contemporary

Love In Straight Sets by Rebecca Crowley

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Love in Straight Sets          

           

Grade-A-
Hotness Level-Blaze
Kink Level-No Kink
Genre-Contemporary
Reviewed by Kate
159 pages

Regan is the resident diva of the tennis world.  She’s gone through coaches faster than Augustus Gloop ate his way through the Wonka factory.  She’s planning on retiring soon, but wants one last win.  A big one.  At the Baron’s Open.  Enter Ben, a one-hit wonder who won the Baron’s Open years ago and then disappeared from the tennis courts.  He’s agreed to coach Regan and she’s agreed not to fire him.  Both Regan and Ben are drawn to each other, but his job hinges on his ability to keep his hands off Regan, and his sister’s safety depends on him keeping his job.

The world of sports romance is dominated by MMA, football, baseball, and hockey men.  And while I enjoy a good sports romance every once in a while, I’m kind of tired of the same-old, same-old.  How many big, buff guys running around the football field or sparring in the ring can you really read about?  The fact that this one is about a tennis playing female was such a refreshing change of pace.

These are characters that I quickly fell in love with.  Regan wasn’t just an outright bitch.  You get to see what’s under the surface that makes her a character you root for. I loved that Ben saw right through Regan’s diva act.  He didn’t put up with her crap at all and saw through to the vulnerability underneath.  They both have their moments of stupidity that made me just want to yell at them, especially Ben.  But if those moments hadn’t been there I would probably be complaining that they were too perfect.

My only complaint…I would have appreciated more sex in this one.  There’s no sex until 84% into the story and then we only get one scene.  Honestly though, the story was so engaging that I didn’t realize that I was already that far into the story.

I absolutely loved this one.  It’s the first book that I’ve read by Rebecca Crowley, but I’ve already added some of her back list to my TBR pile.  This one is definitely worth reading.

Up In Flames by Lori Foster

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Up In Flames: Body Heat\Caught in the Act            

Grade-B+
Hotness Level-Blaze
Kink Level-No Kink
Genre-Contemporary
Reviewed by Kate
368 pages

The book is split into 2 novellas.  Up in Flames is about the first third of the book, with Caught in the Act taking up the rest.

Up in Flames-Melanie and Adam went to high school together.  She was a rich girl, he was poorer than dirt.  Although they both were attracted to each other during school, neither made a move.  Now, years later, they find themselves on the same party boat.  When they go overboard during a storm and end up stranded on an island, things really start to heat up.  I will be honest and say that I love the whole stranded together on a deserted island plot line.  That’s pretty much a sure fire way to get me to read a book.  And this one did not fail to dissapoint.

Caught in the Act-Mick, a police officer, has fallen for a lady he’s never met.  He’s seen her jogging before and just knows he needs to meet her so he follows her into a jewelry store.  When the store is robbed, he protects Delilah and takes a bullet.  Delilah offers to let him recover at her place.  And while he does need time to recover, he’s also beginning to suspect that someone is after Delilah.  So he moves in with her to keep her safe.  Caught in the Act had just the right amount of suspense for me. Delilah is such a unique character and Mick accepts her for what she is.  There was a lot of secret keeping, especially on Mick’s side, that I didn’t appreciate, but otherwise I enjoyed this one a lot.

This is the first book I’ve read by Lori Foster but I’m looking forward to checking out her back list. I especially want to see if there are stories for the secondary characters (Mick’s friends) from Caught in the Act.

The combination of these 2 novellas made for a quick and enjoyable read.  Fast paced and engaging, I did not want to put this one down.  At one point I found myself mad at my 7 year old who interrupted reading to ask when supper would be.  Then I looked at the clock and discovered that it was already 7:30pm.

Taken By The Hero by Stella Rose

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Taken by the Hero (Taken to the Edge)
Grade-D
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-Mild Kink
Series-Taken to the Edge
Genre-Contemporary
Reviewed by Kay
30 pages

I wanted something short and sweet and got this instead. This was a teaser to what I assume is an on-going story line. I blame myself for not reasearching this more but it was a freebie, so I thought what the hell.

Mercy Martin has wanted Hunter Green, yes that’s his name and yes I did giggle, since she was twelve. He has been her brother’s best friend for her whole life. When he gets back from his tours in the Middle East, she figures it’s time for him to notice her and she throws herself at him.

Hunter Green, giggle, notices her alright. He sees she’s all grown up but two important things stop him from taking what she’s offering. First, she’s his best friend’s sister and he has desires he’s sure will make her uncomfortable. He does engage in some fondling and kissing in public though. Three different times where anyone could see them and twice within view of her parents.

I’m not saying the sex in the book was boring because that was the best part of this story. But seriously, who has sex where their brother or parents could see? Ewww, gross. Not to mention, who would you call to bail you out if you got arrested for indecent exposure? There were a couple of other things that bothered me with this story. It seemed like it almost scene jumped without warning. Also, it talks about him being a Marine and two sentences later she sees his picture with his Navy uniform on. I know you can serve in different branches of the military but I don’t recall a mention of any Navy service.

I might in the future try to read something else by this author but I want something with a little more chemistry between the characters and more consistency with the writing.