Tag Archives: Erotic

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.

THIS BOOK IS SO NOT FOR EVERYONE. But if this is the sort of book you’d like, you’re probably going to love it.

I think the last time I felt this compelled to finish a book was when I read the first book in this incredible Pierced Hearts series. I’m not normally a big fan of MFF menage, as some part of me subconsciously sees it as a betrayal of the original pair-bond. (Yes, I know that’s irrational when I love reading MFM and MMF, but there it is nonetheless.) But I stuck with it and was rewarded by a plot and character development that not only got past my innate discomfort but made me enjoy every moment of how the new member is subsumed into the undeniable love between Klaus and Jodie. And the ending, which I thought I could predict, 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. My hat’s off to you, Cari Silverwood. Well done.

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Review: Escape From Obsession by Dixie Lynn Dwyer

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Escape from Obsession (The American Soldier Collection #1)

This review originally appeared at Seductive Musings

Review: Escape From Obsession by Dixie Lynn Dwyer

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

I am a regular reader of the “Ménage Everlasting” erotic romances published by Siren Bookstrand, so when I was offered the opportunity to review this new-to-me author, I jumped in with both feet. A MFMM erotic romance featuring three hot and broody military brothers is just the sort of book I love to read, and I had hoped that Dixie Lynn Dwyer’s “Escape from Obsession” would be no exception. Unfortunately for me, what good there was to enjoy in this book was constantly overshadowed by awkward phrasing, excessive repetition and an ending that I found implausible at best.

The story begins several months earlier in New York, when Gia is still Gianna, a young impressionable woman being controlled by her domineering boyfriend, Antonio, who is up to his neck in drug dealing and other major financial wrongdoings. When Antonio attempts to force Gianna to submit sexually to his business partner, Valdere, she realizes she is in a dangerous situation and only manages to escape when another angry business associate crashes into their apartment and the cops show up to drag Antonio off to jail. Gianna moves to Texas, settles in a new job and apartment near her beloved cousin, Teddy, and changes her first name to Gia in an attempt to stay hidden from anyone who might come looking for her there.

Teddy is already in a long term ménage relationship where he shares his wife Deanna with another man. Gia wonders how they can possibly be happy when she is still so horrified that Antonio wanted to give her to Valdere. It’s only when she finally comes out of her self-imposed social exile and joins in the fun at Casper’s, the local sports bar, that she meets a friendly bartender, Garrett McCallister, and realizes that she might be ready to trust a man again. A few days later, she meets Garrett’s brother, Wes, who is the football coach for her cousin’s son Dale, and just as attracted to her as Garrett was. The two brothers then contact their older brother Gunner, a Texas Ranger, once they both realize that Gia might be the one woman they have all hoped to find for a ménage relationship of their own. But Gia is still trapped in her fear of what happened in New York and what might happen again if she lets these men take her as their own.

The McCallister brothers are easily the best part of “Escape from Obsession” but the various ways they are described were also a major frustration for me. We are constantly reminded that they were “commandoes” (author’s spelling) in the “Marine Corp” and that they each have a matching “Royal Commandoes” back tattoo. Although such phrasing kept taking me out of the story, I did enjoy how each of the brothers treated with Gia with patience and love, especially in light of how she was so incredibly afraid to even go out on a real date with any of them. I found Gia’s reactions understandable at first, but as the story went on and on with her continuing to insist that men are pain and that no men could ever be trusted, I got impatient with her refusal to move on and wondered if she’d ever gotten any counseling after her experience in New York.

The other issue I had with “Escape from Obsession” was with the pacing and the plot choices as the story played out. I had a big problem with the moment when Gia decided to finally submit to the McCallister brothers, considering how understandably afraid she was of men attacking her and what had happened to her mere hours before they all had sex together for the first time. But the truly astonishing moment for me came toward the end when all the various threats in Gia’s life converge in a single horrific scene. I found that moment to be so preposterous that I wondered if book length constraints had forced the author’s hand, or if that was the resolution she really intended. At least at the end of it all, we know Gia will be happy and safe with her McCallister brothers, having finally escaped from her own obsession with her unhappy past.

Ratings:

Overall: 2.5
Sensuality level: 4 (MFMM ménage including anal sex, and multiple instances of attempted rape)

Review: Too Hot to Touch by Samantha Cayto

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The full version of this review can be found at Night Owl Reviews:

Review: Too Hot to Touch by Samantha Cayto

Zoe needs to hire a temporary dishwasher for her Greek diner until her regular guy recovers from a broken arm. Sean needs a temporary job until he begins professional training for a full-time career as a truck mechanic. “Too Hot to Touch” is a short but thoroughly enjoyable story about how these two people discover first lust, then love, in each other’s arms.

Review: Chains and Canes by Katie Porter

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Chains and Canes (Club Devant, #2)

This review originally appeared at Seductive Musings:

Review: Chains and Canes by Katie Porter

A copy of this book was purchased by me for my own enjoyment.

“Chains and Canes” is the latest installment in Katie Porter’s Club Devant series and its intensity and passion more than live up to the expectations set by the previous book, “Lead and Follow”. In this book, a devoted couple discovers that what they do have isn’t nearly as wonderful as what they could have with a person who can provide them with that special spark that they didn’t even realize they were missing.

By all appearances, Daniel and Naya appear to be a couple perfectly in sync. Naya is the gifted but insecure dancer who could take the world by storm if she would only believe more in her own talent. Daniel is the quiet but powerful businessman with his own gift for raising and investing money, and who provides the security and balance Naya needs to keep herself from sinking in self-doubt. The one thing Daniel can’t give Naya, however, is the fulfillment she gets only from submitting herself to a Dominant for the extreme pain which clears her mind and settles her soul. He knows it’s what she needs and craves, but he just can’t bring himself to inflict any pain, no matter what.

When Naya begins her new job at Club Devant, the attraction between her and Remy, the lead choreographer and dancer, is electric. Their first practice dance together is just shy of full-on sexual intercourse, with no heed to who might be watching them on stage. When Daniel sees how Remy dominates Naya so thoroughly just in that dance, he realizes that Remy could be the perfect Dom for what Naya needs….and perhaps even for what he himself has always needed, but never admitted to himself before now. Remy is understandably suspicious when Daniel invites him to spend the evening with him and Naya, and their class differences are no help in calming his concerns. Why would a rich perfect couple want a Cajun river rat like himself for more than just casual sex? And how can Daniel and Naya be the same together again if Remy refuses to stay?

All three of the main characters in “Chains and Canes” were well developed and enjoyable to read about, and it was great to see how they fit in the Club Devant world already established in the first book. We also got to see more about how the club operates and a bit more background on the owner, Declan, and his omnipresent security cameras. Club Devant is a place that I wish really existed, because I’d love to go there and see the shows I read about in the series.

But ultimately for me, the key to my enjoyment of “Chains and Canes” was Daniel. Daniel was the character with the most to lose, and the one who underwent the most changes to his life and sense of self. What made him so compelling was that in spite of all the enormous changes he experiences in this story, he never wavers from who he is and what he wants. He knows he loves Naya and wants to do everything to make her happy. But he also realizes that he feels the same way about Remy, and for the same reasons. His loyalty to them both as well as his own quiet strength of purpose is what made me care for him most of all. I was actively rooting for him to succeed in his quest to protect his loved ones while still being true to his own wants and desires. His journey as a character is truly remarkable, and reason enough to read “Chains and Canes”. I look forward to new intriguing stories and passionate characters from Katie Porter in the next Club Devant book.

Ratings:

Overall: 4.5
Sensuality level: 4.5 (M/M/F menage, several BDSM scenes including caning and anal play)

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Review: Burn by Maya Banks

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This review originally appeared at Seductive Musings:

Review: Burn by Maya Banks

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in return for an honest review at SeductiveMusings.blogspot.com.

This review may contain spoilers for Rush and Fever. You could read Burn as a stand-alone book, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

Now that Gabe and Jace are both settled in committed relationships with the women who fulfill their need for dominance and control, only Ash is left as the last single man standing. The loss of Jace as his regular threesomes partner has been especially hard for Ash, as he’s never really wanted to be intimate with a woman one on one. When he sees the beautiful girl sitting at the cafe with a sketchbook in hand, he can’t help but appreciate her beauty. But when he realizes that the ill fitting choker around her neck is actually a collar, his attention is immediately focused on the possibility of making her his own submissive.

Josie is trying to live a carefree artist’s life after experiencing so much personal pain and loss in her past. She thought that a Dominant/submissive relationship with Michael would give her the caring and support she never really knew as a child. Ash helps her see that she’s been doing all the giving while getting none in return, and he convinces her to try letting him take care of her in all the ways she truly deserves.

“Burn” is the story of how Josie learns to trust and Ash learns how to love. Along the way, we see exactly why Ash has cut himself off from his dysfunctional family and the return of a threat that first appeared in “Rush”, the first book in the Breathless series. By the end of “Burn” we discover just how far Ash is willing to go to protect the ones he loves, and how his need for control has the potential to ruin all their lives if he doesn’t figure out just how far is too far.

After reading the first two books in the Breathless series, I was ready to find out more about Ash, as I suspected that he was equally controlling and Dominant as his friends but was better at keeping it under wraps. The progression of the trust and love between Ash and Josie is somewhat more realistically paced when compared to the previous books, although all three do feature the combination of “insta-lust” and a compressed timeline. My feeling about it is that this works within this series, since these men are in their late thirties and finally ready for a permanent commitment once they find the women who are perfect for them.

When he begins his D/s relationship with Josie, it’s obvious that Ash is trying to learn from the mistakes both Gabe and Jace had made when they were in the same situation, yet he still manages to mess up on the one point that Josie treasured most – her sense of financial independence. Although I understood why she was angry, I was annoyed that she completely flipped out without even talking to him first, but then realized that her actions were necessary to set in motion the final confrontation with the threat to them all that had begun back in the first book. Maybe I’ve just been reading too many Maya Banks books lately, because it seemed like the plot gears were more obvious in “Burn” than in the previous books, and the way the threat was ultimately resolved seemed almost anti-climactic when compared to the build-up toward its end. But the sense of family between all the characters was just as enjoyable as in the previous two books and it was great to see Josie welcomed by all the people Ash considered as his real family. At the end of “Rush”, we see all the characters settled and happy, with all the loose ends tied up in a way that doesn’t feel forced. and that’s part of what makes it a satisfying read.

If you’re new to the books of Maya Banks, the Breathless series is a great place to start. I thoroughly enjoyed reading all three of them and look forward to more great stories from Maya Banks in the near future.

Ratings:

Overall: 4.5
Sensuality level: 4

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Review: Turn and Burn by Lorelei James

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Turn and Burn (Blacktop Cowboys, #5)
This review originally appeared at Romancing Rakes for the Love of Romance:

{Michele Review} Turn and Burn by Lorelei James

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

Rating: 4 hearts: I loved it

Lorelei James’ Blacktop Cowboys series is one of my personal favorites and one that doesn’t seem to get as much publicity as her more well-known Rough Riders series about the McKay family. It’s the residents of Muddy Gap, Wyoming, who are the real family in this series, and the stories are about the relationships they form with each other and with those lucky newcomers who happen to stumble onto this small but caring community. “Turn and Burn” is the fifth book in the series and the second to feature a couple that we already know from previous books.

Both Tanna Barker and August “Fletch” Fletcher are known and loved secondary characters to those familiar with the Blacktop Cowboys. Tanna is the wildly successful barrel racer from Texas who was a good friend and sounding board to Lainie and Celia earlier in the series. Fletch has lived in Muddy Gap all his life and is now the dedicated but severely overworked large animal veterinarian on whom the whole town depends for the care of their ranch animals.

These two have never met in person until the night when they hook up for some hot anonymous sex in a honky tonk just outside Muddy Gap. Tanna is having the worst year of her life after a tragic rodeo accident just after the loss of both her mother and her childhood home. Fletch is looking for some out-of-town female companionship before returning to his lonely home. When he sees Tanna at the bar, and hears the wild stories she’s telling each man who approaches, he knows this is no ordinary woman and that he must have her for as long as he can. Their amazing night together convinces Fletch that what they have goes beyond mere sex. Now if he could only convince Tanna.

I’m a huge fan of the Blacktop Cowboys series and returning to Muddy Gap is like coming home for me with each new book. I have great affection for all of the characters and was so happy to see Tanna and Fletch find each other and that part of their lives that was missing until then. After all the betrayals and disappointments she’s experienced over the past year, it takes everything she’s got for Tanna to trust in both Fletch and herself, as she finally faces what she needs to do to “get back on the horse”, both figuratively and literally. Fletch has to learn how to cope with his unfamiliar possessive feelings for Tanna and wanting to be the one who heals Tanna from her hurt when all that does is make her want to run from him. Throughout the story, we get to catch up with all the previous characters and see how all the people who have been helped by Tanna and Fletch in the past now get to return that favor with interest. “Turn and Burn” is a wonderful addition to the Blacktop Cowboys series and I’m looking forward to seeing who Lorelei James manages to pair off next in the tiny town of Muddy Gap, Wyoming.

Favorite Quote:

“You’re awful bossy for the one who ain’t in charge.”
“Who says I’m not in charge?”

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