'Talk me Down' by Victoria DAHL

From the BLURB:

Molly Jenkins has one naughty little secret: her job as a bestselling erotic fiction author. Until her inspiration runs dry - thanks to a creepy ex - and it's time to skip town and move back to tiny Tumble Creek, Colorado.

One look at former high school hunk chief of police Ben Lawson and Molly is back in business. The town gossip is buzzing at her door and, worse still, a stalker seems to be watching her every move. Thankfully, her very own lawman has taken to coming over, often. The only problem now is that Molly may have to let the cat out of the bag about her chosen profession, and straitlaced Ben will definitely not approve…

It’s official; I am obsessed with the ‘Tumble Creek’ series. I absolutely LOVED this first book and over the Australia Day-long weekend I gobbled up all three books.

For one thing I adored the characters. Dahl twists usual romance conventions by having the heroine, Molly, be the pursuer in the relationship. She’s no wallflower and is happy to flirt outrageously with Ben and let him know she is up for a round of ‘hide the salami’. Ben isn’t your typical romance hero either; he is an Alpha male and lawman to boot, but he’s also quite shy and initially reluctant to start something with Molly. I really appreciated the role reversals – Ben is a respectful gentleman, reserved and sensitive to Molly’s feelings. Molly isn’t a blushing virgin but rather a feisty woman who knows what she wants and goes after it, guns blazing. I especially loved this self-motivating line of Molly’s – I think I might make it my own personal mantra;

Yes, she was imperfect. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t also spectacular.

Ben and Molly absolutely sizzle on the page. Dahl is a master at writing tasteful smut, and she’s absolutely in her element in the contemporary romance genre where her character’s bed-play includes dirty talk and sex toys. Yowza!

But maybe the main reason I liked Ben and Molly so much was because they knew how to have fun. Their relationship definitely had a lightness to it that was an absolute joy to read, and some moments had me cackling like a hyena. This excerpt, for instance;

“I’d hardly call it seduction.”

“Wait. What the hell does that mean?”

“It means you were drunk and slightly incoherent, and I should have been the one to know better."

“Slightly incoherent? Wow, you paint a beautiful picture.” She’d been thinking pretty damn fondly of that night, but she was suddenly overwhelmed by a very different image. A scene in which she, sloppy drunk and cracking unfunny jokes, masturbated herself against an unwilling man’s lap.

Oh, holy hell, she’d totally used Ben Lawson as a sex toy.

The book isn’t all light, sexy romance though. There’s actually a pretty suspenseful second storyline concerning Molly’s psychotic ex and a suspected stalker. Sometimes such dramatic storylines in romance books just feel like clumsy filler that the author felt was needed to break up all the sex scenes. But in ‘Talk me down’ the storylines is actually quite a page-turner, one that will keep you guessing until the very end.

‘Talk me down’ is brilliant. Victoria Dahl perfectly balances contemporary romance, thriller and rom-com in one delightfully smutty package. I was thoroughly impressed and after reading the last page of ‘Talk me down’ I cracked open second book, ‘Start me up’. Yep, I am addicted – and I owe it all to Patti (aka: Book Addict) who first introduced me to the delightful works of Ms. Dahl. Thank-you!

5/5

'The Unsung Hero' by Suzanne BROCKMANN

From the BLURB:

After a near-fatal head injury, navy SEAL lieutenant Tom Paoletti catches a terrifying glimpse of an international terrorist in his New England hometown. When he calls for help, the navy dismisses the danger as injury-induced imaginings. In a desperate, last-ditch effort to prevent disaster, Tom creates his own makeshift counterterrorist team, assembling his most loyal officers, two elderly war veterans, a couple of misfit teenagers, and Dr. Kelly Ashton-the sweet "girl next door" who has grown into a remarkable woman. The town's infamous bad boy, Tom has always longed for Kelly. Now he has one final chance for happiness, one last chance to win her heart, and one desperate chance to save the day . . .

This is the first book in Suzanne Brockmann’s ‘Troubleshooter’ series (currently with 15 books). I was looking forward to this one because the premise of the series reminded me of JR Ward’s ‘Blackdagger Brotherhood’, by being about a band of ‘warrior’ men – but minus the supernatural aspect and made into a contemporary romance.

I think ‘Unsung Hero’ was the wrong introduction to Brockman’s ‘Troubleshooter’ world (despite it being the first book). I was hoping there would be plenty of interaction between the Navy SEAL characters: a sense of camaraderie between the men who fight side by side. But this first book is about a SEAL who is on sick leave, and back in his New England hometown recovering.

I was even more disappointed by the plot/setting because the opening chapter was fantastic! Lieutenant Tom Paoletti and his SO Squad are sent to a foreign country to retrieve the wife of an American ambassador. All is going fine until the local army decide she can’t leave and try to hijack their transport. Much gun fighting and dare-devil stunts ensue.

It was a great, thrilling opener. In just 8 pages there was back-and-forth between the men, tongue-in-cheek jokes and fairly decent action. I especially liked the SEAL humor, particularly when describing the ambassador’s wife:

She was one of those leathery tan fifty-something women who looked as if she should be wearing tennis whites with the little panties under her skirts at all times, holding a racket in one hand, a martini and cigarette in the other.

But after that opening chapter, I was disappointed. The rest of the story revolves around Lt. Tom going home to recover from a serious injury. Brockman tries to keep the action up – by having Tom see a suspected terrorist right in his home town – and there is a guessing game for the reader and Tom as to whether the terrorist exists, or is a by-product of Tom’s head injury.

Brockmann also tries to keep up the suspense by weaving a second storyline concerning Tom’s uncle, Joe and his best friend, Charles. Both Joe and Charles were behind enemy lines during WWII and as the V-Day celebrations approach a story begins to surface about Joe, Charles and a French female resistance fighter, Cybele. Brockmann tells this story through flashback and deep-and-meaningful conversations between Joe and Charles. But to be honest, I didn’t like this second storyline because the ‘heroine’ was such a bitch. Turns out, there was a love triangle going on between Joe, Charles and Cybele. Reading the flashbacks I got the distinct impression that Cybele enjoyed playing the two men off each other, and was really quite cruel in the way she tugged at their heartstrings. At one point she has sex with Joe because Charles turned her down – and then rubs the fact that she slept with Joe in Charles’s face. Maybe that’s not *exactly* how Brockmann intended Cybele’s actions to come across, but that’s how I read it.

There is a romance between Tom and his old next-door neighbor, Kelly. I didn’t particularly like this romance either – mostly because Brockmann uses a romance plot ploy that I *despise* - having the hero and heroine being each other’s childhood crush. All the chemistry between the two relies so heavily on their past feelings and flirtations – so much so that nothing between them in present day comes across as particularly sparky.

And I didn’t like Brockmann’s sex scenes – I don’t always need gratuitous sexual descriptions in my romances, but when the author trots out this old chestnut: “it was hard to tell where he ended and she began” – at the moment of penetration, I pretty much just roll my eyes and skim read.

He kissed her. He couldn’t help himself, not when she was gazing at him so fiercely and touching him like that. He kissed her slowly and as sweetly as he could, careful to keep his own explosive desire on the shortest possible leash

There’s also a third storyline about Tom’s niece, Mallory and a boy she meets, David. To be honest reading this 3rd plot was a bit WTF? for me, and not really worth mentioning.

Toward the end of the book Tom does call on his SEAL buddies in case he isn’t hallucinating seeing a terrorist in New England – but it was a case of too little too late. By that point I was bored to tears and skim reading.

I won’t be reading more of Brockmann’s ‘Troubleshooter’ series. She didn’t really put her best foot forward with ‘The Unsung Hero’, so I won’t bother seeing if the series improves.

1/5

'Ivy Cole and the Moon' by Gina FARAGO

From the BLURB:

Ivy Cole has come home to the South, and her first order of business upon arriving in her new mountain town is to eliminate the unsavory folks who reside there. Proud of what she can accomplish under the spell of the full moon, Ivy leaves the consequences of her actions lying about Doe Springs (in pieces) as a reminder that evil happens to those who deserve it.

But something else has taken up residence in the land, something violent and cruel, with an unconscionable appetite that eventually targets the ones Ivy loves. While she hunts and is hunted by the other, Sheriff Hubbard doggedly works to solve the mystery behind the savage killings and mutilations.

Gina Farago’s 2005 book is a very different werewolf story. The prologue details the last harrowing moments of a man’s life as a giant beast falls upon him. A murder investigation follows into the man, Clifford Hughes’, death – but the ‘whodunnit’ is solved very quickly as the book’s main protagonist, Ivy Cole, calmly narrates that she is the murderer.

Ivy is a vigilante werewolf. Clifford was a mean drunk and wife-beater who Ivy saw fit to be rid of. And he isn’t her first victim – as local Sheriff Gloria Hubbard also narrates, there have been several other grisly murders. Ivy is responsible for all of them.

Ivy is the best kind of narrator – because she is without a doubt bat-shit crazy and therefore unreliable. She actually believes that she has every right to murderously dispose of her town’s undesirable citizens, and honestly sees nothing wrong with her killing streak. It is fascinating and chilling to read Ivy’s narration; the flip personality she shows and hides to the town who alternately call her an ‘Angel’ while on every full moon she turns werewolf and gruesomely slaughters local womanizers and drunks.

Things heat up for Ivy when the local Sheriff orders a closer investigation into her and a possible connection to Clifford’s death. It puts readers into a tricky position – alternately wanting Ivy to be found out, and increasingly interested in how she keeps getting away with the murders. Ivy Cole is the literary werewolf equivalent to ‘Dexter’ – the villain you can’t help but root for simply because they’re so darn fascinating;

“How is the wolf the victim here? Looks like to me the folks in these pictures are in a heap of trouble.” Melvin flipped to another page where a wolf hunkered behind a rock awaiting to spring on a maiden gathering water by a stream.

“What you’re seeing is art based on stereotype. The wolf has worn the cloak of villain for centuries. Easy to see how that might happen – there weren’t many biologists running around in the Middle Ages. In reality, Deputy Sanders, wolves are nothing like myth and folklore would have us believe.”

Things heat up for Ivy when she realizes another ‘creature’ has invaded her territory and is attacking her nearest and dearest.

‘Ivy Cole and the Moon’ is a very different werewolf story. Different from the recent crop of Urban Fantasies that have cast werewolves as glamorous heroes, instead harking back to the original folklore in which lycanthropes were perverted villains.

If you are a die-hard Urban Fantasy fan you may turn your nose up at a story that casts beloved werewolves in a negative light. But there is a lot to appreciate in ‘Ivy Cole and the Moon’, mainly in the perverse narration of protagonist Ivy Cole and the position Farago puts readers in of being both disgusted and intrigued by this twisted heroine.

4/5

'The Surprise of his Life' by Karen KEAST

From the BLURB:

Lindsey Ellison had a problem. She was in love . . . hopelessly in love . . . with Walker Carr. It would all be so lovely, so idyllic--if only he wasn't her father's business partner and best friend . . . and her godfather! And, of course, Lindsey couldn't ignore the fact that he'd be totally shocked to discover her feelings. She had to forget him.

But how?

It seemed impossible, especially now when she was returning to Galveston to help her parents through a rough time. She had to convince Walker that she was the woman he would love forever. Lindsey steeled her heart--because when Walker figured out her plan, it was going to be the surprise of his life!

I put a question to Amazon’s romance chat board. I was looking for a good romance book about an older man/younger woman. I know lots of 60’s and 70’s Mills & Boon and Harlequin unwittingly set up the old man/young woman dynamic – simply because such a pairing wasn’t at all unconventional at the time. I was looking for a more modern romance in which the older/younger relationship was the crux of the story, not simply a given.

The book that came most highly recommended was Karen Keast’s ‘The Surprise of his Life’(1991)… and I *LOVED* it!

The trigger of the story is 23-year-old Lindsey Ellison returning home to comfort her mother through the divorce her father has sprung on her after 25 years of marriage. Lindsey had previously been living in London, where she fled after she broke off her wedding the night before the big day. Lindsey has mixed feelings about returning home – she’s devastated about her parent’s divorce and angry at her father’s mid-life crisis that prompted it. But she’s also nervous and excited – because returning home means coming face to face with the reason she called of her wedding. Walker Carr. Family friend who was in Vietnam with her father and is also her godfather. Walker is also the man she loves – despite his being 47 to her 23.

Walker and Lindsey are H-O-T. There’s no explicit sex really, as Keast tiptoes around the more nitty-gritty smut. She never uses the word ‘nipple’ for example, but refers to the ‘centre of Lindsey’s breasts’. Regardless, Lindsey and Walker are smoldering, especially because of the pent-up frustration Walker feels at having lustful thoughts about his goddaughter, and the illicitness of their affair. When these two do get together they burn up the page! It helps that the man on the books cover bears a striking resemblance to Cary Grant. Oh boy!

“You are different,” Walker whispered, reaching out and touching her love-tossed hair with his fingertips. “So very different.”

A tiny smile budded, grew, ripened. “I grew up.”

At that he began to gently twist the blond strands of her hair about his fist. Each roll brought her closer to him until the tips of her breasts brushed against his chest. Her neck was arched, her head angled upward. “Did anyone ever tell you that you grew up in all the right places?” he said, his mouth only milli-inches from hers.

“I’ve been waiting all these years for you to tell me,” she whispered.

Despite the age difference and the illicitness of a godfather/goddaughter pairing; Lindsey and Walker's romance never felt 'wrong' or creepy. It helps that these two have such obvious sexual chemistry. Walker is also a real gentlemen and is never flippant about his feelings for Lindsey, and he really struggles with their newfound romance.

As well as Lindsey and Walker’s romance, there’s the storyline concerning Lindsey’s parents, Bunny and Dean. This is actually a really good accompanying plot as Dean takes increasingly drastic and ridiculous measures to fend off old age, including having an affair with a 19-year-old girl. Dean’s mid-life crisis is a great counter-point to Walker’s feelings for Lindsey, and only proves to highlight how different his relationship is compared to Dean’s desperation.

Karen Keast is a pseudonym for Sandra Key Patterson Caulfield. She unfortunately passed away in 2003 – having written 13 books, all of which are either Harlequin or Silhouette imprints. Reading her backlist, she has quite a few books that really appeal to me – they’re all a little bit old school, and that’s half the appeal. You kind of have to go scouting for Keast’s books – a few are available via Amazon, second-hand, and most of them are only US$0.01 (not including postage + shipping). Others are a little more pricey for their rarity (US$19.99) and some are simply out of print.

I loved ‘The Surprise of his Life’. Loved it! No wonder it came so highly recommended.

5/5

'Convincing Arthur' by Ava MARCH

From the BLURB:

Mr. Leopold Thornton missed his chance ten years ago. He isn't about to let this one pass him by.

Given Leopold's reputation for vice and debauchery, Mr. Arthur Barrington has a fair idea why the wickedly handsome man invites him to his country estate. A hunting excursion? Unlikely. Especially considering Arthur is the only guest invited to the estate. He shouldn't even consider the invitation, but a few days of meaningless sex could be just the thing to take his mind off the recent disappointing end of a ten year relationship. Then he can return to London, to his thriving law practice, and quietly search for an amiable man who understands the meaning of the word discreet and who recognizes the value of commitment.

There was a time when Leopold wasn't such a rakehell. When every night didn't end with an empty bottle of whisky. When he believed in the rewards of patience. When he didn't give himself over to just anyone who would have him. Old habits die hard, especially when tempted by six feet of solid muscle, but Leopold will only have a few days to convince Arthur he can be that man again - that his affection is genuine and he's worthy of Arthur's heart.

‘Convincing Arthur’ marked two ‘firsts’ for me – my first e-book read and my first proper foray into M/M erotica.

This was no tame introduction to the wonderful world of M/M. Oh no. The sex scenes are sizzling and gratuitous (just the way I like them). A very tame tender moment between Arthur and Leopold went something like this:

“Ah…damnation.” Arthur gasped, his eyes closing against the most intense pleasure. By God, the man knew what he was about. Bobbing along the length, sucking hard enough to almost pull the orgasm out of him.

And it only gets better from there.

‘Convincing Arthur’ is a very short read, but March has done such a fantastic job at characterisation and setting that no detail is lost. The story is set in 1820, and while neither character dwells on the current conception of homosexuality as being an ‘abomination’, Arthur makes enough nervous gestures and mentions avoiding the hangman’s noose that you get the idea without lengthy paragraphs. It’s a good bit of concise scene setting.

There also isn’t a whole lot of recounting of Arthur and Leopold’s history with one another – despite the fact that Leopold has been pining for Arthur for 10 years. March communicates Leopold’s yearning through inner dialogue and in his desperate interactions with Arthur. And you do definitely get the feeling that Leopold is helplessly, hopelessly in love with the studious bookworm, Arthur. It’s quite sweet and relatable really. Leopold turned himself into a rake for the 10 years he was pining after Arthur, and then threw himself into the opportunity to show his crush just how much he wants him the minute he becomes single again.

While the sex scenes smoulder, the romance is quite sweet. And there’s a lovely speech from Leopold toward the end, announcing his feelings that had me going “awwww”.

I do think that the story could have been longer. It was all over too quickly for my liking. But ‘Convincing Arthur’ was definitely the right way to be introduced to the wonderfully erotic world of M/M. Now I’m going to buy myself some Josh Lanyon e-books and jump onto J.R. Ward’s online forum to scout out more Blay/Qhuinn goss. I am a total M/M convert!

Thanks to Mandi (smexybooks) for recommending.

5/5

'Can't stand the Heat' Recipe for Love #1 by Louisa EDWARDS

From the BLURB:

For sharp-tongued food critic Miranda Wake, the chance to spend a month in Adam Temple’s kitchen to write an exposé is a journalistic dream come true. Surely Miranda can find a way to cut the hotshot chef down to size once she learns what really goes on at his trendy Manhattan restaurant. But she never expected Adam to find out her most embarrassing secret: she has no idea how to cook.

Adam’s not about to have his reputation burned by a critic who doesn’t even know the difference between poaching and paring. He’ll just have to give the tempting redhead a few private lessons of his own—teaching her what it means to cook with passion…and doing more with his hands than simply preparing sumptuous food.

This is Louisa Edward’s first book, and the debut in her ‘A Recipe for Love’ series.

I really liked this book. I was a bit hesitant at first, because the premise sounded a little too ‘romantic comedy’ sickly-sweet… but I was pleasantly surprised.

Miranda Wake is not a totally-together woman. She may appear to be a suave New York food critic, but underneath her biting reviews and killer red stilettos is a woman trying to kick-start her lukewarm writing career and deal with her baby brother’s emotional withdrawal. I really liked the two sides to her character – the ‘front’ she shows the outside world, and the slow reveal to her deeper emotions and shortcomings that readers, and Adam, begin to uncover.

To be honest, ‘Can’t Stand the Heat’ could have been too cloyingly sweet and a bad rom-com schtick if not for the second storyline. As well as Miranda & Adam’s romance, Edwards writes about Miranda’s 22-year-old brother, Jess, who is coming to terms with his homosexuality and burgeoning feelings for sous chef, Frankie. Jess has thrown in his scholarship and returned to NYC to live with Miranda after a disastrous ‘outing’ to his University friends. He is coming to terms with his sexuality while navigating a flirtation with serial-dater, Frankie, all while trying to keep everything secret from Miranda.

I really loved the Jess/Frankie storyline, probably more than I liked Miranda/Adam. I probably preferred Jess’s story because he made such personal progress and took so many chances in his romance. Plus he and Frankie were super cute and hot.

That being said, Miranda and Adam are just as steamy and delicious. Edwards knows how to write her way around a smutty scene;

Hot damn, the girl had a mouth made for sin. That cupid’s bow shape all puffy and kiss-swollen, rubbed redder than usual from his own mouth. The taste of her was like nothing he’d ever encountered. If he could separate out the flavors and figure a way to re-create it, he’d have the hottest dessert the world had ever seen.

My one complaint is to do with the book’s ending. I was thinking that I’d dodged a bullet and completely avoided reading a cheesy rom-com – but the ending is a little too unbelievable and tacky – very over the top. But that is my one complaint.

I don’t know how many books Louisa Edwards has in store for her ‘A Recipe For Love’ series, but there is lots of potential in a series about the goings on of NYC restaurants. I have never worked in the food industry myself – but plenty of my friends and family have worked as waiters/waitresses, bartenders and bouncers – and I was surprised and delighted at how well Edwards knows the in’s and out’s of the behind-the-scenes of restaurants. Plenty of hook-up’s, break-up’s and cattiness to tide the series over.

I will definitely be reading the second installment ‘On the Steamy Side’, released March 1st this year – and hope that Edwards is contracted for more books.

3.5/5

'On the Steamy Side'

Release Date: March 1, 2010

'Tempest Rising' by Nicole PEELER

From the BLURB:

Living in small town Rockabill, Maine, Jane True always knew she didn't quite fit in with so-called normal society. During her nightly, clandestine swim in the freezing winter ocean, a grisly find leads Jane to startling revelations about her heritage: she is only half-human.

Now, Jane must enter a world filled with supernatural creatures alternatively terrifying, beautiful, and deadly- all of which perfectly describe her new "friend," Ryu, a gorgeous and powerful vampire.

It is a world where nothing can be taken for granted: a dog can heal with a lick; spirits bag your groceries; and whatever you do, never-ever-rub the genie's lamp.

Nicole Peeler’s debut novel isn’t good – to be blunt.

I was a little skeptical going into this, mainly because I had an issue with the cover looking very YA and none too appealing. But I pushed my worries aside when I saw that Rachel Caine had leant her opinion to the back-cover, calling ‘Tempest Rising’ a “fascinating, fast-paced, sexy storm of a book”.

Oh Ms. Caine, how you’ve led me astray…

The plot isn’t all that bad - it’s a very slow wind-up and a hurried conclusion. Ms. Peeler also makes the mistake of telling, not showing – by including endless descriptions, scene summaries and internal monologues that make the book drag. But it is bearable. Even though, to be honest, I think a better book would have been based on the back-story of Jane's Selkie mother and human father. *That* story was more intriguing than the whole of 'Tempest Rising', complete with romance, tragedy and mystery.

No, the biggest problem with Peeler’s book is the protagonist, Jane True.

When you find yourself wanting to give a fictional character a wedgie, you’re in trouble.

Jane is boring (hence the name?), weak-willed and all together awful. She is also thoroughly uncouth – at one point she hocks her gum out the window while her sexy vampire lover looks on. Ew! In another instance her vampire lover places a hand over her stomach, and her response is “are you checking for food babies?” ‘Food babies’? Are you serious? And it’s made worse by the fact that Jane can’t carry off these social faux pas’ with the same zany grace as someone like Jane Jameson in Molly Harper’s series could. Jane True just comes across as a hillbilly. Peeler tries to make up for Jane’s lack of character by having her described as looking like a ‘young Selma Hayek’ – which does nothing to endear her to me, especially when you consider the fact that for the entire book she keeps up a ‘woe is me’ schtick that begins to grate to the point of antipathy.

Her vampire lover, Ryu, isn’t much better. He’s a cardboard cutout gorgeous vampire with all the usual biting mojo. Nothing original here.

The one character who intrigued me was relegated to secondary status, with hints that he’ll have a bigger part in future books. Anyan is a shape-shifting ‘hell hound’ who has been lurking on the periphery of Jane’s life for some time now. His story reminded me a bit of Sam Merlotte from Charlaine Harris’s ‘Southern Vampire: Sookie Stackhouse’ series, for his unrequited love for the heroine.

“Most of us will accept you, and many, like me, feel that you are necessary for our survival as you are, quite simply, good for our existence.” He paused, thinking. “Our kind need… shaking up. We need new blood, new ideas, new voices.” He smiled at me, running a finger across my cheek and over my lips. “Especially when those voices come from lips as sweet as yours,” he finished, leaning forward for a kiss.

The one redeeming feature of ‘Tempest Rising’ is the possible romance between Jane and Anyan – for that I *might* consider buying the e-book of the second novel, ‘Tracking the Tempest’ (July 2010) but I highly doubt it.

1/5