Two Mini Reviews of Two Very Different Books: Alex, Approximately by Jen Bennett & King’s Captive by Amber Bardan

Alex, Approximately by Jen Bennett

Classic movie fan Bailey “Mink” Rydell has spent months crushing on a witty film geek she only knows online as Alex. Two coasts separate the teens until Bailey moves in with her dad, who lives in the same California surfing town as her online crush.
 

Faced with doubts (what if he’s a creep in real life—or worse?), Bailey doesn’t tell Alex she’s moved to his hometown. Or that she’s landed a job at the local tourist-trap museum. Or that she’s being heckled daily by the irritatingly hot museum security guard, Porter Roth—a.k.a. her new archnemesis. But life is whole lot messier than the movies, especially when Bailey discovers that tricky fine line between hate, love, and whatever it is she’s starting to feel for Porter.
 
And as the summer months go by, Bailey must choose whether to cling to a dreamy online fantasy in Alex or take a risk on an imperfect reality with Porter. The choice is both simpler and more complicated than she realizes, because Porter Roth is hiding a secret of his own: Porter is Alex…Approximately.

I haven’t written about Bennett’s books on the blog, but over a year ago I binged the whole Arcadia Bell series in one week (it’s only four books, so it’s a manageable binge that I highly recommend) and it was one of the most glorious weeks ever. I have many happy book moments in my life, and that week is on my top ten. I just loved those books and I wish I could read them again for the first time. Anyway, she’s an auto-buy author for me, and I’m impressed by what an eclectic and flexible writer she is. Alex, Approximately is YA, and that maybe isn’t your thing, but her adult books are great as well, so I hope you take a look at those.

DNF Review: His Custody by Tamsen Parker

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

Content Warning: graphic descriptions and discussion of self-harm. 


Keyne is a happy, privileged 17-year-old girl whose life changes abruptly after she becomes the sole survivor of an accident that kills her parents, her boyfriend, and her boyfriend’s parents. The two families were incredibly close, and now the only survivors are Keyne and Jasper, her boyfriend’s older brother who wasn’t on the boat that day. She has an aunt and uncle, but they are sketchy and she only feels safe with Jasper, so thanks to the magic of creative liberties, Jasper is awarded custody. He is 32.

A couple of days before I saw this book on NetGalley, I re-read Craving Flight. Ms. Parker is an incredibly talented and compelling storyteller. Her voice is lovely and although BDSM Romance isn’t my jam, I loved that book. I guess I was in the right mood to make the wrong decision, because I did not pay attention to the blurb. So, disclosure, I’m not the best match for this trope, but also, Jesus Christ, book, go sit in a corner and think about what you’ve done.

Where do I start? I already told you that Jasper ends up Keyne’s guardian, a position he’s utterly unqualified for. First, he’s a billionaire workaholic with an unstable personal and professional life. Second, he’s a drug user and an alcoholic, but he kind of quits those through the mighty power of the alpha male’s willpower--a willpower that isn’t mighty enough to keep him from lusting after, and eventually fucking, his underage ward, but more on that later. And he also has a girlfriend who, of course, is vocally against his decision to take care of Kayne, yet she’s nothing but a soon-to-be ex, so she goes away to join Romance’s Army of Evil Exes of Books Past, and next Christmas she will come back to remind us that internalized sexism is alive and well in our genre.

Interview & Giveaway: Jill Sorenson

Credit: Florin Gorgan

Welcome to a Romance Around the Corner interview, where the questions are longer than the answers. Our guest today is Jill Sorenson, one of my favorite Romantic Suspense authors and a long-time friend of the blog.

Q. Hello and welcome back, Jill! Your new book, RIDING DIRTY, is a bit of a departure from your usual work, both in terms of story and the way it’s been published: it’s a Motorcycle Club book, it’s an electronic-only release, the tone is darker, and the sexual content is higher. You have been very open and frank about your struggle and desire to sell more books, and you recently talked about how the upcoming Aftershock book, WILD, has been dropped by the publisher and your plans to self-publish it. How much of this new direction you’re taking with RIDING DIRTY is motivated by the market and what currently seems popular, and how much of it is driven by inspiration and the desire to explore a new side of your writing? Is it hard to balance the business aspect of writing with the artistic and creative process? 

Jill: Hi Brie! Thanks so much for having me. These are such great questions. I’m not going to pretend that my motivations for writing this book were purely creative. I’ve struggled in traditional publishing and romantic suspense has been a tough road. I wanted to go digital-only to keep the price down, and I wanted to capitalize on a hot trend. But I was also more inspired by this story idea than I’ve ever been before. For me, it’s all about a good concept. I can’t write something I don’t believe in. I also think that MC romance is a subcategory of romantic suspense. Some of my previous books have been dark and gritty, so it’s not that much of a departure.

Sex and the Romance Novel: Satisfaction by Sarah Mayberry

Source: Someecards

Source: A review copy was provided by the author.

Remember the Four Horsemen of the Tropecalypse? One of them is back, only with a slight variation.

Meet Maggie, our poor, orgasm-less heroine, who, after trying everything on hand (pun intended!), decides to get under the sexy, hung tattooist who gave her BFF a tattoo and the best sex of her life. Maggie figures that if his magic dong doesn’t give her an orgasm, nothing will, so she makes an appointment and accidentally tries to seduce the sexy tattooist’s identical twin, in what must be the most awkward scene I’ve ever read.  

But fear not! This is a Romance novel, after all, and humiliation makes for a great meet-cute. It turns out that Mr. Sexy Twin, also known as Rafel, is so smart and intrigued by Maggie, that he puts two and two together and realizes that, holy shit! She’s never had an orgasm, and lookie here, he happens to have the right tool to alleviate her ailment. That’s how they embark on a relationship that’s based on unconventional motivations, so of course things go pear shaped fast. The good news is that these two are mature individuals, so they actually deal with it accordingly. Well, Kind of.

Guest Post and Giveaway: Solace Ames on Asian Sex Symbols and BDSM

Image credit: Jain Basil Aliyas

Our friend and awesome author, Solace Ames (who also writes under the Violetta Vane pen name), is here today to tell us about her new book (co-written with Heloise Belleau aka Heidi Belleau) and to talk about sex symbols, sex stereotypes and race. As you can see, we’re kick-starting the year with a bang. Also, stick around because there’s a giveaway at the end of the post.

Let’s give it up for Solace!

Asian Sex Symbols and BDSM by Solace Ames

I like to think there’s a big difference between a sex symbol and a sex stereotype. Symbols are unique, and potentially infinite, like stars in the night sky. Stereotypes are the same, flat, and dehumanizing. As an Asian-American woman, I’m sadly familiar with sexual stereotypes. My race is a porn category, after all. But while it’s important to criticize stereotypes, I think it’s equally important to celebrate the positive. And today, there are an increasing number of Asian sex symbols.

Review: Cake by Lauren Dane

Source: a review copy was provided by the publisher through NetGalley

Cake is Lauren Dane’s contribution to the Cosmo Red-Hot Reads collection. These books are a partnership between Cosmopolitan magazine and Harlequin, so that’s where the “Cosmo” part comes from. Unfortunately, this one didn’t include ridiculous sex advice.

Wren is an art student who works as a messenger in order to pay the bills. She often delivers packages to tormented artist, Gregori Ivanov, and they have developed an easy friendship. She also has a massive crush on him because he has tattoos, a Mohawk, an accent and lots of attitude (and now you know what made me read the book). But his evil ex-wife left him traumatized and afraid of commitment, which means that it’s up to Wren to get what she wants because this dude is too busy being predictable to do much else.

When Good Authors Happen to Bad Tropes: Uncommon Passion by Anne Calhoun

This cover is so misleading I can't even.
Who reads this book and says: "Hey,
let's give it a Military Romantic
Suspense cover"?
And why is he shirtless?
And why is this caption so long?

Source: a review copy was provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

This is going to be long, so I’m skipping the introduction and going straight to the book.

Uncommon Passion tells the story of Rachel, a woman who recently left the constrictions of a closed religious community to experience life on her own terms. She works at a farm and dreams of becoming a veterinary technician. Sex and dating are some of the experiences she wants to build in order to re-shape her life and gain power and control over it. But she’s not interested in anything serious; all she wants is to lose her virginity. That’s how she ends at a bachelor auction paying a stranger to go out on a date with her. The only reason she bids for him is because she senses something in him (and by “senses something” I mean that he gives her the Sex Eye, which is like the Evil Eye but hornier). Needless to say, they go out on a date, have sex, have sex, have sex, have sex (this is a 320-page Erotic Romance, after all) some emotional stuff happens and then live happily ever after.

Except that it’s nowhere near as easy.

In which I Use a Bunch of Arrows to Illustrate the Plot of K.A. Mitchell's No Souvenirs

It's the 3rd book in the series,
but stands alone perfectly well.

I just hit an unexpected —and unwelcome—reading slump, so I decided to re-read a few favorite books. No Souvenirs is a story I loved the first time I read it and that I've been meaning to revisit. The second time around was just as good, but with one pretty big exception: this book is drowning in sex.

A story filled with sex scenes isn't necessarily bad, and in this book many of those scenes were effective and necessary. The two main characters are very bad at communicating, so their relationship develops and grows through the sex. Not only that, but there's an attempt (not entirely successful) to use sex as a way to explore and reflect the power dynamics that take place outside of the bedroom. It is a good example of how in Erotic Romance the sex can, and should be, used to tell the story (or at least part of it). However, at one point I started skimming, because it soon became clear that every scene in the book was immediately followed by sex.

Review: After Hours by Cara McKenna

Source: a review copy was provided by the publisher through NetGalley

I think this is the first time I review one of Cara McKenna’s book, but it’s certainly not the first time I read one. And it was about time I told you about this fantastic author. If you like Erotic Romance and Erotica, you should be reading McKenna’s books. She pushes boundaries, deals with realistic characters and situations, and writes about a variety of relationships and sex.

In After Hours we meet Erin. Circumstances forced her into a caregiver position, and she took that experience and ended up becoming a nurse. When her sister gets in trouble, she is, once again, forced into the position of having to take care of someone. So she moves to a new town and gets a job at the local psychiatric hospital where she meets Kelly, one of the handlers.

Review: Big Boy by Ruthie Knox

Note: I won the Strangers on a Train series in a giveaway, so the book was free, but this wasn't a review request. The other novellas are Thank You for Riding by Meg Maguire, Ticket Home by Serena Bell, Back on Track by Donna Cummings and Tight Quarters by Samantha Hunter.

I read this short novella in one sitting, and when I was done, I went back and read it again. First time I've ever done that. Big Boy wasn't just good in terms of storytelling and overall quality; it also hit all the right buttons and resonated with me as a reader in general and for personal reasons in particular.

Mandy is one of those heroines who inherited an orphan. She loves the toddler, but the situation isn't perfect, and it sure as hell isn't happy. Her life turned into the chaos that comes with a small child. There’s also pain, grief and loneliness. Motherhood wasn't something she wanted and she has to deal with frustration, fear and feelings of inadequacy.

Guest Author & Giveaway: Anne Calhoun

Image Credit

Breath on Embers was one of my favorite Erotic Romances of the year, and Anne Calhoun one of my favorite authors. So today I’m very happy to welcome her to the blog. The story is set in New York, and the city features prominently, almost like a secondary character. She’s here to tell us more about it. 

Location, Location, Location – Columbus and Manhattan

“You know who lives here?” he asked as she was about to walk out. Without waiting for her response, he added, “People who want to feel alive.”

“I should go back to Columbus then,” she said.

“Is that a possibility?”

She shrugged as she wrapped her scarf around her neck. “I don’t have a plan one way or the other,” she said truthfully. Right now her only plan was to get through the holidays. Life in January was impossible to imagine.

She had the door open before he spoke. Like Erin, he liked to get the last word in. “Maybe you should stop fighting the city.”

BREATH ON EMBERS, my current release through Carina Press in the RED HOT HOLIDAY anthology, is set in Manhattan, specifically on the Upper East Side and in Midtown. This is a setting I know well. My husband and I moved to Manhattan in the late summer of 2001 and lived there until 2006. I would have stayed for the rest of my life but by the end we had a toddler and an apartment that seemed to be shrinking as he grew. I know people raise kids in the city, but we didn’t want to do that. So we moved back to the Midwest.

Review: Breath on Embers by Anne Calhoun

Source: A review copy was provided by the publicist.

Anne Calhoun is one of my favorite Erotic Romance writers, and as usual she delivers a great story with interesting characters. Breath on Embers is a novella that you can get as part of Carina Press’ Red Hot Holiday anthology, or separately.

Thea’s husband died two years ago and grief has been her relentless companion. She became a loner and pretty much isolated herself from everything except music and a firefighter named Ronan. For the past nine months they have been lovers but nothing else. But of course you can’t share your body for so long and not develop feelings, which is exactly what Ronan did. And that’s when things get interesting.

This is a very introspective, quiet and melancholic story. Thea is sad and doesn't want to feel anything. She uses her iPod as a way to detach herself from her surroundings, and her only human contact is with a guy she uses for sex. She doesn't want to let go of her husband and only allows herself some physical relief but not an emotional one.

Review: Deep Desires by Charlotte Stein

The reason I read this book was because last week everyone was talking about it. Curiosity got the best of me and I went into it hopeful but not really expecting such an interesting story. It’s an Erotic Romance that’s actually erotic. Kinky and explicit enough to be more than an average Contemporary with a lot of sex (as it’s usually the case with most of the Erotic Romances out there), yet there’s enough romance and character development to make it compelling beyond the sex.

Deep Desires has a fair amount of twist and discovering the characters is part of the journey, so I will try to be vague as possible about it. Our heroine is Abbie, and the story isn't only told from her POV, but there’s almost no dialogue whatsoever, so we are truly, deeply in her head. One day her neighbor gives her a peep show: she sees him naked through her window while he masturbates* and it’s obvious that he’s doing it for her. That scene sets the story in motion. At first, they silently interact through their windows. Then she finds out that his name is Ivan, he starts sending her presents and little by little their characters unfold. There’s something off about him, he’s secretive and has OCD tendencies. But that’s fine, because there’s something off about Abbie as well.

Guest Author & Giveaway: Katie Porter

Image Credit

I'm happy to welcome Katie Porter to the blog. This is the co-writing team formed by authors Lorelie Brown and Carrie Lofty. Together they write Erotic Romance, and they are here today to tell us more about their new book, Inside Bet. 

Heather’s Mysterious Tattoo

By Katie Porter

Heather from Inside Bet is pretty straight laced. She’s an accountant, and has lived a very straight and narrow sort of life for more than a decade. She dresses conservatively and drives a six-year-old Camry. That’s what makes her happy—and helps her live down some pretty serious mistakes in her past. But that doesn’t mean she’s absolutely locked down. 

Guest Review: The Captain and Claire by Gabriella West

I bought this rather expensive short story because I liked the cover and sample. It’s narrated by Betsy, a recently widowed young woman. Her husband committed suicide after the stock market crash of 1929. Hungry for change and adventure, she boards a ship bound for England.

Betsy’s husband was much older, and unable to spark her passions. She’s naïve about sex but wants to take a lover. On the first night she meets the Captain, a handsome, bearded gentleman, and Claire, a glamorous Englishwoman. The two women hit it off. Claire tells Betsy that the Captain is a fantastic bed partner, very discreet and well-endowed. She claims that he loves innocent, buxom blondes like Betsy. Then she kisses Betsy goodnight. Ooh la la!

Review: Forbidden Fantasies by Jodie Griffin

Source: we received an e-ARC of the book through NetGalley for review purposes.

I really like stories where the main couple has an established relationship. Most of the time we get books about couples meeting and falling in love but it’s not often that we actually get a story about what happens after the happily ever after, so when I saw that this novella was about a married couple I couldn’t wait to read it.

Jessica has been happily married to Alex for over 15 years. They have two kids and their relationship is just plain great. But one day Jessica discovers an erotic romance and things change. She comes from a very conservative background so things like BDSM and fantasies are unfamiliar to her, what surprises her is that not only does she enjoy the book a lot but also starts fantasizing about doing the things she reads. As consequence their sex life improves because she feels invigorated, but she also feels guilty about it because having those fantasies, some of them involving threesomes and people watching, feel like cheating to her. So she keeps quiet, has great sex and feels guilty afterwards. 

Shameless Giveaway Hop

UPDATE: Winners announced!


We decided to do this Hop, to celebrate adult books, and by adults I mean steamy books. So I’m giving away two of my favorite erotic romances:

Guest Post & Giveaway: Authors Jodie Becker and Sidney Bristol

Today we have two special guests. Authors Jodie Becker and Sidney Bristol, are here to share with us what inspired them to write about a former porn-star and a veterinarian. That’s right, the hero in Dirty Beautiful used to be a porn-star and the hero in Flirting with Rescue is a veterinarian. So there’s a bit for every taste!

Review: IOU, Sex by Calista Fox

Source: we received an e-ARC of the book through NetGalley for review purposes.

I requested this book because the synopsis had two of my favorite elements, friends to lovers and scorned lover seeking revenge. I enjoyed it a lot, because it is a novella the story is quite short and straightforward, there’s no drama and you know how it will end, but it had great characters and it was well written. This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I really didn’t know what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised.

Fiona Carlisle needs a date for her sister’s enjoyment party. Since the fiancé used to be Fiona’s fiancé until she caught him having sex with her sister, she really wants to make an impression, not because she still has feelings but because she wants everyone to know that she is better off. The person she has in mind to be that date is Michael Houston. Michael is one of Fiona’s best friends and was her rebound guy after you broke up with the cheating boyfriend. They had a couple of weeks full of hot monkey sex but when she realized that she could love him (and this guy is the definition of love ‘em and leave ‘em) she got scared because she didn’t want her heart broken again. Michael agrees to be her date on one condition: she has to spend the weekend with him, on his bed.

Review: Grey's Awakening by Cameron Dane

This is my first book by Cameron Dane and I really liked it.  Greyson Cole is taking a vacation because everyone he knows is happily paired up and he isn’t. Because of a dramatic past he feels unable to commit and fully love, this took a toll on his last relationship which ended badly three years ago. Upon arriving to his cabin in the mountains he finds himself “face to naked chest” with Sirus Wilder. Sirus is a longtime friend of Grey’s sister and is using the cabin while his is under renovations. They both feel very attracted to each other and almost immediately decide to act on it. They both go into it thinking it will be just a week long fling, but since they aren’t used to that kind of mindless relationship, and because of the great chemistry and attraction, something that should be uncomplicated starts to become really complicated, and to muddle it even further they both have a lot of baggage to deal with.