contemporary

Bare It All by Lori Foster

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Bare It All (Love Undercover, #2; Men Who Walk the Edge of Honor, #5)

Grade-C
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-None
Series-Love Undercover #2
Reviewed by Kay

Alice Appleton has fallen in love. With Cash. Cash is a dog she dog sits for. She has real feelings for his owner and undercover cop, Reese Bareden. Reese stays with Alice at her apartment after his is a crime scene at the end of the first book in the series. Alice has a secret and it’s a pretty big one. Reese finds himself not only wanting to know the secret but wanting to get to know Alice better. Combine his and her feelings with the suspense of the human trafficking angle and what more could you want?

Well, a better story that didn’t drag near as much. At least, that’s what I wanted. It started off so good and stream rolled right up until about 65% of the way through and then it was like it hit a brick wall for me. It seemed to drag on and on. I wanted to scream out loud with frustration. This really upsets me because I like to read Lori Foster and I liked the characters in this novel. It was just too long and got lost in the middle. This novel is not indicative Lori Foster’s usual work. I have been a fan of hers for years and will continue to be. This one just didn’t do it for me though.

Close to You by Kate Perry

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Close to You (Laurel Heights, #2)
Grade: B-
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Series: Laurel Heights #2

Reviewed by Kate
267 pages


Margaret has owned her tea shop in the ritzy town of Laurel Heights for years but finances are starting to get tight. She knows who’s to blame too-Eve, the owner of the new coffee shop across the street. So Margaret sends her son Treat (yes, that’s really his name) into Eve’s shop to scope out the competition. As Treat walks into Eve’s shop, he’s glad this is a one time only spy mission because he completely falls for Eve. And the feeling’s mutual. When it becomes apparent someone is sabotaging Eve’s business, both Eve and Treat suspect Margaret is to blame. But is it too late for Treat to tell the truth about who his mother is?

Treat and Eve are great characters and I enjoyed reading about them.  But surprisingly, I really liked Margaret, the third wheel (and villain) in their relationship.  The author does a superb job of making you care not only for the hero and heroine, but the villain as well.  I would really like to see Margaret get her own HEA. 

How about you?  Romance villains.  Love ’em, Hate ’em, or Love to Hate ’em?

Dirty Laundry by Heidi Cullinan

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Dirty Laundry (Tucker Springs, #3)

Grade: A-
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: Moderate Kink (D/s, spanking, restraints)
Genre: Contemporary, m/m
Series: Tucker Springs #3
Reviewed by Anne
265 pages
 
Adam is a college grad student with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Anxiety issues that severely shape his day to day life.  He’s at the laundromat doing some laundry when a group of drunk college guys start harassing him.  Denver, a tank of a man, comes to his rescue and scares the drunks away.  Adam is thankful, but also very attracted to Denver.  They hook up right there in the laundromat.   Adam is amazed at how calm and centered he feels with Denver, and how attracted he is to the kink of having Denver be physically in charge of him.  Denver is surprised that Adam stays on his mind.  He has a lot of one night stands, but he just keeps thinking about Adam.
This is a really sweet and very dirty story.  Amazingly, that balances really well.  Adam’s issues are huge.  It’s a struggle for him to function every day.
 

“… I have no idea how I’m supposed to make out with someone when I know the soup cans aren’t alphabetized by type and the shoelaces are all sloppy in the closet.  If they’re even in the closet at all.”

 
 
Denver is a muscle bound bouncer at a local gay bar.  He’s interested in Adam, and doesn’t think much of working around Adam’s issues, even before he really understands what they are. This is so very, very sweet!
 
My only issue was in the use of D/s as a therapy type tool.  This was somewhat balanced out by the fact that Adam also saw a therapist who was helping him figure out coping skills. The story was about much more than that, though.  Denver has his own suitcase of issues and it’s unbelievable to him that Adam would be willing to accept him if he knew.  Watching these two work their way together was just so wonderful.
 
This book is third in the Tucker Springs series, but it was the first one I read and it stood alone very well.  Note that the books in this series are written by different authors.  Another note:  I LOVE this cover.  This is exactly how I pictured these two!
 
This book brings me to about a dozen m/m books read now and I’m officially declaring my love for the m/m subgenre.  How about you?  Do you read m/m?  I’ve read and enjoyed Heidi Cullinan, Marie Sexton, Daisy Harris, Sean Kennedy, and Josh Lanyon.  Any other m/m authors you’d recommend?  And standout books I MUST read?