This week at Smexy…

B+ review – Enlightened by Joanna Chambers (m/m)
B+ review – Breakable by Tammara Webber (new adult)
B+ review – How to Say Goodbye by Amber Lin (new adult)
B  review – The Lucky Charm by Beth Bolden (contemporary)
B review – It Happened One Wedding by Julie James (contemporary)
B review – Noble Intentions by Katie MacAlister (historical)
C+ review – Make you Mine by Macy Beckett (contemporary)
D review – Once Bitten, Twice Burned by Cynthia Eden (paranormal)
D review – Frisky Business by Tawna Fensky (contemporary)

Spotlight: Spellmason Chronicles by Anton Strout

Smexy’s Top Ten 

News from Mandi: I’ll start with the good: How to Say Goodbye by Amber Lin was my favorite read of the week. I reviewed it above. It features a homeless hero and a super smart and very reclusive heroine. I loved. I also finally read, Divergent by Veronica Roth. I had a hard time putting it down! I can see the appeal of this book. I’ve just started book two.

The okay: Make you Mine by Macy Beckett, reviewed above. It revolved around a curse (but it’s a contemporary) and it was a little too over the top for me. I also read Misunderstandings by Tiffany King. I was very intrigued by the beginning. We start in present day and the hero absolutely hates the heroine (They are stuck in an elevator together). Then we go back and forth from present to the past, a few years earlier where they met and fell in love in college. The author withholds why they break up until later in the book. The second half was very rushed – I’ll get into it more in my review next week.

The DNF: Rush by Nyrae Dawn interested me because it’s a m/m football story. But after reading 25% of it, I was no longer interested. Both characters seemed completely the same – I had a hard time keeping track of who I was reading about. And nothing happens. Nothing to keep me wanting to read it.

I’m almost done reading Bet On Me by Alisha Rai – part of an erotic novella series I definitely recommend.

News From Tori: It’s been a long week as I have gotten behind work wise and my production levels fell in to the negative. Of course, I rectify this by reading and ignoring everything else. :P

I suck.

Nash by Jay Crownover. I enjoy Crownover’s Marked Men series. Nash continues the series overall theme of love, loss, and forgiveness. I loved Nash, getting his backstory, and seeing the rest of the gang where they are at in their lives now. The story flows smooth with some sweet smexy times. Unfortunately, the heroine left me feeling iffy. Saint had a TON of baggage and places a majority of the blame squarely on Nash’s shoulders. I’m not a huge fan of tropes where the conflict is the result of a grudge from HS. So many times in the book I just wanted to tell her, “Get over it. You’re a grown up, now. Act like it.”

Air Bound by Christine Feehan-I have a love hate relationship with Feehan’s heroes so this book could have gone either way for me. Luckily, the H/h in here are delightful, intelligent, well matched and quite cute together. The storyline was good, but the balance between rom and plot was very uneven. Review to come.

It Ain’t Me, Babe by Tillie Cole-I was on the fence to read this one. I had heard through the grapevine that the book was violent, gory, and had too many plot shockers to be enjoyed fully. And they were right. I did like it overall. I enjoyed the darkness of the MC and the depth of detail in the cult storyline. The second chance love trope was well done though I disliked the author’s choice of how to dealing with any external conflict to the romance.

Aching To Exhale by Debra Kayn-What a confusing book. I think if I had read book one, I may have understood this one better. A complicated story with lots of twists, turns, and misdirection. The heroine was annoyingly whiny and the hero kept saying “trust me” which was funny because it was his lack of trust that sent the heroine down the dark path that almost got her killed.

The Resistance by S.L. Scott-A fun sexy rock star romance that revolves heavily around the H/h and the autonomy of their relationship. A strong heroine and hero belays the usual childhood tragedy laced storyline. Had a similar vibe to Kylie Scott’s Play except the humor was more low key. No cheating which was a plus for me.

Indecent…Exposure by Jane O’Reilly-Mandi told me to read it,  I would like it. She was right. This erotic romance is D.U.R.T.Y. I loved the fast pace and sticky emotional responses the H/h pulled from one another. Looking forward to the next 2 in the trilogy.

Hammer’s Fall by Laurie Roma-A cute snuggy smoking hot old school romance between a hot tattooed former MMA champion and a sweet bakery owner who has body image issues. I loved the small town set up and the lack of OTT misunderstandings. Both protags were perfect in their flaws and the journey to HEA, though fast, was well done. I especially liked the side story involving the dog/military vet rescue organization.

The Kraken King (Parts 4-6) by Meljean Brooks-I am so on board with this serial it isn’t funny. Each part is the perfect blend of humor, action, and intrigue. Brooks gives us just enough to keep us hooked without overburdening us with unneeded fillers and plot bunnies. Review to come.

I will be reading Banishing the Dark by Jenn Bennett and Born of Stone by Missy Jane.