contemporary

Tie Me Down by Tracy Wolff

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Tie Me Down
Grade-DNF
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-Mild Kink
Genre-Contemporary
Reviewed by Kay
296 pages

This book should’ve been so good. It is erotic romantic suspense, two of my favorite things.

Genevieve is a New Orleans homicide detective who knows there’s a serial killer loose in her city. The problem is that her superior doesn’t believe her. She knows its just a matter of time until he kills again. She picks up a stranger in a bar and they have a no holds barred night of sex. She finds out the next day that he has old articles about her life and these open sex cases. She was looking for a shirt of his to wear since he tore hers to shreds the night before. Needless to say, she gets the hell out of there while he out getting breakfast.

Cole is an award winning documentary director. His sister was murdered years ago when she moved to New Orleans. He comes to town to do a movie and to see Genevieve. He wants to help in her investigation in hopes he finds his sister’s killer. He is her one night stand from the bar.

It sounds fantastic doesn’t it? I just never worked for me and tried to read it not once but twice. I love romance, romantic suspense and erotic romance. I love hot sex in my books and lots of it. This book was pretty much all sex. Wait, at least the part  that I read. This was a DNF for me, which is rare, and never in the romantic suspense category. I wouldn’t say this is a bad book for everybody but it just wasn’t for me.

Heating up the Holidays

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Heating Up the Holidays 3-Story Bundle

Grade: A
Hotness Level: Blaze/Inferno
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary, Novella
Published: 10/28/13
Reviewed by Anne
303 pages
 
Snowfall by Mary Ann Rivers (A) – First off, we start with Jenny, a microbiologist.  That’s right, a story featuring a female scientist!  Woo hoo!  Her love interest is the physical therapist she’s working with – and the conflict of interest there is very well handled.  The story is primarily about her personal journey to accept some changes in her life, and the love story is wrapped into that.  So good.  Mary Anne Rivers also wrote The Story Guy, which is one of my favorite reads of the year.  She is a new favorite of mine.  Fair warning – she writes in first person POV, from the heroine’s side only.  And it works.  Very well!  I highly recommend this story.
 
After Midnight by Serena Bell (A) – Miles is in a funk at a New Year’s Eve party.  He’s been (falsely) accused of embezzling from a charity he runs and was subsequently dumped by his fiancée.  Then he sees Nora dancing across the room.  She is happy and full of life.  They make eye contact and she surprises him by coming over to see him. The story of where things go from there is very good!  Well written with touches of humor that made me smile.  I haven’t read Serena Bell before but she going on my good list now!
 
Play With Me by Lisa Renee Jones (DNF) – So, I went into this one a bit hesitant because I associate with more suspenseful reads.  It had a strong start and I liked the heroine, but things started getting icky for me.  First our “hero” reminds one of his employees that she is “only cranky once a month.”  That was almost the end for me, but I think I was hoping our strong heroine would put him in his place.  But before we know it she’s essentially held prisoner for an entire day having her phone and computer and all contact with the outside world removed and no explanation given other than “there’s been a breach in security and we have to follow protocol.”  When our hero finally takes time to come tell her what’s going on, she quits (yay her!) only to be seduced by the mere touch of his hand shackling her wrist.  Umm.  No.
 
Despite not finishing the Lisa Renee Jones story, I’d still recommend this book based on the strength of the other two stories.  This may turn out to be a favorite year after year for me!  How about you?  Do you have a favorite holiday romance?

Inch by Inch by Heidi Belleau and Amelia C. Gormley

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne
Inch by Inch (The Professor's Rule, #3)
Grade-A-
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-High Kink
Series-Professor’s Rule #3
Genre-Contemporary, m/m, BDSM, multiple partner/non-ménage
Reviewed by Kate
50 pages
 
This book picks up where Giving an Inch left off. James is driving to Professor Carson’s house after a dressing room interlude with sales associate Satish. James and Professor Carson haven’t seen each other in 2 years, but their relationship starts right back up quickly. This one is all about James setting limits with Professor Carson and trying to explore his feelings for Satish.
 
I loved the first book (Giving an Inch) in this series and the second book (An Inch at a Time) was exactly what I wanted it to be. This third book was a great addition, but definitely left James’ relationships with Professor Carson and Satish up in the air-and left me wanting more, more, more. I hope Ms. Belleau has more planned for Professor Carson, James, and Satish.
 
I would recommend reading the first two in this series before picking this one up. Reading them in order will take care of any references to the characters’ pasts. Although reading this one first will definitely make you want to buy the first two books.
 
Ms. Belleau has created such unique characters and has a way of quickly pulling you into the story that you don’t even realize that the stories are short. She has gotten past my aversion to short story series that feature the same characters. If you read only one m/m BDSM series of short stories, this is the series you have to read.
 
This series has been my introduction to the world of m/m and BDSM together. Do you have any suggestions for more m/m BDSM reads?