contemporary

Slow Burn by Anne Marsh

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Slow Burn (Smoke Jumpers, #2)
Grade-C
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-None
Series-Smoke Jumpers #2
Reviewed by Kay

Faye Duncan is looking for a second chance. She desperately needs a do over on her life. Her career is doing pretty well but her divorce is final and it still stings. Not about the hurt but about the fact that it didn’t hurt. She cashed in her 401K and buys herself a Corvette. Camera in hand she heads to the town of Strong to take pictures of firemen for the magazine she works for. My only question here is if they are taking applications at the magazine.

Evan Donovan is a smoke jumper like his brothers and friends. He works in Strong and gets a phone call from an old military buddy. His friend, Mike says his ex-wife is headed to Strong and wants Evan to check up on her. Evan thinks its weird but says okay. He finds Faye in the local bar, drunk off her butt and takes her to his cabin since there isn’t a hotel in town. From there the story goes on.

This was an okay read for me.  Not great but not bad. I liked the characters primary and secondary. I adored the secondary romance between Ben and Nonna. I thought the mystery unfolded a little too fast for my taste.  This is an okay series and I may read more of it.

Taken by Kelli Maine

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Taken (Give & Take, #1)
Grade-B
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-None
Series-Give&Take #1
Reviewed by Kay

Rachael DeSalvo has a chance at getting her dream job. She memorized everything she needed to know to land the job. She has the interview by webcam with the CEO and gets the job! You flash forward a little and she is out on the town celebrating with her friends. She sees a guy who looks familiar and he approaches her. He buys her a drink and then things go from fuzzy to black. She wakes up in a room she doesn’t know surrounded by things she doesn’t recognize. She does however recognize the man from the bar. She puts two and two together and realizes she was ruffied. Her captor is none other than the CEO of the company she interviewed with.

Merrick Rocha has been obsessed with Rachael since their interview and watched her from afar since she had to turn down the job. He is obviously very wealthy and used to getting what he wants. Her turning down the job she so desperately wanted intrigued him so much that he kidnapped her. He wants to possess her. Oddly enough, he also wants her help to re-do an old hotel they discussed at her interview.

Okay, first, the creep factor with the kidnapping almost did the book in for me. I have already read Captive in Dark and refused to read Truth, both of these books have similar themes in them. I tried to wrap my brain around it all the way through the book. I couldn’t grasp the love of this old hotel being the reason he kidnapped her. That being said, watching his attempts at redemption and winning her trust were entertaining. It was said in the book that she always thought he was attractive and therefore attracted to him. She battled with herself and her feelings regarding him through a lot of the book.

I won’t call this a sweet romance but they were happy by the end of the book. There was a little suspense, a lot of creepy, great love scenes once they got started and an HEA. The journey to get there was a little rough. I haven’t decided if I’ll read more of the series yet

In Flight by R.K. Lilley

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

In Flight (Up In The Air, #1)
Grade-A-
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-High
Series-Up In The Air #1
Reviewed by Kay

Out of five stars, I would say this is a 4.5 star book. It missed a five star or A+ because of my discomfort with some of the sex scenes. James Cavendish is a billionaire who has a taste for kink. Hardcore BDSM to be exact. He doesn’t date or do relationships. At least, he didn’t until he met Bianca Karlsson. Bianca works as a flight attendant and waits on him in first class. She captures his attention and he propositions her. Bianca is a former victim of violence from her youth but strangely enough, she is drawn to James as a submissive.

This novel is about their relationship evolving in ways they both never saw coming. I liked but disliked both characters for different reasons. I liked James’ possessiveness and tenderness but disliked the fact he likes to hurt women during sex. I liked Bianca’s friendship with Stephan but not her free acceptance of James’ dominance. This story had good flow and I enjoyed the author’s voice.
I am excited to read the next book in the series.