no kink

Once Upon A Billionaire by Jessica Clare

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne
Once upon a Billionaire (Billionaire Boys Club, #4)
Grade: B-
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Series: Billionaire Boys Club #4)
Published: 4/15/14
Reviewed by Anne
248 pages

Griffin is not just a billionaire, but a member of the royal family in Monaco-like country in Europe.  He’s pretty proud that he has just one staff member, but as it turns out he relies heavily on that assistant to do everything for him.  When this assistant is too sick to attend to him on a trip back to his home country, he finds himself desperate enough to accept his friend’s offer of lending his assistant, Maylee to Griffin for the trip.

Maylee is a small town southern girl who still hasn’t lost her accent or her Golly Gee! outlook on life.  As it turns out, though, she’s an incredibly good assistant and Griffin comes to rely on her.  He’s as rude as he is good-looking, though, so it’s a good thing Maylee has a thick skin and is determined to complete this assignment for the money it will let her send home to her family.

My initial impression was that Griffin was an asshole.  Unfortunately that changed very little during the book.  Maylee walked the line of being TSTL.  Had she not been extremely competent, I wouldn’t have been able to forgive her actions on the plane when she met Griffin for the first time.  As it turned out, Maylee saves this story.  She’s aware that she’s a little backwoods country girl, but she also knows what she’s good at, and she knows that Griff needs her.   Griffin might be incredibly rude to her, but that doesn’t make her feel bad about herself, and that was wonderful to read!

This would have been an A read, but the last few chapters of the book just felt really rushed to me.  I thought MayLee and Griffin had issues to talk through that couldn’t be solved by grand guestures.  I cheered every time Maylee made a stand for herself, so I cringed a little bit when their problems resolved themselves the way they did when she returned to New York.

It especially bothers me that she ends up being completely dependent on him.  It bothers me because, while I’m convinced he loves her, I’m not convinced that he won’t trample all over her feelings and keep thinking he’s better than her.  They’ve got a lot to work through and it leaves me uncomfortable feeling like she’s really stuck with him  – and she’s given up trying to do anything independent.  (Yes, she mentions a business she’d like to start, but I find that improbable, because she’s never mentioned it before this and has no business experience.

All that said, I know I’ll keep reading Jessica Clare.  I adore her sense of humor!  Harry Potter references always win with me!  Maylee and Griffin do a pretty good job communicating with each other about sex, even if they don’t talk enough about their relationship.  Jessica Clare has all the elements I like, even if this wasn’t a favorite read for me.

Laugh by Mary Ann Rivers

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne
18777580
Grade: B-
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Series: Burnsides #2
Published: 5/6/14
Reviewed by Anne
224 ebook pages

Sam Burnside is a doctor who works too much and worries about his siblings too much.  He’s driving his partner in a new health clinic crazy, so she sends him off on errand to volunteer with a local farmer and build some goodwill in their community.  Nina Paz is that farmer and the chemistry between the two of them is immediate and electric.  The thing is, they both have some pretty serious issues they’re dealing with.  Sam’s got some crazy ADHD and a way of pushing away the brother and sisters he loves so much.  Nina is ten years out from the death of her husband.  She’s distanced herself from her family and built a new one made of a tight knit group of friends, but she’s still dealing with her losses.

This was a hard read for me.  Not hard emotionally, but I had a hard time connecting to the characters.  Honestly, it seemed to require a lot of reading between the lines to understand what was going on and how the characters were feeling.  That’s something I’ve really enjoyed in the previous books I’ve read by Mary Ann Rivers, but I struggled with it in this book.  Additionally, both Sam and Nina have lives filled with really tough and sad situations.  I know they took hope from their relationship and each other, but it was pretty depressing to read.

On the other hand, it’s full of one liners that made me laugh – the dialog is hilarious!  The characters are believable.  Sam’s ADHD was very interesting to read about.  It wasn’t a mild childhood thing that passed with age, but something he continued to struggle with and cope with.  That read very real to me.  He’s impulsive and blurts things out, and this causes him problems in his relationships.  Watching Nina come to understand this was very sweet.

I’ll definitely read more Mary Ann Rivers, and I’m thinking the dark tone of the things Sam and Nina were dealing with was just too much for me in this story.

Her Best Laid Plans by Cara McKenna

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne
20410569
Grade: B
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary, Cosmo Red Hot Read
Published: 4/15/14
Reviewed by Anne
88 pages

Jamie is a 20-something American house-sitting for two weeks in Ireland.  Connor is a bartender she meets there and has instant chemistry with.  She’s up for a vacation fling, and he is, too.   But what will happen if they want more and neither has time or room in their life for more?

This was a well written short story and I enjoyed it.  There were some funny moments, and I liked how things worked out in the end.  Unfortunately it suffers from me expecting to be blown away by every word Cara McKenna writes.  So when she writes a nice short story that’s just pretty good, I find myself a little disappointed.  

I’m also beginning to think that maybe Cosmo Red Hot Reads just isn’t meant for me.  It’s been very hit or miss.  I’ve got another one lined up to read.  I’ll see what I think after that.