Here is what we talked about at Smexy this week:

A- Review Darker After Midnight by Lara Adrian
B+ Review Fated Hour by Samantha McHargue 
B+ Review Third Grave Dead Ahead by Darynda Jones
B Review Once a Ferrara Wife by Sarah Morgan
B- Review A Lady Never Surrenders by Sabrina Jeffries
B- Review Hold the Sky by AC Fox
B- Review The Rogue Who Loved Me by Ingela F. Hyatt
C+ Review Sugar Rush by Donna Kauffman

Smexy’s Top Ten 

News From Mandi: I started my week with a very sexy M/M romance, Packing Heat by Kele Moon, which I believe comes out this Tuesday. In a friends to lovers story, the sex is very, very erotic but the plot is a little thin. Review coming this week. I read the start of a new series by Joey W. Hill, Something About Witches. What a good book! A somewhat erotic PNR that has a sorcerer/gunslinger hero and a witch heroine. Really enjoyed this one – review coming soon. I also read By a Thread by Jennifer Estep, the latest in her Elemental Assassin series. Tori will be reviewing it for Smexy Books, but I have to say – it is so good. We see Gin go on vacation….kind of. Owen, Finn and Bria tag along. Great addition to the series. I’m currently reading Nice Girls Don’t Bite Their Neighbors, the next Jane Jameson book by Molly Harper. If you haven’t read this series, you must. They are so, so funny with such likable characters. I believe this one is the last in this series. I’m on page 100 and have laughed so much already. Good stuff. I also read the Bro-Magnet and Ghost in the Machine, both of which I talked about yesterday on the Top Ten.

News From Tori: A busy, busy week for me. Kid and husband have been sick and very needy. I did manage to get some reading in though so that helped. Kelley York’s YA Hushed was a surprise for me. Enjoyed far more than I thought. If you like the HBO show, Dexter, than this is a book for you. Anya Bast’s Midnight Enchantment, her final book in her wickedly sexy and dark Dark Magick series offered the great ending to a series I’m sad to see end. I did have some problems with the romance and plot. Review later this month. I succumbed to peer pressure and read Bro Magnet by Lauren Baratz-Logsted, and am so glad I did. A fabulously funny rom com from a man’s POV that kept me in stitches. I unfortunately had to DNF Somnuim by Keri Lake While the main premise promised a PNR with elements of suspense and mystery, I found the story to be overwhelmed with too many underdeveloped subplots that couldn’t be explained and exaggerated characters with annoying personality traits. Everyone smirked and leered. This story just wasn’t for me. I did a random sampling on Amazon in the erotic section and came across a book where the hero likens heroine’s love juices to the taste of succulent clams. 0_o I can’t think of any reason why an author would think that was sexy. None. At. All. Which brings me to the word titillating. I hate it. Stop using it. I received Shiloh Walker’s If you Know Her, the final book in her exciting and unpredictable Ash Trilogy. ZOMG! If you haven’t read this trilogy yet, wth are you waiting for? It ROCKS! Shiloh has found her niche with rom suspense and I look forward to more from her in the future. Though I’m not a huge historical romance reader, I was given a copy of Hyatt’s The Rogue Who Loved Me and found myself enchanted with this pretty straightforward romance. The cover is a little frivolous for the story offered. Rakes, innocents, and spies all come together in this lusty sexy story with a delectable hero and a sigh worthy HEA. See review here.

News From Helyce:  Another slow week for me on the reading front.  Real life gets in the way sometimes!  I read Stud by Cheryl Brooks. I love this series; it is a total guilty pleasure of mine.  Cheryl’s take on a futuristic science fiction/paranormal romance packed with action and adventure just speaks to my nerdy girl’s heart.  Her Zetithian men with their unique attributes and the multitude of secondary alien characters are amazing.  Cheryl Brooks has quite the imagination!  Review for that coming up soon.  Next up I read The Bro-Magnet by Lauren Baratz-Logsted. After seeing all the chatter on Twitter this week and a rec from Tori and Mandi I knew I had to read this.  It really was hilarious and a wonderful change of pace from my usual reads. I read Devil Without a Cause by Terri Garey. Loved!  Fallen angels, devils, demons-good stuff. I’m looking forward to reading book 2, A Devil Named Desire, which  releases soon will be reviewed here as well. I’m currently reading Inked Magic by Jory Strong for review and hope to get into Immortal Hope by Claire Ashgrove this weekend too.

News From May: This week the awesomeness that was By a Thread remains in my thoughts, so rather than attempt another dark & gritty book I looked to more straightforward romance. What happens when Scottish games athletes meet Jane Austen society ladies? The answer is in Tamara Morgan’s Love Is A Battlefield! The plot and character development left me frustrated, but still a good time overall. I will be reviewing here @ smexybooks soon. For now I will just say that it was really fun and often hilarious. Next up a book I’ve been dying to read for months! Black Jack Blackthorn! Aka the final hero in Kasey Michael’s Much Ado About Rogues (Blackthorn Brothers trilogy)To say it disappointed me would be an understatement. The skeevy did breastfeeding make you think of me and turn you on? scene was one i wish i could forget. *sob* i thought Black Jack was gonna be awesome… Full review here at smexy to come. Finally, I was strong armed into reading Jennifer Ashley’s Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie by Mandi. Jane @ Dear Author also recommends it, so I dove in. Really loved how uniquely Ian is portrayed and how inside his mind you get. Really excellent scenes and dialogue, though it never got me emotionally invested. Still- a most excellent read. I end this week packing for a business trip and will bring my advance copy of Tessa Dare’s next book, A Week to be Wicked to savor.