Best of 2014

It’s In Hiss Kiss by Jill Shalvis

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

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Grade: A-
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Series: Lucky Harbor #10
Published: 8/26/14
Reviewed by Kate
368 pages

Becca has arrived in Lucky Harbor, escaping the drama and negativity that was consuming her life when she was living closer to her family.  She’s trying to get her life back on track.  She’s not looking for anything romantic, but she can’t ignore SGS-Sexy Grumpy Surfer.  Sam (SGS) enjoys the life of being a loner, with the exception of his two business partners.  He’s happy with his boats and his close friends.  But for some reason, he just can’t stay away from Becca.

In typical Shalvis fashion I was drawn to the characters and laughing out loud by page 4!  Shalvis has gotten written dialogue and thoughts down to funny perfection.  But Sam and Becca’s story isn’t all smiles and chuckles.  Their histories have left them both scarred and leery of giving their hearts to anyone.  The emotion that comes from this pair is staggering at times.  Yet Shalvis manages to weave humor in with the emotion without cheapening the feelings that Sam and Becca are experiencing.

Jill Shalvis is the queen of small town contemporary romance.  Managing to mix emotion and humor with ease, she has made Lucky Harbor a place where I want to live and a cast of characters I wish I could call friends.  This one is going on my “best of 2014” list.

Long, Hot Texas Summer by Carolyn Brown

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

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Grade: A-
Hotness Level: Ember
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Published: 8/26/14
Reviewed by Kate
248 pages

Loretta and Jackson have been divorced for 17 years.  They have a daughter Nona who is now 21, but they haven’t seen each other in 4 years, since Nona was old enough to drive herself to her father’s house.  Loretta hears that Nona is planning on skipping her last year of college and living with Jackson and ranching with him full time.  So Loretta storms off to the ranch to talk some sense into Nona and she’s staying there until Nona agrees to go back to school.  But the sparks are still there between Jackson and Loretta.  Can she get Nona to leave the ranch before the sparks ignite a fire?

There was so much that I liked about this book.  First off, I’m always a sucker for a plot about exes getting back together and this one was sooo good.  Secondly, I quickly fell in love with Loretta and Jackson. Loretta is quite a spit-fire.  I loved how she could verbally fight, but it never came to blows.  And at times, she had me laughing out loud.  Jackson has taken up residence at #1 on my most romantic hero list.  And all because of a jar of mayonnaise.  And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the crazy family that Loretta comes from.

My one true complaint is that there were a ton of country music references.  And every time the author wrote about a song, it pulled me out of the story a bit.  As a country music listener I had to stop and think of lyrics.  It wasn’t terrible.  Just distracting.

This one is going on my “Best of 2014” list.  A perfect, light, low-conflict, cowboy romance.  I look forward to re-reading this one in the future and seeing what else Carolyn Brown has in store for this series.

Despite the low heat rating on this one, (I think it’s been years since I’ve read a romance with no direct mention of even an erection) I really enjoyed it.  Do you have any low heat reads that remain on your all-time favorites list?

Beyond Addiction by Kit Rocha

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

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Grade: A
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: Moderate Kink
Genre: Dystopian
Series: Beyond #5
Published: 8/11/14
Reviewed by Anne
229 ebook pages

For starters, you really have to read this series in order.  You officially start with Beyond Shame, book #1, but if you want a smaller taste, you can read Beyond Solitude, which is #4.5, but stands alone really, really well.  And I think you should read this series, because it’s dark and gritty and really, really good.  Oh, and it’s really, really hot, too.

Trix has long been a background character in the O’Kane gang.  She’s a bartender and a dancer at their bar.  At the end of book #4, Beyond Jealously, Trix gets kidnapped and taken to Sector 5, and we learn that’s where she escaped from her life as a prostitute addicted to drugs.

Finn is an enforcer for Mac, the evil overlord of Sector 5.  He actually lives just to undermine Mac, and has since Mac facilitated the overdose of Finn’s favorite girl, Tracy.  He doesn’t care much about living or dying, but he knows Mac is horrible and he’s working on a one man mission to ruin his rule over Sector 5.

That all changes when Finn is called into Mac’s office and sees the newly kidnapped Trix.  Trix is Tracy.  She never really died, she escaped to Sector 4 and changed her name.  Seeing Trix/Tracy spurs Finn to action like nothing else has, and Trix and Finn end up on the run.  They’ve got a twisted history, since their prior relationship took place when Trix was hooked on drugs and Finn was her supplier – giving her the drugs in exchange for sex.  They both had deeper feelings, but the addiction between them blurred everything.

So the question is never really whether Trix and Finn love each other, but it’s how can they work through their history and issues together.  This is complicated somewhat by Trix now being a member of the O’Kanes.  That means Finn will have to find his way to a place in the gang.

The relationship between Trix and Finn was a strong point for me.  I really enjoyed watching them find their way to each other with nothing between them.  The sex scenes are scorching hot, as expected in this series.

Also as expected in this series there’s a menage scene.  That was a bit of a let down for me in this book.  It seemed a bit out of place and it didn’t quite work for me.  I was also surprised at how easily Finn was accepted as an O’Kane, especially given his history of working for Mac Fleming.  Those were the only two week points in the book for me.

Besides Trix and Finn, I really enjoyed checking in with everyone else in the O’Kane gang.  So awesome seeing Dallas and Lex truly sharing power.  I’m also getting curious-er and curious-er about Doc (whose name is Dylan!).  And what’s up with him and Maddox?  I want to go back and re-read the entire series, taking notes this time.  I thought Maddox was paired up with someone.  And then there’s Lili from Sector 5.  That’s one messed up lady, so you know she’s going to end up in Sector 4, hopefully getting some control over her life.  She’s right up Lex’s alley.

So, if you’re reading the series, who is your favorite character?  I’m a huge Noah/Emma fan, but Maddox is probably the one I’m most curious about right now!