This week at Smexy…

A review – Getting Rowdy by Lori Foster (contemporary)
B+ review – Stripped by Edie Harris (contemporary)
B+ review – Snow Kissed by Laura Florand (contemporary)
B review –  Mirror, Mirror by J.D. Robb (pnr/anthology)
B- review – Always On My Mind by Jill Shalvis (contemporary)
B review – The Funeral Dress by Susan Gregg Gilmore  (contemporary)
C+ review – Unattainable by Madeline Sheehan (contemporary)
C+ review – Never Desire A Duke by Lily Dalton (historical)
C- review – Falling In by Lydia Michaels (erotic contemporary)
D review – Two Times As Hot by Cat Johnson (contemporary)

Mandi Rants
Guest Author-Anton Strout
Smexy’s Top Ten

News From Tori: Beguiled, the second book in Joanna Chambers Enlightened series, tells an emotional heartfelt love story between a lord and a barrister in the 1800’s. A delicate balance exists between our lovers as their passion for one another threatens what society and their worlds demand of them.

Lisa Desrocher’s A Little Too Far is an NA about a young woman who is romantically involved with her step brother and a soon to be ordained priest. Though the premise comes off with a distinct taboo (slightly skeevy) feel, it’s actually a decent story though not extremely deep . My only complaints is we don’t see enough of the step brother (he has very little page time for being a major character) and the heroine is emo.

Sibling Rivalry by Summer Devon is a cute m/m. One man finds love with a pair of brothers. Now he has to decide if either of them are worth it. Reads fast and I fell in love with the younger brother. He’s so exuberant. I did feel it only skimmed the surface their lives and didn’t resolve some issues as just sweep them under the rug.

Virginia Nelson’s Runaway Groom is a funny cute small town story that leans heavily on snark and one liners to tell of a young man who wants back what he ran from on his wedding day. I love a book that uses words such as “asshat” and “douchebaggery. ”

I DNF’s Rogue Of The Isles by Cynthia Breeding. While I loved the premise-a hunkie scot’s vow of protection leaves his constantly running behind his wayward charge-I found the wayward charge was an annoying twit and I had trouble following the hero’s accent.

Impact by Cassandra Carr is a sexy erotic romance between an alpha rodeo bull rider and a young woman who wants him to dominate her. Not bad but the never ending blow jobs and the instructional style BDSM left me a unimpressed at times. A quick sexy read.

Stripped by Edie Harris was such a delightful romance. I loved the hero, Declan. He was just so sweet and patient. Harris does a fabulous job of building a slow simmering romance between our sweet Irishman and is prickly heroine. Just the right amount of angst and tension delivers a perfect ending.

Run To You by Rachel Gibson was okay. A predictable romance that left me feeling a little underwhelmed at the end. It was missing that spark that makes Gibson such a treat to read.

Her Russian Protector (Boxed Set-vol 1-3) by Roxie Rivera is three stories about four friends who grew up in Russian orphanage and bonded as brothers. The first story-Ivan-was nice but short and blunt in terms of romance and suspense. Dimitri and Yuri’s stories were more fleshed out both character and story wise. The fourth friend, Nikolai, has his own book which released separately. Mild eroticia and bdsm.

Tattered Love by Lola Stark is a NA an with lots of sex, dirty talk, back and forth relationship angst, and the requisite crazy ex. A big old mess but entertaining in a strange way.

Sunny Side Of  The Mountain by Charliann Roberts wasn’t bad but the long drawn out suspense plot and the love triangle both resolve in a weird way that didn’t make a whole lot of sense. Plus, the heroine just annoyed me. She came across as a bit of a martyr.

I DNF’s Jamie Magee’s See because frankly, I couldn’t understand what was going on. I loved the synopsis-a young woman with no memory has to find it in order to learn her destiny. However, no one can or will help clue her in, and since it’s from her point of view, I was just as lost as she was.  I gave up 1/2 way in.

I’m currently reading Heather Graham’s The Night Is Forever and will start Juliana Stone’s The Christmas He Loved Her.

News from Mandi: This week I read Two Times as Hot by Cat Johnson, Unattainable by Madeline Sheehan and Falling In by Lydia Michaels –  all which I’ve already reviewed at Smexy (see above).

I also read In the Heart of the Highlander by Maggie Robinson, a really cute historical about a woman who runs an agency that solves problems for the ton. The hero hires her to help him investigate a man who he thinks killed his wife. The hero is a huge, bearded scot and really cute and sexy. They end up at this exclusive spa/hotel and while they are trying to set up the bad guy to take the fall, they start to fall for each other. I’ll be reviewing soon – I definitely rec this one.

This weekend I’m going to read Surrendering to the Alpha by Lia Davis and Not Another Wedding by Jennifer McKenzie.

News From May:

This week I seem to be in historical mode. I’m currently reading Kasey Michael’s latest (review coming soon) What a Gentleman Desires. Now it’s early yet, but it looks promising! Our heroine is in danger, our hero is pretending to be a fop and is really on a secret mission, and I’m hooked. Once done with this, I have several more books to review – most notably I will begin my Christmas season reading! My favorite time of year – I’ll be starting with Plaid Tidings by Mia Marlowe and then I’ve got Christmas on Main Street – an anthology.

Let the mistletoe and jingle bell covered smexy times begin!