contemporary

Too Hot to Handle by Victoria Dahl

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Too Hot to Handle (Jackson, #2)
Grade – B
Hotness Level – Blaze
Kink Level – no kink
Genre – Contemporary
Series – Jackson #1
Reviewed by Anne

Merry has been a tumbleweed through life, but she’s finally putting down roots and showing her family and friends she can be a success.  She’s gotten a job as curator of a ghost town.  She’s going to develop it and turn it into a tourist attraction.  Shane lives across the hall from Merry.  He has ties to the ghost town that Merry doesn’t know about.  In fact, he is contesting a will that has direct effect on the ghost town.  Merry knows he does carpentry work and asks him to do some restoration work in the ghost town.  Shane accepts the job, thinking he can get a little inside information on the committee opposing him in the lawsuit about the will.  When he starts feeling attracted to Merry, his deception weighs on him, but not quiet enough for him to come clean.

I usually don’t like this kind of set up.  I’m not a fan of BIG SECRETS.  And I was initially annoyed at this one.  However, the farther I got into the story, the more believable it got.  Shane tells himself, just a little while longer.  With every passing day you know the revelation of the big secret will be even more painful, but I found myself rooting for them to stay in the lie just a little longer, because they were so good for each other and I knew the truth would rip them apart.  So I understood why Shane kept the secret.  In the end, I felt like his grovel and apology were fitting for the hurt he caused and I was ok with everything.
 
Other than the BIG SECRET, I really have nothing to complain about. I loved Shane and Merry’s chemistry.  Victoria Dahl is such a fun and funny writer!  There were so many stand out scenes in this book.  The shower scene, the hidden vibrator scene, all the moments between Merry and Grace were delightful, too.  I really enjoy a book where the characters have real friends.  Raylene at the bar was a hoot!  
 
This is the second book in the Jackson series.  I haven’t read the first book and I followed this one just fine.  I’m going to read the first one, though, because Grace was such a good friend to Merry and such a strong woman that I want to know more about her.  This is a wonderful book and I highly recommend it!  Dahl is back on my favorite writers list.

Most Likely to Succeed by Katie Davies

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Most Likely to Succeed (Girls Most Likely to..., #1)
Grade: C
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary, Novella
Series: Girl Most Likely to… #1
Reviewed by: Anne

 
Kelsey and Nathan were lab partners back in high school.  Despite having feelings for each other, they never acted on them and lost touch once college rolled around.  Because of this, Nathan doesn’t know that Kelsey didn’t end up going to college.  Instead, when her mother fell ill, she helped out in her mother’s flower shop and ended up staying there.  Now it’s class reunion time and Kelsey is ashamed to have her brilliant lab partner discover what she’s been doing.
 
Thankfully (for me, hater of BIG SECRETS) this big secret isn’t a secret for long.  That was a point in the story’s favor.  Unfortunately, it really took a while for this one to be enjoyable for me.  The first half of my copy of the novella is full of bookmarks with comments from me like:
“Wow, that’s an odd thing to do after years apart.”
“Hero seems to be a saint with no flaws.”
“Answers the door in a towel.  Really?”
“Awfully touchy with a stranger.”
“Whatever.”
The book also has one of my personal pet peeves… sex on top of the hotel comforter.  I just don’t trust that that those are washed every time!  PLEASE, fold back the comforter and have sex on the sheets!
 
Once I got past the midpoint of the book (and ignored the comforter sex) the story really grew on me.  Nathan is pretty perfect, but he makes some very real mistakes with Kelsey and things get kind of messy.  That was believable to me and I enjoyed seeing the two of them work through it.  By the end of the novella, I wanted it to be longer.  I wanted to see more of Kelsey’s transformation.
 
Interestingly, it looks like the books in this series (I’m going to guess there will be 3) are all taking place during the same 4 days of the high school reunion.  There were enough teasers to really make me want to read the second book, Cutest Couple, which comes out in April.  So, my overall grade is a C, but it’s a hopeful C.

Come Away With Me by Kristen Proby

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Come Away With Me (With Me in Seattle, #1)
Grade-C+
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-None
Series-With Me In Seattle #1
Reviewed by Kay

Luke Williams is a former actor turned producer who just wants to live his life without the paparazzi hounding his every move. He left Hollywood and moved to the Seattle area, near his parents. He keeps to himself pretty much and enjoys that.

Natalie Connor is a photographer who takes pictures of nature for the most part. She does do couple photos that can be considered erotic. She lives with her roommate, Jules. She is contented in her life as well.

These two characters meet when Luke assumes Natalie is trying to take his picture. Natalie thinks Luke is trying to mug her. They part ways and run into each other the next day at a local shop and from there, a romance is born.

I liked the story but felt it dragged in the middle. Luke was all in and that’s always a sexy quality in a hero. Natalie was a good heroine too. She had made mistakes in her past and had tried to move on from them. It was predictable but I was very okay with that. I loved that, at their wedding, Luke had two chairs decorated with her deceased parents’ favorite flowers in their honor. My eyes got very teary at that scene.

I will probably read more of this series but I wish there had been a little less sex. I know, I know, I can hardly believe I said that either. This book had copious amounts of sex in it. It was hot but gratuitous. Oh, and I LOVE the cover. Very sexy!