novella

The Scandal Before Christmas by Elizabeth Essex

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

The Scandal Before Christmas (The Reckless Brides, #3.5)
Grade-C
Hotness Level-Blaze
Kink Level-No Kink
Series-The Reckless Brides #3.5
Genre-Historical
Reviewed by Kay

Since Ian Worth has to take bride, he asks his superior officer about his situation. See, his older brother has been injured and isn’t expected to recover fully. Ian is a Navy man and still active in his commission. His father the Viscount wants him to cancel his commission and marry so he can train him as the heir now. He knows he has to marry but he doesn’t want his father’s choice for his bride. Ian wants a quiet, unassuming girl. As he tells his superior about this, the man says he has a daughter, who is a spinster, who fits the bill. Ian is very interested. He tells himself that she needs to be pretty enough so he’ll have no problem getting her pregnant.

Anne Lesley is the daughter/bride to be in question. She knows that she is plain and not pretty. She sees this possible marriage as her way of escaping her mother’s over powering presence. She is very shy and doesn’t talk much due to her self ego. After arriving at Ian’s house, she overhears him saying hurtful but not unexpected things.

This was an okay read for me. It started off great but honestly, the setting was in the country and I prefer the city. I missed the ton and the shock value of their match it would’ve caused. Ian was a straight up ass in the beginning but finally redeemed himself. I don’t know if I’ll go on in the series as the sex scenes were kind of Meh for me.

Sheltered by Charlotte Stein

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Sheltered
Grade-C
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-No Kink
Genre-Contemporary
Reviewed by Kay
162 pages

Evie is a girl who has endured living with her abusive, religious nutcase father and her emotionally and mentally checked out mother. She attends a Bible college and tries to be a good girl. She sees herself as fat and too naive. She has these desires to be a normal young woman but lacks the nerve, in the beginning, to really do it.

Van is a punk, at least that’s how Evie sees him at first. He is kind of an artsy guy. He’s really tall, hairy and tattooed. He smokes pot and hangs out with the guy who lives next door to Evie. He notices the shy, reserved girl next door to his friend. As time goes on they talk and a relationship develops. We find out later that he has some money he got from his grandparent that he uses for college and rent.

This is my first book by Charlotte stein and I liked it. It kind of read almost YA except for the sex scenes. They were sweet but explicit. You could really feel the vulnerability of both lead characters. The innocence was precious. The love story touching if a bit rushed. It was short and sweet. I will definitely read more by this author. Thanks to Anne for mentioning this author.

Afterburn by Sylvia Day

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Afterburn (Afterburn & Aftershock, #1)
Grade-B
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-No Kink
Series-Afterburn & Aftershock #1
Genre-Contemporary
Reviewed by Kay
99 pages

Warning, this is a cliffhanger. I am disliking those more and more. However, I enjoyed this start to this series, a lot.

Jackson Rutledge is from a very wealthy, politically powerful family. I can’t tell you what he does for a living. I don’t know if it was mentioned but it’s some sort of wheeling and dealing thing. He and Gia had a five week fling a few years ago and he ended by never calling again.

Gianna Rossi is from a restaurant family but she wants something related but different for herself. She and her family are close. She fell hard for Jax years ago and was very hurt by his actions. He shows up with her competition during a business meeting. This starts all sorts of feelings for Gia’s emotions to deal with. Gia’s not the same girl she was years ago and Jax is about to find that out.

Is Jax a changed man? Does he care for Gia or is he using her for inside information? I don’t know yet but I can’t wait to find out. This was a steamy and short read. I really enjoyed it.