Customer Reviews

Shameless (Harlequin Blaze)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Nina has been partners with two of the most gorgeous men for the last three years. Too bad they are also her best friends, as they would probably make wonderful lovers; at least they do in her dreams. But, when one night they tell her that what she needs is anonymous sex, and it will help her relax and even break her pattern of attracting losers, she is not sure. After a long couple of days of fantasizing about it, thinking that is just what she needs, no relationship etc. But, when that one night rocks her world and she wants another night what is she to do? Well since neither is telling she tries to guess which man it is. She decides to approach one of them in a way they won't refuse. But, things are not as easy as they seem and she is in the position to tear the friendship, business and potential love to pieces. Want to know what happens pick up Shameless.

OOOhhh baby. What can you say about Shameless other than this is one super hot romance story. The husband and wife team did a fantastic job writing Shameless and I cannot wait for the next edition in this series. I think if this team needs a beta reader that I should be signed up. I found that while reading Shameless I was thinking about all the different things that in my mind I might do if placed in the same situation as Nina. When I realize that I am approaching the characters as if they are real then the authors have done a wonderful job in setting a realistic stage where I feel I am part of the story. This writing team did just that and I loved the Grandmother character as well as being able to see the interactions between all three friends and how they did change. Add to this the erotic hot sex and you can't go wrong with Shameless.

Tanya
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

If you like Hot, Spicy and Smoking books you don't want to miss this one. I love stories between Best Friends, that was the main reason that I got this book.
But the book is not only about Hot Sex, there is emotion, laughs and friendship.
If you want to spend a Hot night, get this book and you won't be sorry.
the next two in the series are coming up on Novemeber and December 2008
Have fun!

You know that warm fuzzy feeling a good romance gives you? You WON'T get it with this book. I was disappointed because the blurb made me think, what a sexy twist! (Spoiler alert) The herione is sleazy, although the hero could have been a great character, he was totally unrealistic. This author totally lost me when she had the heroine be so stupid that she in an effort to find out which one of these guys had given her a night of anonymous sex sleeps with the wrong one, and has the hero walk in and catch them! Then, to top it all off the writer wants us to believe that Kevin, (the hero) forgives her after seeing her sexing it up with his best friend, marries her and the best friend comes to the wedding and all is well. Excuse me, in what universe??? If a man who was carrying a torch for three years caught his lady love doing that, first, he would never look at her without that flashback, and second, if he ever did marry her, he would torture her (deservedly I might add) emotionally for the rest of her married life! This heroine was a tramp, and I don't know what has happened to this Blaze line. In there defense it is "EXTREME" Blaze. I suppose that should warn you, but I can not in any remote possibilty call this a romance. If you want to just write nasty erotica, fine, there are a lot of publishers out there that want it, but don't call it a romance! There was nothing remotely romantic about this book. I came away thinking that no way did Nina deserve Kevin, and if the guy was smart he would have gotten as far away from her as possible. She was toxic, and even the "love" scenes were borderline sick. If this is an example of the "Extreme Blaze" line, I will never read another one! Take my advice and don't waste your money on this one.

I saw Kevin's infatuation with Nina. I saw Nina's attraction to both men and her willingness to seek both of them out. Definitely saw Gauge's betrayal of Kevin. But romance? Love? Come on! And for it all to work out the way it did in the end. Just not believable. I don't think you could ever get that image out of your head if you stayed around those people. In real life people aren't that forgiving. I'm definitely not.

These are games for college kids not 30 somethings.

Nina has two business partners who suggest that since she looking for a lover that maybe one of them would be a good choice. Kevin and Gauge decide to offer a amazing night wear she would be blindfolded and never which man she spend the night with... Enjoy!

I would also recommend;Nauti Nights by Lora Leigh ,Naughty but Nice by Jill Shalvis and Voyeur by Lacey Alexander.

I'm pretty open-minded, and usually I really enjoy books by Tori Carrington since they always seem to push the envelope on naughty. This story, however, pushed it a little too far for me. Without giving away plot points, I became disgusted with a certain twist halfway through and had a hard time going back to finish the story. Truth be told, I didn't care for the heroine from the start. She felt underdeveloped and made too many bad, irrational decisions without enough explanation or justification to make me want to relate to her. Kevin, one of her business partners, was the only character I truly enjoyed, but not enough to save the book. I think too much time was invested in developing a "mystery romance" between three characters, so the characters and overall plot suffered as a result. Not the worst book I've ever read, but some points were a little disturbing and left a bad taste in my mouth, tainting any possible happy ending that could have redeemed it for me. Too bad. I really liked the premise. It's not your typical series romance book - but it felt more like a movie I'd see on Skinamax. Lots of sex, little romance, poorly written, and badly acted.

I wrote in a previous review how I stumbled across the very clever and real writing of Tori Carrington. Totally out of order. I read "Reckless" first, then "Restless" and boy was Gauge HOT!!. I took my time getting "Shameless" because quite frankly I didn't think it could get better than Gauge. But I was wrong. Kevin & Nina's story was beautiful & very sexy too! Read the stories in the order they're supposed to go in, (which is backward from the order I just gave) and the stories will make a lot more sense...

Some of the previous reviewers were a little too harsh. This story is not going to be for everyone, but it was a good story. I found the whole idea of the anonymous night a pretty hot idea. Of course, when sex comes into play, nobody is thinking of the consequences, until it's too late. Overall, this was a good book. I've already started on the 2nd installment, Reckless.

In Fantasy, Michigan Nina Leonard is a man-eater who enjoys sleeping with her flavor of the month, but when the sex turns boring she dumps the hunk. Her BMC business partners and best friends, Patrick Gauge and Kevin Weber worry about Nina as they believe her hurtful behavior towards men is harming her. They decide on an intervention in which a man will sleep with her while she is blindfolded so she can not know who he is; they expect her to have real feelings for a change.

Hesitant Nina assumes that either Patrick or Kevin is her sleeping partner so she goes for it. The sex is the best of her life and she wants more, but neither of her partners admits to the act. They leave it to her to figure out who loves Nina with his soul.

This is an interesting contemporary romance starring three fascinating protagonists especially Nina who thinks sex partners are disposable until that first heated night with either hunk one or hunk two. Now she must decide whether her beloved is behind door one or a dangerous tiger that will destroy her relationships with both men behind door two. Although the intervention solution of using sex to teach a lesson on sex seems outrageous and extremely risky to the business and friendships, fans will enjoy Tori Carrington's fine portrayal of a man-eater finding love, but not knowing who he is.

Harriet Klausner

The premise of uninhibited, secret sex with a business partner truly sparked my interest but that's all it sparked.

Half way through this book I had to set it aside because I was so angry and disappointed by the hero and heroine's decisions and complete lack of character. I don't expect characters to be perfect; in fact, I love the flaws, imperfections and opportunities for growth that most possess. But these characters were flat, boring and selfish.

I did finish the book with the hopes that SOMEHOW things would "all work out" in the end, to no avail. While an ending doesn't have to wrap up everything in a pretty little unrealistic bow, it should leave the reader with a warm and fuzzy feeling that the characters are good for each other and will be happy together. And if it's a really good book I wish there were just a couple more pages left to read so I could bask in the glow of their love just a bit longer. No only did this book give me neither feeling, it gave me the "ick" feeling.

The one redeeming factor was the wonderful relationship the heroine had with her Grandmother. Their conversations were funny, witty and sweet. Unfortunately, it's not enough to recommend this book or encourage me to buy the next in the series.