I liked Craving, I didn't know what I was in for when I went in but it turned out to be a pleasant read for me.

I loved the angst and the tension between Jade and Talon, sometimes it was so intense it even made me start to sweat just by reading it! I also loved the flashbacks given to us from Talon's past. The whole time I was just trying to understand him more and I think those really helped.

I wish there was more of a romantic feeling between Jade and Talon though. I know he's supposed to be a tortured soul and all that, but for once I wish there was a bit more swooning and romance then so much sex.

I thought Talon was irresistible though, I'm such a sucker for cowboys and Talon Steel was defiantly yummy! He's mysterious and tortured and arrogant but it all adds to the sex appeal!

The ending though, total cliffhanger! Props to Helen though because cliffhangers means I have to get my hands on the second book just to figure out what happens!

Overall, I think Craving was a very enjoyable read and I can't wait to find out what happens next with Jade and Talon!

I liked the characters, and I was invested in their stories. Overall, though, I was severely disappointed in the book. If I had known the first book ended in a cliffhanger and subsequent books were $8 each for a kindle ebook, I would've waited to read this one until I could've bought all of them and read them in succession. (There was no warning in the description of the book to suggest there was a cliffhanger.) I am not sure I'll continue this series.

CRAVING - Helen Hardt

#1 in the Steel Brothers Saga romance series

HOT AND SEXY - 3.5 stars

Plot - 3 stars - After being jilted at the altar and while waiting for the results from taking her bar exam, Jade visits her college friend's ranch in Colorado. Marj's sexy older brother Talon is totally overwhelmed with Jade and can't keep his hands off her. But he has plenty of issues himself, having just returned from Iraq and having some sort of PTSD.

Writing - 3.5 stars - I was definitely caught up in the hot and steamy sex scenes right way, but there wasn't a lot of preparation before we just jumped into bed (and the shower, etc.) There's some back story, but I didn't feel as though I knew the characters very well.

Characters - 3.5 stars - Although there seems to be huge and overwhelming chemistry between Jade and Talon, there's really no explanation. I mean, it's OK to want each other, but they jump into bed with little interaction or thought. Boy, they spend a LOT of time together without wasting time with conversation or discussion or anything. It's all sex, all the time, and they seem to be insatiable. Don't get me wrong--the scenes are extremely hot, but there's not enough backstory to have me rooting for the success of their relationship. There are lots of hints about Talon's story, and that definitely added to my interest. But there's not a lot about Jade besides the fact that she came from a lower-to-middle class home where she and her dad had to work hard, but that's about it. Talon is definitely the dark horse here. He's like a volcano that's just about ready to burst. I found the tension around him to be exhausting rather than exhilarating. He is wound so tight that he violently reacts to events around him. And he's so incredibly possessive about Jade that it's a little stalker-ish. But despite all that, he's attractive in a scary kind of way. And Jade is strong and has a good head on her shoulders which makes her a good foil for his volatility.

Title - 4 stars - The title is pretty self-explanatory when we realize that Talon, at least, is totally craving Jade and her sweetness. Jade, for her part, is completely into Talon. She even notices that Marj's other brothers are handsome and sexy, but she feels no attraction to them.

Cover - 4 stars - Attractive cover, a little more artistic than the usual romance covers of male abs.

Overview - 3.5 stars - If you're looking for a hot and steamy story, this is the one for you. The main characters have crazy chemistry that overcomes their usual reserve. The sexy scenes are incredibly hot, although a little more conversation would have been nice. The biggest downer is the cliffhanger--I hate that. Actually, it's more like the story just ended in the middle with little warning and no preparation. Like the power went out in the move theater or something and we are left hanging. That being said, I was intrigued enough to want to continue with Talon and Jade's story.

Excellent book! I'm drawn into Steel world and I don't wanna leave! I loved the mystery/love and Talon's tortured soul. I'm already onto the next book! Thanks for letting me read it

I would have loved it if I knew it was a cliffy. I hate Cliffies if I don't know in advance :(

Lots of good detail and character development. So many secrets that I want to know the answer to now.

This is the first book of the series and we just get a bare look at the characters in the Steel family.
This book focuses on Jade, Marjorie's friend who comes to stay at the Steel ranch after her fiancé leaves her at the altar. Jade, while being embarrassed and humiliated knows that the relationship was dead in the water anyway. She's just finished law school and taken her bar exam and awaiting the results. She comes to the ranch just north of Grand Junction from Denver. Not a far putt, but good enough for Jade. She meets the Steel brothers Joe, Ryan and Talon. It's Talon she is taken with and he with her and he is the most troubled. And I have to say this family seems to have more secrets than ants at a picnic. When Marj and Jade decide to snoop in the box's in the basement, she goes to Joe with questions and is told to leave things alone. Talon waffles back and forth with Jade throughout the book and in the end tells her to leave the house. Marj is in Grand Junction at cooking school, so she doesn't know. But she will. The book ends on a cliffhanger, but not so much that you're holding your breath. I think Helen ended it in a good place and the next book picks up exactly where this one leaves off.
Great read.

**arc from NetGalley and Publisher in exchange for a fair review**

You may think me a prude but honestly I was not expecting to be reading soft porn. This was way out of my comfort zone. I tried but could not get half way through this book. I enjoyed the storyline aside from the detailed hook ups. If you are a fan of 50 Shades of Grey (aka soccer mom porn to some of my friends) you will probably like it.

A book for people who liked reading 50 Shades of Grey.

This is my first book by this author. I had no preconceived notions and truthfully no idea what kind of book this was going to be. I can honestly say I was presently surprised and patting myself on the back for picking this one.

My first impression of this book was nothing like my thought on the last page. The book starts out kind of like a sweet contemporary romance. I thought this was going to be the story of Jade redeeming Talon from his demons and loving him back to health. I thought they were both going to be each others redemption and ride off into the sunset. Jade had been left at the altar, Talon had battle demons, you can see where this is going right? Wrong! The first shock is that this is book 1 in a series. I'm not sure how many parts it is but hopefully it is only 2 parts. I was not expecting that or the extremely steep cliff we get left hanging on at the end. SN: I'm not really into serials these days. I want instant gratification. I will only recommend a series if it was really good and this one is good enough.

As the story unfolds, you find out that nothing is quite what it seems. One of the most shocking things is that Jade is much stronger than she seems at first. Jade isn't taking any crap but somehow she is also secure enough to deal with Talon's brand of crazy. I loved how Jade threw herself in front of the moving truck that was Talon's total inability to cope with past trauma. Talon was a soldier but the source of his trauma is much deeper and much more disturbing than I saw coming at first. Talon has series issues that he has had for a long time. Jade is the only person who has been able to get close to him and at every turn he tries to boot her out of his life. The push and pull between these characters is intense times 10. Every interaction was like a slow build up followed by an explosion. It was really something to watch happen.

Oh, and did I mention that the sex is filthy, dirty and hot? That is something I really wasn't expecting. Jade had only had one partner so I didn't think she was up for the super hot nasty. Talon was all semi-cray so I didn't know what that was going to be like. But omg, it all came together, a lot. I loved it.

Ok, a couple quick notes, Jade's first lawyer job is ridiculous and completely unreal. Sometimes Jade gave in to Talon and I wasn't sure it made sense. Talon crossed the line with his aggression a couple of times and I felt like what he needed was to be slapped, not screwed. Which brings me to my next point- part of Jade's strategy for dealing with Talon's issues is to give him her body. I'm not sure that was everything that he needed and many times in the book I wished Jade had pushed Talon more to open up or get help. Last note, nobody in this book can hear. Jade and Talon are banging away making all kinds of noise in a house with all kinds of people but no one ever discovered they were together. I'm just sayin...

I wished we could have gotten more answers in this installment but in the end you wind up with a good book and many many questions.

"Craving" is a hard book to review since it is a partial story. I received this book from the publisher and NetGalley, therefore I did not read any of the reviews. The subject was dark with a lot of things that could have been a really great story. I was wanting to see the healing and the HEA for Talon and Jade. That was not to be. I was reading it to the end when it just stopped nearly mid-sentence. The resolve of the story apparently takes place over three books. For Talon and Jade's story in eBooks, that is a total of $23. That alone would keep me from buying the next two books. I am sure that if it had been a complete story, I would have given it more stars. I would like to thank NetGalley and Waterhouse Press for gifting me "Craving". My opinion is my own. This is mine 2.25 Stars!

Both the language and the sex were off-putting. I could not finish the novel.

There is rarely a book that I don't finish, sadly this is one of those books. Kept waiting for the characters to have some kind of emotional interaction that wasn't one dementional and monotone. Really tried to get past the extremely boring parts, tried to jump forward to see if it got better, but it just didn't. Talon was rude, regardless of his issues, and Jade was boring and immature at 25 years old. Nothing what I read did it for me. I really hate leaving poor reviews, I know it takes a lot for an author to write books, but this one was just not worth the read. Sorry.....

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC copy of this book

A copy was provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars
Craving by Helen Hardt is a high octane erotic romance that once I started I really couldn't put down. It starts out mundane with our lead character, Jade Roberts, after having been jilted at the altar by her boyfriend/fiancé of 7 years, is seeking refuge with her best friend Marj Steel at Marj's family ranch in Colorado. Jade is suffering from the humiliation and devastation of this situation and has decided to escape to Snow Creek, Colorado. She has just flown in and Marj’s middle brother of her three elder brothers, Talon Steel, has been sent to pick her up. He’s moody, quiet, unsettled…..you can’t put your finger on what his issues are, but he puts our Jade on edge. She’s uncomfortable around him but doesn’t know why.

And thus begins a very intricate, complex, intriguing story line with layers upon layers of deep rooted issues for both our main characters. This is a story of a man with a broken soul that has traveled a road of unspeakable horrors, and the girl who loves him and will not give up on him no matter how many times he pushes her away. They are drawn to each other, and despite attempts to stay away, especially on Talon’s part, they can’t. They want each other, but more importantly, they need each other. There are supporting characters (Talon’s sister, and Jade’s best friend, Marj; and Talon’s two other brothers) with very complicated side stories as well, that intertwine with Talon’s past and his present.

The erotic sex scenes are not for the faint hearted. They are very graphic but also very sensual, and it is the only way that Talon is able to communicate to Jade how he feels about her when he can’t say the words or explain the depth of his love for her. Sex is also the catalyst that begins their journey with each other, and offers Talon solace, as well as being the root of his horrors. This story could not function without it.

I don’t like to go into detail upon detail of the story itself when writing a review. Why ruin all the surprises, but I am glad I am reading this book now with the sequels already published. I don’t think I could handle waiting for the next book in this series to find out where our characters are at.

“Craving” is the beginning of an incredible journey for our characters as well as the reader. One I am glad I did not miss out on.

I'm on the fence with how to rate Craving, but because I tend to give authors the benefit of the doubt, I rounded up to 3 stars because 2 stars seems too low for something that did keep my interest and has made me intrigued enough to read the next installment. Jade was left at the altar in the beginning of Craving, and she's taken up her best friend's offer to come live with her and her brother on Marj's ranch. When Talon is the one to pick her up at the airport, she's instantly drawn to him, even though he's frankly kind of a dick to her.

Unfortunately, he doesn't ever warm up to Jade outside of the bedroom, and she's constantly being whipped back and forth with Talon's hot and cold attitude toward her. He's obviously attracted to her, and the sex scenes are pretty steamy, but outside of the bedroom the two do not do much communicating. In fact, most of their relationship is based on their attraction to each other, not based on any kind of compatibility or shared interests.

I wish I could say that I connected to and liked Talon and Jade, but I can't. Talon is a serious asshole and even though I know he has reasons for some of his behavior, being damaged does not excuse or condone the way he treats Jade. And Jade is such a doormat that I was frustrated with her the entire time. I wanted her to stand up to Talon and demand he treat her better, and not just use her for sex. She deserved for him to open up to her, or if he couldn't open up to her, she needed to leave him and not go back to him. When the ending happened (a cliffhanger, no less!!) I can't say I was surprised, but I was really pissed. Jade deserved better, and I hope she tells Talon where he can go when she sees him next.

I'll probably pick up the next two parts of Talon and Jade's story only because I absolutely hate not knowing what happens, not because I actually like them.

OMG I need Obsession like now!! How can I possibly wait?! LOL this series is amazing and is going to continue to be. Jade and Talon's chemistry....hot, raw, all that! Be aware there's a cliffhanger but the next book is out in a couple of months. You absolutely won't regret this one. I love Helen's other books for sure but this one is my favorite thus far!

Jade's looking for a place to get away from the humiliation of being left at the alter and her best friend's ranch is perfect. There Jade meets Talon Steel, her best friend's brother, and is instantly drawn to him as he is to her. He has a dark past that he is struggling to deal with and Jade thinks she can help. This is book one in a series that ends on a cliffhanger.

After Jade is left at the alter, she escapes to the Steel mansion to live her best friend Marjorie while putting her life back together. Marjorie's brother, brooding and sexy Talon, has his secrets to his mysterious persona while Jade is drawn like a magnet to him and cannot stay away. I have so many questions about this book, the ending happened so abruptly. Helen Hardt leaves you wanting more, so much more to answer all these questions that keep you devouring this book. I need to go read Obsession now!

Unfortunately I took quite awhile to read and review this book. Simply put it was just not holding my attention. That is until about 75% thru the book. It was a heartbreaking story that was dark and hard to read thru. I'm not going to say much except I am considering continuing the series. If I do I will let ya know!

I enjoyed this book. I like that it is part of a series where we get to learn about each brother and their back stories. I found the characters to be very realistic but I did have issues with the darker side of Talon's past. It reminded me a bit of Fifty Shades. Jade is a very easy to relate to and her friendship with Talon's sister helps to carry the story along. I will be reading the rest of the series.

I have been hearing about this series for a few months and I'm really mad that I waited this long!! This was AMAZING!

I can't wait to read the next book...