Review: "Zane's Way" by Maggie Casper

Zane's Way by Maggie Casper
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

There are more ways of cheating than simply having sex outside a committed relationship. If you're in a long-term, monogamous relationship, engage in an online chat with the purpose of finding a sexual partner for your kinky desires and masturbate thinking about that person you met online instead of your significant other, that's cheating - no matter how you justify it.

That's all I have to say.

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Review: "Bound by Deception" by Ava March

Bound by Deception by Ava March
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Verrrrry hot story, with likable characters and interesting story. The final confrontation between Oliver and Vincent was well written, emotionally tugging and made me root for a nice HEA. Alas, I had to content myself with a HFN, which was actually fine considering the length of the story and the fact that there's a sequel where, I hope, they'll finally find their HEA.

Now, most of the sexual content (BDSM) of this story is out of my comfort zone and I admit I skimmed through some parts of the love scenes - mainly, when the leather bullwhip made its appearance, ugh. That didn't prevent me from enjoying the read, though. :)


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Review: "Master of the Mountain" by Cherise Sinclair

Master of the Mountain by Cherise Sinclair

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


3 1/2 stars

The book description gives more than a good insight of the story - in fact, it tells the whole story! - so I won't bother writing a plot summary here. I'll just say that the premise was interesting, but I didn't like the way the story unfolded.

Rebecca was too hesitant and insecure - so much that I didn't know if she still considered Matt her boyfriend or not when she had sex with Logan. Before anyone shouts "Cheater!" at her, let me explain that Matt and Rebecca had an open relationship - even though she only became aware of that when the douchebag told her he was a swinger and asked her to join his swing club on a long weekend retreat - so she wasn't cheating on him when she decided to explore her sexuality with Logan. Even so, I still felt uncomfortable with her decision, mostly because she was uncomfortable with it too. She was clearly not a swinger and not into any kind of sexual sharing, so why didn't she break things up with Matt when she realized that? Considering he was "busy" with another woman (and therefore, didn't have time to speak with his own girlfriend) and how he was okay with her having sex with other guys, I'd have been fine with Rebecca breaking up with Matt "telepathically" until she could do it face to face. She did that (the "telepathic" breakup) later, but the damage - the way I saw it - had been done.

Logan was sexy as sin - and a bit scary for my sensitive taste. He was definitely a Dom with a capital D and wasn't afraid to push Rebecca out of her comfort zone. He never went over what he knew she could take, which was a relief - to her, not to me. And that's where I had some issues with this book. Logan and Rebecca were more than happy with their BDSM plays - well, she wasn't exactly laughing with joy when he punished her, but you know what I mean - and they really knew how to set the sheets on fire, but some of their sex scenes were out of my comfort zone. I shouldn't care - I mean, as long as everyting is sane, safe and consensual, everything goes - but I couldn't help being put off by some of their sexcapades. Since I read for fun and that affected my enjoyment while I was reading this book, I had to take that in consideration when I decided on my rating.

This was my third read by this author and I don't know where I stand when it comes to her books. I like her writing, but I'm wary of her stories. I loved The Dom's Dungeon, I didn't like Club Shadowlands (Masters of the Shadowlands, #1) and even though I thought that this book was better than okay, it wasn't a winner. What to do, what to do? I guess I'll have to keep reading. ;)



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Review: "The Wicked West" by Victoria Dahl

The Wicked West by Victoria Dahl

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I really enjoyed this quick, sexy little read. Sheriff Tom Hale and Mrs. Lily Anders were made for each other: he was a closeted Dom trying to control his kinky urges and she was a wicked sub bent on making him let his "inner beast" run free and spank her into orgasmic oblivion.

The sex scenes were all good and steamy hot, even though their kinkiness was slightly tamed - I mean, there was no "backdoor" loving, which I admit I had expected to find considering the premise of the story. Mind you, I'm not complaining, I'm just sayin'... ;)

I liked Ms. Dahl's writing style in general, but the way she described some of the sex scenes turned me off. So, I knew that both Hale and Lily got off on pain - he enjoyed delivering it and she loved receiving it - and that was more than OK for them. Ms. Dahl left no doubt that Hale's punishments hurt Lily, the harder the better. They were in heaven, while I was cringing like a wuss... You see, I live in my own delusional little world where pain has no place in the bedroom, so I need my authors to sugarcoat the BDSM scenes for me. It was all in Ms. Dahl's choice of words: if she had used the word "pleasure" instead of "pain" and "hurt", I'd have been blissfully happy - despite the fact that those words were synonyms in Lily's mind. Anyway, that's just a quirk of mine and it didn't bother me enough to ruin this read for me.

All things considered, this was still a very good and enjoyable story.



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Review: "Beauty's Release" by A.N. Roquelaure

Beauty's Release by A.N. Roquelaure




Disclaimer: I read the 1st book on a dare and the 2nd one out of curiosity - you can read my status updates and my reviews here and here, if you're interested. I have no plausible excuse for reading this last book. I just had to read it. After everything I had to endure during the previous books, I deserved to know Beauty's ultimate fate. Sure, I could have simply skipped ahead and read the last pages, but I made myself go through the whole enchilada - and that's why I said I had no plausible excuse to justify my reading it, LOL. Once again, I'm not rating this read for the same reasons I stated in my reviews on the previous books.

Since this is the last book in the series, I can't do what I did previously and copy/paste the plot summary usually given at the beginning of the next book. Considering that my poor brain cells are still pretty damaged, I'm taking the easy path (again) and copying/pasting/editing the plot summary I found on Wikipedia:

Beauty's Release begins with the captured royal slaves' journey on the ship to the Sultan's realm, where they are to become mute sex toys or living sculptures to decorate the Sultan's gardens, bedrooms, bathrooms, hallways, doors, etc. After their arrival at the exotic land of the Sultan, the slaves are examined by Lexius, the Sultan's steward, and separated.

Beauty is taken to the harem, where she meets the Sultan's wives and experiences a new level of sexual humiliation, pleasure and pain. She is then greeted by Innana, one of the Sultan's wives, with whom she quickly falls in love.

Laurent and Tristan are taken to the Sultan's garden where they are to be mounted on crosses and whipped. But Laurent defies Lexius and the Sultan's steward takes Laurent to his private rooms, intent on giving a lesson to the rebellious slave. However, Laurent overpowers him and rapes him. Both are surprised to discover how much they enjoyed the experience, but that doesn't change the status quo... much. In public, Lexius is the powerful and unbending Master while Laurent is nothing but one of the Sultan's slaves. However, in private, Laurent and Tristan begin to train Lexius as their secret slave.

When Beauty, Tristan and Laurent start to feel comfortable and happy with their new lives, a rescue team led by the Captain of the Guard and Nicolas, Tristan's former Master and lover, arrives to take them back to the Queen's Court. Laurent convinces the Captain to take Lexius too, much to the Sultan's steward's delight. Near the end of their voyage, the Captain tells Beauty that she is to be released from the servitude because of her parents' demands and, to her great dismay, she is sent back home.

Back at the castle, the Queen agrees to take Lexius as her slave and sentences Laurent and Tristan to the Village stable, where they are made to live and work as ponies. With time, Laurent and Tristan find peace and happiness in the simple pony life, and Tristan falls in love with Nicolas again. However, Laurent's life takes another unexpected turn when his father dies: he is automatically released from the servitude and summoned back to his kingdom to become the new ruler. As every king needs to marry and produce heirs, Laurent goes in search of a princess to become his Queen. He wants a perfectly trained slave who will be more than happy to bow to her Master (aka him). Luckily for him, he just happens to know one that's available and eager: his precious Beauty. And as they ride off into the forest towards the future, they know they will live happily ever after - as the fairy tales say.

There! That's the whole plot, so you don't have to read the book anymore - unless you want to know in detail all the sexual antics that happens in this book, LOL.

Overall, I think this book was "better" than the previous in the series. The writing still sounded too simplistic and juvenile, which was odd considering the content of the book, but the characters were more intriguing. By "characters", I meant Laurent and Lexius, because Beauty was still a slutty moron and Tristan, who had caught my attention in Beauty's Punishment, was shoved into the background and had little to say. Laurent and Lexius' role reversal was interesting to follow, especially Laurent's easy ability to switch from Dom to sub and vice versa. He confused the crap out of me, but he was by far the most interesting character in the book. That doesn't mean that he was a fully-developed, 3-dimensional character, but he was one step above from being a cardboard figure.

As it happened in the previous books, secondary characters appeared and disappeared without notice and explanation. Princess Elena, Princess Rosalynd and Prince Dmitri, who were kidnapped along with Beauty, Tristan and Laurent, were sent to be and do only the gods know what as soon as they reached the Sultan's land and were quickly forgotten. What happened to them? Quite frankly, I didn't know and didn't care.

What about the sex scenes? I've got to address that, since this is an erotic book, right? Well, they were completely out of my comfort zone, but they weren't boring like the ones in The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty. They were scarier than the ones in Beauty's Punishment, though. I don't feel like revisiting them in this review, so take a look at my status updates to know what I'm talking about. *shudders*

The HEA was unexpected and as random as the whole story. Laurent and Beauty had sex only once during the whole series! Considering the fact that they pretty much humped (and were humped by) everyone and everything in their vicinity, their "one-night stand" turning into everlasting love was a shock. True love comes when you least expect it, I guess.

Among all that "craziness", there were glimpses of a deeper insight into the characters' psych, but they were too few and far between to really amount to something. I wish they had been better explored, but that would have been too much to ask from an erotic book.

So, now that all is said and done, what's my final verdict? Did I enjoy reading this series? Hell no! Do I regret reading it? No. It was an experience and, as that, it was interesting. Am I interested in trying other erotic books? Not really.

And just to show that I haven't been psychologically damaged by this series, here's a nice pic to close my review:






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Review: "Beauty's Punishment" by A.N. Roquelaure

Beauty's Punishment by A.N. Roquelaure




Disclaimer: I read the 1st book on a dare and even though I didn't particularly enjoy the experience - you can read my status updates and my review here, if you're curious - I got sucked into reading the next book. Once again, I'm not rating this read because I don't think it would be fair to "hurt" this book's average rating considering I knew I wasn't going to like it (I'm not a fan of pure erotica and I'm no expert in BDSM).

Just to get started, here's the plot summary given at the beginning of the 3rd book, Beauty's Release:


Sold on the village auction block at dawn, Tristan soon found himself tethered and harnessed to the carriage of a handsome young Master, Nicolas, the Queen's Chronicler. And Beauty, put to work in Mistress Lockley's Inn, became the plaything of the Captain of the Guard, the Inn's chief lodger.

But within days of their separation and sale, Beauty and Tristan were both seduced by the iron discipline of the village. The sweet terrors of the Place of Public Punishment, the Punishment Shop, the Farm and the Stable, the Soldiers' Night at the inn enflamed them as well as frightening them, causing them to forget their former selves utterly.

Even the harsh judgment of the runaway slave, Prince Laurent, his body bound to a Punishment Cross for exhibit, only served to tantalize them.

And, as Beauty gloried in chastisements at last equal to her spirit, Tristan became hopelessly enamored of his new Master.

Yet no sooner had the pair met and confided their shameless happiness to each other than a band of powerful enemy soldiers attacked the village, kidnapping Beauty and Tristan along with other choice slaves, including Prince Laurent, to be taken by sea to the land of a new Master, the Sultan.

Within hours of the attack, the stolen Princes and Princesses learned that they would not be ransomed. By agreement between their sovereigns, they had been condemned to serve in the Sultan's palace until such time as they would be safely returned to their Queen for further judgment.

Kept in long, rectangular golden cages in the hold of the Sultan's ship, the slaves accepted their new destiny.


As I started to read this book, I braced myself to be utterly shocked because I'd been told that the sexual shenanigans in this book were "worse" than the ones featured in the 1st book. Well, forewarned is forearmed. I have to say that the 1st 1/3 of the story was quite "easy" to read... I mean, Beauty and Tristan were subjected to all kinds of kinky, painful and humitliating sex antics, but there was nothing new there as I'd seen it all before in the 1st book - in one word, it was "only" spanking, with a few variations to make things "interesting". *rolls eyeballs* But then, ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod, Tristan and I were introduced to those unbelievably thick leather phalluses with horsetails and it was the end of the world as we knew it! I almost died on the spot, but Tristan endured it with strength and stoicism, becoming a better man pony in the end. *shudders*

Strangely enough, that was the point where my feelings about this book changed - for better or worse, that's yet to be determined. I started to care for Tristan and I couldn't keep reading his scenes with the same sense of aloofness I still dedicated to Beauty's scenes. No, that didn't happen because I like ponies - I actually think those genetically engineered creatures are freak shows. It was Ms. Rice's writing: she chose to write Tristan's scenes in 1st person POV, and that made me connect with him in a way that I never did with Beauty. When it came to Beauty's scenes, I still thought that Ms. Rice's writing was kind of juvenile, wordy and redundant; on the other hand, Tristan's scenes were more interesting and engaging.

Based on what I said so far, you may have guessed that Beauty wasn't exactly the main character in the book. Sure, she was most likely featured in the same number of pages as Tristan, but she was still the same airheaded sub in search of her Dom introduced in the 1st book and I was bored to tears by her scenes. She was spanked by the auctioner, her new Mistress Mrs. Lockley, her Mistress' other slaves, the Captain of the Guard, his soldiers, the Master at the Place of Public Punishment, the commoners... I must be forgetting someone, but does it matter? Gaaah! Not even her 1st gang bang got a rise out of me. I believe I yawned through the whole "ordeal". (Before you start throwing rotten tomatoes at me, let me tell you that she enjoyed the whole thing, so I'm not making fun of gang rape.) Now, what did get a rise out of me was Beauty's scene with her Mistress' cat... That was gross!!! I cringed, I gagged, I puked - and I had to take a nice, cleansing shower afterwards. *shudders*

As a whole, this read was uneven to me. The 1st half was quite boring, with one or two shocking scenes to jolt me awake, but the 2nd half was more engaging - and difficult to read - due to my "attachment" to Tristan. I didn't enjoy this read, but it was interesting on a psychological level as it gave me a small insight into what the BDSM lifestyle is about.

Am I going to read the 3rd and final book? Absolutely! In for a penny, in for a pound. Plus, I want to know who Beauty's Prince Charming Dom will be. While I was reading the 1st book, I thought it would be Prince Alexi; when I finished it, I was sure it was Prince Tristan; while I was reading the 2nd book, I fancied Prince Richard; but now that I finished it, I have no clue and I need to meet the Prince who will give Beauty the ultimate spanking. He must be there in the 3rd book, waiting for her - and me, LOL.



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Review: "Maverick's Black Cat" by Maggie Casper & Lena Matthews

Maverick's Black Cat by Maggie Casper

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I've always been scared of the heavy BDSM scenario, so I was a bit wary when I started reading this story. Even though this book was recommended to me by a fellow reader who knows how wimpy I am when it comes to kinky sex scenes, I couldn't help experiencing some heart palpitations when I decided to give it a try. Now that I'm finished reading it, I'm still having heart palpitations... but they're the good kind. ;)

Catarena Vaughn has dreamed of becoming a writer for years, but success hasn't knocked on her door yet. Decided to write an erotic novel set in the BDSM world, she turns to the internet for research - after all, we all know we can find anything online these days, right? So she dons the cyber name "Black Cat" and joins a cyber sex site to get the info she needs to write a realistic BDSM novel. She just wants to lurk around and see what's going on, but she's quickly disgusted by all the leery suggestions she receives while hanging around and decides to leave the main board and enter a different chat room. Best. Decision. Ever!

Mason "Maverick" Broderick knows all about the BDSM lifestyle, even though he isn't either a Dom or, perish the thought, a Sub. He just needs to be the one in control, all the time and all the way, knows how to deliver a good, arousing spanking, and likes to play with toys. He's joined the cyber sex site on a friend's request, but it looks like he's been stood up. So when "Black Cat" enters his chat room unexpectedly and he learns what she's looking for, his interest is piqued and he's more than happy to provide her with all the info she needs... as long as she agrees to "play" online with him. Oh well, a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do, right? All in the name of research, of course!

Maverick and Black Cat's online relationship gets hot and steamy pretty quickly, and the sexual tension escalates until he becomes quite obsessed with her. But everything is "safe and sound" since they don't know each other outside their private cyber world. Or do they?

Wow, I'm still surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. So many things (the BDSM scenario, cyber sex, voyeurism, Mason and Caterena's real life relationship, etc.) could have rubbed me the wrong way, but it all worked out fairly well. Mason was very dominant - in and outside the bedroom - and had "stalker" printed on his forehead, but his obsessive behavior didn't freak me out because Catarena wasn't submissive in any way and could give as hard as she could get. That didn't mean she was an alpha b!tch, though. She was just strong enough to stand her ground when she needed to and to let him take control when he needed to. Their love scenes - both in the virtual and the real world - were scorching hot, and it was a good thing I had a full bucket of ice in my freezer, LOL.

All in all, this was a very good read, with likable (and a bit kinky) characters, an interesting plot that was more than just about sex and "research", and a nice and satisfying HEA. Definitely, one of the best romantica novels I've read.



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Review: "The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty" by A.N. Roquelaure

The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by A.N. Roquelaure




Disclaimer: I read this book on a dare. I'm not a fan of pure erotica and I'm no expert in BDSM, so it was pretty much obvious from the start that I wouldn't enjoy this read. That's why I'm not rating this book, as it wouldn't be fair to lower its average rating "on purpose" - not that I think one (mine) rating would cause such "damage", but anyway...

So, how should I start this review ranting of mine? ;) Okay, how about the plot? Plot?!? Yes, dear friends, this book has a plot - an absurd and underdeveloped one, but a plot nonetheless. I don't feel like giving away any more of my damaged brain cells to this nightmare, so I'll just copy/paste the plot summary given at the beginning of the 2nd book, Beauty's Punishment:


After her century-long slumber, the Sleeping Beauty opened her eyes at the kiss of the Prince, to find her garments stripped away and her heart as well as her body under the rule of her deliverer. At once, Beauty was claimed as the Prince's naked pleasure slave to be taken to his Kingdom.

With the grateful consent of her parents, and dazed with desire for the Prince, Beauty was then brought to the Court of Queen Eleanor, the Prince's mother, to serve as one of hundreds of naked Princes and Princesses, all playthings of the Court until such time as they should be rewarded and sent home to their Kingdoms.

Dazzled by the rigors of the Training Hall, the Hall of Punishments, the ordeal of the Bridle Path, and her own mounting passion to please, Beauty remained the undisputed favorite of the Prince and the delight of her sometime Mistress, the lovely young Lady Juliana.

Yet she could not ignore her secret and forbidden infatuation with the Queen's exquisite slave, Prince Alexi, and finally the disobedient slave, Prince Tristan.

After glimpsing Prince Tristan among the disgraced of the castle, Beauty, in a moment of seemingly inexplicable rebellion, brings upon herself the very same punishment destined for Tristan: to be sent away from the voluptuous Court to the degradation of harsh labor in the nearby village.


That doesn't sound too bad, does it? Well, if you think so, just read my status updates to get a "tastier" insight into the extremely kinky, painful and humiliating sex antics Beauty and the other love slaves go through over the course of this book. I gasped, I frowned, I cringed and I gagged - oh boy! - but I also rolled my eyeballs and laughed hysterically at what was supposed to be erotic and thrilling. I "blame" Ms. Rice's juvenile writing for that: it was wordy and redundant, the story didn't flow effortlessly and all characters were one-dimensional and unlikable - in summary, this book became downright boring after the initial shock provided in the 1st chapters. I had to drink myself into almost oblivion to finish this read.

Now, how can an erotic story be boring? One word: repetition. Every other page, there was someone being spanked. Beauty and any other (un)fortunate love slave in sight got spanked for everything, over and over again. Oh, you bad girl, you need to be punished... Spanked! Very good, my girl... Spanked! I'm not amused. Spanked! You're so exquisitely beautiful!... Spanked! Are those tears of joy I see running down your face?... Spanked! I love you so much!... Spanked! Spanked! Spanked! Gaaaaah!

All things considered, I can't say I hated this book. I was irritated and coudn't wait to be done with it, but that wasn't out of utter disgust. It was out of sheer boredom. Even though this book is definitely out of my comfort zone, it could have kept my interested if Ms. Rice had filled its pages with all sorts of kinky stuff. Like I said above, I'm not familiar with the BDSM scenario and I could have been easily thrilled (in a good or bad way, it doesn't matter) by whatever "novelty" she wrote. Alas, all the excitment died after the 1st chapters and I didn't "learn" anything new... Disappointing!



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Review: "Believe" by Lauren Dane

Believe by Lauren Dane

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This story felt like an epilogue to Second Chances, which I haven't read, and I don't think it stood on its own. Jude and Rori spend a lot of time dwelling on their history and I felt like an outsider, not knowing how I was supposed to feel about it. In addition, their love scenes were out of my comfort zone - I am not into crops and floggers! - and I found myself skimming through them. As a result, there was little else to read.

Note: This story is also available in Naughty and Nice anthology.



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Review: "Unwrapped" by Megan Hart

Unwrapped by Megan Hart

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I knew beforehand that this story is kind of a sequel to Taking Care of Business and No Reservations, which I haven't read, but I decided to go ahead and read it anyway because I like stories featuring married couples.

The book description is good enough so I won't bother reinventing the wheel. Here it is:

Newlyweds Leah and Brandon Long are finally taking a honeymoon. But just a few days into their Christmas-in-Vail vacation, Leah takes a tumble on the slopes, severely spraining her ankle. Being stuck indoors isn't so bad though: the luxurious chalet boasts a hot tub and cozy fireplace. Besides, sitting with her feet up while Brandon serves her in every way a man can serve a woman is exactly how both of them like to spend their time.

Leah would be in heaven, if only Brandon didn't insist on playing with the dynamic of their relationship. With kinky sex and deep conversation the only things on the agenda, Leah can't avoid the discussion of how things might change. Will she be ready to take their marriage to the next level in the New Year?

This was a nice quick read, but I think I should have waited and read the previous books beforehand. I didn't feel lost and I understood the dynamics of Brandon and Leah's relationship without a problem, but I didn't connect with them. They were likable enough and their love scenes were hot - or would have been if I had formed a true connection with them - but that was it.

Brandon and Leah's standard bedroom play had a D/s dynamic, with Leah as dominant and Brandon as submissive, but a tentative experiment in role reversal proved to be just as interesting...



All in all, this was an okay read and it got me interested in reading the previous books. I'll probably revisit this story after I read them, and we shall see how I feel about it then.

Note: This story is also available in Naughty and Nice anthology.



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Review: "The Dom's Dungeon" by Cherise Sinclair

The Dom's Dungeon by Cherise Sinclair

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I've always said that I'm not a big fan of BDSM books, but I might have to change my mind after reading this book. Wow! I loved the romance between Alex and MacKensie. His dominance didn't come with pain and humiliation for the sake of it, it was coated with protection and the need to give his submissive what she needed, even though that wasn't necessarily what she wanted. He made me wish for a Dom of my own... Well, kind of. I'd take the good parts and shove the bad parts down his throat, LOL.

Note: I'm still a wuss and one particular BDSM scene between Alex and MacKensie scared me, but it didn't make me dislike this book. Kudos to Ms. Sinclair for achieving that!




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Review: "The Pearl at the Gate" by Anya Delvay

The Pearl at the Gate by Anya Delvay

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


When I read the book description, I thought this would be an interesting read, as a story about a married couple discovering their "forbidden" desires and kinks is right up my alley, but when I opened the ebook and realized it was a short story, I had to lower my expectations. Still, I thought it could be good, because skilled authors can make almost anything work.

Sadly, that wasn't the case here. The story's premise was never developed into anything resembling a plot. The book description was the whole story, or better, the setup for the sex scene where Roake's and Jenesta's hidden sexual needs were revealed. I've read and enjoyed stories like that (aka smut) before and I'm sure I'll read and enjoy others in the future, so why didn't I like this one? It all comes down to Roake and Jenesta, I'm afraid. I didn't "connect" with them so I found myself indifferent to their sex scene and HEA.



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Review: "Ink Spots" by Lissa Matthews

Ink Spots by Lissa Matthews

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


3 1/2 stars

Big, hulking, bald, tattooed, pierced ex-con and tattoo artist Jaz and blonde, green-eyed independent jewelry-designer-moonlighting-as-waitress Mandi have been lusting after each other for the past 6 months, but none has acted on it - for reasons that are still unclear to me. On Mandi's 40th birhtday, Jaz's (foster) sister Jackie, who happens to be Mandi's boss and friend too, decides to play matchmaker and gives Mandi something someone she's been craving but was afraid to ask for: Jaz. Needless to say, he's more than happy to put himself at Mandi's sexual disposal and become her best birthday present ever. The question is, will that be just a one-day deal or will he be still available after her birthday is over?

Wow, Jaz and Mandi didn't waste any time to get down and dirty. This book singed my fingers and made me look for my fan right from the start, because Jaz and Mandi didn't play coy and had no problem saying (and doing) everything they wanted. While that increased the heat level of the story, it made me question their behavior: if they were so uninhibited like that, why had they circled around each other for 6 months before Jackie had had enough of that and almost literally shoved Jaz into Mandi's arms? Don't you hate it when your brain makes an appearance in the middle of a good erotica/romantica book? LOL

Anyway, this was a nice, steamy read once I put that thought aside. It wasn't as good as Simple Need, my favorite in the series, but it was better than Carnal Ecstasy.


The model on the cover fits Jaz's description - miracles do happen, LOL - but I like "my" Jaz better:



He was a big man, standing six foot four, and within about six inches on either side of being as wide in the shoulders as a standard doorway. That's... big. ;)




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Review: "Carnal Ecstasy" by Lissa Matthews

Carnal Ecstasy by Lissa Matthews

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Vegetables as sex toys? Nah, that is so passé. Beer bottles and pool cues are the hit of the moment, according to Dallon. Yikes!

The happy recipient of Dallon's creative sex plays is Carrie, a 30-year-old woman who's - finally! - gotten tired of living a sheltered life under the influence of her parents and is ready to break loose. Who's better than Dallon, a tattooed bar owner who once lived in the same lifestyle, to help her find her naughty and wild side?

As you may have guessed by the first paragraph above, Dallon and Carrie's affair was very, er, interesting. Dallon's imagination had no limits and Carrie was more than willing to play along with him. I have to say that I was a bit uncomfortable with some of their sexcapades, though. While Dallon was careful enough to use protection (at least, the first times) and clean the beer bottle before using it on Carrie, he didn't show the same concern when it came to the pool cue. I couldn't help thinking how many people had handled that pool cue before. Germophobic much, Dina?

I guess I paid too much attention to those details because I wasn't completely sold on Dallon and Carrie. Dallon was okay, but Carrie was annoying in her inconsistent innocence and bravado. I had a hard time believing that she'd been "brave" enough to lose her virginity, spend the night with boys and even experiment with kissing girls - all that without her parents' knowledge, of course - but had never had the courage to drink a latte or a cappuccino. Did she really think those drinks were more sinful than sex?!?

All things considered, this was still an okay read. I liked Dallon and the sex scenes (sans pool cue) were steamy hot. I didn't think Dallon and Carrie were "soulmates", though.


And just because I have to, here's something to erase the fugly cover from our minds:



How do you like "my" Dallon? I asked him to remove the guitar from his lap so I could take a better shot, but he said it's part of him - after all, he's the guitar player in the band. ;)



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Review: "Simple Need" by Lissa Matthews

Simple Need by Lissa Matthews

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


OH, HAWT DAYUMMM!!!

There isn't much of a plot or character development in this short story, but who cares? Just grab a glass bottle of your favorite wine, relax and enjoy. Vinter and Elise will do the rest. ;)


The model on the cover is pretty hot, but it doesn't hurt to have another visual aid:





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