contemporary

Jenny:Virtuous No More-The Novel by Nora Blackstock

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne
Jenny: Virtuous No More, The Novel (Complete Set, 1-5)
Grade-D+
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-Moderate Kink
Genre-Contemporary
Reviewed by Kate
I feel that in order for you to understand my feelings on this book, you need to see what initially attracted me to this book. Here it is…
Originally released in five parts, this is the complete edition of theJenny: Virtuous No More series.
Jenny was a good, devoted wife. When her marriage to husband Mark grew distant, she took matters into her own hands to find out if he still loved her. He did, but his confession, and the things he wanted her to do, were shocking. To save her marriage, Jenny embarked on a sexual journey from which there was no turning back. She would no longer be the “good girl” that everyone knew and loved. (From goodreads)
Sounds good, right? I know both Anne and I enjoy the husband/wife trope, and I was hoping for some BDSM thrown in too. I quickly realized that the description was deceiving. It was flagged as being Erotic and Romance on Net Galley. And it was definitely erotic. But I don’t think the romance went past the first dozen pages or so.
From the blurb, we know that Mark has some kink. Turns out he fantasizes about watching Jenny flirt and maybe be fondled by other men. But, what bothered me was that Mark would leave Jenny alone in the bar while she was flirting with others. I wanted him to be a part of it, even from a distance. Get past it, I told myself and kept reading. Well, it kept getting a little worse, and a little worse. But I kept reading because I kept hoping that it would turn into the romance I was hoping for. But it never did.
Turns out Jenny becomes instantly attracted to Nathaniel, a man who approaches her on their first visit to the bar. She becomes infatuated with him and is soon sleeping with him. What starts out with Mark’s approval, even though he’s not in the room, quickly turns into Jenny keeping secrets from Mark. But then, wait for it…it turns out that Nathaniel is part of a 3 man con team. They go around the world seducing women and then blackmailing their husbands. But the FBI is onto them. So by the end, the bad guys are caught and Mark and Jenny’s relationship is left up in the air.
And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, the sluttier Jenny became, the worse the editing got. There were so many spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. For example at one point, the word “angle” appears while I think the author meant “ankle.” The errors really pulled me out of the story. Although I’m not really sure why I’m complaining about that, since it wasn’t that great of a story for me anyway.
So yes, the sex was hot (we’re talking m/f and m/f/m/m). But the rest of the story was nothing close to what I would call a romance.

Smokin’ Hot by Lynn LaFleur

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Smokin' Hot
Grade-C
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-No Kink
Genre-Contemporary
Reviewed by Kay
288 pages

Smokin’ Hot is the latest book by Lynn LaFleur. It has three short stories about volunteer fireman in a small town in Texas. The stories blend together due to the men all being friends.

Singe

Julia Woods has had enough of adventure seeking men to last her a lifetime. She moved away from the last one to a small town in Texas. She enjoys the lifestyle here a lot. While staying with her mom’s best friend, she meets Stephen, a volunteer fireman who does roofing as his full time job. He gives her landlord an estimate on hail damage all the while checking out Julia’s curves. They start a pretty hot little fling but when she finds out that Stephen is kind of an adrenaline junkie, she bows out of their relationship. Can Stephen get her to take a chance on him despite his adventurous spirit?

Smolder

Marcus Holt still loves his wife. Even after she left and divorced him four years ago. He carries a lot of anger where she is concerned. How could she leave him when he needed her the most? Rayna Holt has never gotten over her anger toward her ex husband. She moved away, got a great job and never looked back. When her grandmother’s health brings her back home, she runs into Marcus. After spending some time together,they start talking about all they lost and the emotions that come along with that.

Spark

Talia King has it bad for Dylan. Dylan has it bad for Talia. She’s asked him out twice only to be rejected. Dylan wants to give Talia everything she deserves but not him. He can never be assured that he won’t hurt her physically. His father looms in his memory big time. Can Talia break through before Dylan ruins their chance at happiness?

This book was okay for me. I really enjoyed the second story the best. It was sweet and a little heart wrenching. The first one was good but I never connected with the two leads totally. The third book I found boring. I know about Dylan’s past but he frustrated to no end. All in all, it was just okay. Hot firemen and scorching sex scenes made it more easy to read.

                       

No Such Thing by A.M. Arthur

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne
20261442
Grade: B+
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: Mild Kink
Genre: Contemporary, M/M, Small Town
Series: Book #1 (don’t know series name, next book July 2014)
Published: 2/17/14
Reviewed by Anne
189 ebook pages

Alessandro grew up in a loving foster family in his small home town.  He didn’t have a very good reputation, but he’s come a long way since leaving home.  When his foster father passes away, Ale moves back home to help his foster mom with the two kids she’s currently fostering.  

Jaime grew up with a heart defect that made him pretty fragile.  Now he’s had a heart transplant and he’s adjusting to being normal and living a normal life.  When Ale starts working at Jaime’s sister’s bakery Jaime is attracted to him and decides that maybe it’s time for him to have his first relationship.

The only things that stand between them are Alessandro’s feeling that Jaime is too good for him,  the town bully they went to high school with, and some secrets Ale knows but doesn’t even want to think about.

There was a lot I really enjoyed about this story!  There’s the positive foster care experience, the realistic handling of Jaime’s heart transplant – especially his self consciousness about his scars.  There’s Jaime and his sister’s relationship, which I enjoyed.  There’s some harassment and vandalism directed toward Jaime and Ale, and while I was disappointed that Jaime didn’t want to call the police in on it, his response felt really real.  I really enjoyed Ale taking Jaime out to a club and watching Jaime come into his own, learn about his own sexuality and how that was all done without shame.

My biggest problem with the story was the secret and the villain.  Secrets annoy me, though this one was handled well.  The villain was pretty stupid, and it seemed a little unrealistic that things went on as long as they did.

Overall, though, it was a good read.  I’ll definitely be looking for more from this author.  While I’m waiting for July, do you have any m/m romance you’d recommend?