposed sensation walking in front of him would give me.
It’s then that I realize we’re on
the thirtieth floor, where the elite suites are, and I wonder who this man is,
my curiosity piquing further when he stops at the “Heather” room, our most
expensive rental. But I don’t have time to debate his importance. He pulls me
in front of him, his hips framing mine, the thick pulse of his erection nestled
against my backside as he slides a key card through the door and pushes it
open.
This time, I am in the lead
vulnerable position, and I have this gut feeling it’s intentional, his way of
telling me the final decision to move forward has to be mine. This is my moment
of control and I inhale, waiting for the need to bolt to overcome me, but it
doesn’t. My mind knows I’m with a stranger, it knows this is dangerous, and my
actions are out of character for me, but the low burn in my belly this man
creates has control. I barely know the instant I decide to stay. I am simply
claiming the tiled entryway as my path, and this night as an adventure. He
doesn’t give me time to go far or to reconsider my choice. The door slams shut
behind him and a dim light fills the open expanse of a room, with windows
overlooking the city. I take another step, and he shackles my wrist, dragging
me around and to him. My purse, which I’ve forgotten I’m holding, slides to the
floor, but I don’t care.
He is hard and warm and I am melting
into the defined lines of his body even before the fingers of one of his hands
tangle into my hair, dragging my mouth to his. His breath is a tantalizing
promise of another kiss, his free hand curving my backside, molding my hips to
his, of something more. “I’ve been thinking about how you’d taste since the
moment I laid eyes on you.”
The declaration is a low, raspy
seduction made a promise by the thick press of his cock against my belly and
the hot press of his tongue into my mouth.
And I do not feel the normal things I’d expect with a stranger, like fear, nervousness, or doubt. There is a thrill to the unknown with this man I did not know was a part of me, but it is. It so is. My body has control, or perhaps this man has control, because I can’t find it in me to find a reason for this to be bad. There is only the sensual overload he’s creating in me, the way his scent, so divinely woodsy, teases my nostrils. The way his taste, of what I think is a mix of bourbon and mint, seeps into my mouth. And, oh God, do I like bourbon and mint. It’s addictive. He’s addictive and our silence is golden. It’s freedom and it’s forgiving, asking no questions, demanding no explanations. It’s freedom I never allow myself, not even with past lovers, but I feel it now.
My fingers flex where they have
landed on his hard chest and I fully intend to begin exploring every
deliciously masculine line of his physique. He distracts me though, walking me
backward, pressing me against the wall, shocking me by shoving my hands over my
head, using one hand to connect my wrists and pin them in place. I’m held
captive, both by his grip and his piercing green stare. But even more so by how
much I not only want him, but how much I want to give myself the permission to
do something daring and edgy. For once in my life, I want to color outside the
lines, and not in sweet hues of pink, but in fiery red.
I inhale and hold in the air as his
free hand goes to my waist, gliding upward over my ribcage, slowly taunting me
with his intended destination, until he is cupping my breasts. He studies my
face, waiting for a reaction. I cannot deny him or me. My lashes flutter and my
back arches, my body leaning into his touch. His fingers tease my nipples
through my dress but the touch is too brief. His hand caresses its way back to
my hip. “How many times have you fucked a stranger?”
It’s a surprising question that ends
our sweet silence, but somehow, coming from him, it’s not a demand. It’s a
further seduction. “Never.”
“Do you know how dangerous it is to
trust someone you don’t know?”
A shiver runs down my spine but it’s not the fear such a question should create in me. I’m aroused, my sex clenching, my thighs damp. “Yes,” I reply. “Yes, I do.”
“And yet, you’re here.” The words
are thoughtful, as if he’s contemplating why that might be rather than asking
me for an answer I don’t have, and he never gives me a chance to deliver.
Abruptly, he releases my hands,
rotating me to face the wall, and my hands press to the smooth surface. He
steps into me, the thick pulse of his erection nestled to my backside once
again, his breath warm on my neck, by my ear. He nips my ear with his teeth.
“You don’t begin to know how dangerous it is. Or what I can do to you if I so
please. Right here. Right now.” He yanks my dress all the way up to my waist,
the black thong I’m wearing leaving me naked to his touch, his palm caressing
my cheeks. “A good man would spank you for taking the risk.”
My heart leaps. “What? No.” I try to
turn, afraid I have made a mistake, but his powerful thighs cage me in. “No,
I—”
“But I’m not a good man,” he
continues, his hands high on my ribcage, fingers framing my breasts. He leans
in, his head dipping low, his lips grazing my neck. “I’m the kind of bad guy
good girls like yourself run from.”
It’s an erotic thrill that is one
part fear and one part electricity. I believe him. And I believe that is
exactly what drew me to him. He is what I am not and never will be. He is
daring, dark, completely without the many inhibitions I hate that I possess.
Rejecting that part of me, I declare, “I’m not running.”
“You should be.” He reaches down and
yanks away my panties. I yelp with the shock of the action and there is just a
hint of fear in me, but there is also arousal, there is a burn low in my belly.
I want to know what his kind of bad is in a way I am not sure I’ve ever wanted
in my life.
“The list of ways I’m going to make
you come is long and creative,” he assures me, the words licking at my sex the
way I want his tongue to, and soon. Please, soon.
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