Guest post with Kate Belle - Something About Teacher & Giveaway!

SOMETHING ABOUT TEACHER

Hi Jo-Anne and readers!

Did you have a crush on a teacher in high school? Or a scandal when a student became romantically involved with a teacher?

I’m of the vintage when relationships between young teachers and older high school students (I’m talking 17 – 18 years old), while not respectable, weren’t uncommon. My high school saw at least one teacher and student moving in together after the student graduated. And all the girls in my year level had enormous crushes on our very handsome Business Studies teacher (although as far as I know he never succumbed to our flirtatious come-ons).

Attitudes towards student teacher relationships have shifted in the last 30 years. Today these relationships are not tolerated, they are viewed as paedophilic, pure manipulation and abuse of power on the part of the adult participant. In many cases this is true, particularly where the student in question is under the age of consent.

Yet what an arbitrary line the age of consent is.

Sixteen is as tender as fifteen and not a whole lot less mature than seventeen. At sixteen many teenagers are discovering the incredible power of their burgeoning sexuality, not only in regards to their peers, but also in relation to the effect it can have on adults.

I feel for modern teenage girls. From primary school age they’re subjected to an undercurrent of sexual conditioning via first world culture - music videos, TV soaps, magazines, advertising, modelling from the young women in their lives. It doesn’t take long for them to get the idea that sexual allure is a highly valued quality. I’ve tried to protect my 9 year old daughter from explicit music videos and mature commercial content, yet she occasionally (and disturbingly) mimics the sexy poses and behaviour she observes in the world around her. Sexiness is so embedded in our culture we hardly notice it.

The unguarded nature of today’s communication means young people are exposed to complex sexual ideas long before they have the maturity to understand them. Sex education is delivered and helps to avert silly, misinformed mistakes, but no sex education program is going to prepare them for the lived experience and consequences of entering a sexual relationship, particularly with a mature adult.

As a young girl’s body blossoms and hormones rocket through her blood, it’s not surprising she decides to ruffle her sexual feathers and test out her allure. For some girls the most accessible man available to her is a teacher. There are many teachers in my life and all of them have a story about a teenager who targets the youngest, handsomest member of staff with her substantial charms.

The ramifications of this can be dire. No matter how responsibly he behaves, these days he is the one who is going to be held to account. If she manipulates him into an uncompromising position she will be the victim and he will be explaining himself, even though he may have done nothing to encourage her affections.  One story I was told involved a fifteen year old girl who used tutoring as a ruse and showed up on her teacher’s doorstep dressed provocatively holding a bottle of wine.

Teenagers are susceptible to developing intense romantic attachments – real or imagined. First love is a teenage rite of passage and it’s only natural a percentage of teenagers choose a favoured teacher as their first love object. And if that teacher is vulnerable to the flattery of a young person’s attraction and attention, the situation can become psychological dynamite.

It was the romantic element of these relationships that interested me when writing The Yearning. We are not comfortable with the idea that there could be a real attraction between a teacher and student, so this aspect of the relationship is glossed over. It’s seen as an aberration, a delusion, but that’s not how a teenager experiences it.

Our first experience of love and sex stays with us, marks us out and shapes our expectations of future relationships. I believe we should be talking to teenagers, particularly teenage girls, about how to assert and experience their sexuality in a way that empowers them, not buys into the confusing double standards society lays out for them – be sexually alluring but don’t be a slut. They need to understand the consequences of entering a sexual relationship with a mature adult may affect the rest of their lives.

The Yearning speaks to this issue. It asks who seduces who and why? How do we realign our expectations in relationships, our trust, our love, after our first sexual experience? It asks what do we want from love versus what we can have?

The Yearning by Kate Belle

Synopsis:

It’s 1978 in a country town and a dreamy fifteen year old girl’s world is turned upside down by the arrival of the substitute English teacher. Solomon Andrews is beautiful, inspiring and she wants him like nothing else she’s wanted in her short life.

Charismatic and unconventional, Solomon easily wins the hearts and minds of his third form English class. He notices the attention of one girl, his new neighbour, who has taken to watching him from her upstairs window. He assumes it a harmless teenage crush, until the erotic love notes begin to arrive.

Solomon knows he must resist, but her sensual words stir him. He has longings of his own, although they have nothing to do with love, or so he believes. One afternoon, as he stands reading her latest offering in his driveway, she turns up unannounced. And what happens next will torment them forever – in ways neither can imagine.

Read an extract here

Buy The Yearning:

Ebook: Amazon

 iTunes 

Kobo 

Reading group questions here 

Author Bio

Kate is a multi-published author who writes dark, sensual contemporary women’s fiction. She lives, writes and loves in Melbourne, juggling her strange, secret affairs with her male characters with her much loved partner and daughter and a menagerie of neurotic pets.

Kate holds a tertiary qualification in chemistry, half a diploma in naturopathy and a diploma in psychological astrology. Kate believes in living a passionate life and has ridden a camel through the Australian desert, fraternised with hippies in Nimbin, had a near birth experience and lived on nothing but porridge and a carrot for 3 days.

Blog/website: http://www.ecstasyfiles.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/katebelle.x

Twitter: @ecstasyfiles https://twitter.com/ecstasyfiles

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6572571.Kate_Belle

The Reading Room: http://www.thereadingroom.com/kate-belle/ap/2394119

Every reader who comments on any Kate Belle blog post before December 23 2013 will go into the draw to win a digital copy of The Yearning (Open to Australia/New Zealand residents only. Selected winner must be contactable by email to claim their prize.)

I'll throw in an ebook of The Yearning to anyone who comments on this post. Just leave a comment telling me if you ever had a crush on a teacher, with your email address. Winner will be drawn December 23rd. 

GIVEAWAY- Tied up in Heartstrings by Felicia Lynn

WANT TO WIN ONE OF FOUR Ebook COPIES OF TIED UP IN HEARTSTRINGS BY FELICIA LYNN?

Just leave a blog post comment with your email address and I will pick a winner in 24hours!

Tragedy ripped the security from her life. Left a single mother, Alexis's fear of loss insulates her from the rest of the world. Her best friends from college and close family are the only people she keeps close.

A man from her past has always been in love with Alexis. He’s never met anyone that measures up to her. Garrett is a musician, who never really imagined he’d have the fame and fortune that he's found. But, even with that, what he's always wanted is out of reach... or is it?

When Garrett and Alexis meet up by chance a relationship begins. Neither expected what happens. She can’t be sure she’s ready for the complications a relationship brings. He will have to work overtime to win her heart without any assurances it will be successful.

Alexis is learning about life without Jed, and is feeling more secure with parenting on her own. Garrett appreciates his fans and is enjoying his life on the road but misses having a private life. The lives they have built separately leave little room for a budding relationship, but their hearts won’t take that into consideration.

Will the cards they’ve been dealt get in the way of a love that is meant to be? Is love enough to overcome loss and heartbreak? Can they accept all that the other is, without feeling like they are living in the shadow of their former lives?

IF YOU DON'T WIN YOU CAN GRAB A COPY FOR .99c FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY!

Amazon Link

Guest Post - Emma Shortt: Waking Up Dead & Giveaway!

Title: Waking Up Dead (End of Days Love #1)

Author: Emma Short

Release Date: 22nd October 2013

Publisher: Entangled

Welcome to the #entangledzombieinvasion release week competition, and a big thanks to Jo-Anne for hosting me!

Just in time for Halloween we’re celebrating the release of my debut novel, Waking up Dead, and it’s all about the zombies… Of course where the undead roam a zombie slaying kit is so needed, and do I have a fab one for you!

Axe: check

Flashlight: check

Super hunky guy to fight the zombies with: not quite…

You can, however, find that super hunky guy in-between the pages of Waking up Dead, and if you’d like the get-your-slay-on kit too, or a signed copy of Waking up Dead, or even a $25 Amazon gift card enter the competition below. You get extra points for tweeting and extra again for heading over to Facebook and liking my author page.

Here’s a sneak peek of Waking up Dead…

You know your life has hit rock bottom when you’re living off cooked rats and showering once every few months—if you’re lucky. But for Jackson Hart things are about to get a whole lot worse. When her best friend, Tye, disappears hunting for food, kick-ass Jackson’s ‘head south to safety’ plan looks like it’s dead before it’s even begun. But then she meets ex-mechanic Luke Granger, who takes her to his bunker, feeds her with non-rat based food, and offers her protection against the zombie hordes—not that she needs it. She knows how to use a machete and isn’t afraid to.
Jackson was tempted to stay in the city with her rescuer. Food, shampoo and the possibility of finally getting laid, what more could she ask for? But the flesh eaters are getting smarter and the bunker is compromised, so Jackson and Luke have no choice but to make the journey south.
Luke and Jackson team up to find other humans in a road-trip romance for the ages. They travel for thousands of miles with zombies shadowing their every move. They must utilize every resource at their disposal…and then some. On the way, they discover that even if flesh eating zombies are knocking down their door, there’s always time for sex and even love.

Excerpt:

Chicago

Without a doubt the house with the pretty green shutters had food inside of it. Pasta, canned vegetables, tinned meats, hell, it could have a five course, good-to-go, gourmet meal in there for all Jackson Hart knew. Crouched down behind an overturned SUV she could practically hear it all screaming from inside the pantry, and she narrowed her eyes as she assessed the best way to get at it.

Not through the front door. It was probably barred tight with planks of wood, or barricaded with piled-up furniture. Maybe through the back? But the skinny, shadowed alleyway that ran between the house and its fence screamed, horror movie showdown, and for all Jackson knew she’d be risking it only to find a blocked-up back door too. The shutters then. How thick were they? Was the glass behind them intact? Jackson hefted Mandy-the-machete and considered the possibilities.

“You’re looking thoughtful there. For the record it doesn’t suit you.”

Those words came from Tyrone, her friend, her only friend, if you wanted to get right down to it. He joined her behind the SUV, swinging his ax as he did so, and making absolutely no attempt to stay hidden.

“I was being stealthy,” Jackson said with a sigh. “You totally just ruined it.”

“Stealthy for who?” he asked. “The rats? There’s only them and us. We checked the street. It’s all quiet.”

Jackson frowned as she looked away from the house and down said street. A backpack, probably a child’s by the size of it, caught her attention, and she frowned as she noticed what looked like a rusty toy truck sticking out of the zipper. The things people had thought to take when they tried to run…it still baffled her.

“Quiet or not, they’re here somewhere,” she said softly. “It’s been almost a day since we saw any of them.”

“Let’s hope for another day and then maybe another.” He paused. “Better yet, let’s hope for a week.”

Jackson almost laughed. “Might as well wish for a working car.”

“I do, sweetheart. Daily. We’re surrounded by wheels and not one of them worth a damn.”

“Two years and then some pretty much kills everything.”

“Everything but us,” Tye said.

Jackson nodded slowly at the truth of those words, tore her gaze away from the truck, and pointed her machete at the shuttered house. “Enough with the reminiscing. Take a look at that.”

Tye’s gaze followed the line of the blade. A frown spread across his face as he assessed the building from top to bottom. “It looks…”

“Like it probably did two years ago?”

“Yeah.”

“Weird isn’t it?” Jackson said. “I don’t know about your end, but down there,” she tilted her head to the south of the street, “the rest of these million-dollar houses are rocking the post apocalyptic- makeover vibe. Broken glass, doors hanging off their frames, trash all over the place.”

 “And this one stands alone,” Tye said, his frown deepening. “Could be Obama’s. I heard he has a house around here.”

“Had, had a house,” Jackson said. “And I’m pretty sure the dead do not make dining distinctions based on fame, or,” she added when Tye opened his mouth to speak, “government office.”

“Unless he went rogue in the beginning. He could still be hanging around.” Tye paused and shook his head. “That’s a weird thought.”

“Weird but not outside the realms of possibility,” Jackson said. “Hence the stealth you just ruined. Something is off, and we can’t ignore it. If there’s food anywhere, it’s hidden in that house. The rest have been picked clean, and this one looks like it’s been protected.”

Tye shot her an incredulous look. “You’re seriously not suggesting there are actual people inside?”

She snorted. “Yep, I’m betting there’s a whole family just waiting to open their arms to us. They’ll have a meal all laid out, hot baths running—”

“Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, Jack.”

Jackson shook her head. “You goad me into it. Seriously though, I’m thinking there were people still living in there. Not for a while and not now,” she added, holding up her free hand to halt whatever words Tye had been about to say, “but maybe they lasted out longer than the rest of the street. It’d explain why things look different. Better yet, it might mean food.”

Tye stomach gave a grumble. It was far louder than it should have been and Jackson caught his eye. “Keep it down. That was loud enough for a pack to hear.”

“Can’t help it,” he said. “You keep talking about food. When was the last time we ate, for fuck’s sake? I still can’t believe the university campus was picked clean.”

“It’s crazy,” Jackson agreed, thinking of all those dorm rooms they’d crept through. Each had been viler than the last, full of blood and pus and a million other unidentifiable fluids. Worse, they’d stunk of teen sweat, though how that could be two and more years after those rooms had last been occupied, Jackson didn’t know. “Took a brave person indeed to wander those rooms and clean them out,” she added. “End of the day though, it doesn’t leave us much choice but to hit up Creepyville here. We need some calories

in our system as soon as possible, and I’d rather not chow down on rat again.”

“There’s nothing wrong with rat.”

“There’s so much wrong with it I can’t even begin.” She swung

Mandy in the direction of the biggest window, forcing Tye to lean back to avoid the super-sharp blade. “I’m thinking we go through the shutters there. We’ll chop through them and then the glass too if there’s any left.”

“That’ll make a bit of noise.”

 “Less noise than trying to go through the front door. You know it’ll probably be barricaded up, and besides, didn’t you just say we were okay?”

“I said we are okay for the moment. Let’s not push our luck any more than we have to.”

“So we’ll be quick.”

He hefted his ax, giving it a swing of what Jackson assumed was agreement. “I’m always quick, sweetheart.”

 “I bet.”

“You’re not funny.”

I'm thirty something years old, live in combats and black tees, survive on a desperately minimal amount of sleep, and have a tendency to shoot from the hip.

 I loathe shopping, unless it's for books, and spend most of my free time trying to get my teenage children, Vix and Bear, to hang out with me. Mostly they don't, as you know, they have stuff to do. What this stuff is I've yet to find out... so I write instead and before long free time is no more.

 I write in all sorts of genres, though the vast majority of my work has a romance bubbling within it (inspired by my real life hero, my husband, fondly referred to as 'The Greek'). Mostly I just write whatever takes my fancy and hope that someone, somewhere, will want to buy it when it's finished!

 You can find me all over the net. It is fair to say I am a bit of a cyber-whore. Facebook (www.facebook.com/AuthorEmmaShortt), Twitter (www.twitter.com/emmashortt), Amazon (www.amazon.com/author/emma-shortt) Goodreads...come, say hi. I want you to!

All my books are available on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.ca, Barnes and Noble, All Romance ebooks, Bookstrand, Apple, Smashwords, Sony and Chapters/Indigo. You can download to your Kindle, Kobo, Nook or iPad. You can also find some of my books on Amazon.com in paperback format.

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Review: Blind Attraction by Eden Summers

Title: Blind Attraction (Reckless Beat #1)
Author: Eden Summers
Age Group:  Romance
Release Date: 25th May 2013
Publishers: Self-published
Available from: Amazon
Source: Own purchase
He can seduce with a single glance. 

Peering down at a sea of fans, rock star, Mitchell Davies can’t deny the innocent beauty of a woman in the front row. He’ll stop at nothing to get to know her. When a public altercation leaves her weak and defenseless, he takes the opportunity to be her savior.

She’s been sheltered from the world. 

Alana Shelton wants to spread her wings and experience life away from her restrictive upbringing. But she isn’t prepared for a gorgeous stranger to sweep her off her feet while at her most vulnerable. 

Attraction will bring them together, but their pasts will try to tear them apart. 

He wants to teach her how to trust, but she’ll show him how to love. In a glamorous world of rock-and-roll, only time will tell if they’re up for the challenge.

************

Do you like "Bad Boys" with hidden hearts of gold?

Do you like Rockers with bodies that look like Sin?

Do you like music that makes your body quiver?

Would you like to combine all three of the above and have it all wrapped around the outside AND inside of you?

The answer ~ Oh, yes, yes.... YES!

Then, WELCOME to the world of *drum roll please*

~ RECKLESS BEAT ~

The first book in this (soon to be cult) series is "Blind Attraction". Leading male is Mitchell Davies on lead guitar. He can seduce with a single glance. Leading female is Alana Shelton who's led a sheltered life. How they end up together, I'm not going to tell you! I'm going to let Eden take you on this sexy and wild ride through the character's daily work and personal lives where they have their ups and downs (no pun intended) along with their physical and emotional adventures.

This is a very well written story with characters that you'll grow to lust after and/or love like a best friend. This is an easy and smooth story to read that brings a "movie into your mind" with every sentence. There's no wasteful words, no "waffling on" before getting to the point and a few hints to let you know what will be coming up in future stories. Book 2 in the Reckless Beat series will be staring Blake Kennedy. *fans self* If the rest of the books in this series are written with the same care, skill, love and respect to the characters as we see in "Blind Attraction" then this will definitely become a delicious series to enjoy over and over again. (Pun intended)

One thing that Eden has done correctly, was to print the book with an easy to see and read sized font. Let’s be honest here, once you hit a "certain age" that pale tiny font is difficult to read and very annoying when it's an excellent story that you just can't put down. This book is one that you won't want to put down.

If you know a Producer whom can bring these stories to life as a TV series, run out and drag them over to Eden's home now, because when all these stories have been written, bringing them to life would be absolutely....... Geez, I just have to use the word delicious again. Now about auditioning the members to play the characters of "Reckless Beat". Hands up all those who want this job? Well, get in line!

Leone

Review: Countering His Claim by Rachel Bailey

Title: Countering His Claim
Author: Rachel Bailey
Age Group:  Romance
Release Date: 1st October 2013
Publishers: Harlequin
Available from: Amazon
Source: Author
Never be distracted by a woman is hotel magnate Luke Marlow's golden rule, especially when the woman just inherited half his late uncle's luxury cruise liner. But ship's doctor Della Walsh is the exception. Her dignified beauty ignites Luke's desire despite his suspicions. Even so, he will gain full control of the ship at all costs.

For Della, the ship has been a sanctuary. Now she has just three weeks to change Luke's mind and save the ship; until passion comes along and steers them off course.

_____________

We all know with a 187 page Romance novel that it'll end up "Happily Ever After", however, how the story ends up there is what makes this book a "Must Have" on your bookshelf.

Take one emotionally dead, suspicious, rich workaholic leading male who has so many "issues" that any female in her right mind would run very fast in the other direction from this landlubber. Take one highly educated leading female who's been traumatised, has physical scars, is shielding herself from the unknown and has created a safe haven for herself at sea. Toss in a few other things and you’ve got a massive mess to untangle!

The way that Rachel Bailey tells this story to untangle this knotted mess has taken care, thoughtfulness, talent and a lot of skill. Rachel's use of words makes every sentence powerful with concise descriptions without the need to "waffle on" just to make a specific point. The story flows smoothly, gently leading the reader to understand that both leading characters will slowly understand how to heal themselves and logically understand their place in the world and eventually with each other. None of the characters are weak, whiny, bitchy, need rescuing or are co-dependent. This makes a refreshing change.

Besides this being a beautiful story and would make a lovely movie of the week, where you'd be very happy to watch every time you saw it on the TV schedule. This would also make an excellent book for any Book Club to discuss the psychology of self-healing, letting go of the past and moving onto something wonderful that's full of hope and promise and of course to Love.

Leone

Cover Reveal & Excerpt with Giveaway: Tainted by Christina Phillips

Title: Tainted

Author: Christina Phillips

Genre: Historical Erotic Romance

Release date: August 28th 2013

A dangerous love that Rome will never allow…

Driven by the knowledge he failed to protect his king and embittered at losing the woman he loves, Celtic warrior Gawain despises the lust he feels for the beautiful Roman patrician, Antonia. She is everything he’s never wanted in a woman, yet she ignites his passion like no other. Despite the danger of discovery he embarks on an illicit liaison with her, determined to uncover the reason for the infinite sorrow that haunts her eyes.

Newly arrived in Britannia from Rome, Antonia is inexplicably drawn to the cold, tough Celt whose touch stirs a desire she long thought died at the hands of her brutal former husband. With Gawain she learns the pleasure of sex and his unexpected tenderness thaws her frozen heart. But she hides a deadly secret that could be her undoing, and knows her growing feelings for him can lead nowhere. Yet when a shadow from her past threatens her future Antonia is torn between the Empire of her birth and betraying Gawain, the man she’s grown to love.

Inside Scoop: This medieval romance dabbles a wee bit in the paranormal.

Excerpt:

A door opened to her left and she turned to see Gawain stroll in from the bathhouse. Her heart thudded against her chest, making it hard to draw breath, and the pit of her stomach trembled with strange, liquid heat.

He looked utterly foreign, a savage warrior, and sunlight glinted on the barbaric jewelry around his throat and at his ear. He smiled, a slow, seductive smile that sent tremors through her blood and did nothing to ease the constriction in her breast.

Except for Elpis, she was alone with a strange man, a man she had virtually propositioned in the street. A native of a conquered land who made no secret of the fact he despised her people. And yet it wasn’t derision that glowed in his eyes. It was lust.

For her.

“Lady Antonia.” His smoky voice wrapped around her senses, as potent as though he had wrapped his arms around her naked body. “You kept your word.”

“Did you doubt I would?” She scarcely recognized her voice. She sounded like a sultry seductress. Perhaps, after all, Gawain would never guess what a novice she was when it came to playing such dangerous games.

He stopped in front of her, so close that the amber flecks in his dark eyes mesmerized her. “No.” The word sank into her blood, igniting sparks of pleasure that skittered across her exposed flesh. “You want this as much as I do.”

It was true. Why should she deny it? “Yes.”

__________________

Christina loves writing dark tales of tough, sexy warriors who are brought to their knees by their heroines. A mystical touch of fantasy or paranormal usually weaves its way through her stories, although strangely enough this wasn’t her intention when she first starting writing her Roman/Druid romances. But when ancient gods and goddesses get involved, it’s best just to go with the flow J

She is published by Ellora’s Cave and Berkley Heat and has dipped her toe in the indie pub waters. She is a member of the Romance Writers of Australia, Romance Writers of America, the DarkSide Down Under Group Blog and Historical Hearts Group Blog.

Christina is an ex-pat Brit who now lives in sunny Western Australia with her family. She is also owned by three gorgeous cats who are convinced the universe revolves around their needs. They are not wrong.

Website    Facebook    Twitter    Goodreads    Blog   

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Review: Flesh by Kylie Scott

Title: Flesh (Flesh book 1) 
Author: Kylie Scott
Age Group: Erotic post-apocalyptic Romace
Release Date: 1st October 2012
Publishers: Momentum Books
Available from: Amazon
Source: Momentum Books

Ali has been hiding in an attic since civilisation collapsed eight weeks ago.

When the plague hit, her neighbours turned into mindless, hungry, homicidal maniacs.

Daniel has been a loner his entire life. Then the world empties and he realises that being alone isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Finn is a former cop who is desperate for companionship, and willing to do anything it takes to protect the survivors around him.

When the three cross paths they band together; sparks fly, romance blooms in the wasteland and Ali, Daniel and Finn bend to their very human needs in the ruins of civilisation.

Lust, love and trust all come under fire in Flesh as the three battle to survive, hunted through the suburban wastelands.

_____________________

Flesh is book one in Kylie Scott’s Flesh series about a world that has been destroyed by a plague that turns its victims into zombies. I’m a big zombie fan, so when I heard Flesh was about a zombie apocalypse, and two seriously hot dudes vying for Ali’s heart I knew I was sold. 

Ali has been hiding out in her neighbour’s attic, trying to keep her rabbity heart calm so she doesn’t get eaten. On a supply run she meets Daniel, all and built with gorgeous blue eyes. He thinks all his dreams have come true when he finds Ali. Immediately his inner alpha is out and wanting to protect the beautiful girl with grey eyes.  Of course Ali’s not too keen on this interloper, a man who is physically imposing but who helps her realise staying in one spot is not the brightest of ideas. They set off together hoping to find their own piece of safety. Daniel falls for Ali pretty quickly, but she takes a bit of convincing. Their relationship progresses pretty quickly, and some people may not think it’s convincing, but I enjoyed how Kylie makes their relationship evolve. Together they steam up the pages.

Ali’s a lucky chick to have such a hot guy watching out for her, but then along comes Finn; a blonde haired, green eyed, buff ex-cop. He doesn’t thing Daniel is the right man to look out for Ali, he’s got the skills to keep her safe, but realises her and Daniel have formed a solid relationship. He joins their party, and between the two of them they are more than capable to keep Ali safe. That’s when things get interesting. Daniel comes to the realisation that he isn’t the best man to keep his love safe, so he tries to convince Ali she needs Finn, in more ways than she thinks. She’s not too receptive at first but she begins to realise she also has feelings for Finn. What’s a girl to do? Have them both, that’s what. It might seem ridiculous but Kylie makes it work. No-one knows how they’d act in an apocalypse and I like how this new world is explored. Finn is more controlling and a take action type, where Daniel is laid back and the voice of reason in their trio. If you thought it was steamy before, wait until the three of them are together! It’s enough to curl your toes and set the pages alight! The worst thing about this book was trying to decide if I liked Finn or Daniel more!

The zombies are never far from the story, which I enjoyed. Ali describes how they moan in the night, making sure our heroine and heroes never forget their presence. She also describes their decaying bodies with such effect it brings to mind the zombies on the Walking Dead. They are sufficiently gory. Sometimes the story can be pushed back so the romance and sex scenes can take over, now I’m not saying I don’t like those things, but I need a story too. I loved all the action and tale of survival in a world that’s gone to shit.

Flesh is an erotic, post-apocalyptic, addictive page turner. I devoured this book, I just couldn’t get enough of the world Kylie has created or the characters that inhabit the ruins. I was hiding out in the toilet at work just so I could squeeze in another page! Kylie Scott is my new favourite author.

5/5