Kate

Along Came Trouble by Ruthie Knox

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

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Grade: B+
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Series: Camelot, #2
Published: 3/11/13
Reviewed by Kate
416 pages

 

Ellen’s twin brother Jamie is famous, really famous.  She can’t imagine having to live with all the security he lives with on a daily basis.  She likes her hard won freedom too much.  But that’s exactly what she’ll have to put up with after Jamie starts dating her neighbor Carly and then dumps her, leaving the paparazzi trampling Ellen’s flowers while trying to get the latest picture of Carly.  But when Caleb (owner of a private security firm) shows up at her door, she’s thinking maybe security won’t be all that bad-until he starts talking about all the changes she’ll need to make in her life.

 

I loved Ellen’s character.  She’s finally figured out who she is and what she wants out of life after a childhood that was all about Jamie and an alcoholic, womanizing ex-husband.  Then Caleb comes sauntering up to her door.  He has all these grand ideas and she wants nothing to do with them.  She wants the life she fought for.  And Caleb is one of those rare heroes that actually listens.  But he’s walking a fine line between allowing Ellen her independence and protecting her from dangers she doesn’t think are really there.  The verbal sparring between these two was trophy-worthy. And the between-the-sheets sparring was great too.

 

I think it’s worth noting that Ellen does have a 2 year old son Henry that I found, quite honestly, annoying.  Mainly the way he spoke.  It just grated every time.  At the same time, the way Caleb interacted with Henry actually melted my heart a little.  I just wish the kid had been a little more quiet.

 

My sister Anne has been raving about Ruthie Knox for a while now and I see what she was talking about.  Between the strong characters (both main and secondary) she creates, the wonderful dialogue, and the steamy romance I just couldn’t stop turning pages.  I can’t wait to pick up another of her books!

Tempting Alibi Review by Savannah Stuart

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

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Grade: D+
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: Mild Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Published: 8/19/14
Reviewed by Kate

Michaela and Scott have barely spoken to each other, even though they’ve been neighbors for months now.  But when Michaela’s car needs some work, she takes it to Scott’s garage.  While she’s there the sheriff comes in and asks Scott where he was the night before.  Michaela pipes up and tells the sheriff that Scott was with her.  Later that day, Scott knocks on her door to say thank you and the relationship builds quickly from there.

I was happily reading my way through the pages of this one and then the last page snuck up on me.  I knew it was on the shorter side as far as length goes, but I didn’t feel like the story was done yet.  It almost felt like a long exerpt from a novel rather than a complete story in itself.  The summary made me think there was going to be a lot more conflict than there ended up being.  The main conflict would be the issue with the sheriff, but after she provides an alibi it’s a complete non-issue.  And even the climax of the book (no, not that kind of climax) was rather anti-climactic.  I didn’t feel like there was much, if any, character growth.  Rather than watching the pair of them discover each other and themselves this one seemed to be a matter of one of them finally getting up the nerve to talk to the other.  After that, all communicating was done in the buff.  And there was a lot of in the buff stuff being done.  All in all, I was left with a definite feeling of “there should have been more.”

The Highest Bid by Joey W. Hill

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Grade: A-
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: High Kink
Genre: BDSM, Contemporary
Series: Naughty Bits #4
Published: 7/15/14
Reviewed by Kate

When Madison inherited her sister’s lingerie shop, she met Logan-a Dom who owns the hardware store next door.  A while back, Madison told Logan about her secret fanatsy, and this final installment of the Naughty Bits series is when Logan decides to make that fantasy a reality.

I enjoyed this one a lot.  Madison finally, finally, finally starts to believe that it’s possible for her to have a realtionship with Logan, despite her numerous failed realtionships in the past.  As with the rest of the installments, this one is best read in privacy.  Your face will flush and your heart will race (among other things) while reading the sex scenes.

I wish it hadn’t ended as abruptly as it did.  I would have loved to see an epilogue or at least a few more chapters.  I left the book feeling happy for Madison and Logan but wondering how long it could really last for them.

If you like BDSM, this is a great series to try.  With a little bit of a lot of kinks thrown in throughout the series, there’s almost guaranteed to be something for everyone.  I, for one, can’t wait to go back and reread this entire series-one right after the other this time.

Joey W. Hill has been added to my BDSM authors to read.  Do you have any other BDSM authors you would recommend?