contemporary

Another Woman’s Son by Anna Adams

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Another Woman's Son
Grade – C+
Hotness Level – ember
Kink Level – None
Genre-Contemporary, Harlequin
Reviewed by Kate

Okay, get your pens and papers ready. Take notes — there’ll be a quiz at the end (okay, not really, but you still might want to take notes).

Best friends Will and Ben married sisters Isabel and Faith. Will and Isabel. Ben and Faith. Got that? Keeping up? Good. One more person to add to the mix. Tony is Ben and Faith’s toddler son.

When Isabel presses Will to have a baby, he admits he already has a son with — wait for it — Faith. That’s right, little Tony is really Will’s son, not Ben’s. Isabel leaves Will. She decides not to tell Ben about Tony’s true parentage.

Three months later (where the story starts), Will and Faith have decided to run away with Tony. They are in an accident with Tony being the only survivor. Faith had left a note for Ben, so he now knows Tony is not his biological son.

Ben is terrified Isabel will tell her parents that Tony is really Will’s son and they will want to take custody away from Ben. He decides the best course of action is to keep Isabel close to him, so he invites Isabel to stay with him while she is cleaning out Will’s house — the one she hasn’t lived in for 3 months.

Isabel is a great big ball of internal conflict. She feels guilty for not telling Ben about Will and Faith’s affair. She knows the best home for Tony is with Ben, but worries Ben might refuse to let her family visit Tony. She doesn’t like lying to her parents, but doesn’t want to ruin her parents’ memories of Faith with the truth of Faith’s infidelity.
This story has a fast timeline. Four months from start to finish. Ben and Isabel’s feelings for each other started within a few days of the funerals. I can usually overlook a quick sprint to being in love, but this felt a little off. To top it all off, the epilogue was a bit too hunky-dory for me. It was an okay read, but I don’t think I’ll be rereading this one.

Paradise Awakening by Jaci Burton

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Paradise Awakening (Passion in Paradise, #1)
Grade – B-
Hotness Level – Inferno
Kink Level – None
Genre-Contemporary, novella
Series – Passion in Paradise #1
Reviewed by Kate

Professor Serena Graham knows her sexual fantasies could cause her to lose her job if anyone in her small hometown were to find out. So she books a week stay at the Paradise Resort to try some things out.

When she arrives, her suite has already been taken by author Michael Donovan, who is at the resort doing research for his next novel. Michael had planned on bringing his girlfriend along but she cancelled on him. He is not to upset as that relationship was falling apart anyway.

There are no other rooms available, naturally, so Michael and Serena decide to share the two bedroom suite. That agreement quickly turns into an agreement to share all the experiences offered by the resort…no strings attached.

This one is HOT, HOT, HOT. Even though there are tons of steamy scenes, you are still able to get to know Michael and Serena. The conflict in the book stems from the ‘no strings attached’ part of the agreement. Of course, they both fall for each other. Of course, he denies it and then feels guilty for hurting her. Of course, she tells him she loves him right before she leaves. And of course, he tracks her down afterwards. A fairly predictable plot…broken up by some really steamy action. Did I mention HOT?

The Navy Seal’s Promise by Soraya Lane

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

The Navy Seal's Promise
Grade-C
Hotness Level-Blaze
Kink Level-None
Reviewed by Kay

The novel is about the promise Luke, a Navy Seal, made to Saskia, a soldier in the Army. They sat next to each on a flight and got to talking. Saskia is a single mother and on leave for forty-eight hours over the Christmas holiday and wants to see her son. Luke is on his way home also but to spend Christmas by himself. He enjoys her company and conversation as they make their way home. Her connecting flight is cancelled leaving her heartbroken, so Luke promises her he’ll get her home.

Luke lost his wife to cancer three years ago. He made her a promise he’d get home to her but didn’t arrive until after she’d passed. He saw the sorrow in Saskia’s eyes and was moved to help her. He knows all too well how short life is and how important it is to be with the ones you love.

This was a very cute and very sweet love story about two people who know about not only sacrifice but dealing with loss. They find something in the other person that they connect with and a love begins to grow. This story made me smile more than once.