This week at Smexy…

B+ review – Beyond Addiction by Kit Rocha (erotic/tori)
B review – Love and Let Spy by Shana Galen (historical/may)
B review – Ever After by Kate SeRine (paranormal/tori)
B- review – The Wrath of Dimple by Lucy Woodhull (contemporary/mandi)
C+ review – One of Us by Tawni O’Dell (suspense/tori)
C review – I Want it That Way by Ann Aguirre (new adult/tori)
C- review – Bane of her Desire by Kira Shayde (paranormal/sheena)
C- review – Risky Business by Melissa Cutler (contemporary/mandi)

Cover Reveal: Lonesome Point Texas series by Jessie Evans
Feature: No Place to Hide by Shannon Stacey
Smexy’s Top Ten

News from Mandi: Midnight Vengeance by Lisa Marie Rice was just okay for me. She always writes fun heroes and stories that are a bit over the top and this was no exception. However, I don’t feel as if I truly got to know the hero in this one. His details are kind of glossed over – instead we spend many pages with the villain. Just middle of the road for me. Review coming.

Exchange of Fire by PA DePaul had potential. A romantic suspense, there are secret bad guys, secret good guys, lots of action and some hot sex. Unfortunately, there were too many secrets and too many bad guys and it was hard to follow along at times. There was also too much telling us the H/H are in love and not enough showing. Review coming soon.

Above All by Rebecca Brooks is pretty good romance between an older heroine who works at a campgound and a younger hero in culinary school. I loved the setting and the heroine. My biggest complaint is that the story jumps ahead a lot (to different seasons) so we miss big chunks of time, making it hard to keep invested in the emotional journey. Review coming.

My biggest highlight of the week (and the year) is The Hook Up by Kristen Callihan. A new adult and I loved it. The hero is a nationally recognized quarterback star at his college, and the heroine is a student who doesn’t always feel worthy of his attention. Their chemistry is off the charts. The hero is one of the best I have read in a long time. It’s super, super sexy. There is just the right amount of angst. I smiled… a lot. Can’t rec this one enough (out 9/8)

I’m almost done with One Night of Scandal by Elle Kennedy and it’s a lot of fun. You guys are going to like this one.

News From Tori: Though I am not a serial fan, I picked up Scorned by S.L. Scott because I liked the premise-a young women who was dumped in the harshest of fashions by her longtime boyfriend sees him again after three years and when she is about to embark on another relationship. Though only 85 pages, Scorned provides a fast paced storyline that sets up the premise, flipping between past and present to offer us POVs from both sides. The hero is a tool and I liked the author doesn’t attempt to redeem him early on nor allows the heroine to fall back into his arms. Some humor and foreshadowing intrigued me enough to want to read the next installment. I was a little disappointed all the smexy times were off scene.

Jay Crownover’s Rowdy is the 5th installment in her Marked Men series. A sexy romance with some nice suspenseful conflict and past storyline resolutions. My only contention was the regurgitation of past events and attributes became tiring. While I do enjoy revisiting past characters, there was a lot of repeating information that dragged the storyline down. Review to come.

What I Love About You (Truly, Idaho #3)  by Rachel Gibson is a cute romance with a dirty mouthed hero and the heroine who settles him down. A fast read with plenty of humor, full monty smexy times, and some bittersweet moments of conflict. Review to come.

I reread Kristen Callihan’s Evernightand loved as much the second time around as the first. The 5th installment in her Darkest London series, Callihan revisits a couple from book four and expands the arc to include their journey. An explosive and darkly humored action packed PNR that gives readers the smexy times, conflict. and world expansion they have come to expect from Callihan. Review to come.

The Beautiful Ashes by Jeaniene Frost is a new adult urban fantasy built around a very interesting premise. While not blown away by this one, I do think it has potential. It spends a majority of it’s time setting up the arc and introducing characters and their positions in the story. Review to come.

I liked Jack (The Family Simon, #2) by Juliana Stone but wasn’t as engaged as I was with book one-Tucker. Fantastic fireworks between the h/H and a bittersweet romance couldn’t help that chemistry felt off. I also felt the conflict resolved too easily with some important issues left up in the air. Review to come.

Servants Of The Storm by Delilah S. Dawson.DNF-cover and premise promised a powerful YA dealing with demons, mental illness, and grief. Unfortunately the story itself failed to engage me with unlikable characters, the faint premise that anti-psychotic drugs cause more harm than good, and a heavily padded storyline.

This weekend I have Mandy Baxter and Thea Harrison in my to be read pile.