This week at Smexy….

B+ review – All He Ever Needed by Shannon Stacey (contemporary)
B+ review – Lumberjack in Love by Penny Watson (contemporary)
B+ review – To Catch a Vampire by Jennifer Harlow (UF)
B review – Defying the Prince by Sarah Morgan (contemporary)
B review – Catch a Shooting Star by Olivia Ventura (contemporary)
B review – Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan (YA Paranormal)
B review – Night Forbidden by Joss Ware (paranormal)
B- review – Full Surrender by Joanne Rock (contemporary)
B- review – Full Blooded by Amanda Carlson (UF)
C review – Hearts of Darkness by Kira Brady (paranormal)

Second Hand Virtual Book Tour
Interview with Elyssa Patrick
Top Ten Reasons to Read On Dublin Street by Samantha Young
Interview with Debra Webb 

News from Mandi: I ended up DNF’ing His Mistletoe Bride by Vanessa Kelly. I couldn’t get into the story at all after 100 pages. I read a zombie book (crazy I know!) called, The Last Bastion of the Living by Rhiannon Frater. Very interesting – strong first half detailing a dystopian world overcome with zombies (think walking dead but more dire) With some romance and a likable heroine. Didn’t enjoy the second half as much, but those who like zombie books, I rec this one. Thanks to Smexy reader, ‘Lege Artis’ who recommended it to me.

Shadow Rising by Cassi Carver is an okay follow up in her urban fantasy series. It’s hard to explain this world without giving spoilers away. I did have a harder time with the direction of the plot. But I still enjoyed the heroine. Cassi will be visiting Smexy soon.

I read On Dublin Street by Samantha Young and blabbed all over Twitter and the blog about it. You can read why I liked it so much here.

Taming the Tycoon by Amy Andrews disappointed me. Very wealthy hero meets free-spirit, hippe heroine, who is forced to pretend to be his girlfriend for the weekend. They act way too familiar with each other very quick. The entire set-up is so rushed. I didn’t buy into any of it. Another book that disappointed me was Never Seduce a Scot by Maya Banks. While the hero is a good guy, and I liked his interaction with his family, I struggled with the heroine. She is deaf and can’t speak due to an accident and I don’t think her disability is handled well. Her extraordinary lip reading and some other things (I don’t want to spoil) that happen halfway through the book. Predictable conflict too. Not as good as previous books in this series.

I read Beyond Shame by Kit Rocha (aka Moira Rogers). A dystopian erotic (not paranormal) that I LOVED. Really well done. It has a HEA, but also introduces us to many characters…all very hot alpha men, and women who know how to handle them. And the sex…oh so dirty. It comes out October 2 – put it on your list!

I’m currently reading My Liege of Dark Haven by Cherise Sinclair, so far a well done erotic bdsm. I like the fact that the heroine has such negative body issues, and the hero is very patient with building up her self-esteem.

New from Tori: Suzy Cox’s The Dead Girls Detective Agency was a disappointment for me. I loved the premise but the development failed. Review to come. Tessa Dare’s A Lady By Midnight was DELICIOUS and I adored Thorne and Katie’s story. I can’t wait for more from Sondle Cove. Samantha’ Young’s On Dublin Street was a delightful cracktacular surprise. Her debut adult novel, Ms. Young brings us the a delightful read with strong characters, a smexy romance, and a realistic emotional story about a young woman who has shut herself off from life to save herself from pain and the disturbingly handsome, pain in the butt man who decides to scale her walls and free her heart.

I was given an arc of Beyond Shame by Kit Rocha and all I can say is RUN AND BUY when it releases. Holy mac and cheese. Fans of Charlotte Stein and Kristin Ashley will be all over this new post apocalyptic series which features some of the most delicious, filthiest, explicit sex scenes combined with tough as nails alpha heroes and heroines.

I picked up some Kristen Ashley crack while I wait for the release of Creed, #2 in her Unfinished Heros series. Penmort Castle is a pnr with a HUGE alpha hole hero, a pretend escort, and a ghost bent on revenge.Enjoyable though the MCs were a little annoying. The hero is over the top protective and suffers from ‘foot in mouth’ syndrome.

Olivia Cunning’s Tempt Me, #2 in her Sole Regret series bombed for me. I forgot this only incorporated a day or two in their lives. Not much plot action-95% of it is sex, and the heroine REALLY bugged me. We are pressed to believe she is a good girl when in fact, this girl is a perfect candidate for girls gone wild.

I was so excited to see Moira Rogers has is again writing for her Red Rock Pass series with the coming release of Haunted Sanctuary. A dark pnr that pits an alpha couple against a corrupt wolf pack and the victims caught in between. Action packed though it cuts off abruptly and leaves you wanting the next one the series right now. Review to come closer to release date. I’m still reading Elyssa Patrick’s As You Wish. While parts are enjoyable, the hero is really abrasive and I’m having a hard time connecting with him.

This weekend I will be finishing Jamie Quaid’s Boyfriend From Hell, Izzy Ballard’s Temptation, Alaska, and of course, Creed by Kristen Ashley.

News From May: This week I finished How to Drive a Dragon Crazy by GA Aiken. (loved it, review coming in a few days), and I also read three other books that will soon have reviews here at Smexybooks. A Season for Sin by Vicky Dreiling was a prequel, a teaser and not really a story at all. Lady Louisa’s Christmas Knight was more delightful than not, and opened up my holiday reading season! Much Ado About Magic was a major let down – or rather perhaps my tastes have seriously changed since I first read this series. It just creeped me out how the heroine was more a mom than a girlfriend to her man, and their relationship seemed more teenage than adult. I wasn’t a fan.

I also started (and DNF’d) Cindy Dees Flash of Death this week. It was clear the characters weren’t going to work for me at all, and then when the hero plots to get the heroine drunk (like he did the night they met and hooked up ‘pushing each other’s sexual boundaries’) so that she’ll do a repeat performance I had to call it. Involving alcohol because you won’t do stuff sober is so not selling me on this couple. That isn’t sexy, nor is it within my realm of romance or anything I wanna read. 

Now I have no idea what to read next because my TBR “on deck” stack is overflowing with goodness!!