This week at Smexy….

B+ review – How to Drive a Dragon Crazy by G.A. Aiken (paranormal)
B+ review – Silver Mine by Vivian Arend (paranormal)
B review – Delusion in Death by JD Robb (rom suspense)
B- review – Confessions of an Angry Girl by Louise Rozett (ya)
C+ review – The Reluctant Amazon by Sandy James (paranormal)
C+ review – No Flowers Required by Cari Quinn (contemp)
C review – Blackwood by Gwenda Bond (ya fantasy)
C- review – Much Ado About Magic by Shanna Swendson (chick lit)
C- review – Primal Possession by Katie Reus (paranormal)
C- review – Playing with Fire by Tamara Morgan (paranormal)
D review – The Dirty Girls Book Club by Savanna Fox (erotic contemp)

Guest Author Avery Flynn
An Excerpt from Karen Hawkins
International Talk Like a Pirate Day
Smexy’s Top Ten

News From Mandi: Seduction and Snacks by Tara Sivec was an interesting way to start my week. A very crass, sometimes funny contemporary romance about a woman who gets knocked up during a one night stand, only to find the man years later. It’s funny, but after about half the book, I got tired of joke after joke. I wanted more romance or a sweeter tone. The Care and Feeding of an Alpha Man by Jessica Clare is a nice second book in her erotic contemporary series. She writes really hot sex, and these two have a fun relationship. I didn’t love the stalker side story but it’s a cute read. Review to come soon.

The Promise by Kate Worth is a self pub (I believe debut) historical. Didn’t quite work for me – the hero fell really flat and I didn’t believe the consequences of some of the actions felt realistic. I liked the heroine’s voice, but overall this story didn’t work for me. I got a sneak peek at Anne Calhoun’s contribution in the upcoming Red Hot Holiday anthology with Carina Press. Her story is called Breath On Embers and it is a well done, although dark and somber story about a woman grieving the death of her husband and her sexual relationship with a NYC firefighter. Really well done. Review coming later this fall.

Tempting the Bride by Sherry Thomas has a nice, strong first half. but I had a hard time getting on board with the amnesia storyline. I also thought the ending was rushed. I’ll post a review soon. Finally I read a rock star hero book. The Mighty Storm by Samantha Towle. There is cheating in it, but I think it is done pretty well. The hero annoyed me a bit with his jealousy, but overall a sexy story.

News From Tori: Not much happening this week. My BIL & SIL had my nephew this week. 9lbs 10oz baby boy. He’s so dang CUTE!! Still waiting on the kid to pick a Halloween costume. I guarantee, she’ll let me know Oct 29th. I found a recipe for Sea Salt Caramel Brownies that I’m going to try this weekend. ZOMG!! You can find this recipe and more yummy ones at www.romancecooks.com

I broke down and read C.J. Robert’s Captive In The Dark. Not my usual cuppa tea, this dark erotic DESTROYED me. I cried, raged, cheered, and prayed the entire story. A brutal tale of a young girl kidnapped and trained to be a sex slave by a man bent on using her for revenge. There is a sequel but I’m waiting till I can handle it before I read. Kristen Ashley continues to be an auto buy for me and her Creed was just what I was hoping it would be and more. A wonderful tale of lost love and second chances between two bad arse characters. Cracktaculious!! I finally finished Lorelei James’ Cowboy Casanova, #12 in her Rough Riders series. This is Ben McKay’s story. It was okay. Sexy times aside, I really felt the bdsm/dom theme was only played at and Ben wasn’t the dark tragic soul dom he thought he was. The use of Ben/Bennett was confusing and I really didn’t like his lying to heroine; almost destroying her life to further his own.

Tiffany Reisz’s free erotic short-Little Red Riding Crop– is a cute, SEXY story that features Nora two years before The Siren.

Jamie Quaid’s Boyfriend From Hell was a DNF for me. While I enjoyed the world and the heroine, the storyline stagnated halfway through and I couldn’t connect with any of it. I broke down and read Alyssa Day’s Hearts of Atlantis, #8 in her Warriors of Poseidon series and the long awaited story of Alaric and Quinn. I don’t want to say much since it doesn’t release for 3 months but I think fans of the series will be pleased with the results. Jeanne C. Stein’s Haunted, #8 in her Anna Strong chronicles, kicks butt and takes name as she resolves some long standing issues and opens new ones for Anna and us to explore in coming installments. Julie Kagawa’s Iron Prophecy, is a short novella set between Iron Prince and Lost Prince. We get a wonderful visit with Puck, Ash, and Meghan, exciting news, and some interesting clues to the Lost Prince.

Dark Currents ,by Jacqueline Carey, was a fast read but didn’t overwhelm me. A familiar urban fantasy world with supers, gods, goddesses, and a half breed set on proving herself. Our heroine needs more development and solidifying. Thea Harrison’s Hunter’s Season, a novella from her Elder series, is a bona fide romance that drew me in and made me smile till the very end. Seductive, sexy, and heartfelt.

Emma Wildes Ruined By Moonlight is the first in her new series, A Whisper of Scandal. It’s a sweet historical romance with an engaging storyline. Two romantic engagements made the book more endearing though I was disappointed with the ending.

I am currently reading White Trash Beautiful by Teresa Mummert, Wrayth by Philippa Ballantine, Deep Desires by Charlotte Stein, and a super secret book I can’t talk about. :)

News From May: When the new Cindy Gerard came available in digital ARC form this week, I threw everything aside and devoured it. Killing Time was everything I could have hoped for! One Eyed Jacks is going to be a great spin-off of her beloved BOI series, and let’s just say that Gabe has a good role in this one. I was squealing and delighted with every single page. I’ll review here eventually – and probably re-read it + at least 3 of her other BOI or Bodyguard books in the meantime. She rules romantic suspense like nobody else.

Too curious to not check out the ‘crack’, I tried Wild Man by Kristen Ashley. It was truly awful – I couldn’t find anything nice to say about it except that I did kind of like the author’s voice… so I tried Motorcycle Man. Oh. Oh HELLO there. I’d give it an A- if I was grading it (which, y’all know I am tough on my contemporary romance so that is high praise indeed!) and I found it to be in its own way one of the most romantic books I’ve read in a long time.

Because Briec is my favorite (how could he not be?) I did a re-read of About a Dragon by GA Aiken – and it did not disappoint. In fact if anything I loved it even more the second time around! I want a Gwenvael re-read next (What a Dragon Should Know) – but it’ll be a while before that happens. Dragon Kin series rules!

Now I’m working on Howl For it (Laurenston and Eden) and so far, pretty darn good novellas. Review to come. Of course after reading the adorable Eggie’s story (Laurenston) I had to take a chance on his daughter’s story (Big Bad Beast by Shelly Laurenston) and I’m LOVING Dee Ann as much as I thought I would! This is huge y’all. I’m not a fan of hers (except her written as Aiken books) so I’m very excited. Once I finish this up, I foresee a weekend with some historical romance ahead. I need to mix it up!

News from Helyce:  I skipped the wrap up last week, thinking I’d have more to report this week seeing as my day to day life has gotten in the way of my reading time, but as I reviewed my notes, I was sad to see that I still didn’t have too much to report.  I finished up No Flowers required by Cari Quinn.  This was a cute contemporary, that unfortunately fell a bit flat for me with a theme that didn’t quite work for me.  What saved it for me were the characters who I found so interesting, I needed to see where the author was going with the story.  In fact, one character-Cory-stood out a little too well and I can’t wait for his story! I also read Forged In Fire by Trish McCallan. I decided to pick this one up after seeing some reviews on Goodreads.  It was pretty good. For me it was more a romantic suspense with paranormal hints than a straight paranormal-this story follows Zane and Beth as they meet because they both foresee a plain crash where Zane and his fellow Navy SEALs all die.  Lots of mystery and intrigue partnered with hot sexy men and it was a pretty good read.

For fun I read But my Boyfriend Is by K.A. Mitchell.  I’m a huge fan of this author and was excited to revisit the boys in Florida, but this one was not up to par with previous stories in my opinion.  Even though we get a little page time with my favorite character, Joey, I quickly tired of Dylan’s character constantly stating that he was not gay while he continued to pursue his relationship with Mike. This really didn’t work for me and though I liked how the author wrapped it all up, I still didn’t think I had a clear picture of Mike, even though he was one of the main characters.

For review I read Phantom Shadows by Dianne Duvall.  I started this almost the moment I opened the package and could not put it down.  This is the 3rd book in Duvall’s Immortal Guardian series and if you are a fan of paranormals that are reminiscent of Kenyon’s Dark Hunters or Elisabeth Naughton’s Eternal Guardians-you will enjoy this series. I love Ms. Duvall’s voice and in this series she continues to keep me at the edge of my seat by delivering unexpected surprise after surprise with her characters.  In this book, we get some very interesting back story as we watch Bastian and Melanie find their way to happiness.  Along the way, they face a lot of obstacles, most of them put there by Bastian himself, but Melanie is strong enough to get through his defenses.  The character of Seth continues to intrigue me and even though we get a few more hints as to the "more" that he is, we still don’t know everything.  Additionally, we meet a new character, Zach. I’m not sure about him, but I do know I’m going to love him too!

Lastly, I read Motorcycle Man by Kristen Ashley.  Yes, I followed Tori, Mandi and May into the world that is, as Mandi says "alpha-hole-ness".  Yes, Tack is an alpha ass in every sense of the word, but he can alpha-boss my ass any way he wants.  This is my first book by Ms. Ashley, even though Tori has been going on and on and on about her for a while now.  I finally bit the bullet after seeing some tweets this past week and Mandi texting me and saying "YOU MUST READ THIS".  I take direction very well and I’m so glad I did.  Ms. Ashley has a very interesting voice and writing style that I can only explain by saying she is all over the place.  And while I love a writer who is descriptive, sometimes less is really more.  Having said that, I would not have wanted this story to be anything less than the 416 pages that it was and I will probably read the previous three books in this series just because.  Mandi said this was cracktastic and she was right.  Who am I kidding:  I’ve already started Mystery Man.

For review I will be reading Immortal Surrender by Claire Ashgrove and Forbidden by Jacquelyn Frank next week. I also have a very sexy m/m/m to look forward to called The Hot Floor by Josephine Myles. Have a great weekend everyone!