This week at Smexy…

B+ review-Down Home Cowboy by Maisey Yates (contemporary/mandi)
B+ review-Trust by Kylie Scott (contemporary/tori)
B+ review- Kiss My Boots by Harper Sloan (contemporary/mandi)
B review-The Ruin of a Rake by Cat Sebastian (historical lgbt/tracey)
B review –Rocky Mountain Home by Vivian Arend (Contemporary/Helyce)
B review- Some Kind of Hero by Suzanne Brockman (suspense/tracey)
C+ review –Mister Hockey by Lia Riley (contemporary/kini)
C review –Lucky Charmed by Sharla Lovelace (contemporary/tori)

Smexy’s Top Ten
RITA 2017 Finalists Blog Tour!
Promo and Excerpt-Forgetting You, Forgetting Me by Monica James (7/26/2017)

News from Tori: I’ve finally started watching 7th season of Shameless and the first season of Riverdale. Thoroughly enjoying both. I leave for vacation Sunday. Me and the kid are heading up the coast for a last minute hoorah before school starts.

Every time I vow not to get sucked into Lani Lynn Vale’s world again, I get sucked back in again.  Son of a Beard was a pretty low key fast read.  I liked Truth and Verity. Verity was a hoot.  I still don’t understand Vale’s need to introduce conflict that doesn’t have a purpose though.  Also,  I can’t be the only one thinking Truth and Verity…Trance and Viddy? I’m Only Here For The Beard was a bit more dramatic and highlights a side character from a former book. I liked this couple too but I thought the heroine cries of, ‘I’m just independent!” were really code for “I’m a rude arsehole.

Breaching the Contract by Chantel Fernando A sexy, fun, and fast read that pits a newly graduated law student against a broody lawyer. I enjoyed watching the sparks and snark fly as these two butted heads. Review to come.

Spellbinder (Moonshadows, #2) by Thea Harrison While book one wasn’t my cuppa tea, book two more than made up for that with its tortured romance, engaging protagonists, and deep emotional well.  This dark and chilling romance takes liberties with the legends of King Arthur and the man behind the throne-Merlin. Review to come.

Blackthorne’s Bride (Bitter Creek, #4) by Joan Johnson  The 4th in Johnson’s Bitter Creek series gives readers a heady love story filled with second chances, revenge, and redemption when a Duke in need of money marries a newly minted heiress only to discover things are not what they seem. Quite entertaining. Review to come.

I’m currently reading Molly Harpers’ Accidental Sire and am thrilled by how funny and well plotted the story is. It reminds of her earlier Jane stories.

News from Kini: I haven’t read much this week. I have been listening to Under Locke by Mariana Zapata. I picked this up years ago and DNF it. But I recently saw the book on a list that mentioned heroes with piercings, so I wanted to give it another try. It is essentially a super slow burn version of Kristen Ashley. Biker hero that grunts a lot. A heroine that is borderline TSTL. Could really use an editor to cut down on repetition. I love and hate it.

For the first time in a very long time, I am venturing out of romance/fiction and reading a non-fiction book. I picked up Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies by Michael Ausiello on NG, pubs 9/12. I used to be obsessed with The Ausiello Files at the height of my Gilmore Girls & Veronica Mars tv watching. I am not very far in the book, but so far it is funny and sad.

I also started Cross Check by Kelly Jamieson, pub date 7/25. Jamieson has a way of incorporating topics that don’t come up often in romancelandia, and I love it every time. I’m interested to see what she brings me this time.

In a shameful moment for me, today I admitted to the Smexy crew that I have never read any of the Ilona Andrews Kate Daniels books. Or any paranormal or urban fantasy books. Please don’t kick me out of the club. I am on the wait list at my library for Kate Daniels #1 on audio. Fingers crossed it becomes available soon.