contemporary

Cosmo Red-Hot Reads Week: Fearless by Tawny Weber

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

This is the second in our week of reviews of Cosmo Red-Hot Reads.
Fearless

 
Grade: D
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary, novella
Series: not part of a series, but it is one of Harlequin’s new line: “Cosmo Red Hot Read”
Published: 9/15/13
Reviewed by Anne
119 pages
 
Gia has a huge crush on Luke.  The only problem?  Well, there’s two problems.  First, they work together and their company has a no dating between employees policy. Second, Luke doesn’t seem to know she exists.  He’s pretty wild, and she’s pretty boring.  But Gia’s friends have a solution.  See, Gia and her friends (or should I call them “friendz”) have created “the Girlz Guide to a Rockin’ Life” and when one of them has a problem… it’s “gettin’ it” time!  No, really, brainstorm solutions to the problem, and they call that “gettin’ it”.  So, yeah, they drink some drinks and brainstorm and decide that Gia could follow Luke to a work convention he’s going to.  She could go undercover and seduce him.  Enjoy a hot weekend of sex, and then go back to being just Gia at work.  They’ve heard he has a job offer from another company, so they’re sure he’ll be moving on, never knowing that one of his co-workers was his weekend fling.  Really, what could go wrong?
 
This story was really hit and miss for me. The “Girlz” club and the fact that when they help each other out they call making a plan “gettin’ it”… It just made me feel old. (And I’m not that old.  I’m not!) I think it just seemed a little ridiculous, and that pulled me out of the story.

I did enjoy the parts where Gia/Vanna and Luke got together in Vegas. I just wanted to see more of them. We were *told* they talked a lot about personal stuff, but it was all off page. The sex was hot, but transitions (not the sexual kind) from scene to scene were awkward. I would have to reread to understand… Ok, there was just one scene on page, and now we’ve skipped to the afterglow of time #4 of having sex.

And it’s kind of a spoiler, but I’ll just throw it out there ’cause I saw it coming from that initial gettin’ it session… after the weekend is over, *gasp* Luke does NOT take the new job offer, and now Gia has to work with him.  Will he recognize her?  What if he does?  What if he doesn’t?

I was disappointed by Gia’s behavior back at work. I know the no fraternization policy was presented as the reason they couldn’t get together, but it didn’t seem to stop anyone else. Her behavior just didn’t make much sense.

So, I guess it was more miss than hit.

Finally, this was my first Cosmo Red Hot Read and I had high expectations of it. I enjoy novellas and I enjoy hotter more explicit reads, so this seemed like a good match. I want to mention that while this one didn’t work for me, I adored Cake by Lauren Dane (we posted the review yesterday). So I will not be judging all Cosmo Red Hot Reads by this one.

Cosmo Red-Hot Read Week: Cake by Lauren Dane

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Note: This week we’ll be publishing reviews of Harlequin’s newest line of books: Cosmo Red-Hot Reads.  Today we have the first of four reviews.
Cake
Grade: A
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary, novella
Published: 9/15/13

Reviewed by Anne
87 pages
Gregori is a famous sculptor.  He’s got a mohawk, tattoos, a Russian accent (and heritage,) and a gruff and grumpy attitude.  Wren is an art student and delivery girl who brings papers from his personal assistant for him to sign.  She’s thinks he’s incredibly hot (and totally out of her league) but she’s not intimidated by him.  Over time her deliveries have morphed into breaks in his day where he sits down and talks with her, sharing a macaron, or even cake.  
This novella is the story of what happens when they take their friendship one step further, and I loved every second of it!  From their flirty conversations to the way they handle each other when they’re upset… I loved watching this relationship!  Wren and Gregori felt real to me.  His reasons for shying away from her seemed plausible.  I loved how she responded to that, too!  The whole thing really worked for me.
I think this book is an example of how the novella format can really shine.  I hope the Cosmo Red-Hot Reads line is full of stories like this one!   Have you read a Cosmo Red-Hot Read yet?  If so, what did you think?  If not, who do you think does the novella format really well?




Menage Monday — Bonds of Desire by Lynda Aicher

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Bonds of Desire (Wicked Play, #3)
Grade: A
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: High Kink
Genre: Contemporary, BDSM

Series: Wicked Play #3
Published: 7/15/13
Reviewed by Kate
229 pages 


I have been reading menage and BDSM for a while now. When I run across a book that incorporates both I get a little excited. When I run across one that puts both the BDSM and the menage together like this one does, I walk around with a smile on my face for a week afterwards. Let’s see, what can I tell you about this book without sounding too gushy?

First off, the initial chapter is dark and tense and will suck you in and not let you go (it’s why I gave this book a high kink level). Tyler, a male escort, has been brought to the Den by a sadistic Dom. And when the scene goes wrong, Seth is the first one to rush to his side. Seth, a co-owner of the Den, has seen Tyler at the Den a few times before and always felt drawn to him. The Den calls Allie, a lawyer, in to council Tyler. Allie feels an immediate pull toward both Tyler and Seth. Allie and Seth take Tyler to the hospital and convince him to recover at Seth’s place. Tyler agrees, but he’ll only stay if Allie stays as well.

And so we have a set up that places Seth, Allie, and Tyler together in Seth’s place. And then the story gets really good. Each of the trio is drawn to the other two. Seth is a Dom, through and through and has never entertained the thought of having 2 subs, until now. Tyler couldn’t imagine wanting to be under another Dom after everything he’s been through, but there’s something so settling about being around Seth and Allie. Allie has been raised to think that anything outside of a vanilla mindset is wrong. So how can she be attracted to not only 2 men, but 2 men who are attracted to each other as well?

I have to say, Allie is the best heroine that I’ve run across in a long time. The inner turmoil she goes through is soooo realistic. Most of my notes were about agreeing with the feelings she was having. I could completely understand the doubts she had and I appreciated a heroine who was a bit reluctant without being tiresome, or annoying, or whiny.

I also love the relationship that develops during the course of the story. Despite being a co-owner of a BDSM club, Seth is not into pain at all. He doesn’t even go for the titles of Master or Sir. Allie is definitely a sub. Tyler falls somewhere in the middle. He’s a sub with Seth, but takes on more of a Dom role with Allie.

Perhaps I have been reading too much of the hardcore BDSM books out there right now. But I really enjoyed this more gentle look at a relationship that became more about the connections than the pain. The first two books in this series are more hardcore than this one. But this one could be read completely on it’s own with no issues.

I’ve added an auto-read author to my relatively short list. Lynda Aicher continues to impress me with her characters and storytelling. I’m looking forward to catching up on her backlist and anxiously awaiting book 4 in this series.  I think it’s become obvious that I enjoy both ménage and BDSM books.  And when they can be combined?  I’m in heaven  How about you?  Are there any sub-genres that you love to see together?  Cowboy sci-fi?  M/M historical?