This week at Smexy….
A review – Lush by Lauren Dane (contemporary)
A review – Thank you for Riding by Meg Maguire (contemp novella)
A review – Touch & Geaux by Abigail Roux (m/m romantic suspense)
B review – Love Irresistibly by Julie James (contemporary)
B review – Strangers on a Train Collection (contemp novellas)
B review – Sharp by Alex Hughes (futuristic romantic suspense)
B review – Nautier and Wilder by Lora Leigh and Jaci Burton (erotic)
B review – Let it Be Me by Kate Noble (historical)
B- review – Happily Ever After by Julia Quinn (historical)
B- review – The Wanderer by Robyn Carr (contemporary)
C+ review – Falling Blind by Shannon Butcher (pnr)
New JR Ward Information
A Chat with Meg Maguire
A Chat with Alex Hughes
Smexy’s Top Ten
News From Mandi: Thrill Ride by Julie Ann Walker is a fun, somewhat silly romantic suspense. I’ve read all the books in this series and this one didn’t quite do it for me. The heroine didn’t seem smart enough to be part of a professional black op team. I liked the hero and it was a fun jungle setting but was just too silly overall to really appeal to me. Review is coming.
Own the Wind by Kristen Ashley was a fun read. The heroine is Tack’s daughter, and we all know I love me some Tack. This sets up a new conflict in the Chaos world and I can’t wait for book two. All the Smexy girls read it this past week and we will be discussing this book coming up at Smexy.
Caribbean Casanova by Jenna Bayley-Burke was disappointing. I didn’t like how the hero and heroine treated each other to start the book so when they did start a physical relationship it didn’t make sense to me.
Down London Road by Samantha Young surprised me. And what I mean by that is – I didn’t know what to expect from her after On Dublin Street but I was really impressed with Down London Road. It’s darker and deeper than Dublin. I really enjoyed the heroine A lot. Full review coming in early May.
Later this week I’ll be reviewing Protecting What’s His by Tessa Bailey. It has a VERY dirty talking hero. Well hello there Derek. The heroine made me laugh too. Well done for a debut (I’ll give you a peek at a dirty scene tomorrow in Smex Scene Sunday)
News From May: This week was a dirty one. Heh. I devoured Own The Wind (good, not great) in record speed, read Tessa Dare’s Beauty and the Blacksmith (review coming soon) in one sitting, and enjoyed Protecting What’s His by Tessa Bailey way more than I could have imagined. It was really sexy and cute- glad Mandi was tweeting about it!
The real big winner this week was Zoe Archer’s Sinner’s Heart (review next week). Smoking hot verbal "if I could touch you" Smexiness and amazing read. Seriously awesome.
What else? Well recently I also read Ten reasons not to date a cop by Amie Louellen (lame), The mating by Nicky Charles (DNF), and The Best Man by Kristen Higgins (cute! Yay!)
Now that I’m all caught up reporting, time to find something new to read!
News from Helyce: My kids’ schedules have been keeping me very busy! Soccer is in full swing with practices during the week and games all weekend. You’d think I’d have tons to report seeing as I sit on my ass and read while my daughter is at her practice…but sadly, it doesn’t seem to be the case. I continue to blame work, the bane of my existence. I miss my free time. I miss being able to read new releases on the day they come out. Truth be told, I just miss reading period! So, even though I missed two weeks…my list is short. Here we go:
Based on a rec from Tori, I read Forever My Girl by Heidi McLaughlin. This was a really well done second chance at love story. High school sweethearts, they end up at different colleges (first obstacle), then our hero decides he doesn’t really want to play football (big life decision) and wants to pursue music. He thinks he’s doing the right thing when he breaks up with his girlfriend to move to LA and follow his dream. A high school friend’s unexpected death bring him back to his home town and our H/H realize that they might have some unfinished business. I really liked this one.
I also grabbed from my towering TBR Starfish & Coffee by Kele Moon. This is also a second chance/friends to lovers story that I really enjoyed. Kele Moon is awesome and I wanted to live on the island and hang out with the people in this story.
Of course I read Lover At Last by J.R. Ward last week. We waited a long time for this story and I have very mixed feelings about the book. I was worried about Ward writing an m/m love story. After reading, I feel my worries were justified. There was a lot I liked about this book and a few things that I disliked-basically a typical reaction to any Black Dagger Brotherhood story post Phury circa 2008. Having said that, huge kudos to Ms. Ward for giving the fans this story and huge success to her in bringing an m/m story to mainstream romance. While I found the many POVs just a bit tiresome, what I loved far out shined what didn’t work for me. I will read this series as long as she writes it, no matter what!
Directly following Qhuay, I read Touch and Geaux by Abigail Roux. This is by far not only my favorite m/m series, but one of my favorite romance series bar none. Ms. Roux is a genius. She makes us laugh only to cry a few pages later. The build up is epic and she is the queen of leaving us hanging. Huge secrets are revealed in this one and it was so completely unexpected, I am still in shock long after I finished reading. The ending killed me. And now we have to wait a year. Nuff said!
I also read Own The Wind by Kristin Ashely. As a huge fan of the Dream Man series, I was thrilled to be getting Tabby’s story. She was just a teenager when we meet her in Motorcycle Man so I thought it might be a while till we got her story. I was wrong. OTW is Tabby and Shy’s story. For the most part, I thought it was well done. I had issue with the massive amounts of run-on-sentence dialogue; but I really liked how this couple starts out and then moves forward into a physical relationship. I liked how it went and look forward to future books in this series.
Currently I have too many books going and I need to focus, focus, focus! I’m hoping to finish Dirty Laundry by Rhys Ford. This is book three in the series and I’m enjoying so far. I also hope to finish Surrender by Stephanie Tyler . This is the first in her new Section 8 series. I’ve enjoyed her previous romantic suspense books and this one is really good! That’s about it for now! Have a great weekend!
Tori’s News: So, let’s get this party started.
Ellen Hopkins’ Smoke really blows you away with it’s anger. A poetic style of writing and a faint YA feel keeps the book from falling too far into an emotional pit yet you are still held hostage to Pattyn and her sister’s alternating voices as they tell us what happened after the events of Burned.
What happens when a very bad boy MMA fighter and a rigid rule following lawyer spend the week trapped together in a lie? You get the humorous and sexy romantic romp,Rules of Entanglement, by Gina L. Maxwell.
Tell Me No Lies by Rachel Branton is a decent story but the juvenile tone of the heroine sets your teeth on edge.
A Order of Coffee and Tears by Brian Spangler is a small town contemporary about a diner and the people who work and visit there. Enjoyable with a refreshing lack of overblown theatrics.
Music Of Ghosts by Sallie Bissell is a fast paced well told mystery thriller that brings lore and legend together when a young girl is murdered. Mild injection of a well established romance into the main plot provides balance and continuity.
Just Remember To Breathe by Charles Sheehan-Miles is a romantic NA that addresses the need for communication in a relationship. Well developed characters make for an interesting storyline.
Katy Evan’s Real is a sexual tense NA between a underground MMA fighter whose dark secrets scare and intrigue a young sport rehab specialist. Unfortunately, the overblown sexual tension completely obliterates the storyline and leaves you feeling a little blah by the end.
Battlescars: A Rock & Roll Romance by Sophia Monroe is a very romance friendly story. The h/h don’t spend the entire book emotionally mired in conflicts and misunderstandings, slowly working their way to their HEA. It’s all pretty straight forward. It’s greatest appeal for me was the characters. Their energy, personalities, and snark kept me rolling the whole time. It’s very afterschool special-esque.
I am currently reading Second Chance Boyfriend by Monica Murphy and then Protecting What’s His by Tessa Bailey ‘cause Mandi said it’s da bomb.
Nice recap. I really like the brief review’s, nice to see what was read this week all together.