Grade: B
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary, time travel
Series: Geek Girl #1
Reviewed by Kate
When Jamie, a video game junkie and self-proclaimed geek, touches an antique bureau, she is transported to 1816 and lands in the bed chamber of Lord Micah of Axelby, Earl of Dunnington. The bureau (unbeknownst to Micah) had been enchanted to bring Micah’s one true love to him. Jamie is quickly taken under the wing of the housekeeper Mrs. Knightsbridge, who knew about the enchantment and helps teach Jamie how a proper lady should act in 1816. Micah quickly believes Jamie’s story of being from the future after she shows him her smart phone. (After all, who can argue with Angry Birds?) But, can modern girl Jamie really fit in back in Micah’s time?
I found Geek Girl filled with lots of snort and snicker moments. I appreciated that the not-so-nice parts of living in 1816 (chamber pots, no tooth brushes, etc.) were not glossed over as they were in some other time travel romances I’ve read. By the time I finish reading a book, it is typically filled with tons of highlights and notes. Geek Girl sucked me in quickly and kept me so into the story that when I finished I only had 2 notes written. My only complaint is that the ending wasn’t the ending I was expecting. Yes, it is a HEA ending, just not what I was expecting (and that’s more of a reflection on me than on the book).
contemporary
The Proposition by Jennifer Lyon
Grade-A
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-None
Series-The Plus One Chronicles #1
Reviewed by Kay
Sloane Michaels is an ex UFC fighter and a billionaire. He achieved his wealth through fighting and endorsements which he used to open a chain of fitness centers. He is very alpha (sigh) and really is a force of nature. Not classically handsome but ruggedly gorgeous. He’s at a wedding and notices the caterer, Kat Thayne. He wants her and that’s all there is to it.
Kat Thayne is a scarred woman, in more ways than one. A brutal attack five plus years earlier has left her with a lot of emotional and physical baggage to deal with. She feels like a failure to her family, and after an attack on her best friend, she feels like a failure to him too.
Sloane offers to train her in self defense in exchange for her to be his plus one at events. He’ll be her plus one also. Oh, and they will have sex. With no strings attached though. Kat finally agrees to these terms and boy was I glad.
This book just worked for me on all levels. Easy to read, good characters, good premise and chemistry. Hot, hot, hot! I loved it and I can’t wait for book two coming out in May! One of my best of 2013.
Tucker’s Fall by Eliza Gayle
Grade: B-
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: BDSM
Genre: Contemporary, BDSM
Series: Purgatory Masters #1
Reviewed by Kate
When Maggie is arrested in a raid of a sex club, she also ends up fired and divorced, all very publicly. So she retreats to her parents’ empty cabin to regroup. Tucker escaped his hometown as early as he could, only returning after his father died. Tucker has been denying his inner Dom ever since. He’s been waiting for Maggie to return. When Maggie and Tucker meet, sparks fly and they enter into an intense Dom/sub relationship.
I enjoyed meeting both Tucker and Maggie. Tucker seems to be a tortured soul with a tiny bit of stalker (he’s done extensive research about Maggie before they get together). A dominant who is actually looking for a commitment was a nice change of pace. Maggie is an extreme case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. She is left with a few issues involving public places that Tucker deals with very respectfully.
I knew going in that this was not an HEA. There is a mysterious sub-plot about the scandal surrounding Tucker’s father’s death that appears as if it will be continued through the rest of the series. However, if you ignore the epilogue, there can be a satisfying conclusion for Tucker and Maggie. I look forward to the next installment.
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