A Reviews

Restraint by Charlotte Stein

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Restraint
Grade – A
Hotness Level – Inferno
Kink Level – no kink
Genre – Contemporary, short
Reviewed by Anne

Mallory is pissed of at her friend.  He invited *Artie* along on their holiday.  Artie who hates her and thinks she’s stupid.  But while they are sharing a vacation house, Mallory quickly realizes Artie doesn’t dislike her, he just doesn’t know what to do with the attraction he feels for her.  He’s so uptight, conservative, restrained… he just doesn’t know what to do with the physical reaction he has to her blunt words.

I’ll stop there because it’s a short story (51 pages on my reader) and I don’t want to give it away, but it’s incredibly good.  I love Charlotte Stein’s voice.  Her first person story telling works for me, even though I’m not a first person fan, in general.  Early on in the story, before she understands why Artie seems to dislike her, Mallory decides she’s never going to have Artie’s approval and she doesn’t care.  In fact, she’s going to say more of the things that make him uncomfortable.


I can almost make out the pressure of his immense gaze on the side of my face, as I make a comment I know I shouldn’t be making.

I know it, the second it comes out – but somehow I just can’t help it.  I’m not even trying to employ this new “Artie can go fuck himself” attitude.  The words simply come out all on their own, like a reflex.

A rude, rude reflex, in response to Lucy’s suggestion that she’d be happy just to have some movie star hunk of the week read the phone book to her.

‘He could read the phone book to me, too, ‘ I say, and then the Doc hit my knee with the little hammer, and my leg kicks up. ‘As long as he does so directly into my vagina.’

This story is very hot.  It’s also got a dirty feel to it, which I really enjoyed.  The dirty comes from knowing how Artie feels about the things they are doing, not so much what they are doing.  I really enjoyed the writing!  Artie and Mallory also develop a sweet and believable love for each other.  I highly recommend this book.  It’s going on my Best of 2013 list.


Painted Faces by L.H. Cosway

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Painted Faces

Grade – A-
Hotness Level – Blaze
Kink Level – No Kink
Genre – Contemporary
Reviewed by Anne
 
Freda, aka Fred, is an abrasive 25 year old woman living in Dublin.  She bakes cupcakes and works at a charity shop.  She has good friends, including her roommate, but she tends to speak her mind without filtering out things first.
 
Nicholas is Fred’s new neighbor.  Not only is he gorgeous but she’s instantly drawn to him.

Even within this short conversation, I’ve noticed something sort of electric about his personality, something addictive.  His eyes pull me in, like they hold secrets that could make my boring old life so much more exciting.  You don’t come across men this alluring very often.
 

When Nicholas invites Fred to come see his show, she’s surprised and then delighted to learn that he sings and dresses in female clothes.  He’s very, very good and Fred is even more intrigued by her new neighbor.
 
However attracted Fred may be to Nicholas, but there’s no way she’d act on it. She knows he’s way out of her league and any kind of romantic relationship is bound to leave her with a broken heart.  Too bad for Fred, because Nicholas is very attracted to her and he’s ready to act on it.  Fred is cautious with her heart, though, so they fall into a friendship with some incredible sexual tension. 
 
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a huge fan of romance without external conflict, and that’s exactly what this one is.  This whole story is about how Fred and Nicholas work through their issues and and it’s delightful, funny, and painful to read.  This story is told entirely from Fred’s point of view, and I really enjoyed her voice and the way she looked at the world.  Another bonus is that the story is set in Dublin and it’s not Americanized.  I enjoy reading slang I don’t know and I’m smart enough to figure out what phrases mean if it’s not one I’ve seen before.
 
It’s not a perfect read.  There were some things that bothered me.  Throughout the book, Fred says “No” to Nicholas’ advances, while wishing in his head he’d ignore her and continue to pursue her anyway.  Often he does ignore her “No.”  Fred is OK with this, because she’s secretly hoping he really does like her enough to keep trying.  However, Nicholas had no way of really knowing that, so I found it annoying.  There were a couple plot lines that never went anywhere.
 
Still, it was overall a big winner for me. I didn’t want to put this down while reading it, which made my real life quite inconvenient. 
 
A couple points I want to be clear on:
  • This story does include references to Nicholas’ sexual abuse as a teenager.  This is important to the story, not superfluous.  It is not discussed in graphic detail.
  • While he enjoys dressing up as a woman, Nicholas’ sexual orientation is straight, and Nicholas and Fred’s relationship is a man/woman relationship.  These characters would have been interesting to read about regardless of sexual orientation, but I include this in my review in case you’re looking for a specific kind of story.
 
I’d love to read more L.H. Cosway.  Goodreads shows that she’s got two series, one looks to be vampire/paranormal, and the other a YA/paranormal.  I’m going to cross my fingers and hope she does some more contemporary romance.

Only Pleasure by Lora Leigh

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Only Pleasure (Bound Hearts, #10)
Grade-A
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-Moderate
Series-Bound Hearts #10
Reviewed by Kay

For anyone who has ever read a Lora Leigh novel, you know she is a wickedly wonderful girl. I have a great many of her books on my keeper shelf. This is one of them.

Chase Falladay is a member of the Trogans. It’s almost a secret society for lovers and their preferences. He’s wealthy, charming, easy going and sexy. Every beautiful bit a bad boy. Kia Stanton is a socialite girl and has lusted after Chase for a long time. He has never showed her any sign of his interest and she married another man. She ends up divorcing the man she married after he tried to rape her.

Two years later she sees Chase in a bar with his friend, and series favorite, Khalid. She decides to take a walk on the wild side and leaves with them. She’s always been curious regarding Washington’s best kept secret. The night they spend together changes everything for them both. It sets off a blistering affair.

Kia never denies her want for a relationship with Chase. Chase lives in denial of his attraction of Kia. He has never been able to be emotionally involved with anyone so the Trogan lifestyle worked well for him. When a deranged person from Chase’s past attacks Kia, he shows how he feels to everyone.

Being part of the Bound Hearts series, you expect hot and boy do you get it. This is my favorite of this series. The pages almost melt because of the heat. Lora Leigh did a great job of making you love the characters, even when I wanted to shake Chase until his teeth rattled. A great read for anyone who loves alpha males and explosive, explicit sex.