Amazon Review Tour ***Carnal Obession by Reily Garrett***

Title: Carnal Obsession: His Heart's Prisoner

Author: Reily Garrett

Genre: Erotic Romance

Release Date: January 30, 2017

Life on the street molds emotional athletes. Three years ago, her brother’s death marked the beginning of Kendra’s new life, an existence with no home, no family, and no friends. Time in the underground byways toughened her emotional shell with the loose association of like-minded street rats where survival meant compromise and constant vigilance.

Before he died, Billy had sent her a package in care of his teammate, Conner. For Kendra, re-entrance into polite society comes with a deadly price, as betrayal comes from both sides of the grave. Conner Crofton owns the BDSM club Ambrosia. After failing to protect his teammate on their last covert mission, penance takes form as a promise to safeguard Billy’s little sister, a girl he’d unknowingly remanded to a world of darkness and uncertainty, deception and psychopathic stalkers. The past will always haunt us. Each must earn forgiveness and trust as passion, guilt, deception, and betrayal, interweave a destiny formed long ago. A romantic suspense with a twist.

“You? You own this animated horror show? Conner, what happened to you?” A decade ago, he and Billy had filled her head with fantasies only an innocent could dream, back when sex in a t-shirt carried the easy grace of a natural predator and filled her delusions of eternal love. Time had lent fuel to her imagination. Like a boiler that continued to build up too much pressure, her thoughts skated along the razor’s edge of a volcano. The age-old longing persisted despite current reality’s intervention and the memory of how Conner had led Billy into the military, to his death.

“Hello, Kendra. I’m glad you and your band could make it tonight. I look forward to hearing you sing again.” That sweltry intonation could curl an iron bar, yet there dwelt a deep sadness, as if memories pulled him down a road too often traveled.

An audible gulp. Her mouth opened and closed several times without issuing a sound.

She couldn’t look at him, not when her face flamed with the memories of first infatuation. The disappointment invading her mind now stung the back of her eyelids. “When did you turn into a pervert?” It was too much to bear. She needed the quiet and peaceful white noise of the street, wind chimes on someone’s front porch, a car backfiring, a breeze sifting through the trees and blowing the road’s detritus in small dust devils.

“Nice place you have here, Mr. Crofton.” Daeron, ever the peacemaker, stepped forward to shake Conner’s hand.

“Yeah, all it needs is some spider architecture, pointed hats, and magic wands. Oh, and I think you’re missing a vat of boiling oil.” Mumbled words lost the bite of her intent.

“Can’t say spiders do much for me, but we do have plenty of oil and violet wands. Most women think of them as magic.” Conner’s husky laugh scorched the knot in her throat like melted sand, changing its consistency until acid threatened to spew forth.

“Looks damn interesting.” Daeron’s comment would earn him an all-out brawl later.

Freaking traitor. Men always stick together.

After a moment, Conner’s words sank in. No!

“Violet? You’re gay?”

It seemed bystanders thought her a comedian or imbecile, their laughter creating more blazing heat to encompass her face.

Marc, brother of her current tormentor, took pity as he stepped forward. “Hi, Mackendra. It’s been a long time.” Sympathy radiated from him in waves to envelop her in a maelstrom of cloying, sickly sweet flashbacks she couldn’t handle. Of the four brothers, he’d been the nice one.

“Hi, Marc. Let me guess, you’re also part of this zoo?” Regardless of his intended sincerity, she couldn’t rest her gaze on either man. “This den of perverts?”

“You got it, hon. You ready to work? I’ve missed hearing your zany and spirited songs.” Marc stepped forward to offer a hug yet stopped short of contact.

No! She couldn’t abide the company of men whose lives had been twisted by pain and despair, the last men to see her brother alive. Conner’s presence ushered Billy’s last words to fill her mind before he ditched her for another military stint, his final tour. “You’re being selfish, mongrel. I need to do this, protect my brothers. You’ll be safe here, yet they won’t be unless I go back. When I return, we’ll start a new chapter in life, together.”

Well that sure as hell happened. Just not the way I’d planned.

The physical ache in her heart wasn’t relieved with the pressure of fist against chest. She turned and ran, just as she always did when the agony of memories washed over her. She would never again allow anyone to witness her suffering.

Review by: Jennifer

(2.5 Stars)

Conner made a promise to his best friend and team mate before he died, take care of his sister. Last time he had checked on Kendra, nothing out of the ordinary was going on, she was at home with her parents. Now three years later, he has found her living on the streets after she had ran away.

Kendra has yet to get over the death of her brother and the promise that he broke. She has been living on the streets for the past couple of years, but when her band gets an opportunity to play at a popular club she thinks things are looking up. When she realizes that its Conner's club and that he has something from Billy to give to her, she runs. She runs straight into danger. Conner must now keep her safe, while at the same time remembering that she is young and needs someone that is not him.  Kendra needs Conner to open his eyes and realize that she is not a little girl, and the crush she had when she was younger, has now grown to full bloom. But when Conner keeps pushing her away, will she give up this crush? Or will Conner finally admit that yes he wants her, and she will be his?

So a long time ago, I used to read historical romance, and the way this was written reminded me of those; the way the characters talked, the $4 words that you hardly see in use anymore. I feel that something that is titled Carnal Obsession would have been more erotic, and definitely have more scenes than this did. Three scenes total and two were very lack luster, while the third was also not very good. The plot was very good, and the suspense of the whole mystery was the only thing that kept me going, I just don't feel it was carried out very well. The BDSM aspect of this story was pretty nonexistent after the first scene in the club and like I said even that was pretty lack luster. Kendra was more childish in her thoughts and actions, that it really wasn't hard to see why Conner thought of her as a child, while at the same time she was demanding he see her as an adult. I was excited about the taboo, his best friends sister, younger vs older, and in the end I was just plain let down. I found this lacking in so many ways. 2.5 stars that will get bumped up to 3.

Reily’s employment as an ICU nurse, private investigator, and work in the military police has given her countless experiences in a host of different environments to add a real world feel to her fiction. Though her kids are her life, writing is Reily’s life after. The one enjoyed…after the kids are in bed or after they’re in school and the house is quiet. This is the time she kicks back with laptop and lapdog to give her imagination free rein.

In life, hobbies can come and go according to our physical abilities, but you can always enjoy a good book. Life isn’t perfect, but our imaginations can be. Relax, whether it’s in front of a fire or in your own personal dungeon. Take pleasure in a mental pause as you root for your favorite hero/heroine and bask in their accomplishments, then share your opinions of them over a coffee with your best friend (even if he’s four legged). Life is short. Cherish your time.

 

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