Sin with Me is the first book in a four-book contemporary romance series by New York Times bestselling author, JA Huss, and veteran actor and writer, Johnathan McClain.***Two broken people in a city fueled by sin. Maddie Clayton isn’t looking to be saved. She knows the only person you can count on is yourself. Her moral compass might not point true North these days—but at least she’s still … least she’s still standing.
The Military taught Tyler Bell about loyalty. Being there for your brothers is the only thing that matters—but when it mattered most, he wasn’t.
She’s got a ticket straight to Hell. He’s already been there and back.
She needs to win. He just needs to stop fighting.
Some sins scar your soul so deeply, you’ll never be the same.
But this Devil in disguise might just be the angel he needs to forgive himself.
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If you follow my reviews it is no secret to you that I read a lot of JA Huss. Her stories, her writing style, her world building all just resonate with me and I feel like I’ve found a kindred spirit in this author and maybe she really “gets me”. I don’t think I’m alone with these thoughts, I think a lot of her readers feel the same way, and she’s created a small (12,000 member) Facebook group for her avid readers who devour her books. It feels like a family in there. Well, Julie has introduced a new member into the family. Her writing partner, Johnathan McClain. They’ve paired up to write a four book series together. I was of course curious to see how these two were going to collaborate and craft these stories. Would it still feel like a Julie book? What was Johnathan going to bring to the table?
I needn’t have worried at all. This is classic Julie, with an added dash of supreme wit that is Johnathan McClain. Tyler and Maddie are two very damaged people who are just trying to keep going each and every day. Tyler by losing himself in booze and sex, and Maddie visualizing she’s climbing a never-ending mountain. Neither one in a place they thought they would be. But time and circumstances have beaten them down. Throw in some pretty devastating life events, and you’re left with two shells of their former selves.
Told in dual point of view, Julie and Johnathan craft such an intensely layered story that I felt like I was a fly on the wall, living and breathing alongside these people. Tyler Morgan, he is probably the most refreshing character I’ve read about in a long time. This dude lives half his life inside his head! Internal monologue can sometimes be a tricky thing in a book. If it’s too long or tedious, it can detract from the story, but let me just say, it totally works in this one! The thoughts that run through Tyler’s head at any given time are completely hilarious!
I’m super Effing witty. Everybody says so.
I agree!! He is super Effing witty. And interesting. He’s more interesting than The Most Interesting Man in the World. By far. But Tyler has a lot of demons he is fighting, ones that have had ahold of him for way too long. The only thing that seems to be a saving grace for him is Maddie. Maddie has been pushing through each day for the past seven years. Nothing seems to work out for her, and she just keeps making one mistake after another with her life. No matter how much she keeps climbing that mountain, she never makes any progress. But when she’s with Tyler she finds a peace she hasn’t felt in a very long time.
Put these two together, and they are explosive.
We are fire. We are combustion. We are the raging inferno of purifying flame that will singe away all our pain and leave us barren and ready to begin again. In the punishing passion that we share, we can torture away whatever nightmares plague us and both wake born anew.
With three more books to go and just a few hints so far as to what is coming, Maddie and Tyler have a long road ahead of them. The question in my head at this point is, will they be taking that road together or will they continue to struggle through alone? I sure hope not because together, I think they are a force to be reckoned with.
She is a fallen angel and I am sin itself.
I can’t wait to see what this angel and this devil have in store for us!
Amount of Sex- 4/ 5
How Explicit- 4/ 5
Story- 5 / 5
OVERALL- 5 / 5
Wow!
Sin with Me is the first book in a four-part series called Original Sin by authors JA Huss and Johnathan McClain. This series grabbed me from the very beginning and took me on a mesmerizing, steamy, and suspenseful ride. The storyline was completely gripping, and the characters were so well developed.
Sin with Me was written with so much pain, sorrow, fear, desperation, desire, and passion. There was not much that could tear me away from this book! I want to discuss so much with you, but I truly believe you need to experience this amazing story for yourself. Trust me when I tell you that this is an epic book, with a doozy of a cliffhanger, and one of my all-time favorites! So, grab a drink, get comfy, and buckle in for a steamy, heartbreaking, and incredibly amazing ride!
A definite must read!
*Voluntarily Reviewed an Advanced Copy*
Hell Yess!!! Ok so I waited a while to read this series because I like to binge read a series and so I need it all to be completely released for that and 2 I just knew this series would be an epic bingeworthy series.
Huss & McClain knocked it out of the park with this one. I love these characters so much. The audio narration is Brilliant. I am jumping right into book 2
Best Collaboration EVER. I’m obsessed with anything JA writes, so I know that this book I will absolutely devour, I will not be able too put this book down and that is exactly what happens. I absolutely love Tyler & Maddie, Two broken people in a city fueled by sin. Tyler & Maddie can’t get over the past but together maybe they both can see the light. I laughed at the craziest things that Tyler would say and I was heartbroken for Maddie & Tyler and I’m dying for more. This is a MUST READ as soon as you can one click. Amazing characters, incredible story that will have you reading nonstop.
Holy F*@k….. amazing debut book for this duo! Sin with Me was a story that gripped me, allured me and captivated me while holding me hostage from beginning to end. Tyler and Maddie’s story is an emotional ride of two broken souls looking for the light in a world where they are surrounded by darkness. There was so much to this story…..loss, hurt, heat and intense chemistry that had me burning through page after page. Prepare yourself for one helluva ending that will leave you with a WTF moment and yelling give me the next book NOW!!
This is such an interesting and gripping story and I can’t wait to read the next book. It is the first of a four book series about Maddie and Tyler. These 2 are very troubled people that is just trying to live life the best they can because they don’t know what else they can do. Maddie is still trying to deal with a tragedy so she’s running away from life. Tyler was in the military and suffered through a lot but it is a personal loss that he can’t come to grips with. Tyler is running away from his life by living it on booze and women.
Tyler meets Maddie and he believes she is his “savior”. Maddie feels an instant attraction to Tyler but she has strict rules about her work and personal life. We read about Maddie and Tyler’s journey in every day life and what they are each going through because of the personal tragedy that each of them suffered. Fate seems to throw Tyler and Maddie together and they find out why soon enough.
I can’t wait to read the next book to find what is happening with Maddie and Tyler. It is such an intense story with what each character is going through and you keep wondering what is really going on and why and what will happen next!
Oh my gawd!!! J.A. Huss has always done crazy unlike any other but now with Johnathan McClain they take crazy to a whole new level!!!
Maddie’s life hasn’t turned out the way she had thought or planned for it. She’s stripping for a living and she’s got a mobster breathing down her neck even as every endeavor she attempts fails. Life has dumped all over her and there’s not a lot of motivation left for anything other than continuing on in the same vein she’s been traveling for the last several years. She is despair personified.
On the other side of Vegas is Tyler. He’s got enough money to buy God himself and yet he could care less. His life has become a mishmash of drinking, sex, prescription drugs and waiting for the end to finally arrive. With the newly recurring dreams to further torture him he lives out his days in a void with the exception of the crazy that resides in his mind.
This story was freaking awesome! From the beginning I felt every moment of anguish and self-flagellation. Neither of these characters felt worthy of anything good in their lives. When they finally meet, the chemistry pours off the page and I was tapping as quickly as possible as these authors drove the expectation higher and higher with each scene. While separately Maddie and Tyler were tortured individuals, together they became something more, something whole…perhaps even something that could move forward instead of being held prisoner in the past?
I can’t even express the wild ride this book took me on. I dove in and never once stopped. When I reached the end I was tearing all around the internet trying to find something, anything that was going to shine a little light on what was going to happen next. So yep, it’s a cliffhanger and I’m not a fan of them but OMG! It couldn’t have ended at a more spectacularly timed moment if the devil himself had chosen it. And I’m not sure he didn’t!
This advanced reader copy was provided by the authors and this is my willing and honest review.
Dual POV
Safe – no ow/om drama
Triggers – no blatant triggers with exception of anything mentioned in review
Sin With Me is the first book in a four-book, romantic suspense series from the new writing team of J.A. Huss and Johnathan McClain. Sin With Me beautifully sets up what is sure to be a scintillating four-act story.
Maddie, whose stage name is Scarlet, is pretty, petite, and smart, but she has a knack for making bad decisions that have staying power. What is she doing with that degree from LVNU? She is doing nothing lucrative and nothing prestigious. Personal tragedy in her past haunts her daily. She has surrounded herself with people who are equally stuck in a downward spiral of bad choices and despair. Her situation seems hopeless, and I found myself feeling oppressed with her burdens as well as desperately wanting to help her.
Tyler, a veteran with a lucrative patent, has it made financially; however, his multiple tours of duty have left him physically and emotionally scarred. His reality sometimes seems like a bad acid trip. Between the copious amounts of alcohol he consumes and his mood-altering prescriptions, Tyler is clearly losing the battle with his demons. “Will the angel of his dreams drag him to the depths of Hell?” is the million-dollar question.
Ms. Huss and Mr. McClain cleverly present their characters. In alternating chapters, Maddie and Tyler give readers their backstory and share the skeletons in their closets. The female-male writing team adds a sense of veracity to the voices of their female and male characters. Maddie is intelligent and hopeful and yet filled with despair. Tyler is humorous in his meandering musings, and he feels doomed and hopeless in his survivor’s guilt. While it felt like I could pick out which author wrote which character, the writing fits like two perfectly matched puzzle pieces.
True to Ms. Huss’ style, the story is more than it seems. Sin With Me is a lot of character development and story set up. Readers get a punch to the gut reveal and a tantalizing segue to the next book in the series, Angels Fall (due March 27th). The plot has a great pace and a good balance of suspense and hotness. Some of the scenes are surreal (in the Hunter S. Thompson sort of alternative reality way). All in all, Sin With Me is not only an excellent debut as a new writing team, but a fantastic story with a great hook. I for one, am anxiously awaiting the next installment of Maddie and Tyler’s tale.
What the hell just happened!
Bravo Julie and Johnathan … it’s funny and it’s not, it’s romantic and it’s not, it’s surprising and it’s not. It is however, undoubtedly brilliant. Being a long time fan of JA Huss, you learn to recognize the author’s ‘voice’, in Sin With Me you definitely sense two distinct voices in, what I’m certain will be, a memorable collaboration of storytelling talent.
This is my review…when can I have more!?
This book was fantastic! Julie aka JA Huss is a legend all her books are incredible hits! I have not read any book of hers that didn’t instantly hook me in the first paragraph ususally late at night leaving me which some of the worst book hangovers ever. I would not change a thing. The suspense leading up to this books release was crazy and if you do not Already own it run to buy a copy quick!
I’ve long been a fan of JA Huss. When she announced she was starting a new series with a writing partner, I was intrigued to say the least. Johnathan McClain and JA Huss make a fab team. This book is everything. I started reading this book the moment it hit my kindle and didn’t stop until I reached the end. I haven’t done that in a long time. I cannot wait until the next book is released. Luckily, each full length book comes out 3 weeks apart. Aw yeah.
This is an original storyline, with raw thoughts, feelings, and emotions that the characters are going through. I’ve never read a book like this one! I was sucked in from the beginning! Amazing story and ends with a major cliffhanger!
This has been in my TBR for a while and now that I’ve read I’m cursing myself! Intense. Passionate. Disturbing and sad. Lives intersecting in the best and worst of ways. And the ending?! Good tho g book two is also in my TBR!
JA Huss and Johnathan McClain May well kill me by series end!
Everyone has a past, and not all are roses.
Tyler and Maddie are so tragically broken, they may be complete opposites in their pasts, but they both have hit rock bottom and are desperately looking for something or someone to pull them out.
Maddie is beyond broke and owes a huge debt, she has tried it all from get-rich-schemes to stripping, all a huge failure.
While Tyler has money to burn, more then he needs or really wants
This is a dual POV, and while we agree this is a slow burn read, Phyl found herself getting lost with Tyler pov and couldn’t find her reading groove to get into this story, Maso found it a little easier, though Tyler did throw her a little, I think it’s just he’s . . . . well, they both are different to what we are used to from Julie, and that’s not a bad thing. I mean they cant all be like the Aston’s, right?
Overall, we liked the two main characters together and their instant attraction to each other was beautiful to watch unfold, cannot wait to see where their series takes them.
I really liked this book. It was definitely full of twists and turns. It was a little hard to follow but the audible helped lots. I do not like the cliff hanger style books. The voice narrations helped sell this book. Ava and Tad makes the books I choose much more enjoyable.
My goodness, after finishing up this book, I’m wondering how in the world JA and Johnathan are going to bring even more heat for the next two books! The chemistry between Tyler and Maddie is still just as electric as it was in the first book, although Tyler now has his work cut out for him in regards to the friend-relationship with Maddie. I wasn’t expecting him to go to who he did in regards to advice and guidance, but I loved seeing how they interacted with each other. I’m beginning to see how everything is slowly falling into place and I cannot wait to see how this series will play out. Loved the action and the sexiness, but hot dang, it’s just one heck of a book!
In this exciting first book in The Original Sin Series, Julie Huss teams up with Johnathan Mccclain to bring some serious heat and suspense to their debut pairing. They introduce us to a Las Vegas romance like none other.
Here we meet Tyler and Maddie. Both have a burning desire to conquer demons of the past, right the wrongs, overcome painful loss and try and move forward to better lives. There are two clear voices heard throughout. Tyler’s deflection of his life situations with wit and humor tinged with whiskey, along with Maddie’s Angel/Devil dichotomy make this couple scorching, heartbreaking and provocative. They share an intense connection right off the bat. Tyler is convinced that Maddie is the one sent to save him, where deep down he knows that their affiliation could combust in a blaze of glory. Add to it an unbelievable twist, this story becomes more explosive than you could imagine!
Knowing JA Huss’ brilliant crafting of mind f*%kery, this story does not disappoint. Together, Huss and McClain definitely show the range of sexiness, power, love and loyalty.
What the what did I just read?
This is book 1 in a 4 book series and I can safely say it’s on to a good start!!
Explosive, intense and and brutally raw. This is Tyler and Maddie’s story is on a class of its own. Two tortured souls going through life following tragic circumstances. Tyler is the perfect antihero except he’s relatable and likable and Maddie she can handle her own. The chemistry between these 2 was combustible and their banter funny and sexy.
Can’t wait for book 2!
#sogoodicouldnotputitdown #icried #ismiled #ihopedfortheirhappiness
The book took me a few days to collect my thoughts. Two lost and broken souls met and wordlessly fed off each other’s needs. Their connection was palpable.
Maddie just couldn’t get a break. Every time she made a step forward to get out of the financial and emotional pit she was in, something dragged her back down. Tyler just existed with no purpose other than trying to get through another day, battling through a fog of prescription drugs and alcohol.
The first time they met, a sliver of hope cut through their fog. Maddie did something for him she never did for anyone else. She was his angel in disguise. For his part, Tyler showed up just in time to save her at a couple of critical moments, but Maddie needed more help than that.
The changes just kept coming. Maddie was stubbornly independent, to the point of getting herself deeper into debt, preferring to get herself out of trouble but failing every time. But, when Tyler came through for her, she accepted his help. Both of them changed when they were around each other, a match made in heaven. They couldn’t deny the connection.
Tyler found a purpose, and that was to be Maddie’s savior. However, Tyler needed to save himself.
I… I just loved it. I got caught *feeling* the story more than *thinking* the story.
If this was just the beginning of the JA Huss and Johnathan McClain collaboration, I can’t wait to read the next book, the next series, and whatever else they have up their sleeve.
Sin With Me is written by Julie Huss and her friend and new writing partner, Johnathan McClain (veteran writer & virgin novelist). This book has everything you’ve come to expect of a Julie Huss novel. The raw emotion, wit, passion, intrigue, amazing array of complex characters, and fantastic world building. Huss & McClain ignite a creative spark in one another that results in a unique, intense, clever, funny and very sexy beginning to their Original Sin series.
Johnathan’s Stream of Consciousness style of story telling fits Tyler’s personality perfectly especially since Tyler himself is often unaware when he is actually thinking to himself or speaking aloud. He is side-splitting funny but the humor you’ll learn is mostly used as a self defense mechanism. He is a bit lost in life until he begins the search for his “angel”.
I love that there are two distinctly different voices in this book. They play off of one another and feed of each other’s energy so expertly, it’s hard to believe it’s a first time partnership.
Their partnership challenged them to step outside of their comfort zones and in doing so it’s given them a freedom to explore characters and/or subject matter they may not have considered for their solo projects.
The Huss/McClain partnership is truly a force to be reckoned with. I can hardly wait for the rest of the series. This is a MUST READ. Don’t miss out!