Category Archives: Reviews

Review: Betting On You by Sydney Landon

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Betting on You: A Danvers Novella (Danvers, #4.5)Betting on You: A Danvers Novella by Sydney Landon

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for an honest review at Seductive Musings.

Although BETTING ON YOU is the latest entry in Sydney Landon’s popular Danvers series, the connection between its hero and heroine with the rest of the series is tenuous, at best.

Seth is the charming and successful local businessman from FALLING FOR YOU (book 3) who was used by Beth to make Declan jealous after their relationship-ending fight. Mia is a new character to the series, introduced as an IT specialist working for Danvers on an installation project for Seth’s office. She moves in the same circles as Seth, thanks to her own family’s placement in local society, but is determined to make her own way in the world and not be dependent on them, or any man they might recommend.

When Seth and Mia first meet in the room where Mia is installing computers, their instant connection is obvious, but both choose to try to overlook it for sanity’s sake. But when Mia’s mother uses her charity bachelor auction to throw Seth at Mia in a way she can’t ignore, the result is some incredibly hot sexual encounters that neither of them wish to end. Yet their liaison would be a real threat to Mia’s hard-won job at Danvers for as long as Seth is still a client on the project she leads. They both agree to hold off until the office installation is complete, but during that time, Seth starts having doubts about what Mia might be expecting once they can be together again. Can a real relationship work between them, or is it just too much, too soon?

There’s no denying that Sydney Landon can write great sex scenes between characters that we want to root for. But what was missing for me in BETTING ON YOU was a sense that the hero and heroine really wanted this future for themselves. Seth, especially, was a great disappointment to me in both word and deed. He was the one who had pushed Mia into what he was certain they both wanted, and assured her their desire was mutual. Yet the minute he had to cool his jets and wait until it was safe for both of them, he started behaving like someone who had really just been looking for sex all along, despite everything he’d been saying. Mia seemed more grounded and realistic about what their relationship had actually been, and was hurt by Seth’s behavior but prepared to move on with her life. Yet when he finally realized that he needed to make things right with her, it seemed like her forgiveness was just a little too easily given.

All the problematic elements of this story including the insta-lust and the rushed ending could have been avoided with a longer story, but this is a novella, and those are the traps so many of them fall into. For me, BETTING ON YOU was a nice quick love story with some very well-written sex scenes, but I’m hoping that any future Danvers books will take the time needed to establish a more enjoyable and plausible happy ending for everyone.

Ratings:

Overall: 3 stars
Sensuality level: 4 (light BDSM, semi-public sex)

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Review: Best Bondage Erotica 2014

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Best Bondage Erotica 2014Title: Best Bondage Erotica 2014
Author: Rachel Kramer Bussel (Editor)
Genre: erotica
Publisher: Cleis Press
Format: ebook and print
Release Date: January 7, 2014

A copy of this book was provided by the editor for an honest review.

Publisher Summary:

Rachel Kramer Bussel ties her readers up in knots each year as they anticipate the very best BDSM stories of the year. And, she does not disappoint, defying the odds and occasionally gravity with tales of bondage at its best. These whip-smart tales of domination, submission, spanking, and other highly imaginative acts keep readers in a frenzy. Best Bondage Erotica 2014 features 21 hot bondage tales that titillate from the bedroom to the dungeon and beyond. Handpicked by best-selling erotica editor Bussel, these kinky stories show and tell exactly what it means to wield the special power of being in charge of someone else. These characters manipulate rope, handcuffs, leather straps, a St. Andrew’s cross, a chair, and, in Raziel Moore’s “My Own Device,” a special contraption crafted just for bondage, with the ultimate aim of pleasing each partner. Here, bondage takes place behind secret doors, at sex parties, at the office, on a mountain hike, and, of course, at home.

My Review:

I always have trouble reviewing anthologies, especially really good ones like Best Bondage Erotica 2014, because there are so many good stories and how can I possibly do them all justice in a single review? I could try to talk about each one individually, but there are twenty of them here, and frankly I don’t have the fortitude to write that much, or expect anyone would want to read through a long list of mini reviews.

What I can do is let you know that if you are looking for a collection of fascinating, thought-provoking and scorching hot stories, look no further than Best Bondage Erotica 2014.
You can consume the entire book in one glorious gulp, or you can do as I did, which is to savor each story individually, then put the book down until later, so that each story can work its way into your subconscious more thoroughly.

No individual story here runs more than 20 pages, and for me, that’s the biggest strength of the anthology as a whole. Each is perfectly self-contained, describing a moment in time with an ending that provides basic closure, even while it continues to bounce around in your brain as you consider the possibilities of what could have happened next. I enjoyed every one of them, but my absolute favorite was Anyway by Sommer Marsden, as I immediately identified with its heroine as she struggled to free herself from a predicament of her own making.

If you’re at all familiar with Rachel Kramer Bussel’s work as an editor, you already know that she’s got a keen eye for what works in an anthology such as this one. And if you’re at all familiar with writers in the BDSM erotica genre, you’ll see many of your favorites here, doing what they do best. But if this is your first time, I envy you, because you’re about to discover a whole new world of reading satisfaction in Best Bondage Erotica 2014. Enjoy! 4.5 stars

Review: Jaded by Anne Calhoun

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Jaded (Walkers Ford, #2)Jaded (Walkers Ford, #2) by Anne Calhoun

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for an honest review at Seductive Musings.

The small town librarian and the police chief. It may be a cliche, but JADED shows us why it works. When you live in a town as tiny as Walkers Ford, everybody knows your business. We saw how destructive that could be in UNFORGIVEN, the first book in this series, and fear of those repercussions is reflected in the behavior of our hero and heroine when JADED begins.

Alana is one of those people who choose a small town as a place to hide from their responsibilities back in the big city. She’s spent her whole life hiding from others, content to let her famous sister be the public face of their family’s foundation while she works tirelessly behind the scenes. It wasn’t until their mother pushed a family friend to propose marriage that Alana finally fled her privileged life in Chicago for a place where she could directly influence the lives of people in need. What Alana didn’t count on was a landlord who would make her regret her decision to leave Walkers Ford when the job was done.

Lucas grew up in Walkers Ford, but had left years before to be a cop in the big city of Denver, returning only after he believed his actions had led to the death of a young man he’d mentored there. After a bitter divorce and the descent of his beloved cousin into drug addiction, Lucas has become too cynical to believe that love was worth the trouble it could bring, even as he embarks on a secret fling with Alana. But as she prepares to leave Walkers Ford for good, he has to decide if he can take one more chance on love and on her.

Anne Calhoun’s UNFORGIVEN was one of my top ten best reads of 2013, so I was especially excited about reading this next book in her new Walkers Ford contemporary romance series. As much as I enjoyed its over the top drama and angst, I was relieved to see the level was dialed back a bit here in JADED. We have a hero and heroine who are both spending all their time doing everything for everyone else in their lives, but unlike the stars of the previous book, neither of them seems to have an unhealthy level of self-loathing. Still, the fear of small-town gossip keeps them from going public with their liaison and feeds into their respective worries that the other isn’t looking for anything beyond a temporary fling.

Lucas and Alana are brought together by their shared inability to keep their hands off each other, and their intimate scenes are loaded with sexual chemistry and undeniable passion. As their affair progresses, the responsibilities they each have threaten to tear them apart. But the love they find with each other helps Lucas and Alana reach the balance they both need in their lives and begins to heal the pain which had brought them to Walkers Ford.

What Anne Calhoun shows us in JADED is that you can’t do your best for others if you won’t give yourself the same amount of consideration first. It’s a lovely return visit to Walkers Ford and bodes well for the next book in the series.

Ratings:

Overall: 4.5 stars
Sensuality level: 3.5

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Review: Daughters of the Nile by Stephanie Dray

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Daughters of the Nile (Cleopatra's Daughter, # 3)Daughters of the Nile by Stephanie Dray
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for an honest review at SMI Book Club.

Daughters of the Nile is the third and final book in Stephanie Dray’s trilogy about Cleopatra Selene, the daughter of Cleopatra (yes, *that* one), that continues to fill in the missing pieces of her life that could only be imagined based on the few major details available in historical texts. In this book, we see Selene sent back to the husband she didn’t ask for, to be queen of a country that isn’t her beloved Egypt, and trying to establish her own dynasty away from the man who continues to threaten her happiness with his own twisted desires.

I haven’t read the previous two books in the series, but I’m a big fan of the author’s romance books under her Stephanie Draven pen name, so I jumped at the opportunity to bury myself in a lovely long book of historical fiction by an author I already loved. Dray provided just enough recaps where needed so that I wasn’t lost as a new reader to the series, and I felt like I’d actually learned something about the actual history without forgetting that Daughters of the Nile, is still fiction, however laboriously researched for historical fact where possible.

Cleopatra Selene is a remarkable woman who managed to survive in a time where any day could bring exile or death from multiple directions, most notably from Caesar Augustus, who never stopped obsessing over her the way he had over her late mother. She has to temper her desire to make her mark in history with the knowledge of the incredible danger she faces whenever she fails to do whatever Caesar and her husband expect from her. And yet she does survive and even thrives in a climate that would crush a less determined man, let alone a mere woman with such infamous parents as Marc Antony and Cleopatra.

But what really made Daughters of the Nile such a wonderful read for me was the improbable romance between Selene and her husband. Juba had aided Caesar Augustus in hastening the death of Selene’s parents, so her distrust of him was certainly understandable. The marriage had been forced upon them both as a convenience for Augustus in his quest to make Selene his mistress, but they were never intended to be a couple in truth. Seeing Selene and her husband Juba slowly learn to trust and love each other over the years in spite of all the terrible past between them was what made me cry when Selene’s life and the book both came to their inevitable end. Daughters of the Nile isn’t a fast or easy read, but it’s a great one, and definitely worth your while if you love historical fiction with a touch of genuine romance.

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Review: Letting Go by Maya Banks

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Letting Go (Surrender Trilogy, #1)Letting Go by Maya Banks

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher for an honest review at Seductive Musings

LETTING GO is the story of a woman who already found and lost her perfect love, but has decided after three years of lonely mourning that it’s time to go after the one thing that was missing in her otherwise perfect marriage. Josslyn will never forget Carson and the once in a lifetime love they shared. But both Carson and his sister Kylie suffered unspeakable abuse from their alcoholic father and could never have understood the need Josslyn had for a man to take charge in the bedroom and bring her both pleasure and pain. Three years is a long time to mourn. It’s time for Josslyn to find someone who will dominate her sexually in the way her late husband never would.

After Carson’s tragic death, Dash was the solid stable core at the center of Josslyn’s upside-down life. As her husband’s business partner and best friend, he has worked hard to ensure that she was taken care of in all ways, except the one he most desired. For unknown to anyone except Josslyn’s late husband, Dash has been head over heels in love with her since the moment they met. It was his misfortune to fall in love with his best friend’s girl, but to his credit, he never acted on those feelings or even gave her a hint he felt that way about her. Now that Josslyn is finally ready to put her marriage in the past, Dash will stop at nothing to make sure that she becomes his. He was prepared to take his time and move slowly toward his goal, even if it meant ignoring the Dominant side of his personality, That all changed when Dash saw Josslyn walk into a private BDSM club on the arm of another man. Could Dash have her as both his love and his submissive? Or would Carson’s memory always be an obstacle between them?

One of my favorite erotic romance series last year was the Breathless trilogy by Maya Banks, so I was happy to learn that she had another one planned for this year. Just like with that series, the Surrender trilogy features a group of interconnected characters with overlapping storylines but each book can still be read as a stand-alone story. This first book does a good job of setting up all the relationships between this group of friends and provides clues to how the other two books will progress without turning into a data dump. A special bonus for readers of Maya Banks’s Sweet series is the appearance of Damon Roche and “The House”, his members only BDSM club in Houston. This trilogy takes place in that world so I’m looking forward to more glimpses of those beloved characters in the next two books.

For me, the best part of LETTING GO was how Maya Banks portrayed the perfect tension between Josslyn’s needs and Dash’s insecurities. Just because they want to make things work doesn’t mean that their new life together is without problems. The problems they face are exacerbated by their inability to fully share what they are feeling, and the initial disapproval from their friends and loved ones only makes things worse. Josslyn’s struggle to embrace her new life with Dash feeds into his irrational sense of competing for her love with the ghost of her dead husband. Their individual fears and doubts inevitably lead to a terrible misunderstanding, and it takes a near tragedy to finally force them to communicate more fully so they can have the happy ending they both deserve.

LETTING GO is a beautifully written depiction of how a widow and her late husband’s best friend learn how to move forward as a couple while honoring the memory of the man they both loved. It features Maya Banks at her best, with the heart-rending emotions and scorching sex scenes her readers have come to expect. Kylie’s story is next in GIVING IN, and I can’t wait to read it.

Ratings:

Overall: 5 stars
Sensuality level: 4 (intense private BDSM scenes between the hero and heroine, one semi-public BDSM scene involving a second man)

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Review: Melting the Ice by Jaci Burton

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Melting The Ice (Play by Play, #7)Melting The Ice by Jaci Burton

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for an honest review at Seductive Musings.

MELTING THE ICE is the latest entry in Jaci Burton’s long-running sports romance series and although I have only read the first Play By Play book, I had no problem picking up this one as a stand-alone. The setup for the hero and heroine combines two of my favorite tropes – best friend’s little sister and second chance at love – so I was confident going in that it would be a good read.

Carolina had always had eyes for Drew back in college, but his Big Man on Campus status combined with her shyness and inexperience kept her from making the first move. When she successfully propositions him at an off-campus graduation party after having a few too many, she experiences the first and best sex of her life. But when Drew tosses her aside the next morning without apology, Carolina chalks it up to a bad life decision and swears never to give him another chance to hurt her. Years later, her life is completely devoted to the launch of her new fashion line, and she barely has any spare time to sleep or eat, let alone moon over the guy who got away.

Drew has never forgotten his one night of bliss with Carolina and realizes his behavior afterward will make it hard for her to ever trust him again. Back then, he was young and dumb, afraid of committing to one woman when he was working toward a professional hockey career. Carolina has done her best to avoid Drew ever since then, but when her brother Gray suggests him as the perfect model for her new menswear line, she’s in no position to object. Older and wiser, Drew realizes this is his best opportunity to go after what he stupidly tossed away before, and make Carolina his for good.

What I always appreciate about Jaci Burton’s romances is how she provides just the right amount of back-story for her hero and heroine. She’s adept at showing exactly what brought them to this moment and helping readers empathize with them through all their setbacks on the way to their happy ending. Both Carolina and Drew have so many things going on in their lives that could easily derail their romance in addition to the giant obstacle of their drunken college hookup. But as they first realize that their attraction hasn’t faded, then decide to take advantage of it for as long as it might work out, we also see that there is genuine love there, and that ultimately nothing can get in the way of their happiness if it’s what they both want.

The best part of MELTING THE ICE for me was what wasn’t there. There wasn’t an evil ex-girlfriend trying to break them apart, or someone trying to steal Carolina’s designs before her big show, or a tabloid trying to use their public moments together to embarrass her father before an election. There was just the growing love between Carolina and Drew as they learned to trust each other and themselves, while the world went on around them. It wasn’t boring – the moment when Gray discovers that his best friend and baby sister are together is especially fun – but it wasn’t overwrought with angst and drama, either. That’s what made Melting the Ice another great Jaci Burton story, and reminded me that I need to go back and read the other books in the Play by Play series!

Ratings:

Overall: 4 stars
Sensuality level: 3.5

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Review: Bared (Club Sin #2) by Stacey Kennedy

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Bared (Club Sin, #2)Bared by Stacey Kennedy

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for an honest review at Romancing Rakes for the Love of Romance.

Cora and Aiden meet every weekend at Club Sin, the exclusive membership-only BDSM dungeon, so that they can both leave behind their troubles and lose themselves in a mutually beneficial Dominant/submissive relationship. The play between them is deep and satisfying, but it can never be more than play, or so Cora firmly believes. After all, Aiden had once loved and lost Lily, the only woman he could ever love, and no other submissive would ever be able to take her place. But the past two years of suppressing her true desire for more with Aiden has finally taken its toll on Cora, and when her love for him can no longer be denied, the fallout could either bring them closer in the way she’s always hoped for, or tear them apart for good.

When I started reading Bared, I was genuinely skeptical that it could be a satisfying read when the entire plot revolved around the heroine’s unrequited love for the apparently oblivious hero. But as I discovered more about both her past and his, and how their D/s interplay reflected their growing emotional bond, it became not only plausible, but inevitable that what Cora felt for Aiden would eventually become too much for her to bear alone. Her fears about his ability to commit to her are well-founded, and the way he behaves as her secret misery becomes all too apparent is heartbreaking. It ultimately takes the intervention of their Club Sin friends and loved ones to help Cora and Aiden get to the happy ending they can only find in each other, and it is just as perfect as they both deserve after so many years of denial. I loved every moment of Bared and can’t wait until my next visit to Club Sin.

Favorite Quote:

She wished he’d marked her because she belonged only to him. That he declared to the members that he was her Dom. That she was his woman. The world seemed to slow down when she looked into his cold gaze.

She wanted forever. He wanted tonight.

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Review: The Delicious Torment by Alison Tyler

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Title: The Delicious Torment
Author: Alison Tyler
Series: A Story of Submission #2
Genre: erotica
Publisher: Cleis Press
Format: ebook and print
Release Date: January 14, 2014

A copy of this book was provided by the author for an honest review.

Publisher Summary:

The second in a series of novels by bondage connoisseur Alison Tyler features heroine Samantha progressing with her predilections and exploring the deepest recesses of her master’s dungeon and her heart. The Delicious Torment is a Story of O meets 9 1/2 Weeks coming-of-age tale fueled by lust, longing, and based on the author’s personal diaries. The Delicious Torment takes readers to Sunset Strip, way up in the sky in a penthouse apartment overlooking Los Angeles with a love affair ensconced in an S&M relationship filled with corsets, crops, and plenty of kink. In the introduction Tyler notes, “This is a novel with me at the center. That is, my heroine is based on me. I’ve sketched her with broad strokes, but at our core we are the same. She’s gotten herself entwined with an older man — nothing new there. But now she has to learn how to maneuver a 24/7 relationship.”

My Review:

Before I tell you how much I enjoyed reading The Delicious Torment I need to insist that you must first read Dark Secret Love, the previous book in this series. You could try to read The Delicious Torment as a stand-alone, but your experience would not be half as rewarding.

In Dark Secret Love, Alison Tyler introduced us to Samantha, a fictional character who is more like her than not. We saw Sam grow from a teenager exploring her power over men (and vice versa) to an adult woman discovering her sexual persona through a series of increasingly meaningful relationships. But after the man she nearly married had all but broken her with his withholding behavior and emotional abuse, Samantha was able to begin healing through her submission to Jack, a man more dominant and dangerous than she’d ever known before.

When we return to Sam’s world at the start of The Delicious Torment, she’s moved into Jack’s penthouse apartment and committed herself to him in a 24/7 power exchange. Jack continues to push her limits further out, and she responds to his demands with her complete and unwavering submission. Well, mostly. When it’s Jack who commands her, Sam can’t help but comply. But it’s another matter when Jack uses his assistant Alex as his “designated Dom” during the times when he can’t be there himself. Her brain knows that Alex is only doing what Jack has directed, yet she senses that the two men have a connection far more complicated than what they’ve presented to to the world. As Jack leads her deeper into submission, Samantha wonders if what they have can transcend Master and slave as long as Alex remains in the picture.

As much as I adored Dark Secret Love, The Delicious Torment was an even better read for me. I was so pleased to be back in the thick of Sam’s life as she continued her path of self-discovery as the slave of the first man strong enough to earn her complete submission. Jack is easily one of the most terrifying and desirable Dominants I’ve ever read, and The Delicious Torment ultimately becomes his story as much as it is Samantha’s. If it seems like he’s continuing to test her capacity for submission, it’s because his need for her exceeds hers for him, even if that’s not always what he wants to reveal. And now with his long-time assistant Alex in the mix, Jack is forced to face his deepest secret, leaving us to wonder how it will all work out in the end.

What makes both of these books so compelling is how authentic they feel as the events in Samantha’s life play out. The characters and their actions may be fabricated, but there is a thread of realism that makes me feel like I’m reading Alison Tyler’s secret diary instead of a work of fiction. There’s no fairytale romance here – just fascinating portrayals of people who could be anyone you might meet in real life, if only you could ever be that fortunate.

The Delicious Torment provides the essential next step in Samantha’s journey and is just as riveting as the book which preceded it. I can’t wait to read the next book. 5 stars

Review: Bind And Keep Me by Cari Silverwood

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Bind and Keep Me (Pierced Hearts, #2)Bind and Keep Me by Cari Silverwood

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was purchased by me for my own enjoyment. The complete review is available at Night Owl Reviews.

This book took me to a place I’ve never gone before with Cari Silverwood, and kept me off balance all the way to the ending I could not have predicted. We see how Jodie and Klaus have found the relationship that works for them, although its nature must be kept secret from all but their closest friends. But when Klaus is forced to pick the least worst choice in an effort to save both Jodie and himself from what could send them both to prison, he vaults past any notion of dubious consent well into what no one could deny is non-consensual activity. This is not a capture fantasy. This is real life with real consequences. Can the undeniable love between Jodie and Klaus survive what they have both become?

Make no mistake: Bind And Keep Me is not for everyone, not by a long shot. But if you like reading beautifully written dark erotica with romantic elements, then this book might be for you. I loved it as much as the first one, and couldn’t put it down until I was done. And the ending went off into such a perfect alternative to my guess that I’m just as mad to read the next book as I was to read this after completing the first one. You can’t ask for more than that.

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Review: Make Me Yours Evermore by Cari Silverwood

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Make Me Yours Evermore (Pierced Hearts, #3)Make Me Yours Evermore by Cari Silverwood

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A copy of this book was purchased by me for my own enjoyment. The complete version of this review appears at Night Owl Reviews.

I had a lot more difficulty reading Make Me Yours Evermore than I did with the previous two books in the Pierced Hearts series. I think part of it was not having Klaus there as the reliable center for what took place, even as it went far beyond anything what he had done. Chris is Klaus’s friend and acolyte in all things BDSM, but that didn’t mean I trusted him to do the right thing as I had with Klaus. And Andreas may have fancied himself as Kat’s savior, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t right there with Chris in taking away all of her options that didn’t fit in with the plan. Yet even as I kept putting the book down and picking it up again, I also kept telling myself that Cari Silverwood knew what she was doing and that everything would work out as best as it could under the provided circumstances. My trust in her was rewarded with an ending that convinced me Kat’s future with Chris and Andreas would be a good one, as well as a palpable sense of relief that it hadn’t all gone horribly wrong.

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