Welcome to the first edition of Kini’s Friday Kisses, hereby known as #kinisfridaykisses or #kfk
I have been losing my reading and reviewing mojo lately, but I am really excited about the format change at Smexy. FYI- I was avoiding coming up with a name for my date because I am HORRIBLE at naming things. I texted Mandi Wednesday night hoping she had something fun and clever. She didn’t. So I googled “reading words that start with F” Nothing interesting appeared. I changed it to K and got kisses and was like duh! So that is how the name came to be. I hope you enjoy it.
Books I read recently.
Speakeasy (True North #5) by Sarina Bowen– pub date May 29. This is May’s story and chance at love. I was confused at first because I thought May had been described in previous books as a lesbian, but she is bisexual. When Speakeasy starts, May has just discovered her girlfriend is cheating on her. Alex, Zara’s older brother and owner of the bar, helps May out and gets her out of the bar without trouble. They start hanging out, having casual sex and soon they are in love. I really, really like Bowen and this series on my list of favorites. It was a solid story and I loved seeing May and Alex get their HEA. I had a few issues with some unnecessary jokes about May’s “lesbian sex” life before Alex. May is an admitted alcoholic and I really liked how she hid so much from Alex and how he worked so hard to support her.
Hooked on You (Chicago Rebels #4) by Kate Meader. I enjoyed books 1 & 2 in this series and this one was good, but not great. I was really looking forward to Violet and Bren’s story, but it fell just a bit short of my expectations. Bren was a tortured soul, recovering alcohol who is trying to balance sobriety, parenting, being a top-notch hockey player. Violet is a little lost after coming to Chicago and figuring out where she fits in the world. Violet ends up filling in as a nanny for Bren’s kids. Violet doesn’t need the job, she is part owner of the hockey team. Anyway, romance ensues. The sex is hot though. The one thing that really, really stuck out for me is Bren’s ex-wife is made to be the villain. I am ready for this plot device to be over. We can have female exes in books without pitting women against each other.
Favorite Quote: “I can’t be involved with anyone right now, not when I need all my strength for my kids and the play-offs. I’m barely holding on, Violet. I want to do everything to you. I want everything from you. I would consume you with need. Desire. Darkness. It’d be dirty and desperate and not very pretty. And I suspect you’re the kind of woman who needs more than I have to give. A hundred percent of my focus.”
I had a few DNF’s recently.
Before Daylight by Andie J. Christopher is a oops, we’re married book. I love that trope. I made it to 20% but I felt like there was too much that happened in other books and I felt like I was missing things. I may try to read the previous books and come back to this.
A Scandalous Deal by Joanna Shupe sounded fantastic, but the story just dragged for me. I stopped around the 20% mark because it felt like nothing was happening.
The Thick of Things by J.L. Campbell- This book had so much potential. Older characters, the heroine is a divorcee who has experienced a significant loss recently. But it was bogged down with insignificant details and skimped on some of the important stuff. Additionally, the heroine was having guilt over being a divorced woman and thinking of finding love again. I know this is a real thing, but I hate it and I can’t stand it in books.
I have this on preorder and had hoped SPEAKEASY would be a lesbian romance with an HEA—in part because May has been presented as a lesbian in previous books in this series. She was in a relationship with another woman (although it didn’t seem a very happy situation) and in one book we discover she’s had unrequited love for her straight best friend. But now I guess May has become the old college cliche: a LUG (lesbian until graduation).
My understanding has always been that May is bisexual. I was hoping she’d wind up with a woman for her book, partially because Sarina writes MM so well. I just hope May’s bisexuality isn’t erased in Speakeasy
DiscoDollyDeb and Leigh- May is definitely bisexual and it is addressed in the book. And her feelings for Lark are still there.
I’d encourage you both to read it and see how it all works in the book.
I gotta say, I thought May did come off as a LUG and that the bisexual rep was just terrible. Even the blurb erases it, though that’s only the first on a long list of things that bugged the hell out of me, including
— lots of fetishising of May’s relationships with women
— the other lesbian characters are all complete stereotypes *and* total assholes
I feel a need to mention this stuff, since virtually no one else is. :-(
I’m looking forward to reading Speakeasy; thanks for the review, Kini.
P.S. Nice column name!
Thanks Karen!
Kini! Awesome name choice! I didn’t even think about that. Hmmm–can’t think of any H words at the moment. :/
I plan on reading Speakeasy because I’ve really enjoyed this series, but I don’t remember May at all and that bugs me. Hopefully it’ll come back when I read!