Humpday Hello Elle Aycart!

Greetings and Salutations Humpday Nation!  Hope you are surviving the whiplash moves of 2013 - here in Virginia we've gone from 70 degrees (last Saturday) to 30 degrees (today); rain (last night) and snow (tomorrow).  Actually, the snow might help stop the massive influenza epidemic our state is in!  What's a gal to do?  Stay home, grab your favorite beverage (wine by the fire, tea in bed) and read something delish.  Speaking of delish - how's about a calorie free treat for all who are trying to lose a few this winter?  Mmmmm - eye candy!  Enjoy!

Speaking of enjoy - today continues our blog feature of author Elle Aycart Bowen series - totally delish!

More Than Meets the Ink, Elle Aycart, Loose-ID

Bowen #1

Wickedly sexy James Bowen is a bad boy of the highest order -- tattoos and attitude included -- which unfortunately ranks way up on Tate's not-a-chance-in-hell list, right there along with skydiving naked over Teheran and juggling Ebola vials just for kicks. But what the heck, she's on holiday, the guy is absolutely irresistible, and she needs to unplug from her life. With her dad and brother gone, Tate is left to deal with the family restaurant, which is fast going down the drain. Her employees are acting out, her boyfriend has bailed out, and her very own private stalker is emailing her to death with lovely threats of doom, fire, and dismemberment. So yeah, maybe a little holiday fling is in order. Strictly sex though, and no follow-up whatsoever once.

She hadn't counted on her take-charge holiday fling having an opinion of his own and stubbornly sticking around, before and after the sex, making himself at home in her life. There is definitely more to James than meets her prejudiced eye, and even if she's not ready to look deeper, James isn't prepared to permit her not to.

Review:

Elle Aycart rocks! She just plain rocks!  The trifecta of contemporary romance - alpha male, feisty female, stellar sexual tension. Check, check and double check.  Ms. Aycart follows the tried and true approach of sexy siblings and their slippery slope to fall in love.  However, her heroines have some serious depth and her heroes aren't perfection waiting for more perfection.  I think that is the element that takes a solid storyline and kicks it up a notch.

Tate is holding onto her life by her fingertips - she can't handle more than a vacation fling.  The upheaval in her life leads her to lean on preconceived notions of people as a safety net - right or wrong, James gets snagged and he doesn't want to let go.  Readers may hate Tate.  Hell, my friends hate Tate. But I think anyone struggling to make her family legacy work, survive a lover's betrayal, go the whole course alone has earned a little gunshyness.  Thankfully James Bowen sees something special and knows how to push the right way.  Theirs is no breezy romance and they both have some baggage that could potentially pull this story into maudlin-ville but clever dialogue, perfectly timed comedy and sizzling sex keep the reader turning page after page of highly enjoyable reading.  With a splash of intrigue, this dish is best served family style - grab a copy and pass it along to your bff's!

Excitedly awaiting further installments, More Than Meets the Ink, delivers a promising beginning to an enticing new series. 

Rating: 4 Chocolate Dipped Strawberries!!

Heavy Issues

Bowen #2

Steering clear of relationships has never been difficult for demolitions expert Cole Bowen, but now, with his brother's engagement sending the female population into full-blown hysterics and the town of Alden's month-long festivities helping along, he finds himself in hell. When he discovers Alden's new resident and the object of all his wet dreams, Christine Sheridan, has sworn off relationships and is going to hire a gigolo to get professionally laid, he decides to kill two birds with one stone.

Christy is so not drinking again. Thanks to José Cuervo she has her friends signing her up for stud conventions and Cole frigging Bowen offering sex in exchange of fake dates, which is so out of the question it isn't even funny. She knows the domineering man will push her boundaries, and after battling all her life with self-esteem issues, she isn't ready for that. Too bad he won't take no for an answer.

Cole is determined to strip away all of her defenses but refuses to lower his ever-present walls, so when Christy realizes she wants more, she's left with only two options; walk away or crack his shield and risk her heart in the process.

Review:

Heavy Issues picks up not long after More Than Meets the Ink leaves off.  Brother Cole's rocky road to romance delivers the perfect paradox - two people who want no strings and end up in a big knotty mess.  Aycart continues to bespell readers with more of her hot Bowen boys - where were they when I lived in Boston? 

Heroine Christy battles her body image issues long after the weight is gone. Cole battles his abandonment issues long after his mother walks away from her little boy.  With all that durm und strang, how can two people find their way into happiness?  If you live in Alden, apparently in the bedroom (and car and closet and kitchen....)  Again Aycart doesn't take the easy road with her characters. They are multi-dimensional, and their worlds are very compelling for their realness.  Oh, and did I fail to mention really, really supercharged sexual tension and erotic scenes?  Grab your fan and ice water because they generate some serious steam!  

The very strong secondary characters flesh out more of story and tease the reader with hopes that future stories will unfold. In fact, I can hardly wait to read little brother Max's tale. I fully admit to staying up past bedtime for this read. How can you not with a treat that makes you laugh, cry and sigh for more smokin hot romance! Take a chance on the Bowen boys - they'll boss your pants off the right way!

RATING: 4 Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries These books were given to us by the author.

Author Bio:
After a colorful array of jobs all over Europe ranging from translator to chocolatier to travel agent to sushi chef to flight dispatcher, Elle Aycart is certain of one thing and one thing only: aside from writing romances, she has abso-frigging-lutely no clue what she wants to do when she grows up. Not that it stops her from trying all sorts of crazy stuff. While she is probably now thinking of a new profession, her head never stops churning new plots for her romances. She lives currently in Barcelona, Spain, with her husband and two daughters, although who knows, in no time she could be living at the Arctic Circle in Finland, breeding reindeer.

Elle loves to hear from readers!

elleaycart@gmail.com