I’ve always read and written Romance. But while my real life took center stage, I consigned my manuscripts to gather dust in my bottom desk drawer and went off to teach English and History and raise a family. When my real life got less hectic and the Indie Revolution started, I dragged my stories out, dusted them off, and started publishing them. Lo and behold, readers loved them as much as I did, and suddenly I had a whole new career. Teaching literature tends to make you critical, and I was super-critical of my ‘trashy’ romances. Now I’m proud I write stories women can read to relax and be entertained by.
Vali, the Norse giant, became the sex slave of Roman patricians when he was captured as a young teen. Since then he has grown angrier and more violent with every passing year. When his violence leads to the punishment of the gladiatorial arena he is offered one way out. He can gain his freedom if he can get the innocent and beautiful Anniana to her prospective husband in Pompeii before her unscrupulous mother makes her the wife of the vile and decadent new emperor. But when Pompeii is destroyed and her mother sends assassins to track Anniana down, it becomes a chase across the breadth of the Roman Empire to keep her safe. Vali will need to shield the sweet girl from the many dangers of the journey, as well as the worst threat of all: himself.
You can’t get any hotter than the son of Satan. If you add eons spent suffering the tortures of hell, not to mention a childhood of serious abuse in this lifetime, you have the poster child for the hottest tortured hero, as well.
But while Reyes is hot and the love scenes hotter, it’s actually the humor in this series that I love the most. The heroine (she who saves the hero) is a PI called Charlie Davidson, who moonlights as the grim reaper. Her zany ADHD personality and penchant for giving names to everything in her life, including furniture, not to mention the hysterical memes at the beginning of each chapter, make this and all the books a laugh a minute. I shed a few tears when this series ended.
Private investigator Charlotte Davidson was born with three things: looks; a healthy respect for the male anatomy; and the rather odd job title of grim reaper. Since the age of five, she has been helping the departed solve the mysteries of their deaths so they can cross. Thus, when three lawyers from the same law firm are murdered, they come to her to find their killer. In the meantime, Charley's dealing with a being more powerful - and definitely sexier - than any spectre she's ever come across before. With the help of a pain-in-the-ass skip tracer, a dead pubescent…
Anyone who reads steamy, gritty Romance has probably already found the Black Dagger Brotherhood, a bunch of vampires fighting their own brand of bad guys in Caldwell, New York. My favourite of all these very hot guys is Zsadist, who was kidnapped at an early age and turned into a blood and sex slave. His story starts in the earlier books, but it's in this one that he finally gets his love interest, the beautiful Bella, who helps him heal and saves him from himself.
There is so much going on in these very long books, most of it violent and sexually explicit, but if you love tortured heroes, then you can’t go past Zsadist. Start at the beginning of the series, though, so you don’t miss any of the action.
In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly war raging between vampires and their slayers. And there exists a secret band of brothers like no other - six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Of these, Zsadist is the most terrifying member of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. A former blood slave, the vampire Zsadist still bears the scars from a past filled with suffering and humiliation. Renowned for his unquenchable fury and sinister deeds, he is a savage feared by humans and vampires alike. Anger is his only companion, and terror is his only passion…
This is the first in the Nell Sweeney Mystery series. And the slow-burn romance extends over the whole series. Set in 19th Century Boston, these little gems kept me on the edge of my seat, while immersing me in the historical period.
Normally, I don’t find drug addicts make for the best romantic heroes, but William Hewett is not your typical hero. Sure, he was a surgeon in the Civil War, where he was injured physically and emotionally and has become hooked on opium because of it, but he’s not a scorch-your-panties-off kind of hot. (It is the Victorian era, after all.) Yet he’s a compelling character and perfect for the heroine who helps to save him. I found I was rooting for this pair every step of the way. I wanted him to heal, kick his habit, and have his HEA with the unconventional Miss Sweeney.
“What a thoroughly charming book! A beautiful combination of entertaining characters, minute historical research, and a powerful evocation of time and place.” —NYT bestselling author Barbara Hambly
Boston, 1868: The dawn of the Gilded Age, an era of burgeoning commerce and invention, of unimaginable new fortunes and lavish excess—for some. Born into poverty, young Nell Sweeney scratches by on her wits and little else until fortune blesses her with a position as nursery governess to the fabulously wealthy Hewitts. But she soon learns that ugly secrets lurk beneath the surface of their gold-plated world.
I’m stepping out a little with this one because I just have to include Ramos, the motorbike-riding hitman, in my list of hot, tortured heroes. Why he’s an outlier in this list is because he’s actually not the hero but a secondary character. Soccer mom turned mind-reading PI, Shelby Nichols, is a squeaky-clean heroine with a loving lawyer for a hubby and two teenage kids. But sparks are always flying whenever Ramos is helping Shelby get out of trouble, and she gets in a lot of trouble as she solves her mysteries. It’s clear that Ramos, who is every woman’s Latin-lover fantasy, has fallen for our heroine, and she certainly helps him with his tortured past, but though they share some hot moments and a few kisses along the way, she remains a loyal wife. He respects that, never trying to tempt her away from her family. I just love waiting to see how Ramos will ride in to save the day in each book. This is definite PG.
A mind-reader, a mob-boss, and a hit-man. What could go wrong? More fun than you can imagine!
Book 1 in the Shelby Nichols Adventure Series
"One of the best and rarest gems of the indie book market."~ Matthew LeDrew
USA TODAY and Wall Street Journal Bestselling author Colleen Helme offers a clever mix of mystery, laugh-out-loud humor, and page-turning adventure in the highly acclaimed Shelby Nichols Adventure Series.
Stopping at the grocery store for some carrots shouldn't be dangerous, but in Shelby's case, it changes her life forever. During a bank robbery, she is caught in the cross-fire and grazed…
Malkom Slaine is the archetypal hot tortured hero, as long as you’re into horns. He may not be the son of Satan but a demon from a demon world isn’t far off. He’s another blood and sex slave, who was sold into slavery by his whore demoness mother and forced to kill his best friend. When he meets his one true mate Caro, a witch, he is being set up for betrayal, yet again. Caro has to trick him into coming to the human plane, to be imprisoned and tortured some more, to save her adopted daughter. He has a lot of healing to do and Cole takes the time to make the process realistic.
Yet again, this book is part of a bigger series, where the many storylines intermingle. There’s a lot of fight scenes and action, but little actual torture, thank goodness. This was a very exciting book and this seven-foot-tall, horned and fanged Vemon (vampire/demon) is my guilty pleasure.
A scorching tale of a demon outcast poisoned with vampire blood and the vulnerable young witch he vows to protect - even from himself. Malkom Slaine, tormented by his sordid past and racked by vampiric hungers, is pushed to the brink by the green-eyed beauty under his guard. Carrow Graie, hiding her own sorrows, lives only for the next party or prank. Until she meets a tortured warrior worth saving. In order for Malkom and Carrow to survive, he must unleash both the demon and vampire inside him. When Malkom becomes the nightmare his own people feared, will he lose…
Cleo Cooper, a cross-cultural psychology professor, is living the dream on the Big Island of Hawaii. With ocean-dipping weekends, she enjoys her dog, her job, and her boyfriend Ben - until the day she’s on a research vessel and a dead body is caught in the dragline.
The police determine it is murder and set their sights on a gentle former student, Kai. It doesn’t take much urging from Kai’s auntie for Cleo to investigate. But Ben grows distant, and Cleo’s dog grows ill. A couple of accidental deaths later, and someone makes an attempt on her life.
What happened to Cleo’s life in paradise? Can she discover the true killer? Can she stop the killer before the killer stops her?
Paradise is shaken when the body of a young woman is dragged onto a university research vessel during a class outing in Hilo Bay. Cleo Cooper is shaken when she finds her favorite student is on the hook for the murder. Danger lurks on land and sea as Cleo and her friends are enticed to search for the true killer. In between paddling, swimming, and arguing with her boyfriend, Cleo discovers all is not what it seems on the Big Island of Hawaii. But will she figure out the truth before she becomes the next victim?
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