Caleb is a man with a singular interest in revenge. Kidnapped as a young boy and sold into slavery by a power-hungry mobster, he has thought of nothing but vengeance. For twelve years he has immersed himself in the world of pleasure slaves searching for the one man he holds ultimately responsible. Finally, the architect of his suffering has emerged with a new identity, but not a new nature. If Caleb is to get close enough to strike, he must become the very thing he abhors and kidnap a beautiful girl to train her to be all that he once was.

Eighteen-year-old Olivia Ruiz has just woken up in a strange place. Blindfolded and bound, there is only a calm male voice to welcome her. His name is Caleb, though he demands to be called Master. Olivia is young, beautiful, naïve and willful to a fault. She has a dark sensuality that cannot be hidden or denied, though she tries to accomplish both. Although she is frightened by the strong, sadistic, and arrogant man who holds her prisoner, what keeps Olivia awake in the dark is her unwelcome attraction to him.

WARNING: This book contains very disturbing situations, dubious consent, strong language, and graphic violence.

Ashley’s book review: 5++ stars

I fell upon this book many months ago after one of my facebook blog pages I follow had an “author take over” and the author was C.J.Roberts. Captive in the Dark was her debut novel, so I’ve obviously never read anything of hers. She posted a teaser for the book, the first two chapters. I started reading it without really knowing what it entailed and BOY WAS I SURPRISED! After reading the first two chapters I was hooked, but yet I was hesitant to read it. I decided to search out the book to get a better feel of where this could be going and after reading this in the book description: “WARNING: This book contains very disturbing situations, dubious consent, strong language, and graphic violence.” I was just a little apprehensive to read the rest it. I even broke down and read TONS of the reviews to get a feel for the book and that didn’t help at all! It made me EVEN MORE intrigued, but EVEN MORE nervous to read it! I’ve never been one for “dark” books…don’t get me wrong I love reading some BDSM and such, but I’ve never dark like this. I think my biggest issue was my internal battle: What if I like this book?!? And if I like this book, what does that say about me?!? Finally after downloading a sample of it on my kindle and having it sit there for months, Black Friday happened and wouldn’t you know Captive in the Dark went on sale! So I took that as a sign that I HAD to buy it and give a chance. I.WAS.NOT.DISAPPOINTED.

C.J.Roberts debut novel Captive in the Dark was a “read with one eye open, hold your breath, intensely dark” book! As a reader and as a person, you hear captive and captor and you immediately LOATHE the captor and pray that the captive gets away…RIGHT?!? Well in this book it’s not so black and white. Yes, for a majority of the book, I wanted to hate Caleb and inflict pain on him because of his plan for Livvie/Olivia/Pet/Kitten and what he was making Livvie endure, but sadly I ended up not being able to. C.J.Roberts was able to achieve this internal struggle within me because she had dual POVs! I got to see Caleb’s motivations and reasoning for why he was doing what he was doing. “Revenge, Caleb reminded himself. That was the purpose of all this. Revenge, twelve years in the planning and a few months away in its execution.” Unfortunately, Livvie had become part of this revenge scheme whether she liked it or not.

The growth and development of these two characters throughout the book was just indescribable. Livvie starts out as this timid kitten (hence the name Caleb uses for her) and remains timid throughout most of the book, but she is eventually shaped into this powerful character and a survivor without her even realizing it. Caleb on the other hand, is such a intensely COMPLEX character and was seeming to break down to his original form and resisting it at every turn. “The longer he was near her, the less he seemed capable of trusting himself.” Livvie did that to him. “There was just something about her, something he wanted to taste and touch. Something he wanted to claim.”

The “reading with one eye open” and “hold your breath” part of the book: At times, Caleb was very cruel to “kitten”: “Caleb was a strange person, cruel and inhuman; a monster, yet, at other times, he seemed so capable of something like caring.” There were parts where Caleb showed a more gentle side towards Livvie and then we would see his more brutal side come out; the side that was so deeply imbedded in who he is because of his “upbringing”. “Why couldn’t he just keep being an evil, soulless bastard so I knew what his role was and I knew mine? Why did he have to continually switch back from cold and unforgiving, to comforting and warm?” He is not only the “villian”, but in his early life, he was very much the victim. We learn about what shaped him into the man he is today. As the book progresses, Caleb’s internal struggle is more and more frequent. His need for revenge has wavered and he doesn’t like the change in himself. “He had underestimated her in some way, and she had found a way to affect him.” How will things turn out? Will Caleb continue to seek his revenge? Will Livvie escape? Does Livvie want to escape?

This book had me questioning my sanity and wondering if maybe I had Stockholm’s Syndrome?!?

C.J.Robert’s goes ALL OUT with this book! She takes ballsy to a new level!! There is SO MUCH MORE to this book than meets the eye.Like I said in the beginning, I was a little apprehensive to read this, but I am extremely glad I did! It was an eye opener…even though I had one closed sometimes lol. I felt like I was in a rut with the books I’ve been reading recently and I just wanted something different…well C.J.Roberts did exactly that for me!

C.J.Roberts is a phenomenal writer and I am immensely HAPPY that Seduced in the Dark book 2 is out when I finished Captive in the Dark!! I think I would’ve died a little on the inside if it wasn’t out! As weird and odd as this is, I am praying for a HEA here…strange I know…lock me up in a psych ward, but until you read this book, you just cannot fathom as to why I want this ending for Livvie and Caleb.

Personal Favorite Dark and Twisty Quotes:

“It wasn’t enough to fuck my body; he wanted to mindfuck me as well. It was working.”

“He was my tormentor and my solace; the creator of the dark and the light within.”

BOOK #1: Effortless WIth You

Top Five Kissing Scenes

Hi everyone! I’m so excited to be on the blog today! My Amazon best selling novel, Effortless With You, a sweet young adult romance series, is on sale this week! I’d love to celebrate with sharing my top five kissing scenes! xxxxx!

One of my favorite parts about writing young adult romance is when I finally get the chance to write the big kissing scene. You know, that one kiss that makes everything feel right in the world? Yeah. That one.

Well, whenever I’m about to write that scene, I do some research. I make sure I watch at least one of the following scenes to get my heart in the right place before I make my main characters lip lock.

Here are my top five favorite kissing scenes!

5.- Romeo and Juliet, the Leonardo DeCaprio and Claire Danes Kiss. It’s so sweet. So filled with life and energy. That kiss makes me feel like anything is possible!

4.- The Pride and Prejudice hand kiss. It’s amazing how such a small gesture can signify so much. I never want to forget as a writer how important a kiss to the hand can really be. That look in Mr. Darcy’s eye … Oh man. Every girl deserves a man to look at her that way!

3.- The kiss at the end of Pitch Perfect. I love this kiss. It’s sweet, funny, and full of “I’m sorry, you were right. I was an idiot.” Pretty much an essential type of kiss to have in a YA romance book.

2.- When Katniss finally listens to her heart in Catching Fire. She goes all out and kisses Peeta like the boy deserves! I love this kiss. It’s powerful. It’s filled with hunger for love and time. It’s fantastic!

1.- The Intense Notebook Kiss. Oh man. This kiss always makes my heart kick into gear. This is the kiss that inspired the big kiss in at the end of the entire Effortless With You series (in Perfectly Messy)! I’m certain you’ll be able to figure out what kiss I’m talking about (there are many!) once you’ve read the books.

Thanks so much for having me on the blog!

Interested in Lizzy Charles’ novels Effortless With You and Perfectly Messy? They are available on Amazon, Nook, iBooks, and most ebook readers. Prefer a book you can actually hold in your hand and smell? Both novels are available in print via Amazon and available to order through many local bookstores if you ask. :)

BOOK #1: Effortless WIth You

BOOK #2: Perfectly Messy

Lizzy Charles lives in the Twin Cities and is a graduate of the University of Minnesota. When she isn’t raising her three children or caring for premature and sick babies as a neonatal intensive care nurse, she’s seeking refuge with her laptop, sparkling water, and dark chocolate. She married her high school sweetheart, a swoon-worthy musician, so it’s no surprise she’s fallen in love with writing contemporary YA romance novels.

If you ask the confident and snarky skater girl, and she’s in the mood to share, she’ll tell you her name is Cat. She might even tell you that she’s hooked on graffiti, 80s movies, and having fun—the riskier the better. Cat will share a good time with you, but she won’t ever trust you enough to share her heart. It’s protected by secrets and she’d like to keep it that way.

Cat knows one thing for certain: Love isn’t really her thing.

If you ask the confident and rich pretty boy, he might tell you his name is Huck. He might even tell you he loves a challenge and is used to getting his way. He won’t tell you that his life is a mess because he risked his heart by trusting the wrong girl. Huck is ready for a change, he just wasn’t ready to get hooked on someone like Cat.

Huck knows one thing for certain: Love hasn’t done him any favors, but Cat just might be worth the risk.

Cat and Huck think a one-night stand seems harmless, but when all the little secrets they didn’t share turn out to be toxic truths, they realize how easily a one-night stand (or a few) could ruin everything.

The thing is, you can be ruined in more than one way. Once you’re HOOKED, what wouldn’t you risk for the chance at more?

“I’m going to kiss you,” he warned.

“It’s about time.” I barely managed to finish speaking before his lips were on mine, silencing me. It wasn’t common for people to be able to shut me up so easily. I had to give Huck credit. Kissing was a very effective method.

One of his hands was on my hip, pulling me against him while the other was on the back of my neck, fingers clutching in the loose weave of my braid. I ran my hands up his chest and he murmured my name in response before I hooked my fingers behind his neck and pulled him in closer. His mouth opened to mine and our tongues met with heavy breaths and begging lips. Huck leaned into me, walking me up against the wall behind my door, pressing his hips into mine. My lips broke away from his as I let out a moan at the contact. He did it again and I closed my eyes as I felt the tingling effects of pleasure unfurling through my body. His head dipped to the curve of my neck as he nipped a few hungry kisses along the skin there and at that moment, I thought I might stop breathing. How could the simple touch of his lips have such an effect on me?

I was vaguely aware that I’d been sweating in the hot sun all morning, had just eaten a huge hamburger, and probably tasted like avocados and salt. But I didn’t care. His lips were on my skin and I wanted to let him taste any part of my body he wanted. I pushed my fingers up into his thick hair, dragging my nails lightly across his scalp. He growled, bringing his mouth back to mine.

“Do that again,” he ordered, his lips moving against mine before his tongue was tracing the edges of my satisfied smile.

I did as he asked, allowing my fingernails to stray lightly through his hair, down his neck, and along his back until they found the hem of his shirt. Huck’s hands were framing my ribs, his thumbs circling lightly against the fabric of my tank top, inching it up as he kissed me. I bunched the bottom of his t-shirt in my hands, using it to push us away from the wall. He pulled away from the kiss, eyes stormy with desire and amusement as he allowed me to slowly force him backwards. When his knees hit the seat of my chair, I pushed him down into it. It was a garish, odd thing that I’d found at an antique store last year and asked Jay to re-upholster for me. It had always been more for looks than use, but as I stood staring down at the undeniably sexy man sitting in it, I was not only grateful I’d rescued it, but thankful it didn’t have arms either.

I placed my hands on Huck’s shoulders and then carefully walked forward until I was straddling him. I slowly sat down until the backs of my thighs touched the top of his, the juncture of our legs separated by only a few pieces of clothing that I suddenly wished weren’t there. He made a low noise in response, but my mouth was already on his, swallowing his incoherent cursing with insistent kisses. He groaned as I gently rolled my hips forward.

“You’re too much, Cat.”

“Too much how?” I demanded, nipping at his lips with light kisses, dragging my nails through his hair, and pushing my hips into his again.

“Everything. All of you. God, I can’t think straight.”

The first thing Christine does when she’s getting ready to read a book is to crack the spine in at least five places. She wholeheartedly believes there is no place as comfy as the pages of a well-worn book. She’s addicted to buying books, reading books, and writing books. Books, books, books. She also has a weakness for adventure, inappropriate humor, and coke (the caffeine-laden bubbly kind). Christine is from Forest Hill, Maryland where she lives with her husband, three kids, and her library of ugly spine books.

He’s always saved her. Now she’s going to return the favor…

Gray Duffy never thought he’d end up as the co-lead guitarist of Oblivion, one of the hottest rock bands in the country. Even better? He’s sharing the experience with his best friend, Jazz. Since the day she’d showed up as his family’s new foster kid, Gray has protected her. Loved her. And not just platonically either. After all these years of wanting her in his bed, he still doesn’t know what it would be like to have her mouth on his.

Except for that one time. The time he’d shared her with Nick. The best worst night of his life.

Now they’re living their dream. They’re making music together and spending every waking moment trapped in tight quarters. With success at their fingertips, the time is right for him to finally make his move toward the woman he needs.

He just never figured he would lose control. Or that she would find out.

They’ve loved each other through everything. But what if this time love just isn’t enough?

Curves. So many curves. Jazz was like a living G-clef made out of flesh and flawless diamond-crushed skin. The ruby red tips of her breasts peeked out from beneath the waves of her white-blonde hair. Thanks to the spill of light from the window, he could see that the same flush bloomed between her legs, beyond enticing. It would be so easy to move forward and take. To just drown himself in her until he couldn’t remember anymore why this was wrong.

“Jazz,” Gray breathed, shutting his eyes to block out the torch-light of her beauty in front of him. He couldn’t breathe through his want. Couldn’t think through the haze of his need. And his love.

He fucking loved her, and he’d fight not to do this with every fiber of his being. She deserved more than a strung-out bastard who’d turned to pot because he couldn’t get ahold of more coke. For fuck’s sake, even his dealer wouldn’t return his calls.

Now she was here, and he couldn’t get high enough not to feel each of the knives carving him up inside.

“Gray,” she said, equally soft. He didn’t open his eyes but her voice crept closer. “Look at me.”

“No.” The word burst from him on an exhale. “No.”

Her hand touched his bare chest and he jolted as if she’d set off a stick of dynamite. Her chuckle rubbed over his nerve endings, sandpaper and silk, and he struggled to hold back a shudder. Only the steel beam he’d shoved in his spine held him upright.

“Back when I used to get high, it’d lower my inhibitions,” she continued. “It made me excited. I know it’s supposed to relax you, but it had a different effect on me.”

He focused on each of her words on its own, so he couldn’t take them all together and feel their impact. He couldn’t let her do this. The man she was trying to seduce might’ve been worthy of her a year ago. He hadn’t believed it fully then either but he knew without doubt that he wasn’t now.

“As if you ever had inhibitions,” he muttered, unable to summon the strength to raise his voice. All his blood had rerouted to his cock. All his air was fueling his starving cells. He could only not inhale for so long. But if he did, he’d smell her again, watermelon and sugar, and he’d be finished.

“Oh, you’d be surprised. I’ve wanted you for years. And I haven’t done one damn thing to let you know.” She started circling him, her body brushing against his. Hip to thigh, thigh to ass. Her fingers trailed from his chest to his arm to his back, sensual feathers of sensation that made his balls clench so tight he feared any movement would send him over the edge. “But I will tonight.”

He gritted his teeth. “You can’t. You don’t know me anymore. You don’t understand what you’re getting into.”

That made her stop. Her fingers pressed into his lower back as she processed his words.

Please, make them be enough.

She completed her loop around him and hooked her fingers in the front of his jeans. He groaned at the slide of skin on skin. He heard her inhale before the wisps of her breath kissed his mouth. “So show me.”

USA TODAY bestselling author Cari Quinn wrote her first story–a bible parable–in 2nd grade, much to the delight of the nuns at her Catholic school. Once she saw the warm reception that first tale garnered, she was hooked. She attempted her first romance in junior high, long before she’d ever read one. Writing what she knew always took a backseat to what she wanted to know, and that still holds true today.

Though she also fires up her computer as a graphic designer, proofreader and editor, she can’t resist the lure of disappearing into a world of her own creation. Now she gets to pen sexy romances for a living and routinely counts her lucky stars.

The only thing she loves more than writing is hearing from readers! Please contact her through one of the ways below.

Taryn Elliott comes from the great state of New York—upstate, thank you very much. She’s usually busy making up stories with her best friend until the wee hours of the morning, or fangirling over her favorite TV show. She falls in love with each and every one of her leading men as she writes their book, and there’s always a soundtrack to match.

She loves talking to readers, so if you’d like to reach her, please visit her website: tarynelliott.com and sign up for her newsletter, or drop her a line at: .

Collins Drake exercises control over all facets of his life. From his business, to satisfying his physical needs … it all happens on his command.

So when a woman shows up at his door and reminds him of a promise they made each other when they were just ten years old, it shouldn’t have the ability to rock his entire world.

Yet it does.

Because Mia Monroe wasn’t just his childhood best friend, she wasn’t just the girl he lost his virginity to and hasn’t seen since, she’s the one exception to his perfect control. And piece by piece, she’s about to tear apart his carefully laid plans.

Kendall Ryan is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance novels, including Hard to Love, Unravel Me, Resisting Her and When I Break.

She’s a sassy, yet polite Midwestern girl with a deep love of books, and a slight addiction to lipgloss. She lives in Minneapolis with her adorable husband and two baby sons, and enjoys hiking, being active, and reading.

Life Lived Twice -By Sherrie Wouters

Some promises are made to last forever…

What if you fell in love with a stranger…but that stranger had come from your past, a past you never knew existed until the moment your eyes met?

When Tess Winters locks eyes with a stranger at an airport bookstore, it ignites a feeling of passion somewhere deep inside her that she can’t explain.

Although the encounter is innocent and brief, the intensity of it lingers, leaving her overwhelmed by a yearning for the mystery man now consuming her every thought.

Struggling to break the powerful hold he has over her heart, Tess starts to experience strange but familiar dreams…dreams from the turn of the twentieth century of the charming Mr Addison Taylor.

As her dreams start to materialize into reality, and past and present begin to blur, Tess is forced to put the pieces of a forgotten time together, and soon discovers that love isn’t the only thing that can find you after an eternity.

Captivating, mysterious, and romantic, Life Lived Twice will leave you wondering whether love is so powerful it could last more than a lifetime.

By the time I’d examined his tanned calves, the masculinity of his skin was lingering in the air between us. He smelt sensational, and I found myself uncontrollably breathing in as I rose.

Now curious to see more, I kept going. But as I began to move, an odd sensation of warmth radiating from him came over me; it was almost like an invisible hand caressing my skin. My heart fluttered at the idea of it, and suddenly blood was rushing to all the wrong places as I felt an unexpected thrill of anticipation.

After tracing his body all the way up to his chest, my wandering eyes didn’t seem to want to stop, and they were soon up to his neck and following the stubble along his jaw, right up to his light brown hair.

And then he spoke. The sound of his voice jolted me from my daydream and pulled my gaze to his.

“Addison!” I gasped as our eyes collided.

From the moment the name left my lips, my eyes widened … stared … and became lost in his. As a rush of airy weightlessness floated me from the floor, suddenly everything felt more enhanced, more real, like something inside me had suddenly woken up.

It was an intoxicating feeling and the longer I stood entranced, the further his beautiful blue eyes reached into mine. Somehow they were knocking on the door to my heart, stirring something so powerful it made me want to cry and laugh at the same time and, for a brief second, there

was something in his eyes that made me feel complete.

Suddenly his brows squeezed then softened. “Ah … um … sorry about the electric shock.” He smiled. “But who’s Addison?”

My throat tightened as warmth flushed my cheeks. Who the hell was Addison?

Embarrassment pulled my eyes from his. “Oh,” I said, choking on my words, “Um … ah … no … I don’t know anyone called Addison … I mean, um … ”

“Oh!” He smiled cheekily as he leaned towards me and whispered. “You sounded so convinced I was him … I thought for a second I could be. I mean, if you wanted me to be.”

My face shot back to his, words jamming in my throat as I stared. Who was this guy, this stranger? In just a few seconds he’d turned my soul inside out, and now he was charming me with his words as well.

As his lips rose into a smile, I couldn’t help but smile back. But panic quickly returned to my constricted throat as that name re-entered my head.

Suddenly aware of the warmth still creeping across my face, I managed to pull my eyes from his again and divert my gaze. Addison, Addison, who the hell was Addison? I couldn’t budge the name from my thoughts.

As I stood fidgeting, I could feel him staring, waiting for me to say something, anything. After taking a breath, I shifted my gaze and we locked eyes again as I spoke. “Um,” I said, swallowing hard, “I must be mistaken … sorry.”

Sherrie Wouters is the author of the romantic fantasy, Life Lived Twice.

A qualified Homeoeopath and Kinesiologist, Sherrie lives in country Victoria, Australia with her husband, and two daughters. She is currently working on the sequel to Life Lived Twice.