Throwing Heat by Jennifer Seasons

                     

Grade-C

Hotness Level-Blaze

Kink Level-No Kink

Series-Diamonds and Dugouts #3

Genre-Contemporary

Reviewed by Kay

100 pages

 

 

This is the third installment in Jennifer Seasons' Diamond and Dugouts series.

Leslie Cutter has always had horrible taste in men. One knocked her up in her teen years, one ruined her name by embezzlement and the latest is a player on and off the field. He's also her brother's best friend and the starting pitcher for the Denver Rush. The book starts off years ago in Miami after her ex leaves the country after the embezzlement fiasco. After a drunken night, she and Peter Kowalskin have a sexual encounter, not full blown but an encounter nonetheless.
Peter can't go through with it and leaves, causing an already insecure woman to doubt herself even more.

Peter is battling his own demons. He is retiring at the end of the season due to a degenerative eye disease and he wants a World Series win to go with it. He regrets not sleeping with Leslie years ago in Miami and wants another chance with her. He offers his place to stay after the building he owns that she lives in has a flood. He makes a wager with her. He will play guitar at the nightclub she manages and help her buy it if she can NOT sleep with him until after Halloween. Leslie jumps at the chance because this is her opportunity at self redemption. She can't lose, right?

I thought this was a cute read. A lot of sexual chemistry and sexy scenes. Only one full blown one though, which was disappointing. There were very good secondary characters and I hope they all have a book. My only complaint was that I wished it was as hot as Jaci Burton's sports series.

                      

The Sum Of All Kisses by Julia Quinn

Grade-B
Hotness Level-Blaze
Kink Level-No Kink
Series-Smythe-Smith Quartet #3
Genre-Historical Regency Romance
Reviewed by Kay
384 pages

Julia Quinn, Julia Quinn! Why do I always push your books to the bottom of my to be read pile, only to be put in my place time and time again by your wit, writing and story telling? I don't know.
Hugh Prentice made a terrible decision in his younger days and has paid the price ever since. He challenged his friend to a duel and it left both men changed mentally and physically. Hugh has a lame leg and he shot his friend in the shoulder. His friend was exiled by Hugh's evil father until Hugh could figure out a way to bring him home. Hugh is very clever and quite obsessed with figures and sums.

Lady Sarah Pleinsworth wants to marry, not only to love but to escape having to play in the family quartet. She's a Smythe-Smith and that's what the unmarried females in her family do. The only way to escape it long term is to marry or die. She can't stand Hugh Prentice because of all that she and her family have lost due to him.

These two polar opposites made me laugh so hard. I mean laugh out loud laugh. Belly laugh! It was such a delight to watch them to fall in love. Despite their families' problems these two realized that sometimes the best things in life are right in front of you. If you haven't read Julia Quinn, you really should.

Issy's Infatuation by Shelley Munro

Grade: C-
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary, Novella
Published: 3/10/2007

Reviewed by Anne

47 pages

 

Issy is a rugby player hoping to move up from her small team to a more competitive one.  She's surprised when her new coach is her long time crush Tyler.  He proposes a month of hot sex between them and she takes him up on it, hoping he'll be hooked on her and want to stick around until the month is over. 

 

This one just didn't work for me.  The writing was hot, but the pacing of the relationship felt rushed. (I know, I know, it's a novella, but still!)  I think the sex was well written, but the plot was weak and Tyler was kind of a douche.

M/M Monday-Apple Polisher by Heidi Belleau

       
Grade-B-
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-No Kink
Series-Rear Entrance Video #1
Genre-Contemporary M/M
Reviewed by Kate
194 pages

Christian has been accepted into a teaching school that has strict requirements for their students' dress and behavior, both in school and out. Christian is walking on egg shells because he's pretty sure if anyone finds out he's gay, he'll get kicked out of the program. Max is one of Christian's new housemates. Despite the fact that Max didn't want Christian as a housemate, Christian finds himself drawn to Max. But Max is a mystery. No one knows what he does for a living or even what his last name is. When Christian's aunt gets too sick to work at the porn store she owns, Christian finds himself offering to help out. But working at a porn store could definitely get him kicked out of the teaching program if anyone found out. Can Christian manage to keep so many secrets without losing Max in the process?

It always amazes me when an author can hold my attention when their characters are being such idiots. Christian has his head so far up his ass that he doesn't see that he's losing himself in order to become a picture perfect teacher. Luckily, Max is there and not afraid to tell Christian what's what.. But even through all of Christian's obliviousness, I kept turning the pages. Even when Christian pushes Max away because he doesn't fit the perfect teacher mold, I kept turning pages. I'm not a huge fan of "I've got a secret or ten" plots. I prefer that the characters actually talk to one another. But despite all the secrets, this one worked for me. I got the need for the secrets in this case. Thankfully, the ending pulled everything to a happy conclusion, all wrapped up with a bow.

I look forward to reading more of Heidi Belleau's strong characters, emotional plots, and page scorching love scenes in the next book in this series. Now if I only had more time to catch up on her backlist.

The Accidental Call Girl by Portia Da Costa

Grade: B
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: Moderate Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Series: Accidental #1

Reviewed by Anne

239 pages

 

When Lizzie steps out of a friend's wedding reception and into a hotel bar, she realizes the handsome older man at the bar thinks she's a "high class call girl."  It's an exciting prospect to consider and she decides to play along.  It's even more exciting when she realizes it will give her a chance to try out some BDSM play.

 

John is so fascinated by the strangely innocent prostitute he picked up in the bar that he makes her offer - be with him every night during his business trip and he'll pay her handsomely for her exclusive services.  Neither of them expects to fall for the other.

 

This was a solid, well written book that was also really hot!  I enjoyed it and was totally drawn in, wondering what would happen next.  Though the story is told from both points of view, we know Lizzie's secrets from the beginning but know nothing of John's other than that he has secrets.  The main conflict in the story is what will happen when they are open with each other?

 

I was fascinated at how this played out.  It made me think about what it means to be a prostitute.  Lizzie doesn't think she is one, because she doesn't intend to keep John's money and because she'd willingly do what he wants without it.  She's quite swept away by him, even though she's trying not to fall in love.  Even though not every secret is spelled out in great detail, I felt like The Accidental Call Girl had a very satisfying HFN ending with confidence that an HEA would follow.  

 

I was surprised when writing up this review to realize that this book is the first in a same couple trilogy.  I generally shy away from those, but I have to say this book stands on it's own very well.  It has that wonderful fine balance of leaving you interested to know what happens next, while leaving you full of hope for the couple.  I very much appreciate the NON-CLIFFHANGER ending!

 

I've read short stories by Portia Da Costa before and enjoyed them.  How delightful to find out she's an author who can write well in short and long form!!  

 

So, I've read stories where the male character is a prostitute, but this is my first with the female in that role.  I think it was highly romanticized (a la Pretty Woman) but it was good.  How about you?  Have you found a romance with a prostitute as a main character that you enjoyed?  Or does that not work for you?

So Tough to Tame by Victoria Dahl

 

Grade: B
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: Mild Kink
Genre: Contemporary, cowboy

Series: Jackson #3

Published: 9/24/13
Reviewed by Anne

376 pages

 

Charlie and Walker were friends in high school when geeky Charlie tutored the very popular Walker.  They went their separate ways, but now they have apartments across the hall from each other and they are both recovering from awful on the job experiences that ended with being fired.  Neither has troubles starting a new job, and neither is admitting to anyone that anything bad happened.  It's like a high school reunion.  I'm great!  I'm so happy!  I just moved on to a wonderful job!

 

The attraction that had simmered between them in high school flares up again and now they are adults free to act on that attraction.  Neither is looking for anything long term, so it all should be great, right?

 

This was a good story.  I thought the characters were unique and more flawed than I'm used to reading.  They were each hiding the truth of themselves from the other, which bordered on annoying.  However, this set up worked for me.  They were both so embarrassed about their pasts because they were responsible for the poor choices they'd made.  This made for more angst than I usually like to read, but, again, it really worked in this story.

 

Walker is a really refreshing hero in a genre that seems full of billionaire CEOs and over achievers.  His life is simple, in part because he doesn't think he can achieve more, and in part because that's how he likes it.  Walker does make some changes over the course of the book, but the changes are motivated by his own happiness, not out of a desire to impress someone else.

 

Charlie was interesting, too.  A security expert who wasn't a strong physical force.  She specializes in out-thinking criminals and setting up monitoring systems.  The situation she finds herself in on her new job - feeling like she's being watched every moment of the day - was really creepy!  (Although I should point out that I'm not a huge suspense fan, so even a little bit of it is creepy to me!)

 

I think one of my favorite parts of the book was that their personal growth was in parallel, and not caused by the other person being in their life.  Even when Charlie tries to interfere with Walker, he's not going to move on things until he's ready.  I enjoyed that as opposed to magic sex that heals all wounds!

I thought the ending was a little too hearts and sunshine with respect to their careers, but I REALLY appreciated that the wedding in the epilogue wasn't theirs.  They still have issues to work through, in my opinion, but you leave the story sure that they will work things out.  This was an enjoyable and funny contemporary romance!

Always on My Mind by Jill Shalvis

Grade: B
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary

Published: 9/24/13
Reviewed by Anne

254 pages

 

Leah feels like a failure after messing up at pastry school and on a reality cooking show.  She spending the agonizing time until the show's finale in Lucky Harbor, her home town, running her Grandma's bakery.  Her best friend Jack is there for her as always.  When the idea that Jack and Leah might be dating cheers up Jack's mother - who is fighting cancer - Leah runs with the story saying she ad Jack are going out.  Jack plays along and, much to the amusement of everyone else, pretending to date leads to actual dating and falling in love.

 

Jill Shalvis is an amazingly dependable writer!  This is another great story.  There's tons of humor, along with the Lucky Harbor cast we know and love.  I think this book would stand on it's own just fine, though.

Leah is a pretty damaged heroine - well, her self esteem is damaged due to her father's emotional abuse while she was growing up.  I would have felt better if she'd started seeing a therapist during the course of the story - she's really got issues!  Jack had his own problems, but they never seemed as big as hers.

I loved the set up with the two of them fake dating to give Jack's mom a little boost.  Everything about that was funny.  The ending was a little over the top, but it didn't ruin anything, and it left me wanting to know a lot more about Ben and Aubrey!