Blog Tour
Undercover Lovers Series
by Ellie Barker
Ellie Barker’s Undercover Lovers trilogy: the complete set.
Secrets and Spies
When Nikolas Jinsen, police mole, meets an unusual woman named Sky, he thinks he's just in for a night of pleasure. But he's soon pulled into a world of mafia dealings, stolen documents, hacked computers and kidnappings - not to mention a woman with a taste for exhibition, a Queen who demands payment in pleasure, and Sky herself; unusual, intoxicating, and wanting more than Nikolas may be willing to give.
In Bed with the Enemy
Nikolas Jinsen, police mole and mafia odd-job man, is given an ultimatum; stop seeing his girlfriend, or lose his job. When a hasty attempt to keep both goes wrong, he does the only thing he can think of: he lies. But with his new roommate a member of the elite gang that Nikolas has been tasked to look into, and his assignations with his girlfriend constantly interrupted by calls on his services as a lover, Nikolas finds that work isn't all fun and games.
For Queen and Country
Nikolas Jinsen, police mole and mafia odd-job man, is usually pretty easy-going - both at work and in the bedroom. But there's one thing he doesn't forgive, and when an opportunity for revenge comes up against the woman who insulted his girlfriend, Nikolas is in… even if the woman in question is the powerful mafia boss who is currently retaining Nikolas' services as a lover. Revenge is best served hot - and steamy.
Undercover Lovers is a fun LGBT erotic crime comedy novella trilogy.
Secrets and Spies
Momma Says: 3 stars⭐⭐⭐Secrets and Spies is almost too hot to handle as Nikolas and Sky meet and get to know each other. And wow, do they really get to know each other! I did have a little trouble getting into the story underneath the sex. The story is very fast-paced and it felt a bit choppy with bits and pieces of the story were scattered amid the erotica. On that note, the erotic scenes were scorching hot, but I would've preferred a little more clarification on who people were and what was going on. However, by the end of the book, I got a feel for Nikolas and Sky and what their roles were in this game of intrigue. This is the first of a continuing story, so we get an open-ended conclusion to this one, but I am interested to see where things go from here.
In Bed with the Enemy
Momma Says: 4 stars⭐⭐⭐⭐I was happy to see a bit more detail on the intrigue side of this second book in the series. The book is still packed full of steamy goodness, but we get a little more context as to who is doing what and where their loyalties lie. All in all it's a fun, sexy read and while everyone certainly isn't monogamous, it's all consensual. I am wondering when these people have time for other activities, legal or otherwise, but it's all certainly entertaining and perfect for a quick, naughty bedtime read.
For Queen and Country
Momma Says: 4 stars⭐⭐⭐⭐The intrigue ramps up in this third Undercover Lovers book. Nikolas has his hands in a few too many pies and it gets trickier and trickier to play the game. There's a lot of action, both in and out of the bedroom and the story is more focused on the key players. The steam is still through the roof and regardless of where they are or who they're with, the romantic focus is on Sky and Nikolas. I also enjoyed the way things came together at the conclusion, and in my opinion, this is one series that got better as it went.
“So,” I said conversationally. “Gonna tell me what you did with the documents you stole?”
I’ll give her credit; she didn’t flinch. I was expecting her to try to run, but she just gave me a thoughtful look, tinged with a certain amount of amusement. This was a game, and she was playing. “You’ll have to be more specific, Nikolas.”
I liked the way she pronounced my name; she gave it the correct harshness of the k and some length on the a. “You were an electrician, and then just after you’d vanished, some documents were also found to have vanished.”
My fingers returned to her hair and wove into the bright strands. And before she could answer, before she could lie to me, I tightened my grip and dipped my head to her exposed neck.
“And don’t think,” I added, feeling my lips move against her skin, “of lying.”
“But if I lie,” Sky’s breathy voice said from somewhere by my ear, “you’d just have to get the truth out of me, wouldn’t you?”
“How would I do that?” I let my teeth enclose a bite of skin, with enough pressure to tell her that I could make a mark if I wanted to.
“You don’t know how to?”
My teeth did leave a mark, white on her dark skin, and she groaned. I felt one of her hands come around my back and the other trail up my leg, towards my now-stiffening cock.
“But the problem with this,” I said, and left another mark on her neck, “is that you like it.”
“If you’re nice to me—” Another groan as my teeth bit in again. “Maybe I’ll tell you the truth.”
I trailed my tongue down her neck, keeping my hand entwined in her hair. Her hands were now doing interesting things to my shoulders and back. “How nice would I have to be?” I asked when I’d finished with that patch of skin.
“Very.”
With one movement I pulled her across my lap, her chest against my bare thighs. One of my hands was still wound in her hair, and her buttocks were lying just in the path of my other hand.
I gave her a moment to anticipate what was about to happen, and then I brought my palm down sharply.
Sky groaned, and I felt her cock twitch against my leg. When her voice came, it had the delicious hitch of someone hovering between pleasure and pain. “That’s not nice.”
“No.” I punctuated the word with another slap. “It’s not.”
Ellie mostly writes short'n'dirty flash fiction and short erotic fiction in any genre going. She prefers vampires over werewolves, and is always hot for a rainy night.
You can find out more about Ellie over at http://elliebarker.co.uk/, or follow her on Twitter as @EllieBa3
Why erotic crime?
I have to admit that my inspiration for Sky & Nikolas actually came from a pair in a different setting; ex-lovers, in an urban fantasy universe. And they’re fun characters to work with, but they don’t work for erotica: their relationship is known. It was all past and done, and while the sniping and snarking between ex-lovers makes for interesting conversation, I didn’t want to go down the route of having them get back together.
But I had a brief throw-everything-up-in-the-air moment, and took their core character aspects. Remove the magic. Remove the setting. Start the relationship again, and see who the characters become - and it works. But where to place a snarky, swaggering Nikolas and the confident, teasing Sky? Where would their relationship flourish?
In a setting where everyone else is up to no good: crime, with a shift towards the noir edge. Give me rainy streets and dirty pubs, anonymous hotel rooms and richly decorated apartments. I want dirty deals and frustrated police chiefs, smiling street rats and sultry pouts. It’s a fun genre to play in.
But I didn’t want it all to be bad. Nikolas is on the side of the angels, as he puts it, and Sky’s shading into greys; they’re not bad, they’re just drawn that way. It suited both of their characters to have some more moral angles and interesting choices, and to be surrounded by interesting personalities.
And it definitely suited the erotic aspects for them to be surrounded by interesting personalities. I love that in the erotic crime universe it’s sex that influences choices; it’s the personalities and their kinks that decide who gets trusted - and who gets betrayed. It’s an additional edge, and one that both Nikolas and Sky are quite happy to play with.
So the dirty edge definitely gives a nice twist to the relationship, and navigating the waters - both erotic and political - of the criminal world is a fun one for the plot. Erotic crime all the way!
xxx
Ellie
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