Turkish Delights Series by Liz Crowe : Reviews

I am a huge fan of both Liz Crowe and Decadent Publisher's 1NS  series, so when I discovered this series, I knew I had to read it.  The 1NS series is a series of shared world novellas by various authors where the mysterious Madame Eve sets people up on a 1 Night Stand that always leads to more.  I was a bit curious how Liz Crowe, the queen of Romance For Real Life, would put her spin on the 1NS series.  She is not one for the typical happily ever after that I tend to anticipate with 1NS stories.  Then I realized that only the first three were 1NS stories, which meant all bets were off.  Here are my reviews for this amazing series.  Put together it is a brilliant family saga.  With the exception of book 4, they could all be read in isolation without too much difficulty.  

Turkish Delights (Book 1) 

The fifteen year age difference between Elle Kensington, expatriate American executive and Emre Demir, son of Istanbul’s most successful businessmen, has not kept them from becoming fast friends as they toured Istanbul together. But the time has come for him to return to the U.S. to finish his master’s degree, and she has just been named CEO of the pharmaceutical company that brought her to Turkey in the first place. Elle adores her adopted country, and is alarmed to find herself falling in love with the young man who’s been her impromptu guide for the last few months.

She knows they can never be. She will return home to California within a month, leaving behind all she loves about the ancient city. In a rare fit of spontaneity, Elle has contracted with Madame Eve’s 1Night Stand dating service, hoping to find a way to forget the dark, handsome young man who has captured her heart. Little does she know what awaits her in the ancient recesses of the Ottoman palace turned luxury hotel under the hands of her one-night stand masseur.

My Thoughts:

Love does not see the barriers we let society set in our way.  Elle discovers this as she and Emre fall in love despite their 15 year age different.  Thankfully, Madame Eve is there to help Elle realize what Emre has already know, they are meant to be together.  This was such a sweet love story set in the magnificent background of Turkey.  This is a wonderfully beginning to the Turkish Delight series, but can easily be read as a stand alone.  

Blue Cruise (Book 2) 

Caleb and Tarkan were an odd couple—men from two different cultures—so in love, they were determined to overcome any obstacles. But fate had different plans for Tarkan. Shattered and unable to function a full two years after tragedy strikes, Caleb faces the hollow shell that is his life.

Adem Broussard is happy enough, as owner and chef of his restaurant on the Turkish southern coast. But a tall, American Adonis he saw once, years ago on a Turkish Blue Cruise haunts his most erotic dreams, and he hopes contracting Madame Eve’s 1NightStand service for an unconventional date will help him forget.

When Caleb caves in to his friend Elle’s insistence that he return to Turkey and exorcise some of the demons that haunt him, he reluctantly climbs on board a private yacht for a special 1Night Stand Blue Cruise. There he comes face to face with the man who remembers him well…and helps him heal.

My Thoughts:
Oh Caleb, poor Caleb.  I fell in love with Caleb reading Turkish Delights and my heart broke for him when he lost Tarkan, Emre's twin brother.  Two years Elle is able to convince him (ok bullies him ;) ) into giving a 1NS date a try.  Liz manages to weave his history with Tarkan into this tale of the healing power of love and it was a beautiful, yet extremely emotional ride.  Fans of her "Romance for Real Life" style are going to love this story set on a Turkish Blue Cruise.  This is a M/M novel, but it really is for everyone who understands the powers of love.  It continues the story that began in Turkish Delights, but can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty.

Tulip Princess (Book 3) 

Lale Deniz was always prone to wildness. But when her family is ripped apart at the seams, she becomes more reckless than ever. Desperate to stop her self-destructive slide, her parents step in and send her to America to live with her brother, Emre. Just the chance, she thinks, to escape the tragedy suffusing her Istanbul home.

Andreas Michos, Greek former NFL star, the recently divorced athletic director at UNLV, floats through life seeking fulfillment. He has reason to doubt his own abilities as a natural Dom and has given up finding his perfect mate. Until he agrees to a 1Night Stand.

Set against a backdrop of ancient cultural clashes and Mediterranean family dynamics, Lale and Andreas meet in Las Vegas at the Castillo resort for their date. But it seems Madame Eve and destiny will both fail this time, unless Lale and Andreas are willing to relinquish enough control to discover what happiness can be found inside the soul of the other. Will stubbornness keep them from connecting, or can they let go long enough to heal?

My Thoughts:

I keep going back and forth with whether this or Blue Cruise are my favorite of the Turkish Delight series by Liz Crowe.  This book not only the story of Lale and Andreas, but also kept us up to speed on where the couples we fell in love with in books one and two are.  I can not quite pin point what it is, but there is something about Lale that I really "get" and reading her story had me unable to put this book down.  I thought this book was going to be a BDSM tale because of Andreas's  background, but it was not really.  It was the story of two people who control their lives in very different ways realizing that they need to both give up some control and take some control in order to make their lives their own.  I am not sure if that made any sense to anyone but me, but there it is.  This book could be read in isolation, but there is enough going on with characters from the first two books that I think it was probably such an amazing read for me because I had already read the first two books in the series.    

The Diplomat’s Daughter (Prequel to Turkish Delights) 

When Vivian Kincaid’s eyes meet those of a hunky local at the Turkish university her father forces her to attend it only takes her a split second to recognize her dear childhood friend. Levent Deniz was the servant boy who taught her to run the streets of Istanbul years before, giving outlet to her wild streak even as a child.

Now face to face once again as adults, the only thing standing between them and happiness is her father. The newly appointed Consul General for the United States has other plans for his only daughter. Ones that do not include a former servant, now successful entrepreneur and businessman. He will do everything in his power to keep them apart.

The Diplomat’s Daughter is set in 1960s Istanbul and tells the story of pre-destiny, passion and the rebellious power of true love.

My Thoughts:
Vivan is a woman who decides to fight for what she wants while Levent believes he does not deserve what he wants.  This makes for an interesting combination as we see the story of these childhood friends who discover what true love after becoming reconnected years later.  I went into this story knowing what the ending would be, since this is a prequel to the Turkish Delights series.  What I did not know was how they would get there.  It was wonderful to see bits and pieces of how they became the characters they are later in the series.  Istanbul was really the third main character of this book and added so much to it.  
I wish I had read this prequel before having read book one of this series.  Not because there is information in it that you need to know or anything like that.  I just like Viv and Levent a lot more than I did in the first three books of the series.  You can read this without having read any of the rest of the series and it is a complete stand alone, so you are not committing to the whole series by reading it.  

Flower Passage (Book 4) 

What would you do if the lover, brother, son and friend you thought you’d lost forever was returned to you?

Brutally battered emotionally and physically for the past two years, Tarkan Deniz has escaped his captors.  When the Deniz family discovers the shocking truth they rally and do everything in their power to bring him back safely.  But all have been affected by the tragedy of his loss, and must come to terms with the new reality, each in their own way.

When Happily Ever After seems like a nightmare…one man can bring healing to all, but will he ever be the same man again?

Flower Passage teaches the lesson that love once lost, can be regained, even if it takes a slightly different form than before.

My Thoughts:

If you have read the other books in this series, chances are you are not reading this review because you just have to have this read and taking the time to read this is delaying when you can begin the story.  If you have not read the other books in this series, you should really start with Turkish Delights because this book is, in my opinion, the only book in the series that does not really work well as a stand alone.  

This book is exactly what I have come to expect from Liz.  It is hot and intense and unpredictable and even breaks your heart a time or two.  While this book is "about" Tarkan, it really is about each and every member of the Deniz's extended family.  We see every character from the previous books and how they deal with the turn of events laid before them.  We see their struggles and their triumphs.  We see their heart breaks and their joys.  It is just the perfect book to close out this series.  

I am sad to see this series end because I am not really ready to say goodbye to the Deniz family and Turkey.

You can find each book in this series and more of Liz's books at:

B&N

Amazon