C Reviews

Loving an Ugly Beast by Danielle Monsch

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Loving an Ugly Beast (Fairy Tales & Ever Afters)
Grade: C+
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Fairytale/Historical
Reviewed by Anne

Benton is big and strong, but he’s covered with scars, so he’s known as the beast of his village.  Nissa is his best friend.  They secretly each like the other, but lack the confidence to make a move.  When a fairy godmother shows up and grants Benton’s wish to be more beautiful, how will things work out?
 
First off, what a great premise!  It’s pretty rare to read about a man who thinks he’s unworthy of a woman because of his looks!  I enjoyed seeing this cliche turned on its ear.  Second, this is a mid-evil set fairytale village.  I enjoy this kind of setting, and I really wanted to enjoy the book.
 
My biggest complaint is the modernisms that kept pulling me out of the story.  At one point they talk about having enough money to “keep your son in diapers.”  That didn’t make sense to me. They would have been using cloth diapers.  Expense wasn’t as much an issue as the time it took to wash them, I’d think.  Another time we see this line “Why is it always good for the man but a crapshoot for the woman?”  Crapshoot?  That seems like a more modern casino term to me.  I don’t know.  I’m not an expert.  Maybe I was being too picky, but little stuff like this kept pulling me out of the story.  That was disappointing!  It had a lot of promise.
 
Because of that promise, and because it was funny, and because I like fairytale romance, I’ll probably try another one by this author, but it’s borderline for me.

Claim Me by J. Kenner

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Claim Me (Stark Trilogy, #2)
Grade-C
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-Low
Series-Stark Trilogy #2
Reviewed by Kay

Let me start by saying that I have never the first book in this trilogy. I was given the book as an ARC to read and review.

Damien Stark is a financial wizard. Very handsome, wealthy and of course scarred. In the first novel of this series, he and Nikki Fairchild agree to an arrangement. He will pay her one million dollars if she is his for an agreed upon amount of time. She is his to do with what he wants, sexual or otherwise.

At the start of this novel, their arrangement is over but not the feelings that have grown between them. They face struggles from their pasts and basically his inability to fully trust. I never fully connected with these characters but I feel that’s because I never read the first book. I liked the writing style and it was easy to read but I just never really cared about them as characters. I think had I read the first book I might have liked this more.

New Life by Bonnie Dee

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

New Life
Grade: C+
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Reviewed by Kate

Anna is a brand new attorney.  Jason is a college aged janitor in Anna’s building.  He was seriously injured in a car accident that left him with permanent brain damage.  One night he finds Anna crying in the stairwell.  They feel a connection to each other.  Most people look right through Jason, but Anna does not.  This develops into a relationship.  It has it’s challenges, but they meet them well together in the beginning.  I really enjoyed the book up to this point.
 
As things progress, though, they face bigger challenges and I didn’t like how things played out.  I felt like Jason was too fragile.  It didn’t seem like there was a lot of personal growth, and I’m not convinced they overcame their problems.  I think they’ll face them over and over and probably deal with them in the same way.
 
I thought it was an interesting relationship to read about, but I wasn’t convinced that they’d live happily ever after..  That was troubling to me.  I think the story ended too soon for me to be convinced otherwise.  I do think Bonnie Dee is a good writer, though, and I’d read more by her.