This week at Smexy…

B+ review – Pucked by Helena Hunting (erotic/mandi)
B+ review – The Friend Zone by Kristen Callihan (new adult/tori)
B+ review – Last Kiss by Jessica Clare and Jen Frederick (suspense/tori)
B review – Midnight’s Kiss by Thea Harrison (pnr/tori)
B review – All For You by Laura Florand (contemporary/mandi)
C+ review – Colin by Sotia Lazu (erotic/mandi)
C review – Hide Your Heart by Tracey Alvarez (contemporary/mandi)
D review – Win by Submission by Melynda Price (contemporary/mandi)
D review – Wild Heat by Lucy Monroe (contemporary/mandi)

Wicked Wednesday: The Anti-Hero
Smexy’s Top Ten

News from Mandi: Grave Phantoms by Jenn Bennett is a fantastic book. I adored Bo and Astrid!! This entire series is great – I recommend them all. Historical paranormal romance set in the 1920’s didn’t appeal to me – but then I FINALLY picked up book one and I love. It’s not too heavy on the paranormal.

I DNF’d Spotless by Camilla Monk. I like jewelry theft books – but I couldn’t get invested in this one. And there was a lack of romance.

I finished but did not like Ruby Ink by LJ Wilson. It was not good. Reviewing soon.

Ripped by Edie Harris was greatly anticipated by me, and didn’t quite live up to the hype I had in my head about it. I wanted Tobias to be a little more cold and damaged throughout the book. It was an okay read – I didn’t not like it, I just didn’t love it like I loved book one. Review coming

I just finished The Bourbon Kings by JR Ward – her new contemporary book. It’s more fiction than romance, although there is a central love story in it. I wrote up more detailed thoughts on Goodreads.

News from Tori: Between getting ready for RT, work, and the kid’s end of course exams, it’s been a stressful week with not a lot of reading getting done.

Eighth Grave After Dark by Darynda Jones. The Eighth book in Jones’ humorously dark PNR Charley Davidson series brings us answers we have been wanting for a while and blows the arc wide open. A fast paced, action packed read that doesn’t bog down with nonsense filler and never ending one liners the previous installments have fallen victim too. The overall general silliness has been toned down as the storyline seriousness heats up. Review to come.

Asa by Jay Crownover. Asa marks (heh) the 6th book in Crownover’s Marked Men series. I have heard this is the last one of this series but I know Crownover still has a few characters to write about and a substory or 2 are left hanging. Asa as okay. Frankly, Asa and Royal’s emotional whining got old quick and the conflict at the end was over the top and unnecessarily dramatic. Smexy sex scenes but I never felt the connection between Asa and Royal ever crossed from physical to emotional.

Carter Reed 2 by Tijan. Carter Reed 2 picks up where the first book left off. Emma and Carter are together though her friends are having issues with her dating one of the mob’s most dangerous hitmen and Emma has someone calling and claiming to be her sister. Action packed with some light love scenes, Tijan ties up a few loose threads from book 1 but leaves enough open for her to revisit.

Trust by Ella Frank. A huge fan of this delicious M/M trilogy, I found myself not as enthused with this installment as I was with the last two. I liked it but I wanted more. I wanted to see Tate and Logan as a couple doing regular things. Movies, dinner, anything that didn’t automatically have a sexual ending. Yes, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the sex was overwhelming. These guys couldn’t take a leak without making it a sexual experience. I was also disappointed in the resolution of the ex boyfriend conflict. All that hype and he basically goes away when told to. Watching Tate and Logan become a committed couple was very sweet and Tate resolving with his father and ex wife was heartwarming. I enjoyed their banter and genuine love for one another.  A fine ending to a steamy sexy trilogy.

Lonely Hearts by Heidi Cullinan Another bittersweet and emotionally turbulent, Cullinan’s third book in the series revisits her boys at Temple University and helps one of her most damaged couples find love and forgiveness as they struggle with issues from the past. Sexy, erotic, hopeful, and heartbreaking, fans of this series will absolutely adore Baz and Elijah. Review will appear in AUG issue of RT Book Reviews Magazine.

This weekend I will be out of town but hoping to finish Tracker’s End by Chantal Fernando and Need Me by Tessa Bailey.