Rogue Desire

Jane Blair, Tamsen Parker, Stacey Agdern, Dakota Gray, Amy Jo Cousins, Emma Barry, Ainsley Booth — 2017

Eight brand new romances for fans of the West Wing, fired-up #resistance fighters, and everyone who ever had a crush on that guy at a protest... GRASSROOTS by Adriana Anders Veronica Cruz is in the fight of her life for a seat on the city council. Meeting reclusive finance genius Zach Hubler should be a stroke of good luck-he has the power to sway public opinion. But when Election Day comes around and things don't go as expected, Veronica has to know: just how shady is the man of her dreams? DEEP THROAT by Dakota Gray He's an escort, but that's not his biggest secret. She's a maid at the hotel he uses "for business." When their worlds collide, everything is put on the line. But indulging every secret desire comes at a cost, and the sins of the past won't be forgotten. RESISTANCE by Amy Jo Cousins All Kaz Shamsi wanted to do was get his college students to and from the DC protest without losing any of them. Getting caught up in the fringes of anarchist violence was not on the agenda. Neither was a motorcycle escape, messing around with a bandanna-masked antifa protestor, or figuring out that guy was one of the students he was supposed to be chaperoning. Now he's got a ten-hour bus ride back to campus ahead of him, with a stupidly cute student who makes terrible decisions trying to talk Kaz into making one more. KISSING AND OTHER FORMS OF SEDITION by Emma Barry When a global crisis threatens to go nuclear, the world tips upside down and spills out Graham Wilcox's unspoken feelings for Cadence Martel. Cadence is equal parts shocked and delighted by his confession, but one night of passion isn't enough. So the new lovers set out on a road trip to save the world. TRUTH, LOVE AND SUSHI by Stacey Agdern When First Daughter Caroline Crosby finds herself in possession of the one document that can bring her father and his administration down, she turns to a real life social justice warrior for help. Max Wilcox isn't sure what to make of Caroline: is this an elaborate hookup or a political conspiracy? But he has to make up his mind fast because the information and their chemistry could change the world-or break their hearts. MY DELIGHT IS IN HER by Jane Lee Blair When Leonard West chose the pastorate, his college girlfriend chose a life without him. But not wanting to be a pastor's wife didn't mean Kim Jones didn't want to work for the greater good. Now, her resistance work has led her back to Leonard, and they must grapple with their old pain. Can they trust God and each other enough to try again? PERSONAL DISASTER by Ainsley Booth Marcus Dane left the tech world and joined the National Park Service a decade ago. Now an intrepid reporter has tracked down the park ranger-who-could-have-been-a-billionaire and, even worse, she has a theory that could blow his quiet life to smithereens. He needs to send her packing. But he's already tumbled head-over-heels in insta-lust with her flippy ponytail and smart mouth, and he just can't seem to let her go. LIFE, LIBERTY, AND WORSHIP by Tamsen Parker Paige Robinson has been working out her angst about the new administration in spin class, until a handsome stranger with maddening politics harshes her mellow. Now she's determined to get even...in the bedroom. Always awkward Carter Cox is shocked when his crush propositions him, but there's no way he's turning her down. Will their filthy assignation provide the catharsis Paige has in mind, or can they truly cross the aisle to find more?

Reviews

Briar's Reviews@briarsreviews

Jul 31, 2023

Rogue Desire, an anthology of incredibly sexy stories, will play with your temptations. This anthology holds stories from Adriana Anders, Tamsen Parker, Dakota Gray, Emma Barry, Jane Lee Blair, Ainsley Booth, Amy Jo Cousins and Stacy Agder. If you're looking for some sensual stories to fulfill your fantasies, this is the book for you. Especially if you want some quick, easy reads instead of a super long romance novel to fill up your time - you've found what you're looking for! I wouldn't necessarily call it just contemporary romance - some of these stories are a bit more sexy than that name hints - but this still hits all the notes of a sexy, steamy romance. For me, as a Tamsen Parker fangirl extraordinaire (can I get a button or something pronouncing my love for Tamsen's writing? I feel like I'm apart of the fan club by now) I really love that her writing is growing yet again. I grew to love and feel for the characters in such a small set of chapters, and melt into a puddle reading the sexiness in that story. And I probably blushed a lot - that story was really steamy... I will applaud this anthology as a whole though. Normally anthologies all have very similar stories or similar styles of writing - this one does not. Yes they are "similar" - you know, romance and sexiness all over - but they all have different themes and plot lines. Not just 'hey you're sexy, let's get together" plot lines. Also, each writer is unique and completely different than the others. It's not just carbon copies of the same type of author over and over writing a slightly different story. So, you will most likely find at least one story in this if you like romance - or hopefully more than one! I kind of wish I could give each individual story star ratings, but they all rate between 4 and 5. Some of the stories weren't necessarily my cup of tea, but they were all great reads - they kept me hooked and interested, I felt invested in the characters, and I enjoyed reading the stories. It didn't feel like work or like I was forcing myself through the stories. Reading some other reviews, I have seen that some people think these stories are "rushed" and yes, I might agree - but you need to remember these are short stories with little wiggle room for giant character development. Many of my favourite short stories seem "rushed" to me - The Veldt - but they still worked. If given the opportunity, I would love to see all authors expand on these stories, but to me they felt like they were just "rushed" enough - not so crazy fast it's unbelievable, but not to slow to make it an entire novel. Another great point about this book is the new authors you will be introduced to. While I've seen the names of some of these authors floating around Goodreads and Twitter, I never really looked into them - and now I know I should! Being able to see some of these authors write a full length novel instead of a tiny, itty, bitty story will be delightful!! So you may find your new must-read in this series!!! My other thought from other reviews I peeked at after reading - "political" is a word used a lot, and it does seem fitting but I, for whatever reason, don't like that word necessarily being put with this. Sexy politics seem so off...yet the politics behind each story made each a little bit better. It's not like your following a sexy election from beginning to end, which is what that word leads me to believe when I see it pop up. So readers beware! Overall, five out of five stars. It was sexy and a great read! I received an uncorrected proof from Tamsen Parker for an honest review.

This book appears on the shelf forthcoming

Juliana M@juli