contemporary

Her Favorite Rival by Sarah Mayberry

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Her Favorite Rival
Grade: A
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Reviewed by Anne
298 pages

Audrey and Zach are co-workers. They are both candidates for a promotion, and after a take over of their company, they’re also both at risk of being laid off. Both are driven and hard workers, and both of them are attracted to each other. They’re also way too smart to risk their jobs by indulging in an office romance. They’ve got a lot in common, though, and working together on an important project cracks the ice and starts a real friendship between the two.

Besides a great story between Audrey and Zach, there are wonderful secondary story lines. Audrey’s got a tense relationship with her family, who sees her as an under achiever. Zach is dealing with a troubled mother. Audrey’s got a best friend, Megan, and she’s not just for sequel bait!

Here’s Megan and Audrey in a bar after work discussing who might get laid off:

“I tell you who won’t be going, though – Zach. Fifty bucks he gets a promotion out of all of this.”
Audrey reached for the fries. “He’s not that good.”
“Sorry, sweetie, but he is. He’s smart, he’s good at what he does and he could charm a snake out of its skin.”
Audrey rolled her eyes. “Your’re only saying that because you have a soft spot for him.”
“Yeah, it’s called a vagina.”

There’s some great sexual tension between Audrey and Zach, and some great sex once they make the leap.

I highly recommend this book.  It’s a wonderful example of how good a contemporary romance can be!  Sarah Mayberry is an incredible writer and I love her books!
I also love that this book is set in Australia. There’s nothing special in the relationship that makes it Australian verses American, but I enjoy reading the different setting and slang. Do you have a favorite setting?

 

Seducing Cinderella by Gina Maxwell

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Seducing Cinderella (Fighting for Love, #1)

 
Grade: B
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Series: Fighting for Love #1
Reviewed by Anne
180 pages
 
“You should put a shirt on when we’re not doing therapy.”
“Why?  The less I wear the more comfortable I am.  I put the shorts on as a courtesy to your virtue.” (location 346, kindle edition)
 
Reid is a MMA fighter at the top of the sport.  He has an injury he needs to rehab fast in order to be ready for his next fight.  He’s pleasantly surprised to learn his new physical therapist is his best friend’s little sister.  They were like family to him and it’s been a long time since he saw her.  
 
Lucie is very happy to see Reid, too.  She’s always had a crush on him and has followed his MMA career.  She’s not a fan girl, though, and she takes her job seriously.  
 
Because Reid wants round the clock attention, he talks Lucie into taking some personal time off work to attend to him.  In exchange, besides paying her, Reid agrees to help her transform into a woman her doctor co-worker would be interested in.  Of course, spending all that time together really backfires for them both.
This was a fun read, and I definitely am putting Gina Maxwell on my To Be Read list!  There were lots of little moments of humor – including a He-Man reference. Lucie and Reid felt like real people, and their problem didn’t feel exaggerated.  I liked seeing the transformation in Lucie – both inside and out.  I loved how strong she was by the end of the book.  Reid’s actions were believable, and he was a sweetie, despite his asshole moments.

I’m not a huge MMA fan, so I was ok that there were no long drawn out fight descriptions.  My guess is that the description of the lifestyle was accurate, though.  I look forward to the next book!

Begin Again by Christy Newton

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Begin Again

 
Grade: C
Hotness Level: Ember
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Reviewed by Anne
111 pages
 
Maisie’s husband and unborn child died in a tornado two years ago.  Since then she’s been just getting by.  Living in her sister’s basement and saving money from her job at the diner in hopes of buying a home for herself, mostly just so she can be alone.
 
Ryan is an exotic animal vet who moves to town and meets Maisie when he stops in at the diner to get some apple pie.  He likes her even more than the pie, and the pie is really good.  He can tell that she’s hurting about something, but doesn’t know what it is.  He’s content to take things very slow, though.  He talks her into going out with him just as friends and helps her with her ailing hamster.
 
The best part of this story is the story – the friendship and romance that develops between Maisie and Ryan.  The book felt longer than 111 pages, and I mean that in a very good way.  It’s very focused and you get to see why they fall for each other.
 
This was a sweet and touching romance. I liked the story, but it felt a little raw and unpolished. The characters were likable and I really cared about them. The issues they were dealing with were very believable and tugged at my heart. I especially thought that the mourning process that Maisie went through felt true to life. A huge loss like that wouldn’t be easy to get over.

There were a few wtf moments that made me wonder why they were included in the story. These moments stuck out even more because they had very little or no effect at all on the story. In fact, they were distracting.  Now, the story was very spare, with almost every word applying directly to the romance, which was actually really nice, but it made those wtf moments feel more out of place.

There was a lot of head hopping, too. Seriously, like every 3 paragraphs. I got used to it and it worked with this story, but it was unusual. A couple other unusual things I noticed: Maisie’s parents were missionaries and at one point Maisie mentions that she’ll pray for someone. I kind of appreciated the normalness and complete lack of preaching that went along with this. There also was no alcohol in the book at all, and I didn’t miss it. I do have to mention that the sex scenes were fade to black, which caught me a bit off guard and I know would really bother some readers. 

I’ll admit that a low/zero heat romance like this is not usually what I read, but this one worked for me.  How about you?  Does a fade to black sex scene drive you nuts, or are you ok with it?