novella

Giving by Charlotte Stein

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Giving

Grade – B
Hotness Level – Inferno
Kink Level – moderate
Genre-Contemporary
Reviewed by Anne
In my continuing trend of reading shorter, dirtier books, I read another of Charlotte Stein’s novellas.  Giving is a contemporary set story about Clarissa and her boyfriend, Oliver.  Oliver has given Clarissa three birthday requests.  All of them have to do with Clarissa sexually dominating him in different ways.  Clarissa agrees to do this for Oliver.  Giving tells how they play out these three wishes and Clarissa’s surprised response to playing with Oliver in this way.
I thought this was a very well written story.  It’s short, but it’s very complete.  I felt like I understood what was going on in their heads.  I think this is remarkable because this story crossed my personal kink line.  So even though it got to something that made me personally uncomfortable, I didn’t feel uncomfortable for the characters.  It was clear that this was consensual and enjoyable to them, which made it a good read for me.

Raw Heat by Charlotte Stein

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Raw Heat
Grade – B+
Hotness Level – Inferno
Kink Level – None
Genre-paranormal, novella
Reviewed by Anne

I have been on a break from reading.  I didn’t mean to, it just happened!  I started sewing and crocheting and I had so many ideas I wanted to get to and… I just wasn’t picking up my reader!  Then when I did pick up my reader I was in the middle of a sweet Christmas romance and, as much as I wanted it to work for me, it just wasn’t working!  So, I set aside the Christmas sweets (thank you for that advice, Kate) and picked up something much darker – Raw Heat.
 
I’m a Charlotte Stein fan.  I haven’t read everything she’s written, but I’m working my way through her back list and I really enjoy her voice.  I had Raw Heat on my reader, bought at a 50% off sale at All Romance eBooks, I suspect, and I decided to try it.  It’s a novella and it’s a pretty short one, but there’s a lot of story packed into the pages.  Serena is a nurse, well, almost a nurse at an underground facility that experiments on werewolves.  See, werewolves have taken over the world to the point that just pockets of humans exist, hiding away in above ground fortresses or in literally underground cities.  But werewolves regularly attack and the humans are losing.  
 
Serena’s patient is Connor.  She cleans him up after the “doctors” have experimented on him.  Tortured him.  He is a werewolf, which means he quickly heals any damage they’ve done to him.  But healing doesn’t remove blood, so Serena comes in each day to clean him up.  And they have started talking to each other.  And Serena is falling for him.
 
The story is told entirely from Serena’s point of view, but it’s done in such a way that you clearly know Connor has feelings for her as well.  This is an erotic short, so it starts when Serena and Connor are finally taking the step to make their relationship physical.  
 
I really enjoyed the story.  It was a good hot read while being dark and complex.  All that in a short story.  From the beginning I was a bit creeped out wondering if Serena was part of an experiment she wasn’t aware of with Connor.  That bothered me, but added an edge to the story.  I think that added a bit too much suspense for my personal taste, but overall the story worked for me.

Paradise Awakening by Jaci Burton

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Paradise Awakening (Passion in Paradise, #1)
Grade – B-
Hotness Level – Inferno
Kink Level – None
Genre-Contemporary, novella
Series – Passion in Paradise #1
Reviewed by Kate

Professor Serena Graham knows her sexual fantasies could cause her to lose her job if anyone in her small hometown were to find out. So she books a week stay at the Paradise Resort to try some things out.

When she arrives, her suite has already been taken by author Michael Donovan, who is at the resort doing research for his next novel. Michael had planned on bringing his girlfriend along but she cancelled on him. He is not to upset as that relationship was falling apart anyway.

There are no other rooms available, naturally, so Michael and Serena decide to share the two bedroom suite. That agreement quickly turns into an agreement to share all the experiences offered by the resort…no strings attached.

This one is HOT, HOT, HOT. Even though there are tons of steamy scenes, you are still able to get to know Michael and Serena. The conflict in the book stems from the ‘no strings attached’ part of the agreement. Of course, they both fall for each other. Of course, he denies it and then feels guilty for hurting her. Of course, she tells him she loves him right before she leaves. And of course, he tracks her down afterwards. A fairly predictable plot…broken up by some really steamy action. Did I mention HOT?