A Taste of Sin by Connie Mason

Grade: C-
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: HistoricalSeries: Sin Trilogy #1
Reviewed by Kate

After the battle of Culloden the king declares that the daughters of Scottish chiefs shall marry English lords. And so, 7 year old Christy Macdonald finds herself married to 14 year old St. John (Sinjin) Thornton, a marquis. Flash forward 15 years and Sinjin has become known as Lord Sin, a notorious rake who has never returned to his wife to consummate their wedding. Christy is now the laird of her clan in the highlands. She is under a lot of pressure to have her marriage annulled so she can marry a man from the highlands. Christy travels to London to seek out Sinjin. Her clan thinks she is going to get the annulment, but she has other plans. She's going to seduce her husband.

I loved the premise of this book and it started off strong. I soon came to dislike Christy. She quickly developed a pattern of lying to Sinjin, then running away. Then Sinjin would take his own sweet time chasing after her and the cycle would begin again. I found this book overly dramatic. Romance does not have to equal drama. The whole thing could have been resolved by locking the two of them in a room until they talked (of course the same could be said for a lot of romances). However, if you like your highlander romances to read like a soap opera, give this one a try. 

Exotica by Eden Bradley

Grade-C
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-None
Genre-Contemporary
Reviewed by Kay

Seven Days of Kama Sutra

Lilli DeForrest's former marriage was a disaster and she is still trying to heal from that. She was given a week pass at her friend, Caroline's resort called Exotica. Exotica has themed fantasy rooms, something for everyone. Lilli is a nervous wreck and very apprehensive due to self image issues caused by the ex-husband. When she arrives Caroline tries to soothe her nerves with a tour. After that, she goes to her room and meets Rajan, her lover for the week. Rajan is a companion saving up money to open his own luxury spa. When he and Lilli meet there are instant sparks and they fast become lovers. But there are real issues here that they will have to face in the end if they decide to stay together.

I enjoyed this first story in this novel. It was very sweet, tender, raw and sexy. Boy, was it sexy! great chemistry and smoking hot love scenes. The story was well written and flowed nicely.

Caroline Winter is the manager for Exotica. She helps fulfill other people's fantasies but not her own.
She was hurt in the past and hasn't let her self sexually relax in a long time. After a talk with her friend, Lilli she decides to do just that with the help of a newly hired employee. Kian, no last name, is the newest hire of Exotica and he has a secret. I won't tell you the secret but it's a big one. He agrees to Caroline's proposition and their fling starts.

I liked this story also but I liked the first one better. I had issue with Kian's not being honest with Caroline when he knew she had trust issues. Trust and fidelity are tied for the most important things in a relationship in my opinion, so with the abuse of her trust I couldn't totally warm to his character. Otherwise, this is a good book with blistering love scenes. I'm glad I got the chance to read it.

To Sir Phillip, With Love by Julia Quinn

Grade: A-
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Historical
Series: Bridgertons #5
Reviewed by Kate

 

Eloise has been corresponding with Phillip since his wife passed away over a year ago.  When he invites her to visit him to see if they might suit each other, Eloise (a spinster who is starting to feel lonely) decides to be daring and go by herself.  She is surprised to find Phillip has a set of unruly twins.  Having learned a little about each other through letters, they get to know each other quickly.  And then Eloise's four brothers show up on Phillip's doorstep.

 
I am enjoying each Bridgerton book more and more.  Eloise and Phillip's story is my favorite so far.  While both strong characters, there is a fragility about them that is so realistic it tugs at your heart.  There are moments of the Bridgerton humor I've come to love and appreciate, but I actually like the more tender tone of this book. 

Billion Dollar Cowboy by Carolyn Brown

Grade: B
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary,  Cowboy
Series: Cowboys & Brides #1
Reviewed by Kate

When Colton, a lottery winning ranch owner, is drugged by a gold digger, the family decides somehing must be done. Laura is working at the ranch as an office assistant to pay off a loan she took out to cover her sister's gambling debts. She and Colton reluctantly agree to pretend to be in a serious relationship to keep the gold diggers at bay. But when pretends start to feel real, both Colton and Laura have to search inside themselves to see if it could really be love.

I enjoy a rich hero. I really enjoy a hot cowboy hero. Combined together, you can't go wrong. Add the sad story of his childhood and Colton becomes a sigh-worthy hero. Laura is one of those rare poor girls who doesn't care a stitch for money. Strong and self-assured, she provides a nice contrast to Colton.

The only thing that pulled me out of the story was the scene when Laura helps Colton deliver a calf. (Despite his wealth Colton is a very hands on ranch owner). In my prior life as a farmer's wife, I have helped in more calf deliveries than I care to remember. Unfortunately, my personal experience only served to point out the inaccuracies in the scene. However, I would guess that the scene would not affect most readers the same way.

I look forward to more hot cowboys and more strong heroines in the rest of the series (and hopefully no more calf deliveries.)

Reckless Night by Lisa Marie Rice

Grade-C
Hotness Level-Blaze
Kink Level-None
Series-Dangerous #3.5
Reviewed by Kay

This is a very short novella or very short story. It takes place after the novel  Dangerous Passion which I read years ago. It would be very helpful to have read that book first. It's not really a stand alone type of read.

Manuel and Victoria are a married couple living on a tropical island somewhere. They are very devoted to each other and happy. Their life is pleasant and safe which is a huge thing for them, especially Manuel. See, Manuel is really Vicktor (Drake) Drakovich and Victoria is really Grace. They had to change their names due to Drake's former occupation. He was an arms broker/dealer. A very successful and feared one. He faked his and Grace's deaths after an assassination attempt.

Grace throws Drake a birthday party with some new friends on their island and it goes very well. Drake wants to get Grace a Christmas gift that she'll enjoy. She doesn't care for flashy expensive things, so it is difficult for Drake to pick something. He finally decides on a trip to Sydney where he has never been involved with the arms trade before. He feels it will be safe for them.

I leave the story ending for you to read if you like. I love Lisa Marie Rice and enjoyed the epilogue of Drake and Grace. There's a juicy sex scene and a dramatic ending that Rice writes so well.

It Had to Be You by Jill Shalvis - A Duel Review

Grade: C+/B
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Series: Lucky Harbor #7

Reviewed by Anne and Kate

266 pages

Anne and Kate had differing views on this book, so we decided to present their reviews together.  Dueling reviews!

Anne:
Ali works at a flower shop in Lucky Harbor.  She's a fairly new resident of the small town, but very much loved by all, especially due to her work with the senior citizens of the community.  Luke grew up in Lucky Harbor, but has been gone for years - since his grandmother passed away.  Since her death, and because of a time when he feels he let his sister down, Luke has decided to focus on his career and stay away from relationships.  After a rough spell at work (he's a policeman) he takes a two week vacation and returns to Lucky Harbor to get away from an investigation gone wrong.  When Ali is accused of stealing money for the town's new Senior Center, Luke is the only one who believes she couldn't possibly have done it. And their adventure begins...

 

I'm a Lucky Harbor fan and I've read the six books that come before this one.  I liked them, and I liked this one, too, but it wasn't my favorite of the bunch.  I love that with each new trilogy Shalvis starts in Lucky Harbor she sets the books apart from the trilogy before.  So in this case we hear about other characters, and even have scenes with Sawyer, but we don't have a cameo from every character we've ever met.  I thought that was very well handled.  I love the people of Lucky Harbor. The Senior Center folks are fun.  The fact that Lucille has a Pinterest page made my day.  (In my opinion, Lucille is the one Lucky Harbor resident who MUST appear in every book.  She's awesome!)  I really liked Luke and Ali, too, but I thought their relationship was weak.

A low conflict romance is one of my favorite reads, and this one IS a low conflict romance.  There is a story line where Ali is accused of stealing some money, but that doesn't really color their relationship, other than providing a practical reason for them to be together.  Luke never thinks even for a moment that Ali took the money.  So, despite the mystery, this was a low conflict romance for me.  The thing that I missed was the relationship development.  They seemed to magically get to know one another.  I don't know if it happened off page or what, but every once in a while I'd come across a line like this:  (Luke is thinking about Ali)

 

"He knew damn well that being with a man meant something to her. Lots of things meant something to her." p.132

And such thoughts would leave me thinking "How does he know this?  He seems so sure she wouldn't just have casual sex.  Why is he so sure?"  This kind of thing happened a few times and it bothered me.  

 

The book was still enjoyable, though, and sequel bait for the next book has me sure I'll keep reading.  

Kate:
See, I didn't come away with the same feeling. I really liked this one a lot. Probably my second favorite (after Tara and Ford's story). And while there wasn't a lot of struggle in Ali and Luke getting together, I got it. He was very up front about what he wanted and didn't want in their relationship (read: nothing long term). She is definitely a wear-your-heart-in-your-sleeve kind of gal. So it didn't bother me that he knew what she was thinking, because I think she was telegraphing it.
 
 
There are some authors' books that I don't hesitate to shell out money for. I feel I'm almost guaranteed a good read. Jill Shalvis is one of those authors. At the same time there are some series that grow tiresome after a while. It seems like the characters are simply given different names in each installment. Lucky Harbor is not one of those series. Since the first book, I have looked forward to the next book, and the next, and the next...but I was skeptical that this seventh book would be able to his my interest the way the last six have. I was proven wrong.

Things I liked:

• I liked that Ali seemed so sure if her path in life. Even when things weren't going her way, she was a keep on keeping on kind of gal.
• I liked that Luke was the one who was more unsure in their relationship, Ali was the stronger on the two in that aspect.
• I liked Luke's grandpa Edward and how he became a sounding board for Luke.
• I liked that the characters we've come to know through the other books didn't begin to overshadow the relationship of Ali and Luke.
• I liked that I wasn't able to guess who-dunnit. In fact I was way off base (I thought it was Ali's boss Russell) but it was still believable.
• I liked that Ali was the glue that held her sister and mother together.

Things I didn't like:

• Why didn't anyone tell Ali to keep her nose out of police business? Seriously. And Sawyer seemed a little too willing to share info with Luke.
• I didn't like that Luke felt responsible for everything in his past (couldn't someone just smack him upside the head already?).
• The beginning went kind of slow for me. Although I think a lot of that had to do with being re-introduced to Lucky Harbor and its inhabitants. Kind of like the old Baby-Sitters Club books, I just wanted to skip the intro part and get right to the story.

Anne:
Of course you've worked a BSC reference in.  I remember those books well!  It's interesting that we had pretty opposite experiences reading this book. Honestly, when I look at your list of what you liked, I totally agree.  When I look at what you didn't like, I totally agree.  But my overall experience was just meh, and it was one of your favs of the series.  Go figure.

Against The Wall by Rebecca Zanetti

Grade-C
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-None
Series-Maverick Montana #1
Reviewed by Kay

I freely admit it, I read this book for the cover! I know, I know, I deserve to get what I get, but look at the cover! It called to me and I answered. Honestly, what I got wasn't so bad.

Sophie Smith is a landscape architect that specializes in golf course design. I can't help but think that's kind of cool. Her company wants to build a housing addition with a golf course in Maverick, Montana near Mineral Lake. The town has a pretty good size Native American population that doesn't want it done because the land doesn't want it. I'm not gonna argue the rationale of that statement, I just thought since that is what the book said, I told you. She is sent in to try and change the minds of not only the tribe but the town council and a "concerned citizens" group.

Jack Lodge is a tribe member and their lawyer. He also helps his family on their land as almost a foreman on a ranch would. He has to go toe to toe with Sophie and her development company to keep this from happening. He has two brothers and a sister that have good sized parts in this novel also.

I liked these two characters a lot and the secondary characters also. The plot was okay for me too. The love scenes were on fire, which also helps in my opinion.. What I didn't care for was the speed in which the town accepted her as their own. I couldn't buy in to it. Jake and his family latched on to her so quick, it was a little unsettling. Using a nickname for her the first time he met her? No! I would consider this a low conflict love story and I like a conflict in my love stories. This was my first novel by Rebecca Zanetti and I liked it but it didn't blow my socks off.