This week at Smexy…

A review – Shards of Hope by Nalini Singh (paranormal/sheena)
B+ review – Asking for It by Lilah Pace (dark contemporary/mandi)
B+ review – Brokedown Cowboy by Maisey Yates (contemporary/mandi)
B review – Suddenly One Summer by Julie James (contemporary/mandi)
B- review – Fandemic by Jennifer Estep (superhero romance/may)
C+ review – I’ll Stand by You by Sharon Sala (contemporary/tori)
C review – Never Resist a Rake by Mia Marlowe (historical/sheena)
D review – Vicious Cycle by Katie Ashley (motorcycle club/tori)

Wicked Wednesday – The Devil You Know.
Feature: All the Right Places by Jenna Sutton
Smexy’s Top Ten

News from Mandi: True North by Liora Blake is such a good rock-star romance read. The hero is a punk-rapper type of rock star – he skateboards and some of his lyrics aren’t always….appropriate. His image is edgy and rough – but that isn’t necessarily who he really is. He lives in LA. The heroine is a widowed-novelist who lives in Montana. They meet. Things happen. Good things. Tori rec’d it to me and she is reviewing this coming week. Highly rec.

The Duke’s Holiday by Maggie Fenton is a really cute historical romance. A very serious, ocd duke (very ocd) meets a heroine who lives in a castle that is actually crooked. Her life is chaos. The duke has trouble with this. But falls in love with her anyway. It’s really adorable. Review coming.

Nova by Maggie Fortune was disappointing. I picked it up because the blurb interested me so much. It’s YA Sci-Fi and the heroine has a bomb inside of her, set to go off in enemy territory in 36 hours. The beginning of the book was exciting but it doesn’t last. I’ll be reviewing this week. The plot fall apart and the heroine start so bad-ass and turns out….not so bad-ass.

I DNF’d two books this week: The Best Medicine by Elizabeth Hayley – I was really turned off by the heroine to start this book. She is rude and abrasive and just rubbed the the wrong way. I didn’t make it far. And in an odd turn of events, I was very turned off the hero in All the Right Places by Jenna Sutton. He is very inappropriate with the heroine when she comes in for her first business meeting with him. Making ridiculous sexual comments that would (or at least should) never happen in a business meeting between two strangers. No likey.

I’m going to start Kick at the Darkness by Keira Andrews – m/m apocalypse romance. We shall see how it goes!

News from Tori: I’ve been on a massive Nalini Singh re read of her Psy-Changeling series. I’m currently on Tangle of Need which is one of my favorites in the series. I adore the wounded Riaz and Adria and the notion that not ALL love matches in the changeling world are dependant on the mate bond. Needless to say, this has taken up A LOT of my times this week. :)

Mel from SM Obsessions tweeted Stacy Gail’s newest House of Payne book was out-Twist’s story-so I snatched it up. Twist has been quite the poo head in the past installments so I was curious to see what Gail had in store to redeem him. I enjoyed it overall. Twist has an over active protective instinct that zeros in on fellow tattoo artist Angel, causing much antagonism. So much in fact, she quits the House. I liked that it wasn’t insta love (at least on Angel’s side) but Twist was sooooo pushy and runs rough shod over Angel so much, it irritated me much of the book.

The Revenge Playbook by Rachael Allen is a YA about 4 girls who seek revenge against the HS football team who are worshiped like Gods in this small southern town. Similar to Kody Keplinger’s work, there is a strong girl power vibe as these girls tell us their back stories and what led them up to this point. Cute but scattered with the 4 POVs and VERY youthful tone. Review to come.

Fade to Black by Jax Newman is a rockstar romance I picked up on a whim. A sexy humorous erotic romance about a rock star who disappears under unknown circumstances and the young lady who is tasked to find him. Newman does a great job of fleshing out the lead characters, intertwining their back stories into the storyline with nary a blip. The romance happens fast but in a believable way. Additional subplots add depth, resolution, and provide a nice lead in to allow the author to continue into the next installment. It was nice to see an older couple (late 20s) who have themselves together with no ugly or emo issues to hold them back. Tristan’s reasons for disappearing were a bit on the dramatic side and I admit I rolled my eyes a little when I discovered what they were. I am looking forward to the next in the series which is Rhys, Tristan’s bandmate.

Do Not Disturb by Stephanie Julian. Number four in the Salon Games series gives us Dane’s and Talia’s story. Fans will remember Dane from book one. Sensual erotic scenes balances well with the overall storyline and small but complex subplots. A slow burning romance winds it way through the book though I saw similar issues that mirrored the issues I had in book three. Review to come.

This weekend I am reading Moonlight on Nightingale Way by Samantha Young and what ever else tickles my fancy. :P