Month: October 2013

Always on My Mind by Jill Shalvis

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Always On My Mind (Lucky Harbor, #8)

Grade: B
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Published: 9/24/13
Reviewed by Anne
254 pages
 
Leah feels like a failure after messing up at pastry school and on a reality cooking show.  She spending the agonizing time until the show’s finale in Lucky Harbor, her home town, running her Grandma’s bakery.  Her best friend Jack is there for her as always.  When the idea that Jack and Leah might be dating cheers up Jack’s mother – who is fighting cancer – Leah runs with the story saying she ad Jack are going out.  Jack plays along and, much to the amusement of everyone else, pretending to date leads to actual dating and falling in love.
 
Jill Shalvis is an amazingly dependable writer!  This is another great story.  There’s tons of humor, along with the Lucky Harbor cast we know and love.  I think this book would stand on it’s own just fine, though.

Leah is a pretty damaged heroine – well, her self esteem is damaged due to her father’s emotional abuse while she was growing up.  I would have felt better if she’d started seeing a therapist during the course of the story – she’s really got issues!  Jack had his own problems, but they never seemed as big as hers.

I loved the set up with the two of them fake dating to give Jack’s mom a little boost.  Everything about that was funny.  The ending was a little over the top, but it didn’t ruin anything, and it left me wanting to know a lot more about Ben and Aubrey!

Throw Back Thursday-Glory in Death by J.D. Robb

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Glory in Death (In Death, #2)
Grade-B
Hotness Level-Blaze
Kink Level-No Kink
Series-In Death #2
Genre-Romantic Suspense
Reviewed by Kay
296 pages

Wow! So much went on in this book for me. Roarke and Eve’s relationship evolving, I got to meet Peabody, more Pheeney (spelling?), a new commissioner of police, a good whodunnit and a little Mavis thrown in for fun.

I really am enjoying this series and am still grateful for Anne, Doris, Anna and Holy’s suggestions to read this series. I really liked the mystery, wondering who the killer was. Was the elder Angelini or the younger one? Or possibly the future son- in- law? This world that Robb has created is very interesting and entertaining. It got me heart pumping with the suspense and is surprisingly at times, terrifying with it’s scene descriptions.

It ended with a marriage proposal and I’m very interested to see how Eve handles this. I have the third audio book on reserve at the library and hoping it comes in today so I can get it and start it!

             

Freedom to Submit by Melody Snow Monroe

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

       
Grade-C-
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-Moderate Kink
Series-Freedom, Colorado #1
Genre-Contemporary
Reviewed by Kate
164 pages

Danisa “Dani” witnesses a murder and needs some protection from the killer who has already made an attempt on her life. Enter Sheriff Brady (who went to the same high school as Dani, but the two have been out of touch for years) and his friend and housemate, Lucas. Because who better to protect you than the horny sheriff and his even hornier friend? Not to be out hornied, um…horned? Dani, on the night that she almost dies, remembers to pack her sexy underwear when she’s packing to go stay with Brady (who she just re-met earlier that day) and Lucas (who she’s never met).

Unfortunately, neither hero worked for me. Brady, a jock that has never grown up, has to be one of the worst law enforcement heroes I’ve read about. He goes on a dangerous stakeout by himself and moves things around at the crime scene before it’s been processed. Now I’m not saying I’m an expert, but I’ve seen a few CSI episodes-enough to know that both of those are big no-nos.

Lucas was another creature altogether. I found him to be cold and only concerned with satisfying his libido. His speech was almost robotic at times. But the thing that got me most was that he called his dick “him”. Now, I’m generally okay with guys having a cute nickname for their most important possession, but for some reason calling it “him” was just too much.

I struggled with the heroine, Dani. I just couldn’t connect with her character at all. Her connection to Brady and Lucas was instantaneous and unquestioned. There never seemed to be a time that she asked herself if she was moving too fast.

I really wanted to like this book. I’ve enjoyed other books that I’ve read by Melody Snow Monroe before. However, I just couldn’t get past the characters to get into the plot.

Obviously, calling it “him” didn’t work for me. What nicknames for a guy’s member is your favorite? How about your least favorite?