Welcome to the April edition Thrifty Thursday reviews. Thrifty Thursdays is hosted by Anne over at Books of My Heart.
NIKITA BLACK is the pseudonym of New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Nina Bruhns. In the primitive wilds of the South Louisiana swamps, the hot-blooded Cajun Cherchat brothers take lost photographer Sahara Jensen captive, thinking to use her soft, warm flesh for their—and her—pleasure. But when one of them unwittingly falls in love with the woman, who then is the captor, and who is really the prisoner...? Sahara Jensen has ventured far out into the bayou, on assignment to photograph an elusive orchid. Instead she finds the gorgeous Cherchat brothers. Or rather, they find her. When the two mysterious strangers offer to lead her out of the swamp, what choice does she have? Handsome as sin with the devil’s own imagination, Jacque Cherchat embodies every woman's secret fantasies, and he knows it. With infinite skill and determination—not to mention delicious Cajun food—he sets out to seduce his beautiful captive. But he could never imagine the outcome of this night of forbidden erotic pleasures... Praise for CAJUN HOT: "I do not recommend reading this book in public. That wicked grin on your face or that glazed look in your eyes, just might give you away." "...If you want a superbly written erotic romance...this is definitely a very highly recommended book..." "Women who enjoy their sex heated and their men alpha will devour this spicy concoction." "Nikita Black not only tells a wildly erotic tale of captive/captor, but she weaves a wonderful romance in with the erotically sensual tale. What a magician this storyteller is. I'm hooked on anything written by Nikita This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.
Title: Cajun Hot
Author(s): Nikita Black
Published by Cajun Hot Press on June 7, 2011
Pages: 132
Genre(s): Erotic Romance
Source: Purchase
Format: eBook 
Purchase: Amazon
Reading Challenges: 2023 Thrifty Thursday Reading Challenge
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Cajun Hot by Nikita Black was a hot mess. Thankfully I had no expectations going into this book so my level of disappointment was minimal. I purchased Cajun Hot as a freebie in 2012. Now I didn’t read the blurb beforehand as I was ecstatic to discover the perk of acquiring books for free. At the time nothing else mattered a apart from the fact that it was advertised as full length contemporary romance.
The story started out on a good note. However, after around twenty percent of reading it all started to go downhill. The heroine, Sahara took a trip to the Bayou to take pictures of a rare orchid to increase her chances of a feature in National Geographic. While on her mission she got lost, and two brothers, Jacque and Quint, came to her rescue. However, their reasons for the rescue was not quite altruistic.
Now most of the things which occurred in this story is not for everyone. I certainly was not a fan. Cheating, held against one’s will, a weak female, the hero’s crazy family with their insane beliefs, a lack luster romance and extra steamy sex scenes drove the story. I kept reading hoping the heroine would gain some sense and not allow her carnal desires to control her. Also some of the questionable things done to the heroine by the hero and his family failed to amuse me. I found nothing about this story believable.
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Out of the Ashes tells the story of Paige Hill whose life changed after surviving a fire that took the lives of her family. It’s a story of survival and finding the strength needed to move on from the pain of one’s past.
Out of the frying pan and into the fire… This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.
Title: Out of the Ashes
Author(s): Diana Gardin
Series: The Ashes #1
Also in this series: Settling Ashes
Published by Self Published on December 10, 2013
Pages: 205
Genre(s): Contemporary Romance, New Adult
Source: Purchase
Format: eBook
Purchase: Amazon
Reading Challenges: 2023 Thrifty Thursday Reading Challenge, 2023- Coyer
Rating:
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Paige Hill is discovering who she is again after losing everything she loves in a tragic fire. She’s endured a long road to recovery with the help of her best fiend Gillian and is finally beginning her life again: college, a job, and a blossoming love she never even saw coming.
Clay Forbes is the notorious campus playboy. He’s a star athlete, a senior architecture major, and the only son in a family with power and money back in his hometown. When he crashes into Paige, his whole perspective on life shifts, and his world as he knew it becomes nonexistent. He’s wrapped up in her.
They’re both learning how to love, but Clay’s ex-girlfriend Hannah won’t make it easy for them. She puts a target on Paige’s back, and won’t stop until she’s derailed their budding romance once and for all. Who will be left standing after the ashes settle for the second time?
Out of the Ashes began with the heroine leaving the hospital after spending time in the burn unit recovering from burns received in a house fire. The same fire that killed her entire family. With her best friend by her side she enrolled in college. She’s determined to make for the time lost. Paige struggles with self image, due to the scarring from the burns, and PTSD. Despite all of this she displayed an admirable level of strength.
Now Paige is just looking to survive college, so the entrance of Clay into her life came as a complete surprise. A surprise, which she cautiously welcomed. Soon the tow became inseparable. However, Clay’s past indiscretions threatened to tear them apart. Clay was a love them and leave them type of a guy, but all that changed when he met Paige. None of the girls he was with before could hold a candle to Paige. She was definitely it for him, but one particular female didn’t seem to get that memo.
Clay and Paige were great together. I loved how he saw beyond her scars to her beautiful soul. It took sometime for Clay to break through Paige’s walls. However, when he did their relationship developed rather quickly. Despite the fast pace at which their relationship developed the romance felt authentic.
I enjoyed Out of the Ashes, although there were parts where the pacing felt off. First of all it ended with a cliff-hangar, which I never saw coming and secondly it left me wondering if Clay and Paige’s relationship would survive these turn of events.
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- Husband Missing: Lisa Regan - March 24, 2025
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
You had quite the reading adventure with these two freebies. That cliffhanger sounds ominous for their relationship.
Way to go getting two freebies read for the Thrifty Thursday.
It was an adventure indeed. Yes the cliffhanger was a hint of a threat to their relationship. My review for the next book goes live tomorrow.
Great group of books here. It looks like one was a not worth it read but the other was a solid enjoyable one there for you. Sometimes the thrifty books can be a hit or miss right?
Ah those early freebies. I have many of them myself. I look at some and think – What was I thinking? (that it was free) I don’t think I would have rated the first one that highly based on your comments. I’m glad you found another that was pretty good. I find a mix myself. I won’t take anything with less than 3 stars on Goodreads and I read the lower ratings and don’t take some based on those. Sometimes it’s a matter of tastes, like not really being interested in reverse haram books myself. Happy to have you join me in reading the freebies, Nadene.
Yes! I had similar reactions whenever I read some of the freebies I picked up. I guess I was being overly generous in giving Cajun Hot 2 1/2 stars.
So some good and some not so good. Never know what you’ll get when you read a freebie. Sometimes they are great, other times not so much,
Yes, freebies can be hit or a miss.