This week at Smexy….

A review – Painted Faces by L.H. Cosway (contemporary)
A review – Sinner’s Gin by Rhys Ford (m/m contemporary)
B review – Unforgivable by Joanna Chambers (historical)
B review – Wild Burn by Edie Harris (historical)
B- review –Kissing Kendall by Jennifer Shirk (contemporary)
C review – Sacred Hearts by Dev Bentham (m/m contemporary)
C review – The Impetuous Amazon by Sandy James (paranormal)
C review – The Trouble With Being Wicked by Emma Locke (historical)

On My Radar this Week
Guest Author Joanna Chambers and Giveaway
Smexy’s Top Ten

News from Mandi:  Revving Her Up by Joy Daniels had an awesome hero who builds race cars, full of southerly charm and says lots of ‘ma’ams’ Problem is…I never warmed up to the heroine. Too snobby, too uptight, too – not any fun. Which is a shame, because I liked the story otherwise. I’ll be post a full review next week.

I DNF’d A Table for Three by Lainey Reese. I only made it 6% in, but I already knew the hero was WAY too dominant for me. Skeevy dominant. Not fun dominant. The heroine was clueless…I had zero interest in finding out how it all played out.

How to Misbehave by Ruthie Knox (a novella coming out soon) needs to be put on all of your wish lists!! It’s soooo good. Hero is a blue-collar construction guy and heroine works at the community center he is renovating. He doesn’t think he is good enough for her, but she convinces him otherwise. So sexy and clever. Great start to her new series.

Finally I read Heart of Darkness by Lauren Dane, the first in her Magick series. I’m impressed! It’s hard for me to find new PNR I really like, but I liked this one. I’ve just started book 2 (book 3 comes out at end of month) I’m going to blog about the series next week. But I def rec!
News From Tori: I picked up a freebie on Amazon, A Hint Of Frost by Hailey Edwards, and enjoyed much more than I thought I would. A dark fantasy novella involving spiders, forced marriage, and not one but TWO virgins. Squeee. I hope she writes more in this series.

If you’re a fan of Shelly Laurenson’s Pride series than you are going to want to RUN and get her new release, Wolf With Benefits, in March. Ricky Lee Reed meets his match in the form of a jackal named Toni. Add in one craaaaaazy family, a multitude of schedules, and a thrilling rescue and you have a book that will keep you howling with laughter from start to finish. My review will post in RT Book Review magazine in March.

I started reading The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs  only to realize I had already read it but it was even better the second time around. A fantastic contemporary about love, loss, and second chances as a group of women come together and grow while engaging in the time honored skill of knitting.

Pack Of Lies by Sara Dailey and Staci Weber was okay but I found the story to be rather one dimensional and extremely formulaic in it’s telling. Review to come.

Painted Faces by L.H. Cosway hit twitter like a firestorm and I jumped straight into it. A delightfully romantic and unusual contemporary about a straight drag queen and a woman with low self esteem who form a friendship that struggles for balance as their feelings for one another deepen. Witty dialogue, delicious snark, and hints of darkness made this a top read for me this year.

I absolutely adore Tessa Dare and was very pleased with her novella, The Scandalous, Dissolute, No- Good Mr. Wright.  An witty and engaging enemies to lovers trope about a young miss who, due to a misunderstanding, is forced to wait on her debut until her sisters marry and a very misunderstood young man who everyone believes in a dissolute rake. The novella unfolds over a series of years as we watch these two delightful protagonists fuss and fight their way to the alter.

The Hanover Square Affair by Ashley Gardner is a historical mystery series told from the POV of Captain Gabriel Lacey. A dark and gothic tale of deception, betrayal, and murder.  Intriguing characters and well developed plot lines hooked me to the end.

Reaper’s Property by Joanna Wylde is for all fans of bad boy MC bikers. Meet the Reapers. A cross between Kristen Ashley’s Motorcycle Man and the TV show, Sons Of Anarchy, we get a dark raw and realistic romance that looks deep into a MC’s lifestyle and what being claimed as an ‘old lady’ really means. A fast paced storyline with engaging characters and a steamy romance with plenty of HAWT action. I will be joint reviewing this with Amy at Fiction Vixen.

I am currently reading Moving On, an erotic novella by Sindra van Yssel and Julia Quinn’s The Bridgertons: Happily Ever After.

New From Helyce: It’s been busy here at my house. My son got his driver’s license and I’m pretty sure I see a several more gray hairs than I had before! I didn’t expect that he’d be driving himself around right away, but I have to admit, it’s taken quite a load off, knowing he can get himself to school and soccer practice every afternoon.  This damn flu will not leave our house. Just as I’m feeling nearly 100%, my husband has come down with it and well, you all know how miserable it is when a man gets sick.  Needless to say, life sucks-I did find some time to escape and get a bit of reading done.

I finished up Wildcat by Cheryl Brooks. I’ve enjoyed this science fiction/pnr romance series since I came across Slave at my used bookstore.  Wildcat is book 9, and this series has truly come a long way. For the most part, I enjoyed this story. I think I’d forgotten some key details regarding our hero, Jerden, from a previous book, so I didn’t relate well to his character’s trauma at first.  It all comes together, though-full review to come soon.

After seeing a review from Tori, I picked up Something Like Normal by Trish Doller.  Not sure if this one is categorized as YA or NA-but either way, I really liked this story.  Travis is home on leave from the Marines following the death of his friend and fellow soldier.  He’s suffering from PTSD but is hiding it and trying to deal with it on his own.  He runs into Harper by chance one night.  They’ve known each other since they were 14 and have some old middle school history.  I really enjoyed Harper and Travis together.  Travis is so clueless at first, but in Harper he truly finds some peace from the storm raging inside of him. I was not ready for this story to end. I hope the author plans on more for this couple.

Based on a rec from Mandi, I read Escorted by Claire Kent.  I really liked this story too.  I especially loved Lori who knew what she wanted and went after it. Ander seemed cool, calm and collected, but when he reveals certain things later in the story, my heart just melted! Really enjoyed!

Lastly, I read Beautiful Scars by Shiloh Walker.  I was really looking forward to this book after reading the blurb and I did like a lot of it. It’s emotional and moving and I got caught up in Chaili’s past and her road to healing. I enjoyed the focus on the couple, Chaili and Marc and their journey toward their HEA. But something was missing for me and I found the ending much too abrupt.

I’m glad I got to fit in a few non-review books this week, but now it’s back to the grindstone. I’ve got Caleb by Emma Lang up next and hope to also read Something New Under The Sun by L.A. Witt which was highly recommended to me by Ann from UTC book blog. I can’t wait to dive into it!