Month: July 2014

No Strings Attached by Reece Butler

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

No Strings Attached (MFM)

Grade: C+
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: Moderate Kink
Genre: BDSM, Contemporary, Menage
Series: Climax, Montana #4
Published: June 2014
Reviewed by Kate

Lila is taking over the ranch while her parents head out on a cruise.  She’s out to prove to everyone that she’s got what it takes.  When Jet and Houston come along looking to hire on as ranch hands, they’re just what the doctor ordered-both for the ranch and for Lila’s sex life.

The main thing that bothered me with this one was that Lila’s parents-Matt, Eric, and Nikki-and her aunt and uncles-Simon, Lance, and Marci-were so open with everyone about her budding relationship with Jet and Houston.  It was a little squick-inducing to hear them tell her to go at it. And to hear them tell Jet and Houston that she needed to be spanked.

I also didn’t really care for the fact that Beth Elliot (an ancestor of Lila and the heroine from Barefoot Bride for Three which took place in 1870) was still in this one, coming back as a spirit. The woman’s dead and buried.  Let her be.  I loved her in her book, but her popping up in the Climax series of books is stretching my boundaries of believability.

This one was filled with everything that I’ve come to love and expect from a Reece Butler read-steamy, hot sex and romance that tugs at my heartstrings.  I’m still enjoying the books, but I would like to see what Reece could do with a different series.  As much as I like the Bride Train series and the Climax, Montana series, I’m ready for something new.

 

 

Winter of the Wolf by Cherise Sinclair

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Winter of the Wolf (Wild Hunt Legacy #2) by Cherise Sinclair

13491780

Grade: A-
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: Moderate Kink
Genre: Paranormal, Shifter, Menage
Series: Wild Hunt Legacy #2
Published: 3/23/12
Reviewed by Kate

I just finished reading this Cherise Sinclair book, you know how I love a Cherise Sinclair read, and couldn’t wait to tell you about it.  Anyway, this one is part of her shifter menage series.  I read the first one in the series (Hour of the Lion) a few years ago and always meant to get around to buying/reading this one, and I finally did.  I don’t know why I waited so long!

This one is about Bree-I don’t know that I’ve ever met a more tortured heroine.  Bree was found at the age of 3, abandoned in the woods with only a picture of her parents and a unique bracelet.  She grew up in a series of foster homes, finally running away.  She has settled into a comfortable home life sharing an apartment with her foster-sister Ashley.  But one night a hellhound brutally attacks them, killing Ashley and raping Bree.  And completely ruining the life that Bree worked so hard to build.  Bree flees to recover and decides that she may as well use that time to see if she can track down her parents’ identities as well.

Shay and Zeb fight hellhounds as a team and have complex backgrounds as well.  I’d go into more detail, but I think the main point is that they move together from place to place a lot.  But Shay, Zeb, and Bree all end up in Cold Creek at the same time.  And despite being terrified of anything large and male, Bree finds herself drawn to them and feeling safe and protected when they are around.

I will say that this one was a little predictable for me.  There were multiple points in the storylines that I had called ahead of time.  But somehow that didn’t detract from the story at all.  Between the wolf pack politics (I’ve mentioned that Shay and Zeb are werewolves, right?  No, well I did now), more hellhound attacks, and Bree’s discoveries, I’m surprised that there was room for a romance in this book.  But there was!  There was such a romance in here.  *contented sigh*

A definitely must-read for fans of the first book (Hour of the Lion), but it’s easy to read as a stand alone as well.  Flowing between hot and intense and sweet and gentle, this one should satisfy any menage shifter fan’s reading requirements.

One Sexy Ride by Vivian Arend

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne
20983760
Grade: C+
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Series: Thompson & Sons #2
Published: 6/19/14
Reviewed by Anne
156 pages
 
Len is the quiet brother in his family.  He’s never had a serious relationship and doesn’t want one.
 
Janey is an outcast in her  family.  Instead of going away to college after high school, she’s learned her trade and is becoming well known in her home town for her remodeling and fix-it all skills.  She’s always had a crush on Len, her best friend’s quiet older brother.  She’s flirted with him for years.  She’s a little confused when he finally decides he’s ready to date her, but she’ll go for it!
 
I have such conflicted feelings about this story. I loved the characters and liked the story, but lots of details bothered me.  On the good side, Len may not talk a lot, but when he does, it’s good – Len is a dirty talker!  Janey is confident in herself, and I enjoy reading characters like her.  Even though she was forging a path different than the rest of her family and what they wanted her to do, she knew she was good at what she was doing and she was enjoying it.  She always had a thing for Len, but it wasn’t embarrassing for either of them.  Just feelings he never returned. They were friends and neither felt bitter about that.
 
I had two big problems with the story.  The first was that I was confused on a few different plot points.  For example, early in the story, Len decides he’s ready to date  Janey, but he never really says why.  Later he mentions (not to Janey) that  he heard she’s going to be moving out of town, so he’s planning a short term relationship with her.  When I read that, I wondered if she really was planning on leaving town.  I think it mentioned it in the book blurb, but I tend not to trust them.  Janey herself didn’t mention those plans, and Len never discussed it with Janey, so I wondered if it was gossip or an assumption he’d made.  It wasn’t until quite late in the book that the subject was cleared up, and it was unsettling to be left hanging like that.
 
Another example of this confusion is that Len makes a major revelation about himself to Janey, and it caught me so off guard that I initially wondered if he was kidding.  When it turned out to be true later in the story I was almost surprised.  Probably either of these situations alone wouldn’t have bothered me, but to have this confusion as a reader more than once makes me think it wasn’t just me.
 
Unfortunately, I also had a very big problem with what was at the heart of Len’s issues.  I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll just say I don’t think his big traumatic thing would have happened like it did.  When I read it, it just pulled me out of the story, and made me think “This author has never been in this situation.”  Either that or her experiences were light years away from anything I’ve seen.
 
So, I had some issues with the story, and despite great sex scenes and characters, it was just ok for me.  I’ll read more by Vivian Arend, though.  I’m curious to hear if anyone else has read this book if they had the same experience, or if it was just me!