The Virgin and the Beast (Stud Ranch Standalone Book 1)

I really enjoyed this book! I was in the mood for some smut because I just got done reading a book that was a slow burn and this book didn't disappoint. It also is unpredictable and ended way different than I thought it would. I was also very amused by the characters Xavier made me swoon and laugh.

ebook/audiobook - narrator Shea Hart The Virgin and the Beast is the first book in the Stud Ranch Series. I believe this is a Beauty and the Beast retelling. This is Xavier (the beast) and Melanie’s (the beauty) story. I loved read/listened to their story. Shea Hart the narrator is new to me. I haven’t heard of her before. She did an amazing job. I really like how she voiced Melanie’s part. I am spoiled now because of duet or even full cast readings now so I still prefer when the author has at the very least a male and a female narrator but this was very good. I enjoyed reading Melanie and Xavier’s story. Xavier was pretty extreme in the beginning but you find out why and their story was great. I know I will be reading more from the Stud Ranch series!

This is my first experience with one of Stasis Black's books, but it won't be my last. You are thrust into the emotional element of this story on page one. Mel was a hard working, no nonsense, driven person who was also in the middle of a crisis that made her desperate. I was drawn to her, and could sympathize with her, almost immediately. Xavier was a hauntingly, sexy, mysterious, giant of a man. His personality was magnetic. The emotional experiences Mel went through were so well written that I felt them with her. The fear, uncertainty, anger, acceptance, and then love felt honest and believable. I never wanted the story to end. However, the ending was beautiful! The story never felt forced or rushed in any way. It didn't feel too short, or repetitive at any time. I was very excited to see that there is now a story for Hunter, and I can't wait to read it.

I will give this book 3 stars because it was a decent read I managed to finish without skimming through. However Mel really irritated me for the better half of the book, she was so dern frustrating I wanted to smack her a couple times. Her father was looking at several lifetime sentences for fraud deceiving people into getting their money or something like that, Mel had just been fired from her job because of her father and she was approached by a man with an opportunity to save her father from jail time. In the contract her father would be set up somewhere he could live out his remaining days peacefully, all she had to do was be with his client and provide him with an heir one years commitment. Instead of going over that contract with a fine tooth comb Mel just gives in and signs, both Mel and her father are immediately taken away their faces were covered so they couldn't see where they were going and her father was drugged so he didn't cause any problems. Due to the way she was abruptly separated from her father Mel was automatically in freak out mode screaming this is Kidnapping! No honey it wasn't kidnapping you agreed now it's time to pay the piper, everything that happened after she reached Xavier's home was ridiculous she acted like a spoiled brat because she was ignorant to think this would be so simple. I read the 1 star reviews and I was blown away by the really harsh reviews. Yes he treated Mel pretty rough but I have read much much worse! This book was decent it wasn't something I would read again and again but I don't think she deserved the hate filled reviews. Anyways for those that are so very sensitive to Dark Romances for example: humiliation, spankings, Master/Slave, BDSM, D/S, heck I can keep going and going if any of this causes u to squirm I wouldn't recommend this book for you.

Oh My Gosh, Ms. Black turned Beauty and the Beast into the best DARK love story. It opens with Melanie being fired b/c her father (recently caught in a Ponzi scheme) and she share the same last name and her company needs to cleanse it of her. She’s approached by a total stranger and offered the opportunity to get her father out of the country, safe and give her a new direction - to have a man’s baby. The reader must ask, Why? Xavier expects her obedience in all things. She’s a strong Manhattan business woman, “for f’s sake.” I couldn’t read fast enough. Told in Melanie’s POV. Great epilogue! The reader MUST be made aware that there are some disturbing scenes and there may be triggers. This may be a romantic view of the BDSM lifestyle but so deliciously naughty. LOVED this story. There are two other stories included in this book: DADDY’S SWEET GIRL and BURN ME. I can’t wait to read these since I was so blown away by VIRGIN AND THE BEAST.

This book was very good. I’ve read several of this authors books and this was the first one that had MMC with PTSD.. The story was well written and I love how the author uses a ranch and the horses as therapy. Overall was a good book.

To make this very clear from the start: dark here means domination to an extreme level. Mel offers herself to rescue her father, not expecting to be bound while taken to her secret location, and used in a number of unexpected ways by her Beast, Xavier. Of course, she finds herself increasingly turned on and intruiged by him. (Side note, the reader may feel the same, as the man has serious skills). No princess in a tower or Belle hiding in a library, she's soon put to work on his horse rescue farm - a nice explanation for both his temperament and ripped bod. Gaston is missing from this version - the possessive Beast would not be ok with the competition or a threesome. That's right. In the midst of a book that could have been pure, kinky smut, the author snuck in character development and a plot. How dare she make me care about these people, and the horses? A few editing errors, but overall well done. I'd read more from this author. An example of the writing, and a slight bit of the kink level exposed: "Yeah, he’s really got a heart of gold. The rescuer of all the poor, needy animals who also just happens to like keeping women tied on a leash like a dog. Right. Pardon while I go get a hanky for the touching scene."

Sometimes life take a crazy turn and you end up doing something you never expect to do in your life. Melanie Van Bauer is trying to survive what her father did and save him too. An offer comes her way where she will have to trust someone she does not know. This book takes scary twists and turns, but will it work out for her and her dad or will it all blow up in her face. A must read. Loved it.

Now this is a fairytale with a difference... Melanie is a ball busting business woman on the up but her life because of her father’s business scandal is falling apart. She loses her job and is on the verge of losing her apartment and her father is going to jail, but when a mysterious stranger gives her a deal to save her father but with the catch she has to give up 1 year of her life to a stranger so that they can have a child she reluctantly takes it. She finds herself on a horse ranch in the middle of nowhere and as a city girl she has to adjust but on top of that her fathers saviours an ex soldier who is a dominant with trust issues. This is a dark romance with problems of modern day issues and a happy ending that makes you gush with happiness for the characters... very enjoyable read.

I had so much fun reading this book nonstop. The book right from the start grips you firmly in its grip and doesn't let go. The author's writing kept me on the edge of my seat, wanting to know what happens next, how does Mel handles things. I sorta hated Xavier at times and I just can't believe how she's made me fall for him. I really didn't want this book to end. Loved loved this one.💟

Leuk verhaal om te lezen. Je wit graag doorlezen om te weten waar dit verhaal naar toe gaat. Leuke personages.

For only 99p I didn’t expect much but I had a laugh reading this! The feisty female character really added to the story in ways that made it all that more enjoyable and it was hilarious and heartbreaking at the same time, the story truly is worth the read for anyone. Lots of spice but also that good storyline.

I have read the two books in this series, not the prequel and it was sitting in my kindle for a while. I might confess when the pet thing was introduced, I was close to give up the book, I can’t stand when the romance is about humiliating and belittling the h in. But I liked the two next installments in this series, so I goes against my own feelings and continue to read it. I liked the whole story, I do understand with their awkward beginning, Xavier and Mel need to trust each other, to be able to relate on the other, but Mel is no pet to train, she is an human being, his way to break her is violent, I can conceived the hand feeding but not sitting at his feet. Looking for a submissive, why not, but not by abasing her. All right they found their happily ever after, but it was so twisted for me, more a Stockholm syndrom than real induced love.