B Reviews

Lumberjack in Love by Penny Watson

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne
16167949

15993406
Note: the top cover is the latest cover for this book.  I feel like I should get bonus points for bravery for reading it when it had the original hand drawn cover!

Grade: B
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Series: Lumberjack in Love #1
Published: 9/7/12
Reviewed by Anne
114 pages

Ami is a city girl through and through.  She’s visiting her sister in the boonies of Vermont while nursing a broken heart.  She was just dumped by her boyfriend, who she not realizes was a total loser.  Her sister sends her on an errand to deliver something (papers, I think) to Marcus, a very lumberjack looking man who is building a custom treehouse for Ami’s niece.  They’re each attracted to the other, but also very aware of how unsuited they are.  And very aware of how attracted to each other they are.  So a little fling couldn’t hurt, right?

This was a quick and funny read.  It’s full of lines like this one: “Was there a Mrs. Mountain Man in the picture, maybe sewing the checkerboard curtains and keeping his axe well oiled?”  I love this kind of humor, so the story flew by with me chuckling a lot.

The ending had me rolling my eyes a bit.  It annoys me when otherwise rational characters choose not to communicate and the main reason seems to be to set up conflict.  That was the case here.  Also, while I appreciated a discussion of birth control, neither character seemed concerned about STDs, which didn’t seem responsible.

Still, it was cute and I enjoyed it and would try another story by this author.  I recommend it if jokes about wood still crack you up – I know they do for me!

Abducted By A Prince by Olivia Drake

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne
18169923
Grade: B
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Historical
Series: Cinderella Sisterhood #3
Published: 4/29/14
Reviewed by Kate
352 pages

Raised by a guardian who died shortly after he started at Eton, Damien’s one clue to his parentage, a key, was stolen by Walt.  Now as an adult, Damien is desperate to find out who his parents were.  So he hatches a plan.  He will kidnap Walt’s sister and hold her hostage until Walt delivers the key.  What could possible go wrong with that plan?  Except he accidentally kidnaps Walt’s unwanted cousin instead.


Once I got past the fact that such a level headed man could come up with such a foolish scheme, this book worked for me on so many levels. A hint of fairy tale without being an outright retelling.  Deep characters.  An intriguing plot.  I couldn’t stop turning pages. I’ll be reading the first two books in this series soon.  If you like fairy tales and historical romances, give this one a try. 


This historical was has put me in the mood for more historical romance.  Do you have any recommendations?

It’s Complicated by L.A. Witt

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne
20816383
Grade: B
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary, m/m
Published: 4/28/14
Reviewed by Anne
201 pages
 
Brad and Jeff have a history of serially breaking up and getting back together.  The argue a lot, and their latest breakup left them in separate apartments, missing each other, but tired of fighting.  Brad works in retail and Jeff runs a business with his ex-wife, with whom he is on friendly terms with.  Brad and Jeff have decided to start over from scratch and try to make things work.  They really love each other, but are stuck in their bad habits, and trying to cope with Jeff’s hectic work schedule.  This situation becomes even more difficult when Jeff’s ex-wife ends up pregnant after a one-off night with Jeff that happened when Jeff and Brad were broken up.
 
I love a good marriage in trouble story, and this one fits the bill (despite the lack of marriage between Brad and Jeff).  One of the downsides of a marriage in trouble story is that it’s a painful situation.  In this case, really all Brad and Jeff have is their love for each other.  Their pattern of behavior and their situation is just rough.
 
So, as expectied, this is a painful read.  It’s also very good.  It comes across as a very realistic relationship, but that makes it harder to believe they do work things out.  They have so many problems, and while there’s a fundamental change before the end of the story, I felt like it ended with so much more work for them to do.    The tone of the ending was happy and hopeful, but I felt like the skip ahead to the epilogue was both needed and a little too happy to believe.   It’s probably my least favorite of the Tucker Springs series, but I still enjoyed it.