This week at Smexy…

B+ review – The Hot Zone by Jayne Castle (paranormal/tori)
B review – What I Love About You by Rachel Gibson (contemporary/tori)
B review – Sweet on You by Laura Drake (contemporary/tori)
C+ review – Above All by Rebecca Brooks (contemporary/mandi)
C+ review – Taking Stock by Barbara Elsborg (m/m/helyce)
C review – What a Duke Dares by Anna Campbell (historical/may)
C review – Chieftain by Command by Frances Housden (historical/sheena)
C review – Exchange of Fire by P.A. DePaul (suspense/mandi)
C review – November Rain by Daisy Harris (m/m/helyce)

Audible Feature: Late Summer Releases
Smexy’s Top Ten

News from Mandi: 

The Unsuitable Secretary by Maggie Robinson – Okay story, but not my favorite from this author. I never quite figured out the hero – he was kind of beta but not really. Kind of outlandish but  not really. He exhausted me a bit. Review to come.

The Year We Hid Away by Sarina Bowen – One of the best books I’ve read this year. New Adult. I HIGHLY rec. (Also rec book one – I’ll be blabbing all about this series this coming week)

When the Lights go Down by Amy Jo Cousins – I liked the theater setting and the fact that the heroine was a stage manager. The author does well with making you feel like you were there. However, I didn’t connect with the hero. Review coming

Falling From the Sky by Sarina Bowen – This story deals with an Olympic snowboarder dealing with a devastating injury. The heroine is a doctor – she is mature and calm. I really enjoyed her. Review to come.

I’m going to start Losing Streak by Kristine Wyllys this weekend and then His Kind of Perfect by Kinsley Gibb. In the review request the author said it’s a little bit Cougar Town and a little bit Steel Magnolias. I’m intrigued.

News From Tori: Finding a new car sucks arse. That is all. Luckily, finding new books has been muy better. Good news!! I was informed earlier there is a M/M Amish Romance coming out. A Forbidden Rumspringa by Kiera Andrews. What??? Seriously??? It’s like Christmas time. *wipes away a tear*

While waiting for my Amish gay romance to release, I did some light reading with one of my go to crack authors, Jenika Snow. Her erotically raunchy, funny, and super fast romances only require minimal attention but offer a hell of a band bang for your buck. Dirty Girl features a short sexy romance between an MC enforcer and a tattoo artist half his age. The Outlaw Stakes His Claim, book 5 in the MC Grizzly series, (Don’t you judge me…I can’t read Plath and Joyce everyday, you know), was okay but this series confuses me. Sometimes you get a really good erotic romance with an action packed conflict and resolution and sometimes you just a lot of raunchy anal play and some recriminations on both sides. This one was the latter.

Mandi texted me earlier this week that Sarina Bowen’s Ivy series was DA BOMB and must be read pronto. As I was in a sort of reading rut, I hopped on that train and plowed through the first two novels and novella in 2 days. Bowen writes a wonderfully fresh and engaging NA series based on a small elite college and the people who go there. Book one, The Year We Fell Down is about two hockey players whose injuries force them onto the sidelines. Rooming across the hall from one another, they form a friendship that struggles once a line is crossed. Sexy, funny, and inspiring are just a few words I can use to describe the feelings Bowen invoked in me as I read. Book Two,The Year We Hid Away, covers some more serious subject matters when two students who both have something to hide find their saving grace in each other. A bit heavier on the drama and emotional manipulation. it neither less stole my heart along with book one. The novella A Blonde Date, is a delightful ball of fluffiness that gives us an opposites attraction trope between a popular sorority girl and a shy geeky basketball player. I hear her third book is M/M. Be still my heart.

Black Rook is an ambitious start to a new Urban Fantasy trilogy series by Kelly Meade. Though it carries a heavy new adult feel to it, Meade’s brings something new to the supernatural world as she builds a storyline around three loup garou brothers and their destinies. Witches,vampires, and wolves all go for the throat when a conspiracy is revealed that could destroy the loup garous once and for all. Action packed with a strong romance element keep me very entertained. Review to come.

Afternoon Delight by Anne Calhoun is a sexy, funny, playful erotic romance about an EMT who rushes through life and the hedonistic chef who makes him want to slow down and smell the roses. My only qualm? Way too short. Review to come.

I have no idea what’s up next. I’m in a free fall. I’m feeling reckless. I may completely disregard my heavily structured TBR list and JUST PICK ONE AT RANDOM!!

OMG *thud*

Actually, up next is Broken Soul by Faith Hunter. :)

News from Sheena: Well, the first week of school didn’t kill me.  Kids are back into their routine which means more reading time for me….and wine time…but mostly reading (…and wine- fine! I’ll have another glass already!)