eric – Z. Elizabeth

Synopsis

In this all-new novel from the author of Unbound, a woman with a rocky past finds romance in the last place she’d ever expect…

Annie Goodhouse doesn’t need to be warned about bad boys; good sense and an abusive ex have given her plenty of reasons to play it safe. But when she steps into her new role as outreach librarian for Cousins Correctional Facility, no amount of good sense can keep her mind—or eyes—off inmate Eric Collier.

Eric doesn’t claim to be innocent of the crime that landed him in prison. In fact, he’d do it again if that’s what it took to keep his family safe. Loyalty and force are what he knows. But meeting Annie makes him want to know more.

When Eric begins courting Annie through letters, they embark on a reckless, secret romance—a forbidden fantasy that neither imagines could ever be real…until early parole for Eric changes everything, and forces them both to face a past they can’t forget, and a desire they can’t deny.

5++++++++ stars

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My Review

“Would’ve been worth anything they took from me, just to hear you say my name.”

Before I begin this review, I’d like to say MAJOR BOOK HANGOVER. No joke, I am suffering so much. I have been in a bit of a slump recently, all the book seems to be the same and then BANG Hard Time came along and I was in deep. Hook, Line, Sinker. It’s been weeks since I finished this book and it’s still all I can think about (it’s taken me this long to write a bloody review!) About Eric, about his letters, about Annie and their forbidden romance. Seriously, why hasn’t a movie been made around this topic? LIKE REALLY? I’d be there opening night, front row.

Hard Time is the first book I have picked up and read by Cara McKenna. The topic had me intrigued – a librarian who works in a Correctional Facility once a week and becomes entangled in a forbidden romance with an inmate through letters. Sexy letters at that. I’ve never read anything like this before and Cara really does make you think about if this was your life, you were in Annie’s situation. We all love a bad boy, you know it, but then would you indulge in this ‘fantasy’? Would you reply to his letters and just, for a slight moment, feel towards him, believe him and not be freaked or scared because we know he’s locked away and cant do anything, cant come near you apart from that brief encounter every week? It’s enough to actually think it through and decide if you would play on it or not. And as weird as it seems, I would, because you get to know Eric through his letters and you see him each week; granted there is a police officer in the room too, but its enough to not feel scared for those few hours each week.

It’s taken me so long to write this, because I had no idea how to formulate a review. When I read this book, I spammed my Twitter and Facebook about Hard Time and now it comes to it, its so hard to write a review on a book that took me by storm, but I will try my best. You already know the premise but there is so much more to it. What happens when he gets released? What are in his letters? Does Annie stay away from him or get with him when he’s out of prison? I actually wish this was the book I had written.

I need to begin with Eric. Although a convict, he was like unlike any other inside. He kept to himself but he had authority in the way he came across. He was the strong, silent type who stayed out of trouble but respected why he was inside; what he did. He was the brooding type but you could tell Annie had a massive effect on him and he wanted help from her, which I adored from him. He wasn;t afriad to ask for help and Annie, unconsciously, was the fire he needed to better himself inside with his literacy and writing. Thus beginning the letters he would send to her. The letters are the way into his body, his heart, his soul. He bares all; the romance, the sexual feelings he had towards Annie but also little titbits about himself, revealing himself to her. I was like a dog on heat awaiting the next letters from him, much like Annie was and I was obsessed with knowing what he was going to say next, what he was going to tell her to do, what he wanted to do to her. The way he began and ended the letters made me sigh. For a convict, someone whom, in a way, you would feel scared of, I felt nothing like that. I just wanted him in my bed. But as I said, it felt safe because he wasn’t outside the prison and it was like a ‘fantasy’.

But when he was released, he was the same, if not more timid around Annie. You can imagine her reaction when he was out and he stayed away. He was scared of seeing her, scared of bumping into her. The feelings he had for her were so strong, but he respected her decision. It was all on her terms and I loved that about him. Not all convicts are the same and Eric was definitely not a bad guy. He dud what he did to protect his sister and I understood that when you find out what happened. I saw a passionate guy, a guy who would do anything for the ones he love, Annie included and I saw a guy who was sweet and considerate and worked bloody hard after prison to make a better life for himself. The love he eluded, the passion for his hobbies made my heart sing and I knew that I would totally snatch Eric up if I was Annie because despite spending five years in prison, he was nothing the sort of a convict and he just wanted his life back, he wanted Annie and he wanted to live the rest of his life with her.

Annie was a timid character too. She hasn’t been with a guy in five years, not since her college boyfriend thought to be abusive towards her, which is how she ended up in a small town. Annie is polite, she’s sweet and really, keeps to herself. She doesnt really know anyone in the town and is scared when she begins to visit the prison. She has to be strong though, not show weakness because that is how the prisoners will intimate her and that is what she does. She stands up strong. But then helllllo fitty! She spots Eric and something awakes inside her. Something that has been dormant for five years.

I liked her as she felt real. You could feel her feelings, her emotions and how awaken she felt by each letter she received. During her life throwing colours at her, she came out of her shell, made friends in the pub downstairs and she become stronger. She clung to the weekly letters much as I did and they made her feel great, made HER FEEL again. I was so happy it was Eric doing this to Annie. I loved the forbidden factor as much as she did. But then she finds out Eric is coming out and the fantasy is smashed up. She bounces back and forth about the letters, what they have shared and it shares the crap out of her. You know she feels something for Eric but you know that she was only doing this too because he was behind bars; she struggles with her feelings. I understood her reasons for what happened when Eric got out. How she was scared of bumping into him but after a while she couldnt stay away. She needed him just like he needed her.

I also loved that she could get mouthy, put her point across and be angry, at Eric, at his situation, at his sister too. I enjoyed this part of her. She wasn’t a push over and knew what she wanted, what she didn’t like and told it as it was. She was also a little bit protective over Eric. I truly enjoyed the realism of this character. Of her being shy to growing into a fully blossomed woman with the help of Eric.

When Eric and Annie are finally together, holy hell, you can feel the thick, sexual tension between they sizzling. It is just as strong in person as it is on paper and you know that when they sleep together it is going to be amazing. And reading it, it was. God, you will feel all hot and bothered and hot damn, mixed with the things on the paper and their chemistry together, inside and out of the bedroom, there was nothing that could stop it being utter rubbish sex. No way in hell. Not with those two.

There were two things that irked me and one was the ending. It did end rather abruptly and I would love to know what happened next between them but other than that, i’m not going to drop a star because of the ending. And two; I wanted Eric to meet Annie’s parents. You will understand why when you read it. Other than that, I loved this book and everything inside it.

Seriously, give this book a read. Its sexy, its heartfelt and dangerous 😉 Cara McKenna has made me want to read every single one of her books now, and that is actually what I will be doing! But first, I think a re-read is in order!

(Hard Time is out in the US, and it WAS out in the UK until it got taken down because it got snatched up. It will be back up in November so GET IT THEN!!!)

Synopsis

From the moment he lays eyes on Sinners’ new front of house soundboard operator, drummer Eric Sticks knows he has to make Rebekah his. Unfortunately, she’s too busy trying to seduce guitarist Trey Mills to pay him much attention. Rebekah never planned to fall for the tall, goofy drummer with the weird sense of humor and a heart the size of the galaxy. But Eric makes her laugh and his constant attention makes her feel sexy and irresistible–exactly what she needs after the things her last lover said to her. A woman who gives as much as she takes, Rebekah makes Eric feel like a total stud–exactly what he needs after surviving a decade of watching the incredibly talented members of Sinners from the wings.

My reviews of the Sinners on Tour Series HERE

4 .5 / 5 stars

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My Review

From Backstage Pass, I was hooked to the Sinners series. I relished in these books, impatiently waiting for the next books to be out and now its all over. The whole series has been published and I have fallen in love with each member, each girl and each story of the five members.

Their hardships, their band, their accidents, but more importantly, the way they love. Love one another and their prospective partners. Despite being a rock band, they are best friends; they banter, they pull pranks but they are always there for one another and I think that’s what I loved about this series too (okay okay, the smoking hot sex played a big part too)

Wicked Beats is actually the forth book in the series, but was released last. It’s about Eric or Sticks to everyone else and he is the drummer and unlucky in love. He’s the member who likes to watch the others have sex…maybe participate but more than likely watches. We find out about why he does this in Wicked Beat and your heart will feel for him! Bless him so much but Rebekah helped him through overcoming his ‘bedroom problem’ in the greatest way how…lots of sex.

We have all read about Eric during the five books, got to know him, his personality, his pranks, his protectiveness, his jokey side, his banter, his sexual prowess but what we really want is his happy ending. For him to find the love of his life, much the same as his fellow bandmates. Enter Rebekah. From the first moment he laid eyes on her, he was hooked. He wanted to get to know her, was totally on board with her filling in for Dave, her brother whilst he recovered, because he wanted to get to know her, and wanted her, only problem is she wants Trey.

Eric is protective of her, wants to know her, spend time with her but really, just wants to call her his own. The bandmates spot this and do whatever they can – under cover – for Eric and Rebekah to spend this time together and actually get it on. Trey and Sed have a big helping hand in this.

Eric is such a sweetie. We all know his as the pervert who likes to watch his bandmates have sex and says whatever comes into his mind but underneath all that, he is so cute. Yes he doesn’t have a filter and makes really bad sexual jokes but Rebekah likes him for that, she gets him and the jokes, even joining in with them. The two of them are a perfect fit together. They help each other in ways neither thought they could, each with their pasts, and in turn, they both fall in love. But with every book, there is, of course, something that has to get in the way. But Eric will fight until the end to make sure he gets the girl who has stolen his heart.

Rebekah is fresh out of college and now her big brother Dave is injured, she wants to fill in for him as the Sinners soundboard operator. She knows she can do it, and so can Dave, its just convincing the guys she will do a good job. She’s always had a thing for Trey and in a way going on tour with the band is her way of trying to get Trey to want her too. Rebekah is crazy and funny but she’s also insecure due to her past relationship and so she wants to feel sexy, she wants to be wanted and she owns herself by being direct in wanting what she wants. She wants the power but she wants to feel beautiful too.

Despite wanting Trey, she is drawn to Eric. They both help each other out in the bedroom and Reb is finally wondering why she was ever hooked on Trey as Eric is clearly the one for her. She begins to see him differently and you watch them fall for each other, pretty fast. After everything these two have been through, they found love together and a happy ending.

As we all know, Olivia Cunning knows how to write steaming hot sex scenes and Erics book was no exception. We see Eric and Reb live out fantasies, sex games and jrhvjfevkjnk I love the porny porn porn sexxxxx. You will be fanning yourself, wanting to jump the next guy you see and…well you know the rest!

Although I am utterly devastated that Sinners on Tour is now over (I can now read them in order), there is Trey’s brother, Dare’s band’s books that Olivia is writing! Fingers crossed that the Sinners get some airtime so we know how they are 😉 hint hint!