This week at Smexy…

B+ review – Safeword by A.J Rose (m/m bdsm)
B+ review – Making it Last by Ruthie Knox (contemporary)
B review – Redneck Romeo by Lorelei James (erotic)
B- review – Gwynneth Ever After by Linda Poitevin (contemporary)
B- review – A Mating Dance by Lia Davis (m/m/f paranormal)
C+ review – The Gentleman’s Keeper by Bonnie Dee and Summer Devon (historical m/m)
C+ review – Gaming for Keeps by Seleste DeLaney (contemporary)
C+ review – A Kiss of Blood by Pamela Palmer (urban fantasy)
C+ review – Guarded Desires by Lexxie Couper (m/m contemporary)

A Chat with Mary Ann Rivers
Tori’s Mini Rant on Gifs in Reviews
Guest Author Melissa Schroeder
Favorites of 2013…so far

News from Mandi: Sweetened with a Kiss by Lexxie Callahan has a very, very alpha hero in it. The kind that is very cold, sometimes a jerk…but who also is quite sexy with his possessive attitude. At times I definitely think he crossed the line and was too jerkish…but I do like to read these types of heroes sometimes and overall it was a pretty good read.  I’ll be reviewing it soon.

Never Deal with Dragons by Lorenda Christensen has a really amazing world. Taking place after WWIII, (yes three) dragons were accidentally created after trying to cure cancer. Even though humans outnumber them, they are top of the food chain. They live in houses, speak, and live semi-peacefully with humans. The heroine is a dragonspeaker, a rare human who can speak to dragons. She works as a mediator between human and dragon relations. The hero works for one of the dragon lords and is a former flame of the heroine. The first half of this book is absolutely amazing. Love the premise, the world and adored the heroine. Lost a bit of steam towards the end and the romance is quite light but still very impressed with this book. Review coming soon.

Conceal by Juliana Stone is the third book in the Barker triplet series and I really liked it. Betty Jo has a messy past of drugs, alcohol and a washed up modeling career. When Beau Simon strolls into town with his hollywood good looks, the town collectively swoons. Betty Jo just rolls her eyes. She has a bad attitude and no time for her former fling. But Beau won’t go away that easily. Betty has so much pain inside of her and Beau is patient enough for her to work it all out. Review coming son.

I’m currently halfway through The Chocolate Touch by Laura Florand and let me tell you – if you are not reading this author, YOU ARE MISSING OUT. She writes fabulous romances featuring Parisian chocolatiers. SO sexy. SO charming. I can barely stand it.

I will say this – book one, The Chocolate Thief is her weakest, I almost want to say skip it. Because what is waiting for you is The Chocolate Kiss which is just the best. Then The Chocolate Rose, her novella. And coming out at the end of this month is The Chocolate Touch. I wish they were not at Trade prices, because I feel that is making many not try this author. But if you are one that agrees with my tastes, I really think you should try The Chocolate Kiss.

News From May: This week the highlight was definitely Courtney Milan’s The Heiress Effect. I really enjoyed this book, most especially her heroine and I will be reviewing here at Smexy soon. It’s the first historical that I really felt satisfied by in such a long time.

Less than satisfying, I had to DNF the book Making the First Move by Reese Ryan. There were a bunch of tiny details that were setting off huge red flags for me right from the start and I decided to just let it go. The author describes the heroine in heeled sandals, then the next sentence says she’s wearing “fuck me pumps”. Might be nit picky, but sandals ain’t pumps and that combined with what was clearly setting up to be a love triangle or more and some other writing details had me pretty sure I needed to set it down and walk away.

I also read Sleeping with the Entity by Cat Devon. I will be reviewing here at Smexy, as well as picking up book 2 because it’s already here in my hands! How was this book? Well I liked the cute cupcake shop girl and the powerful growly hero who can’t control her like he can every other human… but what started so cute and fun unraveled into a big “I’ve got a magical vajayjay that can solve our problems!” kind of mess.

Now I’m off to celebrate the fact that I remembered to email Mandi my recap, and then I will have to pick some books to read while I run off to Las Vegas for a work convention!