Kate

The Taming of Ryder Cavanaugh by Stephanie Laurens

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

The Taming of Ryder Cavanaugh (The Cynster Sisters Duo #2)
Grade-B
Hotness Level-Blaze
Kink Level-No Kink
Series-Cynster Sisters Duo #2/Cynster #20
Genre-Historical
Reviewed by Kate
448 pages

Mary Cynster is the youngest in her generation. The last chance for other families to join their names with the Cynster name (which holds much clout). However, Mary is known to be a take-charge, bossy kind of gal. In fact, she has most of the eligible men of the ton rather intimidated. Ryder Cavanaugh is not intimidated though. He’s intrigued. He likes the challenge that Mary presents for him but most of all he likes that sense of family that she has, a sense that he didn’t have growing up. Things can’t be that easy, of course. Mary has set her sights on someone else (Ryder’s half-brother) and is resolutely ignoring the stirrings she feels for Ryder. Ryder knows Mary would be able to walk all over his half-brother. She needs someone more her equal, someone like him. Challenge accepted.

My first thought when I picked this book up was “Holy Crap! The family tree in the beginning is making my eyes cross.” Then I realized that I had managed to pick up the 20th book in this series. And finally I realized that somehow in my 6+ years of reading romance, I had managed to NOT stumble across one of the other 19 books. Amazing. And then I started reading.

Mary and Ryder’s relationship made me smile from the first page. Mary’s continued denial of her feelings for Ryder made the first part of the story drag a bit, but once she finally admitted her feelings to herself (about a 1/4 of the way in), the story takes off and never slows down. The relationship between Mary and Ryder was humorous, even if not out right laugh causing. There was such a sense of fate surrounding the two that you just couldn’t help but root for them. And for all you suspense fans, there’s a bit of that here too. If I had one complaint, it would be the epilogue. It seemed to be more of an epilogue for the series, and since I haven’t read the earlier books, it was a bit confusing trying to keep everyone straight. I’m sure readers of the earlier books would appreciate it though.

Reminding me of Julia Quinn, Stephanie Laurens has made a new fan. I will not hesitate to turn to her for my next historical romance fix. And although the thought of reading the prior 19 books is a bit daunting, it’s a task I will be undertaking.

Because once I start a series, I can’t stop, I’m not a huge fan of super-large series. I prefer a trilogy of books. How about you? What’s the perfect number of books for a series to contain?

Tropical Desires by Vivian Arend, Lexxie Couper and Jess Dee

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Tropical Desires
Grade-B
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-Mild Kink
Series-Bandicoot Cove #1-4
Genre-Contemporary
Reviewed by Kate

The manager of Bandicoot Cove, an Australian resort, has invited some of her close friends and family to be guests at the resort’s soft opening. And apparently, there’s something in the air or water at Bandicoot Cove. Something that induces a tendency towards threesomes.

Paradise Found by Vivian Arend
Paige has been working in Australia for a while now, but will be leaving the country soon. When she does, her casual affair with Trent and Mason will come to a screeching halt. They knew from the start that there would be an end to the triad. But even though all three of them are secretly hoping for something permanent, they know their stay at Bandicott Cove will be their last time together.

Tropical Sin by Lexxie Couper
McKenzie and Aiden have been close friends since childhood. Aiden has also harbored a secret crush on McKenzie for just as long. Taking the advice of famous rocker Nick(who they meet for the first time at Bandicoot Cove), Aiden finally tells McKenzie how he feels. McKenzie realizes she’s loved Aiden all along. Then Nick knocks on the door and asks if he can join in.

Island Idyll by Jess Dee
Sienna is using her trip to Bandicott Cove to recover from a broken heart. Her ex-fiancé, Ben loved her but loved his work more, so she broke it off. While at the resort she meets Josh, her high school crush. After spending a glorious day with Josh, Ben shows up at the resort determined to win Sienna back.

First off, let me say that this book of three stories was a hot, hot read. But I think you need to understand that I am at heart a reader who looks for that HEA. Even in my ménage books, meaning I like all 3 to have a HEA-together. For that reason, Paradise Found was my favorite of the three stories. Tropical Sin and Island Idyll did not end with all three participants together.

I also had issues with Tropical Sin and Island Idyll that I just didn’t feel comfortable with, although I understand not every reader has the same issues I do. I didn’t like that in Tropical Sin, a threesome was created with someone they knew for only a few hours, and the decision was made without any conversation between the couple. In Island Idyll, I didn’t care for the sense of competition that occurred between the two men and I didn’t like that one of them felt completely uncomfortable with the situation but went with it anyway. Again, those are just my issues, and they might not bother you. Despite my issues, together these three authors have managed to create a resort that I look forward to visiting again.

So now you know my hang-ups with ménage books. Do you have any make-or-break issues in your reading?

Menage Monday – The Merry Widow of Tanner’s Ford by Reece Butler

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

The Merry Widow of Tanner's Ford
Grade-B
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-Mild/Moderate Kink
Genre-Retro Contemporary
Reviewed by Kate

The year is 1988 and it’s well known that ménage marriages are the norm in the town of Climax, Montana (the old Tanner’s Ford for all of you of the Bride Train series). Marci lost her tyrant of a husband in a house fire that left her with the clothes on her back, a scar on her face, and a fear that the law is after her for murdering her husband. She heads to Climax to live with the only family she has left, her sister Nikki, the town’s doctor. Marci is enjoying her new freedom, although she is leery of strangers seeing her scarred face. She’s also looking forward to exploring her sexual side since her marriage included only dreaded scheduled interludes.

Simon inherited the family ranch and works it along with his twin brother Lance. Lance is down in Texas doing some extra work, so Simon is alone on the ranch when he breaks his leg. When his leg ends up in a cast, Dr. Nikki arranges for Marci to head out to the ranch to take care of stubborn Simon, but doesn’t tell Simon that Marci is her sister. Marci is excited to take care of Simon, and she’s hoping that Simon will “take care” of her too.

Simon and Lance had a fiance a while back who turned out to be a gold digger, so they’ve decided to leave their wife up to fate. Once Simon has Marci on the ranch, he realizes she may just be the one. Now he just has to wait for Lance to come home and hope that Marci is on board with a triad relationship as well.

I admit to falling for Simon a bit myself. Between the twins, he’s the quieter and more studious of the two and there were a few times I found myself just wanting to sigh contentedly. Lance is a force to be reckoned with, as Marci finds out when she finally meets him. He has a forceful and dominant personality that Marci struggles with a bit because of the domineering side of her dead husband. Marci is a rare heroine who actually manages to think with both her head and her heart. So despite the fact that Lance is so dominant, she is able to recognize the differences between Lance and her husband. I  actually enjoyed her character a lot.

Initially I was a little surprised by the 1988 setting of the book. It just isn’t a common period for a romance to take place. I didn’t know what genre to classify the book as. Not really contemporary, but I hesitated to call it historical(because I like most of you, was alive in 1988-and I don’t consider myself ancient yet). So I’m going with retro contemporary (thanks to Kay for that suggestion). I loved running across little things that reminded me of the time frame. Corded phones, valley-girl talk and Highway to Heaven. The references made me smile. At first, I couldn’t figure out what was romantic about 1988, but Reece Butler has shown me in this first book of what promises to be a good series. I anxiously await the next installment.