REVIEW - TRICK OR TREAT ME BY SOPHIE BROOKS, M.K. HALE, SARA WHITNEY, EMKAY CONNOR,B'R' CURRY & CARRIE LOMAX

It's time to unwrap some man candy. TRICK OR TREAT ME contains six hot and humorous contemporary romance novellas perfect for Halloween!

Title: Trick or Treat Me

Authors: Sophie Brooks, M.K. Hale, Sara Whitney, 
                   EmKay Connor, B.R. Curry & Carrie Lomax

Genre: Steamy Romance

Publisher: Crave Press

Release Date: 10th October 2019

Note: Behind the Mask was previously released as Against the Rules by Sophie Brooks. 

BLURB from Goodreads

Halloween has never been so hot.

BEHIND THE MASK by Sophie Brooks
At the university Halloween party she's dragged to, wallflower Kaylee accidentally gushes about her crush on her TA, Carter, while the man himself is in earshot. Mortified, she flees, leaving Carter to track down the shy but intriguing young woman. Will he scold her for endangering his scholarship or make her fantasies come true?

COSTUME MISCONDUCT by M. K. Hale
When Tara is caught breaking into her friend's cheating ex's apartment while dressed as a cop for Halloween, she has two options: 1. Come clean to the incredibly handsome officer who caught her. 2. Pretend to be a cop and stick by his side for the night. She chooses 2.

TEMPTING TREAT by Sara Whitney
Tessa thinks Daniel ghosted her, while Daniel’s sure Tessa was the one who vanished six months ago. Now the two attorneys find themselves face-to-face again, fighting over the last bag of Halloween candy and squaring off in court. But how long can they ignore the reasons for their falling-out—or their still frighteningly good chemistry?

ANY WITCH WAY HE CAN by EmKay Connor
Tripp Wallace has finally returned home for a long overdue visit but discovers everything about the small town of Beau's Folly has changed... everything except Sadie Brandt, who still adores all things Halloween. Tripp has one chance to convince Sadie of his feelings, and he vows to boo—er, woo her any which way he can.

BIG BAD WOLFE by B. R. Curry
Dressed as Little Red Riding Hood at her parents' annual Halloween party, Zoe spies the big bad wolf from across the room and is thrilled that it's none other then Travis Wolfe, her father's best friend and her hardcore crush. Is it finally her chance to introduce him to the woman she's become so he'll forget about the little girl he remembers?

CHARMING MR. X by Carrie Lomax
When reclusive billionaire Xavier Cortes invites struggling actress Lily Smith to be his assistant, she isn't sure whether his offer is a trick, or the treat she needs to jump-start her career and her love life.

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PURCHASE LINKS

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REVIEW

So, I guess I was rather late for Halloween when I bought this one from Amazon on the 5^th November. I just wanted a light hearted, contemporary read. Though I read a lot of paranormal and Sci-Fi I do sometimes yearn for contemporary or something “different to my normal”. This collection has six novellas in it, so was a great mix of stories from different authors, and a perfect way for me to try reading some authors that were new to me. As this collection is made up of novella’s written by different authors I have reviewed each individual story below.

***

Behind The Mask by Sophie Brooks

The first novella had been released before under the title of Against The Rules, and then now it is called Behind The Mask, I have to say after reading the short story I think either title fits the plot within the novella. The main character is Kaylee, who has been cajoled into going to a fancy-dress Halloween party with her two more confident boisterous friends, Mandy & Trish. Though Kaylee is regretting allowing the other girls choose what their costumes are. They are the three blind mice, and the fancy-dress outfit is rather skimpy for Kaylee’s taste and style. Mandy & Trish are quite vocal about their romances and male conquests, and Kaylee is being teased when she quickly and thoughtlessly thinks up her own sexual encounter to regale those around her with. The problem is when pushed she reveals the male is her TA, Carter White and he just so happens to be within earshot! Carter feels sympathetic towards Kaylee and when she races away from the party, he swiftly follows her and does eventually find her, Does Carter tell her off? If Kaylee’s story is believed and gets back to those in charge, he could lose his job! I mean a TA and a student shouldn’t and wouldn’t have a relationship, would they?

I really enjoyed this story of an embarrassed student making up a steamy encounter with a TA she has a crush on just to fit in with a raucous crowd of friends at a party. A cute story of forbidden love between two people of a similar age, who find themselves in a teacher/student quandary of not being able to date. It really was a great, short, light yet emotional read. As a reader we journey along with Kaylee starting out as a shy, quiet, nervous girl to a confident young woman who knows who and what she wants. I think I will be taking a look at other books written by this author.

Costume Misconduct by M.K. Hale

In this novella Tara is the main character and she is dressed in her father’s old police uniform, so her fancy dress is very realistic. After being sick of her best friend’s ex-boyfriend treating her friend so badly, she decides to call by at the flat they shared for a little bit of revenge. Tara decides to spill some juice all over her friends cheating ex’s pristine kitchen. Tara’s idea is to leave a mess for him to clean up. Everything is going to plan until a real Policeman enters the flat. The Policeman is a guy she was at Police training college with, until she dropped out of police training and disappeared to do her own thing. Tara panics not knowing how to explain her presence in the flat, so when the real policeman just presumes, she got to the call about an alarm going off and possible break in before him. Tara goes along and lets him think she finished her police training elsewhere. Tara manages to get herself deeper and more embroiled in the lie that she is a police officer, and when she accompanies the real policeman on the rest of his night duty and things turn steamy, she is okay with that and so is the real Policeman until he finds out that Tara is actually in fancy dress.

I found this one quite funny, and you certainly felt you were sat on the edge of your seat waiting for Tara to be found out. Though you also sit there reading with the urge to reach into the book and shake Tara and shout at her to tell the truth before things go too far! This book really made me smile, and I know the damage Tara did to her best friends cheating ex’s kitchen was in reality criminal damage, how many women out there have not had a horrible ex that they would have loved to get some revenge on, in a similar, perhaps less destructive, permanent damage, criminal way? I will be looking for more books by this author too.

Tempting Treat by Sara Whitney

This novella is based on a quite simple, mistake or lack of organisation. The couple in the novella are both attorneys, who used to work for the same firm, then whilst Daniel was away, Tessa had to abruptly leave the company to work elsewhere. They have not spoken since, until one morning in a candy store when they both grab the same bag of sweets, the last bag of those particular sweets! It’s quite funny the way they each come up with stories why they need and must have that bag of candy. Finally, Tessa wins the candy battle but when they meet up on opposing ends of a case later that morning, it’s quite literally every man/woman for themselves and they’ll do whatever they have to, to get the result they need. Things become steamy, and just when the original misunderstanding is sorted out, there’s another one that sets the couple as far back and apart as they were to begin with.

I loved the humour in this book, the judge that loves Halloween and wants the attorneys to be in fancy dress! The fighting over the candy and what that candy means to each of the characters and the part it plays in their relationship and memories of each other. After reading this novella I have actually gone on straight after finishing this collection and read Tempting Heat, bk1 in Sara Whitney’s Tempt Me Series. I am also planning on reading more of that series along with other books by Sara Whitney.

Any Witch Way He Can by EmKay Connor

This one is a case of meeting up with an old crush and re-igniting those flames. Sadie had always liked Tripp but he hadn’t stuck around in Beau’s Folly long enough for anything to happen between them. So, she is surprised and hopeful when she hears he is returning to visit his parents. Beau loves travelling the world and hasn’t felt the need to return to Beau Folly at all, until recently. He plans to stay for just two weeks and is dreading anyone asking him to stay longer, he is giving himself just two weeks to get this need to visit Beau Folly out of his system. It couldn’t be that he is yearning for a place to settle down could it?

Tripp ends up helping Sadie publicise the Halloween activities that Beau Folly is quite well known for. Sadie seems to be struggling to get the backing for the Halloween festivities and she doesn’t want the first time she is in charge to be the year it all fails. Tripp is determined to help her, and he does enjoy being in her company, she has sure grown up since he last saw her. Sadie finds she still has that “feeling” for Tripp, but he isn’t going to stick around so should she just decide to go for it and have a fling with him whilst he is in town? Or maybe Tripp may stay around if he had another reason to stay?

I loved this novella, the way each main character kind of convinced themselves they would change for the other if it meant they could be together. I loved how Tripp wasn’t over confident and had to have it spelt out to him that Sadie was interested in more than just a friendship. I adored how Tripp used his work skills on a computer to help make Sadie’s first year in charge of the Halloween celebrations a success. Though I reckon from his character he would have done that for any of his friends. The extra time he got to spend with Sadie was just an added bonus for Tripp. Then when everything is going so well, until he gets cold feet and sits outside the venue of the Halloween Ball wondering whether he should go in or not, despite him wanting to dance, hug and kiss Sadie all night long. Once again, I will be checking out future titles by this author!

Big Bad Wolfe by B.R. Curry

This novella has a kind of ‘forbidden romance’ vibe to it. Every year Zoe’s parents hold a fancy-dress masked Halloween party, and this year is no different. Though this year fathers best friend Travis Wolfe is back in town. He is moving back to the area, once the work on his house is finished, in fact Travis is staying in Zoe’s parents pool house. Zoe has always had a crush on Travis since being much younger, but obviously never acted on it because of the age gap and Travis being her father’s best friend. However, during the party Zoe is dressed as Red Riding Hood and wearing a mask so when Travis approaches her to speak to her and starts flirting it is clear he doesn’t recognise her as his best friend’s daughter. The two of them end up hidden away at the party in a closet kissing and things are getting pretty steamy. When it is revealed who Red Riding Hood is, Travis is both shocked and confused! The two of them can’t resist sneaking around to see each other, it turns out that the feeling is mutual and now that Zoe is older the age gap thing doesn’t seem so big. Can Zoe have a romantic relationship with Travis Wolfe and still stay on her parent’s good side? What will happen between Travis and his best friend for years, Zoe’s father?

I loved this one, the forbidden romance of Zoe becoming romantically involved with her father’s best friend. I adored the friendship and family, sisterly relationship between Zoe and her wise sister who quietly supports her without becoming involved in the situation too much. I also loved how she threatens Travis about what she will do to him if he hurts her sister. I also enjoyed the uncertainty that Travis has, wanting to do the right thing for Zoe, not wanting her to become isolated from her family because of any possible relationship with him. I definitely want to read more by this author too.

Charming Mr X by Carrie Lomax

This one is totally different and to be honest I thought it was going to turn out to be a paranormal romance. I thought I had it all worked out, Mr X, or rather Xavier as he introduces himself to our main female character Lily was in my curious, thousand miles a minute mind & imagination a very old vampire, and his present assistant/companion was looking for her replacement and she found Lily. I thought Xavier would decide if Lily was suitable bite her, turn her into a vampire etc, etc. But that was not the case. Xavier has a condition which makes it almost impossible for him to leave his home. To be more social and have contact with the outside world Xavier throws extravagant Halloween parties. Lily is out of work and struggling financially and whilst she is talking to her best friend she is overhead by Xavier’s current assistant who goes over, introduces herself and invites Lily, and at Lily’s insistence her best friend to Xavier’s Halloween Party. Whilst at the party Xavier will interview Lily. At the party it soon becomes apparent that Xavier is looking for something more than a personal assistant, he wants a sexual relationship too. Lily isn’t about to have sex for money and makes this quite plain to Xavier that is most certainly not who she is. Lily can’t help herself and finds herself attracted to Xavier, but she wants a relationship not what in her opinion would be meaningless sex that she would be paid for.

I did enjoy this individual novella, it was totally different to the others and the fact it had me fooled at one point that it was going to go down a totally different route just made it all the more interesting to read. I will be looking up other titles by this author.

***

My immediate reaction upon finishing reading this novella collection was that it is a fantastic selection of stories with the theme of Halloween featured in each one. I also have to say that this story collection is most certainly qualifies as a “treat”, six super steamy short stories! As you will have noticed in my review that I plan on reading more by each individual author. By a complete coincidence I already have another novella by Sara Witney on my kindle to read.

To sum up, I highly recommend reading this collection! I loved each and every one of the novellas in the collection, and have discovered some fantastic authors I hadn’t read before. Yes, I would say these novellas are steamy, so aimed at an 18+ audience. I do not read pure erotica so I can honestly say these stories are steamy not erotica. All the steam, and super-hot male characters are within context.