Anne

Stone Guardian by Danielle Monsch

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Stone Guardian (Entwined Realms, #1)

Grade: B
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Paranormal, gargoyle
Series: Entwined Realms #1
Reviewed by Anne
256 pages
 

Twenty-six years ago The Great Collision happened, uniting our human world with the magical realm.  Now zombies, vampires, orcs, trolls, and gargoyles aren’t just creatures of myth.  They’re real and part of the world we know.
 
Larissa lives within a protected city and has no contact and very little knowledge of these creatures until the day she’s attacked by zombies and saved by a gargoyle, Terak.  But Terak isn’t the only one watching her, and the zombies aren’t the only ones attacking. 
 
What a great book!  Larissa wasn’t a warrior, but she was smart and practical.  She accepted and asked for protection.  She trusted her gut feelings and that was all so refreshing to read.  Terak was really interesting — I enjoyed this new take on gargoyles.  
 
Even more than I enjoyed Larissa and Terak, the secondary characters really shine in this story!  Fallon and Laire are two hilarious women – warrior and mage and they are part of a team of fighters that is mostly women!  The women are respected by the males they work with and they are more then just beings to have sex with or sequel bait. They are fierce and it was so awesome to read characters like this!   
 
The “why” of Larissa being targeted was a big mystery that I didn’t figure out until it was revealed, but it totally made sense.  That’s some nice writing!
 
I did have some little complaints.  There were times when Larissa and Terak seemed to know things about each other that they hadn’t had time to learn.  There was a time or two when someone acted out of character.  Overall, though, the good far outweighed the bad.  Monsch writes great characters and an interesting world!  I really look forward to reading more!

Breaking by Claire Kent

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Breaking (Escorted, #1.5)

Grade: B
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary, same couple series
Series: Escorted #1.5
Reviewed by Anne
61 pages
 
This 61 page story picks up a with Ander and Lori a few months from the end of Escorted. (See my review of Escorted here.) Ander has been working on his doctorate and they’ve been apart off and on.  He unexpectedly comes home from a trip a week early because he needs to be with Lori.  (This story, in contrast to Escorted, is told entirely from Ander’s POV.)  He may have been needing to see Lori, but he can’t bring himself to share his problems with her.  Instead he just keeps seducing her.
 
Amazingly, I think this book had too much sex in it for me!  However, that was a plot point of the story, so it’s not exactly gratuitous.  It’s exactly what Ander was up to – he’s distracting Lori with sex.  He uses it as a shield.  It’s an interesting and kind of believable idea. Of course, that’s not going to last forever, and that conversation was where the story really shone for me.
 
I’d recommend this story to anyone who enjoyed Escorted, but I think this story would be more enjoyable after reading Escorted.


So, what do you think of this trend of authors writing novella length sequels/epilogues for established couples.  Do you like it?

Making It Last by Ruthie Knox

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Grade: A+
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Series: Camelot #4
Reviewed by Anne
104 pages
I have always dreamed of reading a story like this! One that looks into a marriage and shows the work and the romance of it. This story brought tears to my eyes and I LOVED it. I hate crying while reading, yet I loved this book. It was so incredibly good and incredibly painful, yet sweet and romantic.

This is the fourth story in the Camelot series, and it’s a continuation of Tony and Amber, whose “how they met” story was told in the first Camelot book, How to Misbehave.  I really enjoyed that one, too, but I don’t think you’d have to read it to appreciate this one.  Making It Last takes place 13 or so years after How to Misbehave.

Tony and Amber have 3 rambunctious boys, a big mortgage, and a general busy-ness that leaves them with very little time alone.  Tony works long, long hours to make ends meet.  Amber has just seen her youngest child off to school and is feeling a little lost.  There are so many things pulling them apart, and they aren’t even sure what’s wrong or how to fix it. That doesn’t sound like much, but it’s gripping.  I was never bored, and even though I knew it had to be an HEA, I found myself wondering how in the world they’d work things out.  Yet when they did – it was believable.

The reality of the story makes it shine.  And then there’s humor that relieves some of the tension and makes me grin through watery eyes.  Amber and Tony are great flirts when they get the chance to finally be alone together!

Ruthie Knox is a rising star. I haven’t read all her books yet, but now I’m determined to! I so appreciate that she wrote a story like this one. It hit so close to home for me. It’s so real, and I’m so grateful I got to read it. It’s going on my best of the year list.

So, how about you?  Do you like reading a romance within an established marriage story?  Do you have any good ones to recommend?