Archives

Mad About the Boys (Anthology) by J.L. Merrow and Josephine Myles (5 Stars)

Feb10

A sexy anthology by two talented authors tapping into both the contemporary and paranormal worlds where three hearts are the rule.

Dinner for Three by JL Merrow (3.5 stars)

After leaving her abusive ex-boyfriend, Claire is now living with two sexy gay men, Tom and Justin. Tom and Justin have been dropping some not-so-subtle hints that they wish to include Claire in their relationship, but she isn’t catching on. They decide to make things very obvious over an extremely steamy dinner one night.

Since the story is only told from Claire’s point of view, and there aren’t a lot of conversations, we really only get to know her. She’s a great character and enjoyable to read. Tom and Justin were both nice guys with some adorable banter but pretty interchangeable. This is basically an enjoyable, well-written sex scene with some flashbacks in Claire’s life.

The Greenwood by Josephine Myles (5 stars)

Mirabelle is an immortal, beautiful sprite living in the forest where the story takes place. Jay is the sullen artist living alone with Mirabelle as his only companion. He doesn’t think she’s real, but he loves her dearly. Along comes Will, a woodcutter who has decided to live in the forest. Jay and Will quickly become lovers, but can Mirabelle ever truly become a true part of their lives living in her spirit form?

I loved this story with Mirabelle’s amazing character acting as narrator. It felt magical and tugged at my emotions. I felt like I was living in the woods with these wonderfully interesting people, and I desperately wanted them to be happy. It worked as a short story, but I could have easily read about these characters for so much longer.

Antithesis of Magic by JL Merrow (2 Stars)

Gus has had a hard life being born without magic like other people. Gus goes to the local bar to meet Max on a blind date. But while waiting at the bar, he is getting hit on by Lila. After Max arrives, it turns out that Max and Lila are together and really want Gus to join them. At this point, we learn a little bit about why Lila and Max want Gus so bad.

The story is told from Gus’s point of view, and he’s not the happiest guy in the world. The characters don’t really spend very much time getting to know each other before they have sex together. At the end of that scene, I felt like they used Gus to get what they needed, which was a bit sad. I think this story needs more character and relationship development and a stronger ending.

Changeling by JL Merrow (5 Stars)

Meg and Adam are the best of friends and do everything together. They live in a time in history where witches and faeries exist. Meg is a strong character, who works hard and is willing to stand up for what’s right. Adam is a very simple man who has had a rough life growing up, but he’s a sweetheart. His troubles stem from the time he was born when the faeries switched him for another baby. They wish to be together, but it’s forbidden until the original child can be recovered. At this point, we meet the original Adam, but now have to see what impact he’ll have on the original couple’s lives.

I loved Meg, and the story is told from her very interesting point of view. She’s the kind of character I could listen to all day long. The romance was sweet, and the plot was interesting. This was also a fairly long story which worked very well.

Kiss, Mark Two by Josephine Myles (4 stars)

Ruby loves Ty, but she really wants to invite Ty’s best friend, Mark, into their bed. Mark and Ty have been best friends forever, but can their relationship handle that kind of encounter?

This was one scorching hot sex scene with three people who obviously cared very much about each other. I actually cared about them, and really wanted to see this relationship work out.
Overall, this was an excellent anthology with several extremely good and unique stories. I really enjoyed this mix of contemporary and paranormal love stories with two sexy guys and one lady.

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Originally reviewed for The Romance Reviews. Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.
Book Blurb

Drift (Turbulence #2) by Lyn Gala (5 Stars)

Oct30

A continuation of an amazing romantic sci-fi series, this story had all of the elements I love reading about.

I would highly suggest reading Turbulence, the first book in the series, before DRIFT. Turbulence was an outstanding story, and the plot continues into DRIFT, but with different characters as the main focus. Fortunately, we do get to see Zeke and Jacqs again, which thrilled me to no end. There aren’t any spoilers in my review of the plot so it will be a bit vague.

Allie and Shank Lacroix have been involved for quite some time, but they’re about to take their relationship to the next level. Allie is a very strong person as evidenced by the mission she’s about to undertake. She likes to be a part of the action and help out where she can. The only little issue I had with the story was that it didn’t give me Shank’s point of view. It seemed like he had lived an extremely interesting life as part of a large pirate family, and his thoughts and background would have been fascinating. There was still enough information provided to make me fall in love with him and know that Allie would admit she was doing the same. Allie seemed to be in love with him from the beginning, but she was afraid of losing him due to everything going on in the universe. I really enjoyed the dynamics of these two together.

Allie’s interactions with Shank’s mom and his former girlfriend were fascinating. The detailed dialogue provided put me right in the room with them. The plot was filled with exciting action, including visits with the different government factions, stealing a ship, and struggling to figure out their future. The sex was steamy, and included bondage to the point of immobility. The science fiction aspect was interesting and easy to follow.

I loved this journey through space with several highly engaging characters.

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Originally reviewed for The Romance Reviews. Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.
Book Blurb

Perfect Trouble by Barbara Elsborg (4 Stars)

Jun18

Sometimes it’s worth hooking up with trouble when it comes in a delicious package.

Jinx Weston has been on the run since she was twelve, and after attending her mother’s funeral, she finally understands the true danger she was in all of her life. Jonah has been causing trouble his entire life, but he’s willing to make a change if it means keeping Jinx by his side. But first, they have to survive.

Jinx and Jonah were both sweet, funny and strong characters that I adored. As we watched these two get captured and then escape from the bad wolf pack multiple times, we got to see Jinx and Jonah work and play well together. The plot focuses on Jonah trying to bring Jinx back to his office at Paranormal Resolution, but we aren’t told why, which made it a bit of a mystery.

There was also quite a bit of enjoyable steam to this one. I liked that the story was filled with wolves, vampires, faeries, and other creatures. As the plot started to wrap up nicely, I was quickly flipping the pages to see how everything would turn out. The world the author was creating in this story had a lot of future potential, and I really hope this becomes the beginning of a new series.

I really enjoyed this fast-paced, sexy paranormal romance with enjoyable characters in an interesting world.

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Originally reviewed for The Romance Reviews. Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.
Book Blurb

Lacey and Lethal by Laurann Dohner (4 Stars)

Jun17

All vampires are evil, or aren’t they? Can Lacey find it in herself to see past Lethal being a vampire or is there no hope for a romance?

Lacey lost her sister when a vampire killed her three years ago. Since then, her fiancé left her, she gave up her day job, and now she spends her time trying to kill off every vampire she can with the help of her team. Lethal is a very old and powerful vampire who happens to own a local club where other vampires can come to safely drink blood from willing donors. He’s about to get caught by Lacey and face her wrath.

Lacey was a wonderful character. She was extremely smart which was evident by the way she thought through her plans. She was also very funny and had a sarcastic barb for every situation. I really got a kick out of watching her interactions, especially with Lethal. But she’s starting to realize that her life is a bit lonely. After capturing Lethal, she decides that there’s nothing wrong with having sex with him before she kills him. It felt a little non-consensual for poor Lethal until you realize that Lethal was pushing her to do it. However, they both seemed to really enjoy it, and their relationship progressed from there.

Lethal is extremely sexy, powerful, and also a bit lonely. He really needs a mate that can keep him in his place, and he thinks Lacey is certainly the woman for the job. After promising to help her find her sister’s killer, she lets him live to see if he’ll follow through on his promise. The rest of the story was exciting as the vampires are attacked by Lacey’s old team.

Although this was a pretty standard vampire story with an instant love theme, there was quite a bit of action and humor in the story. It’s based in the world of some of her earlier stories, but you don’t need to read them first to enjoy this. An enjoyable vampire romance with a strong, witty heroine, and an action packed plot that made for an easy afternoon read.

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Originally reviewed for The Romance Reviews. Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.
Book Blurb