Branded
A Bad Boys Anthology
By
B.L.Wilde
Jeanne McDonald
Jo Matthews
Mary Elizabeth
Sarah Elizabeth
Cover Design: Cover It
Designs
Genre:
Romance/Suspense
Summary: B.L. Wilde, Jeanne
McDonald, Jo Matthews, Mary Elizabeth, and Sarah Elizabeth give us five good
reasons why good girls love bad boys. The men of Branded are sexy, adventurous,
and troubled deep into their souls. There may be no redeeming them, but at the
risk of losing everything, these good girls must decide if loving their bad boy
is indeed worth the cost.
Condemned by B.L.Wilde
Ten years served for a crime he didn’t commit. Ten
years to lose everything he ever knew. Finally released from prison, Clayton
McGuire is on a mission and nothing will stand in his way. He is
determined to get revenge against the gang that set him up and take back what
was stolen from him all those years ago.
Clay will stop at nothing to win back his honor and
the heart of the only woman he has ever loved. Will she take him back when he
finds her? Or will he be condemned to live a life without his soulmate?
Cover Design: FS Meurinne
Renegade by Jeanne
McDonald
A chance meeting between a rookie
cop and a common criminal who’s searching for a way out.
An unforeseen circumstance.
An instant attraction. A magnetic connection.
Tattooed, pierced, and
foul-mouthed, she can’t help but be drawn to him.
Two people entirely wrong for one
another, yet so perfectly right.
When their worlds collide, Lucy
Diamond will learn the true meaning of love and sacrifice as she embarks on the
road of no return with bad boy Jude Wallace.
Like a thief in the night, love
will take them both by surprise.
Cover Design: Jada D'Lee Designs
Desolation By Jo Matthews
Liam Jenkins grew up with everything he ever
wanted. At age 17, his world is ripped apart and he finds himself without a home,
without a car, and without money. His support system is gone and he is left to
fend for himself. Not having any other option, Liam turns to sex and small
crimes to survive.
When a beautiful woman chooses not to turn him into
the cops but invites him to her hotel room instead, Liam’s world is flipped
upside down again and everything he’s learned on the streets ceases to exist.
What will happen when one night with her isn’t
enough? When she haunts his thoughts and dreams? When his past finally catches
up with him, will he be able to start over? And will his mystery woman be there
to see him through?
Cover Design: Jo Matthews
Low By Mary Elizabeth
Lowen Seely has been forced into
making bad choices his whole life but none as consequential as the one that
lands him behind bars. He thought times were tough before he was locked up; the
boy from the hood learns living a law-abiding life is nearly impossible with a
felony record.
He finds hope in Poesy Ashby, the
girl who kissed him through glass partitions every weekend for two years.
Not everything is simple, but in
her he finds strength.
In her, he is brave.
Even crooks love.
When Lowen and Poesy stare poverty
in the face, he has another choice to make.
And this time, she’s driving.
Cover Design: Valentine S.
Don't Let Me Go By Sarah Elizabeth
Based almost entirely on body language, intimate feelings can develop
within less than a minute of meeting someone.
Additionally, meeting in a dangerous situation increases the chances of
falling in love.
This is that fall.
Where meeting her eyes means seeing it through.
Following down from the start to don’t let me go.
From roll up to run.
Between old glory and new beginnings.
This is what happens when a lamb is carried to the slaughter by courage,
instead of a cowardly lion.
Cover Design: Bishop Clark
Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22054056-branded
REVIEW:
When these authors say “bad boy” they really mean it. I’m talking hardcore “Go to Jail. Directly to jail. Do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars” kind of bad boys. I was expecting more of the MMA/Motorcycle Gang/College Frat brother kind of stories but these guys were serious trouble. Murder, drug smuggling, car stealing were all in the mix and I have to say the amount of trouble these guys were in was kind of sexy! There ways of wooing women may have been a little on the stalker side but they did at least have hearts when it came to their love and it actually made their hard exterior melt a little.
Now, I love a good anthology and this one was great but what surprised me the most was that these stories were quite lengthy. Usually you get a bunch of short stories that are maybe 20-30 pages long but each of the ones written here were a good 75 pages on average. It gave us enough time as the reader to read a little more about the past and the present of characters and understand them in more depth than a quick story will give you. That was awesome because I really wanted to know more about these characters because I bought into them more. In fact, I believe the length of the stories is what led to some seriously ugly crying at points and laughing at others. More information is never a bad thing in books and I got more than I planned on getting from Branded.
It also provided me with 5 distinct stories. Sure they all had a same underlying theme of bad boy, but in one you had a drug runner that got put away from a murder he didn't commit, another a car booster that falls in love with someone in the law. The point being, all of these stories were different but I would have read full length novels of any of them. However as a collection I was left feeling satisfied and entertained, which I would call a success!- My Opinion- **** 4 Stars!
Meet
the Authors
B.L. Wilde
B.L. Wilde is a British author
obsessed with many things, including heated love stories. Fully supported by
her husband, she can often be found at her desk working on her next project.
Her journey into the
world of erotica began when she started writing online stories over three years
ago, and she hasn't looked back since.
Links:
Jeanne McDonald
Jeanne McDonald began telling
stories at the ripe young age of five, when her mother considered the truth to
be a lie due to her extensive embellishment to the retelling of an event.
She wrote her first short story when she was twelve years old, and at the
age of sixteen she tried her hand at poetry. She reconnected with her
love for writing in 2010 thanks to the encouragement of a dear friend.
Her passions include a "mild"
Starbucks addiction, music, reading, quotes, movies, and romance. When
she's not spending time with her family, she can be found reading, writing,
chatting with her friends or diligently working toward her bachelor's degree in
Speech Pathology and Audiology. A proud Texan, Jeanne currently resides
in the Dallas/Fort Worth area with her family.
Links:
Jo Matthews
Jo Matthews is an Arizona native,
where she lives with son. A stay-at-home mom since 2007, she only recently
discovered her love and passion for the written word. When she’s not writing,
she’s usually knee deep in editing—an aspect she thoroughly enjoys.
As an editor, she has propelled
quite a few authors into the published world, and with her skills, has landed
several stories on Amazon’s Top Sellers lists.
Links
Mary Elizabeth
Mary Elizabeth is an up and coming
author who finds words in chaos, writing stories about the skeletons hanging in
your closets. Known as The Realist, she is one half of The Elizabeths—a duo
brave enough to never hide the truth. Born and raised in Southern California,
she’s a wife, mother of four beautiful children, and dog tamer to one
enthusiastic Pit Bull and a prissy Chihuahua. She’s a hairstylist by day but
contemporary fiction, new adult author by night. Mary can often be found finger
twirling her hair and chewing on a stick of licorice while writing and
rewriting a sentence over and over until it’s perfect. She discovered her
talent for tale-telling accidentally, but literature is in her chokehold. And
she’s not letting go until every story is told.
Links:
Sarah Elizabeth
love’s listener is a lone wolf
born a unicorn with a red panda soul and a heart she drew herself. friend,
sister, elizabeth, and true
love, she’s a messenger that makes art with words and
love with art. she’s been yelly, yellowglue, squeak, cuppycakes, precious
pinks, warren, little grey, a girl named ben, and sarahbear. she’s a
synesthete, a heart junkie, a truth seeker and secret keeper. poet half,
sun half, and total scripturient, Sarah’s work is equal parts her passion,
sanctuary, precipice, vice, adventure, restorative, deliverance, and joy. she
currently resides in Kansas City, and she’s bringing Rococo back.
Links:
Buy Branded Today!
Thank you so much for this review and for reading our anthology. I truly enjoyed reading your review and am honored by your praises.
ReplyDeleteMy best,
Jeanne
Thank you!!!
ReplyDelete