Book Review - Safe in his Arms by Renee Rose

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Watch where you're putting that hand, missy

Five Stars!

A while back I posted about Renee Rose’s steamy vampire romance, Deathless Love and I mentioned that  I hadn’t read Renee’s ‘Black Ops’ story Safe in his Arms because I thought it ‘sounded a bit weird’.

Well, fellow writer Megan Michaels wasn’t standing for any of that nonsense. “You need to read Safe in his Arms! Get that off the bottom of your list!” she admonished, and accordingly I did. Apparently I obey every single order that’s given to me in my blog comments. You should all take advantage of that in the comments section below.

Safe in his Arms introduces us to Becca who meets marine, Zac at her sister’s wedding and enjoys a weekend of spanky sex which results in her becoming pregnant. Believing Zac to be killed in action, Becca raises the kid on her own.  That is until the day when Zac casually saunters back into her life as though nothing had happened. Well, OK, not so much ‘casually sauntering’ as ‘heroically battling an undercover villain in order to save both their lives’. And not so much ‘as though nothing had happened’ as ‘as though something really massive has happened that he wants to help her deal with.’

But still. You see where I’m coming from. This was the reason why I had put off reading this book for so long. I’m a single mum. I don’t have much truck with absentee fathers. Oh so you work for a secret undercover organisation which means that you don’t officially exist? Well, that’s very convenient isn’t it? Where were you last parents’ evening, huh?

Some parents make time for their kids.

 Still as a fictional absentee father, Zac is definitely one of the good ones. You can’t accuse the guy of not caring. And as excuses go, “I am sworn to secrecy to protect the safety of every man, woman and child on this planet” is a pretty sound one. The bond between Zac and his son, Parker, is forged pretty quickly largely due to some cool telepathic super-powers that Parker seems to have inherited from his father. Becca, though initially understandably freaked out, begins tentatively to accept Zac back into her life accepting his responsibilities as a Black Ops ‘ghost’ and appreciating the hot, sexy spankings and Zac reintroduces to her life.

The story zips along pretty nicely with lots of action and some great plot twists. At the heart of the story is Zac’s dilemma about how he can remain a part of Becca’s and Parker’s lives. It’s pretty hard to maintain a work/life balance when your employer’s first directive is that its employees don’t get a work/life balance.

Renee always writes meticulously drawn and believable characters and this includes any children that are included in her books. Parker is just lovely. (The kids in ‘Pleasing the Colonel’ were great too.) It’s a tricky business including children in a spanking romance novel but it when it works it gives a whole new emotional depth. Romances don’t just happen in a bubble. Often they have to work alongside a lot of other equally important aspects of a person’s life. I’m not sure how well Becca and Zac were at keeping their spanky shenanigans from the kid though. I mean, sure, sticking him in front of the iPad with some headphones in might seem like a pretty good plan but this is a kid who can read his own dad’s mind, don’t forget. There’s potential for a whole bunch of awkwardness.

I don't get it. Why don't you just give Mommy a time out?

The spankings are of course marvellous. The best bit is when the characters first get together and, over margaritas, Becca confesses that she wants a guy who will “bend me over and spank me!”

He reached over and cupped the dewy rocks glass, sliding the margarita out of her grasp.

“I’m down,” he said with a flick of his eyebrows.

So. Damn. Sexy. No wonder she gave him another chance. I would too.

W is for What Naughty Little Girls Get

This post is part of the Spanking A-Z Blog Challenge. What's that I hear you ask? Check out my page here for more information.

My guest today is the lovely and amazing Megan Michaels whose debut novel What Naughty Little Girls Get has been storming its way up the Amazon and Blushing bestseller lists since it was released earlier this month. Excellent work, Megan!

Naughty Little Girls

Thank you Etta for having me on to promote my book What Naughty Little Girls Get, which has been out now for three weeks.   I have enjoyed the phenomenal response by readers and appreciate all the private notes, messages and emails that I have received asking when the next one is going to be out.  I am almost done with another book and am hoping to get it to the publisher by July 4^th week.  I am sharing a snippet from What Naughty Little Girls Get where Brad has sent Molly upstairs to prepare for the rest of her punishment and he is left downstairs thinking about his lovely wife and how they met and how they started domestic discipline in their Daddy/little girl roles. 

Brad sat back in his La-Z-Boy and contemplated the course of the night’s events. He knew she needed discipline, had known it since the moment he met her, but that didn’t make the task any easier. Brad and Michael had worked together for years and had become instant friends because they had similar interests, one of which was domestic discipline. Brad had wanted a wife who was sassy, independent, and intelligent—and yet someone who would want a husband who would be the head of household, dispensing discipline as needed to keep peace in the house. He had loved taking care of his past girlfriends and having a wife who was a ‘little’ was exactly what he hoped for. He had initially envied Michael for having found a wife who wanted to be a little girl on the weekends. Their marriage was a strong and happy one, but now, he had that too.

When Molly had been hired as a secretary and had started working with Meggie, they had decided to set Brad up on a blind date with her. She was outgoing, organized, and a great party planner. But in Brad’s opinion, Molly had an innocence that he found undeniably endearing. He loved that she had childlike qualities—she loved playing on swings in the park, watching Disney movies, and going sledding on a winter’s day. After they had been dating a few weeks, Molly had texted Brad on her phone while driving home and she found out that night that he took her safety seriously. He took her over his knee and spanked her little bare bottom until it was very red and very sore.

From that point on, they practiced domestic discipline in their relationship and over the course of time they evolved into a Daddy/little relationship. Brad had always been nurturing and loved nothing more than dressing and caring for his little girl. Within months of meeting, Brad and Molly were married and after they married, they spent many evenings with Michael and Megan, enjoying their company.

Michael mentored Brad on this path of domestic discipline and helped him understand his role as disciplinarian and Daddy. Brad had many questions and often wondered where the balance was between cherishing and chastising his little girl. He loved his wife—no, he adored his wife—but he knew she craved discipline and boundaries. He didn’t want to see her cry, or hurt her, even if it was just her bottom. But as Michael had predicted, Molly flourished under the stringent boundaries Brad imposed upon her and when stern discipline was administered, followed by his unconditional love, a peace seemed to come over her that turned her into a beautifully submissive wife.

He chuckled and shook his head. Meggie and Molly together were trouble with a capital ‘T’ and they spent many nights sleeping on their stomachs with very well-spanked bottoms. Even after five years of marriage, Michael had confided to him that Meggie received just as many bad girl spankings as good girl spankings. He was beginning to understand how that could happen, because once he was done punishing Molly tonight, she would have received two very difficult bad girl spankings for drinking and driving. Molly knew the rules about drinking; she had been spanked several times for having a drink and driving home. This punishment would be a harsh one and would convince her once and for all that she needed to follow the rules.

He got out of his favorite chair and decided he would give her a few more minutes of anticipation, while he closed the blinds, locked the doors, turned out the lights, and brought the dog in the house.

  

When Molly and Meggie are together, they always get into trouble—which means they always get spanked—and after they decide to meet for two-for-one margarita night at the local bar without notifying their husbands, Brad and Michael, they know they are in big trouble. Once the girls get home they are soundly spanked and sent to bed, but the next day Molly and Meggie are shocked to learn their husbands plan to punish them again—together this time—and this punishment will be much more embarrassing than just a spanking.

Although the women thrive on the love, care, and discipline their husbands give them, they still can’t seem to behave, which means Brad and Michael will have to keep on reminding them what naughty little girls get.

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

ARe

Blushing Books

Want more? Check out the other spanking bloggers participating in the blogging challenge. The Linky List is here.

Liebster Award

I have been nominated for the Liebster Award by the lovely Megan Michaels. You can check out her Liebster Award blog entry here.

The Liebster Award is passed around the blogging community in order to promote great blogs and find out a bit more about the bloggers who make them.

I have listed the Liebster Rules on separate page. This blog is going to be quite long enough as it is.

So here are the questions that Megan set for me and my very best attempts to answer them.

1.       What is your favourite way to spend a Saturday?

At the moment, when I am not working, I am studying for a BA Hons in Computer Sciences. This means that most of my Saturdays are spent either (a) studying or (b) feeling guilty because I am not studying. At some point in the future (October this year), I will be finished this thing and my Saturdays will be my own again. I have no idea what I will do but whatever it is will be my new Favourite Thing.

2.        Do you have any pet peeves?

I’m a pretty easy going person. Generally, I’m all ‘live and let live’ and ‘go with the flow’. We’re all just doing our best to get along in this crazy world, you know, man?

This attitude doesn’t extend to people who sit down on crowded trains though. Those people can Fuck. Right. Off.

I commute into London each day which I enjoy doing but the trains are always standing room only by the time I get on them. Some people who don’t get seats sit down in the aisles between carriages. Usually with their legs outstretched and a laptop perched on top, taking up about three times the space of a standing-up person. They’re probably talking loudly to Jeremy at the office on their mobile phones as well. The wankers.

It’s a petty thing to get worked up about and I sort of hate myself for doing so. Some people write to newspapers suggesting that fat people should pay more for train tickets because they take up more room. Do I want to be like those people?

Well, no. I don’t want to begrudge my fellow human beings every last bit of space. But, you know, getting annoyed with sitting-on-the-floor people isn’t the same as getting annoyed with fat people. I’m pretty big. On a crowded train journey there isn’t going to be anything I can do about that in the next 40 minutes that will make my fellow passengers’ lives any easier. But floor-sitters, they could improve everyone’s situation in about five seconds flat.

I don’t say anything, obviously. This is British Rail - I don’t even make eye contact with anyone. Although, there’s a good chance that one day I will completely flip out and just start stamping on their stupid selfish legs.

3.      What were you like as a kid?

I spent a lot of time in my own head. You know Calvin and Hobbes cartoons where Calvin creates his own fantastical worlds? I was pretty much like that but with girlier fantasies.

 4.      Did you—or do you—have a nickname? What’s the story behind it?

The closest thing I can think of was at college when some guys decided that everyone is our group should change their name to Dave to make life easier (there were a few Daves in the group already, you see.) So we had Big Dave, Small Dave, Super Dave, French Dave etc. I was Girl Dave.

5.      Who was your favourite schoolteacher or college professor? Why?

I’m sure there were wonderful kind teachers who put themselves out for me. In fact, I know there were. But for the most part school was such a completely horribly miserable time for me that most of the details including any particular teachers have been sort of expunged from my memory.

College was a lot more positive but not because of the professors. Study was something that sort of happened in between the good bits.

6.      If your house was on fire, what’s the first thing you’d grab to save? And why?

Well assuming that my daughter and cat made it out all right, then nothing probably. I know it’s a boring answer but it’s all just stuff really.

If I was feeling practical then grabbing a coat and my mobile phone would probably be a good idea. Knowing me, though, I’d panic and grab the first things I laid my hands on. I’d rush out of the house clutching a hole punch, my jellyfish lamp and a half-eaten box of cereal or something.

7.      What was your favourite childhood toy? 

My stuffed toy panda called ‘Panda’. My sister bit off his nose when she was little and he always had a bit of a surprised look about him. We’re still close.

In fact, here's the guy himself checking out the blog earlier today.

8.      What was your worst job?

Something data-inputty, I suspect. I haven’t done anything particularly remarkable in its awfulness.

9.      Where is your happy space?

I’ve never really understood that idea to be honest. My happiness or unhappiness is more to do with where my head is at than my surroundings. For good or ill, I have to take my head around with me everywhere I go. If that’s in a bad way then no happy space is going to sort me out.

10.  What is in your fridge right now?

My fridge is always full of stuff. I really like food. Probably the most exciting things in there right now are half a lemon meringue pie and some Wensleydale with cranberries.

11.  If you could travel back to any one point in time what would it be? And why?

Wait, how am I going to get there? Am I going to be able to come home again or do I have to stay there forever? If I can get back easily, can I nip back and forwards regularly? Perhaps setting up some kind of shampoo and cosmetics business in Victorian London and blowing everybody’s minds by introducing them to Tresemme conditioner and watermelon-flavoured lip gloss?

On second thoughts, I still don’t think I’ll risk it even with a completely reliable time machine that’s had multiple five star reviews on Amazon.

I write historical fiction so you’d think I’d leap at the chance but, seriously, it would be horrible to actually do it, don’t you think? You’d go with all these romantic ideas and be confronted by the reality of the subjugation of women, social immobility, bad body odours, and poisonous wallpaper.

So thanks for the offer but I am going to stay here in the 21st century. Apart from anything else, I hear The Past has terrible mobile phone reception.

OK, So that's the end of the question and answer session. Thanks for some great questions, Megan!

It's not over yet though. Now I have to tell you eleven interesting facts about myself. ELEVEN! Seriously, even actual interesting people don't have eleven whole facts, surely. Anyway here's my best attempt.

1. I am a fully trained Open Water Diver.

2. The first piece of writing I ever had published was in Prediction magazine and was about the magical properties of herbs.

3. I used to write a blog called C-List Celebrity Workouts- a weekly review of fitness workouts by celebrities whose talents lie entirely elsewhere. It's on hiatus at the moment because it was quite time-consuming and, well,  something had to give. I hope to return to it at some point. My favourite review was the one I did for Barbie's Dance Workout. Although Mark Wahlberg's was fun, too.

4. I failed my driving test the first seven times I took it. Plus I had two driving tests book that I didn't even show up for. So, I either passed on my eighth or tenth time depending on how you count it. Either way, I'm really not a natural born driver.

5. My blood group is A negative which is only shared by 7% of the population. So not super-rare but a little bit special.

6. I invited Prince Edward to my fourteenth birthday. I got a  nice letter back from Buckingham Palace saying that HRH thanked me for the invitation but was busy that day.

7. I can move objects using just the power of mind. Just small things - pencils and the like - nothing unwieldy or heavy.

8. I won the title Best Dressed Female at my college awards. At the time my look mostly consisted of flowery charity shop dresses, paratrooper boots and a massive men's overcoat. I had a whole hippy grunge thing going on.

9. I was once arrested under suspicion of possessing illegal substances. I wasn't charged though. I'm a good(ish) girl really.

10. I lived in Hong Kong during my formative childhood years. The only Cantonese I can speak are the numbers one to ten.

11. I made up one of the above facts. You can probably guess which one.

Right, you all know far more about me than you could ever thought you wanted to.

I have an awesome set of people to pass the Liebster Award baton onto:

Renee Rose

Abigail Armani

Sheri Savill

Bella Bryce

Natasha Knight

Thanks guys! Check out the eleven questions I've set for you here!