Alpha by Jasinda Wilder Blog Tour, Review and Giveaway

Alpha by Jasinda Wilder

Erotic Romance with a little suspense. Standalone.

The first time it happened, it seemed like an impossible miracle. Bills were piling up, adding up to more money than I could ever make. Mom’s hospital bills. My baby brother’s tuition. My tuition. Rent. Electricity. All of it on my shoulders. And I had just lost my job. There was no hope, no money in my account, no work to be found. And then, just when I thought all hope was lost, I found an envelope in the mail. No return address. My name on the front, my address. Inside was a check, made out to me, in the amount of ten thousand dollars. Enough to pay the bills and leave me some left over to live on until I found a job. Enough to let me focus on classes. There was no name on the check, just “VRI Inc.,” and a post office box address for somewhere in the city. No hint of identity or reason for the check or anything. No mention of repayment, interest, nothing…except a single word, on the notes line: “You.” Just those three letters.

If you receive a mysterious check, for enough money to erase all your worries, would you cash it?

I did.

The next month, I received another check, again from VRI Incorporated. It too contained a single word: “belong.”

A third check, the next month. This time, two words. Four letters. “To me.”

The checks kept coming. The notes stopped. Ten thousand dollars, every month. A girl gets used to that, real quick. It let me pay the bills without going into debt. Let me keep my baby brother in school and Mom’s hospice care paid for. How do you turn down what seems like free money, when you’re desperate? You don’t. I didn’t.

And then, after a year, there was a knock on my door. A sleek black limousine sat on the curb in front of my house. A driver stood in front of me, and he spoke six words: “It’s time to pay your debt.”

Would you have gotten in?

I did.

It turns out $120,000 doesn’t come free.

“You. Belong. To Me.”

When I read the teaser for Alpha by Jasinda Wilder that was at the end of Falling Under, I was officially HOOKED. With all the NA books out there, Alpha finally gave me that tingly, anticipatory feeling I got when I initially read Fifty Shades of Grey. (Yes, I know, there have been a ton of books that came out since that I loved even more.) I knew it would be hot, because, well, it’s Jasinda. But I really like my heat with a little more dominance and kink than Jasinda usually writes.

Holy Hotness! We all know Jasinda can write hot, but she takes it a step up in Alpha. I was on the edge of combustion the entire book.  Sexy and thrilling, I couldn’t look away unless it was for a sex break. Well, honestly, even then I didn’t stop reading for long…uuumm….lets just say I kept reading until I couldn’t hold my kindle anymore and my eyes rolled back in my head. (Mr. Ana thinks it’s a challenge, and he never complains about my reading, especially books like this!)

Jasinda had a full on mystery amongst the sex, and you just had to keep reading to figure it all out. What an addictive read!

Kyrie was a really likable character. Relatable and sometimes funny, I enjoyed her inner voice. I adored her best friend Layla as well, and I’m hoping maybe she gets her own story. As you read in the blurb, Kyrie is at the point of desperation. She was evicted and her electricity turned off the day she got fired.

“I was sexually propositioned by Mr. Edwards.”
“Shut the fuck up.”
“He said I could keep my job if I sucked his cock. I mean, he didn’t say it in so many words. But he made it clear… by pulling his dick out.”

So when the mysterious $10,000 check shows up, Kyrie has no choice but to cash it. She would have ended up stripping or even worse, just to eat, let alone pay for her mother and brother’s care. As the checks keep coming, Kyrie cautiously spends the money, knowing she will have to pay up one day.

“My name is Harris. I’m here to collect you.”…”My employer has sent me to collect what is his.”

After packing her belongings and flying in a private jet, she arrives at the penthouse, and is blindfolded.

“Who–who are you? Why am I here?”
“You don’t need my name just yet. As far as why you’re here?” His voice lowered, became hushed, a growling murmur that made my stomach clench.
“You’re here because I own you, Kyrie.”
“What – what are you going to do to me?” I hated how weak, how afraid I sounded.
“Everything.” His voice was thick with promise. “But nothing you won’t enjoy.”

Not being able to see, Kyrie must rely on on her other senses. She has no idea if that man is young or old…nothing. But his voice and words are having an effect on her. He is both sexy and reassuring, yet he makes her keep the blindfold on and won’t even tell her his name.

“Here is another promise I will make you: you and I will not engage in penetrative sexual intercourse unless you ask for it. And you will, Kyrie. That’s the promise, here. You will. You’ll beg me for it. But it won’t happen until, and unless, you ask me for it.”

Kyrie isn’t a prisoner. She can leave, but all of her expenses are still there. Her mother is in a home, her brother needs his tuition paid. She has the choice to see how this plays out with the millionaire or leave with all of her bills still hanging over her head. But the mystery man is not ready to reveal himself to Kyrie…not yet.

There is more going on….

“I am keeping a secret from you, Kyrie. A very deep, very dark secret. One that affects us both, and one that will change the very fabric of our relationship.”

Still, even with the blindfold, Kyrie can’t help her physical reaction to him as he helps her eat dinner blindfolded. Jasinda really made this work. I felt breathless along with Kyrie. I wanted him too, and had no idea what he looked like. The build up, the anticipation, the fear, the helplessness, the teasing, the excitement….Jasinda had us feeling it all with Kyrie.

“I’ve barely touched you, barely begun to kiss you, only just learning the secrets of your body, but already you react so beautifully. Kyrie…Kyrie…you are so beautiful. Such a precious thing, and I simply cannot wait to make you sing, to make your body hum and shiver for me.”

Wow…see what I mean?

And if the build-up was hot, holy shit…when it really started, WOW.

 Jasinda kept you on the edge of your seat, trying to figure out the whole story while telling the hottest story I think I read this year. Jasinda was always great at the lovemaking scenes, but we get diiirrrtty in Alpha. And…

“One word out of you, and I’ll snap. I’ll pull into the nearest alley and fuck you where you sit. You’re flushed and nervous and the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, and you smell like expensive wine and good food and pussy. I’m barely holding onto my restraint right now.”

Likes:

• Alpha sucked you in and didn’t let go once.
• I loved Kyrie’s voice.
• I enjoyed her friend Layla, and wouldn’t mind her story!
• The blindfold. I loved that, it ratcheted up the tension and it was hot!
• The twist caught me by surprise.
• Jasinda’s sex scenes were a little more my style–a little less flowery, well, except for the flower part, (you’ll see) and a little more dirty. (And no ‘turgid’!)
• The sexual tension was so thick even before the sex, that I was ready to grab the guy without any knowledge of his looks.
• Mr. Ana had a smile on his face for 2 days. (So did I.)

Dislikes:

• I would have loved an epilogue, but the book, though the ending satisfied, did leave it open for more.
• Him swearing he wasn’t a Dominant at the beginning of the book. While he isn’t into pain or bondage, he is very much a Dominant.

Rating: 5 Stars, 5 Heat

Alpha wasn’t an epic, New Adult bawl-your-eyes-out kind of book like many of Jasinda’s books. It’s a gripping erotic romance with suspense. It hovered close to having too much sex without going over (or maybe that was me?) but there was more than enough story to even it out, and believe me, I wasn’t complaining! I thought it was a short, fast read and was surprised to find out it is 445 pages! Jasinda’s pacing makes it a quick, easy, totally hot read that I am saving on my kindle for those nights I need a little extra motivation for Mr. Ana.  

“It’s not even really begging. It’s just…asking me nicely”
“Please…_____” Who needs dignity when you can have public orgasms?

 P.S. I’d love to see some of the male point of view, maybe novella? But please, I beg of you, if you do that Jasinda, don’t pussify the guy like I’ve seen many authors do.

Note: You may want to visit my Red Room of Pain/Erotic Toystore before reading this one!

Purchase Alpha by Jasinda Wilder

Amazon (all) | BN.com | iTunes

About Jasinda Wilder

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jasinda Wilder is a Michigan native with a penchant for titillating tales about sexy men and strong women. When she’s not writing, she’s probably shopping, baking, or reading. Some of her favorite authors include Nora Roberts, JR Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Liliana Hart and Bella Andre. She loves to travel and some of her favorite vacations spots are Las Vegas, New York City and Toledo, Ohio. You can often find Jasinda drinking sweet red wine with frozen berries and eating a cupcake.

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Note: You may want to visit my Red Room of Pain/Erotic Toystore before reading this one!

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