no kink

It’s Complicated by L.A. Witt

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne
20816383
Grade: B
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary, m/m
Published: 4/28/14
Reviewed by Anne
201 pages
 
Brad and Jeff have a history of serially breaking up and getting back together.  The argue a lot, and their latest breakup left them in separate apartments, missing each other, but tired of fighting.  Brad works in retail and Jeff runs a business with his ex-wife, with whom he is on friendly terms with.  Brad and Jeff have decided to start over from scratch and try to make things work.  They really love each other, but are stuck in their bad habits, and trying to cope with Jeff’s hectic work schedule.  This situation becomes even more difficult when Jeff’s ex-wife ends up pregnant after a one-off night with Jeff that happened when Jeff and Brad were broken up.
 
I love a good marriage in trouble story, and this one fits the bill (despite the lack of marriage between Brad and Jeff).  One of the downsides of a marriage in trouble story is that it’s a painful situation.  In this case, really all Brad and Jeff have is their love for each other.  Their pattern of behavior and their situation is just rough.
 
So, as expectied, this is a painful read.  It’s also very good.  It comes across as a very realistic relationship, but that makes it harder to believe they do work things out.  They have so many problems, and while there’s a fundamental change before the end of the story, I felt like it ended with so much more work for them to do.    The tone of the ending was happy and hopeful, but I felt like the skip ahead to the epilogue was both needed and a little too happy to believe.   It’s probably my least favorite of the Tucker Springs series, but I still enjoyed it.

A Baby for Easter by Noelle Adams

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne
21417617
Grade: B
Hotness Level: Spark
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Series: Willow Park #2
Published: 4/7/14
Reviewed by Kate
226 pages
 

Alice and Micah spent a summer together as camp counselors in high school, culminating in hand holding and a memorable kiss.  But while Alice hoped for some kind of commitment, Micah left for college where he became a bit of a wild man.  Now, years later Alice has returned home to Willow Park after two broken engagements. She’s made a set of rules for herself, to keep her from falling for the wrong guy again. Tired of trying to live the playboy life, Micah has also returned home, hoping to live a life that makes him feel better about who he is. When a baby is dropped off and turns out to be his daughter, Micah turns to Alice for help.

 

Yes, this book includes religion.  Both Alice and Micah were raised in religious families.  Both are actively involved in their church.  But I wouldn’t classify this as a Christian romance, it was more just a part of who Alice and Micah were, rather than being preachy. 

 

What this one was a gentle tale of two people striving to be better people and yet sometimes being their own worst enemies.  Alice is so caught up in her list of rules that she forgets to trust herself. Micah is so caught up in trying to overcome his past that he can’t get out of his own head at times. Yet the story manages to be emotional and gripping, rather than whiny and annoying.  If fact, I was so involved in the story and characters that I didn’t even realize that there wasn’t any sex.  I perfer my romances to have some sex in them (this is the Dirty Girls’ Good Books blog after all), but this one was great without it.

 

If you like small town contemporary romances, give this one a try.  Noelle Adams has a unique voice that I’ve enjoyed at every turn of the page. I look forward to investigating her backlist more.

Mai Tai for Two by Delphine Dryden

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne
21569251
Grade: C+
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary, COSMO Red Hot Reads
Published: 5/13/14
Reviewed by Anne
132 ebook pages

Julie and her “work husband” Alan both won a trip to Hawaii.  When the friend Julie brought with her starts flirting with Alan, Julie is jealous.  When Alan sees Julie talking with a local guy, he gets jealous.  They decide a vacation fling might be in order.  

This book was just ok for me.  It gets bonus points for some geek references and some funny jokes, but overall it was just ok.  Julie gets upset when Alan does something she asked him to do, and that’s one of the mail conflicts in the book.  It made Julie seem immature to me.  Actually, the whole book just made me feel old.  So that’s it, I’m throwing in the towel on COSMO Red Hot Reads.  I’m not the target audience.  And even when one of my favorite authors writes, it doesn’t work for me.  (Well, ok, Lauren Dane worked just fine, but my odds are not good here.)