menage

Menage Monday – Bodyguards of Pleasure by Melody Snow Monroe

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Bodyguards of Pleasure (Pleasure, Montana #8)
Grade: B+
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: High Kink
Genre: Contemporary, menage
Series: Pleasure, Montana #8
Published:7/1/13

Reviewed by Kate
183 pages


When computer store owner Brooke witnesses a murder, she barely escapes with her life.  And the killer is still after her.  The sheriff pairs her up with Gavin and Riley.  Gavin and Riley are part of a detective agency and will act as Brooke’s bodyguards.  Gavin, Riley, and Brooke go to Brooke’s house and discover that someone has already broken in.  The only option is to take Brooke home with them.  Brooke has spent her life concentrating on her academics and her business but after her close brush with death, she decides it’s time to start living life.  And the fact that she’s alone with her two bodyguards and there’s bondage equipment and toys in the basement…

 

So here’s the thing.  I really, really liked this book.  Probably more than I should.  Like I know that a soap opera is probably not the greatest acting on earth, but I still just love it.  The slightly overweight heroine.  The masculine and assertive heroes.  The killer on the loose.  And all that follows.  I loved it all.

 

Gavin and Riley were hot by themselves, and hotter together.  And Brooke.  For once a heroine that is smart and actually acts like she’s smart.  She reacts to things logically instead of emotionally-which appears to be a big help when you’re on the run from a killer.  And I loved that she stayed true to her character.  It wasn’t “I’m really smart and logical” one minute “and now I’m screaming like a girl” the next. 

 

This is the first book that I read in the Pleasure, Montana book (and I had no problem following along), and now I want to go back and read the rest of them.  I think I’m a closet addict of Siren Publishing.  Especially their Menage Everlasting line.  I smile my way through each of them that I read.

 

How about you?  Do you have a book or series that you just love, but know that you probably shouldn’t?  Time to come clean and confess.

Beyond Pain by Kit Rocha

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

We generally only put up one review each day, but I loved this book so much (and I don’t want to shuffle the rest of our reviews!) so I’m putting it up as a second review today!  One of my favorite reads of the year so far!  ~Anne
Beyond Pain (Beyond, #3)

Grade: A
Hotness Level: Inferno+
Kink Level: Moderate Kink (menage, flogger)
Genre: Dystopian, Futuristic
Series: Beyond #3
Reviewed by Anne
247 pages

Six was abused and discarded by the former leader of Sector 3. Bren has been looking after her since she first arrived. He’s gets her like no one else in the O’Kane gang does. And because he gets her, he knows he can’t make a move until *she* is ready. She’s got to heal some and find the parts of herself she lost in Sector 3. This book is the story of what happens when Six is ready, and it’s awesome!

For all the action that happens and the continuing story arc of the politics in Eden and the sectors, this is a low conflict story (my favorite!) about the developing relationship between Six and Bren. And, oh, is that relationship sweet and hot!

I’ll get this out of the way right away… sex between Bren and Six is scorching. There’s one particular scene that involves the two of them watching Lex, Dallas, and Rachel… I have no words. There are also a lot of scenes between just Bren and Six and I love that you can see their relationship grow with each encounter.

As much as I liked the sex, I think my favorite part of the book was the strength shown by all the O’Kane women, but especially Six and Lex.

“There was a secret in these women that went deeper than the ink around their wrists, and sometimes she thought if she watched for long enough, she could unlock it for herself.” (p.8)

Lex has been strong throughout the series. We get to watch Six come into her own. We get to see how the O’Kanes truly value each member for the assets they bring to the gang. So when Six figures out what she wants to do, even though it’s not something an O’Kane woman has done before… well, they stand behind her because they recognize it’s something she would excel at. And this happens more than once! Very cool.

When you take this gang and it’s leadership that value women on an equal level with their men, and then you add in the sexual freedom and openness… well it’s just awesome! Seriously , this is a world where it’s ok for a woman to want sex, and to want as much of it as she’d like. No slut shaming. It’s incredible! And the writing is so strong, it’s easy to believe in it.

Another thing I loved in this story is that when one of them goofs up and things go bad between them, they both are hurt but strong, and it’s not easy for them to get back together. Because the characters feel so real, their hurts feel real and it takes some work for them to repair their relationship.

This is book 3 in the series, and it would be best if the books were read in order. (Start with #1, Beyond Shame.) Each book is the story of the main couple, but there are several story arcs going on, and the book will be appreciated so much more if you’ve read the others.

If I have any disappointments in this book it’s that there were a couple scenes I’d hoped to see in this book that weren’t there. [ we didn’t get to see Six’s induction ceremony (drinking in) and we didn’t get closure with Miller yet (hide spoiler)] I hold out hope that we’ll see both these things in another book, though! I’m also excited to learn more about other characters. Emma and Noah, of course, along with the whole tangle of Rachel/Cruz/Ace. There’s also a stripper in Sector 3 who Six pointed out as being really intelligent. I want more of her!

I highly recommend this series!!
 

Menage Monday – Together in Cyn by Jennifer Kacey

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Together in Cyn

Grade: B-
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: High Kink
Genre: Contemporary, BDSM, ménage (with some f/f)
Series: Members Only #1
Reviewed by Kate
157 pages


Cyn has been best friends with twins Chris and Jared for 12 years now, and for 12 years now she’s also lusted after the pair. Unable to choose between her best friends, she keeps her feelings to herself and shares her wicked fantasies with her diary. Come on, you see where this is going, right?

Jared and Chris have owned a fetish club (that Cyn does not know about) for a while now and have always dreamed of bringing Cyn there as their submissive. They assume that she won’t be accepting of the BDSM lifestyle, so they never approach her. And then… Jared stumbles across her diary one day.

I really liked the premise of this book. Friends become lovers…with some whips and chains thrown in for fun. I jumped at the chance to read this one. I have three main gripes about this book though.

1. There is next to no conversation between Jared, Chris, and Cyn about what she’s willing to try in this new-to-her world of BDSM. The boys have read her diary and have taken that as her permission to have all those things done to her. I would have liked to see a little conversation before Jared and Chris added other club members into the mix.

2. Safeword. Let’s say it together now. Safeword. Jared and Chris are owners of a highly exclusive, members only fetish club. They are hyper aware of the security and safety of their members. Yet it is not until 91% into the book that they ever talk about a safeword with Cyn (and a lot has happened to Cyn by that point). Maybe this ties a bit to my first point, but I really wanted there to be a conversation between the three of them about a safeword before anything went down.

3. There’s a villain in this book (it’s not actually the villain I have a problem with, more the presentation). We know that Cyn has something hiding in her past. There have been multiple hints dropped throughout the book although we have no clue as to what this secret is. And then all of sudden-BAM! There’s a villain. And not just a villain, but a villain that has managed to corner Cyn. It just seemed so sudden and out of place.

The really strange part is that even with these 3 issues, I actually liked the book quite a bit.  It’s the friends becoming lovers hook that I enjoyed the most.  Plus, when you add in the BDSM aspect, I’m a goner.  There were plenty of secondary characters for the author to continue the series with and I hope she does.  I think we’ll see great things from Jennifer Kacey in the future.