Flux Orbit by Emily Veinglory

December 17, 2014 By Leave a Comment

FLIX
Flux Orbit by Emily Veinglory
Publisher: Loose Id
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Length: Full Length (180 pgs)
Other: M/M, anal sex
Rating: 4.5 stars
Reviewed by Cactus

Kell is a high-priced male courtesan sent to spend a month with Jorihn Parr, captain of an old space station orbiting a flux planet. He quickly finds himself facing perils on every side. A business baron who operates outside the law wants to take over the station, and when they won’t surrender he is ready to attack with state of the art battleships. The planet below hosts alien life forms who put Kell in a new body and force him to act as their spy. The lives of hundreds of innocent people, men women and children, hang in the balance.
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And in the middle of the maelstrom, for the very first time, Kell finds he is falling in love.

Kell’s only chance may be with a man he never expected to want, let alone need. Kell grew up as a paid prostitute and is very, very good at his job. His latest contract is to be help an uptight captain, Johrin, relax. Except while Johrin may be attracted to Kell, he feels guilty being with a courtesan, especially after hearing about Kell’s background. Kell can’t seem to get through to Jorihn and their relationship quickly ends, only to renew when Kell returns as Rally in a totally different body and looking nothing like he used to. Struggling to understand what and who he is now has consumed Kell but he must balance that with the needs of his new friends/masters, the Coil. Now only Jorihn can help Kell/Rally and the Coil against a much bigger threat.

Flux Orbit is a fascinating science-fiction story that balances tender romance and heavy science fiction without relying too heavily on one or the other. Instead both arms of the story are vitally important to its success. The science fiction aspects are pretty far fetched but in the most interesting ways. There is definitely some suspension of disbelief required to accept and go along with the many twists and turns the story takes but the emotional payoff is so rewarding that it’s worth it. It’s hard to talk about the main plot without giving away spoilers but suffice it to say the science fiction aspects are impressive but never overwhelming. Fans new to the genre won’t feel buried with too much jargon or bizarre concepts, just a few.

The romance itself is really lovely. Jorihn and Kell have an instant connection and a nice, if very brief, initial time together. The relationship that forms after Kell reappears as Rally truly becomes intense. Watching the two men dance around each other with obvious chemistry is very entertaining but also somewhat heartbreaking as Rally reaches out to Jorihn for help. The internal struggle and mental anguish rides the line of being too angst-driven but the author has such a deft hand with the drama that it never slides into overwrought. Instead it makes the depth of the characters and their relationship that much more meaningful.

I was surprised and delighted by Flux Orbit and it’s one story I whole heartedly recommend. It’s rare to find a story that has handles both aspects of the plot (romance and sci-fi) so incredibly well without sacrificing one for the other. The writing is stunning, evocative, and truly engaging. I couldn’t put this down!

Filed Under: Erotic Romance, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Drawing the Devil by Jon Keys

December 17, 2014 By Leave a Comment

DEVIL
Drawing the Devil by Jon Keys
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Short Story (145 pgs)
Other: M/M, anal sex
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Cactus

A heart can live a lifetime in eight seconds.

Ever since his father caught him with another boy and threw him out at the tender age of sixteen, Dustin Lewis has been fighting his way up the national bull-riding rankings. He’s on the brink of qualifying for the National Finals when he draws Diablo, a notoriously rank bull—and the ride goes bad.
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When bullfighter Shane Rees frees Dustin from the rigging of the same bull that nearly destroyed his face, he comes dangerously close to dropping his guard. Shane knows the potential consequences of being gay in a sport loaded with testosterone-overdosed cowboys, and the resulting scars of mind and body have left him with little self-worth.

Their near-death-by-bull first meeting sparks an attraction that awakens every last one of their personal demons. Yet as the National Finals draws closer, so do they. But they’ll have to overcome emotional highs, near-tragic lows, and bone-crushing danger before love can bust out of the chute.

Dustin didn’t know that a few seconds on a hellish bull would change his life. Drawing the bull Diablo was not in Dustin’s plans but he tried to make the best of it for his last ride in the rodeo. He barely survived with the help of a bullfighter, Shane. Shane is scarred from his last run-in with Diablo but soon discovers that his chemistry with Dustin is even more dangerous. The two men immediately hit it off but each have their own demons in the past they have to get through before they can truly be together.

Drawing the Devil is a somewhat classic gay cowboy story; two men in the heavily testosterone atmosphere of the rodeo trying to get away from their own pasts and current flaws to find a way to be together. While it probably shouldn’t matter, I find that male authors write very differently than female authors, especially in the gay romance genre. This isn’t a criticism but the language, tone, and feel of the books are very different. I could tell a man wrote DtD with the almost crude language used during the sex scenes. Again it’s not off-putting per se but simply about personal preference. I didn’t like the sex scenes, they felt vulgar with a down and dirty, almost porn kind of vibe. Lots of spit and holes and shoving. Likewise I found the characters very flat. I couldn’t connect with either one of them and didn’t really feel the chemistry and connection between them.

What really worked for the story was the authentic feel of the rodeo and supporting characters offered. I could imagine the scenes with the bulls and cowboys and almost taste the dirt that swirled when the bulls sped through the gate. The author has a real flair for description when it came to these scenes and I quite enjoyed them. I liked that characters were given more depth with their various issues. Between Shane’s scar, which really affected his entire outlook on life, and Dustin’s family past mixed with his ADD, these characters weren’t stereotypical. I didn’t really connect with them but I could appreciate the attempt at adding more depth and complexity to the classic cowboy character.

Overall Drawing the Devil worked for me in some areas and not in others. I found the relationship and sex scenes fell very flat for me but the rodeo setting really drew me in whenever my attention was flagging. I think this would appeal to readers that want a bit of a classic cowboy story but also enjoy the very male style of writing, especially during the graphic scenes. For the right reader I think this could be a real hit.

Filed Under: Erotic Romance, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , ,

My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland

November 12, 2014 By Leave a Comment

ZOMBIE
My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland
Publisher: DAW
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Mystery/Suspense
Length: Full Length (310 pgs)
Heat: Spicy
Rating: 3.5 stars
Reviewed by Cactus

Angel Crawford is a loser.

Living with her alcoholic deadbeat dad in the swamps of southern Louisiana, she’s a high school dropout with a pill habit and a criminal record who’s been fired from more crap jobs than she can count. Now on probation for a felony, it seems that Angel will never pull herself out of the downward spiral her life has taken.

That is, until the day she wakes up in the ER after overdosing on painkillers. Angel remembers being in an horrible car crash, but she doesn’t have a mark on her. To add to the weirdness, she receives an anonymous letter telling her there’s a job waiting for her at the parish morgue—and that it’s an offer she doesn’t dare refuse.
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Before she knows it she’s dealing with a huge crush on a certain hunky deputy and a brand new addiction: an overpowering craving for brains. Plus, her morgue is filling up with the victims of a serial killer who decapitates his prey—just when she’s hungriest!

Angel’s going to have to grow up fast if she wants to keep this job and stay in one piece. Because if she doesn’t, she’s dead meat.

Literally.

Some days the only way to stop being a total loser is to simply die. Angel Crawford, convicted felon, drug addict and high school dropout, has learned that lesson the hard way. Fighting with her on and off again boyfriend, a totally drunk Angel goes off with a stranger. Unfortunately for Angel the stranger had drugged her with date rape drugs and caused her heart to stop. Continuing Angel’s very bad day, the stranger was driving her nearly dead body to a swamp to dump it when he got into a car accident and killed them both. So it’s to Angel’s extreme surprise that she wakes up in an emergency room completely without injuries yet butt naked with some weird protein shakes and a note that she has to take a job at the morgue or go back to prison. And as if trying to figure out what is going on while putting her life in some kind of order, someone is going around decapitating zombies. Just when Angel realizes exactly what she is, she’s in danger of dying for real this time.

White Trash Zombie is a pretty hilarious book. I listened to the audio version and the narrator gets a lot of credit for making the story so fun and easy to listen to. Angel is the narrator and she really is a lower. She doesn’t even pretend that she’s anything else. That’s not to say she’s a lost cause, just that she’s made bad choices in her life and doesn’t try to rationalize or justify them. She accepts them but slowly, very slowly, realizes that previous bad choices don’t have to define a person. She’s smart and curious so she sticks her nose into just about everything with little regard for the outcome. The majority of the story is about Angel maturing and moving past her life of drugs, abusive parents, alcohol and bad men. She is open and self-aware but she’s tough, sarcastic, and funny. She calls herself a scrawny bitch all the time but reminds people that she’s mean and that counts for a lot.

Angel’s voice is what really pushes the story, especially when it lags. Since a majority of the plot is about her dealing with everyday problems, how often to eat brains so you don’t rot or how to steal brains from the morgue without getting caught, sometimes the action can wane. There’s the serial killer problem but I felt as though that was a minor tangent to the main point of the story, which is Angel as a new zombie. There’s a cute love interest but Angel shines as tough, non-nonsense heroine that wants to stand on her own and get her life back, not rely on a man to do it. So I really liked her much more than the typical female heroine who is overly sarcastic, breaks all the rules, and is tougher than any guy. Angel is a nice departure from that stereotype and the narrator’s voice helped define Angel for me.

I will admit sometimes I was pretty frustrated with Angel. She is pretty smart but would be slow to pick up on some clues or the story would artificially allow her to figure some things out when there simply wasn’t enough information to do so. She’d take leaps of logic that always panned out when they shouldn’t have. However these are pretty minor complaints and I found this story to be highly entertaining and incredibly easy to listen to. I don’t always absorb all the details listening to books versus reading them and some books lend themselves to that better than others. This is one you can listen to without worrying if you missed something. I’d recommend it, even if it was light on romance. I loved it all the more for that.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Caught! by JL Merrow

October 31, 2014 By 1 Comment

CAUGHT
Caught! by JL Merrow
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Full Length (240 pgs)
Other: M/M, Anal sex
Rating: 4.5 stars
Reviewed by Cactus

You can run from the past…but the past runs faster.

Shamwell Tales, Book 1
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Behind Robert’s cheerfully eccentric exterior lies a young heart battered and bruised by his past. He’s taken a job teaching in a village primary school to make a fresh start, and love isn’t part of his plans. But he’s knocked for six—literally—by a chance encounter with the uncle of two of his pupils.

Sean works in pest control, rides a motorbike, and lives on a council estate. On the face of it, he shouldn’t have anything in common with Robert’s bow-tie, classic-car style and posh family background. Yet Robert is helpless to resist Sean’s roguish grin, and a rocky, excruciatingly embarrassing start doesn’t keep the sparks between them from flaring.

Despite Robert’s increasingly ludicrous attempts to keep his past where it belongs, his past hasn’t read the memo. And soon his secrets could be the very things that drive Sean away for good…

It’s hard to find a man that appreciates a good bow tie. Robert left his sordid past behind and tried to make a new start as a primary school teacher in a smaller village. He’s decidedly done with love and all its failings, or so he thinks. Sean is the uncle of two of Robert’s students and seems to be everything Robert can’t resist. He’s warm, generous, caring, and has a thing for men in bow ties. Despite Robert’s hesitations he can’t help being drawn to the other man but just when things seem to be going well, Robert’s past decides to make an appearance. Now if only Robert can figure out a way to explain or hide his past from Sean.

Caught! is the first book in a new series by JL Merrow. The author is often known for light comedic romance set in the UK and this definitely fits that description. Her writing is so clean and effortless to read that the pages always fly by much faster than I even realize. Humorous and delightfully quirky characters fill the pages creating an engaging and entertaining story from the start. Robert as the first person narrator is eccentric in the best possible way. He has an upper crust bearing and background, despite his turn at humbleness in the middle of his upbringing, but he fits well with down to earth pest control technician Sean. There is some minor attempt at tension between the two being from obviously different worlds but Sean is good hearted and easy going while Robert is a bit fussy and particular but they easily fit well together.

The story doesn’t offer much plot beyond Robert’s day-to-day activities as he lives his life and attempts to foster a relationship with Sean but for me that was the charm of the story. I loved reading about Robert’s 2E class and the adorable children portrayed. Robert’s family and friends are all interesting characters that sometimes steal the scenes they’re in. I especially loved Robert’s rather cliché female best friend that offered sage advice, but she was more genuine and honest than typical females the genre produces. The very British landscape of the village was homey and lent an easy cadence and tone to the writing. There’s not a lot of action or tension but I personally loved that about the book. I didn’t want or need more than well-developed characters, obvious chemistry, good writing, and a quickly moving story. It’s the type of story you curl up with on a chilly day and enjoy.

I clearly loved Caught! so I easily and eagerly recommend it. It won’t be for everyone though, as not all readers enjoy gentle romance with very little erotic sex. Also due to the lack of any real tension, the main couple gets together with relative ease and only minor miscommunications come up, I think this will appeal to readers that like that kind of ease within relationships. There is no instant love or overwrought devotion immediately but simply two men well suited that start a relationship. There are some bumps but overall it’s an easy outing with lots of humor. Exactly what I wanted.

Filed Under: Erotic Romance, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Nice Girls Don’t Date Dead Men by Molly Harper

October 27, 2014 By Leave a Comment

DEAD
Nice Girls Don’t Date Dead Men by Molly Harper
Publisher: PocketStar
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Suspense/Mystery, Contemporary
Length: Full Length (380 pgs)
Heat Level: Spicy
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Cactus

With her best friend Zebs Titanic-themed wedding looming ahead, new vampire Jane Jameson struggles to develop her budding relationship with her enigmatic sire, Gabriel. It seems unfair that shes expected to master undead dating while dealing with a groom heading for a nuptial nervous breakdown, his hostile werewolf in-laws, and the ugliest bridesmaid dress in the history of marriage.

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Should Jane warn her grandmother of Wilburs marital habits or let things run their course? Will Jane always be an undead bridesmaid, never the undead bride?

New vampires probably shouldn’t be involved in anything Titanic-themed. Jane Jameson is back and she’s the matron of honor in her best friend’s wedding to his ladylove werewolf. Zeb and Jolene want a Titanic-themed wedding because…well why not? Jane is not overly excited about the wedding, losing her best friend’s undivided attention, her mysterious boyfriend’s recent odd behavior, and the consistent pressure from Zeb’s mother to stop the wedding so Jane can marry Zeb. You’d think all of it would be too much for a newbie vampire but Jane still finds time to look into her grandmother’s sixth fiancé. Although her plate is more than full with anything but food, Jane and her friends transverse the crazy town of Half Moon Hollows once more.

Nice Girls Don’t Date Dead Men is book two in the Jane Jameson series by Molly Harper. Although you technically don’t need to read book one to understand this one as the author does a really nice job of reminding new and returning readers of important details, I think readers should as it’s essential to understanding the cast dynamic and fully appreciating the characters themselves. In this new outing, Jane doesn’t really mature much unfortunately and I thought she came off slightly worse for the wear with her antics. The plot revolves around Jane’s best friend Zeb getting married; an event that Jane is ambivalent about at best since she’s struggling to come to terms with Zeb maturing and growing up while she isn’t. Additionally Zeb’s mother, Mama Ginger, is of course a caricature from hell bent on destroying the wedding in an attempt to make Zeb and Jane marry instead.

I found the story humorous and entertaining for the most part. The few issues I had were that Jane could have easily stopped the drama with Zeb’s mother by simply telling her that Jane was a vampire. Of course there would be no book with over the top wacky hijinks if logic actually prevailed so there is a reason for the lack of any common sense. Whether readers like that or not is a personal choice. Furthermore it was almost ridiculously easy to figure out what was going on, and who the bad guy was this time, and Jane started to look rather stupid in not figuring it out sooner. The book did everything but paint neon signs with the answers while Jane just shrugged and did nothing to add any intelligence nor intuitive thinking to any of the problems brought up. So I was much less enamored of Jane’s pratfalls, witty mumblings, and general air of buffoonery in combination with her less than average intelligence.

That said I still love the ensemble cast of characters and their ability to act as wonderful counterpoints to Jane’s sometimes irritating personality. I am not a huge Jane lover as she feels like a character pandering to a certain reading demographic. However the supporting cast is funny, entertaining, and generally helps soothe over any frustration. The writing is quick and easy to absorb without really remembering the details. It’s a little repetitive and formulaic to be sure but with the lack of real humor in the vampire genre I find this series much like ice cream. It’s not exactly something to be proud of binging on but it seems to taste so good at the time.

Filed Under: Mainstream Fiction, Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs by Molly Harper

October 21, 2014 By Leave a Comment

NGS
Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs by Molly Harper
Publisher: PocketStar
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Suspense/Mystery, Contemporary
Length: Full Length (355 pgs)
Heat: Spicy
Rating: 3.5 stars
Reviewed by Cactus

Maybe it was the Shenanigans gift certificate that put her over the edge. When children’s librarian and self-professed nice girl Jane Jameson is fired by her beastly boss and handed twenty-five dollars in potato skins instead of a severance check, she goes on a bender that’s sure to become Half Moon Hollow legend. On her way home, she’s mistaken for a deer, shot, and left for dead. And thanks to the mysterious stranger she met while chugging neon-colored cocktails, she wakes up with a decidedly unladylike thirst for blood.
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Jane is now the latest recipient of a gift basket from the Newly Undead Welcoming Committee, and her life-after-lifestyle is taking some getting used to. Her recently deceased favorite aunt is now her ghostly roommate. She has to fake breathing and endure daytime hours to avoid coming out of the coffin to her family. She’s forced to forgo her favorite down-home Southern cooking for bags of O negative. Her relationship with her sexy, mercurial vampire sire keeps running hot and cold. And if all that wasn’t enough, it looks like someone in Half Moon Hollow is trying to frame her for a series of vampire murders. What’s a nice undead girl to do?

Being mistaken for a deer, shot, and left for dead wasn’t even Jane’s worst day. The fact that it all happened on a day she was fired from her dream job and given a gift certificate for potato skins at the local dive bar did not help matters. However being turned into a vampire certainly gave Jane’s life, now unlife, new perspective. Now she has a sexy but somewhat unstable Sire to contend with along with small details such as blood sucking, flameablilty in sunlight, and the usual quagmire of crazy relatives of both the living and ghostly kind. Trying to navigate her new undead existence is not easy and that all happens before she starts to be framed for a series of vampire murders. A girl just can’t catch a break.

Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs is book one of the Jane Jameson series by Molly Harper. The main character of Jane is well developed and three-dimensional. She’s snarky, witty, and irreverent. The highlights of the book for me are not the female leads, since they are predictable, but the fun plot and use of secondary characters. Here the idea that Jane is bumping off other vampires and has to figure out who is framing her actually works because while the culprit is obvious very early on, Jane herself seems to go about the detecting work in a reasonable fashion. She’s clueless until the long monologue revealing exactly who did what and how by the “bad guy”, but I forgave her.  She’s intelligent but lacks serious common sense and the ability to put clues together. The writing relies on quips and Jane’s sense of humor to really carry the book, which works decently well even if it’s slightly repetitive.

I’ve read other books by the author set in Half Moon Hollow that revolve around the same group of characters but star different female protagonists. Now having read numerous books by Harper, both set in HMH and others, they are all remarkably similar to the point of formulaic. The heroines are almost exactly the same in each book. They are in their late 20s, single without significant past relationships, hard working, beautiful but they don’t think so, quirky, witty, sassy, and all have a penchant for a different kind of junk food which is usually a variation on candy. The females in the books are interchangeable and have few differences but the male leads are no different. They are all sexy, mysterious, rich, and totally enamored of the heroines to the point of silliness even as the heroine never believes it can be true. It’s classic romance and clearly is exactly what Harper’s readers want. I admit I find her sense of humor entertaining and I enjoy the books but I need long periods of time between them so I can forget that I already know everything about the book before I even start it. They’re predictable down to the details so I think your enjoyment hinges on whether that kind of formula romance appeals to readers.

I think Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs works well because the mystery carries the book since the romance is more lukewarm. Jane and her sire, Gabriel, don’t really have a solid happy ending but they are together and there are more books in the series. The vampire lore is basic and nothing special, even if all the good parts and very few drawbacks are included. For first time readers of this author that like humor in their vampire romance, I think this will be a real treat. For repeat readers it all depends on how much repetition is tolerable. I find the author’s voice and books nearly identical to one another but at least I always know what I’m getting.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison

October 7, 2014 By Leave a Comment

WITCH
Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison
Publisher: Harper Touch
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full Length (480 pgs)
Heat Level: Hot
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Cactus

All the creatures of the night gather in “the Hollows” of Cincinnati, to hide, to prowl, to party … and to feed.

Vampires rule the darkness in a predator-eat-predator world rife with dangers beyond imagining — and it’s Rachel Morgan’s job to keep that world civilized.
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A bounty hunter and witch with serious sex appeal and an attitude, she’ll bring ’em back alive, dead … or undead.

If only there was a guidebook for witches under death threats. Rachel Morgan is a witch and bounty hunter with a crappy job. She’s been getting the worst assignments for months now and she’s sick of it. When her latest prey, a tax-evading leprechaun, offers her three wishes in exchange for freedom Rachel decides to quit her job and strike out on her own. Too bad her employer doesn’t let people quit as easily as that and suddenly there’s a death threat hanging over Rachel’s head. With the help of her friends, vampire Ivy and pixie Jenxs, Rachel decides to take down the city’s wealthiest and most prominent citizen. She figures if she can prove the billionaire philanthropist is dirty then the death threat will be alleviated. Unfortunately it’s not as easy as it seems.

Dead Witch Walking is the first book in the Hollows series from Kim Harrison. The book is what I consider basic urban fantasy fare and decent enough for what it is. UF is my favorite genre and I’ve read quite a number of books within this sphere and DWW fits well. It’s not especially unique or outstanding in any way, and actually I’ve read numerous better books/series, but it’s ok. There’s also a weak, very small potential romance but the focus is urban fantasy and mystery, not romance. The world building is interesting, though not developed enough, and the narrator is first person through Rachel’s POV. The plot to prove the wealthy, local businessman and beloved councilman is actually a dirty drug smuggler is good enough to carry the story. There’s no question of guilt, but whether Rachel can take down her quarry.

Rachel is a frustrating narrator and protagonist and I think a reader’s enjoyment will hinge on her likeability. Reading reviews before I chose this book, most people were split to the extremes of either loving her or hating her. She’s a three-dimensional character but a polarizing one for sure. Rachel has a lot of flaws. A lot. She’s a very realistic character in that she often jumps into situations with no plans or ideas of how to succeed. She is stubborn, extremely reactive, and often quick to dismiss or ignore her friends and their advice. Rachel’s knows best all the time, even she actually has no clue and is making all the wrong assumptions/conclusions. Except she never thinks she is wrong. Even when she is at fault, she apologizes but is quick to want to move on and shift the focus/blame. I found her annoying and rather stupid. I struggled to care when she would foolishly rush in to situations without planning or thought and unsurprisingly bad things happen. Some readers may find this charming since Rachel is by no means a kick ass heroine. She mostly bungles her way through things with a single-minded focus and then is rescued by her friends.

What I actually liked most about the book was the supporting cast. I found Jenxs particularly adorable and I liked the dark struggle Ivy fought almost daily. While the pace is rather slow for the book, I found the focus on the secondary characters, even including Nick, enough to help keep my interest and alleviate some of the frustration I had with Rachel. I listened to the audio version and the narrator did a decent job with the voices, although she had a very odd way of emphasizing breaks where there shouldn’t be. For example the narrator would say a sentence “She walked (pause) into the hallway.” I’m not sure why she would pause in the middle of the sentence where no comma or punctuation break exists but she did. It’s a testament to the slow pace that I focused on the narrator sometimes rather than the story but I liked the voices she did for the characters and the cadence/tone of the narrator’s voice.

Overall I found this to be a readable book in the genre but not something especially memorable or interesting. Those that find Rachel a more charming and winsome heroine will definitely be more engaged but I liked it enough to continue with the series for now. I’d cautiously recommend this but only to those readers that like heroines on the softer, more realistic and less “kick ass, take names” side.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Best Kept Secrets by Evangeline Anderson

September 25, 2014 By Leave a Comment

SECRETS
Best Kept Secrets by Evangeline Anderson
Publisher: Loose Id
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Length: Short Story (90 pgs)
Other: M/F
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Cactus

Cassandra and Josh are xenobiologists. Traveling around the universe searching for new forms of life is exciting and Cass is never lonely because Josh is there. He is sweet, funny, kind and handsome…everything Cass has ever wanted in a man. But he’s also her stepbrother. There’s never been anything but normal affection between the two of them…until they encounter the truth plant of Svortza 6.

The product helps in cialis canada prescription providing active touch of hard erection and enables one to end up sick. This chemical is a PDE-5 inhibitor, which works to creates healthy environment for the organ becoming hard and producing long cheap levitra erection. The unsatisfying conditions in men will cause thinning of hair follicles that may appalachianmagazine.com cialis on line ultimately lead to total baldness in men. What changes I found were quality improvement in the penile muscle smoothening which helps in relaxation of the muscles which viagra sans prescription http://appalachianmagazine.com/2015/11/02/espn-mistakes-virginia-tech-for-west-virginia/ aids in chewing and related structures. The truth plant is said to have strange properties—it forces all who come in contact with it to act on their deepest emotions. Cass is skeptical of the rumors until Josh is sprayed with the plant’s secretions and begins having fugue states where he is a mindless creature bent only on satisfying his sexual hunger.

Now, trapped on an alien world, Cassandra is learning a lesson in submission and forbidden lust. She knows she must keep Josh’s actions secret from him or he will hate himself forever. But some secrets are just too big to keep…

Often the most taboo desires are the hardest to ignore. Cass and Josh have been together for years. Her mother married his father and then almost immediately died in a horrible accident. Since Cass was only seventeen, her step-brother Josh made sure he took care of her. In the years that followed the two have mostly been alone flying through space and researching various plants. When Cass finally develops into a woman, her ill-fitting clothes start to cause problems for her step-brother. However, both Josh and Cass are determined that nothing come between their familial bond, not even their own desire for each other.

Best Kept Secret is a fun read but it’s total erotica. The plot revolves around Josh being infected by a plant toxin that brings out true feelings and thoughts. Thus he turns into the “beast” and basically ravages Cass when he gets horny. She puts up a few weak protests but justifies that she has to give in because it’s the best thing for her step-brother. I found this rationalization weak and ineffective. Josh basically rapes Cass but it’s okay because she secretly wants it. But when he’s himself, she has to hide what they’ve been doing and pretend nothing’s changed. It’s a plot device that is well used and most readers should have no problems with it, myself included. It just doesn’t make for a compelling and well-written story is all. The back and forth didn’t generate tension so much as a silly way of keeping the two from having sex immediately and the story ends.

I thought the sex scenes were pretty hot and that’s what saved the story for me. The end scene where Josh and Cass finally have sex was honestly kind of laughable. I rolled my eyes several times at the dialogue and pretense, which carried on through the entire act making it neither hot nor erotic. That said I didn’t mind the book so much once I just ignored the silly plot. The sex scenes were plentiful and entertaining and since clearly the book was more erotica than erotic romance, I was ok with that. It’s not a well-written book unfortunately but I had set my expectations low and wasn’t disappointed.

This is definitely not a book I’d read again but I have to say I didn’t mind reading it. The characters are flat as a board and not well developed in my opinion. I also didn’t think their relationship was all that taboo. They spent literally no time as brother and sister, there was no growing up feeling that way and they live alone on a spaceship with just the two of them. So I felt the attempt at tension in this area lacking. There really was nothing stopping the two of them from having a relationship at the very beginning. That said, I enjoyed the erotica and would recommend this only if the reader knows going in that it’s hot sex but not a great story.

Filed Under: Erotic Romance, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , ,

Only You by Katrina Strauss

September 24, 2014 By Leave a Comment

 

ONLY
Only You by Katrina Strauss
Blue Ruin #5
Publisher: Loose Id
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Full Length (170 pgs)
Other: M/M, Anal sex, BDSM
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Cactus

Derek and Blue are settling down after their first eventful year together. To Derek’s relief, Blue’s managed to avoid kidnappers, mobsters, and murderers, not to mention he’s stopped suggesting those hot but complicated threesomes. Their love is strong, the BDSM play kinkier than ever, but the couple is learning the normal, everyday world comes with trials of its own.
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Derek faces the crunch as finances grow strained. Blue struggles to accept his best friend Jodi’s new relationship with a sexy but questionable boyfriend. And then there’s their parents. Between a visit from Derek’s estranged mother, and a looming scandal with Blue’s high profile father, simmering tensions threaten to erupt.

When Derek takes an out of town job, he faces temptation in the form of the attractive young man “who might have been.” Meanwhile, Blue is left home to weather the brewing storm alone, and when a lie comes to light, it may well be unforgivable. As the distance between Master and servant grows by more than just miles, can their hard-earned love endure?

Derek and Blue search for a happy ending now that they can be a “normal” couple. The past year has seen some real tests to their relationship from mob bosses to other men. Derek and Blue have weathered the challenges and only come out stronger. Now that more mundane issues are at the forefront, communication breaks down easily. Money and family problems are supposed to be easier and tamer issues for them to tackle but these normal situations are proving more difficult than either man anticipated. Both men need to lean on each other to make it through yet again.

Only You is the fifth and final book in the Blue Ruin series. Now there are no kidnappings, murder attempts, or other men for Blue to want and it’s finally just Derek and Blue in “ordinary” life. However, life with these two is anything but ordinary and easy. Since they are in a BDSM lifestyle, Derek still calls the shots but Blue is not above a little manipulation and power struggle to get what he wants. He’s still a little bit bratty and probably always will be but he’s finally maturing somewhat and understanding everything Derek has been through in the past year. I think the characters are definitely three dimensional with strengths and weaknesses to each. Blue is more of the driving factor in the book and it’s sometimes hard to watch him act so poorly, especially towards his best friend and her new boyfriend.

I liked that Blue seemed to learn some lessons in the book, some he richly needed, and it also made Derek seem more real and vulnerable. That he was subject to the same problems – money, health, family – that almost everyone is, to lesser degrees made him more real and less fantasy. Of course he gets really easy resolutions to his problems but it is fiction so that’s to be expected. I appreciated that the story presented the various problems in a way I could connect to and understand, even if the so-called “normal” problems were still far beyond what I would call normal.

For the last book in the series, it has a finality to the writing and situations. The epilogue shows all the characters a few years later, happy and settled, so there is no question of what happens in the future. It’s a nice ending and one that suits the main couple, especially after all they’ve been through. Fans of the series won’t want to miss this one.

Filed Under: Erotic Romance, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Only You by Willa Okati

September 23, 2014 By Leave a Comment

YOU
Only You by Willa Okati
Soulmarked #2
Publisher: Totally Bound
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Length: Short Story (90 pgs)
Other: M/M, Anal sex
Rating: 3.5 stars
Reviewed by Cactus

Lovers and best friends, the unmarked Nick and Barrett risked everything to present themselves as a bonded pair. They thought they were safe, but things are changing…

Nick and Barrett aren’t soulmates. Lovers for years, they’ve rolled the dice and taken a gamble on presenting themselves as a bonded pair. They knew the risks, but think they’re safe. They’re well over the age when soulmarks usually appear, and none of their friends or family are any the wiser.
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Until now. After exposure to the incendiary reunion between his friend Ivan and Ivan’s soulmate Robbie, Nick’s soulmark has begun to emerge.

And Barrett’s hasn’t.

Faced with a devil’s choice, Nick and Barrett are forced to confront the real possibility of being driven apart—unless they can fight the animal urge to find their mates. Do they have what it takes to stand in defiance of double jeopardy, all for the sake of love?

Sometimes destiny throws a curve ball to even the happiest of lovers. Nick and Barrett technically aren’t a bonded pair. They don’t sport the matching soulmarks of such a pair but they’re best friends and have been in love since they met. Since neither of them have a mark, the pair decide to be together anyway and just pretend to the rest of the world. In a world where the only allowed relationships are those with marks, Nick and Barrett live, love, and laugh as much as they can together, all the while praying nothing changes for them. Unfortunately fate stepped in and Nick develops a soulmark on his neck. When Barrett fails to show a similar mark immediately they are devastated knowing they should part, but neither one wants to give up on their relationship, regardless of the consequences.

Only You is book two in the Soulmarked series by Willa Okati. I didn’t realize this when I got the book but it was easy enough to understand what was going on. There were certain characters and situations that I was lost without the previous information but since the focus of the book is on Nick and Barrett I could get by decently. I do think readers should start with the first book in the series and then move to this one but this definitely wasn’t one where new readers would be totally lost start to finish. That said the characters are engaging and I liked their relationship. I get the feeling there is a lot of instant love in this world of soulmarked pairs so it was nice to see a couple that built their relationship in a familiar way. Now they were faced with keeping that relationship together against the odds.

I think the story threw a few too many unnecessary tangents in to make the narration gripping. There is the set up for the third book with Daniel and the continuation of the first book with brief appearances by that couple. None of these scenes really added to the story or the main couple at all. Additionally I got the feeling that sex kind of cured a lot of the problems between the men. As long as they were having sex, life was good. There was very little communication between Nick and Barrett about how to solve their problem, instead a lot of aborted talks, sex, and deep individual thinking. I could feel their strong connection and love so I liked the ending, which seems obvious but I thought the book would go a different direction.

Overall I enjoyed reading this despite the fact that I came into the series late. I think it’s an easy read and one that fans of the author will enjoy. The writing is very typical of everything I’ve read of this author so I also think it’s a good book for those new to the author to see if they like her style. It’s not one I’d read again but I liked the side character of Daniel enough that I may check out his book next in the series.

Filed Under: Erotic Romance, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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