Taken By The Hero by Stella Rose

Taken by the Hero (Taken to the Edge)
Grade-D
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-Mild Kink
Series-Taken to the Edge
Genre-Contemporary
Reviewed by Kay
30 pages

I wanted something short and sweet and got this instead. This was a teaser to what I assume is an on-going story line. I blame myself for not reasearching this more but it was a freebie, so I thought what the hell.

Mercy Martin has wanted Hunter Green, yes that’s his name and yes I did giggle, since she was twelve. He has been her brother’s best friend for her whole life. When he gets back from his tours in the Middle East, she figures it’s time for him to notice her and she throws herself at him.

Hunter Green, giggle, notices her alright. He sees she’s all grown up but two important things stop him from taking what she’s offering. First, she’s his best friend’s sister and he has desires he’s sure will make her uncomfortable. He does engage in some fondling and kissing in public though. Three different times where anyone could see them and twice within view of her parents.

I’m not saying the sex in the book was boring because that was the best part of this story. But seriously, who has sex where their brother or parents could see? Ewww, gross. Not to mention, who would you call to bail you out if you got arrested for indecent exposure? There were a couple of other things that bothered me with this story. It seemed like it almost scene jumped without warning. Also, it talks about him being a Marine and two sentences later she sees his picture with his Navy uniform on. I know you can serve in different branches of the military but I don’t recall a mention of any Navy service.

I might in the future try to read something else by this author but I want something with a little more chemistry between the characters and more consistency with the writing.

Married To The Trillionaires by Ella Mansfield

Married to the Trillionaires (Menage for Mankind, #1)
        
Grade-D-
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-Mild Kink
Series-Menage For Mankind #1
Genre-Futuristic Menage
Reviewed by Kate
95 pages
*Warning: the following review contains spoilers*
In the future…April has been raised in a “religious” community, where things have continued much as they are today. Namely, women are giving birth to babies. Outside of these isolated religious communites, women are done with the pain of child birth. Eggs are painlessly harvested and fertilized. Unfortunately, no one realized that more boys would be born than girls and that the girls would be born frail and weak and worst of all-*gasp*-sterile. So it turns out that the girls from the religious communities are in high demand. And that their parents are greedy enough to auction the girls off to the highest bidders (yes, that’s right, bidders-plural). After all, who else is going to repopulate the earth?
April’s father is looking to get remarried and has decided that the best way to get the money he needs for his new life is to auction April off. Although he is kind enough to set some restrictions. She can only be sold to a group of four or less men (bless his heart, five men just might have been too overwhelming for the little virgin) and that she must actually be married to one of them.
Bill, John, David, and Steve decide to pool their money together so they can purchase April. Then they set up a very formal business arrangement, contract and all. April will live with Bill (since he is putting in more money to start with-at least I’m pretty sure that’s why) and he will provide for her. Each of the other 3 men will get one hour with April every night. That’s right, every night. Any daughters that are born will be sold at auction with the proceeds divided between the men.
They buy April and proceed to pass her around that first night. Bill is nice enough to hire a masseuse for April the next morning, because he wants her to be ready for the night. They send her from one room to the other, night after night. And April is completely okay with it. Mainly because Bill has a hired chef who serves her shrimp and lobster and other dishes that she’s never had before.
They’re all starting to fall for each other and everything goes well. The men decide to update their contract to say that they will not auction off their daughters and will let them choose who they wish to marry. But before the new contract is even signed, April hears that’s it’s not uncommon for the daughters of their kind of arrangement to be auctioned off and she discovers the original contract that the men had signed. So she runs away (what else is a heroine who, up to this point, has been spineless supposed to do?). Of course, she ends up pregnant and, of course, the men find her shortly before she delivers. And everybody is happy once again.
I really was looking forward to reading this one. I love futuristic menages. But this one went wrong for me right off the bat. April is so meek. She never complains when her dad tells her he’s auctioning her off. And once the men buy her, there’s not ever a period of time when she is upset about it. Then you have the men. I just couldn’t get past the fact that they were so business about it. They started off as asses and never really changed throughout the story.
The sex scenes were plentiful. After all, the poor girl had 4 men to please each night. And I suppose they could be considered hot, although for me the formulaic approach that April had to take (first Bill, then John, then David, then Steve, and finally back to Bill) made everything feel so cold. Nothing was ever spontaneous.
The only positive I can give this one is that it is short. But if I were you, I wouldn’t waste my time.

Three Weeks With A Bull Rider by Cat Johnson

Three Weeks with a Bull Rider (Oklahoma Nights, #3)
Grade-B
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-Mild Kink
Series-Oklahoma Nights #3
Genre-Contemporary Western
Reviewed by Kay
320 pages

I love cowboy romances whether they’re contemporary or historical. I love the rodeo cowboy storyline and find it very interesting since I don’t know the first thing about it. The risks they take with their bodies, their relationships and their families. That being said, I was super excited to read this book.

Jace Mills is a veteran rodeo cowboy on a somewhat of a winning streak. He’s fairly successful because of his winnings and his normal job of landscaping. He has been in an on-again off-again relationship with his ex-girlfriend for eight years. She was a former rodeo queen who we find out is bipolar. To say their relationship was tumultuous is an understatement. He wants his best friend, Tuck to go on the circuit with him but Tuck declines because of his newlywed status. So after yet another fight with his ex, Jacqueline, he decides to go alone and ends their relationship, again. He runs into Tuck’s little sister, Tara after her recently purchased POS car dies.

Tara is in the last semester of college for sports medicine but has to do an internship with the rodeo. She’s nursing a broken heart after her long time crush gets married to someone else. She sees her car breaking down as yet another setback in her life. When Jace offers to travel with her to save on expenses, she reluctantly accepts. They’ve always had a hate/hate relationship but you gotta do what you gotta do.

As times goes on she gets to see Jace in a different light and gets the medical experience she needs. She then comes up with the idea that she and Jace can have a traveling partners with benefits relationship. After it’s over, they can go their seperate ways. She can get the sexual experience she feels she needs so she doesn’t lose another man and he gets strings free sex. Jace is at first horrifed. There are lines that just aren’t crossed and your best friend’s sisters are definately that line. His body’s reaction to Tara makes the decision for him ultimately. Seducing and being seduced by your best friend’s virginal sister takes it’s toll on his conscience. Can these two very unlikely people find happiness for three weeks while trying to move on from their heartbreaks?

Cat Johnson does a great job of writing these two characters. You feel Jace’s pain over the failure of his relationship with Jacqueline, the first woman he ever loved. His sense of guilt over the decision to become Tara’s lover is felt through the pages. Jace is a good guy. Tara tries to prove she’s grown up despite the loss of her childhood crush. This story takes two people, broken in their own way, who find in each other what they need to heal. The author did an excellent job with the balancing of story, humor, sex and love.

My favorite line from the book:

Jace’s sex life had been in such a slump, he wouldn’t be able to identify a pussy in a line up.