Anne

Seducing Cinderella by Gina Maxwell

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Seducing Cinderella (Fighting for Love, #1)

 
Grade: B
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Series: Fighting for Love #1
Reviewed by Anne
180 pages
 
“You should put a shirt on when we’re not doing therapy.”
“Why?  The less I wear the more comfortable I am.  I put the shorts on as a courtesy to your virtue.” (location 346, kindle edition)
 
Reid is a MMA fighter at the top of the sport.  He has an injury he needs to rehab fast in order to be ready for his next fight.  He’s pleasantly surprised to learn his new physical therapist is his best friend’s little sister.  They were like family to him and it’s been a long time since he saw her.  
 
Lucie is very happy to see Reid, too.  She’s always had a crush on him and has followed his MMA career.  She’s not a fan girl, though, and she takes her job seriously.  
 
Because Reid wants round the clock attention, he talks Lucie into taking some personal time off work to attend to him.  In exchange, besides paying her, Reid agrees to help her transform into a woman her doctor co-worker would be interested in.  Of course, spending all that time together really backfires for them both.
This was a fun read, and I definitely am putting Gina Maxwell on my To Be Read list!  There were lots of little moments of humor – including a He-Man reference. Lucie and Reid felt like real people, and their problem didn’t feel exaggerated.  I liked seeing the transformation in Lucie – both inside and out.  I loved how strong she was by the end of the book.  Reid’s actions were believable, and he was a sweetie, despite his asshole moments.

I’m not a huge MMA fan, so I was ok that there were no long drawn out fight descriptions.  My guess is that the description of the lifestyle was accurate, though.  I look forward to the next book!

Begin Again by Christy Newton

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Begin Again

 
Grade: C
Hotness Level: Ember
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Reviewed by Anne
111 pages
 
Maisie’s husband and unborn child died in a tornado two years ago.  Since then she’s been just getting by.  Living in her sister’s basement and saving money from her job at the diner in hopes of buying a home for herself, mostly just so she can be alone.
 
Ryan is an exotic animal vet who moves to town and meets Maisie when he stops in at the diner to get some apple pie.  He likes her even more than the pie, and the pie is really good.  He can tell that she’s hurting about something, but doesn’t know what it is.  He’s content to take things very slow, though.  He talks her into going out with him just as friends and helps her with her ailing hamster.
 
The best part of this story is the story – the friendship and romance that develops between Maisie and Ryan.  The book felt longer than 111 pages, and I mean that in a very good way.  It’s very focused and you get to see why they fall for each other.
 
This was a sweet and touching romance. I liked the story, but it felt a little raw and unpolished. The characters were likable and I really cared about them. The issues they were dealing with were very believable and tugged at my heart. I especially thought that the mourning process that Maisie went through felt true to life. A huge loss like that wouldn’t be easy to get over.

There were a few wtf moments that made me wonder why they were included in the story. These moments stuck out even more because they had very little or no effect at all on the story. In fact, they were distracting.  Now, the story was very spare, with almost every word applying directly to the romance, which was actually really nice, but it made those wtf moments feel more out of place.

There was a lot of head hopping, too. Seriously, like every 3 paragraphs. I got used to it and it worked with this story, but it was unusual. A couple other unusual things I noticed: Maisie’s parents were missionaries and at one point Maisie mentions that she’ll pray for someone. I kind of appreciated the normalness and complete lack of preaching that went along with this. There also was no alcohol in the book at all, and I didn’t miss it. I do have to mention that the sex scenes were fade to black, which caught me a bit off guard and I know would really bother some readers. 

I’ll admit that a low/zero heat romance like this is not usually what I read, but this one worked for me.  How about you?  Does a fade to black sex scene drive you nuts, or are you ok with it?

Love at High Tide by Christi Barth

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Love at High Tide

 
Grade: B-
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Reviewed by Anne
142 pages 
 
Darcy is spending a week at the beach with her BFF, Trina.  Darcy’s got a big decision to make now that she’s finished her PhD.  Should she take the prestigious job offer from Africa, where she was miserable doing her dissertation?  Or should she…  what?  She has no other offers on the horizon. Some days of sun and relaxing sound like a great way to spend a few days before she has to make her decision.  If only Trina were content to just lay on the beach… But no, Trina drags her from one thing to another, starting with an embarrassing trip into the ocean where Darcy freaks out and is saved (in waist deep water) by the very handsome Cooper.  
 
Cooper just happens to be on vacation.  He’s taken some time off from the police force and is also trying to decide what to do going forward.  A little romance with Darcy for the few days she has left at the beach sounds really good.  Unfortunately, Trina has decided to start training herself for a career as a private detective.  Now that she’s finished researching the position, she decides to stalk, er, I mean watch a suspicious looking guy she sees on the beach.  There’s safety in numbers, so she drags Darcy along with her.  In between outings with Trina, Darcy finds time to go out with Cooper and their attraction is instant and off the charts.

So this book had some ups and downs for me. Darcy and Coop, I liked a lot. Darcy’s best friend, Trina, who has a lot of page time, kept moving back and forth from “She’s hilarious!” to “What a bitch!” She was very funny, but she kept pulling Darcy into these dangerous situations that I thought just made them both look dumb. That was really frustrating.

Aside from the stupid amateur sleuth stuff, and a couple way unnecessary comments about Darcy’s weight, Trina and Darcy had great banter and felt like real friends. They even make a Xena reference!

Darcy and Coop are both at a point of personal crisis. Those felt very real to me. And even though the story took place over only a few days, their connection and their decisions about the future were believable to me. They actually communicated with each other and talked things through!

So, while it had it’s annoying points, it was overall a good book for me.