What if the only one you wanted was the one you couldn’t have?
Her curves make her a real woman Her hot little ass makes me rock hard It takes every ounce of my self-control not to give in. But Cora is forbidden fruit... She's my boss' niece and my intern for the summer.
I'm a high priced attorney. I'm always the professional - except when it comes to Cora. I want her. I lust for her. F the consequences. I have to have her.
*****************
HUSTLER is a full-length novel that can be read as a standalone. it contains steamy scenes that will make you quiver. Books in the Hustler Series 1. Hustler 2. Playboy 3. Bastard 4. Baby Contract 5. Fake
Charlotte Byrd is the bestselling author of numerous contemporary romance novels. She lives in Southern California with her husband, son, and a crazy toy Australian Shepherd. She loves dark books, hot weather and crystal blue waters.
BLACK EDGE Series (5 books!)
Mr. Black bought me at a secret auction on his yacht. I’ve never done anything like this before. What happens when one night isn’t enough?
This book is for you if… you want a lot of things happen in barely no time, bordering on ridiculous.
⤐ Overall. If becoming an author is as easy as writing short stories such as Hustler I'm literally the lousiest person out there. I've started countless - doubtlessly terrible - book ideas over the years and didn't even manage to get something short and mediocre to bad published. Well, Charlotte beat me to it anyways.
It's a short book, I get that you can't exactly make it the most detailed plot but the number of things that happen in this tiny thing is laughable. People don't do a 180 in the span of seconds, moving from having a free and generous sex life to a monogamous relationship . There's also barely any excitement. Honestly a waste of my time.
⤐ What’s happening. Welcome to this utterly ridiculous tale in which - over the span of mere days - a man who has done nothing but casual flings ALL HIS LIVE decides after looking at a woman for 1 minute that she's the one. And she lets herself be manhandled by him. The end :) _____________________ 2 STARS. Definitely a disappointment. It might not even have been worth finishing for a variety of reasons.
What if the only one you wanted was the one you couldn’t have?
Her curves make her a real woman Her hot little ass makes me rock hard It takes every ounce of my self-control not to give in. But Cora is forbidden fruit... She's my boss' niece and my intern for the summer.
I'm a high priced attorney. I'm always the professional - except when it comes to Cora. I want her. I lust for her. F the consequences. I have to have her.
*****************
HUSTLER is a full-length novel that can be read as a standalone. Warning: it contains steamy scenes that will make you quiver. Books in the Hustler Series 1. Hustler 2. Playboy 3. Bastard 4. Baby Contract 5. Fake
I’m not sure how exactly I feel about ‘Punitive Damages’ by Charlotte Byrd. In the beginning, I was really enjoying the book. I liked the build-up of the story-line, was interested in the characters, thought the court scene was done very well, but then it took a turn for me.
With Asher-portrayed in the beginning as such a hard a$$, major playboy who didn’t do anything but sex with a woman, who was a top criminal defense attorney-he basically sexually harassed Cora in his office and then the next time they were together professed his love for her. I was like WTF? Did I read that correctly? Granted, in his office, she did nothing to turn his advances away, and actually seemed like she wanted him to do it, you would like he would make sure, with his background in law, to get some kind of verbal approval from her. Especially with her being his boss’s niece! Maybe there was and I just missed it. But, what really threw me was how quickly he professed his love for her. I didn’t feel there was any lead to that admission. I didn’t feel, in any way, there was that type of connection yet between them. Maybe it was just because 90% of the story was told in Cora’s POV and we had no indication he felt that way.
After that, everything seemed to fly by. Almost to the point of being rushed. With what was going on with the case, I guess I just expected more from the story. More suspense, more drama, more action, more…something. But, what I was left with felt like a lot of missed opportunities, an incomplete story, and a rushed, unbelievable romance.
**I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and this is my honest review.**
Punitive Damages by Charlotte Byrd is a burn up the pages, dark erotic romance with twists and turns, some suspense, danger, misunderstandings, an arrogant alpha billionaire boss, sizzling chemistry, and some hot scenes. My only complaint is that I would have like to see an epilogue.
I volunteered to review an advance reader copy of this book.
Asher Dean's a criminal defense attorney, the best there is. Cynical, arrogant, convinced he can do no wrong? Absolutely! He revels in his abilities, and does he ever have abilities! He's the most sought-after attorney at his firm. He's handsome, rich, and women fall all over him. Cora Maguire's a law student at USC. Her father was a plaintiff's attorney. Her Uncle Edward is an old-school defense attorney who firmly believes in the Fourth Amendment and the adversarial approach. She loves law school, and she cherishes her dream of becoming an international human rights attorney. When her Uncle Edward offers her a summer internship at his law firm, it seems like a no-brainer. But when she meets her soon-to-be mentor, she's thrown for a loop. It's none other than Asher Dean, the very antithesis of what she aspires to be! He may be hot, rich, and as successful as they come, but really? Could there be a worse match-up ever conceived? Certainly not in Cora's mind! He may be hot. She may feel an instant attraction to him. But there's no way she's getting involved with any attorney, especially not Asher Dean! To top things off, on her first day as Asher's intern, a very public, tabloid-like murder case lands on Asher's desk and, of course, right in Cora's lap. This isn't what she signed up for! As Cora fights Asher's busywork and conceited attempts to school her in criminal defense law, she's also fighting a battle with herself...over her attraction to Asher. She knows it's not smart or right. But she can't seem to help herself. Asher's "love 'em and leave 'em" ways are well-known. And she's far too young and driven to get involved with anyone. So why does she have such trouble focusing on anything but Asher? And Asher? He blows hot and cold...calculating, callous, and demanding one minute; hot-blooded, sensuous, and seducing the next. As the case heats up, nothing is as it seems. Who really committed the murder? Is the defendant truly guilty as Asher believes? Or could others have motives? With his cynical attitude about defendants, does his client even matter to Asher? And Cora starts leaning away from her idealistic views of the law. Why? What of the attraction between Cora and Asher? Where can this possibly lead? Cora's only there for the summer. Asher's not about to change his ways for a mere intern, is he? With so much uncertainty in the mix, how can anyone predict the outcome...of either the trial or what lies between Cora and Asher?
Charlotte Byrd is a new author for me. This was a quick read and a good story. I liked the characters but felt they were a bit underdeveloped. The relationship between Asher and Cora composes nearly the entire theme of the story. For me, the only other aspect to draw the reader in is the murder case, which made the plot feel somewhat one-dimensional. Overall, I did like the story. The ending seems to be a cliffhanger, so perhaps Ms. Byrd is planning a sequel? If so, I think it would be very interesting to see more development of Asher's and Cora's characters with perhaps their relationship a bit more well-defined. The uncertainty of the ending intrigued me the most. I was initially drawn to this story because I'm very interested in another series Ms. Byrd has written so perhaps this particular book wasn't the best choice for me to begin with. But, again, it's a good book, and I did enjoy it. For that reason, I give Punitive Damages three stars.
One final note. Please be an informed reader and consumer! This is an ADULT book. It contains explicit language and sexual scenes. If you don't enjoy this genre, think hard before buying any book you know you won't enjoy. There are book synopses and reviews available on Goodreads and Amazon. Use these resources. DON'T LEAVE A NEGATIVE REVIEW WHEN YOU KNOW YOU WON'T ENJOY THE BOOK. It's not fair to the author. She works extremely hard to provide a quality work product. If you know you'll object to the book's subject matter before you buy it, you're doing yourself and the author an extreme disservice.
I love stories like this one. Where the male leading character falls heads over heals in love in the female leading character. This story started really good. And the story is really good throughout the whole book. Sometimes I love read books that are all about the sex and other times I really want a story in the book. I prefer books with a story more and more as sex scenes can be a bit tired if that's the only thing the book contains. This book has a real story and it's really good. I loved the insights into the lawyer corporate world. What would happen in court and the story about who killed who. This part was really good and exiting.
What I did miss was more chemistry between Cora and Asher. They both met during Cora's interview and between there and the first time they kissed I didn't feel much have happened between them for it to be realistic. But I can go with it, and still like the book. But I would have given the book more stars if the book was longer and had more with their relationship and how they were attracted to each other. I'm ok with insta love and that kind, but a book with a good build up is really exciting and thrilling. In this book I was more into the story with the lawyer part and looked forward to that.
I have read other books of Charlotte Byrd and liked those a lot. I do find the book a good read and if you want to read a short love story, then this is a good choice.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I am voluntarily writing this review for this book I received through Booksprouts.
Asher is a well known criminal defense attorney. He comes across as a dominant, hot, successful, hot, no-bull, sexy hot young lawyer. He has no desire to take on an intern but he has no choice and to make matters worse, it's the niece to one of the partners.
Cora's just finishing up law school and has dreams of helping others in law. She's in the top 10% of her class and her uncle gets her a great internship in his law firm. While it isn't in the type of law she wants to do, she knows that having their firm on her resume will help her open doors in the future and the experience will be great.
The whole start of this book is awesome! You can feel that there's going to be this kind of combative sparks flying kind of relationship brewing between the two main characters. Unfortunately, for me, the book kind of feels rushed and truthfully I'm shocked at the way they act. He knows she's going to be his intern but when he sees her out he kisses her? After day of working together, she's on her back in his office? After basically not seeing him or talking to him for the rest of the week (except for a brief encounter in court the next morning), he sees her on Friday, asks her out and drops the L word?
This book had everything you could want in a book -Great lead characters, intriguing court case to work on, bad guys and mystery. This book had me totally hooked but somehow it got rushed and didn't develop as I had hoped it would. It was a quick read that left me wanting a bit more.
When Cora agrees to intern with her uncle's law firm, she never expects her boss to be such a jackass, but so hot at the same time. And when he lays a hot kiss on her one night when she sees him while she's out, how will their working relationship fare? Well, in their case, not so well because Asher is a complete ass at the office after that. He's by turns hot and cold and Cora's not sure how to take it. Especially when she overhears a conversation he has with some men that doesn't sound so friendly. And when she overhears another conversation he has where he says she means nothing to him, you can imagine how she feels, as she runs out of his house and into her Lyft ride.
But things are resolved quickly, too quickly, after that and without an epilogue. The pacing of Punitive Damages is really off. Most of the story is slow and plodding, and the ILY from Ash so soon is a turn off. But then there's the rush to the ending and no epilogue. So what was presented was a muddled, boring mess. I wanted a more developed relationship, a much stronger connection between them, both physically and emotionally, and an epilogue. I didn't get any of those things, and Punitive Damages left me wholly unsatisfied.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I am voluntarily writing this review for this book I received through Booksprouts.
Asher works for one of the top law firms in LA and very arrogant. His boss asked him to take on his niece for a summer internship and he couldn't get out of it.
Starting off Cora could see what an a** he was going to be hard working for this summer. Cora and friends went out for a drink to celebrate the end of the term. Cora sees Asher at the bar she goes to the ladies room and she runs into Asher who gives her this passionate kiss.
When she goes back to work Asher is the same a** cold and distant. Her first case he gives her was a high profile case where Asher thought his client was probably guilty. Asher and Cora get busy in his office. He takes her out to dinner and he excused himself and he met up 2 men they were arguing but in low voices.
Cora and Asher spend the night together and the next morning she hears him on the phone he was telling someone not to worry about the girl it means nothing. Cora couldn't wait to get out of there.
Cora confronts Asher about the people he is dealing with now and she wants to help hm. Twists turns and getting Cora involved but, just when you think you know what is going to happen you get a big surprise. Highly recommended
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Our Hero, Asher, is a successful lawyer, except he immediately crosses a "sexual harassment" line when he comes on to his intern almost immediately. Since the majority of the story is from our heroine, Cora's point of view, we know she finds him attractive. From the first kiss out of the office to the advances he makes toward her in his office, he never asks if it's what she might want. As a reader, I found it hard to believe he would jeopardize his prominent career on an intern he just met, and she's also his boss's niece.
The high profile case they were working on had the potential for a lot of interesting plot twists that would have them spending a lot of time together, thus watching their relationship unfold, but the story seemed like it was on fast forward. The story felt more like a novella since it was so short and seemed to wrap up rather abruptly; too abruptly since we were never given some of the details of the case to understand how it could end without there being consequences. It might have been helpful to have an epilogue which could have explained things better to make the ending more palpable.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book
This is my first time reading this author and well I expected it to be very erotic and it was not really. It has HOT scenes but it never gets explicit. So if you like that, you will love this story. It is also fairly short, 1/2 of the book is Punitive Damages and the other half is a book previously published. It is very intense and very dramatic and I enjoyed all the legal speak and the drama and it definitely kept me on the edge of my seat.
It also is fairly one sided. It starts out with Asher's voice and then goes to Cora's and then stays with her for the rest of the book. It totally works and needs to be from Cora's side because it kept you guessing what was really going on.
The story is about Cora, a law student whose uncle works at a top criminal law firm. He gets her an internship working with Asher, a rich, sexy top lawyer. Their first case together is defending a woman accused of killing her husband and lets just say nothing is as it seems. As an erotic story or even love story, it did not work for me, but as a dramatic story that kept me guessing it was an absolute winner and I loved that it was not super long and dragged out.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Asher is a hot shot criminal defense lawyer. Cora is a family member to one of his bosses and a new intern to the firm. Asher is asked to mentor her so she can learn from the best. Asher didn't want to have an intern so he gave her grunt work to do until he saw she knew what she was doing. Cora is attracted to Asher even though he acts like an a$$. Asher starts seeing Cora differently and can't seem to stop himself from wanting her. They start to secretly see each other until the case they are working on seems to take a turn for them. Cora doesn't liked knowing that Asher has represented people that he knows were guilty. However with the current case things change for Asher when things get brought to Cora's doorstep. Will knowing Cora change Asher?
This was a fast paced story for me and kept you wondering what was going to happen next. The chemistry between Cora and Asher is amazing and flowed through the pages. I really enjoyed reading this book and plan to recommend it to any of my book friends. Another 5 star hot from Charlotte Byrd.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. This is the story of Cora, a young law student who is going to intern at her uncle's law firm. There she is matched with Asher, a young lawyer who is known for winning his cases and being a playboy. Asher doesn't so relations hips and when he meets Cora, he acts like the jerk he is and treats her like she is naïve about the law and how the system works. Cora really doesn't like Asher, even though she is attracted to him. When Asher is hired to defend a famous client of murder, Cora has questions and knows Asher is supposed to be mentoring her, but she starts to see things she wants to question. Asher wants to be with Cora but she doesn't know if she can trust him. I enjoyed this book, I liked that Cora seemed to know what she wants to do with her life. I think Asher really cared for her but was just bad at communicating with her. Good one.
When Cora gets an internship at her uncle's law firm she didn't expect her new mentor to be hot or a jackass. But the attraction is still there. The weekend before she starts they share a kiss that makes her worry how she could continue to work under him. She learns there is a difference between work Asher and the real Asher. Since he likes to get around she decides she shouldn't get her heart into it but the new case they are working at makes that difficult when they could be in danger. It's a short story, once it seems like it will be getting interesting it ends. Wasn't a huge fan of Corey's back and forth on her feelings. One minute she likes him then he does something so she thinks it should only be physical. Maybe it was just missing the connection between them...because there doesn't seem to be one or have the time with them together to gain one. I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
I read an ARC of this book through Booksprout and have agreed to give an honest review. This is not one of Charlotte's best books, and that does not mean it isn't a good story. Cora and Asher have loads of chemistry between them, but Cora came off as way too immature and not at all as focused as an about-to-graduate-and-take-the-Bar-Exam student should be. Asher isn't immature, but he's also very self centered at the beginning of the book, thinking that he gets special privleges because he brings money into the firm. There's a LOT of heat between these two, but something just didn't click. It was TOO instalove for me (I really don't mind that in a story line, but in this case, it didn't fit). In addition, I did not think the story would be that unexpectedly short. It WAS enjoyable, there was plenty of Charlotte's style of "heat", so over all I'm giving it a three star review. I read it, I liked it, and I will keep on reading Charlotte Byrd's books.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. There were parts of this story that I struggled with, which isn't something I normally say when it comes to one of Charlotte Byrd's books. Maybe because it was mostly from Cora's POV, which made me not connect with Asher as much as I would have liked. He is a totally sexy, cocky, alpha male (which I'm never going to complain about), but I felt like he went from lust to love without me ever understanding why. Cora, on the other hand, was easy for me to relate to, and she felt more real. The tension between these two was smokin' hot! There was a nice blend of angst and passion between them. The story also had some suspense, drama, and the HEA that I always love. There were also glimpses into the world of a defense attorney that I really enjoyed. For the most part I really enjoyed this story, I just wish there had been a little bit more.
If my law classes had ever had a guy like Asher I would not have changed my major - he is a gorgeous alpha male who is sinfully attractive and just the right amount of arrogant. But he knows what he’s about and poor beautiful and smart intern Cora, notwithstanding her assertions to herself that she’ll never be with such a man, is felled at the first meeting. Seeing Asher and shaking his hand has an impact on her and when she sees him out one night before they start working together that’s it for her. But there is intrigue and a little bit of scary stuff here - overhearing conversations when you only hear one side leads to misunderstandings and Cora leaves Asher. This book is steamy and passionate and sexy. I was privileged to receive a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. I don't usually read books about Boss getting together with co-workers and that type. I was gifted this book for a honest review. I am still reading this book at this time. Sometimes I get stuck in an author's world and have withdraws when I have to leave for a different place. So while reading Punitive Damages I ran into a few blocks.
As for a review this book has a higher vocabulary that I do. Not to say this as a bad thing, because I have read books in the past with a dictionary right next to me. It's an enjoyable challenge. The story has a nice even flow within the beginning, which helps when I got distracted and I am looking for to finishing the book. I will say that any author that can hold my ADHD attention while I'm book hopping they got talent.
n usually enjoy a short and hot read. But this book was somehow disappointing. I thought it had great potential at the beginning, but then it fizzled out. I also felt like it was rushed towards the end. I don’t necessarily need major character development in a short story, but this time I couldn’t relate with either Cora or Asher. I felt like their relationship was majorly rushed, and because the story is told mostly in Cora’s POV we don’t know why Asher decides to leave his playboy ways behind so quickly. I liked the idea of the book and I love a nice forbidden live story, and in that sense I enjoyed it. I also love a bad boy turned nice by a girl, and this book delivered. I recommend this book, it is a short and flirty read, if you like a tough lawyer and sweet intern story, this is the book for you.
Asher is a criminal defense attorney, who is into one night stands. He gets asked by his boss to take his niece under his wing and be his intern. Sparks fly when he meets Cora and neither can ignore their attraction to each other. Cora is in her last year of law school. She's just looking to learn as much as she can, even though she isn't excited about interning at her Uncle's firm. To make matters worse her Uncle picked an annoying womanizer to be her mentor. The first chapter is written in Asher's point of view, which I enjoyed. I felt that this book would have been better if it were a fuller length story and gave more of Asher's point of view. With it being all from Cora's view point, I feel like I'm missing out on half the story. Other then that I liked it, just wish there was more to it. I voluntarily received an ARC for an honest review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This was an up and down journey for me reading this book, I so wanted it to be 5 stars but it's just not there.
Both Asher and Cora seemed to be incomplete as characters, they just didn't feel 'whole' to me. The legal side was really good and made me feel like it had come straight from a tv law drama, this had me very interested. However, it felt too rushed, the set up was there for a brilliant story but it just didn't deliver, I'm sad about this.
I also felt that only having one chapter from Asher's point of view was a mistake,the story could have flowed much better and explanations could have been offered for reasons of behaviour and plot development with both points of views.
If this was developed a bit more I would happily review this again.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. I voluntarily read an arc of this book provided via Booksprout for a fair and honest review. Charlotte Byrd is one of my favorite authors and I just recently lost all of her arcs thanks to a kindle reboot so I was thrilled to get this book. Asher is a criminal defense attorney who has now found himself forced to mentor a an intern. Even worse, this intern is the niece of one of the named partners. I will admit I am reviewing while reading and so far most of the book is from Cora’s perspective. We are just-beginning to learn Asher’s back story. After just reading the end of Chapter 15 I must say, call me shocked. In the end, I loved this book, this author never disappoints.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. Wow, what an exciting and intriguing story. Cora, a law student who is interning at her uncle's law firm for the summer is assigned to Asher Dean, the best and most successful criminal defense attorney in the city. Cora is put off by his arrogance and cold demeanor, but at the same time finds herself attracted to him. When a famous director is murdered, his very attractive assistant is arrested for the murder, Asher is hired to defend her. Soon there are new twists and turns that develop and both Asher and Cora could be in serious danger. I always enjoy reading Ms Byrd's , you won't be disappointed. Must Read!
“Punitive Damages” had me riveted from the start. My only complaints were the story was too short and I wanted Asher's POV. Epilogue would also have been nice. Cora, a law student lands an internship with her uncle's firm. Cora is assigned to Asher, a gorgeous hunk of a man whore who is also an amazing, successful lawyer. Although Asher hates interns, he accepts Cora on her uncles request. How their relationship develops and a murder case makes for an interesting story. There is misunderstanding, deception, suspense, danger, romance, and steamy sex all wrapped up in a quick read. I definitely recommend you one-click this book. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. I love stories like this one, but it looks like cora's character was too naive. the hot kiss during her time out was like "sexual harassment" and i find it a little unbelivable that a guy like Asher will endanger his career for a girl he barely know and specialy his boss's niece.from the beggining we read about Asher being a playboy which make no sense for a playboy to harass his inter. it was a very short reading, i would not called it a book, novela is more suitable for this story, as everything was running fast forward, There was a lack of information as a result, Perhaps epilogue could help to understand better.
GENERALY NICE BUT SHORT STORY
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book. I liked the book Asher was the top attorney in Cora’s Uncle company. He was a major playboy and could have any woman he desired by just looking at her. His firm takes on college interns to mentor and Cora’s uncle wanted him to take Cora as his. Cora was a little nervous to work at her uncles firm for the summer but when she saw who she was working with she was shocked! This storyline had some suspense and plenty of hot chemistry sparking between Cora and Asher. It ended a little abruptly just when the story was starting to unravel. I still enjoyed it and recommend it.
Suits is what came to my mind when I started reading this book as I love that drama and for sure Asher reminded me of Harvey Specter and his frankness which could easily be construed for aloofness or boastfulness. But that is where the similarity between the two end as Asher’s actions are far from professional from the Cora first day at work.
The cloak and dagger case that Asher is handling is thrilling as you can’t tell how dangerous it is going to take. But the chemistry between Asher and Cora is scorching and will keep you turning the pages.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I am voluntarily leaving a review.: Cora wants to intern at the Law firm that her uncle is part of... She thought she would be interning under her uncle but......... Asher is definitely not her uncle... Asher has her pulling caseload and writing summations that are crap just so he can see how she'll do... WOW the minute he saw Cora he wanted her, and to think he almost told her uncle NO... He can't contrate with her in the room, he needs to get his head back in the game so that he can save his next client b4 she goes to prison for something she didn't do. Handing over the paperwork to prove his client is innocent to the prosecutor is the only way to get Cora alone in a far away place