[Book Review] Complete Me

Complete Me (Stark Trilogy #3)
Author: J. Kenner
Date Published: July 30, 2013 
Publisher: Bantam (Random House)
Source: ARC
Genre: Erotica, Contemporary Romance

Rating: ★★★★★

Links:
Goodreads
Barnes & Noble

Book Information:

This sexy, emotionally charged romance continues the story of Damien Stark, the powerful multimillionaire who’s never had to take “no” for an answer, and Nikki Fairchild, the Southern belle who only says “yes” on her own terms. 

Our desire runs deep. But our secrets cut close. Beautiful, strong, and commanding, Damien Stark fills a void in me that no other man can touch. His fierce cravings push me beyond the brink of bliss—and unleash a wild passion that utterly consumes us both. 

Yet beneath his need for dominance, he carries the wounds of a painful past. Haunted by a legacy of dark secrets and broken trust, he seeks release in our shared ecstasy, the heat between us burning stronger each day. 

Our attraction is undeniable, our obsession inevitable. Yet not even Damien can run from his ghosts, or shield us from the dangers yet to come.
Complete Me is an erotic romance intended for mature audiences.

I think it's but proper that Matt Bomer make an appearance.
I picture him as Damien Stark.

If you're interested, here are my reviews for 

the first two books in the Stark Trilogy:

Release Me (Book 1) and Claim Me (Book 2)

Review:
'Against all odds' - this pretty much sums up Nikki and Damien's plight in the third and last book in the Stark Trilogy.

I was looking forward to reading the third installment in the Stark Trilogy series by J. Kenner because the first two books were highly rated. When I got approved to read the ARC, I felt like Christmas came waaaay too early for me! In my defense, both main characters grew on me so I can't simply NOT read the third book. Heh.

Now, for the review proper!

In this last installment in the book, we get a bunch of tangible and intense conflicts which threaten to break apart Nikki and Damien. What I liked best in this story was that the conflicts weren't only emotional. There were also external forces which posed a huge threat to Nikki and Damien.

For emotional conflicts, this was where everything blew over from the first two books.

Damien was too overbearing and too secretive, which gave rise to a whole lot of trust issues between him and Nikki. And of course, there's also fragile Nikki. She's not exactly as stable as most people perceive her to be. Damien served as her anchor but then, their relationship was racked by trust issues and noble idiocy, so the push to cut was really strong.

As for external conflicts, there's the issue of Damien's horrific childhood in the hands of his tennis coach, and the psychopathic woman who's trying to break apart Damien and Nikki. His empire is also being threatened by these forces, and he's left backed into a corner.

All the conflicts seriously gave the story a whole lot of angst and drama, but in fairness, I like how the author balanced everything with quiet moments between Nikki and Damien. The angst and the drama was perfectly blended with comfortable moments which could be considered as the calm moments before the storm.

What I didn't like, however, is the noble idiocy.

Sure, sacrificing for a loved one is considered selflessness, but sometimes, it's just absurd. In this case, I didn't like how Damien tried to be a noble idiot by leaving Nikki and going to Germany. Then just as they patched up, Nikki suddenly gets hit with the noble-idiocy-virus and leaves Damien to keep him safe. I just don't really like this plot device because I consider it stupid.

All in all, the happy ending in this third and last installment had been a long time coming. I really appreciate that Nikki and Damien finally got together minus the conflicts. They really went through a lot together, so when the happy ending came, I was really happy for them.

[Book Review] Claim Me

Title: Claim Me (Stark Trilogy #2)
Author: J. Kenner
Date Published: April 23, 2013
Publisher: Random House - Bantam Dell
Source: ARC
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Erotica
Rating: ★★★★★ 



Links:
Goodreads
Amazon
Barnes & Noble


About the Book:

For Damien, our obsession is a game. For me, it is fiercely, blindingly, real. 

Damien Stark’s need is palpable—his need for pleasure, his need for control, his need for me. Beautiful and brilliant yet tortured at his core, he is in every way my match.

I have agreed to be his alone, and now I want him to be fully mine. I want us to possess each other beyond the sweetest edge of our ecstasy, into the deepest desires of our souls. To let the fire that burns between us consume us both. 

But there are dark places within Damien that not even our wildest passion can touch. I yearn to know his secrets, yearn for him to surrender to me as I have surrendered to him. But our troubled pasts will either bind us close . . . or shatter us completely. 

Release Me is an erotic romance intended for mature audiences.

Review:
Sizzling, intriguing and pulse-racing! Pick this up already and be Damienized!

Damienized, v. To be needful of Damien, especially in the sense of fucking and dirty talk. See, e.g., Nikki Fairchild.

Picking up from where the first book left off, the agreement between Nikki and Damien is finally down to its last day. With Nikki's portrait completed, there was no longer any reason for the two of them to continue their arrangement, but of course, they both couldn't deny that they didn't want it to end.

In this second book, we see more of the emotional development between Nikki and Damien and how they each deal with things that are out of their control. Especially Damien because he's known to be a little bit of control freak. I love that Damien was humanized in this book. We see another side to the handsome billionaire from Book 1.

The first parts of Book 2 deal with the development of the relationship between Nikki and Damien. I think this was necessary so that the events in the last quarter of the book would have a huge impact. And come on, seeing more of Damien's sweet sincerity as he tried to protect Nikki definitely earned him brownie points.

The writing is both poetic and sensual. I have to say that J. Kenner knows exactly just what to write and how to draw the readers in. I love her writing style! It's an irresistible mix of picturesque words with deep emotional undertones!

The characters are also endearing in a way that they grow on you as you read through the book. When I read the first book, I was honestly in love with Nikki Fairchild (and I'm a girl at that) because she's equal parts balls and vulnerability. However, as soon as I read through the second book, Damien Stark caught me hook, line and sinker! He just earned himself a permanent spot in my Fictional Boyfriends List!

All in all, I think this book is just perfect! Mind you, I've been reading too many contemporary romances lately. It's exhausting to read too many romance novels with too much raunchy details and with little or no whatsoever plot. This one was definitely a cut above the rest!

Oh, and just to end this review, I give you a picture of my Damien Stark:

Um, well, the truth is, my default image for every possessive and dominant Billionaire fictional character in just about very book I read is always Matt Bomer. Hee. (Yes, including Christian Grey and Gideon Cross.)

If you would be interested, I also reviewed Release Me, which is the first book in the Stark Trilogy by J. Kenner.

Oh, and also please watch out for my upcoming review of Complete Me, the last book in the Stark Trilogy series.

[Book Review] Release Me

Title: Release Me
Author: J. Kenner
Date Published: January 1, 2013
Genre: Erotica, Romance, Adult Fiction
Source: ARC from Publisher
Rating: 4/5

Links:
Goodreads
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

About the Book:

For fans of Fifty Shades of Grey and Bared to You comes an erotic, emotionally charged romance between a powerful man who’s never heard “no” and a fiery woman who says “yes” on her own terms.

He was the one man I couldn’t avoid. And the one man I couldn’t resist.

Damien Stark could have his way with any woman. He was sexy, confident, and commanding: Anything he wanted, he got. And what he wanted was me. 

Our attraction was unmistakable, almost beyond control, but as much as I ached to be his, I feared the pressures of his demands. Submitting to Damien meant I had to bare the darkest truth about my past—and risk breaking us apart. 

But Damien was haunted, too. And as our passion came to obsess us both, his secrets threatened to destroy him—and us—forever. 

Release Me is an erotic romance intended for mature audiences. (From Goodreads) 

Review:
I honestly don’t know where to start in reviewing this book because I was mind-blown.

I’m still grappling for words but let me start with this: Move over Christian Grey, Damien Stark has come to play!

Story-wise, this book utilizes the exact same formula as E. L. James’ Fifty Shades, but only it’s well-written, well-paced and the characters are more relatable. This book is exactly what fans of Fifty Shades should seek out if ever they need a fix for their erotica addiction.

Character-wise, Damien Stark is no Christian Grey, but of course, there are similarities: they’re both filthy rich, both dominant, both possessive and both go after what they want with wild abandon.

As for Nikki Fairchild, well, she is a far cry from Anastasia Steele. I personally like Nikki better than Anastasia because she’s a perfect mix of courage and vulnerability, whereas Anastasia is just, I don’t know… confused?

What I liked about this book is that the romance between Damien and Nikki is believable. We see the undeniable attraction between them but they don’t do the deed immediately like rabbits gone sexually rabid. There is a rising action leading to the actual thing, and that makes everything believable.

Also, I really appreciate Nikki’s well-fleshed-out inner conflict and reservations about her dealings with Damien. Like I said, she’s a perfect mix of courage and vulnerability.

I will not comment on the sex scenes in this book. Yes, they are hot, as most erotic sex scenes are, but like I said, I will not comment on them because I always find myself desensitized to sex scenes after reading an erotica. I usually just skim over them and move on to the next scene.

All in all, I really liked reading this book. I think it’s better than Fifty Shades. Also, at the end part of the book, it gives little tip-offs about what could be potential problems in having a possessive billionaire as a boyfriend, which I think, is a source of conflict for the next installment of the book.

I highly recommend this book to fans of erotic romances and even for readers looking for their Fifty Shades fix!