Review: Cherished by Maya Banks and Lauren Dane

Cherished
Authors: Maya Banks and Lauren Dane
Publisher: Berkley
Author's website: Maya Banks, Lauren Dane

Exiled by Maya Banks

Enticed to the island paradise where an enigmatic prince is living in exile, beautiful, virginal Talia is introduced to a world of forbidden pleasure where the prince's every whim is fulfilled and her fantasies are rendered in exquisite detail. But when the prince is summoned back to fulfill his duty to his struggling country, reality is thrust upon Talia all too soon. She returns home, heartbroken, convinced she was a passing fancy for an idle ruler and his most trusted men. Until the day they arrive on her doorstep, determined to have her back where she belongs.

Prince Xander sends word for Talia to join him on a tropical island to introduce and open her eyes to new experiences.  He's desired her for some time now and cannot wait to have her.  While Talia may be inexperienced when it comes to sex, she soon finds herself giving into her inner desires.  She soon has the upper hand as the men on the island want to do nothing but please her in any way possible.  She's cherished by 4 men and while I found some of the scenes to have a high heat level, I found the situation to be a tad too much as Talia had to deal with so many different personalities.  Not only that, she found herself falling for each of the men and I just felt that it was a tad unbelievable and unrealistic.  I've read stories before involving multiple partners, but I felt that this story was just a tad too much for me. 

I'm giving Cherished a rating of:
 

Sway by Lauren Dane 
Book 1 of the Delicious series

Levi Warner is an established, older man—wealthy, powerful, and above all, respectable. Then Levi meets Daisy, an uninhibited 24-year-old dance instructor and artist, not exactly the kind of woman Levi is accustomed to. But the young, free spirit, brings out something in him he only experienced in fantasies. When their scorching affair turns into something unexpectedly deeper, Levi finds himself torn between preserving his reputation, and exploring a wilder and much more satisfying kind of life.

Levi and Daisy have an instant attraction when they meet each other for the first time despite their age difference.  Although they have reservations about being with each other at first, they soon can't help but give into one another and spend one night together.  After that night they find that they begin to have stronger feelings for one another and feel that they may just work as a couple.  Their family and friends also feel the same way as their personalities seem to mesh well together.   I found them both to have confident personalities and thought that was the main reason they were attracted to one another. With the support of their friends and loved ones, Levi and Daisy realize that they aren't going to allow their age to get in the way of them being together.  I was happy to see that some of the characters from Dane's Brown Siblings series will be a part of this new spin off series.  I found that Sway was just ok for me due to the fact I felt that it didn't have the same excitement that I'm used to reading from :Lauren Dane's work. I'm hoping that the future books in this new series will have some of that excitement that I'm used to reading from her work.

I'm giving Sway a rating of: