This week at Smexy…

A review – Light My Fire by GA Aiken (paranormal/may)
A review – To Kiss a Kilted Warrior by Rowan Keats (historical/sheena)
B+ review – A Gentleman in the Street by Alisha Rai (erotic/mandi)
C+ review – Part-Time Lovers by Shelly Munro (erotic/tori)
C+ review – Wild for Him by Jill Sorenson (contemporary/tori)
C+ review – The Masseuse by Sierra Kincade (contemporary/mandi)
C review – Throw Away Girl by Kristine Scarrow (ya/tori)
C review – Return to Me by James Oliver French (m/m /helyce)
C- review – The Highland Dragon’s Lady by Isabel Cooper (historical pnr/sheena)
C- review – Fixing the Hole by Katherine Halle (m/m /helyce)

Harlequin Holiday Reads Tour
Excerpt: Untouched by Lauren Hawkeye

News from Mandi: I DNF’d Caged by K. Pars. A MMA fighter book, there was sooooo much time spent in the hero’s head – just info dumping stuff, I couldn’t stay interested.

Tori told me to read What to do with a Bad Boy by Marie Harte, and darn it  – she was right. It’s a good book! Kind of a Victoria Dahl vibe. Heroine is tough with tattoos. Hero is tough and big and stubborn. They are fun together! I need to go back and read about the rest of his family.

TORI-I’m always right. :P

Act of Mercy by Mandy Roth is a light-hearted paranormal suspense – the heroine is suppose to be brilliant -but she doesn’t always act that way. The hero and his buddies were funny at times. This one was just okay. Review to come.

I really enjoyed Dust of Snow by Indra Vaughn. A m/m contemporary – one hero has such low self esteem and no confidence and he starts to get courted by his co-worker. It’s romantic and fun and I loved this author’s voice. Review coming.

News From Tori: I’m heading to The Big Orlando Music Festival this weekend with the kid and some friends. Weezer, Fall Out Boy, New Politics and a bunch of bands I never heard of are playing. It looks to be a lot of fun.  I expect much squeeeing from the kid :P

Serenading Stanley by John Inman. I DNF’d this M/M. It starts out interesting enough with a young shy college student seeking housing in a run down apartment complex. It’s here he meets a wide variety of people and a potential love interest. What killed it for me was the cringing stereotypes, the hero’s self absorption, and one scene that made me want to smash my kindle. Slipping someone drugs on the sly is not cute because perpetrator is a little harmless gay boy. It was insulting that it was used as a meet cute scene to push the romance.

Love and Leprechauns by Zara Keane-Murder and romance are the key components of Keane’s newest love connection in Bellybeg, Ireland. Two former lovers reconnect when the heroine’s plans to leave her abusive husband coincide perfectly with the hero’s need for a babysitter for his autistic son. A small town ripe with gossip and rumor provides the perfect back ground for this second chance love. Review to come.

Ice by Jessie Lane and Chelsea Cameron-Fans of Lane’s Ex Ops series and Cameron’s Hellions series will enjoy this spin off that introduces The Regulators-an MC that does more than just live the free life of a 1%-er. A hard arse anything goes MC president finds his world rocked when he meets a young straight laced accountant who needs help finding her missing sister. Violence and romance goes hand in hand as the MC finds themselves neck deep in the middle of a sex trafficking ring. Review to come.

One Kiss With A Rock Star by Amber Lin and Shari Slade. I’m on the fence with this book. I enjoyed the protagonists’ explosive antagonistic relationship and the in depth look at record companies and the lengths they go to control their stars, but I felt the development of the characters and some of the ongoing conflicts was lacking. The main focus was the chemistry between the h/H but not on them as individuals. Everything they did and said was based on how it would effect the other party. Plus, I fail to understand why the three involved in the sex tape never sat down and talked to one another about it. Review to come.