Anne

Dark Wolf by Kate Douglas

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Dark Wolf (Spirit Wild, #1)

Grade: B+
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: Low Kink
Genre: Shifter, menage
Series: Spirit Wild #1
Reviewed by Anne
 
Lily is a successful leader in her community of Chanku (shifters).  They are known in the human world and she’s sort of an unofficial princess and official representative of her people.  Sebastian is the son of the Chanku’s most outspoken opponent.  Lily’s Chanku heritage allows her to shift into a wolf, and she has magic as well.  Sebastian uses magic alone to shift into wolf form. Sebastian grew up separated from his father, only discovering his existence when his mother was dying.  Despite her objections, Sebastian sought out his father and is now regretting his actions. 
Recently a serial rapist and killer has been attacking human women.  The women are raped and then savaged by wolves, which points to a Chanku killer.  However, Sebastian also has weird things going on in his life that make him wonder if he or his father are somehow involved.
 
This book really worked for me!  Though it’s listed as first in a series on Goodreads, I could tell as I read that there had been books before it.  A little research shows that this Spirit Wild series is a spin off or next generation series from the Wolf Tales (and other books) the author has written.  Still, I read Dark Wolf with no problems keeping up with the many characters.  I also thought the world building was done well.  It came in little pieces as I read, and again, I had no problems keeping up. 

The book reminded me of Lora Leigh’s Breeds series and Kit Rocha’s O’Kane books.  Lora Leigh because of the animalistic, even in human form, characters as well as their highly sexual nature.  The Kit Rocha comparison comes because of the multi partner accepting and sexually open society the Chanku have.  Initially that caught me off guard, but I liked the community the author created.  I was a bit surprised at how accepting Sebastian was of this when he learned of it.  That was a bit unrealistic for me.  I did like their society/pack and enjoyed reading about it.
 
Another small weakness to me was in the secondary storyline between Annie and Alex.  Annie pops on the scene with no mention her beforehand around page 100.  She’s been out of the country and mostly out of touch for years, but suddenly she and Lily are best friends.  I also thought the Annie and Alex story arc felt a bit rushed, but that was just a minor quibble for me.

The sex scenes were very well done and hot.  I enjoyed them!  Lily and Sebastian were great characters and I could really understand where they were coming from.  I liked the world the book took place in a lot.  I’ve already mentioned the sexually accepting society, but I also liked the pack and mate telepathy as well as the mate bonding.  The women were strong and essential parts of their pack, which I appreciated. Lily even came across as stronger and more sure of herself than Sebastian, and it’s rare to see something like that in a romance, and especially to have it work so well!  

Sometimes the things going on seemed a little over the top, but I liked it overall enough to set aside those moments.  I’m putting this book on my Best of 2013 list and I really look forward to reading another book in this series!

Cutest Couple by Kate Davies

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Cutest Couple (Girls Most Likely to..., #2)
Grade: C+
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary, NovellaSeries: Girls Most Likely To… #2
Reviewed by Anne

Bree and Marc were devoted to each other in high school and were voted Cutest Couple of their class.  Bree was a military brat whose father died in service.  When Marc enlists just after graduation they have a huge argument and break up.  While Marc is gone at basic training Bree realizes she’s pregnant.  She makes an attempt to contact him, but when he doesn’t respond she feels further betrayed and abandoned and decides to raise their child on her own.  Now it’s their 10 year high school reunion and they are both attending.  Marc still has no idea he has a child, and Bree knows she must tell him. 

I really wanted to like this book more than I ended up liking it.  I think I’ve said that before.  It’s that darn secret baby trope.  I cannot set my inner parent aside, and it makes it really hard for me to understand and forgive anyone who would keep a baby a secret from its father.  So, right away this story has a mark against for me.  The thing is, when the explanation is believable, I enjoy a secret baby story.  In this case, I was so mad at Bree, it’s hard for me to say how I felt about the story.    I was pretty upset with Marc, too.  Here are two young adults (when they graduated from high school) who were each other’s world.  Then they have one fight and never say another word to each other.  Nope.  I can’t buy it.
 
There were some things I appreciated about this book, and this series, though.  I liked that Bree caught a lot of flack for her weak attempt (ONE attempt!) at contacting Marc.  I didn’t want instant forgiveness, and she didn’t get it. (It did come pretty quick, though.)  I really like how this story fit tongue in groove (not that kind!) with the first of the series.  The writing is well done and fun to read.  Sometimes you know what just happened off page because you read book one, and other times you can’t wait to read what just happened off page when you get to read book 3. I also really appreciated the friendship between Bree, Tess, and Kelsey.  It felt fun and real. 
 
It’s a nice quick read, and I’m curious to see what was going on in all those off page moments, so I may just have to read the 3rd one.  Which bumps this from a C to a C+.

Family Man by Heidi Cullinan and Marie Sexton

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Family Man
Grade: A

Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary, m/m

Reviewed by Anne

 

Vince is a 3 times married and 3 times divorced man who is just finally admitting to himself that he might be gay.    Trey is a 25 year old student working 2 jobs to support his mother and grandmother.  He knows he is gay, but he’s been way too busy for a relationship. When Vince decides to try going to a gay night club and see if that helps with his confusion, he’s shocked to see Trey, an acquaintance from his neighborhood there.
 
What a sweet and hot story!  Painfully real at times.  Just pretty darn awesome.  There is so much going on in this book to love.  I’ll make you a list:

  1.  Vince’s journey from realizing he might just possibly be gay to finding himself in a relationship with a man and considering coming out to his family is heart wrenching in a very good way.  I can only guess what that kind of emotional journey is like, but I imagine it just like Cullinan and Sexton wrote it.

  2. Vince’s sister is awesome, both in her teasing of Vince and in her support of him.  She was a wonderful person to read about.

  3. Trey has a journey, too, and it’s a bittersweet one.  His life experiences with his alcoholic mother make it believable that the age difference between him and Vince just is not a big deal.  

  4. I felt like this could have been a true story.  All the details felt right to me.  The character that had a seizure and the descriptions of it, the scenes in the hospital?  I’ve been there, done that, and reading this made me want to compare notes with the authors because they really got it right.

  5. I enjoyed Vince and Trey’s families, especially Vince’s mother and Trey’s grandmother.  They were strong women who had raised strong men, and I liked seeing their relationships.

  6. The relationship between Vince and Trey had such sexual tension!  At the same time it was really sweet.  They gave each other room to figure things out.  Neither pushing the other to move faster than they were comfortable with, but at the same time clearly enjoying their time together.  

  7. Vinnie and Trey dance together.  And it’s hot.

  8. The part where Vince’s sister has to help him dress for a not-a-date with Trey.  So funny and sweet.

    Rachel ended up putting him in a pair of suit pants but with a dark plum-colored shirt with iridescent silver pinstripes she dug out of the back of his closet. He tried to shoot it down, because it had always felt too flashy to him, but Rachel insisted.

     “You’re gay now, big brother. You can be a little flashy.”

     “I am not gay.”

     “Right. You’re just making yourself a nervous wreck over a night out with a man. Completely different story.”

  9. The story grabs you from the first line. Seriously. I bought this book because I read the excerpt on All Romance ebooks. Here. Go check it out. I read it and I bought the book, that simple. (I checked it out because it was Smart Bitch Sarah’s book club pick of the month for April, so props to her, too.) 

Probably the only thing about this story that made me pause was how it switched point of view back and forth from Vince to Trey.  I enjoy it when a story switches back and forth, but in this case Vince’s POV is told in third person, and Trey’s in first person.  On one hand that made it really easy to tell whose POV we were in, on the other hand, it took me a while to get used to it.  By the end of the book I didn’t really notice at all, though, so it’s pretty much a non-issue for me.
 
I loved this book so much.  I want to go back and re-read it right now!  I highly recommend it.  It’s going on my best of 2013 list, and I’ll be looking for more by these authors!