Review: Hog Wild by Jenna Jaxon

Title: Hog Wild: A Three Pigs Twisted Tale
Publisher: New Dawning Press
ISBN:
Genre: Erotic Romance
Received: gifted by author/publisher for review


The Blurb:


When Lula Wolfendale’s motorcycle breaks down on her way to a Harley rally, she detours into tiny Shoshone, CA to find a new ride.  Seducing bikers Beau and Rob Hogue and commandeering their Harleys is easy; finding sexual satisfaction is a “hog” of a different color.  A Blue Phantom, to be exact, owned by the pair’s older brother, Jesse.  After a brief, unsatisfying encounters with the first two Hogues, Lula approaches Jesse with a proposition:  a sexual contest for his Phantom, where Lula will emerge with either a bike to die for or the climax of her dreams.  Or can she possibly obtain both?


My Take:


A twisted tale is right, but Jenna Jaxon twists this classic fairy tale in all the right ways. She writes with a talented hand and a clever voice and I loved this take on The Three Little Pigs. 


A woman in search of satisfaction who hasn't quite found it, gives two brothers quite an experience, that is, until the third and oldest brother gives Lula herself the experience she's been waiting for. 


It's a very quick and fast paced read and not to mention hot hot hot. She definitely meets her match with Jesse Hogue, the eldest. I just love how he takes control of the whole situation, I love his determination, and I love how he proves Lula wrong in terms of his ability to please her. She may not have been satisfied in the past, but Jesse makes sure that that's not the case with him as her partner. 


She was able to "blow" the two younger brothers down, but Jesse's house is made of brick, hehe, after all, he's the third Hogue brother. She has quite an effect on him, but not the same effect that she had on his two younger brothers or all her past encounters for that matter, which makes the game that much more enjoyable for the both of them.


As I said, it was a quick, fun, and sexy as hell read, and once again I find myself enjoying yet another of Ms. Jaxon's works. She hasn't let me down yet and I look forward to more from her.


My Rating: 4/5 Lattes








All My Best,


Kayla

Review: Wicked Weekend by Gillian Archer

Title: Wicked Weekend
Publisher: Carina Press
Publication Date: March 12, 2012
ISBN: 9781426893391
Genre: Erotic Romance containing BDSM
Received via Net Galley


The Blurb:

Why did Lauren Vaughn introduce her sister to the man she herself was crazy about? Now Lauren is watching the happy couple at their combined bachelor/bachelorette party-while Lauren sits all alone at the bar. Until she spots a hot stranger with the telltale black handkerchief in his pocket: the signal for "seeks no-strings affair with sexy submissive." Lauren can't take her eyes off him. So when he comes over, she kicks her inner good girl to the curb and follows Jamie Forman to his room, where he makes her scream with pleasure all night long.

But Jamie is a complicated man. He can't handle how desperately he wants her in his bed-and his life. It's up to Lauren to teach him how to make all night last forever.

My Take:


I've read maybe a handful of erotic BDSM type romances in my life so as such I wasn't sure exactly what to expect from this novella, but I very much enjoyed it. I thought the portrayal of a Dominant/Submissive sexual encounter was done very tastefully and gave me (I think) a realistic glimpse into this particular area of sex. It was tastefully done and very hot, just the way I like my romances :-D. 


Jamie was delicious and sexy and I loved how "gentle" he was with Lauren in her first few encounters with this particular type of sex life. Despite her always wanting to have a BDSM type relationship with a man where she could be completely submissive, she's never truly had one and as such has always been slightly unsatisfied with her sex life. That is, until she meets Jamie. He handles her with care, and makes sure she is completely one hundred percent comfortable with their respective roles in the bedroom. This being an erotic romance, they don't spend much time out of the bedroom, but that's totally fine and I feel that there was definitely character growth between the two of them regardless of them hardly leaving the bedroom.


The one thing I had a problem with is Lauren's complete lack of self-esteem. I know she craves being a submissive, and I know that he sister is a royal beyotch and always puts her down, and sure she should have doubts like any normal person during a sexual encounter with a man they've never met particularly when they are going to partake in some "kink", but her constant doubting of herself and her appeal and whether she can truly please Jamie and why he would want someone like her, got a bit annoying. I like my heroines to be somewhat confidant in themselves, we all have doubts, but it just seems that if someone has as many doubts and concerns running through her head during sex as Lauren did, wouldn't be able to enjoy themselves at all.


Otherwise, it was a very enjoyable read. It's hard to be completely objective to the BDSM quality of this particular story having never really read any prior, but I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a super quick and super sexy read.


My Rating: 4/5 Lattes







All My Best,


Kayla

Review: Double Heart Diner by Annie Jones

Publisher: TKA Distribution
Publication Date: December 11, 2011
ISBN: 9781937776046
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Received via Net Galley from TKA Distribution


The Blurb:


It was a little piece of heaven on Route 66. True, the famed Double Heart Diner had seen better days. But it was still such a special place for so many people. And Georgia Darling wasn’t going to let some city-slicker shut it down, no matter how handsome and sweet-talking the stranger might be.

It was a precious piece of land on the Texas panhandle, and it belonged to him. So why was businessman Jett Murphy letting some cute, fiery redhead try to talk him out of bulldozing the entire building? If Miss Darling thought she could beat him when it came to being headstrong...well, maybe he had met his match.

Route 66 Romance: Come along for the fun on the rocky road to love.


My Take:


First, I must say that this was a very cute read that had me smiling the entire time. Our heroine, Georgia Darling, is as zany as can be and channels I Love Lucy in the best of times. She has one thing that she cares about more than anything, saving her "home" the Double Heart Diner. Set in the midst of Old Route 66, the Double Heart Diner is scheduled to be bought out and sold to land developers, but Georgia won't have any of it so she decides to go to the press regarding her ex-employers plans to destroy the diner. 


Enter Jett Murphey. Our hero, a recluse who loves staying out of the spotlight during both business and personal dealing, is about to have a handful of problems when an ex employee threatens to go to the media with his intentions to buy and sell the Double Heart Diner. He has to figure out a way to stop her from doing so, but finds himself on a wacky adventure to save the Diner while traveling down the heart of America on Old Route 66 with none other than Ms. Georgia Darling herself.


Our hero and heroine are complete opposites, and as such are perfect together. Creating a yin and yang type relationship that balances each other. Georgia has an extremely playful attitude, that for the most part is cute and funny, but at some points (such as when Jett was on an important phone call) I found her to be a little immature. After all, even in stories, there is a time and a place for playfulness/humor. 


Regardless, it was fun uncovering everything the two of them had up their sleeves as they tried to outrace the media to save the Double Heart and in the process find themselves and love. As the Double Heart Diner saying goes: "If you've lost your love or lost your way, you'll find them at the Double Heart Diner."


The only main issue I had really, (and I'm not sure if it's because of the type of e-reader I was using) was some formatting constraints. There were scene breaks that didn't actually have the break so it would take me a second to realize we weren't on the same scene anymore. Other than that and the brief comment of how at certain time the humorous, fun and quirky attitude of Georgia came across as immature, I have no complaints and very much enjoyed it. 


These two characters brought out each others best qualities and as such created memorable characters that I look forward to visiting again. 


It's a sweet romance, only a few non-explicit kisses, and we all know how I tend to like my romances nice and steamy, however the sweetness of this fit the tone of the book well and it was such a quick read at just around 180 pages, that I do believe I may find myself reading it again at some point.


Great job on a great story, Ms. Jones.


My Rating: 4/5 Lattes




All My Best,


Kayla

Review: Got Game? by Stephanie Doyle

Publication Date: December 11, 2011
Publisher: TKA Distribution
ISBN: 9781937776206
Genre: Contemporary Romance- Suspense Elements
Obtained via Net Galley from TKA Distribution

The Blurb:

Oh, Yeah. Game On!

The world of professional golf is rocked when the new ranking system allows Reilly Carr- the country's best female player- to compete with the big boys. Now everyone wants to know if she will or won't play in golf's premier event...The American.

But her tough choices are complicated further when Luke Nolan- her on again, off again lover- suddenly decides now is the time to turn their friends-with-benefits set up into a real relationship!

If she's going to make the cut she'll need to battle her game, the press and most of all, her heart. The stakes have never been higher.

My Take:

I have always been a so-so fan of golf, don't really like watching it, but like to go to the driving range and hit-...errr... miss a few balls every once in a while. For me, it takes a talented writer and a great story to make me, a 24 year old bookworm, want to become a professional golfer. Ha Ha. But this story really made golf exciting for me.

Told in a very light, fun tone we get to experience the growth of Reilly Carr as she makes one of the biggest decisions of her career and as she deals with the repercussions of that decision. She loses friends from her women's circuit, gains enemies both on and off the course and struggles to redefine a relationship she's always wanted but was always afraid to pursue.

Reilly Carr and Luke Nolan are a great match, competitive enough to push the other toward greatness, but not so much so that it threatens their relationship. The sense of family loyalty in this story is great and the characters are all likable (well of course except for our stalker) That's right...stalker. Once Reilly is pushed into the limelight further after accepting the chance to play in The American, someone decides he wants Reilly to himself and only to himself. She receives threatening letters, creepy phone calls, usual stalkerish type behavior.

I loved this story, it wasn't so convoluted with golf descriptions that it weighed down the story, rather the golf action and training was weaved in perfectly throughout the story to give us a glimpse at what it's like to be a professional golfer and also to show us these wonderful characters personalities through the sport they know and love.

The sexual tension was hot, the sex ever hotter and it seemed to fit the characters to a T especially when you could see Reilly and Luke grow together even during the love scenes.

My only real complaint (spoiler alert! You've been warned!) is that, while I absolutely love when my heroine is married and pregnant in an epilogue, for me it felt like in love and married or not, this just didn't seem right for her character yet. I get that it's supposed to show that she's realized that golf isn't everything and it did and I thought the story had a good HEA and I felt it had closure, but I just didn't feel that it worked that she was pregnant yet. I feel like I would have liked to see how her life changed more in the golf world with her opponents, both male and female, in terms of competition etc. But even despite that, I'm still glad that finally after numerous divorces between them, that they finally found each other and their happy ending.

My Rating: "Fore"/Five Lattes



All My Best,

Kayla

Review: Gentlemen Prefer Nerds by Joan Kilby

Publisher: Carina Press

Publication Date: March 12, 2012

ISBN: 9781426893377

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Blurb:

Self-professed nerd Maddie Maloney is an expert on jewels. Jewel thieves are another matter entirely! So when a mysterious Englishman warns her that a thief known as The Chameleon is after the rare pink diamond on display in her aunt's shop, she tells herself it's just a joke. Even if she can't get Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome out of her mind...

But Fabian Montgomery doesn't give up easily. He's everywhere she goes, convinced the thief will strike. And when the diamond does go missing-and Maddie is suspected of stealing it-he whisks her away from the police and together they pursue The Chameleon.

Fabian plunges her into a glamorous world far from her humble workshop and transforms geeky Maddie into a sophisticated siren capable of espionage. Her mission: to seduce The Chameleon and steal back the diamond.

But Fabian isn't telling her everything-like who he works for, and why he's so interested in The Chameleon...

My Take:

Gentlemen Prefer Nerds, a cute catchy title that is obviously a play on the Marilyn Monroe film, Gentle Prefer Blondes, and this story has diamonds to boot, though if you ask me, the Rose diamond is far greater than anything I could want from Harry Winston or ever Cartier. Grin.

The story was cute and fun and the pacing was awesome. Maddie, a self-proclaimed nerd, is a well-respected Gemologist who discovered a large and extremely rare pink diamond. Soon after obtaining it and getting it ready for display at her aunt’s jewelry store, a mysterious man warns her that the diamond is in danger of being stolen from right under Maddie’s nose. Convinced the man is doing nothing other than trying to startle her, she dismisses him. That is until the diamond does indeed get stolen from right under her nose and discovers she is the main suspect. She’s thrust into a whirlwind escape and an adventure with the mysterious man as the two of them try to recover the stolen diamond and clear her name.

Even though Maddie considers herself a nerd, and while she is definitely book smart in this story, I personally at least, wouldn’t classify her as a nerd per say. She’s definitely a rule follower and definitely smart, but not a nerd, except when it comes to gems and her style of dress. I particularly enjoyed watching Maddie come out of her shell and grow as a person in this story, she was sort of a late bloomer in life, who even after blooming, doesn’t mind reverting back to her old self, but keeps hints of her new self regardless and knows what she is now capable of

Also, the sexual tension between Maddie and Fabian (the mysterious man) was a little on the flat side for me, especially given that at the beginning of the story it seems Fabian is still hung up on somebody else. Even toward the end when he realizes he’s in love with Maddie, I still felt like he wasn’t completely over this other woman and that he simply thrust his feelings for said woman aside. It could just be me who feels this way and, after all, a review is simply an opinion, but that is how it came across for me.

The main thing I disliked about this entire story was the ending. Sure they get their HEA/HFN, but I didn’t feel as though it was really going to happen for them. I like to have a sense of closure when I’m finished and to me, it felt as though the story was cut off before I got that closure, so unless the author has plans for a sequel or something of the sort which gives good reason for the cut off, I was rather disappointed with the ending, especially considering how much I enjoyed the rest of the story.

For me, this story was good, and I believe it could have been great had I really believed the romance between Maddie and Fabian, but even though it didn’t cross over into my great reads column I still enjoyed it. Quirky characters, I particularly liked Maddie’s father, a fun, light tone that is very different from much of the darker toned books out there of late. Thanks to this book I’ve discovered a new author, who’s writing I very much enjoyed and I look forward to reading some of her backlist, maybe one of those will be shelved in my Great Reads column.

My Rating:

3.5/5 “Pink” Lattes

All My Best,

Kayla

Review: Almost Perfect by Jenna Jaxon

Publisher: Decadent Publishing
Pub Date: December 7, 2011
Contemporary Erotic Romance- Short

Blurb:

Pamela Kimball’s birthday present, a 1Night Stand adventure, promises jump-start her life, put a new man in her bed, and help her forget her past.  Unfortunately, movie-buff Pam’s Pirates of the Caribbean fantasy takes an alarming wrong turn when she’s abandoned on a not quite deserted island—with ex-husband Roger Ware.

Forced by hunger to accept Roger’s offer of dinner,  Pam realizes the geek she married has transformed into one of the most charming, sexiest men she’s ever met. His newfound confidence—and hot body—re-kindles old fires.  A simple kiss leads Roger to challenges her to discover how much his lovemaking skills have improved, leaving Pam torn between self-preservation and burning desire.

With time running out before they’re rescued, Pam must decide if her heart can survive the consequences of becoming Roger’s “almost” perfect 1Night Stand.

I'm a fan of rekindled love stories such as this. At the start of the story, Pam is so excited to be on her way to her birthday present, a one night stand fantasy, what she wasn't expecting was to find out that the matchmaking service used to determine her one night stand has chosen none other than her ex-husband Roger who she hates.

A troubled marriage that ended in divorce makes for a heated encounter between the two of them when they finally, after two years, see each other again, but alone on a deserted island, the once-couple is forced to take shelter together and in turn discover that the past doesn't necessarily equal the future as long as both parties are willing to work on their problems. One such problem was their sex life, which is definitely renewed in this story. A very hot and steamy short that will leave you breathless and hopeful that the once-couple can renew their marriage again and this time succeed. 

You can't forget about the little "show" the 1Night Stand service provides for the two of them to help make Pam's fantasy a little more reality, it was a cute and sweet and hot and I enjoyed the story very much.

At times, the story read a bit stilted to me, but I was able to easily overlook that and at some points throughout the story the playful banter between the couple came across as a little immature, but for the most part, Pam and Roger were great together and I really enjoyed them as a couple and am glad they were able to find each other again and start their relationship over. 

I expect some great things from Jenna Jaxon in the future and can't wait to read more of what she has to offer.

My Review: 4/5 "Steamy" Lattes

All My Best,

Kayla