contemporary

The Navy Seal’s Promise by Soraya Lane

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

The Navy Seal's Promise
Grade-C
Hotness Level-Blaze
Kink Level-None
Reviewed by Kay

The novel is about the promise Luke, a Navy Seal, made to Saskia, a soldier in the Army. They sat next to each on a flight and got to talking. Saskia is a single mother and on leave for forty-eight hours over the Christmas holiday and wants to see her son. Luke is on his way home also but to spend Christmas by himself. He enjoys her company and conversation as they make their way home. Her connecting flight is cancelled leaving her heartbroken, so Luke promises her he’ll get her home.

Luke lost his wife to cancer three years ago. He made her a promise he’d get home to her but didn’t arrive until after she’d passed. He saw the sorrow in Saskia’s eyes and was moved to help her. He knows all too well how short life is and how important it is to be with the ones you love.

This was a very cute and very sweet love story about two people who know about not only sacrifice but dealing with loss. They find something in the other person that they connect with and a love begins to grow. This story made me smile more than once.

Montana Reunion by Soraya Lane

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Montana Reunion
Grade-C
Hotness Level-Blaze
Kink Level-None
Genre-contemporary
Trope-marriage of convenience
Reviewed by Kate

When Maddison discovers her fiancee is gay, she takes a break from her busy Los Angeles life and returns home to Montana. She runs across Jack right away. Jack was her childhood best friend whose father has recently died. In order to inherit the farm, Jack must marry within a year, or contest the will…a long and expensive process. Maddie offers a marriage of convenience. Both agree that their marriage is a good idea, but they disagree about children. Maddie wants kids as soon as possible. Jack refuses to have kids because he worries he will be a terrible father like his own dad. So what happens when Maddie ends up pregnant?

I really liked parts of this book. Jack and Maddie genuinely care about each other and their relationship reflects their prior friendship. The whole kids vs. no kids argument got old fast, though. Maddie decides to marry him knowing there won’t be kids, but she continually tries to convince him he would be a great father.

In general, I am a marriage of convenience kind of reader, but this one just didn’t do it for me.

Escorted by Claire Kent

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Escorted
Grade-B-
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-None
Genre-contemporary
Reviewed by Kate

Okay, I admit to being intrigued by the premise right off the bat. You just don’t run across too many male escort romances out there.

Lori, a successful romance author, is still a virgin at 26. She hires Anders, a male escort, to take care of that problem for her. Obviously, or it wouldn’t be a romance, they both fall for each other.

This story is told from Lori’s view point. You only hear Ander’s thoughts if he shares them with Lori. I typically don’t care for this style of narrative, but it worked here. I don’t think I could have liked Ander as much as I did if the story included his other “engagements.” There were two things that bothered me about the story:

1. The title. I kept thinking “oooh, you got escorted” in the same line of “you got served,” and

2. the pen name Lori uses in the story is Claire Kent, the name of the author.
Small things, I know, but that’s just me.