contemporary

Rough Ride by Keri Ford

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne
Rough Ride (The Roughnecks, #1)
Grade – B
Hotness Level – Blaze
Kink Level – No Kink
Genre – Contemporary
Series – The Roughnecks #1
Reviewed by Anne
 
Gretchen is a young widow who owns a trailer park.  Lane is back in town to help his brothers fix up some property and is renting a trailer from Gretchen.  He’s been really clear about his short term status. He’s not staying in town and he’s not looking for a relationship.  Despite this, sparks fly between him and Gretchen. 
 
However, Lane is keeping a secret (cue drama) from his brothers.  (By the way, he’s one of set of unidentical, but all handsome, triplet brothers, with a younger brother to boot.) This big secret makes him want to keep his distance from his brothers, hence his plans to leave town as soon as renovations to the property are done.  He knows Gretchen is a forever kind of girl, so he’s not going to go anywhere near her.  Except when he does.  Which is kind of a lot.
 
Meanwhile, Gretchen decides, with the help of her two best and very funny friends, that it’s time to have a no strings attached affair.  She needs to seduce Lane.  Except she really has no idea how.  So she sets out baking a lot.  She tries to explain this to her friends.

“They say the quickest way to a man is through his stomach.”
 
“That’s to his heart, Gretchen. I know it’s been a while, but what you’re looking for is a bit farther south.”

 
This book really worked for me.  It’s got over the top humor, and I was really in the mood for that.  It reminded me of the Neighbor From Hell Series by R.L. Mathewson.  Funny and cute.  As with the Neighbor From Hell series, food plays a big part in this story.  In this case, Gretchen really has a thing for pie.  Here Lane is asking her about pie:

“What are the options?”

“Cherry?  Lemon, lime, banana, coconut cream?”  She looked down, her lips twisted and she bit at her lower one.  “Um, sweet potato.  Pumpkin, oh my god, I can’t wait for fall so I can make fresh pumpkin pie.  It’s just creamy and sweet.  Spiced like Christmas and smooth like cheesecake.  Flavor just pops in your mouth.”

Lane’s tongue was thick in his mouth for reasons that had nothing to do with hunger for pie.  Her eyes glazed as she went on about different kinds of pies and their “full bodied” tastes.

“Oh yeah.  And the cheesecakes.”  Her lips were parted, cheeks pinked and eyes a little dreamy.  “They have this stuff in the store.  Premade cheesecake pie filling and it’s awesome.  I’ll eat it off the spoon like a pudding cup.”

There was a good chance she just had an orgasm on his couch talking about pie.

 
I really enjoyed Lane’s brothers and Gretchen’s friends, too.  Unfortunately, Lane’s big secret seemed dumb to me.  I also thought the last few chapters of the story were weak, probably because the drama didn’t really work for me. Overall, though, I enjoyed it and I’m putting the sequels, Rough Play and Rough Tumble, on my To Be Read list.


Only Pleasure by Lora Leigh

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Only Pleasure (Bound Hearts, #10)
Grade-A
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-Moderate
Series-Bound Hearts #10
Reviewed by Kay

For anyone who has ever read a Lora Leigh novel, you know she is a wickedly wonderful girl. I have a great many of her books on my keeper shelf. This is one of them.

Chase Falladay is a member of the Trogans. It’s almost a secret society for lovers and their preferences. He’s wealthy, charming, easy going and sexy. Every beautiful bit a bad boy. Kia Stanton is a socialite girl and has lusted after Chase for a long time. He has never showed her any sign of his interest and she married another man. She ends up divorcing the man she married after he tried to rape her.

Two years later she sees Chase in a bar with his friend, and series favorite, Khalid. She decides to take a walk on the wild side and leaves with them. She’s always been curious regarding Washington’s best kept secret. The night they spend together changes everything for them both. It sets off a blistering affair.

Kia never denies her want for a relationship with Chase. Chase lives in denial of his attraction of Kia. He has never been able to be emotionally involved with anyone so the Trogan lifestyle worked well for him. When a deranged person from Chase’s past attacks Kia, he shows how he feels to everyone.

Being part of the Bound Hearts series, you expect hot and boy do you get it. This is my favorite of this series. The pages almost melt because of the heat. Lora Leigh did a great job of making you love the characters, even when I wanted to shake Chase until his teeth rattled. A great read for anyone who loves alpha males and explosive, explicit sex.

Take Me by Bella Andre

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Take Me (Take Me #1)

Grade – C-
Hotness Level – Inferno
Kink Level – No Kink
Genre – Contemporary
Series – Take Me #1
Reviewed by Kate

Take Me by Bella Andre

Size 16 (I only mention this because it is a big deal in the book) Lily is the world’s biggest wallflower. Mousy and shy, she does her best to hide her ample bosom and curvy hips with plain and dowdy clothes. Her younger sister Janica is a fashion designer and ends up one plus sized model short right before a big fashion show, so Janica talks Lily into modeling for a show.

Lily’s best friend since childhood, Luke, says he’ll be at the show for moral support but is called into work at the last minute. He asks his identical twin Travis to go in his place. Travis used to chum around with Luke and Lily, but has been ignoring Lily since she was ten.

Lily dons The Dress… that’s right, capital letters. Like Frodo’s ring, The Dress appears to hold some magical powers. When Lily puts it on, she immediately transforms into a vibrant, strong, self confident, and sexy woman. Capable of strutting down the runway with a sexy swagger. Capable of seducing Travis… who she has lusted after all these years.

So here’s the thing. Travis has been a jerk to Lily most of her life. A real love ’em and leave ’em type. He’s treated her like a leper for years, paraded his series of stick thin model girlfriends in front of her, etc. But when he sees her walking down the runway wearing The Dress, he’s gobsmacked. He can’t believe stick in the mud Lily is really a curvy, sexy siren.

The next morning when Luke finds out Lily and Travis slept together, he’s worried for Lily. He knows Travis’s past and figures Lily’s going to get her heart broken. So he hatches a plan to make Travis want Lily. He tells Lily to play hard to get. Then when he meets up with Travis, he mentions that Lily wasn’t that impressed with her mediocre hook up after the fashion show.

The rest of the book consists of game playing. Lily does her best to make Travis chase her. Teasing him, then backing off at the last minute… you get the picture. Travis, meanwhile, is busy trying to prove his manhood by sleeping with her as often as he can… trying to get her out of his system and all.

Travis was written as such a womanizer and so full of himself it was impossible to like him. Lily was so introverted and spineless (unless under the influence of The Dress) it seemed amazing that she could function in life. I had trouble believing that either character was capable of making the changes they did in such a short time. I hated that they were both playing games and continued to play them for so long. While not the worst book I’ve read this year, it was far from the best.