Grade – A
Hotness Level – Inferno
Kink Level – None
Genre – Contemporary
Series – Battered Hearts #1
Reviewed by Anne
Melody is a dirt poor waitress making a new start in a new town after escaping her abusive ex-husband. Clay is a UFC champion. He’s big, grumpy, and doesn’t have many friends in the small town he grew up in and trains in. Then Melody buys him a piece of pumpkin pie when she sees him eating alone on Thanksgiving. He’s so taken with her that he attempts to choke down the pie, even though pumpkin pie literally makes him gag. No one thinks these two belong together, but they can’t stay away from each other.
There are so many things I liked about this story! It’s going on my Best of 2013 list. Clay is a really sweet guy. A huge man who tends to be grumpy and enjoys beating up his best friend in the name of training. He sees Melody struggling financially, tired from all the shifts she’s working at the restaurant and he wants to help her. When she refuses his help, he respects that. He tries to work around her, but he gives in when she insists she wants to make her own way.
Melody is a hard working woman trying to rebuild her life away from her abusive ex-husband. She’s smart enough to check in with the sheriff when she gets in to town to let him know about the restraining order she has. She knows absolutely nothing about UFC fighting, but is happy for Clay that he’s found success at something. She’s simple and straightforward in her thinking without tons of angst, which was refreshing!
I really enjoy a book about an unfolding relationship without a lot of extra drama and conflict brought in to the story, and this one fit the bill for me. The UFC fighters’ violence, even just hanging around reminded me of Shelly Laurenston’s shifters in a good way. I think I enjoy the violence in a fantasy way after spending so much time with my kids advocating for peace and gentleness. I’d have a hard time hanging out with people who broke each others’ noses in real life, but I enjoy it in a book.
The story really worked overall for me, but there are some issues that might put others off. In particular, Melody is described as having survived years of physical and emotional abuse, but she has surprisingly few issues that bother her. In the middle of the story Melody makes a decision that borderline TSTL, but it works out ok. Melody leaves Clay for a while and he’s terribly broken up about it – it reminded me of Bella after Edward left! I was very frustrated with Bella, but I thought Clay was cute. It’s possible I have some gender bias issues.
I have to put in a mention that this story featured a positive foster care experience. That always adds bonus points for me!
And then there’s the sex. Hot. Really well written! Really.
This book was published in 2011, but somehow it never crossed my radar until now. I can’t believe how much I liked it! I’m anxious to read the next book in the series (Star Crossed) to see if I have a new favorite author!
contemporary
Found: One Runaway Bride by Stella Bagwell
Grade – C
Hotness Level – Blaze
Kink Level – None
Genre – Contemporary
Reviewed by Kate
Ahhhh—an amnesiatic (if that’s not a word, I’m making it one) bride. Cordell finds a car in a cornfield. Inside he finds Abby wearing a wedding dress and unable to remember anything other than her first name. The car has no registration or plates and Abby has no identification.
After a night in the hospital, Abby has a choice to make. She can either ride an hour with the sleazy sheriff to a battered women’s shelter where she can stay for a while. Or, she can take Cordell up on his offer to recover at his farmhouse with him and his two children.
Cordell’s wife died 2 years ago. She was a high-maintenance woman who was never happy on the farm. She also had more than one affair during their marriage. Cordell is determined to never marry or fall in love again (is there a hero out there who is looking for love?), but he does enjoy the cooking and cleaning Abby is doing while she stays in his house.
While Abby would like to explore her attraction to Cordell, he resists at every turn. After all, she already ran from one man at her wedding. What’s to keep her from leaving him? Cordell is positive once her memory returns she will want no part of farm life.
I’m not exactly sure what I was hoping for at the end of the book, but the resolution left me feeling flat. The beginning held such promise but it didn’t deliver.
Simple Need and Ink Spots by Lissa Matthews
Grade – B+, B+
Hotness Level – Inferno
Kink Level – Moderate
Genre – Contemporary, Novella (52 and 75 pages)
Series – Simple Need #1 and #3
Reviewed by Anne
Some time ago, probably December of 2011, I went on my yearly buying frenzy at All Romance eBooks and I picked up books 1 and 3 of this series. I’m not 100% sure why I didn’t pick up book 2, I think it had to do with a Goodreads review mentioning the use of vegetables… I don’t know, but now that I’ve read these, I may have to go pick up Book 2, Carnal Ecstasy.
These books are short. And they are wicked hot. And they are a mix of things that REALLY work for me, and small moments that pull me out of the stories. Let’s start with Simple Need. Elise is at a bar after a recent text message dumping by a loser of a boyfriend. She meets Vinter, who is pretty much opposite in every way from the guys she usually dates. To her surprise, Vinter is very interested in her. She doesn’t realize how much. She’s contemplating a one night stand and Vinter is asking her name and thinking thoughts like this:
“What’s your name?”
“Does it matter?”
Does is matter? Of course to hell it mattered. How was he supposed to whisper it in her ear as he pounded her ass if he didn’t know it? “Yes.”
Simple Needs was full of little moments like that that I loved. But it also had times that made me shake my head wondering, such as the scene where Elise falls asleep in the car with her hand resting “limply between his legs.” Now, I can imagine falling asleep driving home with a long time boyfriend, but on the way to stranger’s house? A stranger whose name you don’t even know? I think I’d be looking for road signs! And there’s the moment where Vinter has made Elise waffles and serves her three of them and she thinks to herself, “She’d never eaten three waffles in her life” All I could think was REALLY? How big are those waffles? Because I can totally handle three waffles. With peanut butter and syrup, thank you very much.
However, moments like these were outweighed by Vinter’s sweetness and the overall hotness of the writing. This would have been an A read for me without the weird moments. And I cannot end the review for this book without mentioning that Vinter’s penis is pierced. Many times. Go read it and see for yourself.
Ink Spots was the same kind of read for me. This book features Vinter’s friend Jaz, a tattoo artist, and a waitress he’s been interested in, Mandi. They have a mutual friend, Jackie, who negotiates a birthday gift for Mandi, and the gift is 24 hours of Jaz. As is the case with Simple Need, Jaz has deeper feelings for Mandi, but is willing to use this 24 hour deal to get to know her better.
As with Simple Needs, this story is peppered with WTF moments, such as the fact that the heroine allows Jaz to tattoo her, with the tattoo of his choosing! I understand that she’s been his waitress for a few months and that she’s crushing on him, but that’s a lot of trust. And then there’s the fact that he decides to tattoo his name onto her shoulder. Seriously! And she’s fine with that! Crazy.
But again, for me the hot and sweet moments outweighed the crazy. You’ve got lines like this:
She was a heavy weight against him, a big girl, but shit, he loved it.
And Mandi is 40 and sexually experienced! Hooray for a non-slender flower virgin heroine! At one point when they are having anal sex, Mandi is thankful for her sex toys and former lovers, because it leaves her more ready to enjoy this with Jaz. I think I’ve read a lot of slut-shaming, where heroines are bad for having sexual experience before meeting their HEA hero. I really enjoy a story where sexual experience doesn’t equal evil.
So, Ink Spots was also a B+ read for me. I think this makes Simple Needs and Ink Spots officially crack reads for me. Because I’m not sure they are good, but I really enjoyed reading them, and I know I’ll read them again. Crack. And, yes, now I need to go get Carnal Ecstasy and see if it measures up.
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