Heat Level – Ember

The Next Best Thing by Kristan Higgins

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne


Grade: B+
Hotness Level: Ember
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary

Published 2/1/2010, 8/27/2013
Reviewed by Kate
400 pages 

Lucy’s husband died very young and for the past 5 years, she’s walked around in a funk — doing her best to just get through each day.  When her sister has a baby, Lucy decides it’s time to strive for something a bit more.  She wants to get married again and have some kids.  But that means getting rid of her friends-with-benefits, Ethan.  But Ethan doesn’t want to be gotten rid of.

 

The characters in this book were so well written.  Ethan’s character was endearing and the way he kept waiting for Lucy made me want to give him a hug quickly followed by a smack upside the head.  Lucy made me tear up a few times with her agonizing, but managed not to cross that fine line into annoying.  You really felt the pain she was going through, trying to move on with her life.  Lucy’s aunts and mother could rival Jill Shalvis’ Lucille of Lucky Harbor for the quirky older lady character of the year award.  They definitely provided some comic relief for the story.

 

My one complaint with this book was that it was told solely from Lucy’s point of view.  I really would have loved to hear Ethan’s side of things as well.  Of course, that might have spoiled some of the emotional build-up of the story.

 

I think it should also be noted that this book has fade-to-black, behind closed doors sex scenes.  I mention that strictly because this blog tends to focus on more steamy books in general and I don’t want anyone to be surprised by the lack of heat.  However I was almost finished with the book before I realized that there wasn’t really any on page sex.  I think that says a lot about the story that it could distract me from noticing that.

 

The Next Best Thing provides everything a strong romance requires.  Engaging characters, a moving story, and an ending that leaves you wanting more from the author.  Well done, Kristan Higgins.

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?

The Officer and the Secret by Jeanette Murray

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

The Officer and the Secret (Semper Fi, #3)
Grade-D
Hotness Level-Ember/Blaze
Kink Level-No Kink
Series-Semper Fi #3
Genre-Contemporary
Reviewed by Kay
346 pages

Dewayne just got home from a deployment and is having a hard time adjusting to life in civilian world. He has pretty severe flashbacks and seeks help from a chaplain. He does enjoy spending time with his friends and especially Veronica. They skyped a few times when he was trying to reach his friends. He realizes that their talks and her voice got him through some rough times in his deployment.

Veronica is a cousin of one of the other characters in this series. She is very awkward and shy as a result to being raised by religious zealots in war torn third world countries. She left that life to have what she called a normal life. She has a job, a place to live and is studying for her GED. She also wants to try to date and have sex.

This started out so cute it made me giddy. The development of their relationship was slow and sweet. Between his PTSD and her sheltered to the extreme childhood, it was a wonder it happened at all. I liked the characters and was interested in hearing their stories. Then the sex happened and just kept shaking my head. It was so non descriptive it was all most off page. I had to reread the sex to make sure I didn’t miss something. Boring. From there it was downhill and I won’t read anything more by this author.